Wind Waker is a gorgeous game with some of the most incredible facial expression ever put to screen, and yet it is held back by some heinous game design that hinders an otherwise enjoyably cosy adventure game.
The sense of adventure and exploration on the high seas for example is mired by increasingly irritating features such as the insistence players must stop their venture to conduct the fucking winds in order to make any changes to their course less painful, which only succeeds in leaving you more bitter that the game lacks fast travel from island to island.
If a side quest requires you to backtrack for some indetermimal item you may often find yourself writing it off, as no number of seagulls majestically flying overhead or easy rupee collecting is going to make that venture any less tedious, I regret to report.
These annoyances can also seep into the gameplay experienced on the various islands you must work your way through, most notably on the very first hostile island you encounter, which features areas where one wrong move can result in you having to retrace your steps from the past twenty minutes all over again.
Aw here, you let go of a button too early when waiting for your lil green lad to scootch across a chasm? Eat shit pal, time to sneak past a bunch of beef up bipedal warthogs with lanterns and spears again.
Maybe I am spoilt by the leniancy of games that proceeded it, or maybe I expect more of it due to the pedigree of other Zelda installments, but I have found Wind Waker to at it's best be a simple wee romp of oceanic adventures, though at its worst and more often than not a slog which I question if I can be bothered to see through.
Having said that, the way the big man and his gang of youths strut about the place atop Windfall Island means I cannot see this game out at anything lower than a three star score, and then I'm also shaving off a half star because it gave me a sense of insecurity that I'm just not very good at it and it's actually really good and that everyone else is right about this and I'm in the wrong.
It's awwite.
The sense of adventure and exploration on the high seas for example is mired by increasingly irritating features such as the insistence players must stop their venture to conduct the fucking winds in order to make any changes to their course less painful, which only succeeds in leaving you more bitter that the game lacks fast travel from island to island.
If a side quest requires you to backtrack for some indetermimal item you may often find yourself writing it off, as no number of seagulls majestically flying overhead or easy rupee collecting is going to make that venture any less tedious, I regret to report.
These annoyances can also seep into the gameplay experienced on the various islands you must work your way through, most notably on the very first hostile island you encounter, which features areas where one wrong move can result in you having to retrace your steps from the past twenty minutes all over again.
Aw here, you let go of a button too early when waiting for your lil green lad to scootch across a chasm? Eat shit pal, time to sneak past a bunch of beef up bipedal warthogs with lanterns and spears again.
Maybe I am spoilt by the leniancy of games that proceeded it, or maybe I expect more of it due to the pedigree of other Zelda installments, but I have found Wind Waker to at it's best be a simple wee romp of oceanic adventures, though at its worst and more often than not a slog which I question if I can be bothered to see through.
Having said that, the way the big man and his gang of youths strut about the place atop Windfall Island means I cannot see this game out at anything lower than a three star score, and then I'm also shaving off a half star because it gave me a sense of insecurity that I'm just not very good at it and it's actually really good and that everyone else is right about this and I'm in the wrong.
It's awwite.