92-710: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube . An installment in The Legend of Zelda series , it was released in Japan on December 13, 2002, in North America on March 24, 2003, and in Europe on May 2, 2003. The game is set on a group of islands in a vast sea, a departure for the series. The player controls series protagonist Link as he attempts to save his sister from
184-542: A compilation disc , The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition . The disc includes ports of the original Legend of Zelda , Zelda II: The Adventure of Link , Ocarina of Time , and Majora's Mask , as well as a Wind Waker demo and two featurettes. Never sold commercially, the Collector's Edition was included in another GameCube bundle and was made available to existing GameCube owners who either registered their system or subscribed to Nintendo Power . The compilation became
276-619: A fantasy " setting. Tutankham , debuted by Konami in January 1982, was an action-adventure released for arcades . It combined maze, shoot 'em up, puzzle-solving and adventure elements, with a 1983 review by Computer and Video Games magazine calling it "the first game that effectively combined the elements of an adventure game with frenetic shoot 'em up gameplay." It inspired the similar Time Bandit (1983). Action Quest , released in May 1982, blended puzzle elements of adventure games into
368-446: A joystick -controlled, arcade-style action game, which surprised reviewers at the time. While noting some similarities to Adventure , IGN argues that The Legend of Zelda (1986) by Nintendo "helped to establish a new subgenre of action-adventure", becoming a success due to how it combined elements from different genres to create a compelling hybrid, including exploration, adventure-style inventory puzzles , an action component,
460-566: A monetary system , and simplified RPG-style level building without the experience points . The Legend of Zelda series was the most prolific action-adventure game franchise through to the 2000s. Roe R. Adams also cited the arcade-style side-scrolling fantasy games Castlevania (1986), Trojan (1986) and Wizards & Warriors (1987) as early examples of action-adventure games. Games like Brain Breaker (1985), Xanadu (1985), Metroid (1986) and Vampire Killer (1986) combined
552-759: A subgenre of open world action-adventure video games in the third-person perspective . They are characterized by their likeness to the Grand Theft Auto series in either gameplay or overall design. In these types of open world games, players may find and use a variety of vehicles and weapons while roaming freely in an open world setting. Metroidvania is a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania ; such games are sometimes referred to as "search action", and are generally based on two-dimensional platformers. They emphasize both exploration and puzzle-solving with traditional platform gameplay. Survival horror games emphasize "inventory management" and making sure
644-468: A battle against a boss , a singularly powerful enemy. In addition to the main story, the game includes many sidequests , minor objectives the player can optionally complete to attain rewards. For example, Link can use the "Picto Box" – an in-game camera – to take pictures to fulfill quests. Throughout the game, Link acquires items and weapons that provide new abilities. Items are often needed to reach certain areas, defeat bosses or other enemies, and advance
736-420: A cartoonish drawing of a young Link that caught their eye. Design manager Satoru Takizawa drew up an enemy Moblin in a similar style, and the team seized on the new gameplay and combat possibilities afforded by the stylized cartoon aesthetic. To achieve this look, they used cel shading on 3D models, giving the look of an interactive cartoon. The developers built the game with Alias/Wavefront 's Maya 3D tool and
828-545: A choice of what to say. The NPC gives a scripted response to the player, and the game offers the player several new ways to respond. Due to the action-adventure subgenre's broad and inclusive nature, it causes some players to have difficulty finishing a particular game. Companies have devised ways to give the player help, such as offering clues or allowing the player to skip puzzles to compensate for this lack of ability. Brett Weiss cites Atari 's Superman (1979) as an action-adventure game, with Retro Gamer crediting it as
920-401: A classic. Several writers have said that the game and its stylized aesthetic aged well, whereas contemporary games with more realistic graphics often became dated. The graphics that initially divided opinion have become a favorite feature; some former skeptics have written about revising their initial opinions. Nintendo representatives describe this turnaround as a particularly dramatic example of
1012-474: A combination of complex story elements, which are often displayed for players using audio and video. The story is heavily reliant upon the player character's movement, which triggers story events and thus affects the flow of the game. Popular examples of action-adventure games include The Legend of Zelda , God of War , and Tomb Raider series. There is a good deal of controversy over what actually constitutes an action-adventure game. One definition of
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#17330858935371104-448: A complex text parser and no free-moving character. While they share general gameplay dynamics, action-adventures vary widely in the design of their viewpoints, including bird's eye , side-scrolling, first-person, third-person , over-the-shoulder, or even a 3/4 isometric view . Many action-adventure games simulate a conversation through a conversation tree . When the player encounters a non-player character , they are allowed to select
1196-616: A controller similar to the one used in the original game. The developers made some changes to the gameplay as well: they introduced a new item, the "Swift Sail", allowing for faster sailing on the Great Sea. They also streamlined the Triforce quest, improved the Picto Box, and replaced the Tingle Tuner, which had required connectivity with a Game Boy Advance, with a Tingle Bottle item that connected to
1288-559: A coveted item among fans; in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the 1000 allotted copies were claimed within minutes. To satisfy frustrated customers there, Nintendo offered additional copies to those who purchased select GameCube games. In 2013, Nintendo developed a high definition re-release of The Wind Waker , The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD , for the Wii U . The inspiration came when staff converted elements from various games to explore
1380-530: A custom game engine . Aonuma initially kept the development quiet as he worried that Miyamoto would take issue with the cartoon style. With this decision, development proceeded swiftly. The team quickly decided the setting would be islands in an ocean, determining it would provide interesting visuals and mechanics in the cel-shaded style. This in turn inspired the central sailing feature. As Aonuma predicted, some features drew skepticism from producers Miyamoto and Tezuka. For instance, they requested an explanation for
1472-517: A game with a mix of elements from an action game and an adventure game , especially crucial elements like puzzles inspired by older adventure games. Action-adventures require many of the same physical skills as action games, but may also offer a storyline, numerous characters, an inventory system, dialogue, and other features of adventure games. They are typically faster-paced than pure adventure games, because they include both physical and conceptual challenges. Action-adventure games normally include
1564-425: A general decline in the video game market caused by consumers shifting away from games, a phenomenon known as "gamer drift". The overall market remained strong in North America, but The Wind Waker ' s sales were slow there and had declined markedly by the time they reached one million. The Wind Waker sold 4.6 million copies, far below the 7.6 million record set by Ocarina of Time . Nintendo of America attributed
1656-543: A legend, but his kingdom's fate is unknown. The main character, a young boy also named Link, lives on Outset Island, where boys dress in green like the Hero of Time when they come of age. While Link is celebrating his coming of age, a gigantic bird drops pirate captain Tetra into Outset Island's forest. Link rescues Tetra from monsters, but the bird carries off Link's sister Aryll. Tetra agrees to help Link find his sister, and they sail to
1748-708: A magic conductor's baton called the Wind Waker. The Wind Waker was directed by Eiji Aonuma and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka . Development began in 2000. It retains the basic 3D gameplay of its predecessors, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask , but the team chose to avoid the realistic graphics of previous games. Instead, they implemented a distinctive cartoon-like art style created through cel shading . At its release, The Wind Waker received critical acclaim for its visuals, gameplay, level design, music, and story. The art direction proved divisive among players and contributed to comparatively weak sales;
1840-600: A major success for the GameCube and the newly released Wii . The Wind Waker originated the variant of the Link character named " Toon Link ", who appeared in several later Nintendo games. The Wind Waker received two direct sequels for the Nintendo DS handheld system. Wanting to continue The Wind Waker ' s story and art style, in 2007 Aonuma produced Phantom Hourglass , which follows Link and Tetra as they explore new reaches of
1932-560: A map and inventory, eliminating the need to toggle between gameplay and the menu interface. Players can use motion controls to control the Wind Waker. Some weapons, like the bow, can be aimed using the GamePad's gyroscope, as in Ocarina of Time 3D . The game supports Off-TV Play , which enables the player to play the game solely on the Wii U GamePad. The game can also be played on the Wii U Pro Controller ,
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#17330858935372024-468: A rope. They may also be used to dredge for submerged objects. The device was invented by the Romans in approximately 260 BC. The grappling hook was originally used in naval warfare to catch ship rigging so that it could be boarded . A common design has a central shaft with a hole ("eye") at the shaft base to attach the rope, and three or four equally spaced hooks at the end, arranged so that at least one
2116-403: A score of 90/100 based on 70 reviews. The improved graphics of the game from the original received positive commentary. Dan Ryckert of Game Informer noted that the upgrade was immediately apparent, and that "the vivid colors and crashing waves of the flooded Hyrule [look] fantastic". IGN' s Jose Otero stated that the game "looks great". Andrew Fitch of Electronic Gaming Monthly claimed that
2208-705: A side-scrolling platformer format with adventure exploration, creating the Metroidvania platform-adventure subgenre. Similarly, games like 005 (1981), Castle Wolfenstein and Metal Gear (1987) combined action-adventure exploration with stealth mechanics, laying the foundations for the stealth game subgenre, which would later be popularized in 1998 with the releases of Metal Gear Solid , Tenchu: Stealth Assassins , and Thief: The Dark Project . The cinematic platformer Prince of Persia (1989) featured action-adventure elements, inspiring games such as Another World (1991) and Flashback (1992). Alone in
2300-400: A single avatar as the protagonist . This type of game is often quite similar to role-playing video games . They are distinct from graphic adventures , which sometimes have free-moving central characters, but also a wider variety of commands and fewer or no action game elements and are distinct too from text adventures , characterized by many different commands introduced by the user via
2392-549: A single pass. During WW2 British and German ships towed grappling hooks in the hope of snagging or damaging enemy submarines, a tactic also employed by the Japanese. Grappling hooks were used by soldiers at the D-Day landings to aid in climbing the cliffs at the Normandy beaches. Some were rocket-propelled and launched from mortars. As well as the grapnel anchor , grapnels are used in
2484-469: Is aboard the King of Red Lions. The grappling hook, for example, serves as a crane for recovering sunken treasure. Link explores the sea with the help of a sea chart , which can be updated with information on each square and island. Through the game, Link acquires additional charts pointing the way to treasure chests and significant locations. On land, dungeons feature similar maps. Early in the game, Link receives
2576-678: Is an action game that includes situational problem-solving. Adventure gamers may also be purists, rejecting any game that makes use of physical challenges or time pressure. Regardless, the action-adventure label is prominent in articles over the internet and media. The term "action-adventure" is usually substituted for a particular subgenre due to its wide scope. Although action-adventure games are diverse and difficult to classify, there are some distinct subgenres. Many games with gameplay similar to those in The Legend of Zelda series are called Zelda clones or Zelda -like games. Popular subgenres include: A Grand Theft Auto clone belongs to
2668-414: Is launched in front of an obstacle and dragged backwards to detonate tripwire -fused land mines, and can be hooked on wire obstacles and pulled to set off booby traps on the wire. The rifle-launched grapnel (LGH), a single-use grappling hook placed on the end of an M4 / M16 rifle , is used for this purpose. A crossbow -launched version has been produced. A grapnel can clear up to 99% of the trip-wires in
2760-469: Is likely to catch on some protuberance of the target. Some modern designs feature folding hooks to resist unwanted attachment. Most grappling hooks are thrown by hand, but some used in rescue work are propelled by compressed air (e.g., the Plumett AL-52 ), line thrower , mortar, or a rocket. Grappling hooks are used by combat engineers to breach tactical obstacles. When used as such, the grappling hook
2852-448: Is spent sailing between islands on Link's boat, the King of Red Lions . The boat's sail is driven by wind that blows across the game world in one of eight directions; a tailwind behind the boat will give it top speed, while sailing against the wind is difficult. The Great Sea features enemies and obstacles different from those found on land; additionally, some items serve new purposes while Link
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2944-580: Is the ability to move the camera system around Link. Onscreen meters track Link's health and magic; Link can expand his health meter by finding "heart containers" and container pieces in the game. The game world comprises 49 gridded sections of the " Great Sea ", each containing an island or island chain. Some must be explored to continue the story, while others are optional. Like all Zelda games, The Wind Waker features several dungeons—large, enclosed areas where Link fights enemies, finds items, and solves puzzles to continue. Each dungeon quest concludes with
3036-569: The Uncharted franchise, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Ark: Survival Evolved . Grappling hook A grappling hook or grapnel is a device that typically has multiple hooks (known as claws or flukes ) attached to a rope or cable ; it is thrown, dropped, sunk, projected, or fastened directly by hand to where at least one hook may catch and hold on to objects. Generally, grappling hooks are used to temporarily secure one end of
3128-543: The Miiverse service prior to its shutdown on November 8, 2017. A limited-edition console bundle that combines both a digital version of the game and the Deluxe Wii U console was released on September 20, 2013, in North America. The black console features a GamePad with a golden Hylian Crest and golden The Wind Waker -styled Hylian letters and symbols. A redemption code for a digital copy of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia
3220-522: The " Toon Link " character, and received two direct sequels for the Nintendo DS , Phantom Hourglass (2007) and Spirit Tracks (2009). A high-definition remaster , The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD , was released for the Wii U in September 2013. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is an action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The control scheme is comparable to its predecessors:
3312-457: The "Adult Timeline" established by The Wind Waker . The Wind Waker has continued to be acclaimed by critics. It has appeared in various lists of the best video games , including those compiled by Electronic Gaming Monthly , Nintendo Power , and IGN . Nintendo Power named The Wind Waker the fourth best game to ever appear on a Nintendo console, while Official Nintendo Magazine placed it 12th. Nintendo Power listed its ending as one of
3404-413: The "New World" timeline, one of several parallel timelines in which Zelda games are set following the events of Ocarina of Time . The game follows the "Adult Link" timeline, after Link, the "Hero of Time", defeats Ganon and time-travels back to his childhood. A crisis emerges when Ganon returns, but Link does not. Centuries later, the people live on islands in the Great Sea. They preserve Link's story as
3496-496: The "Zelda cycle", in which fans' negative responses to Zelda games improve over time. In 2013, Keza MacDonald of IGN wrote that The Wind Waker had outlived its initial reception and become "popularly considered among the very best Zeldas ". Action-adventure game An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, classical adventure games have situational problems for
3588-813: The "first to utilize multiple screens as playing area". Mark J.P. Wolf credits Adventure (1980) for the Atari VCS as the earliest-known action-adventure game. The game involves exploring a 2D environment, finding and using items which each have prescribed abilities, and fighting dragons in real-time like in an action game . Muse Software 's Castle Wolfenstein (1981) was another early action-adventure game, merging exploration, combat, stealth, and maze game elements, drawing inspiration from arcade shoot 'em ups and maze games (such as maze-shooter Berzerk ) and war films (such as The Guns of Navarone ). According to Wizardry developer Roe R. Adams, early action-adventure games "were basically arcade games done in
3680-516: The 2016 Zelda pastiche Hyrule Warriors Legends . Conductors of the concert tour The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses have used custom-made Wind Waker batons. The Wind Waker also influenced 2017's Breath of the Wild , which features a similarly stylized art design, but with more realistic proportions. Breath of the Wild also includes species from The Wind Waker among other references, leading some fans to speculate that it follows
3772-486: The Dark (1992) used 3D graphics , which would later be popularized by Resident Evil (1996) and Tomb Raider (1996). Resident Evil in particular created the survival horror subgenre, inspiring titles such as Silent Hill (1999) and Fatal Frame (2001). Action-adventure games have gone on to become more popular than the pure adventure games and pure platform games that inspired them. Recent examples include
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Misplaced Pages Continue
3864-533: The Forsaken Fortress, where the bird, the Helmaroc King, has been taking girls with long ears . Link finds Aryll and other kidnapped girls, but the Helmaroc King captures him and takes him to a man in black, who orders Link thrown into the sea. Link is rescued at Windfall Island by a sentient sailboat, the King of Red Lions, who explains that the bird's master is a returned Ganon. To defeat him, Link must find
3956-573: The Great Sea. Spirit Tracks (2009) is set roughly a century later and features a new Link and Zelda, the latter a descendent of Tetra, as they traverse New Hyrule with a magical train. Toon Link also returned in indirectly related Legend of Zelda games such as Four Swords Adventures (2004), The Minish Cap (2005), and Tri Force Heroes (2015). He also features as a playable character in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. crossover fighting game series, and along with other Wind Waker characters, in
4048-643: The Hero of Time's power, which requires the three Pearls of the Goddesses. Link finds Din's Pearl on Dragon Roost Island, home of the avian Rito and the dragon Valoo; Farore's Pearl in Forest Haven, home of the Great Deku Tree and the plant-like Koroks ; and Nayru's Pearl with the water spirit Jabun on Outset Island. The King of Red Lions then takes Link to the Tower of the Gods, where he faces trials before descending beneath
4140-411: The Hero of Time, and the gods recognize Link as the Hero of Winds. Link and the King return to Hyrule to discover that Ganon has captured Tetra. Link follows them to Ganon's tower, defeating Ganon's minions before Ganon overcomes him. Ganon joins Link's and Tetra's Triforce pieces with his own Triforce of Power, forming the complete Triforce, which will grant his wish to rule the world. Before he can act,
4232-457: The King of Hyrule appears and wishes that the Goddesses wash Ganon and Hyrule away, and grant Link and Tetra hope for their own future. Link and Tetra battle Ganon with the Master Sword and magical arrows as water pours around them; with the final blow, the Master Sword turns Ganon to stone. Link and Tetra rise to the surface as the King and Hyrule are submerged. After reuniting with their friends,
4324-609: The Nintendo 64's 64DD peripheral , but was shelved when that system failed. Ura Zelda was named Ocarina of Time Master Quest in North America and Europe. Ocarina of Time/Master Quest discs became popular items in their own right in North America, with some customers making and then cancelling pre-orders to get them. To avoid this issue in Europe, Nintendo released the item only in two-disc packages with The Wind Waker . In May 2003, Nintendo bundled The Wind Waker with limited edition GameCubes in North America and Europe. On November 17 that year, Nintendo launched another promotion via
4416-611: The Wind Waker, a baton which allows him to control the wind and harness other powers by "conducting" specific melodies. The player controls the Wind Waker by moving the joypads to change pitch and time signature . The first melody, the "Wind's Requiem", enables Link to change the wind's direction, allowing him to sail anywhere. Link can learn five other tunes for the Wind Waker, which provide abilities such as warping to other regions and turning night to day. According to The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia , Nintendo's official Legend of Zelda chronology , The Wind Waker takes place in
4508-679: The Year , including GameSpot , Nintendo Power , GameFAQs , Planet GameCube , and Games magazine. IGN gave it the Readers' Choice award for 2003 and named it Best Adventure Game for the GameCube. The game was ranked 157th in Electronic Gaming Monthly's "The Top 200 Video Games of Their Time" in 2006. It received the Excellence in Visual Arts award at the 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards and
4600-571: The ability to connect to the Game Boy Advance and receive help from Tingle. However, the art direction continued to divide audiences. Development continued through late 2002, with targeted release dates of December in Japan and early 2003 in North America. During the final stages, two dungeons that fell behind schedule were cut and replaced with a quest to recover Triforce pieces around the Great Sea. Elements of these dungeons were recycled for later Zelda games. On October 15, 2002, Nintendo revealed
4692-453: The backlash came from a contemporary anxiety that Nintendo was losing its edge by focusing on games for children, as opposed to the more mature, realistic fare developed by competitors. The Wind Waker generated the most successful pre-order campaign in Nintendo history at the time. However, sales did not live up to expectations; director Aonuma noted that purchases were disappointing in both Japan and North America. Japanese sales suffered from
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#17330858935374784-426: The cartoon style and the fact that it could have taken a decade to make a more realistic Zelda with their resources. Nintendo presented a demo clip of the new game at the 2001 Space World. Response to the cel-shaded design was divided. While some attendees enjoyed the new look, there was backlash from disappointed fans who had hoped for a more realistic Zelda like the previous year's demo. Critics derisively dubbed
4876-417: The characters' exaggeratedly large eyes. Aonuma's team jokingly suggested having Link shoot beams from his eyes before deciding to have him focus his gaze on significant objects nearby, giving hints to observant players about what to do next. Miyamoto remained dubious of the art direction and reminded Aonuma that it was not too late to change course. Ultimately Miyamoto relented due to the team's enthusiasm about
4968-546: The game "Celda". Miyamoto was surprised at the response and decided to limit revealing further information about the game until the team finished a playable demonstration, hoping to shift focus from the graphics to the gameplay. Miyamoto introduced a playable demo at the next year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), alongside another upcoming Zelda title for the GameCube, Four Swords Adventures . Miyamoto encountered glitches while he attempted to demonstrate Link's new ability to use enemies' dropped weapons. However, reception
5060-472: The game "enhances the already excellent Wind Waker visuals with HD flair". The game's first week sales in Japan were 30,000 physical copies. In the week following the release of Wind Waker HD , sales of the Wii U console increased by 685% in the UK. As of September 2023, it has worldwide sales of 2.37 million units. Nintendo initially planned a direct sequel for the GameCube, developed by Aonuma's Zelda team under
5152-473: The game from ever getting boring. GamePro ' s Star Dingo enjoyed the variety of combo attacks and puzzles, calling the game "a combination of vivid artistry and timeless gameplay". Other elements that commonly received praise include the expansive game world and level design, especially in the dungeons. The storyline also received praise; Nintendo Power ' s Steven Grimm called the game "a masterpiece of style and storytelling". Several critics lauded
5244-546: The game had warmed over the years. Aonuma served as producer, while Daiki Iwamoto served as director. The soundtrack was updated by Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Asuka Hayazaki, and Atsuko Asahi. While the game was developed in-house at Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD), high-resolution textures were produced with the help of a few external companies. The entire project took six months to develop. The Wind Waker HD features high definition graphics and improved lighting. The Wii U GamePad 's touchscreen serves as
5336-408: The game remained divided over the cel-shaded design. Reception was comparatively warm in Japan, where various media commonly borrow an anime aesthetic, but was much more divided in North America. Some players appreciated the design and Aonuma's vision, but others found it childish and too far removed from the more realistic designs of previous games. According to Stephen Totilo of Kotaku , much of
5428-399: The game sold 4.6 million copies, far below the 7.6 million sold by Ocarina of Time . As a result, Nintendo changed directions with the next major Zelda installment, the more realistically styled Twilight Princess . The Wind Waker' s reputation improved over time, and with retrospective analyses, it is now considered one of the greatest video games ever made . The Wind Waker popularized
5520-435: The game world. Famitsu ' s reviewers wrote that the rich design brings all the game's elements together into a cohesive whole. Electronic Gaming Monthly ' s reviewers found the animation quality unparalleled in games and wrote that " The Wind Waker ' s new look is as effective as it is unique". Matt Casamassina of IGN said that though some fans hold distaste for the graphics, Nintendo's execution represented
5612-572: The game's Japanese subtitle, Kaze no Takuto ( Wind Baton ), to emphasize the role of wind in the game. The company announced the English title, The Wind Waker , on December 2 the same year. In the gap between the Japanese and North American releases, the designers reworked some segments, notably shortening the lengthy Triforce quest. The music in The Wind Waker was composed by Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi , and Koji Kondo . The sound team
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#17330858935375704-402: The game's comparatively weak North American sales in large part to the cel-shaded graphics, which turned off many players, particularly older teenagers who made up The Legend of Zelda ' s traditional audience. Miyamoto further blamed a failure to introduce major innovations to excite established players or attract new ones. The Wind Waker HD was critically acclaimed; Metacritic calculated
5796-417: The game's user friendliness would appeal even to novice players. Casamassina praised the intuitive controls, the especially interactive environment, and the variety of game actions, which "can be executed with a precision that few other games could offer". Gerstmann appreciated the breadth of items that can be used. Bettenhausen said that the high variety of options for progressing through fights and puzzles kept
5888-441: The gameplay expanded upon that in its predecessors to become "far greater, deeper, and more complex", while Shane Bettenhausen of Electronic Gaming Monthly said that " Wind Waker ' s core gameplay is the best the series has ever had". On the other hand, Edge said that while the game would awe new players, its similarity to previous Zelda games meant that veteran players may find it "'merely' brilliant". Famitsu wrote that
5980-406: The gameplay still follows a number of adventure game genre tropes (gathering items , exploration of and interaction with one's environment, often including an overworld connecting areas of importance, and puzzle-solving). While the controls are arcade-style (character movement, few action commands) there is an ultimate goal beyond a high score. In most action-adventure games, the player controls
6072-470: The gameplay, in particular the responsive control system, fluid combat, and puzzles. Several reviews noted the similarity of its gameplay to that of Ocarina of Time , though they praised enhancements such as the ability to move the camera, perform counterattacks, and use enemy items. Casamassina reassured players that beyond visual differences between The Wind Waker and Ocarina , "these two games are very much alike". Andrew Reiner of Game Informer wrote that
6164-524: The greatest in Nintendo history, due to the final battle's climax. UGO listed The Wind Waker on their list of the "Top 50 Games That Belong On the 3DS". In a retrospective on the GameCube, IGN named The Wind Waker the fourth best game ever released for the system. Nintendo Power named The Wind Waker the second best GameCube game of all time, behind only Resident Evil 4 . Later pieces have noted that The Wind Waker' s divisive reputation among fans improved over time and that it has come to be seen as
6256-584: The heroes sail off to find a new land. Nintendo's Zelda team initiated plans for a new game early in the development of the GameCube system, before Majora's Mask was completed for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. Eiji Aonuma , director of Majora's Mask , returned to helm the project, while Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka , the creators of the Zelda series, served as producers. Early concepts generally followed Ocarina of Time ' s designs, with graphics enhanced for
6348-450: The levels of critical acclaim that had greeted Ocarina of Time . While often noting fans' ambivalence about the cel shading, critics praised the game's visuals. Reviewers likened the game to a playable cartoon, with several positively comparing the animation to the films of Disney and Hayao Miyazaki . In particular, critics appreciated the characters' unique expressiveness, and found that the fine details and environments added richness to
6440-507: The new system's capabilities. The team hastily created a brief clip of Link fighting Ganondorf for a demonstration at the 2000 Space World exposition, where Nintendo announced the GameCube. The clip resonated with fans and commentators who hoped it previewed the next Zelda game. The Zelda team, however, had exhausted its ideas for this style and format. Aonuma hated the demo, finding it derivative of past Zelda games. The team explored other directions until designer Yoshiki Haruhana created
6532-525: The ocean to a castle suspended in time. Here Link finds the Hero of Time's weapon, the Master Sword . Link returns to the Forsaken Fortress. Tetra's crew arrive and rescue the girls, but Ganon easily overpowers Link and Tetra; the Master Sword has lost its power. Ganon recognizes Tetra's Triforce necklace and realizes she is the incarnation of Princess Zelda he is seeking. Link's Rito allies and Valoo save Link and Tetra from Ganon. The King of Red Lions brings
6624-457: The pinnacle of the GameCube's capabilities and of cel shading technology. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot said that skepticism about the visuals was "unfounded" and wrote that the character design "adds emotional weight" to the storyline. Steve Thomason of Nintendo Power wrote that though he was initially skeptical, the visuals worked "brilliantly, framing the most enjoyable game play experience I've had since Ocarina of Time ". Critics also lauded
6716-489: The player has enough ammunition and recovery items to " survive " the horror setting. This is a thematic genre with diverse gameplay, so not all survival horror games share all the features. The Resident Evil franchise popularized this subgenre. Action-adventure games are faster-paced than pure adventure games, and include physical as well as conceptual challenges where the story is enacted rather than narrated. While motion-based, often reflexive, actions are required,
6808-405: The player moves the protagonist Link in three dimensions from a third-person perspective . Link fights with a sword and shield as well as a variety of other weapons and items. He interacts with non-player characters and objects via the action button. Like the previous games, The Wind Waker features a targeting system allowing Link to "lock on" and constantly face an enemy or target. A new feature
6900-473: The player to explore and solve to complete a storyline, involving little to no action . If there is action, it is generally confined to isolated instances. Classical action games, on the other hand, have gameplay based on real-time interactions that challenges the player's reflexes and eye-hand coordination . Action-adventure games combine these genres by engaging both eye-hand coordination and problem-solving skills. An action adventure game can be defined as
6992-410: The sailing was "convincingly organic", but even with the warp feature, "there remains an awful lot of relatively dull seafaring activity". Others complained about having to use the Wind Waker so frequently to change wind direction. Casamassina wrote that using the device became "a tedious nuisance" and that the inability to skip the accompanying animation was "more bothersome still". Some reviewers enjoyed
7084-471: The sailing; Electronic Gaming Monthly ' s Bettenhausen and Greg Sewart appreciated the combat, exploration, and side quests available at sea. Another common criticism was the game's comparatively low level of difficulty. Casamassina wrote that once the player added enough hearts to Link's health meter, "he becomes nearly invincible, which is a true shortcoming as far as we [ sic ] concerned". Several publications named The Wind Waker Game of
7176-423: The score and soundtrack, though some cited the lack of voice acting as a drawback. The heavy emphasis on sailing was the game's most common criticism, especially later in the game when Link must trek around the ocean to collect Triforce pieces. Gerstmann wrote that while the main quest "starts out in a very brisk manner", by the last third of the game, the "focus on sailing ... is pretty tedious". Edge wrote that
7268-492: The sorcerer Ganon and becomes embroiled in a struggle for the Triforce , a sacred wish-granting relic. Aided by allies including pirate captain Tetra – an incarnation of Princess Zelda – and a talking sailboat named the King of Red Lions , Link sails the ocean, explores islands, and traverses dungeons to acquire the power necessary to defeat Ganon. Wind, which facilitates sailing, plays a prominent role and can be controlled with
7360-399: The stories. The soundtrack is primarily environmental; it modulates between various tracks depending on location, time and other conditions. Much of the score is inspired by traditional Irish music and is overall lighter and more upbeat than previous scores in the series. The advancement of MIDI technology allowed the soundtrack to more closely approximate the sounds of real instruments than
7452-465: The story. For example, the grappling hook is necessary to pass obstacles and defeat the boss in the Dragon Roost Cavern dungeon; it can then be used to enter previously inaccessible areas elsewhere. The "Tingle Tuner" is a special item allowing a second player to control the character Tingle if the system is connected to a Game Boy Advance by a link cable . A significant portion of the game
7544-525: The system's capabilities while planning for Breath of the Wild . The developers experimented with several Zelda games, but were especially struck by how well The Wind Waker translated into high definition. When the team determined it would take less than a year to remaster the entire game, Aonuma approached Miyamoto about developing it. He faced considerable reluctance from management due to players' mixed response in 2003, but Miyamoto ultimately greenlit development as Nintendo staff had found that opinions of
7636-430: The term "action-adventure" may be '"An action/adventure game is a game that has enough action in it not to be called an adventure game, but not enough action to be called an action game." In some cases an action game with puzzles will be classified as an action-adventure game, but if these puzzles are quite simple they might be classified as an action game. Others see action games as a pure genre, while an action-adventure
7728-459: The two back to the underwater realm, explaining it is the legendary kingdom of Hyrule , which the goddesses submerged long ago to contain Ganon while the people fled to the mountaintops. The King of Red Lions reveals himself to be Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, the last King of Hyrule, and Tetra is his heir, Zelda, keeper of the Triforce of Wisdom. Tetra remains in the castle while Link and the King journey to
7820-585: The two sages who provided the Master Sword's power. They discover Ganon's forces murdered them both, so Link must awaken new sages, the Rito Medli and the Korok Makar, and guide them through the Earth and Wind Temples. The sages restore the Master Sword, but the King learns that Ganon has abandoned the Forsaken Fortress and fears an attack. They then track down the eight shards of the missing Triforce of Courage, once kept by
7912-478: The working title Wind Waker 2 . However, The Wind Waker ' s underwhelming reception in North America, combined with the downturn in the Japanese video game market, convinced Aonuma that the only avenue to success would be a more realistic Zelda game that would appeal to the stronger North American market. He persuaded Miyamoto, who authorized development of a realistically styled game using The Wind Waker ' s engine, Twilight Princess , which proved to be
8004-685: Was a finalist for the GDCA Game of the Year award. The Wind Waker won " Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction " at the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards ; it also received eight other nominations: " Game of the Year ", "Console Game of the Year", " Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year ", "Outstanding Innovation in Console Gaming", and outstanding achievement in " Game Design ", " Gameplay Engineering ", " Visual Engineering ", and " Character or Story Development ". Player response to
8096-639: Was also included. A Ganondorf figurine was released with a special edition copy of the game, available exclusively through GameStop . The Wind Waker received widespread critical acclaim. Review aggregator website Metacritic calculated a score of 96/100 based on 80 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". It was the fourth game to receive a perfect score from the Japanese magazine Famitsu , and additionally earned perfect scores from Computer and Video Games , Game Informer , Game Pro , Nintendo Power , and Planet GameCube . It received high marks from many other reviewers as well, although it did not reach
8188-510: Was more positive than that for the Space World demo. The game received the 2002 Game Critics Awards for Best Console Game at E3. IGN editor Fran Mirabella said the cartoon look "works very nicely" and that "it feels very much like Zelda ". The whimsical style was compared to A Link to the Past and promotional artwork from previous Zelda games. The E3 demo also introduced new features, such as
8280-475: Was possible in previous installments. The score features strings, winds, brass, percussion, and wordless vocals. The vocals are especially prominent in the tunes Link conducts with the Wind Waker, singing in D major . Shigeru Miyamoto reportedly played the mandolin featured in the "Title Theme". Scitron Digital Content released a two-disc, 133-track soundtrack album , The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Original Sound Tracks , on March 19, 2003. The Wind Waker
8372-440: Was released on December 13, 2002, in Japan, on March 24, 2003, in North America, and on May 2, 2003, in Europe. To promote the release, Nintendo offered a bonus disc as a pre-order incentive which included a GameCube port of Ocarina of Time as well as its previously unreleased expansion, Ura Zelda . Ura Zelda , largely an adaptation of Ocarina of Time with some changes, including new dungeon challenges, had been developed for
8464-415: Was significantly larger than for other contemporary projects to accommodate Nintendo's desire for a high caliber of work in the rushed development schedule. Koji Kondo, the primary composer for The Legend of Zelda series, contributed to the score but did not serve as sound director. However, the score incorporated some of his pieces from older Zelda games, modifying them to emphasize the time passed between
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