Wind Waker is the Best Zelda Game Ever

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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is perhaps the most controversial release within the series’ storied history. The decision by Nintendo to abandon the well-received graphics of their Gamecube tech demo was met with a lot of push back, with many fans promising to boycott the title which came to be known as “Celda,” for its cartoon art style.

Upon release, The Wind Waker was further criticized for its departure from many of the Legend of Zelda series’ core tenets of gameplay. For the first time in the franchise the overworld was largely covered in water, leaving the traditional land of Hyrule far behind. With overworld exploration being broken up through the scattered remnants of islands, many felt as if the Zelda experience was lacking and perhaps even cumbersome. This fact, coupled with a variety of nuances of the game, has led The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker to be one of the most widely discussed titles in the series.

Is the criticism justified? Perhaps. Maybe the game is the best entry to the entire Zelda series though, and here is why.

The Story, The Legend

wind waker intro

The Legend of Zelda series is widely praised for its rich and complicated story. The narrative of Hyrule and its heroes is one that is diverse and filled with so much backstory. The splitting of the timeline in Ocarina of Time further added to its depth by adding on a whole other level history.

While a few of the Zelda games have referenced their prequels, only The Wind Waker does so in such a riveting and incredibly introspective way. The Wind Waker is the first game in the series that actually self-references the legend aspect of The Legend of Zelda. The game’s prologue begins with a sequence that briefly describes the events of Ocarina of Time. The inhabitants of the overworld within The Wind Waker actively celebrate and honor the Legendary Hero, Link.

For the first time in the series we were able to start piecing together a bit of the overall connecting timeline while also being able to appreciate the shrouded mystery and confusing elements which makes up many legends and tales.

World Brought to Life

link wind waker

One of the most overlooked features of The Wind Waker is its level of emotional depth and charisma. While the Legend of Zelda games have always been packed full of emotion and vibrancy, no title has ever come close to matching that of The Wind Waker’s.

The cartoon-like graphical choice allowed for Link’s world to finally come alive in a way that not only added a bit of character, but also allowed for some interesting gameplay inclusions. The faces of Zelda characters had up until this point been rather rigid or limited in expression. In The Wind Waker this is not the case. Link can be seen making a wide range of emotional expressions, can be seen dancing, showing determination, can look curious, scared, excited, frustrated, and much more. More importantly, Link’s eyes can actually be used to help the gamer solve puzzles. The cel-shaded graphics led to the creative use of Link’s eyes as a way for developers to point out hints within the various dungeons. By following where Link’s attention lays, gamers are oftentimes able to see details they may have originally missed. Talk about interactivity!

Link’s Family

link wind waker grandma

Outside of a few vague references and non-canonical entries to the series, Link’s family is usually left out of the equation. We got to meet Link’s uncle in A Link to the Past, but that is as deep as it had gotten. The Wind Waker was the first Zelda game that actually brought Link’s family to the forefront of the adventure, with his sister Aryll being a large device moving the plot forward.

Adding Link’s family not only helped by adding a level of emotional connection to the game, but it also established the fact that Link is a character that is reborn and can come from a range of familiar backgrounds.

Ganondorf

wind waker ganondorf covet the wind

Why is Ganondorf always so mad? What causes him to wake up and decide to cause so much chaos onto the land of Hyrule? Up until The Wind Waker we never truly had any kind of backstory or justification for such evil deeds. Sure, the pursuit of power is tempting to many, but it leaves a rather shallow story behind the series’ main villain.

The Wind Waker’s Ganondorf is much different. He is not simply a man driven mad by power. His plight is actually one that leaves me feeling a bit bad for his struggles. While his rationale is not fully explored until the end of the game, it is one that is fully consequential to the game’s motifs, and one that invokes a sense of sympathy.

Coming from the barren desert, Ganondorf says that the wind had always brought death to his people. Day or night, the wind’s effects had left behind destruction and despair. He then admits to coveting the wind that blows over Hyrule. While Ganondorf is ultimately defeated, his final words of, “the wind…it is blowing” are extremely invocative and provides a deeper clarity to his backstory.


 

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is Nintendo’s most enriching and emotionally-connected story to ever hit the fabled franchise. This entry brought forth a new level of depth to the series by beautifully adding a deep backstory to its titular characters, and by ingeniously self-referencing itself through a legend within a legend.

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About Author

Noah Glaser is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati where he majored in Information Technology with a minor in awesome. Noah has worked in web marketing for over 5 years and has built a reputation that has followed him both professionally and independently. He is the founder and lead content contributor for The Hidden Triforce.In the 5th grade he bought Link’s Awakening for his brother as a Christmas gift. Since stealing it back, he has been hooked to the Zelda series and has never looked back. In his spare time you can find Noah frolicking with his Porygon and Kiwi Birds. He dislikes chocolate, cheese, and bacon.

  • how’d you know im bi?

    While all this is well and good the reason wind waker is the best zelda game is much simpler than that. U see, its the cutest one.