The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Intro: Long ago, legends speak of a man who unleashed unspeakable evil on the land of Hyrule. Seemingly out of nowhere, a young boy clad in green challenged this evil man and helped banish him to another dimension. This young boy was known as the Hero of Time, because the legends say he traveled through time to battle evil. Years later, the evil man managed to break free from the portal holding him, and he resumed his reign of terror upon the people. Praying to their gods, the people hoped for the legendary hero to appear once more and deliver them. Unfortunately, that hero never appeared.
On a certain island, it is customary to clad young boys of age in the garb of the Hero of Time and give them a sword. A young boy is about to reach that age. Little does he know that he is destined to become a legendary hero.
Game Play and Atmosphere (5/10):
A policy of mine is to finish a game before writing a review. Unfortunately, I must make one of my rare exceptions and break that policy. Usually, I ignore the rule if the game is far more difficult to finish than my skills allow. This is not the case, as many people critique the game for being too easy. I havent finished the game because I lost all desire to resume playing. To put it simply: I didnt really have fun playing this game. Thats right. I dont think this game is the best GameCube game, or even the best Zelda game. Far from either one in fact. Now, Im just as avid a Nintendo fan as anybody else, but anyway you slice it, you have to admit this game has serious problems.
Most of the problems can be summed up this way: The game presents some innovative and creative ideas, but they are horribly executed. Dont get me wrong; I love to see new and original ideas in games. I think the plot of Majoras Mask is great simply because its different and weird. The water-world theme this game presents could potentially work, but the way its executed, it seriously detracts from the enjoyment of the game.
The first problem, one that many commonly complain about, is the incessant amount of time youll spend sailing. Gamers will spend a good 40-50% at sea, more than that for gamers who are getting accustomed to the game. It takes way too much time to get from one destination to the next. True, you can access warps, but those are only available after you have already finished a considerable portion of the game. Staring at a wide, blue sea quickly becomes boring. Also, to get any speed at all, you need to have the wind at your back. That means youll constantly be using a magical baton called The Wind Waker(the games namesake) to change the wind. If youre looking for treasure, or trying to land near a certain part of an island, and miscalculate and over-shoot your mark, youll more than likely have to resort to whipping out your Wind Waker and playing maestro. True, your boat can cruise, but doing is painstakingly slow and it seems to fizzle out if you go against the wind long enough.
While sailing, you will encounter enemies from time to time. You can usually sail past them without too much trouble, but there will be times when hordes of enemies will be near treasure, and youll probably want to clear the area so you can safely search for treasure. Your boats offense is a canon that launches bombs. Unfortunately, you cant equip your canon and sail simultaneously. That means as you fight enemies, you are reduced to the horrendously slow cruise speed. So while youre trying to line up a shot, youre a sitting duck for sharks and blowfish who will continue to ram your boat, and for floating pirate turrets who will continue to pepper your position with cannonballs.
Until you finish the second real dungeon, you are severely limited to where you can and cant go. As a matter of fact, you can only make beelines from Windfall Island to Dragon Roost Island, and from Dragon Roost Island to The Forest Haven. If you detract from your course, your boat will spout some dribble about how you arent ready and the game will auto-pilot you back on course. Now, its true in every Zelda game access to certain areas are limited, but this is ridiculous. Besides, with the boat lecturing you constantly about staying on task, the game seems to exude a snappy attitude about your mission. What happened to the Zeldas where players could roam wherever they pleased and figure out for themselves instead of having a boat dictate to them what areas are currently inaccessible?
Another way in which the water-world is horribly presented is the fact there are virtually no big land masses. True, every square on your sea-chart has an island, but most of them arent much bigger than your own bedroom. I dont mind small islands. As a matter of fact, many of them grant access to various mini-dungeons of sorts. But is it too much to ask for maybe 3-4 larger land masses so you can explore on land just like in prior Zeldas? Isnt Zelda all about exploring? Another thing, to update your sea chart, in each square, youll have to hunt down a jumping fish and feed him bait. This quickly becomes monotonous.
Another idea introduced in this game is having to coordinate actions between Link and a partner in two different dungeons. While this does create some new and interesting puzzles, there are problems with the way its executed. Your partners AI is virtually non-existent. I know the same could be said of Princess Ruto in Ocarina of Time, but considering Wind Waker is on a more powerful system and the games are on an updated format, its only fair to expect more. Besides, there are lots of games where your partner actually does something. I know that previous statement sounds broad and general, but your partners in this game literally do nothing. In order to get them to work, you have to you guessed it take control of them yourself by conducting a certain tune using your Wind Waker. Unfortunately, nearly every room in both of the partner dungeons call for switching back and forth between Link and his partner, so this method quickly becomes cumbersome. One the bright side however, both dungeons are relatively small.
Another great idea that fails miserably is collecting eight pieces of the Triforce of Courage. While this harkens back to the original Zelda, where you collect eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom, its nowhere near as fun in this game. Before you can even collect a single shard, you have to look for Triforce maps. And once you get your hands on a map, dont count your little gold triangles yet, for you have to take said map to a certain island and pay somebody to translate it for you. Now youre finally ready to find that shard. Unfortunately, getting a hold of some of the charts is more of a burden than it should be. For instance, one such map can only be obtained by infiltrating a certain ship. Problem is, this ship only appears on certain squares of the sea chart during certain phases of the moon. This means youll either have to be extremely lucky and be at the right place at the right time; stop and look at the moon every night to see if its in an appropriate phase, and hope to all the fairies in Hyrule that you can get to the right spot before dawn comes(Day and night go by rather quickly on the sea); or stay in one of these spots and play a song on your Wind Waker that changes day to night and vice versa until the appropriate phase of the moon appears. Oh yeah, one other thing: If you forget which squares require which phases of the moon, that means youll have to once again hunt down those fish, feed them bait, and have them repeat their hints. Have fun.
I know Ive been hard on the game. I dont mean to imply the game has no merits whatsoever. As a matter of fact, this game has several good qualities. Ocarina of Time and Majoras veterans will quickly take to the style of game play, as the engine is an enhanced version of those two games.
Possibly the biggest improvement is the increase of combat. There are rooms that are almost literally filled with monsters. Luckily, the targeting feature has drastically improved from the N64 Zeldas. If you get tired of mindless hack and slash, the game added a new feature: the parry move. Essentially, this is a counter attack that works against certain moves performed by enemies. Its relatively easy to execute and a lot of fun to watch.
Some of the items are fun to use. For example the boomerang has been upgraded so it can now smartly lock on to five targets simultaneously. A new item is the Deku Leaf. It can be used to blow gusts of wind, or to float. Unfortunately, like sailing, you need the wind at your back to float effectively. This means yep, you got it more conducting. Still, the item has many practical uses. Another cool item is the grappling hook. While at first glance it may appear to be a cheap imitation of the hook shot, its actually a cool item. It allows you to hook onto certain poles and swing across large gaps and access areas previously unreachable. Its fun, yet so simple to execute that youll be swinging like Spider Man in no time.
The game has some nice touches, and all around, presents an enjoyable atmosphere. There are countless references to classic Zelda games. Like the cell shaded graphics or not, it is a good avenue for humor. More than once, I got a kick out of seeing Link jump up and down with joy after taking the lead in an auction, while the other auctioneers are in shock wondering how a boy clad in simple garb could possibly have so much money. At one point in the game, you will have to toss Medli, a young Rito girl, so she can fly to a ledge. Should you inadvertently throw her into a wall, her eyes will spin and shell good naturedly give a slurred speech about seeing stars. Shes much more tolerable than Ruto from Ocarina of Time, who constantly nagged about every little thing. Probably the nicest touch is some of the old school enemies are back. For instance, the Wizzrobes are back in all their glory. Im talking about the NES Wizzrobes who fired, disappeared, reappeared somewhere else and fired again, not the watered down Majoras Mask version. The darknuts are back, and they are a pain to kill in this game just like in the original. Also, there are some enemies that look strikingly similar to the originals manual art of lanmolas, although I think the enemies in Wind Waker have a different name.
Many people complain about the Forbidden Fortress dungeon, but I think its a nice change of pace. On your way there, you accidentally part with your trusty sword, so you have to sneak around and scrounge around for other weapons should you run into an unavoidable battle. Youll be forced to hide in barrels to sneak by spotlights and guards, which is actually rather thrilling. I found at least one other side quest where you stealth will be needed again. The sneaking around idea is actually thrilling and a good change of pace, and its too bad it wasnt used more in this game. Perhaps Nintendo predicted that most fans would dislike it.
The game has countless side quests. During your adventure, youll meet and interact with countless characters. Many of these characters have their own backgrounds, and in some way have a relationship with other characters. The game spins a complex social web thats easy to get caught up in. And like I said before, the game has lots of mini-dungeons. While its true the game has few real dungeons, the game has tons of these mini-dungeons. They only average about 3-4 rooms, but they come with enemies, puzzles, and treasure just like the big dungeons.
And of course, there are the bonus games and various extra features. Thankfully, to win a decent reward, the bonus games no longer require absolute perfection like in Majoras Mask. As a result, youll end up going back to them for fun instead of straining yourself to achieve the absolute best possible score. Bonus games range from a Battle Ship-esque game(more fun than it sounds, actually), to a cannon shooting gallery, to a boat obstacle course, to a gliding contest. One neat feature added to this game is the figurine gallery. Once you get the deluxe camera, you can take pictures of characters and monsters and submit them to a sculptor. When he finishes making the figure, you can see a nicely done 3D rendition complete with useful information about that character. Unfortunately, like so many other great ideas in this game, this can also get tedious. It seems you can only give the sculptor one picture at a time, and you have to wait a full day until the figure is complete. Still, its purely a bonus. From what I can tell, there are no major rewards for filling the gallery; its simply a novelty.
Play Control (6/10):
This category is a mixed bag. In some ways, the game improves drastically from its predecessors. In other ways, there are so many annoying things that seriously detract from its score.
Lets start with the good things. The biggest improvement is definitely the refined targeting system. First of all, it seems to transition from one enemy to the next much smoother than in the N64 Zeldas. This is crucial considering you are often called upon to deal with multiple enemies at a time. Second, you have the option of either having the target remain locked on an enemy, or make it where it only locks on if you hold down the L button. If youre the type that doesnt want to bother with holding down a button while fighting, then choose the first option. The second option is good for when you need to break away from enemies and make a run for it, or when you simply need movement and agility that targeting mode wont allow. Unfortunately, with the first option, its very difficult to break locks on enemies, especially when there are several at once.
Like in Super Mario Sunshine, you have the option of controlling the camera. Its easy to instantly switch between follow and free camera modes. You simply tilt the C-stick if you want to manipulate the camera. If you want to switch back to follow mode, you simply stop and hit the L button which also faces forward in that mode. Controlling the camera has practical uses in this game, and in some cases, gives you a better view than first person mode.
Now for the gripes. Link has a swim meter in this game(Yet another similarity between this game and Super Mario Sunshine). That means he can only stay in the water so long before drowning. While that in itself isnt unrealistic, nor a big hassle, controlling Link in the water can be a little squirrelly at times. This is particularly noticeable when you are desperately trying to position yourself so you can climb back in your ship or up a ladder. While you are trying to accomplish said task, Link seems to refuse to stay still, and will madly change directions while you are trying to line yourself up.
Another problem is I think they tried to put in too many moves. You can now crouch using the R button, and crawl along the ground by hitting the control stick. Unfortunately, using your shield, as well as grabbing an object you can push or pull also share the R button. There were times when I needed to use my shield to quickly deflect an attack, or grab onto an object when instead, Link would lay on the ground. It may not seem like a big deal, but it gets to be quite annoying after awhile.
As for everything else, its basically the same as the N64 Zeldas. The B button swings your sword. The A button serves as your all purpose action button. You can set up to three items using the X, Z, and Y buttons.
Replay Value (6/10):
I havent finished the game, so dont take this score too seriously. I can say however, that this game does have some replay value simply because there are so many tasks not mandatory for finishing the game. But thats assuming you enjoyed the game the first time through, which I have not. Too many tasks are boring, cumbersome, and take way more time to accomplish than what should be necessary. Quite frankly, I wouldnt want to trudge through this game a second time.
Graphics (9/10):
The controversial cel-shaded graphics actually look superb. The character models are much more refined, as a opposed to the somewhat blocky models in Ocarina of Time. Overall, the graphics seem very well polished, with the a variety of colors and good lighting effects. The special effects are neat too. For example, defeated enemies go up in a puff of purple smoke. And Ill mention once again that the graphics allow for cartoonish humor thats presented quite nicely and doesnt detract from the enjoyability at all. The only major problem I noticed is the black lines that occasionally appear during sailing. This wouldnt be a big deal except its rather distracting considering the amount of time youll spend sailing.
Music and Sound (7/10)
Many tunes are the same as prior Zelda games, but thats not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it adds continuity and familiarity. Most of the new songs are ok, but only a few really stand out. For instance, the title screen theme has this nice islander ring to it. My favorite tune would have to be the song played in the Temple of the Gods dungeon. It sounds remotely similar to the Emperors Throne Room Them in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Other songs fit the situation well, but only a few are really catchy and memorable.
Sound effects are basically the same as the N64 Zeldas. Link has the same yells for swinging his sword, falling, rolling, etc. The sound effects for the sword being unsheathed, connecting with rock, and for powering up and executing a spin attack are all there. However, hitting an enemy produces this strange, distinctive jingle. Since Im no music and sound expert, I have no idea how to describe it, but I think its a cool addition. Like in Majoras Mask, some characters produce groans, grunts, etc. to accompany dialogue. It seems a little more well done in this game. One character that is well done in this aspect is the guy running the Battle Ship type mini-game. When you miss, he says Sppppliiiiissshh When you connect, he yells Ka-BOOM! Its so funny that I wind up playing the game again just to hear those effects, even though I have already won all the important prizes.
Conclusion:
As a lifetime Nintendo and Zelda fan, I really wanted to enjoy this game. Another motivation I have for enjoying this game is I was always a staunch supporter of the change from the realistic graphics to cel-shaded. I argued that game play is more important than graphics, and Zelda games always have good game play. Unfortunately, my argument backfired as Im now forced to eat crow. I like the graphics, but am turned off by the game play.
But thats not to say some of you wont enjoy the game. It does have considerable merits. However, I dont think it retains the fun of prior Zelda games. Parts of the game seem to move at a snails pace, and several tasks are more cumbersome or take longer than they should. I just think those of you who havent played this game yet(Whose population is probably virtually non-existent by now) should have fair warning that just because this has Zelda slapped on it doesnt mean its the best game ever. Its far from perfect in fact.
Final Plusses and Minuses
+ Cel-shaded graphics are well done
+ Lots of side quests, bonus games, and extra features
+ Interesting character interaction
+ References to classic Zelda games
+ Areas with lots of combat
- Many tasks are cumbersome
- Many parts of the game drag on at a snails pace
- Way too much time is spent sailing
- Players can easily get bored at certain junctures in the game
- Extremely limited access to the world in the first part of the game
- Lack of large land masses
Overall Score (6/10)
Intro: Long ago, legends speak of a man who unleashed unspeakable evil on the land of Hyrule. Seemingly out of nowhere, a young boy clad in green challenged this evil man and helped banish him to another dimension. This young boy was known as the Hero of Time, because the legends say he traveled through time to battle evil. Years later, the evil man managed to break free from the portal holding him, and he resumed his reign of terror upon the people. Praying to their gods, the people hoped for the legendary hero to appear once more and deliver them. Unfortunately, that hero never appeared.
On a certain island, it is customary to clad young boys of age in the garb of the Hero of Time and give them a sword. A young boy is about to reach that age. Little does he know that he is destined to become a legendary hero.
Game Play and Atmosphere (5/10):
A policy of mine is to finish a game before writing a review. Unfortunately, I must make one of my rare exceptions and break that policy. Usually, I ignore the rule if the game is far more difficult to finish than my skills allow. This is not the case, as many people critique the game for being too easy. I havent finished the game because I lost all desire to resume playing. To put it simply: I didnt really have fun playing this game. Thats right. I dont think this game is the best GameCube game, or even the best Zelda game. Far from either one in fact. Now, Im just as avid a Nintendo fan as anybody else, but anyway you slice it, you have to admit this game has serious problems.
Most of the problems can be summed up this way: The game presents some innovative and creative ideas, but they are horribly executed. Dont get me wrong; I love to see new and original ideas in games. I think the plot of Majoras Mask is great simply because its different and weird. The water-world theme this game presents could potentially work, but the way its executed, it seriously detracts from the enjoyment of the game.
The first problem, one that many commonly complain about, is the incessant amount of time youll spend sailing. Gamers will spend a good 40-50% at sea, more than that for gamers who are getting accustomed to the game. It takes way too much time to get from one destination to the next. True, you can access warps, but those are only available after you have already finished a considerable portion of the game. Staring at a wide, blue sea quickly becomes boring. Also, to get any speed at all, you need to have the wind at your back. That means youll constantly be using a magical baton called The Wind Waker(the games namesake) to change the wind. If youre looking for treasure, or trying to land near a certain part of an island, and miscalculate and over-shoot your mark, youll more than likely have to resort to whipping out your Wind Waker and playing maestro. True, your boat can cruise, but doing is painstakingly slow and it seems to fizzle out if you go against the wind long enough.
While sailing, you will encounter enemies from time to time. You can usually sail past them without too much trouble, but there will be times when hordes of enemies will be near treasure, and youll probably want to clear the area so you can safely search for treasure. Your boats offense is a canon that launches bombs. Unfortunately, you cant equip your canon and sail simultaneously. That means as you fight enemies, you are reduced to the horrendously slow cruise speed. So while youre trying to line up a shot, youre a sitting duck for sharks and blowfish who will continue to ram your boat, and for floating pirate turrets who will continue to pepper your position with cannonballs.
Until you finish the second real dungeon, you are severely limited to where you can and cant go. As a matter of fact, you can only make beelines from Windfall Island to Dragon Roost Island, and from Dragon Roost Island to The Forest Haven. If you detract from your course, your boat will spout some dribble about how you arent ready and the game will auto-pilot you back on course. Now, its true in every Zelda game access to certain areas are limited, but this is ridiculous. Besides, with the boat lecturing you constantly about staying on task, the game seems to exude a snappy attitude about your mission. What happened to the Zeldas where players could roam wherever they pleased and figure out for themselves instead of having a boat dictate to them what areas are currently inaccessible?
Another way in which the water-world is horribly presented is the fact there are virtually no big land masses. True, every square on your sea-chart has an island, but most of them arent much bigger than your own bedroom. I dont mind small islands. As a matter of fact, many of them grant access to various mini-dungeons of sorts. But is it too much to ask for maybe 3-4 larger land masses so you can explore on land just like in prior Zeldas? Isnt Zelda all about exploring? Another thing, to update your sea chart, in each square, youll have to hunt down a jumping fish and feed him bait. This quickly becomes monotonous.
Another idea introduced in this game is having to coordinate actions between Link and a partner in two different dungeons. While this does create some new and interesting puzzles, there are problems with the way its executed. Your partners AI is virtually non-existent. I know the same could be said of Princess Ruto in Ocarina of Time, but considering Wind Waker is on a more powerful system and the games are on an updated format, its only fair to expect more. Besides, there are lots of games where your partner actually does something. I know that previous statement sounds broad and general, but your partners in this game literally do nothing. In order to get them to work, you have to you guessed it take control of them yourself by conducting a certain tune using your Wind Waker. Unfortunately, nearly every room in both of the partner dungeons call for switching back and forth between Link and his partner, so this method quickly becomes cumbersome. One the bright side however, both dungeons are relatively small.
Another great idea that fails miserably is collecting eight pieces of the Triforce of Courage. While this harkens back to the original Zelda, where you collect eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom, its nowhere near as fun in this game. Before you can even collect a single shard, you have to look for Triforce maps. And once you get your hands on a map, dont count your little gold triangles yet, for you have to take said map to a certain island and pay somebody to translate it for you. Now youre finally ready to find that shard. Unfortunately, getting a hold of some of the charts is more of a burden than it should be. For instance, one such map can only be obtained by infiltrating a certain ship. Problem is, this ship only appears on certain squares of the sea chart during certain phases of the moon. This means youll either have to be extremely lucky and be at the right place at the right time; stop and look at the moon every night to see if its in an appropriate phase, and hope to all the fairies in Hyrule that you can get to the right spot before dawn comes(Day and night go by rather quickly on the sea); or stay in one of these spots and play a song on your Wind Waker that changes day to night and vice versa until the appropriate phase of the moon appears. Oh yeah, one other thing: If you forget which squares require which phases of the moon, that means youll have to once again hunt down those fish, feed them bait, and have them repeat their hints. Have fun.
I know Ive been hard on the game. I dont mean to imply the game has no merits whatsoever. As a matter of fact, this game has several good qualities. Ocarina of Time and Majoras veterans will quickly take to the style of game play, as the engine is an enhanced version of those two games.
Possibly the biggest improvement is the increase of combat. There are rooms that are almost literally filled with monsters. Luckily, the targeting feature has drastically improved from the N64 Zeldas. If you get tired of mindless hack and slash, the game added a new feature: the parry move. Essentially, this is a counter attack that works against certain moves performed by enemies. Its relatively easy to execute and a lot of fun to watch.
Some of the items are fun to use. For example the boomerang has been upgraded so it can now smartly lock on to five targets simultaneously. A new item is the Deku Leaf. It can be used to blow gusts of wind, or to float. Unfortunately, like sailing, you need the wind at your back to float effectively. This means yep, you got it more conducting. Still, the item has many practical uses. Another cool item is the grappling hook. While at first glance it may appear to be a cheap imitation of the hook shot, its actually a cool item. It allows you to hook onto certain poles and swing across large gaps and access areas previously unreachable. Its fun, yet so simple to execute that youll be swinging like Spider Man in no time.
The game has some nice touches, and all around, presents an enjoyable atmosphere. There are countless references to classic Zelda games. Like the cell shaded graphics or not, it is a good avenue for humor. More than once, I got a kick out of seeing Link jump up and down with joy after taking the lead in an auction, while the other auctioneers are in shock wondering how a boy clad in simple garb could possibly have so much money. At one point in the game, you will have to toss Medli, a young Rito girl, so she can fly to a ledge. Should you inadvertently throw her into a wall, her eyes will spin and shell good naturedly give a slurred speech about seeing stars. Shes much more tolerable than Ruto from Ocarina of Time, who constantly nagged about every little thing. Probably the nicest touch is some of the old school enemies are back. For instance, the Wizzrobes are back in all their glory. Im talking about the NES Wizzrobes who fired, disappeared, reappeared somewhere else and fired again, not the watered down Majoras Mask version. The darknuts are back, and they are a pain to kill in this game just like in the original. Also, there are some enemies that look strikingly similar to the originals manual art of lanmolas, although I think the enemies in Wind Waker have a different name.
Many people complain about the Forbidden Fortress dungeon, but I think its a nice change of pace. On your way there, you accidentally part with your trusty sword, so you have to sneak around and scrounge around for other weapons should you run into an unavoidable battle. Youll be forced to hide in barrels to sneak by spotlights and guards, which is actually rather thrilling. I found at least one other side quest where you stealth will be needed again. The sneaking around idea is actually thrilling and a good change of pace, and its too bad it wasnt used more in this game. Perhaps Nintendo predicted that most fans would dislike it.
The game has countless side quests. During your adventure, youll meet and interact with countless characters. Many of these characters have their own backgrounds, and in some way have a relationship with other characters. The game spins a complex social web thats easy to get caught up in. And like I said before, the game has lots of mini-dungeons. While its true the game has few real dungeons, the game has tons of these mini-dungeons. They only average about 3-4 rooms, but they come with enemies, puzzles, and treasure just like the big dungeons.
And of course, there are the bonus games and various extra features. Thankfully, to win a decent reward, the bonus games no longer require absolute perfection like in Majoras Mask. As a result, youll end up going back to them for fun instead of straining yourself to achieve the absolute best possible score. Bonus games range from a Battle Ship-esque game(more fun than it sounds, actually), to a cannon shooting gallery, to a boat obstacle course, to a gliding contest. One neat feature added to this game is the figurine gallery. Once you get the deluxe camera, you can take pictures of characters and monsters and submit them to a sculptor. When he finishes making the figure, you can see a nicely done 3D rendition complete with useful information about that character. Unfortunately, like so many other great ideas in this game, this can also get tedious. It seems you can only give the sculptor one picture at a time, and you have to wait a full day until the figure is complete. Still, its purely a bonus. From what I can tell, there are no major rewards for filling the gallery; its simply a novelty.
Play Control (6/10):
This category is a mixed bag. In some ways, the game improves drastically from its predecessors. In other ways, there are so many annoying things that seriously detract from its score.
Lets start with the good things. The biggest improvement is definitely the refined targeting system. First of all, it seems to transition from one enemy to the next much smoother than in the N64 Zeldas. This is crucial considering you are often called upon to deal with multiple enemies at a time. Second, you have the option of either having the target remain locked on an enemy, or make it where it only locks on if you hold down the L button. If youre the type that doesnt want to bother with holding down a button while fighting, then choose the first option. The second option is good for when you need to break away from enemies and make a run for it, or when you simply need movement and agility that targeting mode wont allow. Unfortunately, with the first option, its very difficult to break locks on enemies, especially when there are several at once.
Like in Super Mario Sunshine, you have the option of controlling the camera. Its easy to instantly switch between follow and free camera modes. You simply tilt the C-stick if you want to manipulate the camera. If you want to switch back to follow mode, you simply stop and hit the L button which also faces forward in that mode. Controlling the camera has practical uses in this game, and in some cases, gives you a better view than first person mode.
Now for the gripes. Link has a swim meter in this game(Yet another similarity between this game and Super Mario Sunshine). That means he can only stay in the water so long before drowning. While that in itself isnt unrealistic, nor a big hassle, controlling Link in the water can be a little squirrelly at times. This is particularly noticeable when you are desperately trying to position yourself so you can climb back in your ship or up a ladder. While you are trying to accomplish said task, Link seems to refuse to stay still, and will madly change directions while you are trying to line yourself up.
Another problem is I think they tried to put in too many moves. You can now crouch using the R button, and crawl along the ground by hitting the control stick. Unfortunately, using your shield, as well as grabbing an object you can push or pull also share the R button. There were times when I needed to use my shield to quickly deflect an attack, or grab onto an object when instead, Link would lay on the ground. It may not seem like a big deal, but it gets to be quite annoying after awhile.
As for everything else, its basically the same as the N64 Zeldas. The B button swings your sword. The A button serves as your all purpose action button. You can set up to three items using the X, Z, and Y buttons.
Replay Value (6/10):
I havent finished the game, so dont take this score too seriously. I can say however, that this game does have some replay value simply because there are so many tasks not mandatory for finishing the game. But thats assuming you enjoyed the game the first time through, which I have not. Too many tasks are boring, cumbersome, and take way more time to accomplish than what should be necessary. Quite frankly, I wouldnt want to trudge through this game a second time.
Graphics (9/10):
The controversial cel-shaded graphics actually look superb. The character models are much more refined, as a opposed to the somewhat blocky models in Ocarina of Time. Overall, the graphics seem very well polished, with the a variety of colors and good lighting effects. The special effects are neat too. For example, defeated enemies go up in a puff of purple smoke. And Ill mention once again that the graphics allow for cartoonish humor thats presented quite nicely and doesnt detract from the enjoyability at all. The only major problem I noticed is the black lines that occasionally appear during sailing. This wouldnt be a big deal except its rather distracting considering the amount of time youll spend sailing.
Music and Sound (7/10)
Many tunes are the same as prior Zelda games, but thats not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it adds continuity and familiarity. Most of the new songs are ok, but only a few really stand out. For instance, the title screen theme has this nice islander ring to it. My favorite tune would have to be the song played in the Temple of the Gods dungeon. It sounds remotely similar to the Emperors Throne Room Them in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Other songs fit the situation well, but only a few are really catchy and memorable.
Sound effects are basically the same as the N64 Zeldas. Link has the same yells for swinging his sword, falling, rolling, etc. The sound effects for the sword being unsheathed, connecting with rock, and for powering up and executing a spin attack are all there. However, hitting an enemy produces this strange, distinctive jingle. Since Im no music and sound expert, I have no idea how to describe it, but I think its a cool addition. Like in Majoras Mask, some characters produce groans, grunts, etc. to accompany dialogue. It seems a little more well done in this game. One character that is well done in this aspect is the guy running the Battle Ship type mini-game. When you miss, he says Sppppliiiiissshh When you connect, he yells Ka-BOOM! Its so funny that I wind up playing the game again just to hear those effects, even though I have already won all the important prizes.
Conclusion:
As a lifetime Nintendo and Zelda fan, I really wanted to enjoy this game. Another motivation I have for enjoying this game is I was always a staunch supporter of the change from the realistic graphics to cel-shaded. I argued that game play is more important than graphics, and Zelda games always have good game play. Unfortunately, my argument backfired as Im now forced to eat crow. I like the graphics, but am turned off by the game play.
But thats not to say some of you wont enjoy the game. It does have considerable merits. However, I dont think it retains the fun of prior Zelda games. Parts of the game seem to move at a snails pace, and several tasks are more cumbersome or take longer than they should. I just think those of you who havent played this game yet(Whose population is probably virtually non-existent by now) should have fair warning that just because this has Zelda slapped on it doesnt mean its the best game ever. Its far from perfect in fact.
Final Plusses and Minuses
+ Cel-shaded graphics are well done
+ Lots of side quests, bonus games, and extra features
+ Interesting character interaction
+ References to classic Zelda games
+ Areas with lots of combat
- Many tasks are cumbersome
- Many parts of the game drag on at a snails pace
- Way too much time is spent sailing
- Players can easily get bored at certain junctures in the game
- Extremely limited access to the world in the first part of the game
- Lack of large land masses
Overall Score (6/10)
I like nachos.
