master_betty's Full Review: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for GameCube
Oh the controversy! Seriously, it doesnt matter what camp you want to lay your flag, be it Nintendo, Sony or whoever. You have to hold up your hands and agree that The Legend of Zelda is one of the best series ever made, its that simple, and anyone who argues against this fact really has to have thier brain examined, because they are (for the most part) superbly made games.
However, the amount of controvery surounding this game was unbelievable, and all because of its graphical style! Which in the end, made this game all the more unique and worthy of the Zelda name.
Story:
Most previous Zelda games tend to stick to a similar basic story, 'Ganon's out to destroy the world, and it's upto Link to stop him', and in essence Wind Waker doesnt stray too far, but it does have a lot more in terms of plot and character development than previous installments. The story begins with Link waking up on his 10th birthday. On his home island, it's traditional for boys his age to recieve a green tunic in celebration of a legendary hero who saved the world from evil hundreds of years earlier (Ocarina of Time infact). The story really gets going when a huge bird carrying a young girl is seen flying towards the island, chased by a pirate ship. The bird is hit with cannon fire, dropping the young girl into the forest on Links island, so naturally, its upto you to go find her. After doing so, the bird mistakes your little sister for the girl and kidnaps her, giving you all the motivation you need to leave your home behind on a rescue mission. Its pretty basic stuff at first, but ofcourse, the story grows and spirals into an all out battle to save the world, and guess who from? In all, it's a great story in a game which really wouldnt need one, so in a way it's a bonus, and a well told and paced bonus at that.
Gameplay:
The overall gameplay sticks very close to the previous 'main' Zelda games, which is a very good thing. Link controls incredibly smoothly at just the right pace. He can "L-Target" enemies enabling him to follow, circle and jump at them with ease, aswell as blocking and attacking with his sword or any other weapon. The targeting system is even better than previous games, it works so well and in no time becomes second nature.
Links items and weapons are easily accessed by assigning them to the X, Y & Z buttons, although there is one small problem, which really isnt a fault of the game, but rather the Gamecube controller, there just arent enough buttons for this type of item selection system, and i find myself having to enter the inventory menu to reasign items far often than i would like, sometimes just to use an item for a few seconds (such as the wind waker) and then having to re-enter and reasign my previous weapon. It seems like such a small problem that could have been fixed by using the D-pad for weapons also, instead of it simply changing the map size etc.
Small niggles aside, one of the biggest ideas in any Zelda game is exploration. Wind Waker gives you this opportunity more than any previous Zelda title. This time, instead of what was basically a large field with several areas sprouting off in different directions, you have a vast ocean dotted with many, many islands to travel to. This gives the world a truly epic feel. You travel the sea in your newly aquired boat the "king of red lions", which, conveniently, can talk, giving you advice and tips on where to sail to next, and how to get there. You'll be using your new 'Wind Waker' which is capable, among other things, of changing the direction of the wind, enabling you to sail in whatever direction you wish. The Waker acts just as the ocarina did in OoT, playing melodies which produce different effects, such as creating water spouts to transport you across vast distances instantly.
Ofcourse this wouldnt be a Zelda game without dungeons. Theres arent too many in Wind Waker to be fair, and they can be a little too easy, but they are still great fun and are intelligent in both design and creative thought.
Graphics:
The graphical style used in Wind Waker caused so much controversy, which once the game had been released, turned out to be utterly pointless. The grapics in this game are nothing short of wonderfull. Everything looks truly amazing and shows us that whatever asthetic changes are made, Zelda games still shine through as great, great games. Screen shots and photographs do not do justice to the sight of this game in action. Everything moves and animates wonderfully, colours are striking and vibrant, characters are superbly detailed and expressive. I think when people saw the first shots from the game in development, and thought 'cartoon' graphics, no one really understood just how detailed and full of life the final product would be. Link and the rest of the cast of characters all look awesome, with fantastic detail and animation, right down to Links big, manga-style eyes following everything that moves around him. The enemies are equally impressive, moving smoothly and quickly to attack with visious acuracy. A special mention has be to given to the boss characters, who are huge, powerfull foes that look truly outstanding.
The world itself is bright, colourfull and packed with extra little tricks, such as real star constellations at night time and spectacular sunsets. The sea itself looks great changing from calm lapping waters to huge swells that really make Links little boat seem all the smaller. It's worth mentioning also, that there are no loading times when travelling the huge distances across the sea, as its all done on the go, giving a seemless transition from one island to the next, it really is impressive viewing a tiny spot on the horizon and sailing right up without any interuption from loading screens. It adds a whole other layer of epic feeling. Also, the effects used are beautiful. From the splashes around Links feet as he runs along the shore, to the explosions from bombs as the smoke swirls and spirals away, simply magnificent.
Sound:
As usual, there is almost no voice acting in the game, only the occasional sounds of grunting and shouting while attacking etc give any hint that the inhabitants of this world have learn to communicate with speech. I have to say however, that i like this in Zelda games. It helps portray the player as the hero, whereas giving Link a voice will make him a seperate entity to the player, which i personally think will hurt the series. Also, bad performances from voice actors can really distract from a story, although im sure Nintendo would hire only the best, you never know, and as it stands, i dont think the series loses anything by pushing the story with well produced cut scenes and text. Its worked so far right?
The ambient sounds are also fantastic. The wind howls, the sea rolls and the enemies shreak with pain as you strike them down. It's a testimant to great sound in a game when your happy to stop and just listen to the sound of the grass blowing in the wind as the waves reach the shore.
The music, again as usual, is perfectly suited to the situations it appears in. You've got everything you could ask for here: Big orchestral main themes, spooky dungeon themes, happy melodies and grand exploration music, as well as a whole bunch more that really sucks you in to the world.
Lastability/Replayability:
Compared to the main stories in other Zelda games, this is a fairly short tale. Although it still retains the epic feel of previous games it feels like its over far too soon. Ofcourse, you still have many many secrets to uncover, such as hidden treaure below the surface, and secret caves on most islands, which encourages you to explore and return to previously visited places with new items you've aquired which could help you get to that out of reach cliff top or move that huge boulder that you KNEW had a secret hidden underneath. Also, there is the Nintendo gallery. Hidden inside a hard to reach outcrop of a certain island is a little shop, where a kind little guy will gladly sculpt any characters or enemies that you have take pictures of. These statues can then be viewed in rooms within his store, with small descriptions about them all. This is a massive side quest, as you'll have to travel the entire world taking pictures of each and every character and every enemy (includings bosses!) if you want to complete the collection. This alone will add many hours to your playing time.
As far as replayability goes, there are some minor bonuses given as a reason to go through the story again, such as the ability the read the mysterious hyrulian language not understandable in the initial play through, and Link facing the whole adventure in his pyjamas from the opening scene, its not much, but then again, you dont really need much incentive to play through again, because its a great story and worth experiencing one more time, if only to marvel some more at the graphics!
Descriptions/Payment/Shipping:should be found easily. I try to keep it simple. All listing include my own photos. I do not use stock photos. In any ca...More at eBay
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