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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
2002
Action, Adventure
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.

Franchises:

The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Genres:

Action, Adventure, Puzzle, Role-Playing

Platforms:

Wii U, GameCube

Developers:

Nintendo, Nintendo EAD, Nintendo EAD Software Development Group No.3

Publishers:

Nintendo, Nintendo of America, Nintendo of Europe

AKAs:

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Zelda no Densetsu: Kaze no Takuto, ゼルダの伝説 風のタクト, ゼルダの伝説 風のタクト HD, 薩爾達傳說 風之律動, 薩爾達傳說 風之律動 HD, 젤다의 전설 바람의 택트
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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

2002
Action, Adventure
Ratings & Reviews Info Collections Similar Stats Trailer
Avg Percentile 66.58% from 268 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews Info Collections Similar Stats Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

(268)
Compact view
Compact view
nyctalopeNyctalope
Rated 13 Feb 2018
89
62nd
Originally trashed for its cartoonish visuals, Wind Waker ended up being one of the better entries into the Zelda franchise. The addition of the Red Lion and the seemingly endless sea made exploring the game's world seem like a daunting task, but in the end, it had a lot of the right elements for a great adventure game.
Rated 13 Feb 2018
mentaculusMentaculus
Rated 05 Feb 2018
96
94th
I could sail for days. The gentle reveal of the story, in all its subtleties with the other Zelda entries, gradually adds substance - while the cel-shaded setting always gives it a peculiar childlike timelessness. It's like discovering Atlantis, charting a world with amnesia, with all the joys of a Discovery of this magnitude. The fact that you gradually don't need to visit your Grandmother destroys me. As is Ganondorf's final, weak, gasp for air.
Rated 05 Feb 2018
velvet_croweVelvet Crowe
Rated 03 Feb 2018
62
48th
Wind Waker is a game I'd praise more for its novelty and personality than its actual gameplay. The puzzles in this game are patronizing with how they're presented despite being mostly simple to understand. Sailing is a cool idea but there's so little involved in it mechanically that exploration becomes a chore and the world becomes noticeably empty. Combat is better than other 3D Zelda's, but that's a pretty low bar. Despite this, I think its charm is enough to at least be worth playing.
Rated 03 Feb 2018
ytadelYtadel
Rated 29 Jan 2018
8
92nd
For some reason my replays of this game tend to stall out partway through (probably the sailing), but there was definitely something beautiful and haunting about exploring the vast watery grave of what used to be Hyrule, contrasted with a deceptively childlike visual style.
Rated 29 Jan 2018
ocelotOcelot
Rated 19 Jan 2018
95
97th
the best Zelda game, and if we're going by the remaster with the modified Triforce Fetch quest, it's not even close. the cel-shaded design still looks beautiful today, but what I love most is the subtle melancholy that pervades it throughout. it's a low-key post-apocalyptic world, somewhat hidden by its aesthetics, but the subtle twists and turns, especially for a Zelda game, unravel into something wonderful. the final boss is one of my favorites in gaming. achingly beautiful.
Rated 19 Jan 2018
simhoopsimhoop
Rated 29 Jan 2024
60
44th
The art style was controversial when it came out but I think it's held up way better than Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. That said, this game is so much more forgettable than those prequels. I'm not a fan of the sailing mechanism and there's nothing interesting in the story to hang onto. Still, it's a competent Zelda game and the puzzle/action gameplay is great.
Rated 29 Jan 2024
layoreolayoreo
Rated 16 Nov 2023
85
74th
Love link's expression in this game. First town is great. Don't like the wind directions mechanic, and the long & open empty ocean. The swift sail is a must in auction. I like the some of the intuitive tutorial, but if it's unintuitive, I hate it. Don't like the forest theme dungeons. Bosses are easy. Don't like babysitting and looking for 8 things. This gannondorf is funny. Funny MVP. 83-85.
Rated 16 Nov 2023
vv238vv238
Rated 25 Dec 2020
72
73rd
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is a game that gets the large points right but the devil is in the details, quite literally. Sailing is awesome until the triforce hunt.... damn that thing forever. And the first two acts are pretty great, but the final act doesn't have the room to breathe it deserves. It doesn't reach the heights of the bests in this franchise but it still a damn fine game.
Rated 25 Dec 2020
howabehowabe
Rated 21 May 2020
70
71st
Ageless graphics bring a deceptively vibrant world to vivid life. Less taxing than most Zelda experiences, which is not necessarily to its detriment. The final dungeon really didn't do it for me, however, and soured what was otherwise an enjoyable experience. (Wii U version)
Rated 21 May 2020
monshedgeMonsHedge
Rated 08 Dec 2019
75
39th
An underrated gem. Yes, I'm saying that now, when people have already learned to appreciate it. This is the Zelda game that has the absolute best sense of "going on an adventure" to it; and it also has the most absolutely pants-shittingly terrifying ReDeads in the series. Tetra was WAY BETTER than Zelda and when she turned into Zelda I actually put the game down for six months as a kid.
Rated 08 Dec 2019
war_machineWar Machine
Rated 14 Oct 2019
60
53rd
wish i had this when i was a kid. just got off my talking boat. so far love the combat and world and charm and story and characters. but that spotlight shit and level design annoyed me
Rated 14 Oct 2019
heliophageHeliophage
Rated 30 Aug 2019
89
92nd
Everything about the art style, presentation, and overall atmosphere is fantastic without reservation. The fundamentals aren't that different from the N64 games, so dungeons are nicely designed, some of the later necessary activities can get overdrawn and uninspired, and combat is fairly easy, though anything involving aiming a ranged weapon feels like more hassle than it should be. I like many of the little optional puzzles for their own sake, though they seemed short on in-game rewards.
Rated 30 Aug 2019
mwestcottmwestcott
Rated 11 Apr 2018
97
67th
It takes to long to traverse the ocean. We've all heard this and know it's true. And getting past the cartoony art style certainly takes time. Beyond these glaring issues there is still a perfect honest-to-god Zelda game.
Rated 11 Apr 2018
thedicemanTheDiceman
Rated 04 Mar 2018
85
88th
A personal favourite.
Rated 04 Mar 2018
senseisensei
Rated 25 Feb 2018
75
32nd
Great graphics, but it's too easy, too short, too tedious with its brain-dead sailing mechanics and end-of-game fetch quests, and too empty. Nintendo rushed Wind Waker and Sunshine to release in 2002 and it shows.
Rated 25 Feb 2018
bownBown
Rated 24 Feb 2018
90
85th
Amazing game with imo the best iteration of Ganon/dorf.
Rated 24 Feb 2018
daigoroDaigoro
Rated 05 Feb 2018
8
84th
Fun game, although sailing can get boring after a while and the last third was extremely rushed. The tri-force hunt can fuck off.
Rated 05 Feb 2018
billyshearsBillyShears
Rated 20 Jan 2018
95
98th
Pissy people bitching about the art style before this came out because it looked like a baby game and oh baby it's a great one minus the hours of sailing.
Rated 20 Jan 2018

More Information

Franchises:

The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Genres:

Action, Adventure, Puzzle, Role-Playing

Platforms:

Wii U, GameCube

Developers:

Nintendo, Nintendo EAD, Nintendo EAD Software Development Group No.3

Publishers:

Nintendo, Nintendo of America, Nintendo of Europe

AKAs:

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Zelda no Densetsu: Kaze no Takuto, ゼルダの伝説 風のタクト, ゼルダの伝説 風のタクト HD, 薩爾達傳說 風之律動, 薩爾達傳說 風之律動 HD, 젤다의 전설 바람의 택트
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