If you asked anyone in the gaming community about The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker, they will likely say something like "Yeah, that game is amazing!" This may be the case today, but back in the day when Wind Waker was first announced, fan reactions were negative, to say the least. But why? It all started with a Gamecube tech demo shown off at Space World 2000 that depicted the Link and Ganondorf from Ocarina of Time having an epic showdown.

This demo raised hope in Zelda fans that there would be a Gamecube Zelda with a realistic and gritty art style. When Wind Waker was announced and everyone had their first look at the new visuals, they were more than disappointed. Fast forward to today and Wind Waker is hailed as one of the greatest games of all time, standing on its own among the ranks of Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past.

Does it deserve all of the hype and praise? In my opinion, yes and here is why.

The art style that caused Wind Waker to be scorned in the past is now one of its greatest strengths.

The cell-shaded graphics and cartoony art style gives the Wind Waker a unique identity among other entries in the Zelda franchise. The vibrant and bright colors perfectly compliment the tropical sea setting of the game and give the game an atmosphere of freedom and lighthearted adventure.

The cell-shaded aesthetic was so effective in enhancing the game's overall sense of freedom that it was used in Breath of the Wild to further enforce the feeling of open adventure.

That is also another big part of Wind Waker's appeal: The awe-inspiring sense of adventure. Wind Waker was almost a return to form, introducing a world that was close to the openness of the first Zelda on NES.

Wind Waker is a game that takes place on the open sea and was, essentially the closest 3D game there was at the time to a pirate game.

You had your own boat and were free to sail to any island you want, find treasure maps that lead you to treasure, find fortresses and other boats filled with monsters to fight and loot, you had a telescope to scan the horizon, you can use a cannon to fight sea monsters and other boats.

Like all Zelda games, the world is full of secrets and goodies to find and it is encouraged by the vastness of the world. Don't get me wrong, Wind Waker is not TRULY open world in nature, but compared to Ocarina or Majora, the difference is easily felt. When it comes to gameplay features, Windwaker introduces many innovations and mechanics such as the ability to pick up enemy weapons and use them against other monsters (this feature was not seen again until Breath of the Wild).

The titular Wind Waker serves as this game's Ocarina in that you can use it to play songs that have magical effects, one of which is essential to traversing the ocean, as it changes the direction of the wind in order to sail to where you want to go.

In the Gamecube version of the game, you can have another player link their Gameboy Advance and work along side the player as a disembodied Tingle ghost or whatever.

Another cool mechanic that was required for a dungeon or two was the addition of a partner that the player could control. Along with using barrels to hide from enemies, pears that can control seagulls, a 50-floor combat dungeon, auctions, monster spoils, and so much more, Wind Waker proves to be one of the more diverse and expansive Zelda titles.

Wind Waker also manages to include and improve many Zelda staples such as dungeons with clever puzzles, items, bosses with a weakness that can be exploited, collectibles like heart pieces, combat now with parries, and a story featuring Princess Zelda, Ganondorf and, the Tri Force.

The story is one of the more interesting parts of the Wind Waker. It takes place several generations after Ganondorf's defeat in Ocarina of Time where Hyrule is now flooded and now called the Great Sea. On Outset Island a young boy named Link awakens on his birthday to be greeted by his little sister, Aryll (this is the second time Link is depicted with a familial connection, the first being A Link to the Past) who gives him a birthday present.

How sweet. Link's grandmother (2 connections, whoa, a first!) give Link the Hero's Clothes to celebrate his coming of age, as it is a tradition to celebrate the Hero's triumph over Ganon.

On this day a giant monster bird flies over the island and drops a girl on the island. Link saves her, discovering her name is Tetra and that she is the leader of a pirate crew.

The bird returns but kidnaps Link's sister, Link, mad with rage tries to save her only in vain as the bird flies off with Aryll.

Tetra offers to help Link find his sister with the help of her crew and the journey begins.

The establishment of a brother sister connection in the first minutes of the game only to have the sister kidnapped is the perfect inciting incident to make the player emotionally invested. Link's grandmother's reaction after losing her granddaughter is heartbreaking.

This is a stronger incentive for the player to want to go on an adventure than just the "save the world" or "save the princess you just met" goal that most Zelda games have.

The best part is that it only gets better from there as characters are introduced and some that were there from the start are not exactly who we thought they were. The plot overall feels more emotional and cinematic than most Zelda games, and therefore grander and more epic.

It also helps that the soundtrack is brilliant and is some of the best music ever put to a video game. I don't know if the instruments used in the music are real or not, but if I'm asking myself this then it is a testament to how amazing the OST sounds.

In conclusion, The Wind Waker is one of the most important Zelda titles to date and definitely one of the most beloved and overall fun games I ever had the pleasure of playing. It is interesting knowing how it was initially despised for its graphics, but now those same graphics are remembered and adored. Ironically, two of its staple features (its cell-shaded graphics and use of enemy weapons) were brought back in Breath of the Wild, which is now being praised as "Game of the Year". Looking back on The Wind Waker's legacy, it is apparent how much it has influenced future games in the series, and other games, to an extent. I would say go play it, but honestly, you already have.

The first thing I think of when I think about The Wind Waker is the discourse surrounding its art style. It was a complete departure from the grittier anime aesthetic of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, and a style that a lot of people deemed as "uncool" for its colorful and cartoony look. As a fan of the more off-kilter games in the series, I was personally intrigued by it at first, though I wasn't fully sold until I finally played the full game. Turns out, if anything has stood the test of time some 20 years later, it's the visuals.

The visuals are just one part of a greater tonal shift. The entire game feels brighter and more optimistic, especially when compared to the bleak tone of Majora's Mask. While past games were not afraid of being weird and wacky, there are times where Wind Waker even opts for outright humor in its cutscenes and dialogue.

After you adjust, it's really a wonderful experience. Playing The Wind Waker gives me a feeling of pure joy and wonder that none of the other Zelda games can really capture as effectively. The music does a lot of heavy lifting as well--Wind Waker might just have the best soundtrack in the entire series. Shout out to my favorite overworld theme in the series, the Ocean Theme.

Wind Waker's true twist is that takes the Zelda formula to the high seas. The game takes place in a large ocean that is dotted with 49 islands of varying sizes, and you explore on a sailboat while controlling the direction of the wind with the titular magic baton. While the first third or so of the game takes you on a pretty linear path, things eventually open up and you are free to explore as you please.

This is the first time since the original Legend of Zelda that the series captures the sense of wanderlust that Breath of the Wild would later succeed at. Wind Waker's Great Sea was, at the time, the largest game world I had ever seen. Most of it is empty ocean, but that is what makes it so special when you do stumble upon submarines or Big Octos while you are traveling from island to island.

One of the most infamous complaints about Wind Waker was the Triforce quest near the end of the game, where you are tasked with finding eight Triforce shards that are scattered around the ocean. It was such a big complaint that it was later shortened to three shards in the Wii U remaster. But I always thought this was Wind Waker at its strongest--when it lets you explore freely, letting you make organic discoveries as you go, taking in the atmosphere of its masterful combination of story, music and visuals.

This is probably where I should mention that I played through the original game on Dolphin for my marathon, not the Wii U remaster. I think the remaster is absolutely the definitive version of The Wind Waker, but in lieu of a Switch port, I played it on my Steam Deck in order to be able to play it on the go. The remaster includes numerous quality of life updates that improve the experience, the most important to me being the Swift Sail, an item that helps with some of the lengthy sailing that can admittedly get old once you are late in the game.

The Wind Waker was always, by my account, quite a flawed Zelda game. While it is a complete triumph in its presentation, there are plenty of gameplay quirks that always brought it down a little bit. I've already mentioned the lengthy sailing times, but another big one is its dungeons. Wind Waker has some of the weakest dungeons in any 3D Zelda game, for a few reasons.

I don't have anything against Dragon Roost Cavern or the Forbidden Woods as early tutorial dungeons, but the later dungeons in the game are centered around escorting other characters, which always felt tedious. They are also quite linear in nature, and I never felt the "puzzle box" element that made places like the Forest Temple or Stone Tower Temple so great. Wind Waker is also one of the easiest Zelda games, and it marks the first time in the series that I felt like my hand was being held a little too much--a trend that would bubble up into the infuriating Fi from Skyward Sword.

I will always appreciate The Wind Waker for its unabashed uniqueness. While it has some quirks, and I prefer a little more bite to my Zelda games, Wind Waker brought a lot to the franchise that can still be felt in Breath of the Wild. Echoes of the way the world is structured survive, and it's easy to see direct mechanical links, like how the Deku Leaf is a direct ancestor of the paraglider. Wind Waker is a Zelda game that's trying to put a smile on your face. And more often than not--when you're out exploring the ocean, hauling up sunken treasure and completing your sea chart--it really succeeds.

-All of my reviews are spoiler free-

Wind Waker has aged better than any classic Zelda I have played. At first glance it appears much different than previous 3D Zelda installments, but anyone who has played Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask will note the game controls very similar, with a lot of kinks (especially targeting and camera kinks) ironed out. Which is to say it controls a lot better than the previous two, but will still feel familiar to seasoned Zelda players.

There is one stark difference to the previous games though, and that is the sailing. Love it or hate it, it is the primary form of exploration in the game. Many complain that the game is too slow because of the sailing, but for me personally, sailing around the world and filling out my map was half the fun of the game and I didn't find traversing the sea to be tedious. This was somewhat corrected in the HD re-release with the fast sail.

In terms of design I think Wind Waker is a stand out 3D Zelda game. It suffers from the same lack of difficulty as OoT and MM, but the actual puzzles that litter the games dungeons and many islands are fun to solve and make use of most of your items. Something earlier Zelda games failed to do.

The characters are endearing and memorable, and looking back might be one of my favourite Zelda casts of all-time.

All in all, I found sailing around the world and exploring the game's many islands (there is a unique one in each map square!) to be some of the most fun I've had exploring in any Zelda world. The Cel Shaded graphics have aged nicely and while the story and difficulty curve might be lacking as they are in any Zelda game, I think Wind Waker succeeds best at what matters most, moreso than any franchise installment that had come before it. It is a fun-packed swashbuckling adventure that can be enjoyed by all, and one of my personal favourite games Nintendo has ever developed.

I absolutley loved this game when it first came out. This was the first game ever I was old enough to be genuinely excietd for soon after release. I remember sitting my elementry school behind down for so many hours drawing the game map on cardboard because I couldn't figure out how to see the map in the game. Unfortunaly, I've become too good at ingoring my nostalgia, and now I can see clearly this this is the weak link in the 3D zelda cannon.

Simply put, you can tell the developers set unachievable goals for the game, and ended up running out of time. The game reeks of cut content all over. The most obvious case is when you arrive at the destroyed isle, and simply are handed the 3rd of the early game mcGuffins. On top of that you can see so many of the dungeons, and so much of the wortld simply needs more polish.

Fortunaly, they did spend their time making one of the most timeless art styles ever thought of. Link's expressions in this game are legendary. The world is very intriguing at first and for those of us who dream of the sea, it continues to hold that intrigue for a good while.

Tetra is still the most interesting incarnation of zelda in the franchise, despite her character quite literally exiting her body about halfway through the game. Those early moments were so interesting, it really makes you wish Nintendo EAD3 was more interested in writing Zelda as an actual character in other contexts.

The gameplay is fun and the world is worth exploring, you'll have an all-around good time if you don't expect something revolutionary. They tried to make a truly open world, but it would still take them another 15 years before they would succeed at that.

Just a few days after beating this game, my wife started her own play-through after watching me sink 20-30 hours in this game. She's not really a gamer outside of a few mobile games so that speaks volumes to the approach-ability of this game's presentation.

While the cell-shaded graphics were panned by gamers at the time who wanted a more "realistic" looking Zelda game (on the hyper-realistic, almighty Gamecube) the cell shaded graphics have actually aged phenomenally while other "realistic" looking games of that time understandably look like a product of that era. Playing the HD remaster of Wind Waker, however, looks just as good as any modern game and the original version looks almost identical to the HD version. The remaster just has more vibrant colors and greater draw-distances.

As a result, this game that was panned by fans upon release has now grown to be one of the most revered Zelda titles, with many people putting it in their top 3 Zelda games of all time.

And I can see why. Right from the beginning I felt immediately charmed by the vibrant colors and the cheerful tune of Outset Island's theme. I really enjoyed the fact that Link had a family (a grandmother and sister) this time around. He had people he cared about and people that cared about him. It's clear from the beginning Link is not the same incarnation of Link we'd seen from the previous 2 Zelda titles and I believe this game is the first game to suggest that Link is actually reincarnated throughout time. This is actually crucial to the central themes of the game, which is about being shackled to the past.

Link is his very own person in this game. He's not the outcast "boy without a fairy" we know from Ocarina of Time. He's a normal kid. He fits into the small community in which he lives. Still, he & the other boys on his island live in the shadow of the "Hero of Time," the legendary hero of which his entire community is fixated with. He's even made to wear the iconic green tunic on his 10th birthday much to his chagrin. Despite being his own person, he's completely shackled to the past by his community & by the player themselves who know he's the hero of time.

Without going any further into spoilers territory, this is a persistent theme throughout the game. Everyone's obsessed with the old Hero of Time and the old land of Hyrule and has the dream that maybe it can all come back. Everyone's looking back & the youth of this world are being robbed of their right to dream about building their own future.

You may think, hey it's just a kids game. It's not THAT deep, but the truth is every story has its themes and while the themes of children's stories tend to be less nuanced than others, they are still very much there. The themes of this game are not subtle. They sit right there on the surface and that's okay. While I never played this game as a young child, I can imagine the idea of living in the shadow of what your family or community expects you to be can be very powerful for a young child even if they can't quite recognize why the game is resonating with them in that way.

These themes run on a meta-level as well. Nintendo obviously wanted to break from tradition a little bit with this game. They wanted this game to be unshackled by the Zelda games that came before and stand on its own. That's why we have a completely new Link & new Zelda. That's why the land of Hyrule is no more & that's why the series subverted expectations and went with the cell-shaded graphics. The villain in this game, Ganondorf, is the connection to previous Zelda games and even his motivations are to cling to the past & stifle the growth of this new land that has risen above the flooded Hyrule.

And that's why I admire this game so much. It's not afraid to be its own game. While I wouldn't want every Zelda game to go with this art style, I immensely enjoyed it in this particular game.

The problems I have with this game are all on the game-play side. The dungeons and boss fights are ridiculously easy, especially if you've played Zelda games before. For all of its wanting to break from tradition, this game relies almost solely on traditional Zelda items to get you through the game. It kind of contradicts its own story themes with its game-play in this regard.

And as massive as the game world is, with 49 islands and several platforms, there is very little to do on them. Unless you're someone who likes to grind to uncover every single heart piece (not me), there isn't a ton of side content to do. The sea charts and treasure hunting are a nice diversion, but quickly turn into a repetitive grind. If you're a completionist there is plenty to do, but I'm the sort who will only do side content as long as it remains fun. The second it stops being fun and starts feeling like a grind, I usually stop unless whatever I'm unlocking through the grind is incredibly helpful for later.

This game is well worth picking up if you can find it for a reasonable price (And you should be able to). I highly recommend playing the Wii U HD version as being able to use the gamepad to access items & view the map was wonderful. While I don't like the repetitive grind of much of its side content, the delightfully charming story along with the initial fun of exploring the open seas made this game well worth it for me.