Narrative: 5 - Gameplay: 5 - Visuals: 4 - Soundtrack: 4 - Time: 4
Stars: 4.5
I always wanted to play The Wind Waker, even when I never had played any game from The Legend of Zelda franchise. Something about the Toon Link design always spoke close to me and gave life to my curiosity as a gamer. Also, the different Link was one of my main points in Super Smash Bros 4. This was my third experience with the Zelda universe and, because of those that came before, I knew what might come along. For instance, I know that exploring is a vital part of any of Link’s adventures. And right here it’s one of the greatest challenges of any game/movie/genre that returns to the same structure repeatedly. How sustain quality and originality when using the same characters, plot, dungeon-based challenges, etc.? The answer found by Nintendo is quite simple: keep it organic.
Every small or big change in the franchise is deeply organic. To explore is, as I told before, a trademark for Link. So, when they chose to change the theme (continent exploring to sea wandering), what made it so good was precisely the fact that every single characteristic – or even detail – turns out to be as organic as possible. Main character became pirates – and even boats were included –, the songs changed the direction of the wind, the open-world island-puzzles needed the creativity and knowledge of a sailor, the hero of time returned as the hero of the wind. It felt like a huge orchestra in perfect consonance.
Stars: 4.5
I always wanted to play The Wind Waker, even when I never had played any game from The Legend of Zelda franchise. Something about the Toon Link design always spoke close to me and gave life to my curiosity as a gamer. Also, the different Link was one of my main points in Super Smash Bros 4. This was my third experience with the Zelda universe and, because of those that came before, I knew what might come along. For instance, I know that exploring is a vital part of any of Link’s adventures. And right here it’s one of the greatest challenges of any game/movie/genre that returns to the same structure repeatedly. How sustain quality and originality when using the same characters, plot, dungeon-based challenges, etc.? The answer found by Nintendo is quite simple: keep it organic.
Every small or big change in the franchise is deeply organic. To explore is, as I told before, a trademark for Link. So, when they chose to change the theme (continent exploring to sea wandering), what made it so good was precisely the fact that every single characteristic – or even detail – turns out to be as organic as possible. Main character became pirates – and even boats were included –, the songs changed the direction of the wind, the open-world island-puzzles needed the creativity and knowledge of a sailor, the hero of time returned as the hero of the wind. It felt like a huge orchestra in perfect consonance.