Hero of Winds, The Windwaker

 

Name: The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker

Devoloper: Nintendo
Year: 2002/2003

Platform: Nintendo Gamecube

Genre: Action - Adventure

To start my review, I am going to talk about a game I am currently replaying. The Windwaker is one of those games I go back to when I have nothing to do. I guess the cartoony graphics and the easy gameplay are appealing to me. This is one of those games that I know by heart by now so reviewing this wasn't a problem.

The story starts with a small review about Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Some time after Ganondorf was defeated by the Hero, he returns. This time there is no Hero however and the people of Hyrule could only appeal to the gods for help. They replied.. .and sealed Hyrule under water. In time this legend was forgotten, but the story of the Hero lived on. Thus, when a young boy comes of age, they get a green tunic the resembles the hero's tunic. Once you get your tunic you see a pirate ship approaching your island, chasing a humongous bird who is carrying a girl. She gets dropped in a forest, and you go rescue her. When you get back, you are greeted by your sister, who kinda resembles the girl you just saved. The bird comes back though, and takes your sister instead of the girl you just saved. Horrified and angry, you chase the bird by pirate ship. A quest in search of your sister in the vast seas of Hyrule.

Got you interested? Good, because I am not going to tell you any spoilers. Instead, I will tell you about the gameplay, Which, if you played those, resembles the Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. You walk around with the control stick, which runs quite smooth. The A button is the standard action button and is used for talking with persons, using items or parrying once you get the opportunity. The B Button is used to swing a weapon, being your own weapon or something you pick up from the ground or grab from an enemy. These can vary from a deku stick till a huge lance. On the X, Y and Z button you can allocate items such as the boomerang or a bottle. Like all Zelda games, this game has lots of items such as the classic bow and arrow or the new picto box, which you can use to take pictures for several sidequests. You operate the camera with the C stick, Lock on with the L button and R is used to guard or crouch. Like I said before, this looks a lot like the gameplay from the Zelda on the N64 Platform, with some nice tweaks to make it a little easier.

Although the dungeons take place on the islands(or below the sea!) You also need to travel a lot by boat. Eventually, you will get your own boat which you can use to sail the seas. A mystical item called "The Windwaker" is used to control the winds, thus making it easier to sail around.

Get used to sailing though. You see, you will see the sea quite a lot. Which might make it a bit boring since you see blue all the time, This is blue haze is only disturbed by an enemy once or twice, but no real threats. The islands you visit are quite colourfull, on the contrary. The style used for this Zelda is absolutely not realistic. But this look is, like I said before, quite appealing. Even though some dungeons are dark and creepy, the setup makes it so that you feel in a happy place, laughing about Link every now and then since he looks quite funny.

The music in his game are about the same as the graphics, simple, yet catchy. Every town has it own music that kinda fits the theme. Although the dungeons could use more work. You have to listen very carefully to even hear music sometimes!

All in all, a great game to play even if you are not great fan of Zelda, give it a try. Perhaps it puts a smile on your face. Definitely if you try the new game+.