The Wind Waker and the Apocalypse
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2024
- The Wind Waker simultaneously looks like a children's cartoon and is a surprisingly dark post-apocalyptic story. What messages does it send when we take it seriously, both generally and about the idea of the Legend of Zelda itself?
Support the channel! / skyehoppers
Twitter! / skyehoppers
Streaming...eventually... / skyehoppers
Reconstructed # 6
Voiceline by @eurothug4000
She makes excellent video essays check out her channel if you haven't already!
Other cool video essays on the Wind Waker:
The Courageous Heart of the Wind Waker by @LiamTriforce • The Courageous Heart O...
Wind Waker Retrospective by @KingKlonoa • Wind Waker Retrospective
The Loneliness of The Wind Waker by @JacquelineMerritt • The Loneliness of The ...
usually you need to be a patron to be in the credits, but your name will be in the next video regardless
00:00 - Intro
03:11 - Part 1: A New "Hero"
14:03 - Part 2: A New "World"
33:26 - Part 3: Tetra (Is Not a Princess)
41:54 - Part 4: Waker of the Winds
1:00:59 - Part 5: Reinvention
Wind Waker Video Essay
Wind Waker Analysis
Wind Waker Retrospective
#windwaker
#videoessay
#analysis - เกม
Hoy! What did you think of my analysis of the Wind Waker? What did I miss that could affect my interpretation? Are there any aspects of the game you see differently? If you're interested in getting early access to my videos and the ability to vote on future video topics, please consider subscribing to my Patreon if you have the means www.patreon.com/skyehoppers ! I'm aiming long-term to build a unique community through Patreon where people can analyze what media communicates but free from the pressure-filled academic setting that makes some people think it's not fun. Cause it's actually a super fun way to engage with art! Here are some discussion questions to build off what I talked about in the video, and what I left out of the script.
1. Are you satisfied with my analysis of wind as a symbol? I'm not, tbh. I did my best to make as much sense of it as I could, but it still doesn't really feel complete to me, especially considering Ganondorf's final speech. Any other ideas?
2. After rescuing the kidnapped girls from the fortress the obscenely rich family switches places with the destitute family. What does this represent? Is it just fun to watch a rich asshole lose or does it have some stronger connection to the game's themes?
3. After the credits Link and Tetra set off to find new land, which ends up being the setting of Phantom Hourglass. Doesn't this ignore the Deku Tree's efforts to build a more connected right here? Does this maybe betray a latent colonialist sentiment within the game?
HOOOY
About the Deku Tree, I'm gonna put on my tinfoil hat and say that the overworld of Breath of the Wild IS the Great Sea, very long after it potentially drying out and the Koroks letting nature take it's course.
Oiiii
@@quag_02 but isn't BOTW on the failed hero timeline, completely separated from Windwaker? or am i mistaken?
Its a continuity reboot. Tears of the kingdom debunks all of the previous lore and declares that the Open world Zelda games are their own contained stories.
It had never occurred to me that the King of Red Lions spends most of his time in Wind Waker trying to steer the hero into hitting all the beats of the "classic formula". Gain the blessings of the gods, find the Master Sword, assemble the Triforce, and remember, Zelda's valuable because she's royalty and magical, not because she's cunning, resourceful, or captain of a fiercely loyal pirate crew. Whether intentional or not, he's behaving like an in-game manifestation of the worst kind of "series fans" more concerned with whether all the boxes on the "Legend of Zelda" checklist are being ticked than with the new possibilities inherent to a fresh start. Both he and Ganondorf make the same mistake from different angles, of assuming that the story of the Hero of Time is inseparable from the legacy of Hyrule, and imperiling this new world by seeking to dredge up that old one.
King of Red Lions would be the kinda dude to go "BotW is a good game but it's not a good ZELDA game" like okay Grandpa take your meds 💀
Link is literally named the role of the figure which is to link you to the world as the bearer of the tri force of courage, or to the player the try force. Zelda is the personification of hylia and its her story, as if she were dm in a d and d game but also a character. Ganon is the possessor of the triforce of power. The triforce is represent the screen and each power. That's why it's red green and blue, RGB.
The tri force together was supposed to be representative of the dram chip in the console which let you upload yourself to the game so you'd merge with the tri force.
Ganon represents the threat of power while Zelda represents the story. I order to win you have to be courageous and willing to try and try again to master the power of Ganon and overcome him to fulfill the self fulfilling prophecy of Zelda.
It's a really clever motif. Eveb links hat is supposed to be reminiscent of Peter pan and the world is a type of never land for you to explore thus the faeries.
Ganon is a boar which is the Asian equivalent of the Wolf. Boars are as fierce as to kill king Robert boratheon in game of thrones. Getting gored by a boar while battling it tested the might of kings. Ganon is being a wizard with a form of the demon King isn't represented as a western demon but an Eastern demon a fierce monstrous boar. The baddies in Zelda are always puzzles that you have tj decipher and once you decipher it the enemy becomes easy. Courage leads to efforts efforts leads to wisdom to overcome all power and eventually Ganon is always a mega boss run of all his emenations to test you against all the monsters in the game which he represents as a culmination even has a phantom projection.
Windwaker is the only time line when link (you) literally kill not Ganon the phantom projection but literally kill Ganondorf the sorcerer by stabbing him in the forehead.
It's the end of the entire time line where link wins, his friend and paternal figure sacrifices himself and drowns so that he and the next generation can have a chance to start anew. He is designed to look like the antithesis of Ganondorf and they both die together and submerged themselves into the oblivious depths. And just like links awakening the night mare is over but this time it wasn't a dream and Zelda and link can start a new world.
This game is the end of the world. I don't get how people don't get that link is supposed to be a dip shit with one quality that redeems him and allows him to "grow up": courage. There is no link but your role.
@@theghostcreator776I hate Botw because it’s too self conscious to truly do it’s own thing because it still drags itself down with having token Zelda references rather than being a whole new game. And the game isn’t written well at all. So it’s actually quite the opposite, it’s fujibayashi saying “hey you still have to have references even if you’re trying to be your own thing”
@@theghostcreator776 Man, I've been a Zelda fan since the OoT days, but I really hate that "BotW is a good game but it's not a good ZELDA game" take.
For goodness's sake, we've been using the same damn formula for 27 years before BotW. Let them cook something new.
@@nousername191yea the line about it not being a good Zelda game is usually said by the same people who get very upset that link can and has to crossdress very briefly in BOTW.
Although I'm still annoyed they won't let him be left handed anymore...as a lefty, I loved the representation.
You touched on the fact that "maturity is not an artstyle" and I commend you for that. I would go even further: this cartoonish artstyle is what allows the game's final blow to be so graphic. At the end of The Wind Waker, Ganondorf no longer has his Triforce. He's just a Gerudo king, no longer tied to the evil incarnate that is Ganon. Link buries the final sword in his skull in what is, to me, the most violent death in the series. Had the game had a more realistic artstyle, it would have been too disturbing for a Zelda game, I believe.
I say all the time that Wind Waker's art style is an intentional cover-up for its absolutely brutal theming. It's like the sex appeal in the original Star Trek: if censors are all focused on sideboob in the 60's, they won't notice the blatant progressive political statements also in the 60's.
Let's face it, the "Neck Break" scene in Twilight Princess that the spirit of Zant uses to finish of Ganondorf was probably all Nintendo could've gotten away with to keep the rating it got.
Isn’t it arguably the same graphic death he had in Ocarina of Time, though? You could say because he was in beast form that it’s not as bad, but I think that’s a tenuous argument. Though I do think it’s fair to say WW gets an edge for having him actually speak, still alive and coherent while his brain is impaled.
But a similar edge also goes to Twilight Princess, too. Even though he wasn’t impaled through the brain, the scene of him being impaled through his old wound is really brutal. The way the cutscenes starts with the audio muted, but as it gradually returns all you can hear is Ganondorf screaming in shock and agony. Then he stands up, in spite of his fatal wounds. The camera angles make it hard to tell, but as he stumbles to his feet you can see the tip of the Master Sword behind him, sticking out of his back.
In both WW and TP, Ganondorf dies as a man, not as a beast, and in both cases, he dies standing up. But due to WW encasing him in cartoonish stone, it doesn’t feel as impactful to me as TP, when his eyes suddenly become all-white, no life left in them, and he never moves again except for his cape still blowing in the wind.
@@Dash123456789Brawl I'll argue that stabbing a monstrous beast versus an old man makes a huge difference.
@@MinorCirrus But that monstrous beast is literally the exact same man. I think the difference in stabbing one in the head versus stabbing the other in the head is mostly superficial.
When you pulled out the line about Tetra's savvy representing a new brand of Wisdom to mirror Link's new brand of Courage, my jaw literally fell open. What an observation!
I like how you pointed out that Tetra's transformation into Zelda (and lack of involvement in the 2nd half of the game due to KoRL) has actual thematic meaning, which I totally missed. It still bothers me, but it no longer feels like an oversight.
It's funny Gannondorf and the King of Hyrule though claiming to be opposites have far too much in common. They both are trying to preserve the past if not outright bring it back and with it discount all the knowledge and growth of the present.
Time to cancel the King for white washing tetra
Yeah and I mean I still wish they hadn't done that. It would've been supremely cool to have a game where zelda* aids you throughout the whole story (i think spirit tracks is the closest we have?). But it does definitely fit in with what the game communicates. Though maybe tetra sneaking out of the castle and helping link would've been the best of both worlds, or something along those lines
I read "KoRL" the way Rick Grimes says "Cooorl." At least, in meme-land.
Same! I've been seeing commentators from right when the game came out, to Anita Sarkeesian herself, to current day series analysis videos, making the same "lol Tetra turns into Zelda and is immediately damseled out of the plot" joke, and while it's a fair criticism, this is the first time I've seen it argued that it's an intentional and diegetic decision to have the King shortsightedly force Tetra to conform to his narrow understanding of what kind of person "Princess Zelda" needs to be. And you make a very cogent case for it! I would say that I think it would have been even more powerful if they'd found a way to have her assistance in the final fight depend not on her bloodline or magic, but on some skill clearly drawn from her piratical know-how that "Princess Zelda" would never have obtained, but that's a pretty small nit to pick.
@@Rolaran >paying attention to Anita Sarkeesian
That's your problem right there.
“If it is courage that awakens hope, it is love that awakens courage”
What am I supposed to do other than cry before going to bed?
Thanks for such a great video
Dude fr making flood the entirety of hyrule 😭
I LOVED this video! One thing though; when Ganondorf says "The wind... It is blowing." in his dying breath, I do not think he was saying it in a positive or optimistic way. In his own words, "the wind" has only even brought him and his people death, so being killed by the embodiment of wind itself (The Wind Waker) was likely reaffirming of that belief. I think there's a lot of duality in that scene and the ending overall. The good guys see their victory as the dawn of a new era, while Ganondorf sees it as just the status quo continuing as it always has.
Love that interpretarion tbh! I got kinda caught up in the difference between him saying theres no wind in the phantom ganon room and then saying the wind is blowing later. But youre right! His perception was still confirmed in the end. Such a cool scene and this would be a good place to start to build off the analysis I did
The Day/Night temperatures of the Gerudo Desert alluded to in Windwaker, being a major part of BOTW/TOTK's traversal game mechanics is a great callback in my opinion. Forcing the player to switch their armour sets for each area is one thing, but ideally combining at least two different set pieces (Gerudo Voe and Rito.) in order to stay comfortable at all times for extended periods in the desert (Whilst outside of Gerudo Town.) without constantly going to the armour menu screen.
I love Tetra’s introduction as someone who needs to be rescued, followed up by her being badass. Because in a replay it’s really giving you the thought of “even badass people like Tetra need help occasionally.”
A slight addition to your reading of this as the game's Link not being THE HERO Link:
The fact that the Tower of the Gods is a divine trial suggests almost that the gods are saying "You're not the one who's supposed to be doing this, you're just some kid. If you think you can pull this off, prove it!" It also explains, perhaps, why the Master Sword doesn't work for him right off the bat like it usually does, and why he doesn't just have the Triforce of Courage.
Interestingly, there is another Link who faces some of these challenges: the Link of the original Legend of Zelda. While there is no dungeon that is explicitly structured as a divine trial (as far as I know), the Link in that game does find 8 triforce pieces and has a similar sword upgrade path. The game predates a lot of the Zelda lore, so it's not clear if the White Sword is just *a* sword and the Magical Sword is the Master Sword, or if the White Sword is an unempowered Master Sword which needs to be charged up, becoming the Magical Sword. Or, indeed, the Master Sword could be intended to be completely separate from both of those swords. But that could scan as the Link of Legend of Zelda *also* not being the prophecied hero, he's just the last person left brave enough to give it a try. (As I recall, aside from a couple of people hiding in caves, there's no civilization, no Kakariko Village or the like.)
Yo thats an excellent point, thank you! I wouldnt have thought of that connection to the nes zelda myself.
There is no divine trial in LoZ, but there IS in Adventure of Link, its direct sequel! The whole game is a divine trial in order for Link to prove himself worthy of the Triforce of Courage, so he can use it and the two pieces he earned in the first game to wake Princess Zelda from eternal slumber. I'm pretty sure none of his swords are supposed to be the Master Sword though, the thing that kills Ganon in that game are the Silver Arrows (which could maybe be retconned into Light Arrows but still leave no significance for the swords.)
Your explanation for why Tetra becomes a damsel in distress when she's revealed to be Zelda is satisfying, connected to several of the game's themes, and has great evidence to back it up. I like it a lot more than my theory, which was just mysogyny
Sorry but it was always pretty obvious and seeing it like that kind of just reveals your own biases.
Maybe try not looking at any slight against a woman as an example of "the patriarchy" and give creators an ounce of credit.
no its ok it can still be both
@@ThatGastrodon Maybe try not looking at any mention of misogyny as an example of "biases" and give other people an ounce of credit.
@@ThatGastrodonnah man you're just being a dick 💀
Bias
As far as the apocalypse goes, "we survive on islands and boats and the world is still really beautiful albeit dangerous" is better than most alternatives.
I like how you covered the entirety of the story, because there are a lot of small bits of the narrative that serve the post-apocalyptic themes, bits that I think a lot of people (myself included) didn't notice, even after playing the game so many times. What's especially cool is your perspective not just on the themes, but the lessons that post-apocalyptic media can teach us. The ending of the video definitely got that across. I also dug your perspective on Tetra and the line "There Is No One Named Zelda in The Wind Waker" struck a pretty heavy chord, both thematically and emotionally. You did a fantastic job on this video. Keep that momentum going. :)
Thank you!! I'm feeling super positive about my channel right now and just wanna keep making videos. Excited for the future, for sure. And I'm glad I could show you something new about this game! It is so satisfying the stuff you can learn when you really focus on close reading media you've experienced a million times. I found so much more depth in this game than I was expecting
Recontextualizing what I once thought were flawed portions of my favorite game in service of its themes is going to cause me to look at the whole game differently
There's no apocalypse like a Nintendo apocalypse. I wasn't a massive fan of BotW but the world/vibes are perfect.
True! Honestly I think botw has more in common with wind waker than any other 3d zelda, at least in terms of the expansiveness and sentiment of its setting
Hell, look at Splatoon! The post-apocalyptic lore in those games is crazy.
Yeah, Xenoblade Chronicles is great for that too
@@WoobertAIO Lets not forget Kirby and the Forgotten Land, The World of Nothing in Super Paper Mario or Fire Emblem Three Houses.
Im not joking with the last one btw
If Link can survive the post-apocalypse, I can survive going to work. Looking forward to listening to this throughout the day!
One of my favorite things about the great sea is how it’s lonely, but not unbearably so. The islands are isolated from each other but when they try to make bonds they make pretty strong and dedicated ones. Change itself
can feel very lonely when you’re going through it, but when you reach out and realize other people are changing with you, it’s not so bad after all. Great analysis!
The Zora becoming birds still blows my mind. An entire world to be theirs and they gave it up to be mailmen :P
Paper don’t do so well in water so…
@@corpsenymph4644 they have bottles :P
the future is now old man
how many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?!
“Ok boomer”
Bro this video is so underrated it's painful. This is easily among the best Zelda, not just Wind Waker, videos I have ever seen.
Thank you 💙
@@Skyehoppers 👍
Wind Waker is the only Zelda game I’ve completed 100%, and I love seeing cool takes on it!
Fantastic video!
With how tightly-knit Wind Waker seems to be as is, it’s surprising that major portions of it were blatantly cut. Like, Greatfish Isle’s destruction seems to perfectly establish the threat of Ganondorf, but how would things have gone if it housed a full-on dungeon in place of the endless night?
Yeah honestly it's interesting to wonder what the game would have been like if it wasn't rushed. Greatfish was for sure going to be a real dungeon if they had the time. I think the way they framed that choice to remove a dungeon as part of the story was brilliant, tbh. Maintaining a cohesive story and theme through development troubles is a real show of the talent behind the wind waker
while i'd LOVE to see what dungeon was specifically cut (my current theory is that the Cistern from Skyward Sword is in some parts that dungeon) I think having to force the player to sail all the way home works better.
Criminally underrated video and channel; never appreciated wind waker on this level until now.
Thank you!
I love how that you pointed out that the King of Hyrule, while he and his knowledge proved crucial in Link's quest, was also a man who made critical mistakes. Not because he was ill with his intentions, but because he had been stuck in the past so long that it was all he knew. But by the end, he had learned from those mistakes and let go of the past so the new generation could move forward in their own way. I loved this video
When I was a kid I never got past the fortress, so like I mostly goofed around in the starting area and never even got to see the boat (and I liked it a lot). So really nice to see a detailled explaination and analysis of all those things I never found out about in the past and have just seen from bits of speedruns and random videos about it!
Really really nice video!
The Wind Waker is my favorite Zelda (no doubt in part a classic case of "I played this one first so it's my favorite") and this is a fantastic analysis of its themes. Drawing the connection between Ocarina of Time's reception in the real world and legendary status in the game world, with TWW's story and contrasting existence to OOT declaring "we are going to embrace change and move on", was very well done. On the topic of the Zora becoming the Rito, I once read a theory that they were removed from the water via their evolution to keep them away from the old world-basically, no one on The Great Sea should be able to casually discover Hyrule. They retain their expert traversal through flight, but cannot exist underwater.
I think that’s a really good theory for the Rito in WW. Plus, fins and wings have just about the same purpose: fins propel you through water, wings propel you through the air.
This is the perfect video to show everything I love about the story of Wind Waker. It's always been so hard to put it into words, I'd always just say "It breaks that Zelda cycle", "Everyone is different from how they usually are in most games", things along those lines but you analyze the Triforce trio and side characters incredibly. Put it all into perfect words.
i desperately needed a new youtuber to talk about old nintendo masterpieces and add ACTUAL MEANINGFUL COMMENTARY. thank you. i will be following your work !
This was wonderful! I've always found this game so cozy and the idea that community saves the world not just the few but the many is very sweet
Thank you :)
Wow, isn’t that weird that ‘cozy’ describes it so well? Seems strange but it’s so true!
The rematch against the game's bosses in Ganon's tower furthers the theme of the past. Ganondorf attempts to stop Link from reaching the top entirely using the past, but Link defeats the past and moves on
A glance at Jacob Geller's recent Zelda video, and the comments, even though I had already watched the video, led me here, and I'm glad it did. It's an excellent bit of analysis. Wind Waker is a game I greatly enjoy, but it was never my favorite. I never found it particularly deep before, and I always was sad to see the old Hyrule drowned; lost forever beneath the waves. Even moreso to lose the last living Hylian from its time; the King's refusal to return, his insistence on dying instead, always struck me as being as stupid as it was tragic. I suppose you could say that I really wanted to have... A Link to the Past. (badum-tsss) I understand, and appreciate, the thematic relevance better now, I think, thanks to you. Particularly of that last scene with the king. He really wasn't able to truly change -- to leave the past behind to the degree he realized it had to be. And so, he decided that, with his last duty complete, it was his time to leave the world behind. It's not foolishness; the tragedy isn't that he died. The tragedy is that he could no longer live, because he had stagnated so long ago. In a very real sense, he as a person was already dead, and the ending is him realizing that and releasing his desperate clinging to the world; with Ganondorf defeated and his understanding of this truth about himself, he was finally at peace.
I find this... heartrending, in a way I never really did before. I can, on some level, relate to Daphnes Nohanssen Hyrule. It has not come to pass yet, but I often fear that my limit will be to help bring about a better world, and then... go, myself, in the same sense, because I worry I am too badly wounded from my experiences in this world to live in that better one. I hope it is not so. I believe I will still be able to change and grow. And yet, still, the fear. I wonder, is this what drives the desire for stagnation in those who still feel able to live in the current world? That same fear, that even though the world is better, there will be no place for them in it....
It is a good day when I find something that drives introspection to such a degree. So thank you.
I watched this video like 5 days ago but it has stuck around in my head. You really made me appreciate the themes in this game so much more!
The stuff about Tetra being molded into Zelda mostly against her will and Link being underestimated and fulfilling his role...
Parts of this video got me emotional, it's a really great watch! Good job!
Ever since my wii u broke I’ve been praying for this game to come to the switch. I love this game so much that I always get all the figurines
It astounds me that someone with a following on the smaller Side still Puts out these incredibly detailed, well written and well edited pieces. Not once have I found myself *not* enjoying these. Even with things I know nothing about.
I always wanted to play the Windwaker but lacked console and funds. But now that you describe it and its themes, I Kind of want to get back into it.
Y'know, I never thought about Tetra's shift in relevance this way. This is an interesting take that I'll now accept as canon
was sent here from a comment on the newest (as of today) jacob geller video, and it's really made my day. thank you for helping putting into words aspects of this game that I have been dreaming of since my frightened-of-bosses ten year old self picked up a controller.
Oh shoot that explains the spike in views today! Thats really cool. Glad you liked it :)
I know this is almost entirely head cannon but...
I see this Gannondorf as one who has realised the reality of hia curse but knows he can't fight his nature.
He's still going to be evil but he's going to oviod killing children and has some understanding of his own motive beyond that of his curse.
ive watched a few of your essays now, and i love your tendency to analyze games from the perspective of its identity as a piece of art rather than the simple sum of its parts.
The Dragon Roost theme is still SO GOOD. Gives me shivers
This was beautiful! The themes of Wind Waker have only gotten more resonant since its release (which couldn't have been twenty years ago shut up), and I love your interpretation. I always hated Tetra being removed from the story, and having it framed explicitly as a mistake in-universe makes sense (even if it doesn't make me like it).
This really makes me wish there was a scene of the King realizing his error sometime--his realization that Hyrule needs to end must have been a powerful and difficult moment for him. His scene at the end still brings a tear to my eye, and is such an encapsulation of the game's whole message, passing on the torch to the new generation.
The scene with the Earth Sage and Medli playing together always gives me chills and a feeling of hope for some reason, It's been lodged deeply in my mind since I played the game at 5.
How dare you besmirch the good name of Tingle the fairy.
But in all seriousness this was a really good video and I'm going to go binge the rest of your channel now.
I am sorry but I do not trust Tingle. He is up to no good. ( thank you :) )
I like how the bad guy in the plot is the one trying to remake the old world and the act of heroism that saves them all is when they decide to let it wash away
Whats also nice is, after beating the game, you get to play again in links original island outfit. This is symbolism that while you may not be The Hero of Time, or a hero of old, you are a hero in your own right worthy of your own legend and garb.
I've watched two dozen Windwaker retro reviews. I never get tired of hearing what people have to say about this game. It really does make me appreciate it infinitely.
Wow that point about the king being stuck in the past is genius! I can't believe I never really understood that. And the point about the winds representing change is also incredible!!
Are you kidding me with the quality of this content?????? INCREDIBLE
I loved Wind Waker's art style. People need to stop judging based on appearance.
You made me cry consarnit
Yay an actual analysis video that isn’t a plot synopsis this video was so fucking good man
Wind Waker is something I would want to play in the future
ah, i love your take on the wind waker! i played the game when i was little, so i could've never imagined this game had that much depth (haha, depth, ocean- nevermind.) to it. nonetheless, i really appreciate your deep introspection on all of your video essays, they're always a joy to watch :).
FINALLY the subscribers are starting to climb from 2k
I’ve been deep into the video game analysis area of TH-cam for a few years now but this is undoubtedly my favorite channel
my recommended blessed me today, this was such a great analysis of the wind waker! i especially appreciated your commentary on tetra and the way daphnes treated her.
The way you presented Link’s motives and feelings at the beginning literally got me emotional! I’m becoming a huge fan of your presentation style and am really looking forward to more videos!
It’d be cool to hear your thoughts on The Pikmin series!
I think people often think of Link as lacking any character because the games are designed to try and make you as the player feel the same way as him. the line between Link and the player is supposed to be as thin as possible, and so, if they want Link to feel something, they will try to make you feel it too, and if they want you to feel something, then you're meant to imagine Link feels that too. you as the player sit safely on the other side of the screen, and so you can act more courageously as Link than you would in real life. this is why Link as a character is explicitly defined by his courage. conversely, Link loves his home, his grandmother, and Aryll, and so the game makes an effort to endear you to them too
I really appreciate how you use that sort of symbiotic relationship to understand Link as a character. this video slaps
What a wonderful video. I just found your channel today and have been marathoning all your videos. Thanks for making these!
Beautiful video. I love this game and your analysis touches on a lot of reasons why
seriously some of the best analysis videos on youtube, in general not just within the scope of video games
I'm always impressed by your ability to invest me in media that i previously did not care about - I have never played a Zelda game in my life, but this was an incredible analysis of an interesting story
This video is so good, i always love videos that break down themes of stories, and the wind waker has all of the good themes, thank you for making this! :]
Link's face says "What The Fuck is a Desert?"
great video! i found it very insightful and inspiring to be honest... also was fun to reexamine a game from my childhood with a more critical narrative lens. thx so much for your time and effort, I really appreciated it!
Absolutely fantastic video on an absolutely fantastic game. This deserves so much more recognition.
This was beautifully put together! Thank you. :)
Hype for Zelda video~! My childhood franchise~
You know, after all these years of Wind Waker being my absolute favourite entry in the series, of playing it over and over, forwards and backwards, helping my parents play through the game, and memorizing almost everything about it, I’m embarrassed to admit that now, the end of this video, has finally clued me in to what the name means. ‘Waker’ meaning ‘to awaken’. All these years I completely thought it was some sort of word for conducting or directing that happened to share the spelling. Wow.
This video was absolutely excellent
I can't find as much to say here as with some of your other videos, as this is a game I haven't played, but it was a great watch with a lot of extremely interesting points. Makes me wish I played it at some point.
this game has a beloved place in my childhood and this video more than does it justice
Thank you for this amazing content.
banger essay
I found your channel recently, after watching your Bastion video (which was incredible as well, btw) but this video feels important to me. I'm just another rando who doesn't have any weight of merit, but as someone who's been struggling on a mental health journey, this video feels like a ray of golden hope.
I played WW as a kid, but never beat it. It never dawned on me how heavy the themes of the game were, and up until the triforce shards, I just thought it was a cool Zelda game. As stated in your Bastion video: "storytellers can lie to tell better stories," (paraphrasing) your analytic gaze into a game I had otherwise glossed over feels like it's calling out to me, to anyone who watches to stand, to act. So thank you.
Love your videos, thanks for releasing another banger. Lately when I've thought about the Wind Waker, it has been to wonder what could have been if it had more time in development since there is obvious evidence of it being rushed in some ways. This video really helped me appreciate its strong themes that still exist despite, and perhaps in some part even _because of,_ its rushed state.
That title analysis got surprisingly deep, wtf
Amazing analysis. Great video.
You put so much effort in your videos and it's very inters yet entertaining to watch keep It up
I found your channel today. And I'm extremely glad I did. I happen to share a lot of your opinions and the worldview your express through your writing. I just wanted to compliment you on your videos and storyteling. Both are excellent displays of your passion and craft
Man I love this video so much I can only hope one day I make an analysis as deep and constructed as this one
your use of sound and editing is so amazing here!
This was an incredible video essay. I really enjoyed watching this and seeing your analysis of the themes and stories in the game. I'd be really interested to hear what you have to say about Twilight Princess, though whatever you choose to look into next, I'm looking forwards to it!
Your perspective is appreciated, great video man im here for that
Probably the best Wind Waker analysis out there! Wow!!
Yet again, you have created a beautiful video.
Why do these retrospectives always bring bittersweet tears to my eyes? 🙏😭
One of the best videos of the game I’ve seen.
Best content creator ive found in years. You need to get recommended to people theyre missing out on some high quality Stuff
Love your Videos!
I really like these interpretations!!!
Finally a review that put my feelings into words. So good.
I love this game so much. Especially the fact that ganon wasnt all bad. He, in a very weird and strange sense, is just like count bleck/blumier. Both had something they wanted to happen (bleck wanted to be with tipi and ganon wanted to stop the suffering of the gerudo) and grief caused them to almost destroy the world.
Thank you for this. I love the concept of playing video games but in practice can never finish one. Would have never gotten to experience this message if it wasn't for you. Ty for sharing this.
:)
1:00:15 gave me GOosebumps!
HELL YEAH, you brought up climate change. If y'all want to get more informed watch climate town & not just bikes. those are the only two that come to mind but if you follow those two they will lead you to tons more!
Very beautiful essay.
This video is surprisingly relevant for me! I have never played windwaker myself, I was too young to experience it when it first came out and video games where something gotten as hand me downs from friends or family when I was growing up. But I love the Zelda franchise and video essays about them.
I am working on my own comic, which I am taking a break from drawing to write this, and it explore similar themes to what was discussed in this essay. But what got me was the line, "While the old world has plenty to teach us, you cannot let it lead you."
My story is what I would call post-post apocalyptic, societies have been built on the past, with only whispers of what came before left. And for a while I've struggled with incorporating themes of frustration with having dealing with problems made by those in the past, and also not forgetting or ignoring it (doomed to repeat, all that good stuff). That line made me realize that I might have to change some things, that my characters, while begrudging, were just doing what was told to them by those of the dead world. Those who failed.
I hate to ramble about my own stuff in your comment section but this whole video hits so hard on what I love about post apocalyptic stories in the first place. (Also I LOVE all your videos I listen to them as I draw and they are just so insightful, and bring a unique perspective to this kind of media analysis video essay scene, trust me I've listened to a LOT of them.)
im always excited to see what topic you decide to cover next, and always upset that i dont notice your videos when they first comes out.
I appreciate that :)
i think this is really accurate to how gen z is trying their best to cope with such a bleak world by fixing it, and boomers think going back in time will make things better. and ganondorf is like some jaded millennials, villianized and not trusting the ability of the world that they have known to be so terrible, to change. we need the kings of hyrule to stop trapping and underestimating the tetras and links. tetra's story specifically really reminds me of the queer experience, being called by a different name and being forced into an appearance that doesn't fit.
(link quite literally connects the fractured world, so i find his name to be super on the nose in this game specifically)
Ah yes
A japanese game is based on a american generational conflict which came up years after its own release.🙄
@@siddhartacrowley8759 the conflict is not that new, or specifically american. generational trauma is literally in the name, it's a repeating cycle (much like the reincarnation of link every millennia or so).
also, it seems you have a major assumption/misconception about what i was saying. i was not saying any of my analysis was intended by the author.
the actual meaning of the common phrase "the death of the author" comes from the idea that, what a work of art means does not have to "rely on aspects of an author's identity to distill meaning from the author's work". so the idea, though not correct anyway, that what meaning i take from this series of games (and in this case specifically the story in wind waker) is not invalidated by the time or place it was made in. art is what you make of it.
hope this helps clear that up for you.
(edits were grammar fixes)
@@hades_head_empty I'm not fully convinced.
There is an abstract substantive called "context". It means there are relations between the things told, or the setting of the told story and the autor. Context gives a certain frame for interpretation.
Without it, interpretations can be asspulled.
In philosophy for example it is not unimportant to know how and when the philosopher lived for a better understanding of their ideas.
@@siddhartacrowley8759 what i'm doing here is literary analysis (since i'm focusing on the story, and not on other aspects of the game like visuals or mechanics) of how the story can be used as a good metaphor for these current issues.
art interpretation is inherently subjective. it is a matter of opinion. you being convinced doesn't invalidate my interpretation because we don't have to agree.
there is no objective true meaning to art. especially from a game made by so many people with their own meanings instilled into it. and i'm looking at wind waker in the context of the zelda series as a whole, made by so many others.
there is context, there is subtext, and there is each individual's interpretation of the text based on those. both influences, of the time period in which the game was made and being made by a largely japanese team, definitely have/had analogous issues to the specific instance of generational conflict i compare it to.
the issue we face now is just another iteration of the same cycle. it's not exactly the same every time, but the base conflict is the same. that's why the series is a good metaphor for cycles of destruction and regrowth, of the young hero overcoming enormous odds and knowing that the defeat of that ancient evil will never be complete. change for the better or worse has no final destination. that is not only applicable to the us.
i've said my piece, goodbye. genuinely, i hope you have a nice day/night.
@@hades_head_empty k, good night.
With this game it's hard to know what parts were conscious decisions to heighten the game's themes, or were simply born of the huge time constraints Wind Waker was under. Like greatfish isle. It could have been planned that way from the beginning, or a lot of content was cut and they "accidentally" improved the game's story.
This iteration of Ganondorf is my favorite, as he feels very human instead of the usual "evil for the sake of evil" take-over-the-world villain. He also just has great lines. The final battle's setting is still the best in the series in my opinion, feels like it should have been a stage in smash brawl, haha. The final battle itself is ok, I think it suffers from this game's generally weak combat mechanics as a whole, since it comes down to the same "wait for the A button prompt" that works best for so many other fights. I also think it's a shame you don't make use of the wind in the battle itself at all. I do like that Ganondorf talks about the wind bringing death, and just before he dies he says the wind is blowing. Poetic.
You make a great case of Wind Waker's theming, and I think it's funny that Twilight Princess backpedals on so much of it. Almost as if the dev team yanked the old world and it's outdated ways right back out of the ocean, maybe because of the backlash Wind Waker got. Something was definitely lost because of fan reaction to Wind Waker. You concluded with this game being the way it was to avoid series stagnation, and it's sad that right after this game things stagnated hard, with the progression through Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.
I already loved the Wind Waker, but this makes me appreciate each detail so much more.
If only the game got more dev time so the second half wasn’t rushed. It feels so much more thematically whole and unique in its story than maybe any other Zelda imo
how dare you make me cry.
Honestly on the topic of Zora turning into Rito! I honestly think that, since these new seas were going to be infested with monsters and treacherous to traverse, them evolving into beings that can fly above the sea would make sense! But ngl this is a banger analysis video and I am going to binge all your other ones soon as well! Love your takes on the different games a lot and I cant wait to see even more!
Absolutely fantastic video. I feel there is a certain spirituality about the wind. Representing change sure, but then the connection to music. Comparison to Breath of the wild comes to mind, not to read too much into the name perhaps, but both post apocalyptic. I think of Botw as very somber, a light breath, standing still panning the camera to hear the ambience and soft breeze. Wind Waker in my mind is always triumphant. More gale than breeze. The music crossing the sea, bouncing on the waves. I guess if both have wind, Botw is still in stagnant decay. Wind waker, much as Gannondorf doesn't see it by the ending, is already at the cusp of becoming something new and good. Got me thinking anyway! Love the video