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Wind Waker is the best game Nintendo has ever made

It's a great game, one of their prettiest, but it wasn't finished. The dungeons were horribly bland, and the second half of the main quest very bare overall.

Ocarina of Time is still the best game ever made.
 
-Dungeons are too easy, and there aren't very many of them
-Partner switching mechanic in later dungeons is annoying
-Combat boils down to waiting until a QTE A flashes on screen and then pressing A to awesome
-Sailing is boring

I mean there's good stuff in the game, but overall it's kind of "My First Zelda."
 
It's my favorite Zelda game 100%, but I don't think it the best Nintendo game. I would put Metroid Prime or SMW ahead of it among others.
 
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I liked Wind Waker when it came out, but I tried replaying the HD version when I got it for free with Mario Kart, and I don't think it holds up very well at all. It's still really pretty, it's just not very fun to play.
 
They could have finished and it still wouldn't have been even the best Zelda game. Worst dungeons in any Zelda game and the only things it has going for it over the others are the aesthetics and soundtrack.

Super Metroid still the GOAT
 
Not even close. Not even the best Zelda. Not even in the top 5 Zeldas. The first half of it was great, but it falls apart in the second half with the fetch quest, empty ocean and silly treatment of Tetra which guts the story for quite some time.

I finally had some time to replay the HD remake of this game,and it is just as good as I remembered it to be.

- (1)Each dungeon is completely different than the others in both looks and mechanics,which creates a lot of variety in the game.
- (2)The puzzles are clever,and you get to fully use each of the items in the game.
- (3)Searching the sea for treaures is extremely fun
- (4)Amazing soundtrack
-(5)
Pirate
Zelda is the best Princess Zelda

(6)The only drawback is that the game is extremely easy, but other than that it is quite a perfect experience.

1. Applies to almost all Zelda games. Dungeons in Wind Waker were weaker than TP's by some distance.
2. Applies to every single Zelda game.
3. Yes, this was Wind Waker's strong point, until you realized how empty the Great Sea really was. The 'dice' islands were just terrible filler, and there was a fair bit of that stuff.
4. Applies to every single Zelda game, and almost every Nintendo game.
5. Yeah. No arguments there.
6. That's quite a drawback though, even if most 3D Zeldas are devoid of challenge. WW took it ludicrously far.

Stating what the 'best' Nintendo game is is basically impossible. My favourites are:
Ocarina of Time,
Metroid Prime, and
Yoshi's Island
in some order.

In terms of advancing the medium, I think it's accepted that
Donkey Kong,
Super Mario Bros,
The Legend of Zelda,
Mario 64, and
Ocarina of Time
are their greatest games.
 
IMO, it's their best looking game, but definitely not their best. It's incredibly charming, I loved the exploration, but the dungeons were awful compared to the rest of the series.
 
-Dungeons are too easy, and there aren't very many of them
-Partner switching mechanic in later dungeons is annoying
-Combat boils down to waiting until a QTE A flashes on screen and then pressing A to awesome
-Sailing is boring

I mean there's good stuff in the game, but overall it's kind of "My First Zelda."

wow you make the game sound like shit.
 
I'm playing through it a second time right now and I completely disagree.

It has the worst dungeons in the series, starting with some overly long stealth dungeon is one of several terrible decisions made for the title and the partner dungeons also are pure tedium. Sailing is utterly boring and there literally is no exploring, because of the completely unnatural and blatant world building. In the end, you'll just be working through each square of the map, of which barely any one has a worthwhile island in it (and don't you forget looking for that dumbass fish to feed! lol). And of course, nothing's gonna happen on sea either, that kraken fight in the very beginning is barely an exception. Zelda looks like a Bratz doll and the character designs in general feel like a Chinese Disney ripoff.
Only the DS Zelda games are worse.

Brutal, but agree with most of this.
 
I disagree. Wind Waker is largely eye candy and its game design is incredibly dumbed down compared with both its predecessors and successors. Take away the gorgeous visuals, and there's just not much there.

It's closer to being one of their worst games than one of their best.
 
Not even top 5 Nintendo GameCube game. Here are some better ones.


  • Metroid Prime (duh)
  • Metroid Prime 2
  • Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door
  • Pikmin
  • Pikmin 2
  • Super Smash Bros Melee
  • The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
  • Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

And that's not including F-Zero GX, which was Sega working on a Nintendo IP.

Windwaker is a charming but incomplete game. It's beautiful to look at and I think it has my favorite general feel in Zelda outside Majora's Mask, but the cut dungeons and obvious filler hurt it. It hurts to think of how much potential was wasted by Windwaker being rushed out for release.
 
It's the worst 3D Zelda and near the bottom of the ranking in the series for me. The Triforce hunt is a vile, sustained blight on a game already suffering significant pacing problems. The dungeons are unusually unmemorable too.

It's a good game in its own right, but it's lacking so much of the quality and content usually associated with Zelda, or Nintendo generally.

A shame, because the concept is superb, and with better dungeons, an expanded excursion under the sea and cut dungeons (later moved to Twilight Princess) replacing the Triforce maps, it could have been one of the best.

The best Nintendo games are, in order

A Link to the Past > Super Mario 64 > Super Mario World > Super Metroid > Link's Awakening
 
- Each dungeon is completely different than the others in both looks and mechanics,which creates a lot of variety in the game.
That's the case in most Zelda, except that in this case there's barely enough dungeon to compare to MM.
Pretty much any other Zelda (bar the DS Zeldas) are better in that regard.
The fact that the dungeons are braindead doesn't help.
For example in OoT, each dungeon is markedly different with a well defined theme that is never in your face but still there.
From the Castle in the forest, to the prison passing by the sluice.
they're made more to look like ancient places where the lurking evil perverted the place.
Compared to that WW is unimaginative and rather gamey.
- The puzzles are clever,and you get to fully use each of the items in the game.
No, they're not really.
It's the worst Zelda as far as this particular design is concerned this side of DS Zeldas.

- Searching the sea for treaures is extremely fun
Dear god, NO!
IT REALLY ISN'T!
Phantom Hourglass made it bearable,
Spirit Tracks doesn't even use this kind of shit.
This is used for padding at the worst possible moment, it's really horrible.
- Amazing soundtrack
There's amazing tracks too bad they're not the ones you'll hear for 90% of the playthrough, kinda like Skyward with its orchestral soundtrack :/

-
Pirate
Zelda is the best Princess Zelda
Except for when she's put on a bus for the greater part of the game...not that she's that useful in game anyway.
She was more useful and overal better in Tetra's Trackers.
Out of the Nintendo made game of the GC I played, I think it's worst of them all, or I think Sunshine is worse...
 
I don't understand why people like Majora's mask more than Ocarina of Time, I loooooved OOT but I couldn't bring myself to complete Majora's mask. Can someone explain why Majora's mask is better?
 
It's a good game for sure, but completely falls apart in the third act, when you have to find all of the triforce quest and then beat every boss in the game again.
 
I fucking love wind Waker, but no. Not even the best Zelda.

I think the argument could be made that it's the best LOOKING game ever made.
 
I don't understand why people like Majora's mask more than Ocarina of Time, I loooooved OOT but I couldn't bring myself to complete Majora's mask. Can someone explain why Majora's mask is better?

Answering that would be too much for one post. A good place to start is that Majora's Mask is the only Zelda game with any original ideas.
 
Wind Waker is one of those Nintendo games that touches on a point I raised when critiquing Earthbound on here.

How do you deal with a situation where you can see tons of flaws in a game's mechanics and design, but the game is so charming that you enjoy it better than you would a similar game with better mechanics but less charm? How do you explain / justify that? Doesn't it lead to the conclusion that gameplay isn't the most important thing? That's something I find hard to accept - I almost always argue that gameplay is the most essential part of a video game.

But in the case of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, I think that in almost every area TP has WW beat, but the joy I felt while playing WW was incredible, while TP was just 'very good' or 'great'*. I far prefer WW. It's hard to make sense of that and hold the opinion that gameplay is king.
 
I don't understand why people like Majora's mask more than Ocarina of Time, I loooooved OOT but I couldn't bring myself to complete Majora's mask. Can someone explain why Majora's mask is better?
Much more original structure, much more interesting world. It's my favorite Zelda because it's so damn weird in a good way. There are few games that have done time travel in as novel a way as Majora's Mask.
Now that's just a dumb explanation. No other Zelda does original ideas?
Nowhere near as original as Majora's Mask. Most games aren't as creative as Majora's Mask (which is funny when the game reuses so many assets).
 
Not even in my top 50 or my top 5 Zelda games. Too easy, too boring an overworld, the fetch quest at the end is horrible, not enough dungeons, and the sailing is very monotonous. The only thing that the game really excels at are the character expressions and sound effects. It nails the supplementals but falls way short on the fundamentals.

Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Mario Kart are my top 5 in no particular order
 
remember when they first showed toon link and everyone was up in arms like how could they do this to us???? And now it is one of the best games they have ever made. Nintendo knows what they are doing when it comes to games. Now hardware and amiibos are another thing....
 
I'd say it's either OoT or Melee. Both of these games are still basically the best at what they do, nevermind what came before them.

I fucking love wind Waker, but no. Not even the best Zelda.

I think the argument could be made that it's the best LOOKING game ever made.
I don't know. Even within the cel-shaded category I can think of better looking games (like Jet Grind Radio) that don't have all of the people looking like bug-eyed freaks.
 
There's amazing tracks too bad they're not the ones you'll hear for 90% of the playthrough, kinda like Skyward with its orchestral soundtrack :/

I strongly disagree there.
The Great Sea theme (which you'll hear for like 90% of the game) is the best overworld theme in the series and one of my favorite Zelda tracks.
That aspect is by far the strongest positive for this game (alongside the artstyle).
 
I disagree. Like... to a ridiculous extent.

Good game, sure, but it wouldn't even make my top 5 Zelda games if I'm honest.
 
I don't understand why people like Majora's mask more than Ocarina of Time, I loooooved OOT but I couldn't bring myself to complete Majora's mask. Can someone explain why Majora's mask is better?
They are are two games which used the same engine but have different priorities.
MM push more for NPCs interaction and adventure aspects, has a more personal (twisted) setting and the time manipulation can be seen as a hindrance or a strong feature depending on the player.
All of this render the game very divisive, some will love it to death others not so much.
OoT is a more balanced game (I still think it has the better pacing of any 3D Zelda games) and less divisive.
It's basically the template for any following 3D Zelda.
 
I give Wind Waker the credit of having one of the most timeless looks of any videogame ever created, but other than that: it's not even among the best Zelda games and has issues.
 
Hmm, Wind Waker was actually the only Zelda game I played that got me bored... It looked beautiful of course, but I really missed the sense of adventure that Ocarina and Twilight gave me. Also, I was never a big fan of the sailing, but that's a personal preference. Of course, it's still a very good game, but (imo) not the best of the series even.

This new? I laughed pretty good.

Yeah :) Unfortunately it only works like intended on the light theme (sorry dark theme users), and a lot better in desktop view

Chû Totoro;158263225 said:
You don't mind I saved this gif (is it your work?). Awesome :D

Thanks! Of course, use it wherever you like! :)
 
Uhhh .. no

Wind Waker has a cool art style that makes it look like you are playing a cartoon / anime Zelda game, but not even close to being the best Zelda game, let alone the best Nintendo game.

Game had pretty uninspired dungeon, same-ol-same ol gameplay. None of the locations were very large or had much to explore. The sea sections were pretty boring to explore, mostly with little islands with a single treasure or those watch towers with cannons all over the place.

Nah. It was cool. But no. Was also the easiest Zelda ever made. Beat the boss in the first try and didn't even get hit once, or even get close to being hit lol.
 
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