A Nintendo community
by the fans!
∧  Forum main
 + 
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Discussion (Nintendo Wii U) [game]
 
  Stephen B  
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD on the Wii U
9.51/10 from 19 user ratings

Welcome to the official discussion thread for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD on the Wii U!

To start, please add this game to your log, add it to your collection (if applicable), and (when you are ready) rate it using the link above!

The game doesn't release at retail till early October, but gamers can begin playing this title soon if they buy a special edition Wii U next week. That said, Welcome to the official discussion thread for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD! Whether you're someone who played and beat this game back in 2003, or maybe you're new and eager to get your Link wet, come here to discuss the game!


IGN.com just released their review and I believe that makes it the first review score for the title. What did they give it? You might not be surprised, but you can look at their review here. For the lazy,... 9.8/10

I have fond memories of picking the original game up from my non-standard Gamestop the night before release. They opened the doors at 10pm and let us get the game early just as the box literally arrived. I don't understand why things went down like that but I was always proud that I was nerdy enough to have been the first person to leave that Gamestop with Zelda that night. Now, I have it pre-ordered at another Gamestop, my normal one, because I want that badass statue offer. As Carlosrox continues to point out, the game looks beautiful and now that I've had an awesome Samsung HDTV for a little less than a year now, I am excited to finally embrace HD with Zelda and see how beautiful this game is at 40 inches and 1080p.

Bring it on Nintendo. I have what it takes.

URL to share (right click and copy)
09/18/13, 05:44    Edited: 09/18/13, 06:03
 
Why not sign up for a (free) account?
   
 
  Super_Conzo  
LA-LA-LA-LA
I'M NOT LISTENING!

Finally gathered the shards of triforce together and now I'm heading down for some grand finale action.
Go-o-o-o-o-o CONZO!

Edit: Game done. Pretty pleased all round. Thought Ganons Tower was a bit of a drag and the final battles weren't exactly challenging but yes the story was super sweet.
End credits served to make the memories of the game seem even more beautiful and iconic.

Now I am free to focus on Smash Bros. as of tomorrow. Yippeee.
09/30/14, 23:19   
Edited: 10/02/14, 22:12
  Scrawnton  
I was booting this up a couple nights this evening and I began to think how confusing it is as to how fast nintendo put this HD version together yet did not replicate its success. The new Wii U zelda was delayed by at least a year and they couldn't assign another company to use their porting tech to bring over Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword as an HD Wii U game? Its a little upsetting we got this so early in the Wii U's life and then we ended up going through a long Zelda drought.
09/11/15, 02:51   
  Mr_Mustache  
@Scrawnton

Yeah, thats what everyone says who ignored Hyrule Warriors. I not only find it to be a suitable gap-bridger, but a solid effort in its own right. Pretty mint, man.
09/11/15, 03:03   
  Scrawnton  
@Mr_Mustache Oh, I have Hyrule Warriors, and I think its a fun game, but I also think it is very shallow (which is weird because its jammed packed with content). I think it might be all the metal music on guitar? I don't know. I like that game for what it is but it really does not scratch the itch that a traditional zelda can. Maybe I need to go back and spend more time with it.
09/11/15, 03:07   
  pokepal148  
@Scrawnton Here, let me help you out here.

Scrawnton said:
I planned on jumping into this after I finish up Minish Cap on 3DS. Unfortunately, all three GBC zelda games are the only games in the series I never beat. I feel like it is something I need to do...
09/11/15, 03:19   
  Scrawnton  
@pokepal148 haha well said. I actually booted up LA DX lastnight to check some things out.
09/11/15, 14:07   
  carlosrox  
I need to finish this game.
09/11/15, 17:52   
  chrisguy  
I started playing the HD version for the first time yesterday. (Played through the GCN version a while back.)

Having a blast jamming on the dungeons and not doing much in the way of exploring at this point.

At what point do you WW veterans think one should concentrate on exploring?
05/13/16, 00:45   
  TriforceBun  
@chrisguy
Exploring is pretty rewarding in TWW, even if there're a few islands that aren't accessible until you have more tools. After the second dungeon, the whole sea opens up, so at that point I'd recommend just going exploring as much as you feel like it. Make sure you feed the fish--the more map squares you get, the more accessible the last chunk of the game is!
05/13/16, 00:50   
  DrFinkelstein  
@TriforceBun

That sounds right, though perhaps even getting the later items will help even more. Then you're not finding islands you can't access. Doesn't happen too often but it sure does.
05/13/16, 01:30   
  PogueSquadron  
Yeah I felt that as well on the GameCube. You want to explore but you also don't want to waste time. Getting to an island you can't really do anything at is pretty frustrating.

I'd say just go at your own pace. If you want to explore a little, do it until you want to do something else. But definitely give the bait to the map fish as much as you can. It alleviates a lot of frustration later on.
05/13/16, 01:56   
  Mop it up  
I think I waited until the third or fourth dungeon to do most of the exploring, the tower one. After that point, you have the items you need to visit most of the islands.
05/13/16, 02:40   
  kriswright  
Personally, I just went exploring whenever I could. In fact, I loved that as much or more than the dungeons. Yeah, sometimes you can't get in and do stuff, but so what? That doesn't bother us in Metroid, why should it bother us here? Take note of what you see and come back later.

Yeah, I spent hours just laying siege to platforms and finding submarines and running around small islands where I couldn't do anything. And that's why it's my favorite Zelda game.
05/13/16, 03:12   
  chrisguy  
Don't get me wrong. I love the exploration aspect of WW. But, I had some trouble last time backtracking and trying to remember where I'd been and whether I'd already cleared a sea space or not. I decided this time I wanted to have most of the tools before doing a ton of exploring.

I just cleared the fourth (?) dungeon - the Tower of the Gods. Think I'll still want the hook shot before I get serious about exploring.
05/13/16, 06:18   
  cusideabelincoln  
As much hate as the original game got (from the IGN boards) back in the day, Wind Waker has the most timeless graphics of all time. Fucking ironic, since the element people hated on the most was the graphics.

I booted up the GCN version through Dolpin at 4K resolution... and wow. Colors are so vibrant. Art style is great. Textures hold up better than other games of the period because of Nintendo's design choice. It feels like I'm playing and looking at a modern game, and the same cannot be said of any other game from that generation. I've played, on Dolphin, other games. Metroid Prime looks dated (but still pretty good). The Conduit looks so dated. Twilight Princess looks dated. PC games of that era look dated. But Wind Waker is looks timeless. I appreciate the game more and more as time goes by.

While these games did come out later, and for the more powerful Wii, I'd have to say the only other ones to rival Wind Waker's timeless graphics are Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. When they're running at 4k they look really good as well.
08/18/16, 21:49   
  GameDadGrant  
@cusideabelincoln

I think a lot of people just didn't like the art style the game used. Cel-shaded graphics for a Zelda game would have been fine. But a lot of people were put off by the fact that Link looks like a 4 year-old.

The "hate" was also just a consequence of the era that game was released. No one was looking or asking for a cartoony Zelda. That's not what the GCN crowd wanted, generally speaking. And anecdotally, I know that art direction actually killed a few potential sales of the system. Sad...but unfortunately true.

If I could re-write the past, I'd have Nintendo swap release dates of Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker. I think the latter would make a better 'Cube "swan song" AND if they did a dual release on Wii, potentially could have been an even better fit on that system.

I mean, c'mon. Who WOULDN'T want to conduct the wind with the Wiimote?!?
08/19/16, 03:19   
Edited: 08/19/16, 03:20
  Shadowlink  
@GameDadGrant

Nah, the reaction was due to the bait and switch that Nintendo pulled.

We went from the Spaceworld 2000 trailer:




To this:




If you'd been hyping yourself up for a year based on the first trailer, a reaction of 'WTF?' when confronted with the 2001 trailer makes complete sense, regardless of how the graphics eventually turned out and were received. Had the first trailer never been shown, the reaction may have been more subdued.


On the flip side it also contributed to the massively positive reaction that the 2004 Twilight Princess reveal got.
08/19/16, 03:55   
Edited: 08/19/16, 03:56
  cusideabelincoln  
Yep, the Spaceworld trailer is what did it. I was hyped for that game! But now, that demo doesn't even look remotely impressive, while Wind Waker is still gorgeous.
08/19/16, 09:10   
  Shadowlink  
Just nabbed the Swift Sail. I assumed it was just faster boat travel. But the wind thing is HUGE. So good. Charting islands like a boss.

Also reading through the old posts in this thread is funny.

Kris and Pokepal's audition for NW's upcoming buddy cop flick aside, this caught my eye:

carlosrox said:
Haven't played this in a number of days. I'll try to get some time in tonight. Missing the game already.

Just entered the Wind Temple basically. I forgot how much is left in the game after that. Isn't it just the Triforce hunt and the last area before Ganon? Gotta be the shortest Zelda, and the new sailing seriously cut out a LOT of time. I think the reason I've taken a small break from it is I hate feeling like I've finished a game too quickly.

2 years later:

carlosrox said:
I need to finish this game.

Did you ever finish it Carlos?

.
08/22/16, 17:04   
  Shadowlink  
So I just cleared floor 50 of the Savage Labyrinth (3 fairies and half a bottle of soup later), and got the Hero's Charm. I didn't even know this was a thing?!

I thought I must have just stopped at the Triforce floor last time, but I could have sworn I did all 50 floors. So I did some research, and there's been some item movement between the GC and HD versions. Interestingly though, in the original Japanese version of the Gamecube game, the final reward for floor 50 was....

10 Rupees.

Nintendo can troll pretty hard sometimes.
08/29/16, 12:27   
Edited: 08/29/16, 12:27
∧  Forum main
 +