”The wind… It is blowing…”
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is a fantastic, high-seas adventure… that was unfortunately never finished. The GameCube era was rough for Nintendo, leading to flagship titles like this and Super Mario Sunshine to be rushed through development. Luckily, The Wind Waker turned out much better (I love Sunshine, but it just flat-out doesn’t function properly at some points; TWW does), but the cracks still show through all the colorful, well-designed tape that was slapped over them.
Sailing is relaxing and fun… until you do it from one end of the map to the other, at which point it becomes tedious and boring. The dungeons are just okay, with only three out of the seven being memorable; there weren’t nearly enough of them, and most of them are painfully linear. Despite the giant, open world, the game railroads you down a linear story path, which goes at odds with its own design.
For positives? The game is still beautiful to look at and listen to all these years later. The sound design makes every hit feel satisfying and the blue skies are always gorgeous. The combat, while nothing special, is a step up from the N64 games.
Many say that the Great Sea is “empty” and “barren”. I wholeheartedly disagree. Should there have been a bit more content? Yeah. But there’s more than enough as is, and exploring every inch of the map and conquering every island is some of the most fun I’ve ever had in a Zelda game. A side effect of two dungeons being scrapped due to time constraints is that two items can be found in the overworld. Stumbling onto them by accident while exploring was beyond exciting, and I’ll always remember that.
The story is great, with a solid theme about letting go of the past and a surprisingly tragic take on Ganondorf’s character. My only major gripes are: a) Aryll is very underdeveloped, and b) Zelda gets kidnapped again. However, the game’s ending is one of the best in the series, and is appropriately hopeful, yet bittersweet.
Now let’s talk about the dreaded Triforce quest… I enjoyed it? I know, it’s crazy, but I legitimately had fun trekking across the ocean looking for charts (except for that one island where you had to summon seagulls, a skill that you never had to use up to that point and wouldn’t even think of; that was some bullshit). I would’ve preferred two more dungeons instead, but I still had a blast combing through all the neglected islands with a full set of items. I will admit that it drags on and overstays its welcome once you actually start following the charts, though.
All in all, despite its issues due to rushed development, The Wind Waker is still a phenomenal, immersive, and memorable seafaring adventure that earns its spots in fans’ hearts. Is it my favorite? Not at all (Link’s Awakening is still my go-to summer Zelda game), but damn was it fun.
EDIT: I decided to take off half a star because the game’s issues are simply too glaring in retrospect, mainly the dungeon design and filler. Still great, though.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is a fantastic, high-seas adventure… that was unfortunately never finished. The GameCube era was rough for Nintendo, leading to flagship titles like this and Super Mario Sunshine to be rushed through development. Luckily, The Wind Waker turned out much better (I love Sunshine, but it just flat-out doesn’t function properly at some points; TWW does), but the cracks still show through all the colorful, well-designed tape that was slapped over them.
Sailing is relaxing and fun… until you do it from one end of the map to the other, at which point it becomes tedious and boring. The dungeons are just okay, with only three out of the seven being memorable; there weren’t nearly enough of them, and most of them are painfully linear. Despite the giant, open world, the game railroads you down a linear story path, which goes at odds with its own design.
For positives? The game is still beautiful to look at and listen to all these years later. The sound design makes every hit feel satisfying and the blue skies are always gorgeous. The combat, while nothing special, is a step up from the N64 games.
Many say that the Great Sea is “empty” and “barren”. I wholeheartedly disagree. Should there have been a bit more content? Yeah. But there’s more than enough as is, and exploring every inch of the map and conquering every island is some of the most fun I’ve ever had in a Zelda game. A side effect of two dungeons being scrapped due to time constraints is that two items can be found in the overworld. Stumbling onto them by accident while exploring was beyond exciting, and I’ll always remember that.
The story is great, with a solid theme about letting go of the past and a surprisingly tragic take on Ganondorf’s character. My only major gripes are: a) Aryll is very underdeveloped, and b) Zelda gets kidnapped again. However, the game’s ending is one of the best in the series, and is appropriately hopeful, yet bittersweet.
Now let’s talk about the dreaded Triforce quest… I enjoyed it? I know, it’s crazy, but I legitimately had fun trekking across the ocean looking for charts (except for that one island where you had to summon seagulls, a skill that you never had to use up to that point and wouldn’t even think of; that was some bullshit). I would’ve preferred two more dungeons instead, but I still had a blast combing through all the neglected islands with a full set of items. I will admit that it drags on and overstays its welcome once you actually start following the charts, though.
All in all, despite its issues due to rushed development, The Wind Waker is still a phenomenal, immersive, and memorable seafaring adventure that earns its spots in fans’ hearts. Is it my favorite? Not at all (Link’s Awakening is still my go-to summer Zelda game), but damn was it fun.
EDIT: I decided to take off half a star because the game’s issues are simply too glaring in retrospect, mainly the dungeon design and filler. Still great, though.