In honour of the sport’s arrival on Swap 2 as a part of the Nintendo Classics GameCube lineup, this is our new retro overview of one in every of Hyperlink’s most memorable adventures…
If I have been to place collectively an inventory 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 attention-grabbing one, a divisive recreation for a few causes, however for me personally it lands within the high 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 have 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 may 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 bought over it as soon as they performed the factor.
Due to course, it is a Zelda recreation that is come to be nearly universally beloved over time, with any perceived flaws or design dislikes smoothed over as soon as gamers bought 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 collection producer Eiji Aonuma’s daring graphical overhaul.
Like several nice recreation on this collection, Wind Waker is a masterclass in how an journey recreation ought to movement, by way of narrative, by way of the way it doles out its new instruments and upgrades, and in the way it continuously raises the bar close 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 instances as you journey round this most beguiling of worlds, it is laborious to not be very impressed certainly, even for those who’re not 100% a fan of the (wonderful) artwork model.
There’s a fascinating high quality — a Saturday morning TV serial kind of appeal — 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 a giant leaf by means of its…undergrowth? Who on earth would not need to spend an entire bunch of time exploring these delights?
Gameplay
Full Accessibility Report
Information 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 – nicely, so long as the quicker boat wasn’t a killer repair for you. Some might even favor the unique’s color tone, so you are not lacking any actual game-changing advantages in sticking with the traditional kind.
And what a kind! It is a splendidly streamlined, manageable, and continuously participating slice of Zelda. It would not lavatory you down in busywork (howdy, Tears of the Kingdom’s Depths), and seeks to appeal, 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 are 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 house to mill round in while you fill within the recreation’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 recreation you possibly can 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. You need to preserve a watch out for monsters, after all, however it is advisable benefit from the sea breeze – and you may swear you possibly can odor the salt within the air.
The audio is one other issue on this recreation’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 appeal.
This treasure is one price trawling, and one I feel has solely gotten higher with age. If Wind Waker set sail with out you final time, soar aboard on Swap 2.
Gavin Lane
Editor, Nintendo Life
It is the kind of recreation whose sandy seashores and windswept waves linger lengthy within the reminiscence. It is also bought among the finest variants of Hyperlink, so filled with expression and goofiness, you probably have any misgivings getting in, you will doubtless have been put comfortable by the point the implausible tutorial opener is completed.
This most energetic and acrobatic of heroes can also be a dab hand in the case of fight, providing you with a recent and slick tackle the collection’ decades-old, lock-on model of battle that also feels completely nice to at the present time, with its swishy sword methods and flipping round. If you happen to come to Zelda for the standard movement of good new instruments and upgrades that preserve issues recent as an epic narrative unfurls, nicely, you are in for a superb time, too. The dungeons and storyline listed below are series-best stuff (once more, pre-BOTW). I will not spoil it, for those who’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, it is a cracker, and a recreation that manages to finish in an curiously downbeat, dark-ish manner.
If you happen to come for cute cities packed filled with red-nosed NPCs, bizarre shopkeepers, tons of collectibles, goofy aspect quests, and sufficient entertaining aspect stuff to balloon the working 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 enables 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 haven’t any points with it — does do issues a bit of…nicely…it may be clunky at instances, for positive. The quicker boat is a pleasant factor to have, as an 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 (you understand 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 in every of 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 in every of my favorite Zelda video games general. In truth, solely A Hyperlink to the Previous and Majora’s Masks high this one for me, if we’re speaking pre-BotW. I’ve replayed it just a few instances 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.
