"A new adventure brought ashore, cast away with a different style"As every few decades pass us by, we see constant changes in the world around us. Some bad and some great. Especially for this well known land of Hyrule, which was once always overflowing with terror from a Gerudian Prince named Ganondorf. Thankfully, a great change was brought upon this once peaceful land when a warrior in green came to smite all the evil occurring in the land around him and, after pummeling the plans of the insane villain, became a legend among Hyrule! However, this darkness that was once sealed away had returned once more, and this time the warrior didn't return. This starts the beginning of this new day and age.
Our new child protagonist takes on a journey that'll lead him into dangerous perils and awaken a power locked deep within him, while making him into a more calm and courageous fighter. It's time for this boy to set sail on his quest as he'll cross over many oceans...through dark storms...and even to the bottom depths of the sea bottom. The new hero has already departed from the bay so there's not much left to say, we'd best depart ourselves and begin this long journey into the expansive wide look at this game.
Graphics: 8 out of 10
Just like my Paper Mario review this specific Zelda game takes a different turn by using a different graphic style than before with PM obviously being 3-D paper like sprites and this game goes and takes the Zelda series into a cartoonist type style which I thought was a really great idea since it gave me a feel of childhood once again and to be honest I like it better than another game released later *Cough TP Cough*. Because even though it may not be great I'll admit I'm a sucker for animations like this, sort of similar to Mickey Mouse or Jimmy Neutron it just tickles you on the inside as even the enemies look cute at times and it always just makes you smile or giggle at certain points. Either way if I had to give some examples on what places I think best represent why this game is so appealing to the eyes.
First off let's talk about a certain island known as Forest Haven in which the outside looks to be tree shaped with the inside being a grass and leaf covered land wherein this area also being the residence of the Great Deku tree in this game. Secondly we can take a look at the basement floor of Hyrule Castle which has been broken down and looks awfully devastated due to the tragic incident from the past,in this room you shall find the Master Sword resting on the Pedestal of Time (like in Ocarina of Time) with Knight Statues all around. Lastly take a look at the same room I talked about but this time take a look at the walls of the room as there you'll see stain-glassed window images of the six out of the seven sages from Ocarina of Time (basically Rauru, Saria, Darmani, Princess Ruto, Impa, and Nabooru). That's basically all the things we could really talk about graphics side so time to move on by leaving my score with an 8 out of 10.
Sound: 10 out of 10
C'mon you should know already going into this review and series that this game already gets a high rating based on the music soundtrack alone, with its orchestral soundtrack following us almost everywhere on our journey you're bound to hum or at least smile when listening to the beautiful melody that this game produces to your ears. The sound effects also complement this game very nicely as well which I shall go into great detail now. The sound effects are what you would expect to hear from a game in this series (besides the older portable games) Link's yells when he attacks and screams when hit or falls from an exceptionally high height, another example are the enemy and Ganondorf's voices which sound really great for the game such as when you attack a Bokoblin enemy off an edge or defeat them they make a scream like "rrrraahhh, or wahhhhngh" and then explode into a cloud of wind...Ganondorf similarly to Link never speaks in the games except for laughs/shrieks/ and any other emotions and believe it or not but I actually love his voice in this game since it not only sounds like some generic cartoon villain but also it's so hysterical when he laughs because it's over dramatic.
Onto the music portion on this section however, is where the game truly shines brighter than the sun setting on our ships sail. As even though this game may look like just some child's game and nothing more the game throws a Bomb-omb at you crushing your theory that the music can't live up to the highlight of older titles in the series but; enough digressing and side-questioning let's get onto the examples. First off let's look at the theme of a particular Sand Boss in this game (although the temple isn't sand based so don't get your hopes up on that) wherein right as you drop below into the pits of endless streaming sand you hear a slow to start tone pace until finally after a few seconds kicking into a very adamant and strengthening beat. Secondly we'll take a peek at the theme of the Fairy's Fountain which I have to admit right now this version specifically is my favorite in the entire series because not only does it have a nice and beautiful melody of instruments but you have sort of a choir type humming going on in the background which makes me love this song so much more. Lastly I'll talk about the final theme you hear in the game (which also plays shortly after the beginning of the game as well but it's most memorable at the end) simply called "Epilogue" which is something you'd normally hear in a movie after a winning battle whether it be argumental or medieval with cymbals and everything showing that you persevered through your journey and made it to the end never forgetting your memories or past travels during this adventure. Either way I should leave this off here by leaving my score of a 10 out of 10.
Addictiveness: 9 out of 10
This part just like my first review for April is either where you make it with this game or break your gaming relationship with it off, and my section will most likely be different from alot of other reviewers since I'll describe why I specifically like it and why I don't understand alot of the hate that goes towards this games well gameplay to be exact. Let's begin by talking about how the gameplay is in this adventure, wherein you play as Link of course and instead of traveling on land you must travel over the sea in journey saving not only this land but restoring the strength given to the land that was crumbled down to pebbles many years ago. All of this meaning that you'll be riding on a boat for most of your adventure throughout the game and here's where alot of people begin to dislike this game because of how slow riding/adventuring on the water can be and that it is annoying to have to keep doing this for most of this game, but yet when I take a look at Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask I don't see a hay nor hair of complaining when you had to use Epona to get to certain area's at many points in the game? Plus they were trying something new and inventive with this game which is why I love the boat aspect of the game...either way now that this rant is finished let's talk about what this game is addictive.
As I said in my graphics section I love the cell-shading idea that they took with this game since it was a new route for the series and in my opinion it worked out very nicely and the game was just so beautiful to look at which made this game that much more fun to pop in, play, and have a good time. Also even when you complete the main quest their is still alot you can do such as: playing the second quest in which instead of having weird Hylian words for certain characters in the game like The Great Deku Tree or Jabun, you'll now have regular text for those area's although; Link will still have the same expression throughout the cut-scenes. Secondly you could look/hunt for anything you may have missed or wished to get in your adventure like if you were to miss a certain great fairy that you wanted to find to upgrade Magic/Arrow Count/Bomb count. Lastly there is a certain place in the game where you can submit pictures of enemies or villagers to the main photographer and he'll place them inside an exhibit that you can look at the characters in greater detail (sort of like looking at the trophies in the Smash Bros. Series) which I think is a nice addition for those completionists out there in the gaming community. So if you're willing to take this game for what it is I'm sure you'll have an excellent trip with Wind Waker leaving me to give the addictiveness section an almost perfect score of a 9 out of 10.
Story: 10 out of 10
Now this is where my favorite part besides the look of Wind Waker comes in and it's the story since in case you still don't have a good idea of what it is I'll reiterate here. Basically it goes back in Hyrulian history when a dark lord hailing from Gerudo came into this land plotting to take it all for himself and destroy anything he pleased and causing many casualties to the townsfolk. It had seemed all hope was lost at the time until a strange warrior in green appeared and vanquished the vile monster and was crowned the Hero of Time soon afterwards as he rode off into the foreground waiting for new adventures that awaited him, but; the so called monster wasn't completely defeated and within only a little while Ganon was revived once more only this time the story didn't end as peacefully. Wind Waker begins many years after the downfall of Hyrule and only stories are told of the place with many dark secrets and lies being spoken about everywhere, and soon after a certain incident involving one of Link's family members he realizes with the help of a certain character that he is in fact both a living heir (in some ways but not as in family heir type) to the legendary hero and begins his quest to stop the madman Ganon and bring peace back to the Great Sea and Outset Island as well while finally letting the memories of Hyrule rest in peace.
It seems like and interesting story at first and dramatically changes half way through, alongside the fact that it ties into believe it or not the ending of Ocarina of Time as it says the hero didn't return which is true because after Young Link warned Young Zelda about the events that would take place he left for Termina which we all know how things there went. So obviously the "Hero of Time" couldn't save this world from it's demise (no, not the skyward sword villain) which I think definitely more than anything sets up old time nostalgic players of the series nicely with its new story and adventure with several tie-ins. So without dispelling too much information about the story I'll end this off with here again with another score of 10 out of 10!
Depth: 9 out of 10
If you're looking for a Zelda Game that is expansive and has alot to do even after completion then this game is most likely your best bet as like I've detailed in different sections above you have many hidden places through-out the game that you can search for on your own time as well as a feature that gives you more of a reason to play through the game a second time. For this section I'll not only talk about the length of the game but also some removed beta content as well or just speculation that has been talked about years after its initial release, so if you're all ready let's prepare to dock in at the harbor so we can give more details in these subjects.
First let's talk about the length of this game as in how many places you must visit/how many dungeons there are in the entire length of this game compared to older games released in this genre. This game besides Majora's Mask has the least amount of dungeons with only 6 of them in tow which is low when put side by side to other entries like: A Link to The Past which had 13 lairs to search for and complete or even the very first game on NES which had 9 lairs however; there is almost more side-questing objectives similar to Ocarina of Time in some ways where when you're an Adult and you had to go back to Zora's Domain and whatnot. Although I've heard complaints about this I don't see the problem with it since it gives you a nice feeling of seeing old places you've visited again once more and shows you have much you've progressed since then. So this part is done but let's talk about the beta content taken out.
Now there were several things taken out of this game during it's beta some minor and some major aspects I'll talk about 2 minor ones and 1 major one. The first minor change is that apparently there was going to be an island that you could find during your adventure through the Great Sea called GC Island which would've been in the form of a Gamecube, but this was taken out for some reason (however Phantom Hourglass did use the same idea by making DS Island). The Second minor change is that their was initially a sneaking feature that Link could use to slowly walk across the floor to not alert any enemies attention, this was most likely taken out since well the only time you really used stealth was your first trip to the Forsaken Fortress when you lost your sword so this is an understandable reason as to why it was gotten rid off. Now the third one is where things get interesting since apparently in the beta ideas of this game you were supposed to have Link age over the course of his adventure growing from a child in the beginning of the game to an Adult by the time you reached Ganon at the end which would've been really awesome but it was scrapped since it would've been hard to do with animations and everything so bummer. Either way this is going on MUCH longer than expect so let's end it off here with of score of a 9 out of 10.
Difficulty: 8 out of 10
I won't be a stick in the mud and be a liar saying this game was easy because I'll be honest and say this game had me more puzzled than both A Link to The Past and Ocarina of Time my first time playing through, although Twilight Princess is the one I get lost on the most now xD. You may think "well that's because of being on the boat and forgetting where you are traveling since all you see is water most of the time" that's not in any way/shape/or form what happend to me, actually the specific part that had me troubled was when I was supposed to meet a Fairy in order to get quote on quote "certain items" to help me progress through the game I won't say what they are but I will say I had no idea I had to get a melody that I could and had to use to warp to the location since I always tried riding to the island but it's closed off everywhere on the outside so I was stuck like a bee is to honey on this part which is when I really wished I had Tatl or Navi at a time like this believe it or not. The controls don't have any problems that I've noticed from playing this game many times over and the camera also doesn't have my problems either since you can easy use the C stick to very quickly rotate the camera 360 degrees (don't worry it's better than how Super Mario 64 or Sunshine is with camera rotations). There's only one other thing I think I could talk with difficulty and that's with problems I've heard of people being unaware of how to get into the Ghost Ship as they just pass through it and believe me I've been down that road too until I decided to search around at random islands and found a place where I received the Ghost Ship Map and from there on you can enter the ship now that you have gained the map for it, ehh what's that now you wanna know the island where the map is found? wahahaha I'll never tell -The Sonic57 Cap'n. Not much else I can really think of to say or explain here so it's time to end this segment with my score for difficulty being an 8 out of 10!
Our journey is now over and I hope you've learned enough about the travels and travesties that have occurred before my adventure on the wonderful lands that I traversed across my adventures upon the great sea. I've learned alot about what it means to be a chosen review *looks at hand* as the power of the gods have given me the Triforce of Reviewing destined that I'd become well versed in the ways of writing never giving up no matter how hard things may seem to get. *Raises Ship's Sail* I've gotta get going though so it's time for me to part ways with my friend pirate Kimmy and her crew the only question is will the Wind have a person to awaken it for another journey full of memories that's up to you to find out!
*Departs from Tour De Vizzed port*
Hero Sonic57 & Princess Kimmy 2014tm
Graphics
8 Sound
10 Addictive
9 Depth
9 Story
10 Difficulty
8
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