An excellent game marred by an 11th hour fetch quest.
First, let's talk about the most distinctive and instantly noticeable feature of Wind Waker, the graphics. They are a vast departure from the more "realistic" style of the N64 games, if realistic can be applied to games where an elf and a fairy team up to fight a vaguely swine-like dark sorcerer. Many fans were initially skeptical, and feared the bright, colorful graphics signaled a dumbed-down, kiddified version of their beloved franchise.
Those fans are wrong. The graphics in Wind Waker are stunningly beautiful, and perfectly complement the game world and story being told. Everything is bright and colorful, with exaggerated proportions based on simple geometry, almost like a coloring book come to life. The game carries out this choice with the utmost artistic integrity, with a world so cohesive that by the end it's hard to imagine the game looking any other way. In particular, the animation (including highly expressive faces on all of the characters) helps to sell this world, granting it life and personality. And although quite long, the game never attempts to be as epic as previous games, and the new graphical style perfectly complements this, instead emphasize a childlike sense of wonder and discovery. Finally, by opting for such a stylized look, Nintendo has created a game that still looks very good even by modern gaming standards.
The game is a refreshing mix of old and new. In the beginning, the game world seems to have little to do with the Hyrule we know and love. Instead of vast fields, tall mountains, and sprawling deserts, The Wind Waker takes place on a series of small islands scattered about the Great Sea. Rather than walk or ride from place to place, Link sails about on his talking boat and mentor, the King of Red Lions. Just like real sailing, you can only go where the winds take you, a welcome dose of realism in a game with both feet firmly in fantasy land. Early on you acquire the titular Wind Waker, a baton which allows you to control the direction of the wind and ends up playing a similar role to the ocarina in previous games. Like much of the game, this mechanic has clear roots in previous games but is different enough in style and execution to feel fresh.
Even the narrative isn't your typical Zelda yarn. Yes, it opens with young Link living in his idyllic hometown, about to come of age and ready to explore the world. But rather than being sent on some errand to Hyrule castle and meeting Princess Zelda, his quest begins when his sister Aryll is kidnapped by a giant bird. Eventually Zelda, Gannondorf, and the Triforce all make their way into the story, but it takes longer than you might expect, keeping the game from feeling like a retread of previous titles. Part of the game's charm and a great deal of fun comes from seeing how familiar plot points and mechanics are recast and reintroduced. And for series fans, there are plenty of nods to previous games (Ocarina of Time in particular), that add an extra element of depth to both the game and franchise's overall narrative. Let's just say the Great Sea and Hyrule aren't as unrelated as they may initially seem.
On land, the typical Zelda gameplay is back in full force, which is hardly a bad thing. You will explore various locales, meeting dozens of colorful and idiosyncratic characters, and solve a myriad of regional crises on your way to the final showdown. Expect lots of puzzle solving in the game's many dungeons, all of which are exceedingly well-designed. You acquire new items and skills at a very consistent rate, which provides extra impetus to continue playing and reach the next area. Yes, you can do all of this in previous games in the series, but the Wind Waker executes everything so well you'll hardly mind doing it all again.
…at least, until about two thirds of the way through the game, when a plot point results in you having the track down 8 hidden items before any progress can be made. Suddenly, you aren't encountering a new dungeon every few hours, nor are you continuing to discover new items and abilities. No, you are just sailing around the globe from point A to point B, collecting items in a giant fetch quest that kills the game's pacing and momentum. By the time this section ends, you may be hard-pressed to remember why you were collecting these items in the first place. Luckily, the game's finale is well done and probably it's most challenging section (Wind Waker is a decidedly easy game, although to gripe too much about that would be to miss the point).
It doesn't help that sailing is probably the least entertaining mechanic in the game. The different islands are too far apart, and having to constantly change the wind's direction becomes rather tedious (the accompanying animation may be short, but not short enough that you want to watch it literally hundreds of times). While the sense of adventure and discovery is initially strong, this later portion of the game sees you returning to pretty much every area you've already visited, killing that sense of wonder. It all feels like the chores your parents used to make you do before taking you to the zoo or out to get ice cream; the reward is eventually worth it, although it doesn't seems that way at the time.
However, this does not take away from the fact that The Wind Waker is a highly polished game, and that anyone who is interested should give it a chance. The positives far outweigh the negatives, and while it may not be the watershed moment Ocarina of Time was, Wind Waker is still a damn fine moment for Nintendo.