The WhatsNext verdict
If you want a bright, expressive Zelda adventure where sailing, island discovery, and visual personality are central, this remains an unusually inviting choice. Players who dislike long traversal or extended fetch quests may find the final stretch tiring.
What it does best
A look you can recognize from one frame
Island-hopping curiosity that keeps paying off
A memorable world built around the Great Sea
What might put you off
Slow sailing and repeated wind changes
The late Triforce chart hunt
The setup
What you are walking into
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is the first Zelda game for the Nintendo GameCube and also the first in the series to employ cel-shading, a lighting and texturing technique that results in the game having a cartoon-like appearance. Like its predecessors, The Wind Waker is an action game with puzzle-solving and light role-playing elements. Basic gameplay mechanics are similar to those found in Ocarina of Time, but it differentiates itself with its massive Great Sea which must be explored using a boat named King of Red Lions.
Where it lives
Genre
Vibe
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