#game-review #finishedgame2023 # The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker  [Console:: Nintendo Wii U] [Status:: Beaten] [Approximate Start Date:: 2023-07-31] [Finish Date:: 2023-10-16] [Clear Time:: 32h] [Total Play Time:: 32h 1m] [nReplays:: 0] ## [Rating:: 92] *Provide some justification for the rating if you want. (Do last)* # Playthrough Notes - Played the HD version on Cemu and on stream with people in the call with me to make the "slower parts" more enjoyable. - UPDATE CEMU AFTER YOU FINISH WIND WAKER!!!! - Named my Link "Slovakia" and it has been an excellent time - [[Giving my characters funny names is one way I'm being able to stay engaged while playing games]] - [[Wind Waker Heart Piece Guide]] - Treasure Chart Locations - https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/The_Wind_Waker_Treasure_Charts - Somehow I played the whole game with the worse lock-on target mechanism and didn't change it until the final boss. # My Thoughts - [[Wind Waker and Loss of Innocence]] - [[Wind Waker's Link is the most impressive Link because he isn't bound by fate, he acts of his own accord.]] - [[Wind Waker's Ocean is Big but Everything in it Will Still Be There Later in the game so you don't need to explore it all immediately]] - [[Toon Link is my favorite iteration of Link because he's expressive]] ## Dragon Roost Cavern is a Good First 'True' Dungeon I just hate those stupid fiery centipedes. Beyond those annoying enemies though, this dungeon is quite fun. It's dynamic, has many meaningful tiers and verticality to the spaces which is good. Really makes you think about the 3D Space you're now exploring and how the dungeon design reflects that space that's the equivalent to the inside of a volcano. ## The dungeons in this game are all really quite good When the Forest Haven dungeon is the weakest of the five main dungeons, you know you've got something special on your hands. Each dungeon is clearly well considered and it's pretty tricky to get lost or not know where to go next, which I can appreciate a lot. ## Why is Medli, a creature of the skies, the Earth Sage while Makar, a creature of the Earth, the Wind Sage? I don't get it. Is there meant to be some kind of contrast? Like one who isn't bound to the other can present new knowledge? Was it just an error on the game's part? I don't know. ## General Thoughts - Wind Waker is a game about childhood and the loss of innocence? - Tetra can't explore the seas because she has to hide because she's zelda - The hope in spite of circumstances? - Apparently WindWaker HD and twilight Princess HD were made so that the development team could work with games in HD before the development of [[Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda|Breath of the Wild]]. That's kinda neat. Makes you think about why development teams release games in the first place. - Kinda how the Persona 3 models in Persona 3 Dancing Moonlight were clearly ways to practice getting Persona 5-esuqe models for the Persona 3 characters before [[Persona 3 Reload]] - Medli is cute, she likes Link oooooooo - This game is a good bunch of fun. - Hated that mf Wizzrobe miniboss in the Wind Temple. Awfully annoying boss fight. - The Triforce Chart quest is a section of padding that really kills the momentum of the game not gonna lie. - Really takes the wind out of my sails # Favorite Moments / Memories - I really enjoyed the Tower of the Gods Dungeon. It feels like a cool way to do a water temple without it actually being a "water temple". Using the King of Red Lions to navigate the first floor was very cool with the rising and falling water From a gameplay perspective, the ocean is huge and it initially felt like once I had the means to explore, that I should. But the magic of this space is that there are a lot of things in the ocean that cannot be dealt with until Link has all of his items. the stuff all in the ocean will still be there when you finally can actually explore around it. That's the whole point of the Triforce Chart Quest. ### The Triforce Chart Quest Forces the player to prove their mastery of the Great Sea Once you have all of the items from each dungeon, everything in the Great Sea is accessible in some capacity. You, the player, just need to know how to traverse the space. You have to KNOW the world to get the triforce. You have to know that you need 21 Joy Pendants to give to the Teacher on Windfall Island to buy her mansion and then to know where it is, and then to know how to get through it, for example. Knowing what little bits on each island are now accessible and also the willingness to crawl across the various lands, filling out the map, and learning how to explore the structural, natural, and societal puzzles of the world of Wind Waker. If only it weren't such a momentum killer. - I REALLY like the Earth Temple - The final giant mirror room puzzle is really quite good - In general, the vibes in the Earth temple are REALLY distinct. I know it was a spin on the Shadow Temple from Ocarina of Time, but I feel like this "ghost" temple was really different to any kind of catacomb-like dungeon seen before. - The idea of the wind temple where the main mechanic is holding onto a leaf and flying, that feels like a lot of fun. # What were you doing when not playing this? *Can we tie the time you did this playthrough to any real-world events?* # Relevant Links *Links to associated media.*