The main thing I like about Wind Waker were the characterizations of Link and Ganon. This is the first (and only) LoZ game where I cared about Link. He wasn't a 'chosen one', he just set off because he wanted to rescue his sister. He doesn't wear the green tunic because he's destined to, he wears it because his grandma forced him to cosplay. His facial expressions and dances of joy really made this version of Link stand out for me compared to the rest. Even Ganondorf was well done here. He explains his side of the story fairly well and is not just arbitrarily evil. His homeland is in ruins and he wants it to change. He explicitly says he doesn't want to kill Link or Zelda, he just wanted to take their powers. He fights Link at the end because everything he ever wanted was seized right in front of his eyes, so him going crazy at the end also felt justified. These reasons make this version of Ganon by far my favourite version as well.
Was honestly quite shocked Matthew didn't cover that. My biggest gripe with Ganon and his various forms is this. If you watch the final bosses of Twilight Princess and *especially* Skyward Sword, it's hard to believe that Ganon even gives a shit about what he's doing. He has no killing intent whatever, no burning drive to win, no desperation to see his will come to pass. My biggest gripe is that, for a final boss, for the most lethal foe Link has to face, it doesn't feel like Ganon is even trying. This is in enormous contrast to the Wind Waker, where we get something completely different. We get this phenomenal scene - literally unprecedented in a Zelda game - where Ganon describes his homelands as a hellish landscape of death, and that goddamn beautiful pause when he said "I...coveted that wind, I suppose". There's this inner reflection to him that catches you - and especially Link, who looks on utterly perplexed - completely off-guard. But it's what he does next that just feels so right. After he's done talking, he rushes at Link, who visibly tries to ready himself, goes straight past his shield and beats the shit out of him with his bare hands. In three punches that sends Link sprawling, nearly unconscious, finally walking over to him and picking him up to complete the Triforce, then reassuring Link he won't even kill him. I get the feeling that, had Ganon got his wish, he would have dropped all hostility and left Zelda and Link completely alone. Shit, with the way he was talking, I wouldn't have been surprised to learn he'd have shown them the way to safety, because he's got what he wanted and there's just no need for bloodshed whatsoever. His world is complete. No more dread wind, scouring the life from his people. Green fields, warmth, fresh water. I feel confident in saying that all of his hostility would have ceased the moment he accomplished his goal. But that doesn't happen. While coming across as reflective and almost gentle, this Ganon actually *has an agenda he's willing to break skulls for*, and holy shit does he go and do exactly that. The ensuing fight sees a few of the same kinds of actions seen in the later Ganon fights, but it makes so much more sense in this context because he's already lost, already had the one dream of a better land torn from him after watching decades upon decades of death. He's broken, and it shows in his fighting style - unfathomably more savage and done with killing intent than TP and SS. Do you understand what I'm getting at? This Ganon actually had a drive and felt like he was fighting to win, fighting to kill, fighting to actually *end* you, which I just don't get when watching the swordfights of TP and SS.
+Johnathan Wells Well said. It's refreshing to see Ganondorf actually written well, because he always seemed so arbitrarily evil to me. In Orcarina of Time, I don't remember much about him, except kid Zelda saying that she had a dream that Ganon was going to overthrow Hyrule or something. In Twilight Princess, he didn't really fit at all. Zant was established as a pretty good villain, but then Ganon just came outta nowhere and it seems like our only reason to fight him was because we did it in OoT. This is a Ganon with goals, and not a generic 'destroy / conquer the world' sorta goal either. I actually feel somewhat bad for Ganon in Wind Waker because he wanted better for his homeland and he lost everything right in front of his eyes. For a rushed game, Wind Waker absolutely nailed the story and characterization elements IMO, and I'll give it huge props for that.
Johnathan Wells "Was honestly quite shocked Matthew didn't cover that." I'd chalk that up to his creative process probably looking something like this: "Well, I've just got done with all of the recording and reading my script, so let's see how long this will take altogether... 50 minutes huh... ... Am I capable of making a _short_ video!?" Then he cuts out all of the fat and small stuff is my guess. :P
Absolutely agree about Ganon. That speech is easily the most distinct memory I have of the game because it showed an intelligence and heart in Ganondorf which they could easily have not included. I'm a sucker for cross-installment continuation so the fact that he looked like an older (and wider) version of himself in Ocarina of Time was something I really loved. The fact that they built sympathy for Ganon for the first time before having you kill him via sword in the skull added a lot of extra emotion to the final scenes. That and the Old Hyrule segments are where the game really set its hooks in.
Totally agree, Wind Waker has surprising depth from very little dialogue, and is easily the best depiction of Ganondorf because it follows on from Ocarina of Time but in a story that humanises Ganon. Here's my interpretation. There isn't a lot of heavy story exposition, but the set up is interesting: after Ganondorf was sealed away in Ocarina, he began to break free of his bonds, but the Hero of Time didn't appear and so the Gods flooded the world to seal away Hyrule. However Ganon offers a theological disagreement on the nature of this act: "Don't you see? All of you... Your gods destroyed you!". Then, in the final battle, Ganon reveals his entire motivation: "My country lay within a vast desert. When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes. No matter when it came the wind carried the same thing... Death. But the winds that blew across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin. I coveted that wind, I suppose." Suddenly Ganon goes from merely being an evil conqueror to a somewhat tragic figure seeking to escape the harsh desert life of his people. He then takes the Triforce and demands the Gods unseal Hyrule: "Expose this land to the rays of the sun once more!". But, shortly afterwards he is killed by Link, speaking his last words in his dying moment: "The wind... it is blowing...", which personally I find a little bit heartbreaking. From Ganon's perspective the Gods are capricious and cruel. He may have started a war, but he was defeated and imprisoned, and then rather than let him rise again the Gods destroyed the world and most of its people. He offers explanation of himself before the last battle with Link, perhaps because he has no one else. It's centuries since he was imprisoned and the world he knew is gone. The closest thing to a familiar face is Link, a symbolic vestige of the man that defeated him all those years before. In fact when he lunges at Link and the final battle begins, with the ocean crashing down around them, it could be interpreted as the final act of a man who knows he is beaten. Earlier in the game he says to Link "I have been waiting for you, boy. For one like you... Yes... For the hero. Do not betray my expectations." What does that mean? Why wait for the one who is supposed to be destined to destroy him? To me the tone of it seems like much more than wanting Link purely because he carries the Triforce of courage, but instead something deeper. Maybe he's seeking a kind of peace in death (which opens up the interpretation of his last words a little more), or maybe it is because he has nothing left, save for a boy in the image of his vanquisher, and a bitter acceptance of his fate. I also think it's interesting that Ganondorf refers to Link as "the hero", off the top of my head I can't think of another time he does that in the series. It's an odd thing to say. As dialogue from a videogame character, it's in keeping with the player's perception of the world, but within the context of the world it's a little odd to call your foe "hero". I have a couple potential explanations for this. In my mind, I imagine that in the beginning of this exchange, Ganondorf is talking not to Link the player-character of Wind Waker, but instead to Link the swordsman of long ago who defeated him. "I have been waiting for you, boy. For one like you... Yes... For the hero. Do not betray my expectations." "I have been waiting for YOU", the original Link who defeated him in Ocarina of Time. But then he corrects himself, "For one LIKE you... Yes... For the hero." I read the hesitation as being contemplative, because he's thinking of the past. He has been waiting for his nemesis, a nemesis who will never return, so instead he waits for the one who is like that man. He knows the prophecy, the legend, that there is a designated "hero", a person who will take up the title of his conqueror, of "hero". Not THE Link, not HIS Link, but a Link. If we interpret the final scene as his seeking peace through true death, then we can potentially interpret his final line here, "Do not betray my expectations." as calling on the hero to rise up, to be worthy of granting him his end. Thinking about it now it reminds of the film The Taking of Pelham 123. In the film, the antagonist, Ryder, was on the verge of escaping, having made a large amount of money, before being chased down by the protagonist, Garber. Standing in front of each other, Garber pointing a gun at Ryder, Ryder reiterates that he will not go back to prison. He will not allow his freedom to be taken. He tells Garber to shoot him, telling him that if he doesn't then Ryder will shoot him, and shoot as many police officers as he can. Garber is reluctant, he doesn't want to be a killer, he's an ordinary man. Ryder begins to count down, and as he is finishing, he reaches for his gun, only for Garber to shoot him in the chest. As he slumps over, on the verge of collapse, Ryder looks Garber in the eye and tells him "You're my god-damn hero." Ryder couldn't stop, couldn't turn back, but knew he couldn't, wouldn't go forward down the only path available to him. So he beseeches Garber to save him from that fate. In killing him, Garber saved Ryder.
15:30 There was an enormous missed opportunity here. Make sure Link picks up the camera early, then let him take pictures of the things and objects he'll need to tackle, like rocks, rings of fire or stone heads. Then, *pin them to the map* so that at any time you could open up the map, look through the photos of places you took, realise "Hey! I could use the item I just got from that dungeon here!", and then travel over there for his reward.
This is GENIUS. They did sort of allow something similar with the Tingle Tuner allowing you to jot notes on the map, but this makes the pictograph box amazingly useful and creative.
The camera was likely limited by the gamecube's small memory card size. The medium size one was 2 megabytes, not much room for photos especially if you don't want to hog the whole card.
brokenSCART Totally noticed that, but never noticed the way that the wake of the boat doesn't affect the ocean water and that it's actually attached to the boat itself and not the ocean. Damn.
The easter egg that you pointed out was actually "discovered" by Tetra as well. If you visit her cabin, you can see that she has that same triforce drawn out onto her sea chart.
I love how the Gannon fight was the reverse of the fight in OoT. In OoT you fought Gannondorf as a man atop the tower and climbed down. Then you fought Ganon in his monster form. In Wind Waker you fight the Monster form first, then climb up the tower and fight him as a man at the top of the tallest tower.
Jeffrey Krieger Oops. typo. But still you have to admit it's pretty cool symmetry with OoT. The game constantly references the hero of time. Even though the puppet Ganon was just a distraction you still fight the beast below then travel upward to fight the man. Also could you not argue that Ganondorf in OoT was another puppet used by Ganon for his evil plans.
+TheRepty818 You could say Puppet Ganon was Ganon shapeshifting but when you think about it the thing explodes in black magic like most enemies as it climbs up the string when you defeat it's third form. It's a separate entity. Probably a fake Ganon like Phantom Ganon that Ganon deliberately used to either buy himself time or just mess with Link even more and pulling him to his limits so he could effortlessly defeat him himself. So yes you never even fought Ganon's beast form in this game. Everything you fought were his dark creations (except Gohdan) and when you finally fought the real Ganon he lost the Triforce of Power so him being unable to go into beast form is understandable.
Jmario232 Wow, I didn't notice that before. I'll have to play Windwaker HD and check that out again. Also another opposite I just thought of: in OoT you were surrounded by fire, and in Windwaker during the final battle you were surrounded by water. And at the end of OoT Hyrule is saved while at the end of Windwaker Hyrule is destroyed forever.
Little fun'fact' : there is actually several things within Windwaker which seem to imply that Link from WW might actually be the age of TEEN Link in OoT, not child link. Thus making him closer to 17, instead of 10 Several of the things that imply so : - Link becomes the age of the legendary hero, but in OoT, the general townpeople don't really think Young Link is a hero, and he is only named "hero of time" when he is an adult, which is also when he is vanquishes Ganon. As far as ignorant townspeople are concerened, the "hero of time" 'started' his journey at age 17, not 10 -Nobody ever questions you being on a seavoyage on your own -You are genuinly treated as a young adult by all other people in the game, even up to the point of getting the deeds to a private island/cottage. In most other games involving a young Link, people mock Link for being just a kid, this doesn't happen nearly as much in WW, and when it does happen, it is done by the type of character that calls anyone younger then himself a 'kid' -Tetra(assumed to be the same age, or close to Link's age), is old enough to be considered a potential partner romantically/sexually by the other pirates. When Mako teases Gonzo about him and Tetra having a child, he starts blushing at the thought of 'it' - Size isn't really a good argument for him being 10 either, as we already see SEVERAL people being varying ages and being 'small' Grandma is the same size as you, and the 3 small pirates (Niko, Mako and Zuko) are all adults, yet are the same size as Link, in the same way, some of the buff sailors in windfall are younger then Garrickson, yet bigger, etc... In outset we even see the 2 brothers, Orca and Sturgeon, one being big, while the other is your size (minus his enormous head) - He was also able to wield the Master Sword, something Young Link couldn't do, and we haven't seen done by a 'young' Link yet, and the master Sword's comparitive size (especially visible when in its sheath) matches pretty close with the size the other Link's have with their Master Swords.
the trophy in ssbb also states that aryll's telescope is adorned with TURTLES. vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/9/9c/Telescope_(The_Wind_Waker).png/revision/latest?cb=20090223102110 Brawl has lots of trophy mistakes, and the creators of Brawl have nothing to do with 'hidden' legend of zelda lore. also : it could NEVER be 12, cause he has to be the "age of the hero of time", which only opens up 10 or 17 years as options
+H enryuuki Where exactly go you get the idea that OoT Link is supposed to be 10/17 outside of fanon? Is there any in-game information or official supplements (like the recently published timeline) or developer interviews that officially give his age? It's commonly believed among the fans, I know, but unless there's some canonical source for the fact, it's nothing more than speculation. In fact I seem to recall the manual or some in-game text for Twilight Princess giving that Link's age as 15, which I remember being very surprised by, though I might be remembering that wrong.
+djaevlenselv I remember reading a magazine saying it was 10 and 17. I believe it was Club Nintendo, but that was years ago and I couldn't cite it for you. I also don't think that TP tells you Link's age in the game, at least.
The zoras are gone because of Valoo, I thought this was pretty obvious. The entire reason the goddesses flooded Hyrule was to keep it away from evil, if they had let the zoras continue to be fish, they would still be able to go to Hyrule. The goddesses sent Valoo to watch over them; Valoo's scales turned them into birds. Over the century (or whatever ambiguous amount of time) each zora was given a scale when they came of age, and over time they've become more birdlike and less fish-like. Although this isn't stated literally in the game, I felt it was very very implied.
I just replayed WW and I have to say, I did not pick up on that subtext. they're given the scales by Valoo which give them feathers but it doesn't really explain the underlying reasons for this ritual or anything as far as I could tell... maybe it was some info from the nintendo gallery that I missed though?
MattholomewCuppins Given Valoo's association with the Hylian royalty, as well as being referred to as a 'Sky Spirit', I felt it safe to assume he was associated with the gods. Given that there really isn't any other explanation and this basically clears it, I see no reason to believe otherwise.
MattholomewCuppins I think it's implied because when you visit Medli, her ancestor is a zora. So it's implied that the zoras somehow evolved or transformed into the Ruto.
For me, the dungeons were not what got me into the series. It was the exploration. The wind waker was the first zelda game I ever played and I never cared about how many dungeons there were. Sailing the great sea was far more enjoyable and I spent countless hours marking every island on my sea chart and searching every island for something good. The best moments were the mini dungeons you could find under the islands that usually led to a triforce shard or some upgrade. Zelda fans often forget that exploration used to be one of the defining elements of the zelda series, I mean just take a look at the original legend of zelda or hell even a link to the past. I understand dungeons are important, which is why so many of the fans complain if there's not enough of them. However, Nintendo should really try to branch out more and focus on other aspects that can make zelda enjoyable. Hopefully we'll see this happen in zelda wii u.
well if you haven't tried it yet, i recommend majora's mask to you. the exploration and side quests are the major part of the game. many people complained about the timer but honestly, who needs 3 hours to finish a dungeon. the 3 days cycle makes people of the world have a schedule and i think it's really good.
When I was playing this game for the first time, I remember being really weirded out by the Zelda transformation. Tetra turned into a really bland character (and loses a tan for some reason?) and her character doesn't come back until the Ganondorf fight. I wish that was handled differently.
+Scroogsy My guess is that it was made that way to portray her feeling guilty after realizing all that's happened has been for her sake and trying to show a "kinder" side to her. Obviously that was quite overplayed and made her feel like a different character.
VirgateSpy Yeah, I get that she was supposed to suddenly become a more self-aware person, but she ends up being this weirdly reserved Victorian-ass white girl. Then her character turns into the exact same thing in Phantom Hourglass. wew
Nice joke. However, in all seriousness, I've seen people complain about Tetra's "sudden shift in personality" a lot, and all I can think when I see it is, "Am I the only one who actually read the dialogue?!" It's not a shift in personality; it's Tetra realizing that she accidentally dragged Link and Aryll into all this and being hit with remorse, which is completely in-character for Tetra (she only agreed to help Link in the first place because the Postman pointed out that the bird that abducted Link's sister was originally after her).
I just remembered how disappointed I was that the overworld under the sea wasn't the latter half of the game like it seemed to be presented to be. I thought as soon as I got the Master Sword, I would be able to traverse the Hyrule that was preserved there and everything else would occur there. I get the feeling that they intended this to begin with, and couldn't make it happen. It makes me say that they don't even decide to make a verison of WW with such a great idea in it. I wouldn't reject the older WW at all.
25:04 "Did anyone get the impression he's the only fish you talk to? I've always had the sneaking suspicion he just follows Link around to get more food." That's hilarious and I want to believe it's true.
headphonic8 Yeah that was super dumb. I was glad that she at least turns back into tetra at the end, cause tetra is a way more fun character than Zelda
I was fooled by Tetra, simply because this wasnt "hyrule" anyone. There wasnt a kingdom with royalty so i wasnt expecting Zelda to make an appearance like this, if at all.
I wanted to tell you how awesome of a job you do Matthrew. The developers focusing more on little touches and you noticing them makes me notice them more. When I play a video game I am still able to enjoy it but I try to watch the game closer. See what I like, what doesn't work what does. Playing a video game has started being something very different for me since I've started watching the videos you put out. Keep it up, you have my upmost respect for the insane amount of work you put into your episodes and comes through the seams man.
Regarding Tetra's spontaneous personality change once she's revealed as Zelda, I initially thought the same thing until I got to the end of the game. By the final battle, she has the same spunk that Tetra originally had. I think it could be argued that during the revelation, Tetra was simply surprised and humbled by her newfound identity. I don't think it was a personality change, really. It's still Tetra.
RyanX1231 I thought the same thing; only I thought it from the very beginning. Especially since she apologetically tells Link that this is all her fault. If you remember the beginning, Tetra only allowed Link on her ship after the postman told her that Aryll was likely kidnapped because the bird mistook her for Tetra. There's a lot that I agree with Matthewmatosis regarding the game. But, when it comes to the story and the references to Ocarina of Time, I guess he and I will have to agree to disagree.
Well in Phantom Hourglass, a direct sequel, Zelda goes back to being Tetra and basically says it feels weird to be Zelda and the pirate life fits her better.
Actually, the "throwbacks" to Ocarina of Time are well thought out and even well explained in story. The Koroks are trees... I honestly don't know why for them, maybe it was explained? The Ruto, on the other hand, were semi well explained. Hyrule was drowned under the sea because it was overrun with evil and to prevent the Zoras from getting there the sea was filled with monsters and threats, so basically all the squids you kill throughout the game are guardians of Hyrule... And the old kingdom under the sea *is* Hyrule, so the murals on the stained glass windows would make sense as the Link from that time saved Hyrule (It also explains why there's so much god damn treasure under the sea, it was a wealthy kingdom). At least that's what I remember getting from the story. So not exactly pointless or cheap call backs. Unless I'm completely wrong.
Also sailing was drastically improved with the addition of the fast sail in the HD release, and they even cut out the second playing of the song. It's like they looked to your video for ideas.
xXNoOneImportantXx When I realized that Hyrule laid beneath the Great Sea, I liked to imagine I was dropping my grappling hook right into someone's house and stealing their stuff :D
jimreid5 There's as much validity to him as any other jack off reviewing video games on TH-cam and he does it better and more unbiased than most of them. If you want to further this argument, the "validity" is that he actually plays the games and gives them time to soak in as a player, unlike those who treat it as a job. And that alone deserves my trust as a viewer above any GameTrailers or IGN review.
jimreid5 he's calm and doesn't act obnoxious when he's trying to be funny, that's good enough for me, most game channels on here people try to be way too funny way too hard, and it just makes them seem like they're idiots
"When I play the Wind Waker I'm often smiling. At the time of its release it was uncommon for a game to make me as happy as playing the Wind Waker made me. Now it's even more rare" Yes! Thank you! Sometimes you can't narrow down a game to it's game design flaws. The art style and the overall feel makes this possibly my favorite Zelda game as I am more of an emotional person, rather than being critical and logical. I understand if people feel otherwise, though and I think it's completely reasonable. But no other Zelda game made me feel this happy.
If we are including Phantom Hourglass, where Tetra immediately gets sidelined, spends the whole game as a typical damsel-in-distress, and half of that time as a statue, then I'd wholeheartedly agree. It's no wonder that Spirit Tracks' Zelda is the only playable Zelda out of all the main-series games; no doubt making up for how Tetra was treated in Phantom Hourglass.
It doesn't hugely matter, but I wanted to mention since you brought it up. Windwaker holds a special place in my heart as my first proper Zelda game. Link is even about the same age in this game as I was when I first played it. I know it's become a bit of joke these days, but my familiarity with the franchise at that time was so poor that I think I even renamed Link to Zelda out of confusion when I started my first game file. The reveal that Tetra was also called Zelda really took me by surprise, and the moment when she's first shown in her royal dress in the antichamber beneath Hyrule castle is still vividly remembered as a favourite scene! I've since played many more Zelda games, and come to appreciate the lore and expanded universe and timelines and so on, but I think it's important to remember (or at least interesting to realise) that since the games aren't titled with a number sequence, there's very little indication to a fresh-faced child or a clueless parent that the game belongs in a series, and so *any* Zelda game could be someone's first. I think that Nintendo design these games with that in mind, and I think they do so very successfully. It's a mentality that probably stems from Nintendo's roots as a children's toy company.
People try to pass off the Zora/Rito thing as "Zoras can't survive in salt water", but they lived in the Great Bay in Majora, which a bay is usually a small body of water connected to an ocean. It can be part of a lake as well but... _clearly_ it's an ocean...
Probably my favorite review by you Matt. No other Zelda game has quite been able to replicate the feeling of coming up to Dragonroost or one of the major islands for the first time, knowing nothing about them except their silhouettes. You really feel as if you’re adventuring in much of this game. TP always felt so much more on-rails to me.
Chico Papass You made me try to remember my thoughts on the first playthrough. I had just completed MM100% and knew that Nintendo had no problem shaking things up in Zelda (at the time). So, I thought that there were a few possibilities: that Aryll or Tetra would turn out to be Zelda's descendant, or that Princess Zelda would appear as a later character. I even imagined that the rich blonde girl imprisoned in Forsaken Fortress might turn out to be her! I figured it out when Link went for the bombs on the pirate ship. When you visit Tetra's quarters, it's almost like they're telling you directly.
well I guess I got to luckily be ignorant of this. I thought she was just a helpful character, like she wanted to help you because she liked your style or something. At the time I had only played Oracle of Seasons (only beat 3 dungeons) and fully beat ocarina. I had not noticed a pattern with the Zelda series yet.
Well, there is a lot of Princess rescuing in Nintendo games! I literally cringe when Zelda apologises to Link about getting him mixed up in the adventure, but I'm fine with the gameplay.
The koroks (forest creatures) are not implied to be the kokiri's evolution, they ARE the kokiri from OoT. The Deku Tree from WW explains that they are spirits, that long ago took the form of human children, but now are closer to the their true forms. I think there are reasons for the names of the kokiris don't repeat. It could be that we didn't know ALL of the kokiri on OoT, or since this is a different incarnation (but not a evolution from the biological viewpoint) they could have changed their names to suit their new boddies/identities better. Either way, they are essencialy the same individuals.
I really like the cartoony look to this game, it adds a feel of youth and fun to the game! Although I am only 15 I appreciate a good zelda game when I see one!
These are some of the most well thought-out and intellegently designed reviews I've ever seen, I don't see why you don't have more subs, as much effort as it must take to put together a 40 minute review. I really enjoy all of these.
You should have mentioned the infinite night that happens after you discover the spirit of the water sphere missing. The game should have really introduced more of these moments that change up the pace of the game and would have made travelling the seas more enjoyable overall. The music in that section is amazing, as well as the atmosphere that is created (the infinite night, the monsters that have invaded Outset Island, etc)
Looking back at this video, it makes sense that saving most exploration until the triforce hunt is the most fun way to explore since you aren't constantly running into obstacles you can't surpass, but it baffles me too because at that point in the game you can't really make much use of the rewards any more. It seems like collecting heart pieces and bottles and whatever else would be so much better if you could do it along your journey so your more prepared for the dungeons and challenges presented, but locking a lot of the rewards on islands behind powerups and items and the like just seems counter productive. It makes me wonder if trying to fit Wind Waker into the traditional Zelda formula was really the thing that hurt it the most, because locking those rewards for exploration away in a much smaller game makes way more sense to me, but not in Wind Waker.
jimreid5 I like them. I saw all of them back to back, and I've seen some of them twice. I don't always agree with his views, but I find him to be an interesting man with well founded opinions. I rate this review a seven out of ten. This has been another episode of the Review Reviewer. Have a nice day, and as always remember; "I review because you do".
yea I was too harsh to say that. but heres the thing he points out flaws in games that no one cares about. like the windwaker. I mean , it's a great game, theres nothing wrong with it. he points out flaws that are too insignificant. its a video game, what do u want. you know?
jimreid5 It's this kind of reasoning that allows developers to continue making games like CoD or Boshock Infinite, because "oh they're just games, what do you expect?". That excuse is bullshit.
Minor criticism about your point about the Zora evolving into the Rito not making sense: One of the main facts about the Great Sea is that very little life can survive in it. In fact, only monsters and the fish who draw on your map are present. If the Zora didn't evolve to live above water, they'd starve to death.
Just a little note about the "Zelda" name seeming to replace "Tetra". This is probably more jarring to Westerners, but in many Asian monarchies, princes and princesses will have given names in addition to "title" names. Take the Japanese Emperor's granddaughter, for example. She is officially known as Aiko, The Princes Toshi. Aiko is her personal name, while Toshi is her titular name. The same thing occurred in imperial China, and I'm sure it's mirrored in other East Asian dynasties I'm just not familiar with. So I believe there is some implication that "Zelda" isn't necessarily every Hylian princess' given name (though many times it is). Tetra is still Tetra, but she is also "The Princess Zelda". Sticking to etiquette, she would go by the name Zelda in all official appearances and proceedings. I'm not saying TWW's story was thought out to such a minute level of detail, but to a Japanese writer, a princess getting a second name isn't strange at all, so they would have have had ample reason to just gloss over it.
THE LEAF is FAR from easily forgotten! When I watched my friend play Wind Waker for the first time, after he realized how useful the leaf is, I told him that the sail and the leaf should be the only items ever equipped to the Z button. I believe that the leaf is the best item in the game and is high on the list of the best items of all time. Gerr, I disagree with your opinion!
No, a series for a major console. Eiji Aonuma said in an interview he was planning on Wind Waker 2 instead of Twilight Princess but that people made such a fuss over windwakers graphics that he scrapped it. I think there should have been a series for windwaker for major console, alongside the other standard realistic Zelda games.'
It makes sense if you don't think about it at all. I mean, they were the children of the forest, in the stewardship of the Great Deku Tree, childlike, innocent...if you don't think about it.
I've watched your videos multiple times over for the sheer entertainment of it. You not only have amazing critique but your voice and manner of speaking are so phonetically pleasing that I can listen to you purely for relaxation purposes. I hope to continue to see videos made by you for years to come
I bought the remake of this game for my nephew (6 years old) recently and he told me it's the best game he owns. He's not too into the story, which is understandable with limited reading comprehension, but really likes...buying animal food in Beedle's shop. (Do note that he doesn't play the game on his own, so the whole reading thing isn't too much of a problem.) His father's also been happy with my present and he specifically praised its child friendly and beautiful aesthetic. I myself have grown past the game in the last couple of years, but it's really nice to see another generation having fun with something I grew up with.
This is what a game review should be. It doesn't just give a game a number, but rather, it gives an incredibly detailed analysis explaining a game's highs and lows. I think your points are well thought out and explained, and this review made me reconsider quite a few aspects of my experiences with the game. Needless to say, I've subscribed, and I'm looking forward to more reviews such as this.
The Wind Waker is personally my favourite post-apocalypse story in the entire genre. The reason why is that most are dystopian, which isn't bad in of itself, but almost all of them repeat the same dreary and depressing formula to varying degrees of success. What I like about Wind Waker is that it took the opposite direction entirely, and did it so well. The two themes of waiting for a hero vs jumping at the call, and letting go of the past are combined very effectively in this world that, at first glance, you'd have a hard time realizing it was post-apocalyptic. I could go on and on and make an entire video about The Wind Waker's story and world (in fact, I probably will someday). For now, I'll just say that none of those post-apocalypse YA novels ever made me cry, because they were so dreary and depressing already. The death of the King of Hyrule in Wind Waker made me cry. matthewmatosis, I guess you and I will just have to agree to disagree about the attempts to connect to Ocarina of Time.
I completely disagree about the items; WW did it better than most games in the series. In OoT, most of the items had very few uses, but in WW, I loved how there were several items that all had many uses, even throughout the game. You said you like experimenting with new items and WW disappointed you because of that. But to me, the items did so much more than they did before that they might as well have been a completely different item. For example, the boomerang is extremely useful in stunning enemies and hitting multiple things while it was used for ONE dungeon in OoT. And the Fire and Ice Arrows are obviously much more relevant than in OoT. I could go on, but I think this comment is long enough.
+Baga Jr There is nothing quite as satisfying as freezing an enemy just to leap with the skull hammer and smash it into pieces. And I don't think anything like that was implemented in any other zelda game.
VirgateSpy Fun fact: that was actually based on A Link to the Past, where you could freeze enemies and hit them with your hammer to get a guaranteed large magic jar. But still, that was one of very few times you will use the Hammer or Ice Rod in the game. In Wind Waker, Ice Arrows and Skull Hammer were useful for so many things, even long after you get them. So I definitely get what you mean and I agree.
***** Yeah, Skull Hammer is probably the worst example... But it shows how even the least-useful of the main items is much more relevant than many of the items in OoT or TP. Most items in those were mainly in one dungeon or even less (the only exceptions are arrows and hook/clawshot, and maybe a couple other things). But in WW, I constantly used grappling hook to get spoils, boomerang to stun, arrows obviously, elemental arrows are incredibly convenient, hookshot obviously, etc. I'm not saying OoT or TP did it bad, but items is just one part of WW that I think they did right and should make it even better in later Zelda games instead of doing it the same way again. (Sorry, I get really rambly lol)
Baga Jr True, I'll agree. I'm still waiting for the day that they really do something with fire arrows. They're only really useful for lighting far-off torches and honestly having to use regular arrows to transfer fire from something that's already burning is better for puzzles anyway. Only other thing I've used them for is killing frozen enemies, which is cool but doesn't really make them feel useful.
I really enjoy your reviews. The depth of the reviews is excellent and allows you to cover issues like time wasted in menus or unnecessary design choices and the length gives you an opportunity to highlight the great parts of the game as well. Please keep it up. Subscribed
Awesome review, always enjoy watching them. I think you hit the nail on the head for me at the end. When you said the reduced difficulty made the ride more enjoyable. As I usually tell people in discussion even though WW is not my favorite Zelda, it is the one I find most fun to play. I always thought it was the sea and the music, but after watching your review and having just replayed it I think it is more so the art style and light heartedness of it all. (Cont'd)
06:40 Actually, I always like to imagine the clipping boat to be water splashing into the boat as you travel. I know that in reality it is most likely nothing more than a graphical thing that was unaccounted for, but it's never bothered me for that reason XD
I'm not sure if I explained it right but I meant that with such a small boat that has its bottom so close to the water, there definitely would be some water getting on the inside. I doubt that the inside of the boat would be completely dry. I didn't mean that there'd be so much water splashing into the boat that it'd sink, although I guess it sometimes does look like that. Maybe water splashes out too? Idk, I am not at all an expert on boating/sailing so… In a game with talking boats and magic I'm willing to accept some unrealistic boat physics XD
37:30 I must wholeheartedly agree. Back when it came out I was a bit bummed to see the artstyle change, thank god my mum bought it anyways because she recognized the Logo, I fondly remember christmas time exploring the hyrule Seas as a happy memory to this day. I guess you were happy to learn that people who got introduced to this game with the HD remakes never had to go through any of the gripes you had with sailing or the wind. On another note, I wish the industry had learned their lesson from the success of this title and later on Tales of Vesperia. Simplistic Cell Shading is also what enabled Breath of the Wild, most Games using it seem to successfully free up time for tons of "soul" for the lack of a better word for little details and graphical fleshing out of stuff.
These are great. Thank you. You are an amazing reviewer! You bring up points in ways most people wouldn't be able to do in an objective type matter and you don't seem biased at all. 10/10 you earned my sub.
9:50 I think the set time was done so that you wouldn't have to use the A button and tap on certain places on the C stick, I've tried that on the GameCube ports of oot and mm and they don't turn out too well
this, along with link between worlds, is my second favorite zelda game of all time. But I haven't played it in years. I remember as a kid, it was spring time, I would have the windows open late at night and I would smell the spring air as I listen to the faint ocean waves as I sailed through the quiet ocean discovering the world. It invoked the same special feeling of exploration that Skies of Arcadia did for me. I recognize that I probably romanticize this game with nostalgia over all others, however it still is a very significant game for me. I'm really curious, especially since the most recent experience I've had with this game was watching the game grumps stumble through it, at an honest, intelligent, and critical view of this game.
Ó - Ò Your outro thoughts literally brought tears to the wells of my eyes. The smiles... The joy... The happiness... I feel that it's no exaggeration to say that every 'hardcore' fan of Zelda (and particularly The Wind Waker) wants to embrace you at this point! Also, you cannot understand how jealous of your accent/place of residence I am (I live in the US). Despite being almost full blooded Irish (with a dash of Scottish in there) it's easy to say that I'm incredibly attracted to the accent.
I liked the review, but I think you completely missed why there are so many references to Old Hyrule in the game. The game's theme is dealing with change and how people react to it. The throwbacks are not there just to be there nor are they poorly thought out. They are all symbolic in nature and together play a part in discussing what this game is about. Everything from the evolution of the Zoras and Kokiri, Link not being the Hero of Time, the concept of leaving Old Hyrule behind, Ganondrof's refusal to leave behind Hyrule, the wind representing "the winds of change", so on and so forth all play a part in this. I think you're one of the best reviewers on TH-cam, but i'm kind of shocked this went over your head when absolutely everything in the game adds to the overall conversation about change. The revelation of Old Hyrule was never meant to be part of some kind of added quest as you seemed to alude to. It exists to show the player the old world, what must be left behind, and what cannot be revived because it will end up destroying the "new". As for Tetra/Zelda, she did not go through a personality change. She's right back to being Tetra at the end of the game. That moment where she was kind to Link was just a heartfelt moment and quite frankly, was well motivated. Up to that point, a lot of things had been her fault and an apology was absolutely due to Link. As for the Zora's evolution, according to Hyrule Historia, the godesses are responsible for the change. But even without that, Zoras are not salt water creatures. Even OoT seemed to assume they belong in only a specific kind of watery location. Not to mention, the ocean is huge and is filled with all kinds of dangers (many of which you must put up with). The godesses transforming the Zoras makes sense - they become beings that can travel in this new world whereas their old form would leave them isolated to Dragon Roost. Think about it: yes, the Zoras may have been aquatic creatures, but that didn't mean they had the stamina to swim across the ocean in order to interact with other people.
I personally like the way the Zoras change (evolve) over the course of the series. In contrast, the Gorons stay the same throughout the whole series. The Zoras prevail throughout the whole series, whereas the Gorons seem to vanish further down the timeline.....
I passed this game almost at 9 years ago. You're absolutely right about everything. It still hold a special place in my memory, despite those annoyances (constant sailing, in particular)
TheChromaKid The music for the credits was amazing. I wish the Mario credits have the characters in bubbles. OH THEY DID FOR Mario Party Island Tour. XD
This game is my fave in the series and as such one that I've played over and over. Its important to see the flaws as well as strengths in the things you like and I really think you've hit the nail on the head with both in the review. I really enjoyed watching it and I'll be watching more of your videos and probably subbing. Keep up the good work
Man, people are dumb. I never understood "cartoony Zelda is bad" thing. Toon Link is my favorite Link just due to his design and the expressiveness it enabled.
People just tend to have a kneejerk reaction to dislike anything serious. Before WW, what people liked most about Zelda, and typically thought was "coolest", were the darker elements. Adult Link, Dark Hyrule under Ganon, spooky dungeons, Wolfos & Stalfos, etc. Toon Link had yet to establish a real niche.
Wow I never even knew you could pull the first boss to you once you broke his shell and I've beaten the game 3 times and completed the character gallery, I feel like a complete dumbass now.
This review was very well-done and you managed to stay firmly planted in the grounds of fairness, not letting the positives or the negatives get too out of hand. I especially enjoyed your lack of an arbitrary grading system. I'd like to see more content from you in the future.
Wind Waker definitively takes things in a different direction for the series, but as you said, it's good to see how easily the series can adapt to change. The unique art style and the feel-good atmosphere in the game aren't anywhere near as intriguing to me as OoT and MM, but it's waaaay better than continuing with the themes from those games, thus ruining what they created. I don't think any Zelda game will add up to what Ocarina and Majora created atmospherically, but that's okay. Just as Hyrule is left in the past, those games are best left in the past as well.
I vote you as best game reviewer. Not too much try-hard humor, no dullness of the "Let's Play" style, and well done in depth reviews that do more than scratch the surface. Keep up the good work! :)
Why would the zora SUDDENLY (As if by godly intent) evolve into birds when in a world of water ? dunno... MAYBE cause the flood was meant to seal away Hyrule, and they didn't want no zora's discovering/messing with it? The whole "OoT stuff was forced" is a bit of a moot point when Windwaker was a SEQUEL! to OoT... All of those things are in there to make the connection, cause after OoT, they wanted to make it clear that the games WERE connected All of the OoT references in WW and TP is why so many people were able to puzzle together big parts of the timeline before the official one being shown.
The reason the Zora were turned into birds was to prevent them from accessing "old Hyrule". Remember, the legend at the beginning of the game is actually important which says that people did *NOT* get a hero when a great evil came, so they prayed to the gods for salvation, whos reply was to quite literally "wash away" the evil. meaning only people on mountain tops would survive, which became all the islands. These are not so much "evolution", as Gorons and humans are untouched, but rather forceful transformations of the people by the gods.
Objectively the Wii U HD remake has better graphics than the GC version- that's factual. But if you meant in in general terms (not specifically WW) then I agree.
17:55 think your right about content being cut. There probably was going to be a dungeon on Greatfish Isle where Jabun should of been. There is an interview about Wind Waker with Aonuma and Shigeru Miyamoto on Eurogamer. They say something about content being cut which included some dungeons.
The Wind Waker is my favorite game of all time, and you essentially summed up how I feel about the game in the last few minutes of your excellent review. It's just such a fun game to experience. It controls great, looks amazing, and has a simplistic, yet fun, approach to everything. But, over all of that, the music is what makes this game. From the awakenings of Medli and Makar, to the main theme, and especially Aryll's theme, this game has such fantastic music. Fantastic review.
The main thing I like about Wind Waker were the characterizations of Link and Ganon.
This is the first (and only) LoZ game where I cared about Link. He wasn't a 'chosen one', he just set off because he wanted to rescue his sister. He doesn't wear the green tunic because he's destined to, he wears it because his grandma forced him to cosplay. His facial expressions and dances of joy really made this version of Link stand out for me compared to the rest.
Even Ganondorf was well done here. He explains his side of the story fairly well and is not just arbitrarily evil. His homeland is in ruins and he wants it to change. He explicitly says he doesn't want to kill Link or Zelda, he just wanted to take their powers. He fights Link at the end because everything he ever wanted was seized right in front of his eyes, so him going crazy at the end also felt justified. These reasons make this version of Ganon by far my favourite version as well.
Was honestly quite shocked Matthew didn't cover that.
My biggest gripe with Ganon and his various forms is this. If you watch the final bosses of Twilight Princess and *especially* Skyward Sword, it's hard to believe that Ganon even gives a shit about what he's doing. He has no killing intent whatever, no burning drive to win, no desperation to see his will come to pass. My biggest gripe is that, for a final boss, for the most lethal foe Link has to face, it doesn't feel like Ganon is even trying.
This is in enormous contrast to the Wind Waker, where we get something completely different. We get this phenomenal scene - literally unprecedented in a Zelda game - where Ganon describes his homelands as a hellish landscape of death, and that goddamn beautiful pause when he said "I...coveted that wind, I suppose". There's this inner reflection to him that catches you - and especially Link, who looks on utterly perplexed - completely off-guard. But it's what he does next that just feels so right.
After he's done talking, he rushes at Link, who visibly tries to ready himself, goes straight past his shield and beats the shit out of him with his bare hands. In three punches that sends Link sprawling, nearly unconscious, finally walking over to him and picking him up to complete the Triforce, then reassuring Link he won't even kill him. I get the feeling that, had Ganon got his wish, he would have dropped all hostility and left Zelda and Link completely alone. Shit, with the way he was talking, I wouldn't have been surprised to learn he'd have shown them the way to safety, because he's got what he wanted and there's just no need for bloodshed whatsoever. His world is complete. No more dread wind, scouring the life from his people. Green fields, warmth, fresh water. I feel confident in saying that all of his hostility would have ceased the moment he accomplished his goal.
But that doesn't happen. While coming across as reflective and almost gentle, this Ganon actually *has an agenda he's willing to break skulls for*, and holy shit does he go and do exactly that. The ensuing fight sees a few of the same kinds of actions seen in the later Ganon fights, but it makes so much more sense in this context because he's already lost, already had the one dream of a better land torn from him after watching decades upon decades of death. He's broken, and it shows in his fighting style - unfathomably more savage and done with killing intent than TP and SS.
Do you understand what I'm getting at? This Ganon actually had a drive and felt like he was fighting to win, fighting to kill, fighting to actually *end* you, which I just don't get when watching the swordfights of TP and SS.
+Johnathan Wells Well said.
It's refreshing to see Ganondorf actually written well, because he always seemed so arbitrarily evil to me.
In Orcarina of Time, I don't remember much about him, except kid Zelda saying that she had a dream that Ganon was going to overthrow Hyrule or something.
In Twilight Princess, he didn't really fit at all. Zant was established as a pretty good villain, but then Ganon just came outta nowhere and it seems like our only reason to fight him was because we did it in OoT.
This is a Ganon with goals, and not a generic 'destroy / conquer the world' sorta goal either. I actually feel somewhat bad for Ganon in Wind Waker because he wanted better for his homeland and he lost everything right in front of his eyes. For a rushed game, Wind Waker absolutely nailed the story and characterization elements IMO, and I'll give it huge props for that.
Johnathan Wells "Was honestly quite shocked Matthew didn't cover that."
I'd chalk that up to his creative process probably looking something like this:
"Well, I've just got done with all of the recording and reading my script, so let's see how long this will take altogether...
50 minutes huh...
...
Am I capable of making a _short_ video!?"
Then he cuts out all of the fat and small stuff is my guess. :P
Absolutely agree about Ganon. That speech is easily the most distinct memory I have of the game because it showed an intelligence and heart in Ganondorf which they could easily have not included. I'm a sucker for cross-installment continuation so the fact that he looked like an older (and wider) version of himself in Ocarina of Time was something I really loved.
The fact that they built sympathy for Ganon for the first time before having you kill him via sword in the skull added a lot of extra emotion to the final scenes. That and the Old Hyrule segments are where the game really set its hooks in.
Totally agree, Wind Waker has surprising depth from very little dialogue, and is easily the best depiction of Ganondorf because it follows on from Ocarina of Time but in a story that humanises Ganon. Here's my interpretation.
There isn't a lot of heavy story exposition, but the set up is interesting: after Ganondorf was sealed away in Ocarina, he began to break free of his bonds, but the Hero of Time didn't appear and so the Gods flooded the world to seal away Hyrule. However Ganon offers a theological disagreement on the nature of this act: "Don't you see? All of you... Your gods destroyed you!".
Then, in the final battle, Ganon reveals his entire motivation: "My country lay within a vast desert. When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes. No matter when it came the wind carried the same thing... Death. But the winds that blew across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin. I coveted that wind, I suppose." Suddenly Ganon goes from merely being an evil conqueror to a somewhat tragic figure seeking to escape the harsh desert life of his people.
He then takes the Triforce and demands the Gods unseal Hyrule: "Expose this land to the rays of the sun once more!". But, shortly afterwards he is killed by Link, speaking his last words in his dying moment: "The wind... it is blowing...", which personally I find a little bit heartbreaking. From Ganon's perspective the Gods are capricious and cruel. He may have started a war, but he was defeated and imprisoned, and then rather than let him rise again the Gods destroyed the world and most of its people. He offers explanation of himself before the last battle with Link, perhaps because he has no one else. It's centuries since he was imprisoned and the world he knew is gone. The closest thing to a familiar face is Link, a symbolic vestige of the man that defeated him all those years before. In fact when he lunges at Link and the final battle begins, with the ocean crashing down around them, it could be interpreted as the final act of a man who knows he is beaten. Earlier in the game he says to Link "I have been waiting for you, boy. For one like you... Yes... For the hero. Do not betray my expectations." What does that mean? Why wait for the one who is supposed to be destined to destroy him? To me the tone of it seems like much more than wanting Link purely because he carries the Triforce of courage, but instead something deeper. Maybe he's seeking a kind of peace in death (which opens up the interpretation of his last words a little more), or maybe it is because he has nothing left, save for a boy in the image of his vanquisher, and a bitter acceptance of his fate.
I also think it's interesting that Ganondorf refers to Link as "the hero", off the top of my head I can't think of another time he does that in the series. It's an odd thing to say. As dialogue from a videogame character, it's in keeping with the player's perception of the world, but within the context of the world it's a little odd to call your foe "hero". I have a couple potential explanations for this. In my mind, I imagine that in the beginning of this exchange, Ganondorf is talking not to Link the player-character of Wind Waker, but instead to Link the swordsman of long ago who defeated him.
"I have been waiting for you, boy. For one like you... Yes... For the hero. Do not betray my expectations."
"I have been waiting for YOU", the original Link who defeated him in Ocarina of Time. But then he corrects himself, "For one LIKE you... Yes... For the hero." I read the hesitation as being contemplative, because he's thinking of the past. He has been waiting for his nemesis, a nemesis who will never return, so instead he waits for the one who is like that man. He knows the prophecy, the legend, that there is a designated "hero", a person who will take up the title of his conqueror, of "hero". Not THE Link, not HIS Link, but a Link. If we interpret the final scene as his seeking peace through true death, then we can potentially interpret his final line here, "Do not betray my expectations." as calling on the hero to rise up, to be worthy of granting him his end. Thinking about it now it reminds of the film The Taking of Pelham 123. In the film, the antagonist, Ryder, was on the verge of escaping, having made a large amount of money, before being chased down by the protagonist, Garber. Standing in front of each other, Garber pointing a gun at Ryder, Ryder reiterates that he will not go back to prison. He will not allow his freedom to be taken. He tells Garber to shoot him, telling him that if he doesn't then Ryder will shoot him, and shoot as many police officers as he can. Garber is reluctant, he doesn't want to be a killer, he's an ordinary man. Ryder begins to count down, and as he is finishing, he reaches for his gun, only for Garber to shoot him in the chest. As he slumps over, on the verge of collapse, Ryder looks Garber in the eye and tells him "You're my god-damn hero." Ryder couldn't stop, couldn't turn back, but knew he couldn't, wouldn't go forward down the only path available to him. So he beseeches Garber to save him from that fate. In killing him, Garber saved Ryder.
the best part of WW has always been the sick beat that Link lays down when he's placed in the barrel catapult.
u rite
It's true
Truly a marvel of it's time
**HOO-WUP-BUP-BUP**
Look up link barrel beat
15:30 There was an enormous missed opportunity here. Make sure Link picks up the camera early, then let him take pictures of the things and objects he'll need to tackle, like rocks, rings of fire or stone heads. Then, *pin them to the map* so that at any time you could open up the map, look through the photos of places you took, realise "Hey! I could use the item I just got from that dungeon here!", and then travel over there for his reward.
This is GENIUS.
They did sort of allow something similar with the Tingle Tuner allowing you to jot notes on the map, but this makes the pictograph box amazingly useful and creative.
This is one of the smartest things I have ever read in a comment section.
The camera was likely limited by the gamecube's small memory card size. The medium size one was 2 megabytes, not much room for photos especially if you don't want to hog the whole card.
That did sort of make it into Breath of the Wild.
I never noticed the water clipping the boat. Well fuck.
brokenSCART Totally noticed that, but never noticed the way that the wake of the boat doesn't affect the ocean water and that it's actually attached to the boat itself and not the ocean. Damn.
+EBsessed The boat wake thing always drove me insane, but I never noticed the clipping.
Link's arm also clips through his shield when it's on his back. You can't unsee it and it's extremely annoying.
The easter egg that you pointed out was actually "discovered" by Tetra as well. If you visit her cabin, you can see that she has that same triforce drawn out onto her sea chart.
I love how the Gannon fight was the reverse of the fight in OoT. In OoT you fought Gannondorf as a man atop the tower and climbed down. Then you fought Ganon in his monster form. In Wind Waker you fight the Monster form first, then climb up the tower and fight him as a man at the top of the tallest tower.
+TheRepty818 gannonbanned for misspelling ganon. also the final battle is technically ganondorf and puppet ganon is just a decoy.
Jeffrey Krieger Oops. typo.
But still you have to admit it's pretty cool symmetry with OoT. The game constantly references the hero of time. Even though the puppet Ganon was just a distraction you still fight the beast below then travel upward to fight the man.
Also could you not argue that Ganondorf in OoT was another puppet used by Ganon for his evil plans.
well if you accept the timeline despite its many problems then ganon is the manifestation of demise while ganondorf is the human form.
+TheRepty818 You could say Puppet Ganon was Ganon shapeshifting but when you think about it the thing explodes in black magic like most enemies as it climbs up the string when you defeat it's third form. It's a separate entity. Probably a fake Ganon like Phantom Ganon that Ganon deliberately used to either buy himself time or just mess with Link even more and pulling him to his limits so he could effortlessly defeat him himself. So yes you never even fought Ganon's beast form in this game. Everything you fought were his dark creations (except Gohdan) and when you finally fought the real Ganon he lost the Triforce of Power so him being unable to go into beast form is understandable.
Jmario232 Wow, I didn't notice that before. I'll have to play Windwaker HD and check that out again. Also another opposite I just thought of: in OoT you were surrounded by fire, and in Windwaker during the final battle you were surrounded by water. And at the end of OoT Hyrule is saved while at the end of Windwaker Hyrule is destroyed forever.
Little fun'fact' : there is actually several things within Windwaker which seem to imply that Link from WW might actually be the age of TEEN Link in OoT, not child link.
Thus making him closer to 17, instead of 10
Several of the things that imply so :
- Link becomes the age of the legendary hero, but in OoT, the general townpeople don't really think Young Link is a hero, and he is only named "hero of time" when he is an adult, which is also when he is vanquishes Ganon.
As far as ignorant townspeople are concerened, the "hero of time" 'started' his journey at age 17, not 10
-Nobody ever questions you being on a seavoyage on your own
-You are genuinly treated as a young adult by all other people in the game, even up to the point of getting the deeds to a private island/cottage.
In most other games involving a young Link, people mock Link for being just a kid, this doesn't happen nearly as much in WW, and when it does happen, it is done by the type of character that calls anyone younger then himself a 'kid'
-Tetra(assumed to be the same age, or close to Link's age), is old enough to be considered a potential partner romantically/sexually by the other pirates.
When Mako teases Gonzo about him and Tetra having a child, he starts blushing at the thought of 'it'
- Size isn't really a good argument for him being 10 either, as we already see SEVERAL people being varying ages and being 'small'
Grandma is the same size as you, and the 3 small pirates (Niko, Mako and Zuko) are all adults, yet are the same size as Link, in the same way, some of the buff sailors in windfall are younger then Garrickson, yet bigger, etc...
In outset we even see the 2 brothers, Orca and Sturgeon, one being big, while the other is your size (minus his enormous head)
- He was also able to wield the Master Sword, something Young Link couldn't do, and we haven't seen done by a 'young' Link yet, and the master Sword's comparitive size (especially visible when in its sheath) matches pretty close with the size the other Link's have with their Master Swords.
H enryuuki the trophy in ssbb for toon link stats he is 12
the trophy in ssbb also states that aryll's telescope is adorned with TURTLES.
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/9/9c/Telescope_(The_Wind_Waker).png/revision/latest?cb=20090223102110
Brawl has lots of trophy mistakes, and the creators of Brawl have nothing to do with 'hidden' legend of zelda lore.
also : it could NEVER be 12, cause he has to be the "age of the hero of time", which only opens up 10 or 17 years as options
+H enryuuki Nice. I had never thought of it that way.
+H enryuuki Where exactly go you get the idea that OoT Link is supposed to be 10/17 outside of fanon? Is there any in-game information or official supplements (like the recently published timeline) or developer interviews that officially give his age? It's commonly believed among the fans, I know, but unless there's some canonical source for the fact, it's nothing more than speculation. In fact I seem to recall the manual or some in-game text for Twilight Princess giving that Link's age as 15, which I remember being very surprised by, though I might be remembering that wrong.
+djaevlenselv I remember reading a magazine saying it was 10 and 17. I believe it was Club Nintendo, but that was years ago and I couldn't cite it for you.
I also don't think that TP tells you Link's age in the game, at least.
The zoras are gone because of Valoo, I thought this was pretty obvious. The entire reason the goddesses flooded Hyrule was to keep it away from evil, if they had let the zoras continue to be fish, they would still be able to go to Hyrule. The goddesses sent Valoo to watch over them; Valoo's scales turned them into birds. Over the century (or whatever ambiguous amount of time) each zora was given a scale when they came of age, and over time they've become more birdlike and less fish-like. Although this isn't stated literally in the game, I felt it was very very implied.
I just replayed WW and I have to say, I did not pick up on that subtext. they're given the scales by Valoo which give them feathers but it doesn't really explain the underlying reasons for this ritual or anything as far as I could tell... maybe it was some info from the nintendo gallery that I missed though?
MattholomewCuppins Given Valoo's association with the Hylian royalty, as well as being referred to as a 'Sky Spirit', I felt it safe to assume he was associated with the gods. Given that there really isn't any other explanation and this basically clears it, I see no reason to believe otherwise.
MattholomewCuppins I think it's implied because when you visit Medli, her ancestor is a zora. So it's implied that the zoras somehow evolved or transformed into the Ruto.
Sc2mapper117 Yeah, I did pick up on that, but not so much the theory that the scales turn them into birds. Thanks though!
Bingo675 Yeah, makes sense. Good point, definitely a fun bit to think about
I adore this game so much it actually hurts me physically. I'm in crippling debt from medical bills.
Car Bus I'll send you some rupees
Same 😢 it's my absolute favorite game of all time
For me, the dungeons were not what got me into the series. It was the exploration. The wind waker was the first zelda game I ever played and I never cared about how many dungeons there were. Sailing the great sea was far more enjoyable and I spent countless hours marking every island on my sea chart and searching every island for something good. The best moments were the mini dungeons you could find under the islands that usually led to a triforce shard or some upgrade. Zelda fans often forget that exploration used to be one of the defining elements of the zelda series, I mean just take a look at the original legend of zelda or hell even a link to the past. I understand dungeons are important, which is why so many of the fans complain if there's not enough of them. However, Nintendo should really try to branch out more and focus on other aspects that can make zelda enjoyable. Hopefully we'll see this happen in zelda wii u.
boston sportsfan96 Well, did Zelda breath of the wild satisfy your wants, because it did for me.:)
@@Sticks_And_Glue Very much so. Although I was taken aback by the divine beasts. Still would've preferred to have some traditional dungeons.
boston sportsfan96 me too
@Jon Galt He likes both, obviously. Don’t be pedantic.
well if you haven't tried it yet, i recommend majora's mask to you. the exploration and side quests are the major part of the game. many people complained about the timer but honestly, who needs 3 hours to finish a dungeon. the 3 days cycle makes people of the world have a schedule and i think it's really good.
When I was playing this game for the first time, I remember being really weirded out by the Zelda transformation. Tetra turned into a really bland character (and loses a tan for some reason?) and her character doesn't come back until the Ganondorf fight. I wish that was handled differently.
+Scroogsy My guess is that it was made that way to portray her feeling guilty after realizing all that's happened has been for her sake and trying to show a "kinder" side to her. Obviously that was quite overplayed and made her feel like a different character.
VirgateSpy Yeah, I get that she was supposed to suddenly become a more self-aware person, but she ends up being this weirdly reserved Victorian-ass white girl. Then her character turns into the exact same thing in Phantom Hourglass. wew
Scroogs haha white ass Victorian ass Shakespeare ass
You people know this game was made in Japan, right?
... by Japanese people.
@@RhythmGrizz irrelevant.
So you can say that Zelda's sudden personality switch after the reveal was Tetramental to the game's story.
Yeah that was a stupid complaint of his. Its fantasy, not real life.
(The Joke)
Timothy Schmid The stupid is strong with this one...
Nice joke. However, in all seriousness, I've seen people complain about Tetra's "sudden shift in personality" a lot, and all I can think when I see it is, "Am I the only one who actually read the dialogue?!" It's not a shift in personality; it's Tetra realizing that she accidentally dragged Link and Aryll into all this and being hit with remorse, which is completely in-character for Tetra (she only agreed to help Link in the first place because the Postman pointed out that the bird that abducted Link's sister was originally after her).
The aesthetic of this game is beyond brilliant. So much visual personality, and color in the world.
I just remembered how disappointed I was that the overworld under the sea wasn't the latter half of the game like it seemed to be presented to be.
I thought as soon as I got the Master Sword, I would be able to traverse the Hyrule that was preserved there and everything else would occur there.
I get the feeling that they intended this to begin with, and couldn't make it happen.
It makes me say that they don't even decide to make a verison of WW with such a great idea in it. I wouldn't reject the older WW at all.
Looks like tears of the kingdom ran with that idea 20 years later!
@@ClaymanFlames totally, but it gets a little repetitive like botw and totk typically gets.
25:04 "Did anyone get the impression he's the only fish you talk to? I've always had the sneaking suspicion he just follows Link around to get more food."
That's hilarious and I want to believe it's true.
I didn't guess Tetra was Zelda. Something about her brown skin and piracy threw me off.
They still pretty much ruined her character when she magically becomes a lightskinned demure chick out of nowhere.
headphonic8 Yeah that was super dumb. I was glad that she at least turns back into tetra at the end, cause tetra is a way more fun character than Zelda
TheAmberBreeze I didn't but when link tried to fight with ganondorf in forsaken fortress and tetra came I did noticed
Well in asian culture whiteness seems to mean fair and pretty. Something that zelda has to be.
In western culture, we think that's kind of racist.
I was fooled by Tetra, simply because this wasnt "hyrule" anyone. There wasnt a kingdom with royalty so i wasnt expecting Zelda to make an appearance like this, if at all.
I was fooled by Tetra simply because this was my first Zelda game
Epic Legend I was fooled by Tetra because I didn't expect the brown girl to turn into a white girl halfway through.
cyber952 Nintendo confirmed for whitepower. #racism
I wanted to tell you how awesome of a job you do Matthrew.
The developers focusing more on little touches and you noticing them makes me notice them more.
When I play a video game I am still able to enjoy it but I try to watch the game closer.
See what I like, what doesn't work what does.
Playing a video game has started being something very different for me since I've started watching the videos you put out.
Keep it up, you have my upmost respect for the insane amount of work you put into your episodes and comes through the seams man.
I wish he'd actually reply to his viewers' comments. :/
Regarding Tetra's spontaneous personality change once she's revealed as Zelda, I initially thought the same thing until I got to the end of the game. By the final battle, she has the same spunk that Tetra originally had.
I think it could be argued that during the revelation, Tetra was simply surprised and humbled by her newfound identity. I don't think it was a personality change, really. It's still Tetra.
RyanX1231 I thought the same thing; only I thought it from the very beginning. Especially since she apologetically tells Link that this is all her fault. If you remember the beginning, Tetra only allowed Link on her ship after the postman told her that Aryll was likely kidnapped because the bird mistook her for Tetra.
There's a lot that I agree with Matthewmatosis regarding the game. But, when it comes to the story and the references to Ocarina of Time, I guess he and I will have to agree to disagree.
I thought the same as you guys but I might agree with Matt it couldve been handled better.
Well in Phantom Hourglass, a direct sequel, Zelda goes back to being Tetra and basically says it feels weird to be Zelda and the pirate life fits her better.
Why did she become white
@@cannonfodder4000 Her normal complexion as Tetra is a tan. She spends all day on a pirate ship in the middle of the Great Sea.
8:50 And then Wind Waker HD came about, improving the Grappling Hook in pretty much every way you wanted.
Can we talk about the fact that redeads in this game are truly horrific?
I thought you typed "redheads" and had to do a double take there for a second.
Lol
Andrew Kaser me 2 omg
Me too XD
But they're so cartoony compared to the ones in OoT... They are the one thing to suffer from this art style.
Actually, the "throwbacks" to Ocarina of Time are well thought out and even well explained in story. The Koroks are trees... I honestly don't know why for them, maybe it was explained? The Ruto, on the other hand, were semi well explained. Hyrule was drowned under the sea because it was overrun with evil and to prevent the Zoras from getting there the sea was filled with monsters and threats, so basically all the squids you kill throughout the game are guardians of Hyrule... And the old kingdom under the sea *is* Hyrule, so the murals on the stained glass windows would make sense as the Link from that time saved Hyrule (It also explains why there's so much god damn treasure under the sea, it was a wealthy kingdom). At least that's what I remember getting from the story. So not exactly pointless or cheap call backs. Unless I'm completely wrong.
Also sailing was drastically improved with the addition of the fast sail in the HD release, and they even cut out the second playing of the song. It's like they looked to your video for ideas.
xXNoOneImportantXx He has since uploaded a review of Wind Waker HD.
xXNoOneImportantXx When I realized that Hyrule laid beneath the Great Sea, I liked to imagine I was dropping my grappling hook right into someone's house and stealing their stuff :D
Testing
Gdxt
Damn dude, your reviews are amazing, don't quit on this channel man do as many as possible
there is no validity to his reviews.
jimreid5 There's as much validity to him as any other jack off reviewing video games on TH-cam and he does it better and more unbiased than most of them. If you want to further this argument, the "validity" is that he actually plays the games and gives them time to soak in as a player, unlike those who treat it as a job. And that alone deserves my trust as a viewer above any GameTrailers or IGN review.
ur right
jimreid5 he's calm and doesn't act obnoxious when he's trying to be funny, that's good enough for me, most game channels on here people try to be way too funny way too hard, and it just makes them seem like they're idiots
The one thing I loathed about this game...
Sharks slowing you down when you're trying to get to an island.
You can just jump over them when they rush towards you, if your timing is right you wouldn't need to stop
That guy you may or may not know I know that, but it slows down your boat a bit when the sharks are near you.
Wow, really? Been playing this for well over a decade and I never even noticed.
not you It took me a while to notice it, but I eventually did.
Benamax Those god damn sharks
Your content is a blessing to this website
"When I play the Wind Waker I'm often smiling. At the time of its release it was uncommon for a game to make me as happy as playing the Wind Waker made me. Now it's even more rare"
Yes! Thank you! Sometimes you can't narrow down a game to it's game design flaws.
The art style and the overall feel makes this possibly my favorite Zelda game as I am more of an emotional person, rather than being critical and logical.
I understand if people feel otherwise, though and I think it's completely reasonable. But no other Zelda game made me feel this happy.
It's one of the games I would always play when I was sick :P
I actually played it recently, too
Tetra/Zelda is one of the greatest missed opportunities in the entire franchise, imo.
If we are including Phantom Hourglass, where Tetra immediately gets sidelined, spends the whole game as a typical damsel-in-distress, and half of that time as a statue, then I'd wholeheartedly agree. It's no wonder that Spirit Tracks' Zelda is the only playable Zelda out of all the main-series games; no doubt making up for how Tetra was treated in Phantom Hourglass.
The Zora can't live as fish people in the flooded world because they're fresh water Zoras, meaning they can't live in the salt water.
That wasn't the case in Oracle of Ages, I think.
Majoras mask has sea Zora's though
Chimar Varmidium Termina is literally a reverse Hyrule, it makes sense that they live in saltwater as opposed to fresh water in MM
Buddypal
Oh right! Like how Termina gorons live in the depths of the earth instead of in the mountains!
Wait...
Buddypal lmao! A year late, but this dude above me literally shat all over your argument
Collecting the Triforce Fragments sucks. Most everything else is awesome. This has been my review of the Wind Waker.
at least it's more useful than the IGN review: 7.5/10 too much water
I think it's a legit statement, since this is the reason why I stopped playing it.
+Carcosa why is that STILL a MEME
FrostGenesis in HD o actually thought the triforce part was really fun
But now barrier skip is a thing, so you can skip collecting the triforce fragments!
It doesn't hugely matter, but I wanted to mention since you brought it up. Windwaker holds a special place in my heart as my first proper Zelda game. Link is even about the same age in this game as I was when I first played it. I know it's become a bit of joke these days, but my familiarity with the franchise at that time was so poor that I think I even renamed Link to Zelda out of confusion when I started my first game file. The reveal that Tetra was also called Zelda really took me by surprise, and the moment when she's first shown in her royal dress in the antichamber beneath Hyrule castle is still vividly remembered as a favourite scene! I've since played many more Zelda games, and come to appreciate the lore and expanded universe and timelines and so on, but I think it's important to remember (or at least interesting to realise) that since the games aren't titled with a number sequence, there's very little indication to a fresh-faced child or a clueless parent that the game belongs in a series, and so *any* Zelda game could be someone's first. I think that Nintendo design these games with that in mind, and I think they do so very successfully. It's a mentality that probably stems from Nintendo's roots as a children's toy company.
People try to pass off the Zora/Rito thing as "Zoras can't survive in salt water", but they lived in the Great Bay in Majora, which a bay is usually a small body of water connected to an ocean. It can be part of a lake as well but... _clearly_ it's an ocean...
Goddesses turned them into Birds so they wouldn't find old Hyrule underwater
The force made them do it... or something.
*****
Never heard that one before, that actually works.
The great sea is also infested with monsters so they would be possibly be wiped out of extinction if they didn't evolve
I think that's the reason given in the Hyrule Historia. It's so good it took them 10 years to think of.
Probably my favorite review by you Matt.
No other Zelda game has quite been able to replicate the feeling of coming up to Dragonroost or one of the major islands for the first time, knowing nothing about them except their silhouettes. You really feel as if you’re adventuring in much of this game. TP always felt so much more on-rails to me.
I love this game. But it really bothers me how it could have been sooooo much better.
Same with Ocarina. It was supposed to be nearly 2x as big on the Disk Drive with Ura Zelda. I have a feeling this happens to most adventure games
It's perfectly fine how it is.
I'm more than happy with what we got.
Yeah I thought it was going to be a lot better first time playing it
15:00 a potential resolution would be to include 2 secrets per island, one you could get with no items and another that needs items
honestly I didn't see it coming: tetra being zelda. And I played Ocarina before windwaker.
Chico Papass You made me try to remember my thoughts on the first playthrough. I had just completed MM100% and knew that Nintendo had no problem shaking things up in Zelda (at the time). So, I thought that there were a few possibilities: that Aryll or Tetra would turn out to be Zelda's descendant, or that Princess Zelda would appear as a later character. I even imagined that the rich blonde girl imprisoned in Forsaken Fortress might turn out to be her!
I figured it out when Link went for the bombs on the pirate ship. When you visit Tetra's quarters, it's almost like they're telling you directly.
well I guess I got to luckily be ignorant of this. I thought she was just a helpful character, like she wanted to help you because she liked your style or something. At the time I had only played Oracle of Seasons (only beat 3 dungeons) and fully beat ocarina. I had not noticed a pattern with the Zelda series yet.
Chico Papass That makes sense. I wish more of the games in the series would steer clear of the pattern, to be honest.
Nintendo in general needs to ditch patterns. They are getting pretty stale.
Well, there is a lot of Princess rescuing in Nintendo games! I literally cringe when Zelda apologises to Link about getting him mixed up in the adventure, but I'm fine with the gameplay.
Definitely my favourite Zelda game EVER, I love the Wind Waker and all the flaws that was pointed out never bothered me at all.
The koroks (forest creatures) are not implied to be the kokiri's evolution, they ARE the kokiri from OoT. The Deku Tree from WW explains that they are spirits, that long ago took the form of human children, but now are closer to the their true forms. I think there are reasons for the names of the kokiris don't repeat. It could be that we didn't know ALL of the kokiri on OoT, or since this is a different incarnation (but not a evolution from the biological viewpoint) they could have changed their names to suit their new boddies/identities better. Either way, they are essencialy the same individuals.
I really like the cartoony look to this game, it adds a feel of youth and fun to the game! Although I am only 15 I appreciate a good zelda game when I see one!
These are some of the most well thought-out and intellegently designed reviews I've ever seen, I don't see why you don't have more subs, as much effort as it must take to put together a 40 minute review. I really enjoy all of these.
You should have mentioned the infinite night that happens after you discover the spirit of the water sphere missing. The game should have really introduced more of these moments that change up the pace of the game and would have made travelling the seas more enjoyable overall. The music in that section is amazing, as well as the atmosphere that is created (the infinite night, the monsters that have invaded Outset Island, etc)
Looking back at this video, it makes sense that saving most exploration until the triforce hunt is the most fun way to explore since you aren't constantly running into obstacles you can't surpass, but it baffles me too because at that point in the game you can't really make much use of the rewards any more. It seems like collecting heart pieces and bottles and whatever else would be so much better if you could do it along your journey so your more prepared for the dungeons and challenges presented, but locking a lot of the rewards on islands behind powerups and items and the like just seems counter productive. It makes me wonder if trying to fit Wind Waker into the traditional Zelda formula was really the thing that hurt it the most, because locking those rewards for exploration away in a much smaller game makes way more sense to me, but not in Wind Waker.
I really liked the king of red lions and would easily put it over navi or fi
Rewatching this as your new review is up, holds up to a rewatch, good job!
My fourth or fifth time going through your Zelda reviews. Love the technical details you include.
This is actually my favorite Zelda game!
Also: great reviews!
his reviews are ok
jimreid5 I like them. I saw all of them back to back, and I've seen some of them twice. I don't always agree with his views, but I find him to be an interesting man with well founded opinions. I rate this review a seven out of ten.
This has been another episode of the Review Reviewer.
Have a nice day, and as always remember; "I review because you do".
yea I was too harsh to say that. but heres the thing he points out flaws in games that no one cares about. like the windwaker. I mean , it's a great game, theres nothing wrong with it. he points out flaws that are too insignificant. its a video game, what do u want. you know?
jimreid5 It's this kind of reasoning that allows developers to continue making games like CoD or Boshock Infinite, because "oh they're just games, what do you expect?". That excuse is bullshit.
its bullshit if you take it out of context, like you just did lol. you might have missed the point sort of.
Minor criticism about your point about the Zora evolving into the Rito not making sense: One of the main facts about the Great Sea is that very little life can survive in it. In fact, only monsters and the fish who draw on your map are present. If the Zora didn't evolve to live above water, they'd starve to death.
Just a little note about the "Zelda" name seeming to replace "Tetra". This is probably more jarring to Westerners, but in many Asian monarchies, princes and princesses will have given names in addition to "title" names. Take the Japanese Emperor's granddaughter, for example. She is officially known as Aiko, The Princes Toshi. Aiko is her personal name, while Toshi is her titular name. The same thing occurred in imperial China, and I'm sure it's mirrored in other East Asian dynasties I'm just not familiar with. So I believe there is some implication that "Zelda" isn't necessarily every Hylian princess' given name (though many times it is). Tetra is still Tetra, but she is also "The Princess Zelda". Sticking to etiquette, she would go by the name Zelda in all official appearances and proceedings.
I'm not saying TWW's story was thought out to such a minute level of detail, but to a Japanese writer, a princess getting a second name isn't strange at all, so they would have have had ample reason to just gloss over it.
THE LEAF is FAR from easily forgotten! When I watched my friend play Wind Waker for the first time, after he realized how useful the leaf is, I told him that the sail and the leaf should be the only items ever equipped to the Z button. I believe that the leaf is the best item in the game and is high on the list of the best items of all time. Gerr, I disagree with your opinion!
I totally agree.
+StraightEdgeHippie The leaf is by far the most useful item in this game, and also the most broken one.
Does things the boomerang does but slower
I think wind waker should have been a series. I would have rather had Wind Waker 2 than Skyward Sword, and I still would.
William Patrick ...You mean Phantom Hourglass, the direct sequel to Wind Waker?
No, a series for a major console. Eiji Aonuma said in an interview he was planning on Wind Waker 2 instead of Twilight Princess but that people made such a fuss over windwakers graphics that he scrapped it. I think there should have been a series for windwaker for major console, alongside the other standard realistic Zelda games.'
Koroks should've evolved from Deku, not Kokiri.
That actually makes a lot of sense random TH-camr.
I believe it was already established by this point that old kokiri turn into wood.
It makes sense if you don't think about it at all. I mean, they were the children of the forest, in the stewardship of the Great Deku Tree, childlike, innocent...if you don't think about it.
I've watched your videos multiple times over for the sheer entertainment of it. You not only have amazing critique but your voice and manner of speaking are so phonetically pleasing that I can listen to you purely for relaxation purposes. I hope to continue to see videos made by you for years to come
I bought the remake of this game for my nephew (6 years old) recently and he told me it's the best game he owns. He's not too into the story, which is understandable with limited reading comprehension, but really likes...buying animal food in Beedle's shop.
(Do note that he doesn't play the game on his own, so the whole reading thing isn't too much of a problem.)
His father's also been happy with my present and he specifically praised its child friendly and beautiful aesthetic.
I myself have grown past the game in the last couple of years, but it's really nice to see another generation having fun with something I grew up with.
I'm glad the HD version fixed quite a few of these problems.
Excellent review for one of my all time favorites . This and OKAMI were absolutely amazing and standup even today. Thanks.
I lost it at the TIngle moment. That abrupt pause and awkwardness xD. Love it!
This is what a game review should be. It doesn't just give a game a number, but rather, it gives an incredibly detailed analysis explaining a game's highs and lows. I think your points are well thought out and explained, and this review made me reconsider quite a few aspects of my experiences with the game. Needless to say, I've subscribed, and I'm looking forward to more reviews such as this.
The Wind Waker is personally my favourite post-apocalypse story in the entire genre. The reason why is that most are dystopian, which isn't bad in of itself, but almost all of them repeat the same dreary and depressing formula to varying degrees of success. What I like about Wind Waker is that it took the opposite direction entirely, and did it so well. The two themes of waiting for a hero vs jumping at the call, and letting go of the past are combined very effectively in this world that, at first glance, you'd have a hard time realizing it was post-apocalyptic.
I could go on and on and make an entire video about The Wind Waker's story and world (in fact, I probably will someday). For now, I'll just say that none of those post-apocalypse YA novels ever made me cry, because they were so dreary and depressing already. The death of the King of Hyrule in Wind Waker made me cry.
matthewmatosis, I guess you and I will just have to agree to disagree about the attempts to connect to Ocarina of Time.
I completely disagree about the items; WW did it better than most games in the series. In OoT, most of the items had very few uses, but in WW, I loved how there were several items that all had many uses, even throughout the game. You said you like experimenting with new items and WW disappointed you because of that. But to me, the items did so much more than they did before that they might as well have been a completely different item. For example, the boomerang is extremely useful in stunning enemies and hitting multiple things while it was used for ONE dungeon in OoT. And the Fire and Ice Arrows are obviously much more relevant than in OoT. I could go on, but I think this comment is long enough.
+Baga Jr There is nothing quite as satisfying as freezing an enemy just to leap with the skull hammer and smash it into pieces. And I don't think anything like that was implemented in any other zelda game.
VirgateSpy Fun fact: that was actually based on A Link to the Past, where you could freeze enemies and hit them with your hammer to get a guaranteed large magic jar. But still, that was one of very few times you will use the Hammer or Ice Rod in the game. In Wind Waker, Ice Arrows and Skull Hammer were useful for so many things, even long after you get them. So I definitely get what you mean and I agree.
+Baga Jr Did you use the skull hammer later for anything other than the occasional switch and smashing frozen baddies? Because I didn't
***** Yeah, Skull Hammer is probably the worst example... But it shows how even the least-useful of the main items is much more relevant than many of the items in OoT or TP. Most items in those were mainly in one dungeon or even less (the only exceptions are arrows and hook/clawshot, and maybe a couple other things). But in WW, I constantly used grappling hook to get spoils, boomerang to stun, arrows obviously, elemental arrows are incredibly convenient, hookshot obviously, etc. I'm not saying OoT or TP did it bad, but items is just one part of WW that I think they did right and should make it even better in later Zelda games instead of doing it the same way again. (Sorry, I get really rambly lol)
Baga Jr
True, I'll agree. I'm still waiting for the day that they really do something with fire arrows. They're only really useful for lighting far-off torches and honestly having to use regular arrows to transfer fire from something that's already burning is better for puzzles anyway. Only other thing I've used them for is killing frozen enemies, which is cool but doesn't really make them feel useful.
I really enjoy your reviews. The depth of the reviews is excellent and allows you to cover issues like time wasted in menus or unnecessary design choices and the length gives you an opportunity to highlight the great parts of the game as well. Please keep it up.
Subscribed
Awesome review, always enjoy watching them. I think you hit the nail on the head for me at the end. When you said the reduced difficulty made the ride more enjoyable. As I usually tell people in discussion even though WW is not my favorite Zelda, it is the one I find most fun to play. I always thought it was the sea and the music, but after watching your review and having just replayed it I think it is more so the art style and light heartedness of it all. (Cont'd)
3:43 WELCOME TO SHADOW MOSES ISLAND, HERE'S A GIFT BAG.
06:40 Actually, I always like to imagine the clipping boat to be water splashing into the boat as you travel. I know that in reality it is most likely nothing more than a graphical thing that was unaccounted for, but it's never bothered me for that reason XD
If that was the case, the boat would sink.
I'm not sure if I explained it right but I meant that with such a small boat that has its bottom so close to the water, there definitely would be some water getting on the inside. I doubt that the inside of the boat would be completely dry. I didn't mean that there'd be so much water splashing into the boat that it'd sink, although I guess it sometimes does look like that. Maybe water splashes out too? Idk, I am not at all an expert on boating/sailing so…
In a game with talking boats and magic I'm willing to accept some unrealistic boat physics XD
37:30
I must wholeheartedly agree. Back when it came out I was a bit bummed to see the artstyle change, thank god my mum bought it anyways because she recognized the Logo, I fondly remember christmas time exploring the hyrule Seas as a happy memory to this day. I guess you were happy to learn that people who got introduced to this game with the HD remakes never had to go through any of the gripes you had with sailing or the wind.
On another note, I wish the industry had learned their lesson from the success of this title and later on Tales of Vesperia. Simplistic Cell Shading is also what enabled Breath of the Wild, most Games using it seem to successfully free up time for tons of "soul" for the lack of a better word for little details and graphical fleshing out of stuff.
These are great. Thank you. You are an amazing reviewer! You bring up points in ways most people wouldn't be able to do in an objective type matter and you don't seem biased at all. 10/10 you earned my sub.
9:50
I think the set time was done so that you wouldn't have to use the A button and tap on certain places on the C stick, I've tried that on the GameCube ports of oot and mm and they don't turn out too well
this, along with link between worlds, is my second favorite zelda game of all time. But I haven't played it in years. I remember as a kid, it was spring time, I would have the windows open late at night and I would smell the spring air as I listen to the faint ocean waves as I sailed through the quiet ocean discovering the world. It invoked the same special feeling of exploration that Skies of Arcadia did for me. I recognize that I probably romanticize this game with nostalgia over all others, however it still is a very significant game for me. I'm really curious, especially since the most recent experience I've had with this game was watching the game grumps stumble through it, at an honest, intelligent, and critical view of this game.
+Freedom Panic I remember playing this game on shrooms and felt like I was really there
+ReliveTheDream hahahaha. That sounds great.
Ó - Ò Your outro thoughts literally brought tears to the wells of my eyes. The smiles... The joy... The happiness... I feel that it's no exaggeration to say that every 'hardcore' fan of Zelda (and particularly The Wind Waker) wants to embrace you at this point!
Also, you cannot understand how jealous of your accent/place of residence I am (I live in the US). Despite being almost full blooded Irish (with a dash of Scottish in there) it's easy to say that I'm incredibly attracted to the accent.
Loved the review mate, keep up the good work :)
Looking forward to your TP review.
Wow. I can't fucking believe it took me this long to notice Tetra has the same color scheme as Sheik... My observational skills are just top notch.
I liked the review, but I think you completely missed why there are so many references to Old Hyrule in the game. The game's theme is dealing with change and how people react to it. The throwbacks are not there just to be there nor are they poorly thought out. They are all symbolic in nature and together play a part in discussing what this game is about. Everything from the evolution of the Zoras and Kokiri, Link not being the Hero of Time, the concept of leaving Old Hyrule behind, Ganondrof's refusal to leave behind Hyrule, the wind representing "the winds of change", so on and so forth all play a part in this. I think you're one of the best reviewers on TH-cam, but i'm kind of shocked this went over your head when absolutely everything in the game adds to the overall conversation about change. The revelation of Old Hyrule was never meant to be part of some kind of added quest as you seemed to alude to. It exists to show the player the old world, what must be left behind, and what cannot be revived because it will end up destroying the "new".
As for Tetra/Zelda, she did not go through a personality change. She's right back to being Tetra at the end of the game. That moment where she was kind to Link was just a heartfelt moment and quite frankly, was well motivated. Up to that point, a lot of things had been her fault and an apology was absolutely due to Link.
As for the Zora's evolution, according to Hyrule Historia, the godesses are responsible for the change. But even without that, Zoras are not salt water creatures. Even OoT seemed to assume they belong in only a specific kind of watery location. Not to mention, the ocean is huge and is filled with all kinds of dangers (many of which you must put up with). The godesses transforming the Zoras makes sense - they become beings that can travel in this new world whereas their old form would leave them isolated to Dragon Roost. Think about it: yes, the Zoras may have been aquatic creatures, but that didn't mean they had the stamina to swim across the ocean in order to interact with other people.
I personally like the way the Zoras change (evolve) over the course of the series. In contrast, the Gorons stay the same throughout the whole series.
The Zoras prevail throughout the whole series, whereas the Gorons seem to vanish further down the timeline.....
Okay now, to be fair to Ganondorf, I doubt he expected Link to be saved by a talking boat that was floating about the ocean that day
I passed this game almost at 9 years ago. You're absolutely right about everything. It still hold a special place in my memory, despite those annoyances (constant sailing, in particular)
My favorite LoZ game. I absolutely loved the sailing aspect of the game. It's only flaw is the tedious hunting for the triforce maps and pieces.
The graphics in this game are beautiful
TheChromaKid The credits reminds of SpongeBob a little from the bubbles.
^Kinda yeah. ANd that's not a bad thing :D
TheChromaKid
The music for the credits was amazing. I wish the Mario credits have the characters in bubbles. OH THEY DID FOR Mario Party Island Tour. XD
@@EBTheOriginalMaster my wife and i actually made our exit from our wedding to this track, we loved it so much.
The reasons that the zoras have evolved into the rito is because of the amount of enemies in the water, to escape this they had to grow wings
This game is my fave in the series and as such one that I've played over and over. Its important to see the flaws as well as strengths in the things you like and I really think you've hit the nail on the head with both in the review. I really enjoyed watching it and I'll be watching more of your videos and probably subbing. Keep up the good work
It's also worth mentioning that when Tetra becomes Zelda, her skin colour whitens.
+Sara Nicholas Probably Makeup
+Sara Nicholas she's getting less sunlight?
+Sara Nicholas White cis opression where you less expect it folks! Right there brainwashing our kids!
Her melatonin amount must have changed once she transformed into the ubermensch
*melanin. Melatonin's the stuff you take to help with sleeping.
Man, people are dumb. I never understood "cartoony Zelda is bad" thing. Toon Link is my favorite Link just due to his design and the expressiveness it enabled.
People just tend to have a kneejerk reaction to dislike anything serious. Before WW, what people liked most about Zelda, and typically thought was "coolest", were the darker elements. Adult Link, Dark Hyrule under Ganon, spooky dungeons, Wolfos & Stalfos, etc.
Toon Link had yet to establish a real niche.
The way you edit your videos is great. Very subtle humor.
Thanks for the tip about putting exploration until the Triforce quest. I will do that when I replay TWW this Saturday!
Wow I never even knew you could pull the first boss to you once you broke his shell and I've beaten the game 3 times and completed the character gallery, I feel like a complete dumbass now.
Anyone else notice that Tetra went from really REALLY tanned to while as the driven snow? That bugged me a lot.
Nice review dude. I will definitely look out for your TP review!
This review was very well-done and you managed to stay firmly planted in the grounds of fairness, not letting the positives or the negatives get too out of hand. I especially enjoyed your lack of an arbitrary grading system. I'd like to see more content from you in the future.
How the fuck does this game still look so good
Cuz Comic graphics dont age.
Art design beats graphical detail
Wind Waker definitively takes things in a different direction for the series, but as you said, it's good to see how easily the series can adapt to change. The unique art style and the feel-good atmosphere in the game aren't anywhere near as intriguing to me as OoT and MM, but it's waaaay better than continuing with the themes from those games, thus ruining what they created. I don't think any Zelda game will add up to what Ocarina and Majora created atmospherically, but that's okay. Just as Hyrule is left in the past, those games are best left in the past as well.
twilight princess did bring back the nostalgia of OoT.
I vote you as best game reviewer. Not too much try-hard humor, no dullness of the "Let's Play" style, and well done in depth reviews that do more than scratch the surface. Keep up the good work! :)
Isn't this amazing, that the most deviating Zelda game of its time bears a message of essentially giving a way to a new things?
Why would the zora SUDDENLY (As if by godly intent) evolve into birds when in a world of water ?
dunno... MAYBE cause the flood was meant to seal away Hyrule, and they didn't want no zora's discovering/messing with it?
The whole "OoT stuff was forced" is a bit of a moot point when Windwaker was a SEQUEL! to OoT...
All of those things are in there to make the connection, cause after OoT, they wanted to make it clear that the games WERE connected
All of the OoT references in WW and TP is why so many people were able to puzzle together big parts of the timeline before the official one being shown.
+H enryuuki i think they turned into birds because the sea water is too salt
The reason the Zora were turned into birds was to prevent them from accessing "old Hyrule". Remember, the legend at the beginning of the game is actually important which says that people did *NOT* get a hero when a great evil came, so they prayed to the gods for salvation, whos reply was to quite literally "wash away" the evil. meaning only people on mountain tops would survive, which became all the islands.
These are not so much "evolution", as Gorons and humans are untouched, but rather forceful transformations of the people by the gods.
I would just like to say that I LOVE your reviews. I can't wait for the next one! I've watched them all so far...
Amazing review once again. Every video you have done has been spectacular.
I love Wind Waker.
The graphics hold up very well. Even today, I think the GameCube graphics look better than the Wii U graphics
Objectively the Wii U HD remake has better graphics than the GC version- that's factual. But if you meant in in general terms (not specifically WW) then I agree.
It's the type of game that really goes to show that it's not about hardware specs, but art direction.
24:59 😂😂😂 I love Mathews commentary, it’s so general yet so well thought out and hilarious
17:55 think your right about content being cut.
There probably was going to be a dungeon on Greatfish Isle where Jabun should of been.
There is an interview about Wind Waker with Aonuma and Shigeru Miyamoto on Eurogamer. They say something about content being cut which included some dungeons.
Sweet reviews, please do Metroid Prime!
Ahh always enjoy these long reviews, and your voice is very good for it. xD Anyways, I already "liked" the vid and now... *Presses play*. :3
The Wind Waker is my favorite game of all time, and you essentially summed up how I feel about the game in the last few minutes of your excellent review. It's just such a fun game to experience. It controls great, looks amazing, and has a simplistic, yet fun, approach to everything. But, over all of that, the music is what makes this game. From the awakenings of Medli and Makar, to the main theme, and especially Aryll's theme, this game has such fantastic music. Fantastic review.
I know this vid is like 6 years old but Jesus man the music is so lovely oh my goodness its hits. Love the vid, fair critiques.