82 replies to this topic

[daroga]

I'm just getting into the Zelda series. My friends have all been Zelda nuts for a long time and since I owned all of them, I figured it was about time to start enjoying them. I started with Link's Awakening DX and then rocked through Zelda 1. All the while I was working my way through Wind Waker on the cube. I must say, for all the flak this game gets, I really, really enjoyed. The play control is spot on, the levels are fun, and I simply adore the bright, vivid art style. A departure from OoT, no doubt, but WW really feels like the top-down Zeldas in 3D in its style.

I thought the sailing was pretty fun, exploring all the little islands. It could've had a few more dungeons, I'll admit, and it could've been a tad more challenging (I beat it easily with only 1 heart on the second row), but I think the attention to the detail in the little things just about made up for the somewhat lacking big things like extra dungeons. I love how the story linked intmately with OoT (which I haven't played through yet, but know the story well). Going back to OoT I can really feel how the gameplay tightened up for Wind Waker.

I was prepared to be disappointed by this game because of all the flack it had gotten. In my opinion, it was almost all wholly unjustified.

I simply cannot wait for Twilight Princess. I just hope I can get through Link to the Past, OoT, and Majora's Mask before then.

[Chris in Cali]

I honestly didn't care for it, it's by far my least favorite Zelda game in the series (not counting Four Swords for the GCN).

[Jaket]

response to the title...

me

[Friend of Sonic]

I hate that nigga Wind Waker he owes me money and shit.

[willardhaven]

Better game than Zelda 64.

[Rig]

Well, out of all the (major) Zelda titles, Wind Wake and Majora's Mask are the only two I've never finished. (MM was nearly finished, but my damn Gamecube copy kept locking up!) I don't know why it couldn't hold my attention. I really hated that dungeon (the first one??) where you had to sneak around. Maybe that's why I never played much further...

[Reality's Fringe]

The only people who don't like it are Nazis, and people who can't ger past cell-shading for some reason. I think it might be sexual.

[daroga]

The only people who don't like it are Nazis, and people who can't ger past cell-shading for some reason. I think it might be sexual.

wow, that was rather... blunt

I reall dug the cell-shading. It let them add far more expression to the characters than is possible with traditionally modeled characters. And in a world of GTA-themed games, it was a nice departure back to the "golden age" of the brightly colors NES/SNES/Genesis games. Don't get me wrong, cell-shading can be just awful, but well exectued (Naruto GNTs, WW, etc.), it's one of the more beautiful ways I've seen game displayed.

[Arakias]

better than ocarina, but the sailing kills it - i never played majoras or the newer gameboy ones.

[AshesofWake]

the gameplay was just lacking for me, none of it was fun, the puzzles just seemed stupid. but the graphics were just amazing, kept me playing. Ocarina will always be my favorite. I was hoping for this game to be at least as good, but nope

[2Fast]

Not liking Wind Waker seems to be the "cool" thing to do. The game is amazing. I still need to get around to finishing it though.

[Blind the Thief]

Yeah, Wind Waker is fantastic. The sailing got really old by the end of the game, but that hardly detracts from the overall experience. And for the first half of the game or so, the sailing felt really epic...too bad it ran out of steam. My only other complaint was the difficulty. I know Zelda games aren't supposed to be hard, but it felt too easy even among its brothers.

Other than that, an overall fantastic game. I know it's been said to death, but I can't wait for Twilight Princess.



Daroga - you've got three of the best Zelda games ahead of you. I'm sure you'll find time to finish 'em all.

[kaw]

I really liked it. I loved the style and thought the cell-shading worked well for the game. Sailing and conducting got a little repetitive after awhile, but that aside it is a great game. I'd like to see Nintendo branch out and take chances like that with other fanchises.

[elprincipe]

I think WW is a MUCH better game than OOT. Sure it's not challenging and there are too few dungeons, but the actual combat is much, much better. I doubt any 3D Zelda will surpass Link to the Past, but WW is sure an improvement.

[PenguinMaster]

I don't like Wind Waker, but I don't like any of these Zelda games either:
The original
Zelda 2
Majora's Mask
Oracle of Ages
Oracle of Seasons
The CD-I games

Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Link's Awakening, and the Minish Cap are all good (but not great). Four Swords Adventures is excellent. I expect Twilight Princess to be about the quality of Ocarina of Time.

[zionoverfire]

I hate it, but then I hate nearly all cell shaded games.

[cochesecochese]

I absolutely adored the first few islands of WindWaker. But...there were a few things that pissed me off.

1) The lack of dungeons, we've all heard it before so I won't dwell on it

2) The underusage of the in-game postal system (could have been so much more fleshed out imo, especially with a mailbox in every major island)

3) The Tingle Tuner. Totally half-assed effort on Nintendo's part, and it was complete bullshit that it had to be used in order to get all the figurines in the Nintendo gallery.

4) Stopping to shoot my cannon. Why the hell can the goblins move and fire and I can't?!?!?

5) That damn wind direction changing song. It's not that hard to give Link a mystical compass or something that didn't involve playing the gratingly annoying song every five minutes.

Miyamato and Co. created an incredibly robust gameworld but they just didn't flesh it out enough. The game relied on first impressions to carry it through to the end which was tepid IMO. Definitely worth playing all the way through, it's just a shame about the missed oppurtunities is all.

[Kaijufan]

I love Wind Waker. The only major problem I have with it is that it's too short and too easy.

I'm actually not a big fan of the 2d Zelda games. I've played Zelda 1, 2, and LttP and I just can't enjoy them for some reason. I loved the 3d Zeldas.

[goatindaruffness]

better than ocarina, but the sailing kills it - i never played majoras or the newer gameboy ones.

You hit it spot on...
The game it self was great, I remember when I first got it, and enjoying it for a month or so, but the sailing just KILLED it...
At first it wasn't so bad, but if they just made a way where you can skip the sailing if you already were in the area it would've been much better...
Instead game manufacturers like to throw in time wasters, such as this, just to brag about how long the game is...
Hopefully the next one, focuses more on the action at hand, and not open land travel...
Ex. the horse fights look great, but I really hope we're not spending hours on horseback trying to find hidden caves only visible with a special light...
-Goatman

[Chris in Cali]

To me the game cut out all the great exploration that makes Zelda games so great, and in it's place added a massive, empty, boring, tedious ocean that ruined the game. Wind Waker felt extremely linear, you go from point a, to b, to c, and back to a and it all takes forever because of the damned pointless ocean. Now, I realize all Zelda games are linear, but this is the only one that actually felt like it to me. Plus, it had sort of a platform feel to it, like their should have been a jump button. Also, the hookshot is a million times better then that stupid rope thing.

[Gregalor]

Most of the people who don't like it probably didn't get far enough to the point where you gain the ability to warp instead of sailing everywhere.

[RAMSTORIA]

Most of the people who don't like it probably didn't get far enough to the point where you gain the ability to warp instead of sailing everywhere.

i agree the spell really helps what would otherwise be really annoying. i didnt mind the sailing that much at all. i feel like people complain just because its a boat, nobody seemed to care about riding a horse in ocarina, even though you could ride for a bit from point a to point b.

i really liked the game, i think wind waker got a bad rap because everyone was expecting a glorious looking game for the gamecube's, at the time, next-gen system (which is what were getting in TP). but personally, i love the cel shaded graphics, they look great and the gameplay is top notch. however, im also agree on the too short/easy part too, but that certainly doesnt mean the game wasnt enjoyale.

[j.elles]

Zelda WW has some spectacular graphics in my opinion. Looking at certain scenes and comparing them to the other Graphicall powerhouses like RE4 I think this is better. And anyone who doesn't beat or at least see the ending to this game is NOT a Zelda fan. It's that simple. If you've seen it you know what I mean. But ya this and MMask get a bad rap when they were both fun games. The triforce fetching in this, and the time warp thing in MM could get annoying but thats it the rest of the game was fantasic

And these are a few of the games in my collection I was able to beat with no problem. With no breaks, playing other games, long gaps in play periods etc. . . So with my habit of taking forever to beat certain games. Theres no excuse for the other people out there. You just never gave some great games the chance they deserved.

[b3b0p]

I hated Wind Waker. It felt like no challenge, so boring, not engaging enough to continue. And the sailing, oh the sailing, ugh!

Better than Ocarina? I don't think so (not even close even without the sailing), but that's just me.

[coltyhuxx]

I absolutely adored the first few islands of WindWaker. But...there were a few things that pissed me off.

1) The lack of dungeons, we've all heard it before so I won't dwell on it

2) The underusage of the in-game postal system (could have been so much more fleshed out imo, especially with a mailbox in every major island)

3) The Tingle Tuner. Totally half-assed effort on Nintendo's part, and it was complete bullshit that it had to be used in order to get all the figurines in the Nintendo gallery.

4) Stopping to shoot my cannon. Why the hell can the goblins move and fire and I can't?!?!?

5) That damn wind direction changing song. It's not that hard to give Link a mystical compass or something that didn't involve playing the gratingly annoying song every five minutes.

Miyamato and Co. created an incredibly robust gameworld but they just didn't flesh it out enough. The game relied on first impressions to carry it through to the end which was tepid IMO. Definitely worth playing all the way through, it's just a shame about the missed oppurtunities is all.

Well put! I agree on all counts. The sailing at the end (I forget what you had to collect, but this is where I stopped playing the game) was ridiculous. Totally un-fun. I never beat the game because of this. I'm not a believer (nor do I think that I should be) of muscling through hours and hours of padded gameplay/collecting jsut to get to the next dungeon.

[Javery]

They should have kept WW in development for 12 more months minimum to address the complaints people have mentioned already.

[Mookyjooky]

cochesecochese made awesome points, I would add the shitty tacked on search for the 12 pieces of the master sword part at the end. It was just busy work, and I stopped playing right there.

[j.elles]

Hours and Hours of play. I beat this game in about the same amount of time I best POP 1 Sands of time? ? ? AND I got every single heart container on top of that. You want filler gameplay play Castlevania DS. That soul collecting is driving me crazy. The sailing wasn't that bad, especially after you got the warp song.

[Mookyjooky]

Hours and Hours of play. I beat this game in about the same amount of time I best POP 1 Sands of time? ? ? AND I got every single heart container on top of that. You want filler gameplay play Castlevania DS. That soul collecting is driving me crazy. The sailing wasn't that bad, especially after you got the warp song.

spoiler:

Spoiler

And Seeing Link slam that sword into Ganons forhead was so awesome I periodically beat the game again just to see it, and the rest of the sweet final sequence again.

We have spoiler tags.

[terribledeli]

I didn't like the game, but I really dislike 3D zelda games.


However, the addition of Link's emotions (Other than the big eyes shocked face from the previous games) really built a connection with the character for me.

Other than that, I bought it for my wife.