The Wind Waker is a success both in creating a new Zelda title and in being an experience all it's own.
Perhaps the first and most noticeable difference of Wind Waker from previous games is in the way it looks. Nintendo chose to use cell shading to create this games environments and characters, and the effect worked quite well. Throughout your journey in the Wind Waker, you will see serene yet beautiful use of water, a variety of unique and wonderful environments, and awe-inspiring creatures. Furthermore, Link, the series' protagonist, is at his most expressive by far in this game. Cell shading is a technique that not everyone seems to care for, but the Wind Waker shows how impressive cell shading can be.
Of course, The Wind Waker's greatest strength is not in it's graphics. Just as one would expect of a Zelda title, The Wind Waker's main strength is in it's gameplay. There are a variety of tools in this game, both old and new, that are a joy to use, and they've been adapted for use with a boat on the open sea as well. Where adapting items for use on a boat is concerned, the Wind Waker can be considered an outstanding success. Link can use his bow or hookshot normally when riding his boat, and he can retrieve treasure from the ocean floor with a grappling hook or shoot at other ships or creatures with a cannon, for which bombs are used. The game's unique item is the titular Wind Waker, which functions in a fashion similar to the Ocarina seen in the N64 Zelda titles. Link can use the Wind Waker to change the direction of the winds for efficient sailing, warp from place to place on the ocean, change night into day, and a variety of other useful and often quite enjoyable applications.
Wind Waker also features a variety of excellent, well designed dungeons. Each dungeon makes great use of Link's various tools to create puzzles and features and interesting mid-boss and boss fight. Some of the dungeons have Link cooperating with another character for even more interesting designs. Given the variety of tools to solve puzzles and the strong dungeon design, especially when coupled with the nice art style, The Wind Waker's dungeons are perhaps the best in the series.
Like any good adventure game, The Wind Waker features a vast number of hidden secrets and collectables. There is treasure to be had in each of the game's dungeons, a large number of small isles to explore, people to talk to, and quests to complete to make the Wind Waker last a much longer time than it takes to complete the storyline, and the joy of searching for and finding items is perhaps the game's most entertaining feature. Wind Waker is especially strong due to the massive number of treasures hidden at sea, the pursuit of which can be very rewarding.
However, for all it's strengths, the Wind Waker's gameplay does have one feature that could be considered flawed - the sailing. It can at times take a few minutes to get between islands, and while this can be boring to the impatient, it can be a rather calming experience. The game also has a mandatory hunt for certain treasures at one point (which can be spaced out over the course of the game) which isn't enjoyable to some, but can be a rather entertaining search for sunken treasure.
The Wind Waker also has one of the best storylines in the series. The story is rather concise, but the main reoccuring characters of the series are at their absolute best here, being the deepest and most relatable they've ever been within the series, and that's something that can be easily appreciated. There are several moments in the game that are well-written or even emotional - both optional to encounter and mandatory.
Additionally, Wind Waker features quite possibly the best soundtrack in the series. The themes that play in this game are very fitting for each of the scenarios they play in, from sailing to boss fights to the credits of the game, and are very well composed, and rather catchy.
Between it's stellar and entirely unique gameplay, it's concise yet well done storyline, and it's superb presentation, The Wind Waker is an excellent game that anyone with a little patience can thoroughly enjoy.