Zelda: Wind waker is an OK game but this game really shows that Nintendo rushed this game out the door due to time and resources wasted elsewhere (cell shading), I can only imagine the pain the developers must have felt having to meet deadline for this games release. This is probably the most forgettable game in the Zelda series of recent times when comparing it against it's N64 predecessors.
This is the most boring Zelda in the series because of the ocean which makes up for the developers actually having to model a landscape which would require lots more work. The ocean makes fighting on the boat cumbersome and boring because of the vast space the ocean covers. Your limited range of movement and the long distance between enemy encounters on the sea makes for very boring traveling. The sea, wind and boat in this game are a gimmick and are a huge hindrance to gameplay. Gameplay took a step backwards here because games are supposed to be action packed and fun. No one likes staring at the endless open sea for 5, 10 or 20 minutes at a time with no ability to move around and keep oneself occupied like on land. Maybe they should have given link and in-game gameboy advance so traveling wouldn't have been as boring?
When compared against other games in the Zelda series this game is your typical Zelda fair ALA Ocarina of time / Majora's mask for the Nintendo 64. Not much has changed except the new cel-shaded look. This game has taken many steps backwards for the Zelda series. You can tell the game was rushed and there is a severe shortage of action content, dungeons, puzzles and monsters to keep one busy.
By far the best Zelda games ever made were Zelda II for the NES and Ocarina of Time for the N64. Ocarina of Time was one of the first Zelda's of the series to push more mature themes, artistic styles and up the ante on gameplay. I like how Nintendo at least tries to make their games different or stand out but it should not come at the price of boredom. If you look at the history of Zelda, every sequel (almost) tried to do something new to keep it fresh. Zelda 1 - original. Zelda 2 was a sidescroller, Zelda 3 was the first to get a major graphic and gameplay overhaul compared to Zelda 1 (on the NES). Ocarina of time was the first fully 3D Zelda game. Majora's mask (Haven't played), and the Zelda: The Wind waker – Nintendo tries graphical overhaul again (cel shading) but it neglects gameplay, story and interface design.
There are very few real dungeons (only 4 major ones) and a lot of your playtime is consumed running around finding the staple Zelda items that have been in every previous game. The story, presentation and interface still needs a lot of work and haven't changed much since the previous Nintendo 64 games. The fact that the text scrolling speed is fixed (when you talk to characters or for items that have text boxes) and you have to wait and can't skip it or make it faster is very annoying. When you compare Zelda's interface with more mature RPG or RPG action games like Final fantasy series or FF: Crystal Chronicles or Star Ocean you see that Nintendo isn't really pushing the action RPG genre very much when compared to other game developers.
It seems like Nintendo is dumbing down their Zelda franchise every new game they make. They really have dumbed down Zelda to make it easier for the really young kids out there in Wind waker. I really dislike how the more mature people who've been with Nintendo since the NES days released way back in 1985 are getting "let down" when it comes to innovation and quality in Nintendo's action RPG's. Zelda lets face it, was never really a "Kid's game", the first and second game were totally hardcore then and even more so by modern standards. Starting with Zelda 3 on SNES it finally became "a game for everyone", but even Zelda 3 had a lot of 'hardcore' things carried over from the Zelda 1 for the original NES, it was essentially a remake of the gameplay and world style used in the first Zelda game for the original 8-bit Nintendo. I wish Nintendo would produce a more mature version of Zelda using their Appealing cast of characters. Especially considering the bulk of people that play videogames are teenagers and adults between ages 13 and 35.
This game a must buy? Only if you are a harcore fan. I would have rather rented it or picked it up used. It was definitely not worth paying full price for a rushed game.
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