The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

"An incredible experience, but then there was that huge blue thing…"

The Legend of Zelda series has come from perhaps the most humble of roots and gone through many changes in its lifetime. Every game, in fact, the main characters change though their spirits remain the same. Let’s not fool ourselves, though. There is not a single Zelda fan alive who had not heard of this game a year ago, and in that time the Wind Waker has probably become one of the most controversial games made (besides the XXX biker and DOA Volleyball). In the time since its first unveiling, a time not too long ego when everyone hid their eyes and prayed that the demon child of cel-shading would vanish and the real Link would appear again, the Wind Waker has survived on the merit of its gameplay. In motion, the game and graphics were supposed to become an experience no one would forget. That’s great to hear, and great to say, but what is the truth?

Like everyone who has ever played a Zelda will tell you, the main focus is in the challenge of completion. It is no simple task to have a completed file, a full file with every heart, with every bonus item, with all the miniscule secrets unlocked. It isn’t easy, and it almost seems like even today it isn’t possible without referring to some kind of guide at least once. These games are just that hard, and I love them. However, what made these games hard in the past and what makes the Wind Waker hard seem to be very different. Whereas the past games relied heavily upon skill with your weapons and knowledge of the areas surrounding you, this game tends to rely upon your timing on waves (which I like to refer to ass “dumb luck”) and your ability to sail for ten minutes just to torn around and go right back where you came from.

This game tries too hard.

The controls are basically the same as the N64 games when it comes to dry land maneuvering. You get Link, the fun-loving badass, find him a sword and shield, and then proceed to flip around your foes without getting a scratch while dicing them to tiny bits. This is Zelda in all its glory. In fact, they even tweaked the battle system a little bit allowing you to do dodge-counters. This was really quite a cool addition, I found. It basically tests your timing skills, as right before you’re about to take a hit, the A button will flash. Hit it, and Link does something insanely cool which ultimately results in 1) the opponent’s blow missing you and, 2) you decimating them with your current weapon. How much better could it get? Well, buckle up friends, because this is the smallest change. The one we all heard about, and the one that never ceases to amaze me, is the ability for Link to grab and use ANY weapon dropped by an enemy. Yes, you read that correctly. If you’re fighting some moblin who has a huge sword that you think is stronger than yours (and it is, trust me), you can knock it out of his hand. Not only that, but if you beat him to picking it up, you can then finish him off with it. Then, after you’re done with him, you can throw it at his buddy, pick up the axe he dropped, and then finish him off with either weapon, or both in a rotating pattern! This is Zelda heaven!

You’re on cloud nine and it’s got to be great, right? Unfortunately, next you have to get through the dungeons, and then the boss battles. There are, depending on how you count, about eight of these dungeons, and what really annoyed me was their difficulty. Now calm down, these things are supposed to be hard, right? That’s one think Zelda prides itself on. I agree. The problem here is that I died far more often on the pointless maneuvers in the dungeons than I ever did from combat. In fact, I went through 4 dungeons before a boss killed me. This seems a bit strange to me, but perhaps I just expected more from these epic-looking encounters. What happens next, though? You have to leave your dungeon, which often then means you leave your island. This is where all hell breaks loose. To go somewhere, you need the wind to be with you. Unfortunately, this requires you to remember the appropriate song, and then time your wand waving to the correct beat. This really isn’t so bad, except it’s far worse than the ocarina ever was. In fact, you don’t even get to play anything here – you conduct. The Wind Waker (for which the game is named) sickened me so much that I constantly found myself wondering if I could cheat somehow and bring back the ocarina. Please, someone somewhere had to have mercy on my soul, right? No, sorry. We get to conduct, and now that the wind is with us, we get to hit the seas.

The ocean is a cruel master.

The ocean is what makes this game entirely different from every other Zelda you will ever wish to play. It is a blue, opaque, and gelatinous mass that could be water (which would explain the sound effects). It takes the cartoony feel of the game and embraces it, I admit, but that isn’t all it does. It also takes your enjoyment level, pumps it into the toilet, and flushes it all away. The ocean in this game is everywhere. You literally cannot go anywhere (except maybe a dungeon) where the ocean isn’t a few rooms from your sight. You look north, and there it is. You look south, and there it is. You look up into the sky, and… oh wait, that’s just a different, poorly animated blue thing. The ocean is not just ugly, though. It is also completely user-unfriendly. Say you want to get from island A to island B. Believe it or not, that isn’t a problem. You simply jump into your boat, sail for 10 minutes, then jump out to swim to shore. However, if you want to go from island A to point-in-the-ocean B you had better have an extra few minutes. Fine-tuning in a boat is impossible.

This is perhaps the most annoying aspect of the entire game. You cannot possibly navigate to where you want to go and be 100% efficient. Important locations on the ocean are typically marked with graphical circles of light, and these are great. However, they disappear when you get too close, so all you can go by is the audible chanting sound. Yes, this is an incredibly cool effect, but it makes navigation nearly impossible. Also, the sheer number of items you have to find at sea to find everything is unbearable. First let’s worry about the charts, and then the items the charts point to. We also occasionally have to worry about finding the annoying fish, who happens to be the only creature able to give us a reliable map of the tile we’re in on the map. Collecting isn’t so bad, or it wouldn’t be, but having to do it on this ocean kills any patience you might have had. The most ironic piece to this puzzle is that, though Link is surrounded by water, he cannot even swim properly! Yep, going for an extended time (like 20 seconds) leads to death. Completely lose any thought of going under the water, too. That just won’t happen.

It’s… beautiful… *sniffle*

Enemy designs in this game are incredible, and I’m not just talking the bosses. Yes, they’re huge, creative, colorful, and awe-inspiring, but that only lasts the few seconds it takes Link to demean them with his pathetically small sword, which somehow manages to pack more punch than Ali in his prime. In fact, all the graphics for this game are great, despite their unrealistic cel-shading. Though you cannot tell every grain of sand on a beach, you should watch Link’s eyes follow the fireflies flitting around him in the forests. You might not be able to tell what sex some of these kids are, but you sure can tell what Link or any of them think by their facial expressions. Heaven forbid we touch on the graphical prowess this baby shows during combat. As previously mentioned, the combat engine is perfect Zelda, and the graphics somehow manage to make it all beautiful, even when you get smacked by a cannonball, stone fist, or giant sword of dark energy. The fact that battles also frequently occur in areas full of waist-high grasses, each with individually detailed leaves, also adds a bit of flair to the already impressive visuals. Who needs sand, right?

The sounds in this game are beautiful. No matter where you go, you will probably recognize a few licks off an old Zelda game. Remixes and straight conversions of familiar tracks are very popular in this game’s repertoire. The only real complaints I seem to have in the sound department come from the overly annoying, semi-voice acting that the Zelda games have become privy to lately. I still wince when I recall Navi saying, “Hey – Listen!” We won’t even begin talking about Tingle... In this game, perhaps the most annoying character to listen to is the central shop owner, and fittingly enough you have to visit him to get lots of things, like bait. You use bait far more than you’d realize, and though it’s inexpensive, it’s a painful experience. Listening to his “Thaaaank Youuuu” one more time will drive me to homicide. I’m sure of it.

When it all comes down to it, any Zelda game has the potential to be great simply by building off of the previous games. The problem is when you try to reinvent something that clearly works so well that millions are absolutely in love with it. The changes between the Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, for example, sparked lots of arguments between fans. Those games at least left Link land locked. Though the Wink Waker continues to bring excellence in terms of sound quality, beautiful melodies, and entrancing graphical presentations, it fell down on the one aspect it so highly proclaimed: gameplay. It has been said that a man may float on water, but he may also drown in it. This game sank, drowned, got covered by sediment, and burned eternally in the inner depths of the planet’s core. You will easily spend over half of your clock time on the ocean, and this fact makes dealing with it unbearable. Navigation depends predominantly on the wind, which yes you can control, but it requires even more wasted time in conducting.

The enjoyment of this game basically comes down to one question: “how long do I think I can play this game before I throw my controller against the wall from frustration?” I strongly suggest you consider that as you play, and save often, because controller throwing is a very temperamental thing. It could happen to you at any time. Be warned! It is an incredible experience when your feet are on land, but when they get wet, pray the pain will end swiftly.


Gameplay: 6/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 9/10
Replay: 5/10

Overall: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/12/03, Updated 04/12/03