There’s nothing quite like the slick sailing of the Great Sea’s vast waters, the scream of a defeated Moblin or the charming toon graphic stylstyle of the Wind Waker, and this HD remake enhances everything you loved about the original yet further. What’s so admirable about Nintendo’s effort here is that beyond the HD treatment, there is still so much they have done to improve Link’s sixth-generation adventure and add so much more to it than was there before.
The most obvious enhancement of the Wind Waker is the HD. What looked great originally is not only improved but given more life. The character and enemy models and the landscapes look so much more 3D and full of life and personality. Upon approaching Windfall Island from the distance you’ll be amazed how much HD has benefited the game. Admittedly, some of it looks stuck in the past but problems in the visuals are rare. Of course, the reason the toon style was originally chosen was because of the fantastic way it brought across the atmosphere and characters’ expressions. The impressionist style makes the enemies look spectacular and interesting: Moblins are easily recognisable as stupid, for example.
The music, needless to say, is excellent.
Meanwhile, the story is simple but effective, and for once actually Ganon’s evil attentions are something you can sympathise with, not just a thirst for power and control.
For anyone who hasn’t played a Zelda game before, it is a mix of puzzles, combat and exploration. As in any other Zelda game, the Wind Waker features multiple dungeons, maze-like puzzle areas littered with cleverly placed enemies. The dungeons are always cleverly worked into the plot of the game. Needless to say, the Wind Waker’s dungeons are intricate, genius and great fun. The puzzles are challenging and often get you stuck. The Wind Waker has an excellent combat system, perhaps the best of all Zeldas except for Skyward Sword’s revolutionary sword-swinging. The target lock system Zeldas are praised for makes a big difference in making combat as strategic as possible without ever being unfair.
The exploration outside of dungeons is a big part of Zelda too, and what a world to explore the Great Sea is. Nearly fifty islands, all with different characters, secrets and landscapes, litter the Great Sea. There are many side quests for rewards such as pieces of heart, treasure charts and more, and are more than enough to keep the hardcore 100% completionist occupied. Side quests included, the Wind Waker is a good solid thirty hours of gameplay at least, obviously quicker for those who played the original.
Beyond the HD refinement, this remake does much, much more. There is a new mode, hero mode like in Skyward Sword- enemies do double damage and you can’t find hearts in plants or pots. For those who complained of Wind Waker being easy, which it is a bit, hero mode is an excellent challenge, perfect for people who completed the original and also great for newcomers to Wind Waker looking for a challenge. It’s no master quest like Ocarina of Time’s remake included (which is a shame) but I appreciate its inclusion nonetheless.
Another improvement is the Swift Sail, which increases the speed of your boat. Some gamers complained of sailing getting slow and tedious after a while. This was of course due to the gamecube’s slower processing power, but because the wii u is much more powerful, sailing is faster, smoother, and a whole lot of fun. It really adds to the exploration element of the adventure.
Also, the Triforce quest towards the end of the game has been streamlined. Originally, this had required the player to go sailing about the Great Sea using a map to locate the eight shards of the broken Triforce of Courage and get all eight from under the water. This was very tedious and took a possible hour to do, really damaging the pace of the game. But this has been streamlined so that five of the eight are found in mini-dungeons on certain islands, leaving only three to be found in the sea. This really is a great improvement and has changed the Triforce quest from being a lowlight of the game to, for me, being one the highlights. It’s disappointing that most of the mini-dungeons are only composed of just lots of rooms, each full with enemies, with no puzzles. But they are fun challenges regardless of that.
And wii u integration. Now, your inventory of items and the map of the area or dungeon you’re in are all on the gamepad, meaning faster, easier access to everything without needing to pause the game every time you want to see your inventory or map. As well as this, you can aim projectile items using the Gamepad’s motion sensing, allowing for improved precision. Also is miiverse integration.
The Wind Waker HD goes the extra mile to make an awesome game even more awesome. If you played the original you simply must get this to experience the game in a new way. If you haven’t played the original, you have an even greater need to play one of the greatest games ever.