Zelda The Wind Waker worth Playing

[w1ndscar]

Play it, and dont stop till you beat it, although it has its quirks. The the sailing gets boring really quick, and about near the end, after you get the master sword, you have to grind your ass off to get past the part where you have to get all the pieces of the triforce of courage. FIRST you have to get the scrolls, by sailing out to their locations and going through a dungeon for each, THEN you have to go to tingle island, and pay tingle like 800 or something ruppees for each scroll to be translated, and theres like 7-8 of them. Then after youve done that, you then have to sail out to each individual location and dig up the pieces. It was really time consuming and really boring. Otherwise the game is AMAZING.

 

[Michael Hirst]

I'm going to commit one of those unspeakable sins against some peoples tastes here.

I think Wind Waker is the best of the lot including Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past.

There I said it but for me it is, great art style, simple controls and great dungeons, also great world map (some say there's not enough in it but I just love it)

 

[RandV80]

As far as Zelda games go this one tends to be one of the more love it or hate it. There are no problems with aging, the graphics are more about art design than horsepower and you wouldn't gain anything from bringing it onto a current or newer gen console.

Only complaint I really had with it is the game was a little short on the dungeon side, and made up for that with treasure hunting filler. The game would have been perfect with a few more large islands to explore and another 4 or so mid-game dungeons. By mid-game dungeon I mean between finding the master sword and the end game cleanup/final dungeon+boss. A Link to the Past had 8, I believe Ocarina of Time had 5, and Wind Waker had... only 2. More than anything that's why the game is easy.

For everything else though what you get though it is an amazing game, I'd give it 9/10.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

It is the best 3D iteration of Zelda I have ever played.

I found the story to be much more compelling compared to OoT. The graphics are beautiful, the characters were interesting, the puzzles were clever, and the ending was just EPIC.

The music is worth a shoutout, too.

Spoiler

Truely magnificent.

 

[hazabaza1]

Probably the best Zelda except for the tedious fetch quest at the end.

 

[funguy2121]

So, I got rid of most of my gamecube collection.

I've had more money than time recently (still an imbalance there) but long story short, I have Wind Waker for gamecube and have had it for years without playing it.

I do have some free time and plenty else to do, but a recent write-up in Game Informer has me thinking I should get around to Zelda Wind Waker.

Or, should I skip it and sell it at Gamestop? Has it aged badly? Not worth playing at this point? Your thoughts?

First thought: don't let your opinions be informed by Game Informer. There review system is...well, not broken, since it's by design. It's just totally fucked, on purpose. Hint: Game Informer is owned by Game Stop. Their job is to aid their parent company in selling you crap games.

Here's the console Zelda titles, in descending order from my favorite to my least favorite. The *asterisks* denote significant drops in how well the games hold up in 2011.

Ocarina of Time/N64
Twilight Princess/Wii
Wind Waker/Gamecube
***
Legend of Zelda/NES
A Link to the Past/SNES
***
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Majora's Mask

I still own the top 3 to this day. And I'll start playing Ocarina and Wind Waker as soon as I finish Twilight Princess in preparation for the upcoming Skyward Sword. That should tell you something.

Wind Waker was a daring move. Aside from possibly Majora's Mask, it's a greater departure for the series than ever it has seen. Most of this is a good thing. I do have 4 major gripes with the game, and I think you should be aware of them so that they won't detract too much from your enjoyment of this game (I think you're a fool if you take this back to Gamestop for chump change).

1. The controls are a bit off. Much more so than in Ocarina. I'm not sure how or why, but sometimes it can be difficult to get Link to go where you want him to.

2. I'm not a fan of hand-holding, but I like how, for instance, in the Metroid Prime games, if you walk around for half an hour and still have no clue where to go, the game will at least highlight the as-yet-unexplored room where you have to go next, though it won't give you any clues HOW to get there. Wind Waker, by and large, does not do this. You will probably end up consulting a walkthrough several times to beat this game. And this is a game where you sail around on a completely open-ended map trying to figure out where to go next, and often have to find alternate means to reach certain destinations. For example, to get one of the spells/songs you need to progress through the game, you have to find one of the grid squares on the map that a wind god passes through, along with 9 others, at random, for several "days" (well, they're Zelda days) until you happen upon him by chance, then you have to defeat him. If you fail, you have to repeat the process. Which leads me to...

3. ...certainly the worst fetch quest at least in Nintendo history. This was the game that introduced the dumbass character Tingle. Tingle sells you maps. These maps lead to other maps, which themselves reveal locations, sort of, of the triforce. Once you retrieve the maps and follow them to the other maps, you then have to find the broken shards of the triforce to continue...by fishing. It is impossible to find the majority of the pieces until very late in the game, which means that you'll have to beat all of the other dungeons and do all of the other exciting, fun parts of the game, and then it will slow to a crawl unless you consult a good walkthrough (I recommend IGN's official one), before you can move on to what is surely one of the best Ganon dungeons in the franchise. Add to this...

4. ...they cut 2 dungeons from the game because they felt that they made the game too hard for the kiddies. So it's also the shortest console game in the series.

But...the game is tons of fun and has lots of varied gameplay. The bosses are definitely more challenging than their counterparts in the Wii sequel, and the dungeons are truly creative. There's also some sneaking around, which is a lot more evolved than it was in Ocarina, and though it's a cartoon, the tone is often darker and less optimistic than previous Zelda games.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

Play that game, I'm not a hardcore LoZ fan but I must say it is a greatly enjoyable game...

of course I'm also someone who prefers the old ones over the 3D ones, Link to the past(SNES) and Link's Awakening DX(Gameboy color) are the ones I remember the most fondly...

 

[gorfias]

Wind Waker was a daring move. Aside from possibly Majora's Mask, it's a greater departure for the series than ever it has seen. Most of this is a good thing. I do have 4 major gripes with the game, and I think you should be aware of them so that they won't detract too much from your enjoyment of this game (I think you're a fool if you take this back to Gamestop for chump change).

1. The controls are a bit off. Much more so than in Ocarina. I'm not sure how or why, but sometimes it can be difficult to get Link to go where you want him to.

2. I'm not a fan of hand-holding, but ... You will probably end up consulting a walkthrough several times to beat this game. And this is a game where you sail around on a completely open-ended map trying to figure out where to go next

3. ...certainly the worst fetch quest at least in Nintendo history.

4. ...they cut 2 dungeons from the game because they felt that they made the game too hard for the kiddies. So it's also the shortest console game in the series.

But...the game is tons of fun and has lots of varied gameplay. The bosses are definitely more challenging than their counterparts in the Wii sequel, and the dungeons are truly creative. There's also some sneaking around, which is a lot more evolved than it was in Ocarina, and though it's a cartoon, the tone is often darker and less optimistic than previous Zelda games.

Thank you, very well thought out over-view of what to expect. So far, got to agree with you on controls. I can handle going to walk throughs (I still have the game guide too). I can live with fetch quests, though everyone seems to agree the sailing is tedious. As I have so little time, a short title is actually welcome. Nice to be able to write I beat something.

For kicks, I put on the original NES one on the gamecube. Fun nostalgia, but odd to do when things like Mass Effect 2 aren't done yet! (Not only do I have little free time: I lack focus!)

 

[Kotaro]

I believe that Wind Waker is the best Zelda game, full-stop. Except for the Triforce fetch-quest near the end; that part can go f*ck itself.
So, is it worth playing? Oh, god, yes.

Also, most people find the sailing tedious. I find it relaxing.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I think not. The combat and dungeons and gameplay are really fun, and the cartoon-y, overstylized way is really pleasant on the eyes and cool looking,

but the sailing is inexcusable. It's horrible, for every minute of regular LoZ gameplay you probably sail for five minutes.

 

[the spud]

I thought the game was crap

Shuuuuuunnn...

OT: Yes! Play it now! It has aged amazingly well and is my second favorite Zelda game behind the obvious choice. Really, you've got nothing to lose.

 

[Riku'sTwilight]

Absolutely play Wind Waker. It's the first Zelda I've truly loved and can happily play again and again without boredom (and yes I have played Ocarina of Time, when it was first out on the N64 and currently playing it on my 3DS) Wind Waker has light, bouncy tones and tunes to it and characters which aren't just all doom and gloom, most islands have a life about them which really sets it apart for me.

Plus y'know WW Link has those eyes and facial expressions which are just too funny and amazing sometimes. Oh and on a certain sidequest he meows too! More personality = more life to the game

 

[MisterDyslexo]

My favourite Zelda game, and personally I think its better than Ocarina of Time-not as good as Majora's Mask though. Its aged very well. I just pulled it off the shelf a few weeks ago. It takes a while to get used to the control scheme again, but after that, its still pretty good.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

Zelda doesn't age badly. Ever. I can still enjoy Ocarina of Time or even the original Legend of Zelda. I seriously suggest playing through Wind Waker as it's one of the best title in the franchise.

 

[Blemontea]

One thing people forget to not about Wind Waker, is that it has the best rendition of its classic story. Ganon has SO much character development(compared to others) that you actually sympathize with him a little by the end. Speaking of the end its an amazing final boss fight The scenery, the music, the combat. Plus it has the most surprisingly sad ending to any game i've ever played.

 

[Evelynia]

You should give it a try, it's aged really well and was a fantastically enjoyable game to begin with. Having said that, I also really like the sailing. Gives you time to make sandwiches and such, keep that in mind.

 

[WeAreStevo]

You know....I've also never played WW....I think it's time I fire up the Wii and play it after all.

Thanks all

 

[rs2000]

It's one of the few games i kept, along with Res Evil 4 and play them both still