In honour of the sport’s arrival on Swap 2 as a part of the Nintendo Classics GameCube lineup, this is our new retro assessment of one among Hyperlink’s most memorable adventures…
If I had been to place collectively a listing of my favorite pre-Swap-era Zelda video games, people who got here earlier than the franchise-transforming Breath of the Wild, the place would 2002’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker slot in?
It is an fascinating one, a divisive sport for a few causes, however for me personally it lands within the prime three, which — contemplating there are over 40 video games to select from (if we go all in with spin-offs) — is a reasonably good end result.
Sure, some might have baulked on the cel-shaded graphics once they had been revealed (did not get the hate then, do not get it now), while others noticed the entire wind-conducting and crusing about in a ship as a waste of time, however I completely adored all the pieces about it. There can also have been the odd fan who’d kind of grown up with the grittier Ocarina Hyperlink, who then did not welcome this return to youthful and extra harmless/cutesy days, however we’re positive they received over it as soon as they performed the factor.
Due to course, this can be a Zelda sport that is come to be nearly universally cherished over time, with any perceived flaws or design dislikes smoothed over as soon as gamers received to grips with its succession of pleasant dungeons whose deviousness comes as a pleasant shock when you think about the lovable, vibrant nature of director and sequence producer Eiji Aonuma’s daring graphical overhaul.
Like all nice sport on this sequence, Wind Waker is a masterclass in how an journey sport ought to stream, by way of narrative, by way of the way it doles out its new instruments and upgrades, and in the way it always raises the bar as regards to dungeons that take a look at you at each flip. As soon as you have gotten into its rhythms and made peace with crusing round, settling right into a slower tempo at occasions as you journey round this most beguiling of worlds, it is onerous to not be very impressed certainly, even when you’re not 100% a fan of the (wonderful) artwork model.
There’s a fascinating high quality — a Saturday morning TV serial kind of allure — to this pirate journey that, each single time I sit right down to play it, attracts me proper in. I need to shimmy alongside its ledges, grapple and swing on its ropes, glide with an enormous leaf by way of its…undergrowth? Who on earth would not need to spend an entire bunch of time exploring these delights?
Gameplay
Full Accessibility Report
Knowledge by Household Gaming Database
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, on this GameCube kind, is lacking the nips and tucks and an HD lick of paint from the later Wii U revamp. However actually, it makes little or no distinction – effectively, so long as the faster boat wasn’t a killer repair for you. Some might even want the unique’s color tone, so you are not lacking any actual game-changing advantages in sticking with the basic kind.
And what a kind! This can be a splendidly streamlined, manageable, and always partaking slice of Zelda. It does not lavatory you down in busywork (hey, Tears of the Kingdom’s Depths), and seeks to allure, shock and excite at each flip.
You may come to like crusing your (speaking) raft, I would wager, even come to like all of the little repetitive rituals which might be half and parcel of setting off for a brand new journey. Sure, it may be a bit tedious, however it’s so in contrast to different video games, having all this peaceable area to mill round in while you fill within the sport’s pleasant little chart of 49 puzzle-y islands. What an journey.
Second Opinion
It took me some time to get into Wind Waker’s manner of doing issues. It isn’t a sport you may rush; you have to get pleasure from the journey, sitting again with a cuppa and watching the ocean change color and swell as day turns to nighttime. It’s important to maintain a watch out for monsters, in fact, however you’ll want to benefit from the sea breeze – and you will swear you may odor the salt within the air.
The audio is one other issue on this sport’s unimaginable ambiance. Its integration into fight, with every blow accompanied by rising notes, is a large a part of Wind Waker’s character and animated allure.
This treasure is one price trawling, and one I believe has solely gotten higher with age. If Wind Waker set sail with out you final time, bounce aboard on Swap 2.
Gavin Lane
Editor, Nintendo Life
It is the kind of sport whose sandy seashores and windswept waves linger lengthy within the reminiscence. It is also received top-of-the-line variants of Hyperlink, so stuffed with expression and goofiness, when you’ve got any misgivings entering into, you may probably have been put comfortable by the point the unbelievable tutorial opener is finished.
This most vigorous and acrobatic of heroes can be a dab hand relating to fight, providing you with a recent and slick tackle the sequence’ decades-old, lock-on model of battle that also feels completely nice to this present day, with its swishy sword tips and flipping round. In the event you come to Zelda for the standard stream of sensible new instruments and upgrades that maintain issues recent as an epic narrative unfurls, effectively, you are in for time, too. The dungeons and storyline listed below are series-best stuff (once more, pre-BOTW). I will not spoil it, when you’re one of many few who’ve but to play it, however let’s simply say that, apart from one or two rushed sequences close to the top, this can be a cracker, and a sport that manages to finish in an curiously downbeat, dark-ish manner.
In the event you come for cute cities packed stuffed with red-nosed NPCs, bizarre shopkeepers, tons of collectibles, goofy aspect quests, and sufficient entertaining aspect stuff to balloon the operating time from 30ish hours for a campaign-focused run, to across the 70-hour mark for full 100% completion, this outdated chestnut nonetheless has it the place it counts. Zelda’s kooky, eccentric model of worldbuilding by no means permits you to down, and that is not one thing that modified with this entry.
So, you are not getting the flashy HD model right here, clearly, and the unique — as a lot as I personally don’t have any points with it — does do issues a bit…effectively…it may be clunky at occasions, for positive. The faster boat is a pleasant factor to have, for instance that a lot, and it stings as soon as you have had it on Wii U after which need to go with out.
There’s additionally that one godawful late-game questathon that they shortened for the HD revamp ( the one), however once more that is not a lot a deal-breaker as a barely annoying little bit of padding. Nonetheless, price noting because it’s one among my valuable few precise points with this pleasant, ‘toon-styled romp, although.
Aside from these hang-ups, although, Zelda: The Wind Waker, from its gloriously sunny opening to its (kinda darkish) ending, is a blast, and one among my favorite Zelda video games general. In truth, solely A Hyperlink to the Previous and Majora’s Masks prime this one for me, if we’re speaking pre-BotW. I’ve replayed it a couple of occasions now, and it by no means loses the ability to attract you in, when you’re over the hump of the tutorial and into the meat of the deviously pleasant dungeons on supply. What a timeless deal with.
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
