It carried onto several fantastic games, each keeping the Zelda style while adding something new and exciting to the mix. Ocarina of Time was a turning point at the series, when Zelda left the 16-bit, 2D world and came to realize its destiny in the world of 3D. With excellent music, great graphics and fun game play,
I could only wonder what Shigeru Miyamoto had in store for future Zeldas.
Graphics: I got wind of the next Zelda, what some people called a cartoon. I witnessed the footage of seemingly wimpy Link holding a paper sword and cardboard shield, chased by a bunch of pathetic pigs they were trying to pass as Moblins. What is this? Was this really Zelda? Is this really Zelda? Yes, yes it is. While Ocarina of Time took a realistic turn, The Wind Waker heads back to Zelda�s roots by coming back to the cartoon world. The cartoony style of A Link to the Past has been perfectly translated to 3D, and the game looks better than you might think.
I was opposed to the graphics at first, I admit. But after some thinking about it, I�ve come to realize the beauty of the graphics. First off, Zelda was a cartoony game. The first few and especially A Link to the Past really show this. Ocarina of Time didn�t use the cel-shaded look, and I�m guessing Shigeru Miyamoto didn�t because he didn�t want it to turn out like The Simpsons Wrestling. Now that Nintendo has a system powerful enough to effectively pull off the cel-shaded look, taking it was a turn for the best.
All-in-all, the game looks spectacular. Textures are done well, and environments look great. The sky is always filled with moving clouds, the ocean is rolls under your boat as you travel over waves and calm seas alike. There�s never a sea storm to be seen (despite some rain), so you�ll never encounter enormous waves that�ll toss your boat about. Might�ve been a neat addition, though. The rest of the environment lives, as gusts of wind (illustrated with white lines that zip through the air) are rushing by, while grass and trees sway to the breeze.
Temples are well done, as well. The first dungeon you ever enter is a sort of Fire Temple, with lava lighting the main chamber and halls of stone curving elsewhere. Other dungeons have nice architecture and distinct looks to them.
The draw distance is well done, as well. You can see just about anything from your standpoint. Anything on the same island as you or across the room in a dungeon is easily seen, whil large islands off in the distance are also visible as well.
That�s not to say the draw distance is perfect. For each square on the ocean (the sea consists of a 7x7 square grid), there is one main island. Most of these are rather small, but can still be accurately seen in the distance. The problem is, with some squares, there might be a boat or a high platform, anything not connected to the main island in general, that won�t be visible until you enter that square on the grid. Upon doing so, the boat or platform or whatever will just pop into existence. That�s a very minor complaint, though, and I�m not sure if you�d call it a complaint, actually. I can only imagine the amount of space that would be required to draw in every little detail from so far away. Not only that, but it was make sailing immensely confusing. I guess I�m actually somewhat thankful for this on Nintendo�s part.
Story: In summary, many years ago, Ganon attacked Hyrule and a young boy clothed in green and bearing the Master Sword vanquished him. Some time later, Ganon resurfaced and attacked Hyrule once again, and the people prayed that the Legendary Hero came back, but he never did.
Some time later, on the island of Outset, it was customary to garb boys in green, like the Hero, when they came of age (the age the Hero was when he started his quest), in hopes that they might become a hero as well. On his birthday, a boy on Outset (Link) is given these same green clothes on his birthday.
Shortly after, Link spots a girl being carried by a large bird, and a ship on the ocean chasing it, firing cannonballs at it. One cannonball strikes the bird square in the face, and the girl is dropped into a forest on the summit of Outset�s mountain. Link is given a sword by the old swordsman of the island, Orca, and goes up to retrieve the girl. Once Link gets out, he sees his sister being taken carried off by that same large bird, and since Link saved the pirate girl�s life, they agree to take Link on their boat to follow the bird.
This is where your journey begins.
Gameplay: This game is exactly what it should be: Zelda. If you�ve ever played Ocarina of Time, you�ll hardly notice a difference, and be able to slip in quite comfortably and play without even thinking about the new control scheme. Such was the case when I played. I picked up the controller and was already familiar with the controls. Things are much the same in the way of controls. A is the Action Button, B is Sword, L is target, and so on and so forth. It�s very similar to OoT/MM. Items are graphed to the X, Y, and Z buttons, while L-targeting also does the camera�s work the easiest way.
Speaking of camera, this game�s camera is perhaps even better than OoT/MM�s camera. L still works as a quick-centering button, as mentioned earlier, but the C-Stick is also used to fine-tune the camera. Usually, the camera is very smart and doesn�t need much adjustment. But should the need arise, the C-Stick can be used to zoom out and in, and to swivel around. Once it�s moved manually, the camera locks in position and doesn�t respond to the way you move or where you go (except if the camera hits a wall). It can be moved only by using the C-Stick, and to set it back to automatic mode, hit L again. The camera is extremely simple to use and does its job exceptionally well.
The combat is also perhaps the most notable change to the game�s direct game play. You still L-target, but instead of a 3 swing combo, you�ve got 4 swings to a combo, and each different way you hold the controller leads to a different swing.
It�s kind of difficult to explain. Once you L-target, there are a total of 4 different swings you can do (by holding left, right, forward or neutral on the analog stick). These swings start out with two regular swings and then end in two special swings. By holding forward to initiate a stab combo, 4 swings will result in two normal swings, then an uppercut slice, landed with a spin-slash. By pressing right, it will result in two regular swings and an uppercut slash, followed by a spinning uppercut slash.
That�s not where it ends, though. At any time during the 4-swing combo, you can switch �tracks� and go to another combo chain. You can never pull off more than 4 consecutive slashes like this, but it seamlessly goes from one chain to another. So, taking the above chains as an example, imagine executing the first three swings by holding right on the analog stick, then switching to the stab chain (holding forward) right after that. After the uppercut slash, Link will land with a spinning sword attack without so much as a jitter. And so it goes for all combos, anywhere in one chain moving into any other chain. THIS is what Star Fox Adventures could never achieve.
But it�s not done there, even still. In battle, you�re bound to be attacked by enemies. You can take three courses of action to this: The first is to simply use your shield, and the second to dodge. But that�s not near as fun or destructive as the parry attack. Right before an enemy attacks, Link�s sword will glow green, the A button will flash, and a sound will chime, telling you to quickly tap A. You�ve only got a small window of opportunity, and when the A button is pressed, Link will dodge the attack and hit with an attack of his own. There are only a handful of these attacks, perhaps about 5 different ones in variety, but they�re always cool to see and fun to perform.
Put all of that together, and you�ve got a combat system that�s far deeper than any Zelda fan would�ve imagined, and more fun than a barrel of monkeys. It�s no Devil May Cry, and for that matter, I hope it never is. This fighting system is perfect: It�s deep enough to be entertaining and engaging, without taking the focus off of exploration and things to do.
And are there ever things to do. At the start of the game, you don�t have much, and when you get your boat, you can only go one direction, due to the wind. Soon enough, you learn to use the Wind Waker, a magical baton with the ability to conduct the winds themselves in making music, to control the direction of the wind. Once you can do this, you�re free to sail anywhere on the open sea.
The sea is enormous. With a grid of 49 squares, each square taking about a minute or more to sail across, and at least one island in each, it�ll take you a while to explore the vastness of The Great Sea, as it is called.
This can also be a setback, however. Sailing from one point to another on the opposite side of the grid can get very tedious, taking sometimes more than 5 minutes just to get to your destination. Another sad part of this is that there�s no way to speed up your boat. Once it�s going at max speed, which is somewhat respectable, there�s no way to make it go any faster. Good news is, you get a warp point a ways into the game, but the warp points aren�t spread out very well, and even then it�ll take several minutes to sail to your destination, sometimes. Ah well; I wouldn�t want warping to eliminate sailing entirely, no, but I would�ve preferred the warp points be a little more spread out.
This review continues on page two.
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