The Legend of Zelda is one of the famous names in all of gaming. It is one of those classic groundbreaking games that never goes away and evolves over time as newer more powerful consoles appear and as the times change. But the Zelda style of game play remains the same. Zelda began on the NES in 1987 and by 1998 went 3D on the N64 (Ocarina of Time) and earned game of the year for 1998. The latest incarnation, The Wind Waker, is an early forerunner for game of the year for 2003.
Game Play
All the standard features of Zelda game play are present in Walk Waker. You start out as a little blonde boy named Link and you soon go on collection run for treasures, upgrades to weapons, health and equipment. Along the way you have enemies to defeat, princesses to rescue (In WW, a little sister as well), puzzles to solve and optional side quests to complete. There is a lot to do in Wind Waker.
The Wind Waker gets its name from a magical baton that is used to control the wind. You need to control the wind because of the main mode of travel is by boat at sea, traveling from island to island. You start out controlling the wind direction and later you can use the baton to change day into night (and back again), warp from one area of the map to the next and so on.
The Wind Waker features very nice pacing. You are rarely unsure of where to go and what is the next goal to be accomplished. Your talking boat, King, will remind you. The areas to explore are fast and huge. The game controls are perfect and the in-game camera is one of the best you'll find in a third person perspective game. If you want to take a break from the main quest and go on a collection run, then so be it. Doing so will lengthen the playtime considerably.
Many of the game's critics have commented on how easy the game is to play. It is easy, I'll grant you, but it's not an easy walk through as some have claimed. You can get momentarily stuck in some areas. But ease of play is what charmed me about it. There are enough frustratingly hard to play games now-it's refreshing to see a developer produce a game that you can get though without wanting to heave the controller at the TV! (Just try to get past some of those floating obstacle courses in Super Mario Sunshine and you'll see what I mean.)
Everything about this game is well done. Expect for one thing--the way the economic system is handled. It doesn't seem to be properly thought out. The money used in Wind Waker is called rupees. They come in various colors and monetary amounts based on color. There are two problems with it. One, when you start out you have a 200 rupee limit. Busting pots or cutting grass easily reaches that limit. The trouble is once you go over your 200 rupee limit all of that extra wealth earned is lost. Secondly, there isn't much to buy with the rupees you have. The merchant to buy things from has items such as arrows and bombs, which are easily obtained from cutting grass, so it's a waste of rupees to buy those items. It's an odd omission for a game so well polished as this one.
And that's my only complaint in an otherwise excellent title from Nintendo.
In conclusion, the game play is nearly flawless, if not a bit too familiar. The style of play where the hero starts out with little and has to build his equipment and abilities over time so he can do battle with boss characters can be seen in last years big hit, Metroid Prime. Really the game play, while being highly refined
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and polished to near perfection, breaks no real new ground. As with other Miyamoto games I don't think it has much of a replay value except for going back to make collection runs of items the gamer missed the first time around. But that's okay--it's still a fun gaming experience, probably one of the best you can have on the GameCube (or any other console) right now.
Graphics
The graphic design and animation of this game is outstanding, showing a high degree of polish. I've never seen a game that looked so bad in screen shots and then looked so good when up and running. It was those screen shots that made people question the art direction to begin with. But as other reviewers have stated, the cell shaded graphic style of this game is a beauty to behold and fits perfectly with this style of game. Just a take a look at the details, like the flickering light of flames and the resulting bouncing shadows. See the little moths circulating around the flame. There's the wind blowing through the grass and palm leaves, very nicely and realistically done. The rolling and swelling of the waves (after a few hours of play I can feel myself rocking slightly as if I am still at sea!). Or watch the sparks on Dragon Roost Island as they drift in the wind, and then change direction as the wind shifts. The dust and smoke effects are extremely well done too. It's the small things like this that make the graphics really stand out. All the character animations are smooth, fluid and life-like. Their emotions and facial expressions are well done and tug at the heart. For a game not rooted in realistic style graphics there a lot life-like touches in this game.
As has been pointed out there have been other cell-shaded games out in the past few years. I do think that Wind Waker is the best of those games graphically. Sure, there is some clipping here and there but at least it's not as glaring as seeing Sam Fisher's shoulder passing through a solid wall in Splinter Cell. Also, it's the first cell-shaded game to use tones to define edges. All of the other games in this style use lines. Ascetically, it makes for a cleaner and shaper presentation and gives the many characters a sense of place.
Sound
The sound, from the music scores to the sounds effects and voices are first rate and are as polished as everything else in the game. The music scores themselves are very evocative and set the right moods for the right places in the game. Majestic fanfares abound for places like Link's home island. The music effects tones of ambience while sailing the seas. And the sound effects have nice touches as well. Links footsteps will have the soft sound of walking of carpet and the shift to harder tones when walking on stone. Echoes are nicely done as well as the sound of the rushing wind, the seagulls flying by as you sail. All nicely done.
Overall
An excellent entry into the Legend of Zelda's legend. A must have game. A deeply engrossing and enjoyable gaming experience. Other developers should take note of the degree of craftsmanship that went into this game.
If you've been sitting on the fence about buying a GameCube, sit now longer. Here is your game.
It gets a 5/5.
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