A legend that will live on forever...

User Rating: 9.5 | The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Limited Edition) GC
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was released in 2003 to a huge amount of hype, and record-breaking pre-orders. After all, it was the follow-up to classics such as Majora's Mask and what is often revered as the best game of all time, Ocarina of Time (which came included a launch). I beat the game about five minutes ago, and I have been very eager to review the game. So here it is, The Wind Waker!

The game starts with Link, asleep on a watch tower, on his small island called Outset. "Island?! Hyrule is all above sea level!" you might say, had this been 2003. The thing is, this isn't really Hyrule, its a vast ocean, dotted with tiny islands in each sector. Now Link wakes up after his adorable sister, Aryll, informs him its his birthday. On this very special day, Link must don the clothes of the Hero of Time, as is tradition for the boys of Outset when they come of age. A while later, a cutscene reveals a giant bird has kidnapped some girl, and is being pursued by a pirate ship. The bird drops the girl, and sub-sequently kidnaps YOUR sister, mistaking her for the other girl. Being quite the adventurous lad, you embark on a quest to save your sister, and the pirates reluctantly agree to let you aboard their ship. After awhile the story becomes more traditional, with references to old locations and characters, and you realize you ARE the Hero of Time, or rather, Hero of the Wind. Early in the game you get two very, VERY important items. One is the King of Red Lions, your little sailboat you use to navigate the oceans. The other is the Wind Waker itself, not unlike the ocarina from Ocarina of Time. You use the Wind Waker to manipulate the wind to blow in the direction you desire, as to easier travel in your boat.

But where to travel? Well, to the islands, to find hidden treasure, record locations on your map and so much more! As usual in Zelda games, you will have to go through many dungeons. These dungeons aren't ridiculously hard, but they are very fun and some of the puzzles will get you pretty frustrated, such as one which requires manipulating light to go in different directions by moving a bunch of mirrors around and by using your shield. Other than that, the game isn't very challenging, but there is one part than can get a bit tedious, when you have to uncover eight Tri-Force shards scattered throughout the sea, and requires you to plot on your map nearly every single island and islet. Outside the main quest, there is a huge number of side-quests to do, like the Nintendo Gallery, finding Skull Necklaces and Joy Pendants, playing hide and seek with some stuck up little kids, all sorts of stuff, and setting out to complete all the side-quests increases your time spent playing drastically. There is also some replay value, as you unlock a few new goodies on a second playthough. Other than that, sword-play has been fine-tuned from the N64 Zeldas, platforming works as it has before, and the controls never feel clunky or wrong.

Visually the game looks distinct, but nonetheless amazing. The cell-shading *really* benefits the game's look, and the cartoony feel is charming and often hilarious, such as the many facial expressions. Decals look extraordinary, like small bits of green dust floating in the air in the Deku Tree's lair (no rhyme intended), gusts of white wind, waves on the ocean floor, burning flames, lighting, its all spectatular. The framerate is smooth, the art design is fantastic, its all simply perfect. The soundtrack is also great, with some remixes of old songs, new ones, and an epic theme for sailing the sea.

So at the end of the day, when those credits start rolling, you'll have had an incredibly satisfying adventure of legendary proportions. If you don't have it, you must. The Wind Waker is the greatest Zelda since Ocarina of Time, and lives up to its name and then some.

Actual score: 9.75