i played this after madness returns so i was a little spoiled by how polished it was compared to this which of course makes sense. also i played the original game on disc for pc which is a mess to set up for controller since it wasnt supposed to be played with one. once i was done with that tho (thx to xpadder still existing), this game was a huge journey. at some points i believe it was even a little bit more immersive than the sequel. its also nice having alice hang on to objects since that was always a point that bothered me when playing the platforming elements of madness returns.
it looks nice, has really cool voice acting and an amazing story. its worth looking into it and crying about the fact the 3rd game was canceled.

the legend of zelda phantom hourglass is a direct sequel to wind waker. it basically starts right where wind waker finishes.
and boy, i had so much fun with this game. i do not really understand whats so wrong with the touchpen controls. to me they seemed really smooth once you got the hang of it. the dungeons are short but really fun to play through. they use each dungeon item in really cool ways and the boomerang in this game is easily one of my favorite items in a zelda game ever. (the statisfaction when putting all switches with one shoot is... mhhh 🤌)
the characters introduced in this game grow on you and make the ending so bittersweet and touching.
linebeck is probably one of the greatest written characters in any zelda game. his development and growth is absolutely human and makes you love him while playing the game. ciela, while re using navis "hey" in this game for her, is charming and cute, not even once annoying in my opinion.
this game is one if not the best 2d zelda there is.
i enjoyed it a lot.