In honour of the sport’s arrival on Swap 2 as a part of the Nintendo Classics GameCube lineup, here is our new retro assessment of certainly one of Hyperlink’s most memorable adventures…
If I have been to place collectively an inventory of my favorite pre-Swap-era Zelda video games, people who got here earlier than the franchise-transforming Breath of the Wild, the place would 2002’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker slot in?
It is an fascinating one, a divisive sport for a few causes, however for me personally it lands within the prime three, which — contemplating there are over 40 video games to select from (if we go all in with spin-offs) — is a fairly good outcome.
Sure, some could have baulked on the cel-shaded graphics after they have been revealed (did not get the hate then, do not get it now), while others noticed the entire wind-conducting and crusing about in a ship as a waste of time, however I completely adored all the things about it. There may have been the odd fan who’d type of grown up with the grittier Ocarina Hyperlink, who then did not welcome this return to youthful and extra harmless/cutesy days, however we’re certain they bought over it as soon as they performed the factor.
Due to course, this can be a Zelda sport that is come to be virtually universally liked over time, with any perceived flaws or design dislikes smoothed over as soon as gamers bought to grips with its succession of pleasant dungeons whose deviousness comes as a pleasant shock when you think about the lovable, vibrant nature of director and sequence producer Eiji Aonuma’s daring graphical overhaul.
Like all nice sport on this sequence, Wind Waker is a masterclass in how an journey sport ought to stream, by way of narrative, by way of the way it doles out its new instruments and upgrades, and in the way it consistently raises the bar almost about dungeons that take a look at you at each flip. As soon as you’ve got gotten into its rhythms and made peace with crusing round, settling right into a slower tempo at occasions as you journey round this most beguiling of worlds, it is laborious to not be very impressed certainly, even should you’re not 100% a fan of the (wonderful) artwork model.
There’s a fascinating high quality — a Saturday morning TV serial type of attraction — to this pirate journey that, each single time I sit right down to play it, attracts me proper in. I need to shimmy alongside its ledges, grapple and swing on its ropes, glide with a giant leaf by way of its…undergrowth? Who on earth would not need to spend a complete bunch of time exploring these delights?
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, on this GameCube type, is lacking the nips and tucks and an HD lick of paint from the later Wii U revamp. However actually, it makes little or no distinction – properly, so long as the faster boat wasn’t a killer repair for you. Some could even desire the unique’s color tone, so you are not lacking any actual game-changing advantages in sticking with the basic type.
And what a type! It is a splendidly streamlined, manageable, and consistently participating slice of Zelda. It would not bathroom you down in busywork (good day, Tears of the Kingdom’s Depths), and seeks to attraction, shock and excite at each flip.
You will come to like crusing your (speaking) raft, I might wager, even come to like all of the little repetitive rituals which can be half and parcel of setting off for a brand new journey. Sure, it may be a bit tedious, nevertheless it’s so in contrast to different video games, having all this peaceable area to mill round in while you fill within the sport’s pleasant little chart of 49 puzzle-y islands. What an journey.
It is the type of sport whose sandy seashores and windswept waves linger lengthy within the reminiscence. It is also bought probably the greatest variants of Hyperlink, so stuffed with expression and goofiness, when you’ve got any misgivings stepping into, you will doubtless have been put comfortable by the point the implausible tutorial opener is completed.
This most vigorous and acrobatic of heroes can be a dab hand on the subject of fight, providing you with a contemporary and slick tackle the sequence’ decades-old, lock-on model of battle that also feels completely nice to this present day, with its swishy sword tips and flipping round. Should you come to Zelda for the same old stream of sensible new instruments and upgrades that hold issues contemporary as an epic narrative unfurls, properly, you are in for a superb time, too. The dungeons and storyline listed here are series-best stuff (once more, pre-BOTW). I will not spoil it, should you’re one of many few who’ve but to play it, however let’s simply say that, moreover one or two rushed sequences close to the tip, this can be a cracker, and a sport that manages to finish in an curiously downbeat, dark-ish approach.
Should you come for cute cities packed stuffed with red-nosed NPCs, bizarre shopkeepers, tons of collectibles, goofy facet quests, and sufficient entertaining facet stuff to balloon the operating time from 30ish hours for a campaign-focused run, to across the 70-hour mark for full 100% completion, this outdated chestnut nonetheless has it the place it counts. Zelda’s kooky, eccentric model of worldbuilding by no means enables you to down, and that is not one thing that modified with this entry.
So, you are not getting the flashy HD model right here, clearly, and the unique — as a lot as I personally haven’t any points with it — does do issues a little bit…properly…it may be clunky at occasions, for certain. The quicker boat is a pleasant factor to have, as an example that a lot, and it stings as soon as you’ve got had it on Wii U after which should go with out.
There’s additionally that one godawful late-game questathon that they shortened for the HD revamp (you recognize the one), however once more that is not a lot a deal-breaker as a barely annoying little bit of padding. Nonetheless, price noting because it’s certainly one of my valuable few precise points with this pleasant, ‘toon-styled romp, although.
Aside from these hang-ups, although, Zelda: The Wind Waker, from its gloriously sunny opening to its (kinda darkish) ending, is a blast, and certainly one of my favorite Zelda video games general. Actually, solely A Hyperlink to the Previous and Majora’s Masks prime this one for me, if we’re speaking pre-BotW. I’ve replayed it a number of occasions now, and it by no means loses the ability to attract you in, when you’re over the hump of the tutorial and into the meat of the deviously pleasant dungeons on supply. What a timeless deal with.