I have many problems with Wind Waker. These do not include its art style or its plot (though the graphical limitations of the Gamecube meant the former didn't quite match the gorgeous concept art). I also think the idea of the game (a Zelda on the high seas) was fairly novel for the time, but it was not executed in a satisfactory matter.
The problem with the sailing is that traveling from A to B in a game must be engaging on some level. You should be doing things. In Wind Waker, when sailing, it's entirely possible to let the game idle while you check your e-mail, heat up some leftover pizza, and go to the bathroom without missing anything. It's true that you can stop at various points of interest, but those are entirely optional and merely serve to delay my trip, not enhance it. While this is eventually overcame with the Ballad Of Gales, it becomes a major issue in the first third or so of the game.
Which is brought up again in the Triforce Hunt. While at least two dungeons were originally planned for this section, the designers instead opted to create a sequence where we were forced to not only hunt for ridiculous amounts of Rupees, but then purchase maps to travel to a tedious amount of locations strewn across the sea. Fetch quests may not be uncommon in the Zelda franchise, but all this did was made me seasick.
What Wind Waker ultimately comes to is an average action/adventure game with some noteworthy visuals and plot points, particularly the fleshing out of Ganondorf's character and Hyrule's placement as a lost kingdom. It's not a terrible game, but it's not a very good Zelda game. I'd take any of the other 3-D entries in the franchise overitratherquickly.
A victim of circumstance
I have many problems with Wind Waker. These do not include its art style or its plot (though the graphical limitations of the Gamecube meant the former didn't quite match the gorgeous concept art). I also think the idea of the game (a Zelda on the high seas) was fairly novel for the time, but it was not executed in a satisfactory matter.
The problem with the sailing is that traveling from A to B in a game must be engaging on some level. You should be doing things. In Wind Waker, when sailing, it's entirely possible to let the game idle while you check your e-mail, heat up some leftover pizza, and go to the bathroom without missing anything. It's true that you can stop at various points of interest, but those are entirely optional and merely serve to delay my trip, not enhance it. While this is eventually overcame with the Ballad Of Gales, it becomes a major issue in the first third or so of the game.
Which is brought up again in the Triforce Hunt. While at least two dungeons were originally planned for this section, the designers instead opted to create a sequence where we were forced to not only hunt for ridiculous amounts of Rupees, but then purchase maps to travel to a tedious amount of locations strewn across the sea. Fetch quests may not be uncommon in the Zelda franchise, but all this did was made me seasick.
What Wind Waker ultimately comes to is an average action/adventure game with some noteworthy visuals and plot points, particularly the fleshing out of Ganondorf's character and Hyrule's placement as a lost kingdom. It's not a terrible game, but it's not a very good Zelda game. I'd take any of the other 3-D entries in the franchise over it rather quickly.