Quick Glance:
Story: ★★★★★
Gameplay: ★★★★☆
Graphics: ★★★★☆
Music: ★★★★★
Let me please preface this by stating that I am a Graphic Designer. I do not profess to be a gifted pen-smith, nor have I ever even attempted to write a game review before. This may be entirely incomprehensible drivel to most, but this game is near and dear to my heart and I’d love to give a brief rundown, as well as some of my opinions, for those who’ve never played it.
I’ve attempted to keep this as spoiler free as possible , but please proceed with caution if you don’t want to know anything about the game as despite it being a title from 2003, I dare say it might still be on some people’s ‘to play someday’ list.
Intro:
It would be fair to say that The Legend of Zelda franchise encompasses some of the greatest video games of all time. From the dark and moody nature of Majora’s Mask, to the whimsical and carefree world of Link’s Awakening, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who’s not fallen in love with at least one of the many ‘Zelda’ games on offer from the video game titan that is Nintendo.
For me, being the unapologetic GameCube enthusiast that I am, ‘The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker’ is, without contest, my favourite game in the entire Legend of Zelda universe. (And I’ve played most of them!)
The Story:
Released in 2003, the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker departs from the traditional setting of Hyrule and places our protagonist, Link, in the middle of a large archipelago many years after the fateful battle between the hero of time and the series’ chief antagonist Ganondorf.
We start by being given a brief history lesson about the events leading up to the game with a particularly pretty scratch-style story book accompanied by the haunting melody of ‘The Legendary Hero’ - An emotive piece of original music composed for the game that I’d highly encourage any gaming fan to listen to.
Once the introduction is finished and everyone’s up-to-speed our story can really begin. We find ourselves waking on Outset island on the day of Link’s thirteenth birthday and we’re given a customary, albeit brief, introduction to a few key characters before we’re allowed to run free on the island. But mystery and intrigue seem to surround our poor link and before the day is out (and unfortunately before any celebrations can occur) his whole world is turned upside down when his younger sister, Aryll, is kidnapped.
Alongside a ragged band of ne'er do well pirates and a really quite endearing talking boat, Link must forge his way across the seas in search of his sister and bring her back home safely to Outset island. However, not all as it seems, people are being snatched left and right from villages across the sea, a dark power is rising and Link must embody the hero of old if he’s to bring everyone back safely and defeat the looming evil.
Gameplay:
Anyone who’s played any of the older games in the Legend of Zelda franchise knows all too well the combat system is a little basic. It’s sad for me to admit, but The Wind Waker is no different in this regard and clearly takes a lot of inspiration from it’s N64 predecessor ‘The Ocarina of Time’ with Nintendo seemingly having taken the ‘if it ain't broke, don’t fix it’ attitude for this title. However for everything The Wind Waker lacks in combat complexity, it definitely makes up with its array of pleasing puzzles, abundance of interesting characters and unique (and tuneful) nautical navigation.
The puzzles and dungeons in the Wind Waker ramp in difficulty quite quickly. From easy early levels, to complex and challenging late game dungeons that require quick thinking and quicker reflexes to clear, players are offered it all. But one thing that every Wind Waker dungeon has in common is its ability to make you sit back at the end with a sense of satisfaction at a job well done. As you progress through the game you’ll find various items to assist you in your dungeon delving exploits from bombs to grappling hooks, with each item shaping how you can interact with the world around you in increasingly interesting ways.
Of all the things you find scattered across the vast oceans in Wind Waker none are perhaps as unique as the sagely named ‘King of Red Lions’. In all honesty it’s a discredit to call the king a ‘thing’, as although he appears to be just a boat at first glance, he is in fact one of Link’s chief companions during the Wind Waker storyline and an integral part of the games unique navigation system. Upon completing a few relatively early quests The King of Red Lions will bestow upon Link an ancient artefact that lets the player quite literally wake the wind and take control of the elements to help sail yourself (and the snarky boat) around the island chains.
As you sail your way around the frankly ENORMOUS set of islands on offer you may find yourself feeling a little underwhelmed. At times I felt the number of dungeons on offer was a little thin on the ground, almost as if Nintendo left a few parts of the game unfinished. However, do not let this put you off. For what it lacks in quantity the title definitely makes up for in quality. There a vast array of ways to solve many of the different obstacles the game hurls at you and if you keep your eyes peeled you may even stumble across one of the minigames that the developers included for those of us who need to take a break occasionally from the toil of slaying electrified goo and angry pig-men!
Graphics:
Being that this game was originally released for a console that this year celebrates it’s 22nd birthday the graphics are obviously nothing to write home about by modern standards. However for it’s time, The Wind Waker's graphics were, in my eyes, a cut above the rest. The charming art style that Nintendo does so well is complemented well by the use of bright saturated colour and the UX is comprehensive enough that even seven year old me was able to navigate it with ease.
The game was let down only slightly by intermittent clipping issues. Most notably when at one point I recall my boat clipping through the water so badly that I looked a touch like Jack Sparrow in the opening sequence of Pirate of the Caribbean. This is of course to be expected in games from the late nineties and early noughties and subsequently I’ve not let this effect my scoring too harshly.
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Music:
The music for this game is, as mentioned earlier, exceptional. I won’t say too much about it as ’m not a composer and can only really appreciate music for the scene it sets rather than from any technical standpoint, however, what the music in Wind Waker does offer is comfort. The musical score for this game provides the perfect balance of intrigue, trepidation, whimsy and joy and ties together the stunning visuals and engaging gameplay perfectly.
For those of you who’ve not listened (or played) The Wind Waker but are curious as to it’s music, I’ve listed two of my favourites below that you may google at your leisure.
The Legendary hero
Dragon Roost Island
Closing Thoughts:
With the Nintendo Switch recently gaining access to a range of titles from old games via it’s Nintendo Switch Online membership I’m really hoping that we see GameCube added to the list of consoles available so that maybe, just maybe, I can relive a very small portion of my youth by playing through this frankly glorious game once more.
This game will definitely not be at the top of the list for everyone and with twenty-seventeen game of the year winner ‘Breath of the Wild’ and recently released ‘Tears of the Kingdom’ in the same franchise it’s hard to argue otherwise, but for me and my nostalgia bias it’s definitely number one.
If anyone's played this game and loves it as much as me, let me know below what your favourite islands, dungeons, items, characters or music was from the game!
