Wind Waker is full of charm and wonderful ideas, but never really takes off.
Both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are really odd games.
I came into Wind Waker knowing it'd be short, but I hoped that it's shortness would mean a well-designed, brilliantly paced game like the n64 Zelda. But Wind Waker is not just short, it's also very basic. The dungeons are some of the worst I've seen in the console series. But don't take worst to mean that it's tedious or painful (with the exception of Forsaken Fortress). The dungeons are just...kind of simple and easy really. On top of that, there aren't many dungeons either. This makes the game feel really short. However, while Wind Waker falters in the gameplay/content, it makes up for it with its wonderful sights and ideas.
Sword combat is flashy and fun. It's super sweet how you can take enemy weapons (though I wouldn't say it was particularly effective). The tools are a bit rehashed from the series (boomerang, bow, hookshot), but I really liked the leaf. Being able to sail across the vast ocean was nice, as they did give you some things to do (collect rupees, grind for necklaces, find bottles, play minigames, etc.) along the way. And of course, as simple and small as the islands may be, they had really neat concepts. And the towns were fun to explore.
Anyway, the bottom line is... it's a good game. Maybe even a great game with some fun ideas. But it's held back by some really strange things. Sailing across the ocean can be fun, but it can also take like 5-10 minutes just to get where you need to go. The dungeons are few and they aren't very impressive either. I still hate the first time I went through the Forsaken Fortress. And I'm not fond of the triforce hunt. In spite of all the issues, I can still say I enjoyed it. It's just disappointing to think that it could've been so much better.