This was one of the games I was most excited to revisit during this marathon as it’s the one I least remember. I have such fondness attached to The Wind Waker and always considered it to be one of my favorites despite not remembering it that well. Now that I replayed it, I can definitely see why I don't remember much of it.
My memory of The Wind Waker consisted of some story beats, the overall vibe of the game, sailing through the Great Sea, and the Wind Temple. Guess what? These are still the only things I remember even freshly after beating the game. This is not a dig at The Wind Waker in any way. I loved it and had a great time with it. After playing through the series, however, and especially playing the games In release order in my marathon now, some cracks definitely started to show.
I want to start with the most striking thing about The Wind Waker and the topic of most conversations surrounding it; the art style. The Wind Waker is so colorful and whimsical and they really picked the right art style for it. The game is just oozing with life and charm, all the characters are so stylized and expressive. The cel-shaded graphics also make The Wind Waker the most ageless game in the series.
Beyond just the art style, the overall presentation of The Wind Waker makes it stand out in every way beyond the other games. The game is a lot more cinematic than its predecessors, cutscenes are a lot more dynamic now, featuring more interesting camerawork all throughout. The soundtrack is phenomenal, the music can range from wacky to haunting all while sporting wonderful airy instrumentation. Highlights for me include: Title, Outset Island, Grandma, Great Sea, Dragon Roost Island, Forest Haven, Molgera, and the theme for a certain iconic Zelda location I won’t spoil.
There are some fantastic musical moments all throughout the game, little motifs come in and out all throughout the game providing great callbacks to the previous games. My favorite being the title theme from A Link to The Past subtly playing during one of the pivotal moments in the story. Another great use of sound design is the little musical notes that play with every slash you make during combat. Which really add a looney tunes kind of cartoony vibe to the game in a way I love. I’m surprised that concept has never returned in the series since then.
The story is one of the best in the series. I just love love love how the Great Sea serves as a giant backdrop to the story of the game. it’s my favorite contextualization of any setting in the series to be honest. There are some really great story and character moments. I do feel like, however, the story halts halfway through when you finally meet Princess Zelda. You get some major revelations and then there’s.. nothing until the end of the game. Which gets me to some of the cracks that started to show in this playthrough for me. It feels like there’s a huge chunk that’s missing from the game, thankfully it doesn’t harm the story in any way, its still a fully realized main plot but it just feels like there are some side plots that were planned that didn’t go anywhere.
Speaking of feeling like there’s a huge chunk missing from the game, I wanna talk about the dungeons of The Wind Waker. Now it’s no secret that there were two dungeons cut from the game because of time constraints and I honestly think it shows. Now Majora’s Mask only had 4 dungeons but the whole story was paced around those 4 dungeons and they made sure they were all great dungeons. I wish I can say the same about this game. The game only has 5 dungeons but it really feels like the story was building up for more, it just gets really shocking when you get to the big halfway point where the game opens up and there’s just.. 2 dungeons to do and the game just ends.
Let’s get to the dungeons, hoo boy. They are not bad but they don’t do anything remarkable and are very simple to get through. They do enough to feel like Zelda dungeons but they’re the bare minimum. Which feels like a letdown coming after Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask and the Oracle games which had fantastic dungeons with really cool and challenging puzzles. All the dungeons here are a breeze to get through which I don’t hate but I never associate Zelda dungeons with being laid-back experiences. The Wind Temple is the only dungeon in the game that exudes the labyrinthian feeling of classic Zelda dungeons which is why it’s the only one I leave the game remembering. I’m writing this review the day after beating it and I can’t tell you anything about any of the other dungeons in the game. Again, nothing inherently bad about them, just very unmemorable.
The Wind Waker has a very strong and distinct identity among its contemporaries in the series and will always be a standout in the vast sea of entries in the franchise. There are just so many things that are unique to The Wind Waker and so much of it comes from the themes of the game that I never truly grasped before this playthrough.
The Wind Waker is all about letting go of the old and forging a new identity which can be seen in most aspects of the game. The presentation completely sets it apart from the rest of the series, Link has a sister now, Hyrule is a thing of the past that everyone has moved on from, Link isn’t some legendary hero chosen by the gods but just a very brave kid who wants to save his sister and ends up proving himself as a hero in his own regard. All of it hits home in the closing moments of the game where the characters realize they need to move on from trying to fulfill old standards and decide to forge their own paths. In some ways, it feels like the Zelda team always wanted to go into this step of breathing a new identity to the series and this seemed like it was the beginning of it. If I was playing this game in 2002 I would’ve definitely left with “is this their way of rebooting the series?” as my main takeaway. Little did I know I’d be leaving another entry of the franchise with that takeaway in 2017.
Despite all of its shortcomings, The Wind Waker has a lot of heart and passion put into it. It sets itself in its own little island away from most of the other games in the series in my eyes. Keep in mind that Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks are the only games I’ve never played in the series as of now. I wonder if those two would be in that same island I put The Wind Waker in. I think The Wind Waker excels in so many things and there’s a reason why it’s one of the most relevant games in the series. In some ways though, it will kind of always feel like it’s not a full experience and is kind of a watered down Zelda game to me, especially in its dungeons, and for that I can’t rank it higher than some of my favorites.
My memory of The Wind Waker consisted of some story beats, the overall vibe of the game, sailing through the Great Sea, and the Wind Temple. Guess what? These are still the only things I remember even freshly after beating the game. This is not a dig at The Wind Waker in any way. I loved it and had a great time with it. After playing through the series, however, and especially playing the games In release order in my marathon now, some cracks definitely started to show.
I want to start with the most striking thing about The Wind Waker and the topic of most conversations surrounding it; the art style. The Wind Waker is so colorful and whimsical and they really picked the right art style for it. The game is just oozing with life and charm, all the characters are so stylized and expressive. The cel-shaded graphics also make The Wind Waker the most ageless game in the series.
Beyond just the art style, the overall presentation of The Wind Waker makes it stand out in every way beyond the other games. The game is a lot more cinematic than its predecessors, cutscenes are a lot more dynamic now, featuring more interesting camerawork all throughout. The soundtrack is phenomenal, the music can range from wacky to haunting all while sporting wonderful airy instrumentation. Highlights for me include: Title, Outset Island, Grandma, Great Sea, Dragon Roost Island, Forest Haven, Molgera, and the theme for a certain iconic Zelda location I won’t spoil.
There are some fantastic musical moments all throughout the game, little motifs come in and out all throughout the game providing great callbacks to the previous games. My favorite being the title theme from A Link to The Past subtly playing during one of the pivotal moments in the story. Another great use of sound design is the little musical notes that play with every slash you make during combat. Which really add a looney tunes kind of cartoony vibe to the game in a way I love. I’m surprised that concept has never returned in the series since then.
The story is one of the best in the series. I just love love love how the Great Sea serves as a giant backdrop to the story of the game. it’s my favorite contextualization of any setting in the series to be honest. There are some really great story and character moments. I do feel like, however, the story halts halfway through when you finally meet Princess Zelda. You get some major revelations and then there’s.. nothing until the end of the game. Which gets me to some of the cracks that started to show in this playthrough for me. It feels like there’s a huge chunk that’s missing from the game, thankfully it doesn’t harm the story in any way, its still a fully realized main plot but it just feels like there are some side plots that were planned that didn’t go anywhere.
Speaking of feeling like there’s a huge chunk missing from the game, I wanna talk about the dungeons of The Wind Waker. Now it’s no secret that there were two dungeons cut from the game because of time constraints and I honestly think it shows. Now Majora’s Mask only had 4 dungeons but the whole story was paced around those 4 dungeons and they made sure they were all great dungeons. I wish I can say the same about this game. The game only has 5 dungeons but it really feels like the story was building up for more, it just gets really shocking when you get to the big halfway point where the game opens up and there’s just.. 2 dungeons to do and the game just ends.
Let’s get to the dungeons, hoo boy. They are not bad but they don’t do anything remarkable and are very simple to get through. They do enough to feel like Zelda dungeons but they’re the bare minimum. Which feels like a letdown coming after Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask and the Oracle games which had fantastic dungeons with really cool and challenging puzzles. All the dungeons here are a breeze to get through which I don’t hate but I never associate Zelda dungeons with being laid-back experiences. The Wind Temple is the only dungeon in the game that exudes the labyrinthian feeling of classic Zelda dungeons which is why it’s the only one I leave the game remembering. I’m writing this review the day after beating it and I can’t tell you anything about any of the other dungeons in the game. Again, nothing inherently bad about them, just very unmemorable.
The Wind Waker has a very strong and distinct identity among its contemporaries in the series and will always be a standout in the vast sea of entries in the franchise. There are just so many things that are unique to The Wind Waker and so much of it comes from the themes of the game that I never truly grasped before this playthrough.
The Wind Waker is all about letting go of the old and forging a new identity which can be seen in most aspects of the game. The presentation completely sets it apart from the rest of the series, Link has a sister now, Hyrule is a thing of the past that everyone has moved on from, Link isn’t some legendary hero chosen by the gods but just a very brave kid who wants to save his sister and ends up proving himself as a hero in his own regard. All of it hits home in the closing moments of the game where the characters realize they need to move on from trying to fulfill old standards and decide to forge their own paths. In some ways, it feels like the Zelda team always wanted to go into this step of breathing a new identity to the series and this seemed like it was the beginning of it. If I was playing this game in 2002 I would’ve definitely left with “is this their way of rebooting the series?” as my main takeaway. Little did I know I’d be leaving another entry of the franchise with that takeaway in 2017.
Despite all of its shortcomings, The Wind Waker has a lot of heart and passion put into it. It sets itself in its own little island away from most of the other games in the series in my eyes. Keep in mind that Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks are the only games I’ve never played in the series as of now. I wonder if those two would be in that same island I put The Wind Waker in. I think The Wind Waker excels in so many things and there’s a reason why it’s one of the most relevant games in the series. In some ways though, it will kind of always feel like it’s not a full experience and is kind of a watered down Zelda game to me, especially in its dungeons, and for that I can’t rank it higher than some of my favorites.