The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Missing image ZeldaWindWakerGCNCoverArtUS.jpg The cover art for the US version of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is gold, like past Zelda games.
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release date(s)	2002 (JP) March 23, 2003 (NA)
Genre	Action Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone (E), ELSPA: 3+
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (or Zeruda no Densetsu: Kaze no Takuto in Japan) is the first installment in the well-known The Legend of Zelda series of video games released on the Nintendo GameCube. In October 2004, it became a Player's Choice title.

Contents

1 Gameplay 1.1 The Tingle Tuner 2 The graphics controversy 3 Story 4 Bundling 5 Awards 6 See also

Gameplay

Nintendo did not revolutionize the formula of the series, but rather expanded upon game play elements found in the Nintendo 64 versions of Zelda. The various staple weapons, solving of puzzles, extensive exploration and backtracking, sidequests, dungeon system and the lock-on fighting system (introduced in Ocarina of Time) remain. In addition to these traditional elements, new gameplay features such as parrying enemies in combat (a context-sensitive attack), controlling the direction of the wind in order to solve puzzles, and the introduction of new items such as the Grappling Hook and Deku Leaf were added.

The game was relatively simple to complete for veteran Zelda players who knew what to expect from the dungeons and puzzles, and is considered as one of the easier games in the series. The overworld masks any loading sequences and appears as one continuous ocean, littered with the occasional island in a grid-like topology. Some players disapproved of the lack of any large land masses (all islands are relatively small), cities and towns (there are only three islands that have actual shops, houses and such; over thirty other islands do not), and the lengthy periods of time spent sailing between islands. Others, however, found the style a refreshing change from the me-too Zelda copycats that have appeared over the years.

The Wind Waker also includes a massive side-quest called the Nintendo Gallery, for which Link must take photographs (using his Deluxe Picto-Box item) of all unique enemies and friends throughout the entire course of his adventure, and deliver them to the sculptor Carlov, who can then make figurines of them out of a material called "Rainbow Stone". It takes him one whole day to make a new figure, but this is not a problem once the player has the song of passing. With a total of 134 figurines to collect, this is one of the longest side-quests ever featured in a Nintendo game.

Once the game is completed, a bonus second play-though allows Link to begin the game with the Deluxe Picto-box in hand, understand Ancient Hylian, and play the entire game in his blue crawfish pajamas instead of the traditional green tunic and green cap.

The Tingle Tuner

One new gameplay element in The Wind Waker is the Tingle Tuner. Once a player has acquired this item in the game, they can attach a Game Boy Advance (GBA) to their Gamecube using a GBA-to-GameCube cable. By turning on their GBA and then activating the Tingle Tuner item in the game, they can interact with Tingle. Tingle helps the player in many ways: you can buy equipment, reveal hidden chests, give hints, look at a detailed map of each area (the map shown on the Gamecube screen is nowhere near as detailed as Tingle's), get Tingle to drop bombs, and a myriad of other actions, etc. —all for a cost. Tingle doesn't believe in charity, you must pay him to complete most of these actions. However if you are able to find certain secrets the prices of some of Tingle's products may drop...

This linking is not required to complete the game, but it helps enrich the gameplay experience, and is required it to collect some of the non-mandatory sidequest items. The player cannot use the Tingle Tuner item ingame if the GameCube doesn't have a GBA or SP in the real world to communicate with.

The graphics controversy

Nintendo's decision to render the game's graphics using a technique called cel-shading (an advanced computer graphics technique applied to 3D objects to give the game a hand-drawn look) was one of its more controversial moves in recent years. The cel-shaded graphics featured in The Wind Waker are a strong departure from those featured in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which used a more realistic anime-influenced art style. When first shown at Nintendo's Spaceworld convention, the public split into two groups - those who embraced the new graphics, and those who shunned them, often using the name "Cel-da" to refer to the game. This was particularly surprising after an earlier demo shown at Spaceworld 2000 featuring a highly realistic battle between Link and Ganondorf. Miyamoto explained that he had begun creating the game with a realistic graphical style, but wanted to try something fresh and innovative.

Effects such as swirling smoke and licking flames are fancifully stylized, and add to an overall "interactive cartoon" effect. The anime influence is still present, and it is far more apparent, with a prevalent super deformed style. The game's animation system is very developed, and characters move in a lifelike and very believable way, despite their somewhat unrealistic proportions. In addition, Link features an array of facial expressions used to convey the character's emotion (without speech), and his large eyes react to objects and characters in the world. For example, Link's eyes may follow a suspicious torch as he runs by it, indicating it may be integral to solving a puzzle of some sort.

One of the game's more impressive visual aspects is its draw distance; while not all distant objects are viewable, most islands can be seen as rough outlines even when they are a considerable distance away, which adds to the sense of coherency in the game world. Depth-of-field effects add a blue haziness to more distant objects, and there is an astounding area of sea to navigate - although this has been criticised as diluting the gameplay.

Upon release, the game received critical acclaim, with some of the highest ever review scores. The application of the graphical style was soon considered a relative success. However, many fans are still divided due to the cel-shaded graphics and light-hearted elements, with many claiming the game was overrated and too childish, and others proclaiming the cel-shaded look to be the definitive graphical style for the series. Yet others claim that the Zelda series has no definitive art style, and the cel-shading is simply one art style out of many that is likely to be used over the course of the series.

The controversy is often the target of parody. Electronic Gaming Monthly (infamous for their made up stories as April Fools jokes) stated in their April 2005 issue that The Wind Waker was to be remade with both realistic graphics and two new dungeons. Closer inspection of both the article and the screenshot that came with it reveal it to be another of their traditional hoaxes. The realistic Link's shadow is misplaced, and the background doesn't match the other characters; the article claims that the game will be available to pre-order from April 1st. The joke has nevertheless been taken as real by many Zelda fans over-eager for a "realistic" Link.

Currently a new Zelda game, titled The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, is in development for the GameCube which will feature darker, more realistic graphics, reminiscent of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. However, the game is still running on the same engine used for The Wind Waker, albeit a heavily modified version, and as such still makes use of the cel-shading lighting technique. No statement has been made about whether development of this game was driven in part by the popular opposition to The Wind Waker's graphics. However, because the Link of Twilight Princess is an adult, this seems consistent with the previously released statement that the cartoon-like graphics were used to show the world as it would be seen by a young Link.

Story

The Wind Waker takes place several hundred years after Ocarina of Time. No trace of the famous land of Hyrule is present, but instead, the game takes place upon a vast ocean, known as the Great Sea. Link is living peacefully on his home of Outset Island, along with his Grandma and younger sister, Aryll. On his birthday, he learns of the legend of the Hero of Time (Link from Ocarina of Time), and is given the traditional green tunic in tribute to the hero of old.

However, matters are complicated when Aryll is kidnapped by a large bird, known as a Kargaroc, a servant of Ganon, and pirates show up on the island. The Kargarocs also kidnapped some other girls elsewhere across the Great Sea. The leader of the pirates, Tetra, agrees to take Link aboard the ship and assist him in rescuing his sister, who is being held at the Forsaken Fortress. It is soon discovered that Ganon, who was sealed away in the Sacred Realm at the end of Ocarina of Time, has returned from his imprisonment. Link sets out to save his sister, as well as all of the Great Sea (and more) from Ganon.

Along the course of his massive quest, he meets characters such as Tingle, the fairy mapmaker, Medli, the attendant to an ancient red dragon, and Beedle, the ocean merchant. He also encounters the Great Deku Tree, from whom he obtains one of the Goddesses' pearls after rescuing Makar from the Forbidden Forest. The Deku tree is likely to be the Adult form of the Deku Sprout the Link in "Ocarina of Time" met after he completed the Forest Dungeon, deep in the "Lost Woods", although it is not confirmed in the game.

By the end of the game, Tetra is revealed to be the next Princess Zelda, but is kidnapped by Ganon. Likewise, the King of Red Lions is revealed to be King Hyrule helping Link in disguise. With the help of the King, Link defeats Ganon by plunging his sword into Ganon's head. The King wishes on the Triforce for the old Hyrule to be covered with water completely to give Tetra and Link a chance to start anew. The old land is forever destroyed, and the king is lost beneath the great sea. Link and Tetra set out to build a new Hyrule.

Bundling

In North America, a special bonus disc was given out to people who pre-ordered the game. It contained an emulated version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as well as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest. Another bonus disk was available to customers who purchased a Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker GameCube pack. It contained a platinum colour GameCube, The Wind Waker game and The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition. This disc contained the original Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask. Also included on the disc were a demo of Wind Waker and a video displaying footage from the majority of the games in the Legend of Zelda series.

In Europe, the bonus disk was included with all copies in the first pressing of The Wind Waker. It supports a PAL 60Hz display only, and may not operate correctly on televisions which do not support 60Hz modes.

Awards

• 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards
  • Excellence in Visual Arts

See also

• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker characters
• April Fools? (http://www.zeldauniverse.net/content/view/318/2/) Zelda Universe's writeup about EGM's joke, including a scan of the bogus article.

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