Your ancestors create a world with harsh ramifications. Those older than you are chasing bygone eras and driven by legends before your time. What do you do with the heaviness of almost mythical proportions? The answer is to chart your own path and let the winds guide you. That is Wind Waker.
I can only imagine what it would have been like to play this upon release. The Zelda team breaking everything about Hyrule , new species and new visuals and a new over world.
The overworked, the sea is perfect. The core gameplay loop is perfection. You engage with fish via bait to hear about new island information and figure out what to do. You literally build ideas of the islands and they change as you get new dungeon items. The act of sailing, the act of just letting the sea guide you and you discovering the patterns? The ghost ship map and the treasure maps reward you for studying shapes on the map. The only thing that ruins sailing? Boat battles. Those are true drudgery.
The dungeons here are special. From Tower of Gods to the end every dungeon is a delight. Earth temple is now a benchmark for the series to me. The seams start to show at the Wind Dungeon. While a spectacular labyrinth, the finicky controls come to rear it’s ugly head.
The wear and tear of the age have started to show for this game, the finicky controls around jumping and precision. Controlling other characters? It can feel so betraying. Especially when battle controls are impeccable. Certain things to know for progression too can feel like eras ago.
But charm pairs with the message of charting a unique path. I just smiled at so many elements of the animation, I smiled at the triforce hunt. I couldn’t help but humm the tunes, I couldn’t help but be soothed on the ocean shores. Be satisfied in the puzzles. This game is a marvel. Also a spectacular Ganon!