Zelda games never fail to amaze me, I don't know why but there is something about this game series that is special to me. Maybe it's my love for exploring, maybe it's my desire for adventure. Whatever it may be, Wind Waker HD inspired me. It inspired me in a way I can't explain. It inspired me to do something, just something. Like I said, kind of hard to explain. But hey, I'm glad to be writing a review to my favorite Zelda game of all time. Admittedly, I've never gotten to play this game, not even on the Gamecube. So how could I love a game so much having never played it? I find myself to be asking this question a lot, and my answer is along the lines of, "It's just a really great game." And I'm not even a Zelda fanboy, I prefer platformers over puzzle games, but Wind Waker was different for me. The graphics, the music, everything was perfect. I might even get this game in the near future, but let's get through this review first.

Graphics

Wind Waker decided to do something different with it's graphic scheme. It ended up being a cartoon style graphic scheme, which I really enjoyed looking at. When I first heard that Wind Waker was getting an HD remake I thought, "wait, but it has cartoon-style graphics. How can they put it in HD?" And I was blown away when I saw the new graphics. Wind Waker HD runs at 1080p, which is a big step up from the original 480p. A lot more things have been done with the "shading."There was a bigger difference in lighting compared to the original game, you can read more about this online if you would like but this was as far as I could get without feeling like I was copying. There are also effects with Link's shadow now. Before you wouldn't see Link's shadow when he climbed ladders and did other tasks. But this was of course added into the HD version of the game. The room with Puppet Ganon has shallow water in it, which in the original game only reflected a few objects in the room. Now it reflects everything including Link. In the original game, Dragon Roost Cavern had heat wave effects throughout most of the dungeon. Now this effect only appears near fire fountains. Warp Jar transitions used to be a fade-out, but this was changed to a shrinking and growing circle in the HD version. Even though it seemed like they changed quite a bit graphic-wise in the remake, none of the character models or animations were changed. I expected at least one animation to change but I guess they didn't see anything wrong with it. Well, don't fix what isn't broken right?

Sound

Music in Wind Waker was already amazing, so they didn't change much. The music really does make you feel as though you are on an island or sailing across a sea, it captures the theme magnificently. The title theme music also does this, it captures the perfect feel for you being ready to start your adventure. It also captures a good feeling for ending your adventure, since it's also the credits theme. It's like the song is congratulating you for making it all the way through the Great Sea, defeating Ganondorf, and to think that you just started out as a young boy on an island. It's pretty deep when you think about it. The updated music has higher instrument quality, most noticed in fanfare throughout the game and even a few boss themes. Besides this, most sound effects remain the same when compared to the original game. The original game uses Dolby Pro Logic II which (from what I've read) is sort of a "fake" surround sound. You can read more about this online. The remake made sure to use the "real" surround sound done through HDMI.

Addictiveness

Even though I have never played either version of Wind Waker, I have found myself addicted to it beyond the heavens. I have spent full days just watching video after video on this game. I wanted to know everything, I literally fell in love with this marvelous game! I was always thinking about it. At all times, there was something about Wind Waker on my mind. I'm still dedicating several hours to watching Wind Waker. I'm currently watching the world record 100% speed run, which the current time is 6:56:28. There's your fun fact for the day.

New Game play Elements

Wind Waker HD changed some things game play-wise compared to the original game. Treasure charts and heart pieces are in different locations, grappling hook cut scenes have been shortened, and the Triforce Quest was way different compared to the original game. Now only three charts need to be deciphered, instead of eight. Some items even have new usages, the picto box is an example. It can hold twelve pictographs instead of three and Link can even take selfies. Additionally, the forest firefly is no longer needed for the deluxe picto box. The figurine side quest was also made easier since Carlov is now able to make twelve figurines in a day as opposed to the original one a day. Pictographs can even be sent through miiverse using the tingle bottle. These pictographs can be saved and turned into figurines. So as you can see, it was made a lot easier. Even sailing was made more efficient with the addition of the swift sail. The swift sail makes the King of Red Lions move faster when sailing across the Great Sea. The swift sail even changes the wind direction to the one that you're facing. So if we have that, then why do we need the Wind Waker? To switch sails, you simply press the A button, which stopped you in the original game. The button changes was because of limitations on the gamecube. The original game only loaded a small part of the Great Sea, however the Wii U can load the entire Great Sea at once. I honestly think that's really impressive. A nig step up in game play is the ability for Link to move in first person while using items such as the bow and arrow, boomerang, and hookshot. It's really a great game play feature since now you can dodge attacks while attacking. There are many other things changed in the game I could probably read it off in a list and it would still take a long time. The starting wallet now holds five hundred rupees, meaning that an upgrade is no longer required for game completion. To replace the triforce charts, there are five additional treasure charts to fill their place. The hero's charm is no longer obtained from Ms. Marie and is now obtained from the bottom of the savage labyrinth. The piece of heart obtained from the bottom of the savage labyrinth is now obtained from treasure chart #46. When Link takes damage at sea, he is no longer thrown off the King of Red Lions. Except for a few cases such as explosive barrels. While gliding with the deku leaf, there is now a more noticeable shadow below Link. Jump attacking on top of the chest in the ghost ship will not freeze the game, unlike in the gamecube version. There is so much more than what I have just mentioned. If you want to know more, look it up because I am not typing all of it.

Story

So, you're this kid on Outset Island. Turns out that it's your birthday and grandma wants to see you. So she gives you this green tunic that you have to wear. Head back to the lookout you were sleeping in and you find your sister, Aryll. She gives you a telescope as a birthday present. You use it and find a huge bird which drops a girl on a mountain. So you go to visit Orca and learn how to use a sword. You use this sword to go up to where you saw that girl fall. After dealing with a few enemies, the girl falls out of the tree. Then this other guy shows up, and talks to this girl who is apparently named Tetra. After leaving the forest, Aryll waves to you on the other side of the bridge. The same bird that was carrying Tetra comes by and picks up Aryll. You jump to save her, but you forgot that you couldn't jump that far and fell and Tetra had to catch you. So now what will you do, to save your sister? Ask if you can join the pirates of course. They say no, but after talking with the mailman, they say you can tag along if you can find a shield. Go to grandma's house and get the family shield. But grandma seems to be upset about Aryll. That's why you're going to save her. So you go along with the pirates, get to the Forsaken Fortress, and attempt to save Aryll. But your sword gets lost and you have to go through the entire thing without a sword. But you're able to get it back at the end. Then the Helmaroc King shows up and picks you up. He takes you over to this guy, you don't get a good look at him before the bird throws you far away from the Forsaken Fortress. The next time that you wake up, your on a boat. A talking boat, named the King of Red Lions. He informs you about your sister, Ganondorf and all these other things you need to know about. So you agree to save the land, right after you buy him a sail. So you get the sail, and then you're off, to Dragon Roost Island to get the pearl that they have. Upon arrival, the King of Red Lions gives you a new item known as the Wind Waker. You go to investigate where the pearl is. But they won't give it to you because there is something wrong with the dragon, Valoo. So you and Medli go to investigate. The both of you enter Dragon Roost Cavern, and defeat Arma-Gohma (sorry don't know correct spelling.) Arma-Gohma was apparently doing terrible things to Valoo's tail. Good thing you saved him, now you can get the pearl. Now you're off to Forest Haven. But not without using the Wind Waker to change the wind direction. At Forest Haven, there is more trouble since Makar got himself lost in the forbidden woods. So you have to go in and save him. You do so and earn the next pearl. You're next destination is Great Fish Isle. Here you will meet Jabun to get the last pearl. However, Jabun is not there. He's back on Outset, your home island. You go back to Windfall though to get bombs to blow your way into the back of outset. You sneak into Tetra's pirate ship and steal their bombs. Now you go back to Outset and find Jabun. He gives you the last pearl. Your next objective is to take the pearls to the triangle islands. By placing the pearls in the correct places, a tower rises from the Great Sea. The tower is known as the Tower of the Gods. Now you must pass the god's challenge. You and the King of Red Lions enter the tower. You learn the command melody for the Wind Waker and pass the test. You use the grappling hook to ring the bell at the top, it opens a portal back at the bottom of the tower. You and the King of Red Lions head inside the portal. You see none other than Hyrule Castle. You head inside and see a lot of enemies. But they're all frozen, so you have no need to worry. After completing a puzzle, you find a secret passage under the statue. You head down and see the Master Sword. You're able to pull it up, but it unfreezes all the enemies and in order to leave you must defeat them all. You get back to the King of Red Lions and head back above water. Now you must head back to the Forsaken Fortress. This time you are successful in breaking out your sister, since you were assisted by the pirates. Then you fight the Helmaroc King, After defeating him, you move on to Ganondorf. But it turns out he has become stronger after you pulled out the sword. Tetra joined the fight, but Ganondorf recognized her as Zelda. Then the Ritos from Dragon Roost came by and saved you guys. You then find yourself outside the Tower of the Gods. You, Tetra, and the King of Red Lions head back down to Hyrule. You head inside the castle and to the area where you found the Master Sword. There is someone there, it's the King of Red Lions except he's not a boat. He explains that Tetra is Zelda and he connects a small golden triangle with the golden piece around Tetra's neck and the she transforms into Zelda.
She stays in Hyrule Castle while you and the King of Red Lions go to find the sages to restore the power of the Master Sword. On the way back out, the King of Red Lions tells you the story of the ancient hero and why Hyrule is under the Great Sea. To try and kill Ganondorf, the gods buried Hyrule in water which became the Great Sea. Your people lived on the mountains of Hyrule. The first sage is Medli. You head to the earth temple to learn the earth god's lyric from a zora. You go back to Dragon Roost Island, and find Medli. You play the song, and she realizes she is a sage and wants to help you. You bring her to the earth temple and go through it with her. The both of you make it the end. She prays to the sword and half the power gets restored. Now you must find the wind sage. You head to the wind temple and find a kokiri who teaches you another song. You head to Forest Haven to find Makar and play the song you just learned. He also realizes he is a sage and decides to help you. The two of you go through the wind temple and Makar prays to the sword. Now the Master Sword is fully restored, you are ready to take down Ganondorf. But you need to find another way to open the portal. You must gather all eight shards of the triforce of courage. You do so and are pronounced by the gods as the Hero of the Wind. You head through the portal and Zelda is gone. Ganondorf took her to his castle. You use your fully powered Master Sword to break the shield at the back entrance. You head to Ganondorf's castle. You must first battle the previous bosses to continue. Then you fight Phantom Ganon multiple times and get the arrows of light. You finally find Ganondorf and you must fight puppet Ganon. After that, you must climb the chandelier and meet Ganondorf at the top. He gathers all the triforce parts and use them to make a proposal to the gods. But the King of Red Lions beats him to it. Now you're able to team up with Zelda and take down Ganondorf. ---- The way I look at this game is the major change Link goes through. In the beginning he was just a kid on Outset Island. At the end of the game, you're fighting Ganondorf with Zelda. It's a pretty big change that you don't really notice through gameplay since it happens gradually. You don't think to take a look at how far you've come because you're thinking about what you're doing currently. Besides, it's kind of the way Zelda works, so you don't think much of it. I mean, I could say this about basically any Zelda game. But why Wind Waker HD was different is because it was the first game that had me realize this. Most heroes start out as just an ordinary person. Then something eventful happens and then they become a hero. It's kind of the way it works.

Depth

Like most Zelda games, there is a lot to explore. In this game, you have an entire sea to go through, with an island on each square. There are also several heart pieces and treasure charts which can be found throughout the game. There are also the figurines which you can make as a little extra thing. Also, the character Knuckle is required to complete the Nintendo Gallery, which he wasn't in the original game. A lot of things in Zelda games are not required, but exploration is a big part of Zelda. That's why there are so many things you can get, but you don't have to. I believe that there is one treasure you can find in each square of the Great Sea. You're able to get these treasures by collecting treasure charts. You collect treasure charts throughout your adventure. They can be hidden in chests, gotten by playing a minigame, or other methods throughout the game. There are also upgrades for your wallet, arrows and bombs to make it so that you can hold more of each. However these are not required to complete the game.

Difficulty

I have not played this game so I don't exactly know how hard it can be. But based off of game play that I've watched, it can be challenging at times. Such as the final Ganon fight and puppet Ganon, these two guys I watched play the game have taken over 60 hits in the final area of the game. But they aren't exactly bad at the game, they just didn't do too well in the final area. There is also the addition of Hero Mode, a more difficult version of the main game. Unlike other Zelda games, this mode does not need to be unlocked. In this version, enemies and pots don't drop hearts, meaning Link can only heal using potions. Compared to the normal game, enemies do double damage, making attacks devastating late-game.

I love this game so much. It is my favorite Zelda game, and I'm glad I spent hours writing this review for my favorite Zelda game. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this.

Here's the page I used for research: http://zeldawiki.org/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_The_Wind_Waker_HD