This is my favorite Zelda game basically just because its very comforting to play. Sailing around is a joy, hitting stuff is fun, and Link, Tetra, and Zelda are all adorable. That said, it has some pretty significant issues and I think probably doesn't deserve to be the favorite of the majority of people.
First off, the open world is fairly empty, and mostly consists of (albeit very fun, and aided vastly by innovative use of the the Wii U subscreen) collectathon busywork. There's also only like, 6 dungeons, a few of which are somewhat tedious. There's no big midsection twist that changes the nature of the world or anything in the middle either, like in a lot of Zelda games, so as such it feels kind of narratively unfinished. You get the three pearls, go to the ancient tower to get the master sword, do a lot of collecting to power up the master sword and get the Triforce, then beat Ganon. Well done, roll credits.
So why am I giving in such a high score, then? Well, I've encountered this thing among people who really like Breath of Wild where they will excuse its empty world, dearth of dungeons, and overall meatless story progression by saying that it just feels like such a lovely game to explore, and The Wind Waker is that to me. The feeling of sailing the opaquely blue seas, braving grey storms and sepia dawns, to discover every square and solve the often impressively arcane little puzzles on each of them to get a cool little goody is just so addicting. There's so much magic to it, and what little story there is is also quite a unique take on Zelda about rebuilding a Hyrule long sunken into an endless sea. Its all capped off with a truly legendary final duel with Ganondorf, too, which makes even more memorable. I dunno, man, I just like it a lot.
First off, the open world is fairly empty, and mostly consists of (albeit very fun, and aided vastly by innovative use of the the Wii U subscreen) collectathon busywork. There's also only like, 6 dungeons, a few of which are somewhat tedious. There's no big midsection twist that changes the nature of the world or anything in the middle either, like in a lot of Zelda games, so as such it feels kind of narratively unfinished. You get the three pearls, go to the ancient tower to get the master sword, do a lot of collecting to power up the master sword and get the Triforce, then beat Ganon. Well done, roll credits.
So why am I giving in such a high score, then? Well, I've encountered this thing among people who really like Breath of Wild where they will excuse its empty world, dearth of dungeons, and overall meatless story progression by saying that it just feels like such a lovely game to explore, and The Wind Waker is that to me. The feeling of sailing the opaquely blue seas, braving grey storms and sepia dawns, to discover every square and solve the often impressively arcane little puzzles on each of them to get a cool little goody is just so addicting. There's so much magic to it, and what little story there is is also quite a unique take on Zelda about rebuilding a Hyrule long sunken into an endless sea. Its all capped off with a truly legendary final duel with Ganondorf, too, which makes even more memorable. I dunno, man, I just like it a lot.