De pasado y futuro, nostalgia y cambio. No podemos estancarnos en el éxito de Ocarina, hay que seguir adelante. Hundamos Hyrule, demos la batuta a los niños. Pero ojo, que la leyenda es eterna y permanece. La trifuerza reaparece, la historia se repite. Ganon atacará, Link vestirá ropajes verdes y empuñará la espada maestra en rescate de Zelda. Y resolveremos amasijos de puzzles ambientales con llaves y puertas, ítem de turno y boss fight pertinente mal llamados mazmorras, claro. Destino, tradición, etcétera.

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Hace años no me convencía del relato antinostalgia de Wind Waker que repitiese la historia del héroe a pies juntillas. Que Tetra dejase de ser ella, con todo su carácter e iniciativa, desde que se revelase su identidad. Lo encontraba contradictorio, tanto soplar el viento y navegar hacia el futuro y no anclarse en el pasado pero luego ropas verdes, espada de luz y Zelda a cumplir su rol de damisela en apuros. Pero tras esta rejugada he dejado de verlo así: una vez vencido el mal los niños son liberados de toda atadura y navegarán libres el mar en busca de su propia tierra, su propio futuro, y Hyrule mientras tanto sepultado bajo las aguas. Que la historia se repita cada cierto tiempo es precisamente lo que la vuelve leyenda. Porque es más grande que el tiempo, inmune a derivas y cambios. Solo eso da sentido a las profecías, a la existencia de dioses y poderes mágicos ancestrales. Es el destino. Y ahora creo que ambas filosofías pueden convivir.

Lo que sí empaña el alegato es el tradicionalismo en diseño, que no termina de dejar volar al juego, lastrando este nuevo mundo con las conveniencias y convenciones de siempre. The Wind Waker mira hacia adelante pero solo a medias, cuando conviene. Y tras él vendría Twilight Princess, la más conservadora de todas las entregas principales en la historia de la saga. Como para fiarse de la palabra de Nintendo. Así de convencidos estaban en su discurso.

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El Zelda con más carácter. A cambio de solemnidad, sentido del humor. Marcadísimas expresiones faciales para mayor expresividad de los personajes y una inteligencia artificial súper reforzada para mayor dinamismo en combate. El resultado, casi siempre, comicidad y carisma. Y lo que más me ha llamado la atención en esta rejugada: hasta qué punto es juguetón The Wind Waker. No ya solo los enemigos (que pierden y buscan sus armas, que reaccionan cuerpo a cuerpo, que se queman solos o golpean entre ellos), sino la fluidez del combate, con puntuaciones musicales a cada espadazo, botón de contraataque, ataques por la espalda... Más: los saltitos del barco en el mar, los combates en barco a cañonazos, el uso de la hoja para planear (antecedente de la archiempleada paravela de Breath of the Wild). ¡Hasta recoger ítems! Con jarrones o enemigos que desparraman un buen puñado de rupias y objetos con tiempo limitado para ser recogidos, los instantes más Mario de este Zelda.

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Jugar The Wind Waker es un cúmulo de sensaciones encontradas, algo habitual en Zelda, pero su mar convence. Ya no es 2002 y no asombra por novedoso o inaudito, pero aún se sostiene como lugar. Por su amplitud, por esa navegación libre rellenando poco a poco nuestra carta náutica, por esa búsqueda y seguimiento de mapas del tesoro, por esos encuentros (con calamares gigantes, submarinos, hasta un barco fantasma). A bordo de nuestro barquito de vela, conduciendo el viento, avistando siluetas en el horizonte, acompañados de esa pieza musical que a estas alturas sobra adjetivar. Es cierto que la "aventura" es demasiado blanda: sus mazmorras son la sucesión de acertijos insípidos y tediosos de siempre (pero peor), la escasez total de dificultad en combate elimina toda sensación de peligro y miedo y tensión, y el uso de objetos candado en tantas de sus islas hace de ellas un artificio. Pero también es cierto que, como sucede con varios Zeldas de los 90, el juego está repleto de belleza. De poética. Algo que sigo buscando y muy rara vez encuentro en videojuegos, al menos de esta forma.

Al principio del juego abandonas tu isla natal para salvar a tu hermana pequeña. Desde el barco pirata miras atrás y te despides con tristeza. Cuando ya acabado el juego y tras los créditos zarpas de nuevo con los piratas, quien se despide triste es tu hermanita desde el muelle, de vuelta y a salvo. Tú miras adelante.

¿Cuántos videojuegos y relatos japoneses hay sobre crecer? ¿Sobre la infancia y perderla, sobre la transición a la adultez y la magia e inocencia desvaneciéndose por el camino? Y, sin embargo, unos pocos Zelda destacan por encima de casi todos a ese respecto. Entre ellos, The Wind Waker es el único cuya óptica es la de afrontarlo, esta vez sí, sin mirar atrás. El único que pone la vista en el horizonte para con optimismo tomar las riendas del porvenir. Hagamos nuestro propio futuro. El viento nos llevará. DEP Kiarostami.

There's been some recent jokes regarding Elden Ring about how it's the "best unfinished finished game" around, obviously in reference to how despite its state of having enough content and variety available to do whatever you want and be satisfied, you can notice corner cuts that're as obvious as a neon sign, or as subtle as a light breeze slowly adjusting the angle of a hanged portrait outside. I've yet to touch ER myself, I want to play OG Demon Souls or Dark Souls 1 first, so my hat toss for that title is Wind Waker.

This isn't in reference to Jabun's predicament or the Triforce Quest part, the former's does feel deliberate as a thematic and narrative device to showcase Ganondorf's limitless power and control, and the latter's from people clearly just doing it all in one go instead of simply cutting it up piece by piece as you go along, like you're supposed to do. No I'm talking about some of the other stuff available.

Isn't it weird how island variety pretty much drops once you reach that second half? The way exploration unfolds makes sense, but you can notice quickly that the devs intended there to be more out-there island designs like the GC Island or Stovepipe Island, which probably was transformed and made it onto the final release as examples thanks to Hyrule Historia detailing them. Instead you have numerous Eye Reefs, Enemy Ship locations that despite trying (and sometimes succeeding) in repurposing them into something more appealing the reused area design becomes more obvious, hell even the Earth & Wind Temple seemed to have been truncated than it should've due to quickly utilizing the three remaining islands you've yet to complete, and the case of padding feeling more prevalent in those two than before.

On the note of dungeons, you ever feel like there should've been more to them? I mean I never minded the dungeons in this game, linearity be damned - this has a better package of dungeons compared to Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword, bite me - but even I'm hardpressed to say the two I mentioned before, as well as Ganon's Tower, eek out some lingering design philosophies and extensions that couldn't quite make the cut. Feels weird to have the three grandest and location-specific areas be used for bite-sized puzzles and a boss rush at the end, despite understandable application to begin with. The Ghost Ship feels like it should've been a proper, full on dungeon with how you're supposed to find it and nab the Triforce Chart (or Shard, depending on the version), but it's over about as quickly as you begin it. It's the opposite of how Majora's Mask from before handled it, having a small pool, but maximizing dungeon and puzzle elements to weave the... story... they're telling....

As I grow older and notice more flaws and cracks among my favorite games, it also funnily enough heightens the appreciation I garnered for them, and notice new things that tie into it. Dragon Roost and Forbidden Woods uses Medli and Makar starting out in order to deliver the aspect of a change of wind and generation due to one starting out determined to find and fix the cause of their habitat's change in tone and climate, and the other being a typical child klutz, doing what was ordered against and getting themselves into a bad spot cause of it. Tower Of Gods usually gets marked as where the linearity is at its most obvious, but it's kind of the point there due to the climb from the bottom to the top as you prove your worth and heroism to the Gods. I wouldn't be surprised if this same principle was the influence needed to design TP's Temple of Time dungeon as it was to begin with. Even disregarding that, the area doesn't quite have the major intent to harm you; it's a test of resolve, with its decor and ethereal atmosphere, Gohdan giving you ammo when necessary and its theme constructed with organic keys, lite drum loops, and noted bass.

Windfall Island is the closest this iteration of Zelda has to a hub, due to it being the most frequent stop on the journey, as well as being the biggest showcase of the change from the world's influence and the nature of the people. You see and can participate in events with the townspeople that, in one way or another, sort of changes how they feel about something. Giving a guy who loves the moon a colored Pictograph of its full phase, planting the various flower pots around and expanding the lot thanks to the trade quest, fixing the lighthouse thanks to the fire arrow. There's other examples of this to find and do, such as using a fairy on Link's Grandmother back in Outset Island or the numerous small activities you can do such as on Dragon Roost or Bomb Island, but little that carries this much extent.

Why did Link set out to begin with? To rescue his sister Aryll, who got kidnapped on her birthday after the two noticed and went after Tetra, which in turn served his desire to explore the Great Sea. Why did Link continue after the rescue of Aryll and even other children from Forsaken Fortress? Ganondorf kicked his shit in due to the Master Sword suffering its loss of power, and it also revealed Tetra's status as the descendant of Zelda (which admittedly in hindsight was obvious due to how the Charm worked), and is now in serious danger, pushing him even further onto the world to try and finish up. Why does Link, even after all this, continue to explore when he could hang back at Outset Island? For the adventure.

People will recommend the Wii U version, but I'm gonna be one of those people that says to stick with the original in conjunction with the Better Wind Waker hack made a few years before. While you can use Cemu's graphic pack menu to change the contrast and overall look to match as closely to the Gamecube's as possible, there's still the changes made to the treasure chart which people don't really go over cause "oooo it makes the Triforce Hunt easier". Even disregarding my eyeroll for this, quite frankly the overhaul creates new baffling scenarios than it does lighten the load. 4 of the 5 new regular charts are just Rupees, in a game where it was easy to accumulate them as well as not being as necessary to hoard due to these changes marking the deciphering cost down. Also, making the Hero's Charm, a niche item that you could theoretically get within the halfway point via 40 Joy Pendants, now the final reward of Savage Labyrinth, a combat gauntlet that you unlock at the end of the game, thereby severely limiting its time usage instead of a Piece Of Heart like before? What?

Wind Waker is an important game in my life. For my late older sibling, it's the series peak. I loved watching them play Wind Waker, and in turn trying it out myself. Returning to the game post their passing has been bitter sweet, but it's helped me realize that Wind Waker, while not perfect, is just so appealing.
Yeah, maybe the game overall is too easy. Maybe the dungeons are just okay with the exception of two, and yeah this game has you meander all over the place towards the end. But honestly, none of that really matters as much. The game is extremely charming and funny. The world is a bliss to explore, thanks to the beautiful artstyle and fun sailing. The combat is flashy and great at making you feel awesome. It tells an amazingly heartwarming story, and I love how Link's first and foremost worry isn't saving the world, it's his sister. Family is everything, and in a world where family can be fractured in just a second, I'm happy Wind Waker is here to show everything will be okay.

I often avoided Wind Waker for a long time due to the fact that I simply thought the setting was boring. And while I'm still not the biggest fan of ocean settings, I think Wind Waker does it very well.

The story for this Zelda game is actually pretty personal. Normally it's just "chosen one goes on journey with companion". This entry spices things up a lot, and I felt more compelled than usual to actually become a hero of legend. This Zelda game also works very well in this regard because this incarnation of Link is truly nothing special. Just some kid on an island, and one thing leads to another for him to step up as a hero while still being very young.

The Gameplay is good. Swordplay is pretty simple in this one, but it introduced a lot of mechanics that continued to persist in other Zelda games. Flashy sword combo's, parrying, the works. I do find the actual flourishes Link does in this game really fun to look at as well. Link's arsenal is better than ever in this game, too. Plenty of fun items to make use of, I was especially happy to see almost every item kept some sort of significance in both puzzles and fighting, which made them memorable. Deku Leaf being my personal favorite item in this game besides the staples. Controls are good, I did have a few instances of struggling with certain things like swinging on ropes and some puzzles I feel go on for too long.

This is getting a separate section, the boat. So I did not mind the boat, and the mechanics tied to it. I will give criticism however with fighting enemies in the boat. Now it doesn't happen often, but when enemies popped up, I just wanted to sail past them. You have to pull out your weapon, stop the boat, kill the enemy, and start the boat again. It's a minor complaint, and some enemies in the ocean I actually don't find annoying at all.

The artstyle is awesome. I personally remember being very skeptical about it when I always looked at it. But after playing it and seeing everything it had to offer, I really liked it. Everything is very expressive here, enemies have fun and goofy animations, and some are genuinely pretty intimidating. Hell, even Link's victory jump animation makes me laugh just because it's making great use of the artstyle they chose.

The music is inspiring. It sounds like Zelda, and feels like Zelda, but it does so well to capture that feeling of sailing on the ocean. It's very cheerful and upbeat, listening to it makes you smile, and couldn't help but hum a few songs to myself while doing stuff. I am very impressed by this soundtrack, and while it might not be as epic or intense, it doesn't need to be. It's exactly what this game needed to stick out more.

Sound effects are great. Every item has amazing sound design that's very satisfying. Enemies and Link are more vocal than ever, and it was a nice change of pace considering Link is usually just making whatever noises he makes when doing whatever. But Wind Waker Link is very vocal and diverse with reactions and noises he makes. The rest of the sound effects are also good, nothing feels out of place.

Wind Waker is certainly something to be cherished for being really unique, and still is to this day. Don't let the artstyle throw you off, it's Zelda through and through. And if you love summer feeling games, this is probably the best you can get besides Mario Sunshine. You can get Wind Waker on the Gamecube, but it got a beautiful HD port on Wii U I highly recommend, as it has a lot of quality of life stuff, and some fun new features.

Looks like this is the last game I can play before I finally need a kneeling chair for my desktop. Between this and The Minish Cap I guess I just can’t get through a Zelda game without injuring myself.

Out of all the non LTTP Zeldas I like this one the best. The hero in this one is finally a real person! He wants something very specific and he makes choices to get that thing, and he reacts to what other people say and do to him. Check out this little scene, for example. It’s sad cause he misses granma Link! And then it’s funny, because Tetra is a sassy pants to Link! He emotes now! The whole game is like this too, a cute lil Link who does cute fun stuff and then there’s fun sailing to get lost in if you want the heart pieces and sometimes the dungeons and fetch quests are a little bit of pain in the ass. You know, a real Zelda game! Oh, but it’s not a hundred hours long with a huge sandbox open world that’s been repurposed twice and full of swords that break after ten swings, so I guess it’s not the greatest game of all time

Also, thank you everyone on www.backloggd.com for letting me know about the late-game triforce fetch quest. It's exactly the kind of blatant padding I don't want to participate in, and a major reason why I just put in a code that put the triforce already on my hand. In-emulator cheats are a hell of a drug. I suppose I should take off a star because I'm sure I would have disliked it if I DID choose to make it my problem, so, four stars.

Also, why is the wind palace earthy and the earth palace windy?

This is a beautiful, fantastic game. I love nearly everything about it, but it has the weakest dungeons of any 3D Zelda game.

Dragon Roost - 7/10
Forbidden Woods - 7/10
Tower of the Gods - 7/10
Forsaken Fortress - 8/10
Earth Temple - 6/10
Wind Temple - 5/10
Ganon's Tower - 7/10

They're mostly "fine", with the Earth and Wind temples just being a drag every time I replay the game.

I love everything in the overworld and all the collectibles and quests. People complained about all the sailing when this first came out, but honestly I could cruise the Great Sea forever. Some of those temples just bring down an otherwise impeccable experience.

I always thought it was a pretty smart idea filling all the empty traversal space with water, makes the game feel a lot larger than it most likely is, and really drives home a sense of adventure when you are out at sea, at least to me. It is easily my favorite Zelda game, even if some of the other titles come very close. I prefer this version as I don't really agree with the nerf to the triforce charts, as to me, this was a pretty evident indication that one should go out and explore the rest of the game and I never really had a lot of trouble making enough rupees to fund this section of the game. The Pictobox is also one of my most favorite features in the game and I had a lot of fun completing the models. If there is one thing I would change about this game, it's likely the duration it takes to convert photos into models as I think that introduced a lot of arbitrary waiting time/having to play the same song twice every time that could have otherwise been avoided.

I love the cartoon design of Link, as well as some of the islands, boss fights and puzzles. This game is significantly improved with the Wii U version though..

Don't play the Gamecube version unless you wanna sail for five to ten minutes straight.

Oh, and Triforce Shards are still in my nightmares.

Yes it's my favorite. Yes it was my first. Yes I liked the sailing.
Seeing Wind Waker in motion was what prompted me to ask for my very first console. The title screen is one of those "you know this is going to be good" experiences. Wind Waker proves to be a laid back adventure full of memorable locales and amusing personages.
Beautiful, but mind numbingly easy. Likely an excellent first video game for someone new to the entire concept.
The randomizer proved to be an enjoyable treasure hunt to complete a few times when I was feeling nostalgic.
Oh, and the music is quite good too.

Right from the moment you witness Outset Island and the surrounding Great Sea, the player is filled with an urge to explore the wonders of Hyrule. Although the game doesn't realize all of that starting potential, the spirit of adventure manages to pervade the experience from beginning to end, something that even Breath of the Wild didn't manage for me. For this reason, I am confident in saying The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is the best game in the series.

The wasted potential comes from many of the islands not having much content or recycling the same base layout, such as the eye reefs. I believe these islands should have been combined, making the average island denser and reducing the issues people had with sailing. I actually enjoyed the sailing, especially for how it created anticipation when you see an interesting island off in the distance (the Great Sea theme is one of the all-time greats). I even think the Triforce hunt was a great idea on paper. I believe the real problem people have with it isn't the hunt itself, but rather how it's slapped in the player's face immediately after they restore the Master Sword. It ruins the pacing and isn't helped by the fact that most of the Triforce chart challenges are pretty lame. I've seen a handful of defenders argue that you could get several of the charts earlier. This is true, but this argument ignores how the game conditions the player to expect to be told where and what to do next. The game doesn't let go of your hand until you need to restore the Master Sword and even then, most players will spend their time figuring out how to access the required dungeons.

As for the dungeons themselves, they seem to have come under criticism lately for being overly linear. These people are correct, but I also think the atmosphere in each one makes up for it. Each dungeon's layout also matches the exterior. For example, Dragon Roost Cavern and Tower of the Gods are both highly vertical, which fits perfectly for climbing a volcano and tower, respectively. This is something many other Zelda dungeons sidestep by not showing the full exterior of the dungeon, so I appreciate how Wind Waker teases a majority of its dungeons to the player before revealing the entrance.

All in all, The Wind Waker is a special game, both as a product and a (literal) work of art. Despite a plethora of action-adventure games releasing over the past 20 years, it still stands as a shining example of how games can immerse us in faraway lands.

The life cycle of a Zelda game shows a clear improvement in its popularity over the years, in that the original perceived flaws are viewed more positively by the naysayers. This is particularly the case with The Wind Waker, which suffered from widespread dissent over the cel-shading issue upon its release. Nevertheless, today, a large majority of the public agrees that it is one of the great strengths of the game. Indeed, almost twenty years after its release, the title is still sublime to behold, whereas the N64 episodes have largely aged and Twilight Princess is more burdened by the weight of time.

As part of the Zelda Marathon, revisiting this opus was a rather interesting exercise. Without being one of my favourite Zelda, The Wind Waker had charmed me by its poetic of regret, which allows a swing between melancholy and joy of the present time. It is in the figure of the king and in a well-known monologue that the paradox of regret is crystallised, halfway between the past and the future. How can we not think of Kierkegaard's philosophy? Like the philosopher who puts on a fictional mask to escape the gaze of others, the king takes the form of a boat so as not to be recognised. He says it himself: he had no interest in revealing his true nature before the second trip to Hyrule. "I am a Janus bifrons," writes Kierkegaard. "One of my faces laughs, the other weeps... I unite in my own way the tragic and the comic: I am witty, people laugh – and I weep."

In Kierkegaard's view, the actor cannot maintain this charade indefinitely, since he is caught up in time and the exaltation of the play ceases at some point. The performances cease, or at any rate are only intermittent. In the last arc of the play, once the identity of the king is revealed, the masquerade no longer works and the light-hearted comedy of the talking boat also disappears. A void sets in and a disinterest in going further. The king announces that "he has planted the seeds of the future", referring to Link and Tetra, whom he bequeaths to the surface world. Yet he decides to stay under the waves, refusing to make the future his world. Better to disappear than to live with the pain of this emptiness: "I've just come back from a party where I was the soul [...] and I'd like to shoot myself in the head."

This poetics of repentance flows through the play on many occasions. All the characters seem to be driven by a sense of duty that is beyond them. Medli and Makar, once Link plays them the melodies of the Wise Men, are awakened to their true nature and accept it without question. They are aware of a higher mission, of their destiny. Makar emphasises that he accompanies Link to 'relieve the regrets of his ancestors'. It is also on the account of destiny that Ganondorf bases his quest. When he reveals his motives to Link, he makes an uncertain sentence, as if his motives were not clear to himself: 「ワシは、この風が欲しかったのかもしれぬ。」("I guess I coveted that wind.") His final sentence mentions that the wind is blowing, without it being possible to determine the nature of this wind: is it that of renewal, destruction or death? It's hard to say, but it's remarkable that this statement shifts the focus. Ganondorf, from the moment the Triforce vow was stolen from him, was no longer in control. The final battle is a kind of rebellion against fate, symbolised by Link and Zelda, the bearers of the Triforce's mark.

It is notable that the narrative economy throughout the title follows a similar pattern. The active phases of the game often occupy the mind and form a nice contrast with the passive phases – whether they are the result of cinematic or more contemplative moments, controller in hand – which press on the melancholy of the world. The characters often look away and far away, as if drawn to something absent. When Medli realises that she is the Sage of the Earth Temple, she knows she must slip away before Komali notices. A poignant scene occurs, if Link returns to the platform: Komali is waiting for Medli with a flower and, if Link returns even later, Komali is still present, but the flower will have withered. There is a kind of magic in the inconstant and the ephemeral, which give only partial signs. This is probably why there is a certain magic in the navigation – which remains, for my taste, slightly too long – in these islands appearing and disappearing with the horizon.

Yet while this poetry obviously charms, it's hard to avoid some issues: the world lacks organicity, due to its very gridded map, and the pace suffers. This is compounded by the title forcing you to explore almost every island as part of the Triforce quest, while also forcing you to go back and forth to search for various treasures. Rubies have never been a problem in the franchise, but The Wind Waker decided to change that by requiring at least 3400 rubies for the Triforce quest alone. This results in a requirement to search for treasure. Not that it's an unpleasant activity, but its compulsory nature sometimes breaks the rhythm of the game, which was not the case with the side quests of the N64 opuses, even if one can argue that a similar problem is found in the waiting times between quests in Majora's Mask.

The choice to expand the range of attacks in combos is welcome, but often leads to indistinct melees, especially when the camera is no longer tracking Link, who is backed up against a wall. Some fights can be frustrating against Darknuts, as it is not possible to parry attacks that come from an enemy outside of the L-targetting. Link's short range creates situations where it is difficult to break armour, especially when there are more than two enemies. The emphasis on combat can be regrettable, although the desire to showcase the new physics system and engine is easily understood. Nevertheless, Orca's quarter of the heart is dreadfully long, without being really interesting. The Savage Labyrinth has the same issue with lengths, as the arena is always flat, with no real tactical possibilities – unlike the sword challenges in Breath of the Wild.

These lengths build up over the course of the game, through cinematics that are impossible to skip. The Wind's Requiem and the Ballad of Gales force a six-second cutscene every time a teleportation or wind change is required, which is particularly common. The HD version counters this problem with the addition of the fast sail, and to Aonuma's credit, he already wanted to include it in the base version, but the GameCube's hardware couldn't handle it with the loading times. Some may argue that the slower navigation is part of the poetry of The Wind Waker, but a balance must be struck with accessibility and fluidity of gameplay.

My friend mentioned in our Oracles podcast that The Wind Waker was driven by a poetics of imperfection. I think that is indeed the case. It's a game full of little flaws, like a ship's hull taking on water little by little. It doesn't make it impossible to navigate, or even fundamentally unpleasant, but there is a time when the ship will sink. It is perhaps because the gameplay phases are sometimes rough, sometimes frustrating, that a certain elation emerges from the cinematics, from the journey.

Did I enjoy The Wind Waker as much as I remember? Honestly, I couldn't say. I think I was both more touched by its technical flaws and its atmospheric qualities. If there's one thing I can say for sure, it's that I'm glad I was able to revisit this game.

My overall exposure to the Zelda series has been pretty weird. Growing up I knew about them and I’ll even play some of the games like Majora’s Mask or Wind Waker; but I never really understood what I needed to do so I mostly just fucked around for 30 minutes got bored and then turned it off. I don’t remember why but for years I never bothered to get into this series because in my mind the series was about on par with really long RPGs that range from 20 to 50+ hour long stories. Eventually I played BOTW and got super sucked into the game, for almost 2 years I would play that game on and off to where I have like 200+ hours in just that game. While I didn’t really care for the story or characters I always thought it sacrificed that for the sake of its much more open-ended world design, I then played the Link's Awakening remake and I was hooked. The map layout was ingeniously designed, the progression was so solid and all of the islanders are all so memorable and charming. I loved every second of it; after that I was determined to play every single Zelda game, and then I sat on them for two years waiting to get around to them. I figured starting with Wind Waker was a smart move since I have found memories just fucking around in the Forsaken Fortress on that Zelda Gamecube demo disk; also it’s open sea map felt kinda close to what BOTW did and I figured it’d be a good jumping off point. (also it’s summer and I thought it’d get me in the mood) What I got was something I did not expect, don’t get me wrong I really liked it but it took awhile

I guess starting off I should say I had very high expectations going in since almost all of my friends who like Zelda say this is the best one. So let me just say for the first few hours of the game, I didn’t like it. None of the characters really stuck out to me, the combat felt really automated and easy, and everytime I tried going out of my way to explore the great sea the red lion would just say “oh don’t go that way you need to go over here and do this” even when I was going that way. The early dungeons were honestly really easy and short with very little puzzle solving, and all in all I wasn’t having much fun. When I played BOTW I thought the lack of real character depth was just a BOTW thing but after playing this I’ve now realized that it might just be a thing with the whole series. Zelda in the game is charming when she’s in her pirate persona but after she discovers that is the reincarnation of Zelda she does nothing for the last few hours other than get kidnapped and have a somewhat weird 180 personality change. I was also shocked at how fast I was going through the game without any real care towards the story or any real feeling of threat outside of a few enemies. That was until I unlocked the tower of the gods and was finally able to go out exploring.

Once I finally got the ability to explore the great sea and find heart pieces and meet new characters something clicked in my brain. The characters I met in Windfall started to feel charming, from the humble shopkeep, to the greedy oldman now living in the big mansion, that weird group of kids that follow you around, the eccentric photography shop owner, to even the weird guy dancing at the gravestone outside of town. They don’t have a lot of depth as characters but as charming NPCs that I remember fondly for their weird eccentricities that was enough for me, hell that can pretty much be said for every single character in the whole game not just in Windfall. On the Story front I found Ganondorf to be really intriguing, I don’t have that firm of an understanding of the characters yet since the only other version I’ve seen in a Zelda game was when he’s just an incomprehensible evil force with no character or personality. Here he’s very soft spoken and imposing force, his towering stature is so imposing yet his somewhat calm and collective appearance make it all the more intimidating, and then the mask slips off for a single second and you see a beast of raging power, hate, and wrath hiding behind that facade. For the very little screen time Ganondorf has he leaves such a lasting impact on me I have no idea how any other interpretation of the character could compare. The finale confrontation with him will probably go down as one of the most hype moments I’ve felt in a game ever, I’m serious I was at the edge of my seat the whole time

Finally I wanna talk about the overall exploration and the tone. When I found out that the very last section of the game was just “Go search the whole map for the Triforce pieces” I felt so happy, mostly because exploring this whole sea to find treasure and fight Ganondorf’s forces was for the most part the best aspect of the game for me. While I found the later dungeons fun nothing could scratch that itch that the great sea gave me; the wide open sea with seemingly an endless amount of islands with new fun characters to find and treasure to plunder I couldn’t get enough of it; I could go five plus hours just exploring the map before moving on to the next dungeon. From finding larger than life squids to fight to small ship on ship battles to even accidentally stumbling across a ghost pirate ship it felt like no matter where I went there was always something new to find or someone new to fight and even if I did think the combat is kinda eh that still didn’t stop me from searching every inch of the map for every heart piece and ruby. Oh and the music doesn't even get me started on the music, every track in the game perfectly matches up with its accompanying area and action and then some. The battle theme has this over the top bombastic sound that sets the mood perfectly or in the case of a smaller scale fight it can give it a very frantic feeling to it, the music that plays in Windfall is so peaceful and calming it just give a cozy feel to the whole town, a small little oasis to contrast with the great open sea. Still my favorite track in the whole game is sailing music, it’s over the top bombastic sound mixed with it’s serene tone make way for something I can only describe as swashbuckling; it perfectly sets the mood of your adventure and then some always getting you excited for whatever lays on the other side of the horizon, it’s just perfect.

I’m sorry if this reads like I’m all over the place more so than normal but the roller coaster of emotions I had with this game was insane. Going from mildly annoyed, to enjoying, to then more mild annoyance, to just flatout loving every second of it. I can’t think of another game that has taken me on such a ride before and honestly I wish I could go on it again. (I wonder if this is what it’s like to be a One Piece fan?) I could honestly go on and on about how much fun I had and all the memorial moments I had while playing, moments that will stick with me for a long time; but my fingers are starting to hurt from typing and I don’t wants this to sounds more incoherent then it already is so I’ll just leave it here. As to which game I like more between this or BOTW, I honestly can’t say, from everything I love about BOTW Wind Waker does it just as well if not better; but I have a stupid amount of love and fond memories of playing BOTW in high school so really we’ll have to see if anything changes going forward.

Growing up, I always had an admiration for Zelda but was also intimidated by them. I would get stuck or lost quickly in the games and give up, even if I was having fun. The Forest Temple in Twilight Princess, Snowhead from Majora’s Mask, etc. The only Zelda game I managed to finish back then was Ocarina 3D, and that was only because my eyes were glued to a walkthrough the entire time. I still had fun but didn’t feel as immersed as I could have since I wasn’t figuring anything out myself.

A Zelda game that had always caught my eye in particular was Wind Waker. Whether it was due to my affinity with the GameCube at the time or its luscious visuals and music; I knew it was a game I needed to play. Around 2019 I finally bought a copy and had plenty of fun, but personal troubles distracted me from progressing past the second dungeon.

My partner who's a huge Zelda fan came to visit me for their birthday last year. They suggested we play Wind Waker with the tingle tuner, which I was absofruitly down with. We managed to progress further than I ever had in a Zelda game (besides Ocarina), and I still couldn’t put it down after they returned home.

Almost about all aspects of Wind Waker appealed to me perfectly. I already mentioned how wonderful I found the art style and music, but the story also left me captivated. I won’t be going into much detail, but the arc Link goes through resonated with me more than anything else. That’s not to mention all the other characters I loved. Komali, Medli, & Tetra in particular were my favourites. Hell, even side characters such as Salvatore and Beedle were so charming that I couldn’t help but adore them.

When I say Wind Waker is some of the most fun I’ve ever had with a video game, I am not sugarcoating that. Admittedly, while playing, I could easily see why plenty of aspects of the game could be a turnoff for others. Did that deter me, though? Not at all.

Truth be told, sailing across the ocean might have been my favourite part. It felt like exploring uncharted land. I was always interested in which island I would find next. Hunting for treasure was also way more satisfying than I remember it being. With how much I was loving the experience, I went out of my way to fully complete the game. (minus the Nintendo gallery because I didn’t have time for it) Even while I was repeating the same stupid minigame, I was having the time of my life.

Of course, I did have to look up a walkthrough for secrets and side quests, but as far as the main story went, I was usually able to figure out the solution on my own. The dungeons are some of the easiest of 3D Zelda, but they're still hecka creative with their puzzles and items. And considering I tended to get lost in Zelda games before I played WW, (when I first played Ocarina, I literally got stuck in the Deku Tree) I greatly appreciated the lower difficulty.

The moment I finished Wind Waker, I knew it was one of my favourite games ever. After years of trying Zelda titles and putting them down, I had finally managed to feel fully immersed in at least one of them. If Wind Waker was able to open my eyes up to how phenomenal the Zelda franchise truly was, then I was excited to see what made other games in the series special.

Now, I can easily say Zelda is one of my favourite franchises ever. For the most part, it's failed to disappoint. While other games are certainly more challenging and complex than this one, Wind Waker is still incredibly valuable to me. I can see its glaring issues, but it has so much heart and soul and is still one of the most fun and magical experiences I've had with a video game. So, thank you, Wind Waker. Because of you, my brain is permanently rotted with your franchise!

(Replay) This week I went from someone who pretended to not like Wind Waker to someone who can't even pretend to not like Wind Waker.
The dungeons suck, let's get it out of the way. There's only one that requires even a little bit of navigational skills. However, regarding the gameplay, I found myself enjoying the Great Sea a lot more this time. It's not great but it's ok. It's fine. I don't have a problem with it.
The Triforce quest is still pretty indefensible but I know that's fixed a bit in the HD version.
As for the story, wowee I don't remember it being this good. I can't decide if I like it more than OoT's or not, but there are some high-ass peaks in this game because of some great dialogue and a fantastic thematic buildup and its connections to the Hero of Time's lore are wonderful. The final boss and ending made me ascend. The game also just has wonderful vibes/atmosphere in general.
The soundtrack also just might be my favorite so far in these replays. Not quite as many memorable songs as OoT, but still lots of amazing originals and the usage of leitmotifs from the game itself and the whole series is 10/10.
Glad I replayed this game.

nintendo intentionally made wind waker to have high highs and low lows to emulate the tide (sike, it's just a gamecube game)

this can be easily demonstrated by having the best sound design combat and entire sections with nothing more than 2 tuba sounds every 45 seconds in the same game

i didn't even remotely like a single dungeon in this game, which goes doubly for the copy pasted boss rush at the end but also didn't dislike one second spent sailing or any single character

lovely atmosphere though i can't be mad

Aside from the art style that was mired in unfair controversy, the highlight of Wind Waker as a Zelda game is the sense of exploration. Unfortunately the actual act of exploring can be frustrating and tedious. As much as I love taking in the art and the music on the high seas, sailing gets old very quickly, and exploration goes unrewarded for almost all of the game. Early on in the game, islands mostly fall into two categories: Islands that are significant later in the story but not now, and side islands that can't be plundered without items from later in the game. Once the player reaches a point in the game where they can be reasonably confident that exploring will not be a waste of time, they end up doing a world tour and uncovering the whole map at once, zone by zone, rather than slowly over the course of the game, which I think is a shame. The last few minutes of the game are incredible and the opening is quite strong as well... it's the middle that's the problem. Dungeons are adequate fail to impress and it certainly feels as though one or more were cut from the game. The mandatory late-game world-spanning scavenger hunt is always a risky trope, and it's implementation here is pretty infamously poor. One would think that finding a piece of the Triforce wouldn't be as unceremonious as just scraping it off the ocean floor. The HD version wisely moves the pieces instead to the locations that once held the charts which led to them. This also cuts out the excruciating fees that Tingle demands in his role as middleman and the game is better for it.

Wind Waker was to a beginning quite clunky when it comes to the controls, but it's something you get used to as you progress, at the same time you have to remember that this beaut of a gem was made in 2002.

Even if it isn't per definition an open world game, it still shares significant resemblances with Breath of the Wild, such as the open-world type of world where you can cruise around between different islands that all differ from one another in some kind of way.

There's a lot to love about Wind Waker, such as the cartoon-ish yet beautiful artstyle, the vast and expansive world, it's characters, and last but not least the great and emotional story.

If you can’t stand the sailing, you only want the first half of the action/adventure genre.

Even though Four Swords was released a year beforehand, Wind Waker is the game that put the overly expressive Toon Link on the map. This is the game that truly began his massive and storied career. They never shoulda called him Toon Link, they shoulda called him Link and every other iteration “Realistic Link”. Dude’s been in more games than any other Link. Put some respect on my man’s name.

But anyway,

With iconic visuals inspired by the 1963 animated movie: The Little Prince and the Eight Headed Dragon; what used to be the “too cartoony” Zelda game is now one of the most timeless of them all. Aside from some crunchy textures here and there, 2003’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker looks just as good as (or really, better than) its dubiously necessary 2013 HD remake. At just a glance, Wind Waker is a game for the ages.

Looking deeper than that glance, Wind Waker is a lot of things. It’s a game about exploring a vast ocean, and in doing so, make it feel smaller. It’s a story about being turned into a secret weapon during the last gasp of a long and drawn out war. Its a story about clawing for the present while important players around you can’t feel their fingers from clutching the past. It’s a bright and cheery time full of memorable and lovable characters. It is the post-apocalyptic continuation of an epic that will leave you hopeful for the harrowing future. It also feels like something is missing.

Wind Waker is a direct sequel to Ocarina of Time, but not Majora’s Mask. I mean this in both a story and a mechanical sense. There’s no three day timer here. But it’s not a full retread of what made Ocarina of Time what it is. The Hyrule Field of old has been flooded and your big open playground is now the even bigger, and more open Great Sea.

And that Great Sea is peppered with 49 islands with various things to do and folks to meet, like the soon-to-be cornerstone of Zelda: Beedle. You can chase after flatulent pigs under the shining sun or fight the shrieking undead in the darkest depths. You can collect more rupees than you were ever able to carry and spend it all on the local auction.

According to the game, the water in the sea is cursed and can’t bear any fish so I guess everyone has been getting by on eating those flatulent pigs, but it does them well because the people of this new Hyrule are as lively and memorable as ever.

But you have to get on your boat and set sail to meet them.

Now, the sailing is probably the biggest point of contention about Wind Waker. That honor used to go to the visuals but I imagine we’ve all grown past that. But I still hear talk of Wind Waker followed up with a smug but regretful “yeah, there’s just too much sailing in it” and while I personally don’t agree with that sentiment (you eventually get the ability to warp around the map), I can understand where they’re coming from.

There is more of a disconnect between how Link moves on foot and on boat than there is between Link and Epona the horse from previous games. Link can run, roll, jump and “hiyah” his way through the environment with ease and comfort. In Wind Waker, Link’s continuous rolling can gain a bit of momentum, making traversal even more fun and easy, not to mention how cartoonishly high his jump attack is. Both Epona and the King of Red Lions are focused on speed across long distances and not necessarily agility. And even though the boat is more fully featured than the horse that came before it (you can use all your long range items as well as bombs on the boat, at this point you could only loose arrows on horseback), sailing is more of a different Mode of play, rather than a choice to be made while playing. You could, if you wanted to, go through Ocarina of Time without riding Epona because you don’t like it. You have no choice but to sail in Wind Waker. Again, I don’t have a problem with this.

If sailing really is that big of a problem for you, I recommend the speed running trick called Sail Pumping. Repeatedly unfurling and putting away your sail in a rhythm takes advantage of the initial jolt of speed you get when you first take the sail out.

The only minor problem particular to sailing I have is that changing the direction of the wind with the titular Wind Waker baton takes a little bit longer than it probably should. The HD version speeds this up, which is a welcome change. That being said, I don’t necessarily believe that something like the HD Remake’s Swift Sail is a positive change. The sailing really didn’t need to be sped up like that. Its a part of the adventure. It’s some delightful Quiet Time. I suppose I phrased that a little erroneously, as half the time spent sailing will be backed by one of the best Zelda themes of all time.

It’s a Zelda game. The music is gonna be good, I don’t need to say much more than that.

If you really gotta complain about the boat in Wind Waker, complain about the salvaging. You can find yourself boating around in circles trying to fish up that treasure. It’s maybe my least favorite thing about the game.

If you aren’t a Zelda Freak like me that has to 100% every game, you can avoid salvaging over 50 times and just do it the mandatory 8 times, during the last stretch of the game. That last stretch is sadly, where my actual least favorite thing about the game rears it’s ugly and forlorn head: that it comes to an end too soon.

Wind Waker came out only three years after Majora’s Mask. That’s a big technological leap in such a small and stressful amount of time. And because of that, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that corners were cut. One of those corners was the number of dungeons, as alluded to in a 2013 IGN interview with Wind Waker’s director Eiji Aonuma where he states that two of its dungeons were repurposed for later Zelda games (my guess is most likely Twilight Princess).

It’s pretty nice to know that the dungeons weren’t lost to time, but I would have liked to live in a world where Wind Waker could afford to get the extra dev time to have those two dungeons.

So you beat the 5 dungeons and the quests and met everyone and done everything and maybe even taken a picture of everything to get figurines made of them. Time to go to the endgame and go through what is basically an elaborate boss rush before the final boss.

But when you get to that final boss, you’re given dialogue that makes this game’s Ganondorf the uncontested best Ganondorf in Zelda. The fight is nothing crazy, but the character, the pathos. We meet him multiple times throughout the game and each time we see a bit more of him. It establishes his villainy and then gives us his motives. It is a shame that we haven’t come close to this introspective iteration of the King of Evil since.

I have beaten The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker at least five times. I haven’t gotten every figurine yet, and I will eventually, but otherwise I’ve 100%ed everything else at least three times. I’ve also done a three heart run and it turned out to be a very disappointing time. There was no adventure!

Wind Waker is an excellent game that under-stays its welcome. It feels good in the hands, and there’s tons of toys to play with, the music is great, the sights are lovely. I recommend it to anyone who wants an adventure. You’ll no doubt end up like me and wanting more (that’s where the equally excellent fan-made randomizer comes in.)

I never quite understood the (partial) criticism this game received when it was released back in the day. I really enjoyed the cel-shaded graphics since they provided a unique look and I think it's safe to say that after all these years it was the correct choice single its style and looks remain timeless.

In many ways, this was the next mainline console Zelda game after Ocarina of Time (Majora's Mask felt like an 'expansion' or spin-off game to gamers back then) and that put a lot of weight on the shoulders of this game, thus failing to meet a lot of expectations for some fans. Personally, I think that Wind Waker is one of the best Zelda games, everything in this game from graphics, soundtrack, gameplay and dungeon design are top-notch creating an excellent Zelda game. There are some bits that drag the game a bit such as the Triforce bits collection towards the end of the game but for the most part I believe this is one of the best Zelda games out there and definitely worth having in your collection.