Let’s talk about how good The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD looks. It looks so good. In fact, outside of Rayman Legends and (maybe) The Last of Us, I can’t think of a game released this year that looks better. I played this game over the weekend in a daze. I wanted to tell everyone at Nintendo directly: we’ve finally caught up. We were wrong about this video game and we would like more things like this please.
I’ve been trawling through this thread on NeoGAF in amazement. It began as a thread about selfies and featured many of the pics we posted when the game was first released in the US, but then it became something really spectacular: a collection of absolutely beautiful photography from the game itself.
It just reaffirms for me how beautiful this game was and now is. As a stupid teenager I grumbled when the first screenshots for Wind Waker were released. What an idiot I was. I wish I could go back and slap that obnoxious kid in the head.
But now, at least, I get to replay through this game as an adult and appreciate what I didn’t quite get when I was younger. I am currently abandoning all other games on my home consoles. I’ve stopped playing Grand Theft Auto V and Rayman Legends. I’m just playing through this old game that I treated like shit once upon a time, giving it the send off it deserves.
Comments
25 responses to “Giving Wind Waker The Send Off It Deserves”
Does it look better than the original running in 1080 on dolphin?
Debatable.
Depends on ow much you like the new effects.
I think the Wii U version looks better though. The effects look a lot more natural on the screen than they do in screens.
Hmmm, The effects do look good, and in Dolphin there are still glitches in the fire areas. This may be enough to get me to Buy a Wii-U, that and a new Zelda.
I’ve read a heap of reviews, but would your gut instinct be a buy or not buy Luke?
I still have my GC limited edition Wind Waker disc ^_^
oh yeah, I loved it. Not sure if its good enough to go buying a system for, though…I’d be wary of recommending any kind of remake for something that drastic!
Well considering the source has been updated, I’d say so.
I replayed it on Dolphin last year in 1080p with the best possible settings on a pretty powerful PC and I’d say this looks better, but boy do both look amazing. Also, Dolphin is not perfect. Forcing widescreen mode causes all sorts of weird artefacting at the border between 4:3 and 16:9.
FINALLY received my copy on the weekend, and i must admit that i missed out on the early 2000’s Zelda craze so this is my first venture into the Wind Waker world (Played OoT 3D and loved it) and i can’t even describe how much i love it!
I don’t know what it is… The relaxed nature of exploration? the quirkiness? it just feels … right?
I don’t feel rushed doing anything… i want to experience this world, get immersed in it… it’s not just one of those games that i need to finish…
AND OMG THE MUSIC… that is all
I agree. This is the most fun I have had with a game in years!!!
Totally amazing
I was going to finish the main storyline in GTAV before unleashing my gaming fury on the Wind Waker. I never played it back in the day because I was turned off by the art. But it looks like tonight I’ll be turning the lights down, turning the heat up to a sweaty 26-28 degrees and getting on it!
So is this on Wii-U?
Yep.
lel ha 😀
yup
I remember playing this as a young-un and man was it amazing back then.
I wasnt one of the people crying out it rage at its art direction, i always thought it looked beautiful.
Unfortunately i dont own a Wii-U so i wont be playing the remake, but i may get one down the track when their are more things on the console to own.
The swift sail…omg that sail is a godsend. I’m exploring far more this time around thanks to that sail, as the travel times are far better. I think i’m enjoying this version a little more than the original. It just looks so crisp and feels so nice to play (drag and drop inventory? F*ck yes!!!).
Its good to see this game get a second life. People that never played or might have skipped the original, now have a chance to play it and it looks wonderful.
The graphics certainly have a unique style and charm to them, you can see so much expression in the characters. I feel stupid now that I was disappointed with the look when it first came out. (/gamer shame)
Defiantly a proper example of how a re-release/HD update should be done.
I think the Internet was right at the time to an extent. I’ve never liked the Link and Zelda character models, and I stand by that. They look like pumpkin-patch dolls. The environments are phenomenal though, and are rightfully praised.
I bought my GC for this game and this game only and loved every second of it. I always wondered why the purists hated it so much – it was such a breath of fresh air. To me it was familiar enough to make it easy to jump into and then opened up into whole world of exploration and fun.
Good to see my people coming back and falling in love with something that I always new was a little slice of gaming heaven.
Dude, Pikmin!
One of the best things about Wind Waker is how much personality that Link has. So much more expressive than the ‘realistic’ Zelda games.
Until Skyward Sword Link; he probably had the most facial expressions and showed more personality than any of the other Links.
I’m loving it. I, too, hated the art style initially but I put aside my reservations and played it anyway, and was sold almost immediately.
My only complaint is with the character models. They look like horrible polygonal characters from the 64 era. Yes, they’re beautifully animated and expressive as all hell, but they look awful. It wouldn’t have killed them to add some texture to their clothing, because they look flat and blocky. Just something to make them look better during cut-scenes.
Everything else about it kills – especially the Swift sail, and real time inventory and maps.
I’m with ya Mark – love the art style. I must admit that the only other Zelda game I’ve played is Twilight princess and I didn’t finish it – mainly because I got bored with the Wii. I’ve just played the tutorial bit, and haven’t touched it in a few weeks (I’m kinda addicted to Dark souls again) but I’ll definitely go back to it. There’s things that I miss from WRPG’s – and not being able to invert the vertical is taking some getting use to :/ But it’s awesome. It inspired me to want to try the last Zelda on the Wii (can’t remember the name) – but it uses the motion controller stuff, and I just want to play with a game pad/controller.
I hate the lighting when link gets an item. he looks like a plastic toy all of a sudden.
it is really distracting from an otherwise stunningly beautiful game
I find myself fighting with the camera and controls.
For a start you can only invert the Y-axis in 1st person mode, not 3rd person, so I keep moving the camera in the wrong direction. The Gamecube controller was perfect for this game with its wonky button layout, but with the standard layout on the Gamepad the button assignments don’t seem natural. I have to keep looking at buttons and the hud to figure out which button for which item whereas on the GCN it was all done by touch. (Plus I am used to the 360 layout of abxy rather than the switched version on Nintendo consoles)
I’m just griping but it’s souring my memories of the original a little.