Wind Waker Before & After
Written By: AJ Middleton

So the game is over.  In my review I gave it an 8.9, simply because I thought it was good, but it wasn’t good enough to earn an A with me.  In fact, I wouldn’t even consider this game a masterpiece.  It broke too many Zelda rules without completely filling them in, was too short, and was too easy.  Be warned, spoilers follow.

I’ve been waiting for an amazing GameCube adventure since the beginning.  So when Wind Waker’s release came closer, I remembered how much of a great game Ocarina of Time was, and I thought that MAYBE WW would be a comparison.  Ack, I was wrong.  Ocarina of Time was true to the Zelda series.  There was no evidence of any connection to past Zelda games, Link and Zelda were “real”, and difficulty increased as the game progressed.  Wind Waker broke all of these rules.  For one, the plot is based on that of OoT’s, and it’s the first Zelda to ever do this.  And for that reason, Link and Zelda just didn’t seem like THE Link and Zelda.  In fact, Zelda didn’t feel like Zelda at all because she was really Tetra!  As for difficulty, it stayed the same for the whole game.  The bosses all had that 3-hit thing going on.  Come on Nintendo, we left that tactic back in the Super NES days.  This isn’t the series that I have come to know and love.

Now, I’m a plot-aholic, and I loved how the story seemed to take off, despite how awkward it felt.  Tetra is really Zelda?  Link is the next hero?  Hyrule was flooded after Ganon returned?  THE GREAT SEA IS REALLY THE TOP OF HYRULE KINGDOM?!?  All of that stuff was great.  And the climax scene in Ganon’s chamber with Lord Valoo’s rescue was great too.  You want to keep playing, hoping that more will come out.  But then it doesn’t.  Well, it does for a little while.  You go to Hyrule, the plot thickens a little more, but THAT’s when it starts to die.  Two temples?  Give me a break!  Although playing as two characters rocked, it did not make up for the simplicity and scarcity of the temples, (or for when Jabun gives you the pearl.)  And all you do is power the Master Sword, which means its handles start to stick out more.  Give me a break.  At least make it a 3^rd sword, as the Zelda’s of the past have done.

As Link travels, a player of OoT can assume that many of the islands are floating sections of old parts of Hyrule.  For example, the Forest Haven is obviously the Kokiri Forest, and the Deku Tree is the grown-up Deku Sprout.  Dragon Roost Isle is Death Mountain, and its interior strongly resembles the Gorons’ home.  Although we can assume, I wish that the game actually pointed this out.  I believe that all good sequels mention the old game whenever it can, and it would have been great to hear a Rito say, “You know, they say that stone people who couldn’t fly lived here years ago, but I think it’s just a myth!”  Or maybe the Deku tree could have referred to OoT Link.  Even better, Link could have discovered a map of old Hyrule, which would have clearly showed what everything had become.  Ah, I wish too much…

AND WHAT IS UP WITH GREATFISH ISLE!?!?  It has NO purpose in the game but to hold a heart piece, rupees, and a Goron Salesman.  What a total waste of space.  I kept returning for the whole game, hoping to find a secret dungeon or something, but it never changed.  Ugh.

Meanwhile, the Triforce of Courage, as worn by the Hero of Time, sits in the background.  Now, I hoped some great plot element would come from this, but it didn’t.  Only a great waste of time comes from this.  I cannot believe the whole Triforce gathering quest.  That has to be the most boring, time consuming, and wasteful part of a game that I’ve ever played.  Really now Nintendo, this was an excellent chance to put in more dungeons.  But nope, you’d rather have us hunt around for maps and fish around for pieces.  Hours of fun.  So the Triforce potential plot dies, the main plot just collapses, and you go to beat Ganon.

Oh yeah, Ganon.  Wait; let’s start with his tower.  I think it’s sad when you have to beat every boss again, and they have retained their original difficulty.  This makes you think, “Wow, those guys weren’t very hard at all!”  Puppet Ganon was ridiculous.  Not necessarily because it was easy, but because it was literally ridiculous.  The disk would have been thrown out of my window if that were the final boss.  Ganon himself was only cool because of his swords.  I hated how he kept saying how he would uncover Hyrule again.  Why?  Because I WANTED him to do that!  A playable Hyrule would have put this game on the same level as OoT!  But sadly, it never happens.  I also disliked how Tetra/Zelda helps during the final battle.  It makes you feel like you’ve accomplished SO much (sarcasm folks) when human Ganon gets jabbed in the head, which is pretty dark for a Zelda game.  Overall, the final battle was a disappointing.  One phase of Ganon, the computer helps you, and no Hyrule L.

If I could do electronic origami, I would quickly fold 50% of the Great Sea into extra dungeons and better plot points.  The Great Sea is TOO BIG.  I HAVE been waiting for a giant world since the ‘Cube came out, but I meant a giant world that is useful!  Only 16 of the 49 islands on the Sea need to be touched!  Ever!  And mind you, most of the islands are only a fraction of the 3x3 minute square that they’re each a part of.  In short, the Great Sea is a bunch of empty space.  Empty space consumes time and makes gamers grumpy.  It’s a fact.  And it’s not like you ever see any interesting scenes while sailing either, sans the islands.  The platforms get annoying, the waves get mesmerizing, and the giant, fat, balloon fish are just plain scary.

The sea!  All past Zelda’s have taken place on land.  I like change, but again, this change sort of ruined the Zelda feel.  On the fields, it always seems like something is there.  May it be a town or a new landscape, every part of a grassy (or icy, or rocky) plain is different.  But here, in Wind Waker, we just have water as far as the eye can see.

Hmm, so what DID I like in Wind Waker?  The graphics style was great, although it took some getting used to.  I liked how the plot strayed away from that of past installments of the series, although I hated how it just died out.  Dungeon innovation was cool, but their amount and bosses weren’t.  The number of side quests was great, yet there were too many of those and too little game.  Oh!  The Wind Waker itself was cool.  But even THAT could get tedious at times.  Yikes, it seems like every good point has a counterpoint…

But, overall, I did not hate Wind Waker.  Yes, I was very upset and disappointed, but it was a good game.  It had some enjoyable elements and moments that made it worthwhile.  It was short, it was easy, but hey, it’s Zelda.  I have yet to get far in the 2^nd file, mainly because I really don’t want to do the whole sailing thing all over again.  But when I’m bored, I’ll most likely put on my invisible hero’s clothes and set to the seas again.

Posted: 11-11-03