My Detailed Review of Wind Waker

Green-Link's Wind Waker Review

Yay! 50th post!

Fellow ZU members, I have come to present you a review on The Wind Waker. This will not be your average review, for I am delving deep into every aspect of the game, and explaining every detail as much as I can. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below. Please note that this review is my opinion, so don't argue about it please? Also, this is my first review ever, so it may not be that great.

Introduction

The Wind Waker is a game like no other. The artistic style, the gameplay, the story, all of these features make this game unique and stand out from other games. Even though it was a last-generation game, it still amazes me today as I play it for the 5th time. Many people call it the best Zelda game ever, many people call it the best game ever, while some people don't like it at all. I am here to express my viewpoint on this game while I play it as a fellow Zelda fan. This is my viewpoint:

Story 9/10


One day, your average Link wakes up on Outset Island, only to find out that it is his birthday. On Outset Island, the Great Ocean completely surrounds the island, elliminating any possible early sign of Hyrule. His sister, Aryll, had woken him up to announce his birthday in the first place, and to talk to his Grandma for a special surprise. After meeting Grandma on this huge, vast island, he collects his green tunic on behalf of tradition of the Great Hero. Soon after borrowing a telescope from Aryll as a gift, Link suddenly spots a huge bird in the distance carrying an unknown girl, and a pirate ship giving dead chase to it. When the giant bird gets hit by cannon-fire and drops the mysterious girl, Link soon collects his sword, and investigates the situation. He soon figures out that this girl is named Tetra, and that she was a pirate. All of a sudden, the giant bird came back now, and snatched Aryll away. Will Link ever see Aryll again, or will he lose his sister forever?

The storyline of this game is one of the strongest of all Zelda games, and contributes to the game's excellency. The cool part about this is that the story keeps changing throughout the game, which makes you always wonder what is going to happen next. Another cool thing is that the story starts falling into place as you progress the game, soon revealing how Ganon fits in at all. All in all, the story is well put together, and does not die half-way through the game like Twilight Princess.



Gameplay 10/10

Although the gameplay elements usually stay the same throughout all Zelda games, The Wind Waker seemed to me to stray away a lot of these elements. Usually in a Zelda game, you play as Link and walk around Hyrule looking for dungeons. In TWW, you navigate around in the ginormous ocean, and look for islands which contain dungeons. Many people complain that the sailing is absolutely boring, but it isn't as bad as you think it is as long as you have patience.

You've got all of your usual Zelda items, such as the bow, boomerang, ect., but there are still a lot of new items introduced in this game that are sure to please Zelda fans. There are plenty of islands to explore in the ocean, which will usually take you 25+ hours to explore, not including story-line hours. The dungeons in this game are well-thought out, always having unique puzzles and bosses. I especially like the Forsaken Fortress stealth mission, which stealth had never been used too much in a previous Zelda game (except OoT). The enemies are a little easy to beat, but that wasn't too much of a disappointment. All in all, I would give gameplay elements a 10 out of 10, even if I have a few minor complaints.

Graphics 10/10


With Wind Waker, a new type of technology was introduced called cell-shading. This meant that the graphics in the game were very artistic, and given a cool cartoonish feel. I liked this effect because it was a different type of approach for a Zelda game. The graphics were very good for a Gamecube game, especially when it was released shortly after the release of the Gamecube. There isn't much else to say, but I thought the graphics were very clever and well though-out.

Sound and Music 8/10



This is probably the weekest score I'm going to give this game, but the sound and music are still very pleasing. A major complaint I have (and many others have) is that the music was in MIDI format, and wasn't orchestrated. I would have loved to experience the game with real instrument sounds, but Nintendo was too lazy to focus on this. Even though the sound and music is computerized, I still enjoy the music very well. I liked the tunes so much, that I downloaded every single song off the soundtrack (thanks to ZU) and put it on my Ipod. The sound effects of the game are very moderate, so that deducted the score a little. Closing, the music was good, but could of been a whole lot better.


Replay Value 9.5/10


As mentioned before, I am on my 5th time playing the game. Some complain that the game is very short (there is a thread), but I don't think those people took the time to explore every single island in the game, complete all of the sidequests, find all the heartpieces, and collect all of the items. I still have yet to do all of these things, for I only have completed story mode. The game always makes me come back to it because it feels so different from other Zelda games, like it's almost not Zelda at all. Concluding, I will continue to always play this game over and over for as long as my game copy exists.

Overall Score 10/10

Concluding this review, I enjoyed The Wind Waker every point of the game. I might have a few complaints about this game, but they are very minor. I like this game so much that I am willing to thank Nintendo right here for making such a great game. Hopefully, every Zelda fan has this game, or else their collection is not complete, and won't be until they get it.

Good review!Even though I don't agree with somethings, all in all it was very good and summed it up quite well.

Originally Posted by 13th

Good review!Even though I don't agree with somethings, all in all it was very good and summed it up quite well.

Thanks! I might need to fix a few grammar errors. That's okay if you don't agree with everything, it's just my opinion.

What do you agree with, and what don't you agree with?

Originally Posted by Green-Link

With Wind Waker, a new type of technology was introduced called cell-shading.

You do mean Toon-Shading?

Well I didn't like the music alot and I thought that the easyness of the enemies really subtracted from play but, it was a good game with replay value.
And Tott the proper term is cel-shading, but it is basically cartooning.

Originally Posted by 13th

And Tott the proper term is cel-shading, but it is basically cartooning.

Um, no.

The graphical style used in The Wind Waker is called Toon-Shading. Cel-Shading was done way before it.

Oh, well then. Now I know!

That was a good review. I would give it a slightly lower rating, but it is one of my three favorite Zeldas to date. A wonderful experiance.

Replay value, 9.5? What have you been smoking? Wind Waker had absolutely no replay value. I think I only beat it twice. A 9.5 is something I'd rather hand over to Resident Evil 4.

I wonder what your favourite Zelda game is.
Anyway, good review. I'd give it pretty much the same rating. Only thing I might have changed is the replay value. I didn't find too much that it adds on for replay. Still, good review.

Originally Posted by SUPER TOTT

Um, no.

The graphical style used in The Wind Waker is called Toon-Shading. Cel-Shading was done way before it.

Wikipedia tells me that cel-shading and toon-shading are two names for the same thing.

So no.

I'm going to answer a few questions and comments now.

Originally Posted by Chad

That was a good review. I would give it a slightly lower rating, but it is one of my three favorite Zeldas to date. A wonderful experiance.

Thanks for your comment! I understand that you would rate it lower, but it's still a great game though. Everyone should have the right to have their own opinion.

Originally Posted by Lieutenant Lollipop

Replay value, 9.5? What have you been smoking? Wind Waker had absolutely no replay value. I think I only beat it twice. A 9.5 is something I'd rather hand over to Resident Evil 4.

It has absolutely NO replay value? Well, be that way then.

And no, I don't smoke.

Originally Posted by Koulatio

I wonder what your favourite Zelda game is.
Anyway, good review. I'd give it pretty much the same rating. Only thing I might have changed is the replay value. I didn't find too much that it adds on for replay. Still, good review.

Yeah, my favorite Zelda game is TWW. I find myself playing it over, and over again, so that's why I posted 9.5

Originally Posted by GamenerdAdvance

Wikipedia tells me that cel-shading and toon-shading are two names for the same thing.

So no.

I never really have heard of toon-shading. I thought it had always been cell-shading.

Originally Posted by GamenerdAdvance

Wikipedia tells me that cel-shading and toon-shading are two names for the same thing.

So no.

Well, if Wikipedia thinks that then it must be true!

No.

Toon-Shading, while close to being the same thing as Cel-Shading, has none of those black borders on character models that Cel-Shading has and tries to resemble an interactive cartoon more that Cel-Shading.

The uneducated will say that The Wind Waker has Cel-Shaded graphics, while the smart ones refer to it as Toon-Shading.

TOTT give us examples!!

Originally Posted by SUPER TOTT

Well, if Wikipedia thinks that then it must be true!

No.

Toon-Shading, while close to being the same thing as Cel-Shading, has none of those black borders on character models that Cel-Shading has and tries to resemble an interactive cartoon more that Cel-Shading.

The uneducated will say that The Wind Waker has Cel-Shaded graphics, while the smart ones refer to it as Toon-Shading.

Oh my God, I'm uneducated!! AAAAHHHH!!!!!

Learn something new every day. That fills today's quota.

Originally Posted by Green-Link

Story 9/10

I like the fact that it wasn't Zelda that got captured, but someone linked to Link. It made it a bit more personal.

Gameplay 10/10

YES. The gameplay was amazing. I also liked how they embellished on the fact that Link was a kid, like when you use the Spin Attack and Link kinda loses control.

Graphics 10/10

I love cel-shaded Link. He's my favorite Link.

Sound and Music 8/10

The first time I played I listened to everything, but after the first time, it kinda got annoying. Especially when crossing the ocean repeatidly.

Replay Value 9.5/10

I rented the game for a week, and beat it, but I haven't played it all the way through since then.

Overall Score 10/10

That's pretty much on the button, I'd say.
Wind Waker is number 3 on my list of top Zelda games. (#1 being OoT, #2 being TP.)

Originally Posted by 13th

TOTT give us examples!!

Go find your own examples, dammit.

Tott is not your teacher.

But TOTT should be, since TOTT is so smrt.

Originally Posted by 13th

But TOTT should be, since TOTT is so smrt.

Tott's sarcasm senses are tingling.

Green Link, you need to stop being like Stony and man up. Learn to take criticism, you're only making yourself look like an idiot by responding in that particular way.

Not to mention people actually know you, or care for you at this point in time. At this point, we can say you're definitely not ranking anywhere in my Bombers' Notebook.