Edit 3:
So it has been about a week since I beat Wind Waker. I just wanted to post my final feelings. The artificially game-extending fetch quest at the end was awfully boring. But I was playing the original WW. They did reduce that quest significantly in WWHD, so that is good. The shadow ganon puzzle in ganon's tower was phenomenal. Interestingly enough, when I first started playing this game (pre-King of Red Lions), I truly thought it was awful. And I still believe that the beginning could have been much more refined. And of course, the linearity of the majority of the game was pretty dreary. BUT, interestingly enough, just a week later, I already have fond memories of the game. At first I sort of hated the art style. But now, in a way, I appreciate it. I am still a bigger fan of OoT's art style, but nevertheless, I have a fondness of Wind Waker now. I just wanted to post this to say that the game really is great. It still isn't my favorite, but I am glad I gave it another chance.
Side note: One thing that really made the game more enjoyable for me was heavily exploring. Without exploring, and just focusing on the plot, the game felt like a platformer, but when I added exploring, it did feel like a Zelda.
EDIT 2:
I gave WW another chance, and at the moment, I am to the Tower of the Gods. This game goes by surprisingly quickly if you just jump on the linear fast train. Of course by the time I end up fighting Ganon, I'm still going to have like 6 hearts. So to update my thoughts on the game, the beginning is.. no other way to put this.. shit. Once you meet the King of Red Lions, the game opens up and feels much more like Zelda. The dungeons are extremely linear but overall enjoyable. The bosses actually pack a bit of a punch -- which is nice. The game's combat (excluding bosses) seems very uninspired and dull. The combat is obviously catered towards the infantile and the inept. In light of that, the music is FANTASTIC decent. As I said before, the graphical style is not my taste, but it isn't without its charm (I much prefer the slightly less cartoony WW HD). I assumed I would hate the sailing, but instead I only find it slightly inconvenient. As a concept, it was well executed, and I believe if it is compared to the travel in other Zelda games, it is fairly balanced.
To summarize, this game as an independent entity is quite a decent (dare I say, good) game. However its very poor combat and linearity to the level of a platformer definitely don't rank it high on my Zelda list. At the moment I am playing on the GameCube, but I could see myself revisiting this game in the form of the graphically (IMO) improved WW HD. I may just have to drink a bit before I'm ready to suffer the beginning again.
Hello everyone,
Be warned, this threads sole purpose is to allow me to rant about The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. I apologize if I step on anyone's feelings.
So a little background first. I am a huge Legend of Zelda fan. I haven't played all of them, but I have played over a handful (and grew up playing OoT). I own every LoZ game except for a couple.
Alright so, in all fairness to WW, I only got to about half-way through the first dungeon (Forsaken Fortress). After that point, I just couldn't take any more. So, this may be the best game I've never played, but I doubt I'll find out.
Opinions are welcome.
Obviously the first complaint people tend to have is the cell-shading. I personally much prefer a more realistic take on LoZ (such as TP), but to me, this wasn't by any means a deal breaker. Although the NPC's look like they're fresh out of the Mii-verse, it doesn't affect the play quality. The first thing you quickly realize playing WW is that this game is LINEAR. Now obviously every Zelda game (save the first couple), have linear beginnings, but WW didn't show signs of letting up. After beating the first "chapter" (Outset Island), I would hope the game would release me from its clenches and allow some freedom, but alas, that didn't happen. And as is my understanding of the rest of the game, that never happens.
Now my next complaint is more-so an extension of my first complaint. This game is SO linear, I had trouble accepting it can even be categorized as an RPG. To be perfectly honest, it felt like a platformer. Don't get me wrong, platformers can be great -- they're practically all I used to play as a kid. But Zelda is not supposed to be a platformer. This view of WW was furthered by the introduction of a lot of "modern" technology: pirates w/ pirate ships, spotlights, other random crap. In-fact, while suffering through the bit of the Forsaken Fortress I could handle, I truly felt as though I was in another iteration of the Sly Cooper series: more specifically Sly 3. For those of who don't know, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves is a platformer for PS2. Although don't be mislead by this comparison, Sly 3 was a good game, but there is a reason it was not called "The Legend of Zelda: Honor Among Thieves". Zelda is not Sly; Sly is not Zelda. They are very different games with very different experiences.
I know this has been very ranty and perhaps not very well written, but to summarize, my current opinion of Wind Waker is..crap. I could be wrong, so feel free to give your opinions.
