Zelda WW Reviews and discussions... [Archive]

Sylentwulf

04-06-2003, 11:01 PM

I would imagine this would be a popular enough post to stickify, but it seems only me and Raedon are playing this game :) There may be some spoilers in this post, as of now I'm 2/3rds of the way through the game (est.) I'll put SPOILER in big caps before anything, but there really aren't any spoilers... read point number one :) These are VERY minor complaints, so don't take it out on me. I just wanna see how many people agree that these points could have been easily fixed. I give this game a 9 out of 10 so far, if these VERY MINOR points had been fixed, it would have been a 10.

OK, Game is GREAT. I tend to complain, so here's the thing, anything I DON'T complain about is assumed to be REALLY REALLY GOOD :)

1. - The story is a little lacking... no intro, and for example <SPOILER!> When you take Medli to the Earth cave, she says how Komari<sp> shouldn't know and we should leave quickly and quielty, it was a "touching" moment, but the never worked on that aspect of the story, so it wasn't, it SHOULD have been a touching moment</SPOILER>

2. The "wake" in front of the boat - I think this is really cheesy looking, and could have been fixed VERY easily, come on, you spend a TON of time in this boat, make the wake look better.

3. VERTICAL LINES, WTF? I'm not the only one, I checked on message boards because I thought it was my TV, every once in a while, faint vertical lines will appear on the TV. WHY?!?!

4. Hold left to attack this way, down to attack that way, up to attack that way, etc.... well.... truth is, it REALLY doesn't matter much (it does once in a while, but they could have.... extrapolated on this a little bit.)

5. Sea Monsters - Fucking Boring and pointless. I'm not gonna tippy toe on this one. This also ties in with the fact the sailing around gets a TAD boring. <SPOILER> Yes, there are faster ways to travel, but still.... if there was something to DO while boating it woul dhave been a little better </SPOILER>

6. - THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN #1.... I can't climb a fucking ladder to save my soul. I have to maneuver repeatedly to line myself up for a direct approach. Again, this could have been fixed easily. This kinda ties in with some iffy camera angles that I won't mention...

I'll leave it at this for now, and see how much interest the post gets :) PLEASE don't start yelling, these are minor issues and the game IS VERY GOOD. I just don't understand why these very minor flaws were allowed to slip by.... That and I have a STRONG feeling that much of the game can be skipped on accident (I haven't finished so I can't verify that yet.)

NE146

04-07-2003, 12:04 AM

I'm playing it actively since it came out.. except I play games a lot slower these days than avg. So I'm only just finishing the Deku Tree Forest dungeon (whatever it's called). Actually I take that back.. I JUST finished it. Now it's telling me to go to some island to the west except I'm spending all my time sailing around :P

Lady Jaye

04-07-2003, 12:36 AM

I'm even less far in the game (truth be told, I got the bonus disk at the same time and I've been switching back and forth between Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time), but I really like it so far. However, I could imagine how tedious the whole sailing part would be (which makes me wonder why all the Nintendo Power reviewers gave the game a perfect 5 instead of a near-perfect 4 or 4.5). I do have some difficulty with manoeuvering, but that's mostly due to the fact that I've never played Zelda on the N64, so this is my first 3D experience in the series.

ehall

04-07-2003, 07:24 AM

I'm just entering the sunken castle, and so far my largest complaint is that MY 3 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WON'T LET ME PLAY THE GAME! >:( Everytime I turn it on she's right there with me, taking it over. Don't get me wrong, I love that she's interested in my game, but I would like to have a turn at one point. Incidentally, she does very well with it, 3 years old (going on 4) and she's managed to get off the first island with very little help. A chip off the old block. :D

GENESISNES

04-07-2003, 08:02 AM

Sylentwulf

04-07-2003, 08:04 AM

Very Easy was going to be my other comment. The length seems to vary depending on how much of the side stuff you wanna do. If you do everything you're supposed to with the pictograph, it could add another 10-15 hours on all by itself :)

GENESISNES

04-07-2003, 08:13 AM

5. Sea Monsters - Fucking Boring and pointless. I'm not gonna tippy toe on this one. This also ties in with the fact the sailing around gets a TAD boring. <SPOILER> Yes, there are faster ways to travel, but still.... if there was something to DO while boating it woul dhave been a little better </SPOILER>

Ahem, Tingle Tuner anyone?

anyway, the tingle tuner map is WAY off. it said i was in the corner of an acre when i was in the damn MIDDLE!!! WTF what has tingle been smoking???

punkoffgirl

04-07-2003, 10:07 AM

I'm not quite even an hour into the game (if you go by the saved game timer, which seems to me it might be off..), but so far I have nothing but praise.
Well, except for the camera, but I guess that's going to continue to be a complaint as long as there are 3D games to play, eh?

Sylentwulf

04-07-2003, 10:41 AM

Yeah as I said, my complaints were VERY minor, just seemed like they would have been very easy to fix and it kinda surprised me that nintendo let such little, and kinda obvious things slip by the radar. (But then again, I have theories on how well nintendo's radar has been working in the past 5 years)

Good things:
Link's expressions, friggin GREAT, his face is the best part of this game I swear :)

The sail looks very real, the moon looks great, the rolling of the sea, Dungeon Design, TETRA! :) unbelievably non-linear gameplay, Sound, graphics (They should have showed off more of the NON-cartoony stuff in the reviews... All they show in the reviews are bright sunny, happy colorful stuff, there's a LOT BETTER graphics and environments than what I was shown in reviews, etc...)

Raedon

04-07-2003, 10:55 AM

First off, I'm on the final dungeon.

At first I was iffy on the story but there turned out to be enough twists and turns to make it worth my time. The whole Hyrule mystery blew my mind. As for Sylent's comments of sea monsters you CAN kill them (tingle tooner) and some have heart pieces.. or you can just avoid them and go from story point A to B.

The dungeon where you get the mirror shield is fucking brilliant.. that is all..

My biggiest quable with WW is that 30% of the game IS the mini-games/quests. but that is a small thing really as those are fun to.. Like the boat race and the 9 tree's that need special Deku spring water in 20 minutes. Plus they always give you good rewards.. not just Rupee's but heart pieces.

This is the first Zelda that if you can only get HALF the hearts from BOSS battles.

If you like Ico then you will like the last two dungeons as they play a lot like Ico only the whitey girl has been replaced with characters who can actually do shyt not just get sucked down by evil things..

And if you all didn't know after you finish the game there is a second quest ala Zelda 1..

**SPOILER**

Zelda IS in the game.. But she's not your sister.

Mayhem

04-07-2003, 11:01 AM

(if you go by the saved game timer, which seems to me it might be off..)

It's not the time you've been playing, but the actual time of day when you've last saved the game...

le geek

04-07-2003, 06:06 PM

I'm still playing master quest, but I'll be playing soon...

wberdan

04-07-2003, 06:10 PM

sylentwulf-

as far as #3 complaint, the lines on the screen... are you using the component video cables on your HDTV?
if you are it may be the Progressive scan scaler inside your television that drops out or something... that would be my only explanation for that.
I've sen a lot of progressive scan devices that cant keep up sometimes and will produce the lines.

willie

congobongo

04-07-2003, 09:45 PM

Not too far into it yet. I really like the fact that there is "art direction" in this game. The visuals all mesh very well together. Got a big kick out of the snotty nose kid at the begining. The only complaint I have so far is that outside of the visuals it just feels like the same game over again. Maybe some people like that fact but to me it's getting old. Don't get me wrong, I'm really enjoying it, I just don't know how much I will enjoy ANOTHER Zelda at this point.

Sylentwulf

04-07-2003, 10:28 PM

RE: Willie (hate to quote the whole post)

Nope, no component cables for me yet, I'm waiting for lik sang to get their butts in gear and release some cheaper ones :)

I've heard it's a pretty common thing, but you gotta be VERY observant to notice them, they come very infrequently and don't stay very long. The only reason I even mentioned them is because it scared the crap out of me because I thought my TV was having issues (a couple message boards later na dI found out it's NOT my TV)

Daniel Thomas

04-08-2003, 12:39 AM

My only complaint is the game is WAY too easy and short. I have only been playing about 10 hours or so, (about 5 hours doing the dungeons and stuff) and i havent even died yet, and i have one dunegeon to go. Im currently collecting heart peices and treasure maps, but the game isnt as long as OoT. :(

You have to keep in mind that Nintendo has been consciously moving away from the epic 80-hour games from the past. True, as much as I love Zelda 64, how many people actually saw the whole game. There's a reason why those games took so many years to come out.

So Nintendo is going for games that are shorter, which means more people will enjoy their work, and the big N can bring out games more than once every five years.

Of course, maybe this newest Zelda just seems easier to those who have grown up on the series. I wonder how a newbie would handle it?

p.s. Hey, do I get a prize for my 100th post, or what? You know where to send the presents...

Anonymous

04-08-2003, 04:46 AM

re: the line thing. This is a known issue, and happens most often when you are on the sea during a storm or cloudy weather (there's weather in this game? Jeez, I need to start playing!). It's not indicative of a problem or anything, so don't worry about it.

Sylentwulf

04-08-2003, 08:56 AM

wberdan

04-08-2003, 10:49 AM

Sylentwulf

04-08-2003, 12:19 PM

re: HDTV's only

Could be, not sure. IF it IS, then quite bit of people have HDTV's on a couple of the message boards I checked (gamefaqs Zelda board)

Anonymous

04-08-2003, 12:47 PM

It's not and HDTV thing. If your tv's contrast is turned up too high, then it is a lot more noticeable, but it can happen on any tv.

wberdan

04-08-2003, 01:27 PM

i think i noticed the vertical line issue during a close up on links head today.. must be just some programming/encoding bug.

willie

Sylentwulf

04-08-2003, 01:34 PM

It usually happens to me out at sea and goes full screen top to bottom. Having the RPTV Burn-in Fear my contrast/picture level are set pretty low, and it was hardly noticeable, but it was there :)

wberdan

04-08-2003, 01:51 PM

maybe anotherfluke can answer this-
why does the back of the box say "progressive scan compatible" or something to that affect?

any game is progressive scan compatible... does the gamecube actually output a progressive image?
i was just confused, that seems to make no sense (unless it DOES output a progressive image from the component outputs, which is likely)

if it does, then sylentwulf might want to invest in the component cables for his HDTV.. it will probably look considerably smoother than it does with the S-video.

willie

Sylentwulf

04-08-2003, 02:17 PM

Yes, it does output progressive through comp cables to a HDTV, BUT I'm waiting to find a reasonably priced set of cables. Right now the options are Nintendo brand ($30-$40) or Pelican if you can find them for $20-$30. WAY TOO much money to spend on cables. I sell PS2 Comp cables for like $7 to put these prices in perspective :)

Edit - Check this out - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3016964141&category=20389

wberdan

04-08-2003, 02:21 PM

Sylentwulf

04-08-2003, 02:25 PM

480p

I don't like to spend money on cables, I've never noticed any difference in any cables I've ever bought or had comparatively shown to me.
I just bought new speaker cables actually, spent $40 for cable (100 feet) when the system I hooked it up to costs about $5,000 (TV, speakers and receiver).
I use the video cables I sell on ebay for all my game systems (third party) I HAD monster S-video cables, and when I switched to the cheap ones, I saw no difference at all, and trust me, I scrutinized :)

Nature Boy

04-08-2003, 04:46 PM

I hate doing this (posting before reading everything before me), but I'm paranoid about somebody spoiling something on me so I'm taking liberties.

The verdict is: I'm loving it.

I don't like long games so the length (so far) seems fine to me. For the record I've beaten three dungeons and have started the fourth. I'm of the opinion, though, that a 10 hour game is plenty long so take that for what it's worth. I'm a slow gamer (partly because I don't have the time, partly because this isn't the only game I'm playing now) - so a 10 hour game is never finished in a weekend in my house (Ico notwithstanding).

Sailing: I can see why some might say it's boring - and I can *almost* agree with this. But if it were totally true I figure I would be going directly from place to place instead of puttering about (and I'm definitely puttering about). I think the sailing gives the game a level of exploration not available in any previous Zelda game - which I'm sure was it's intention.

I've read some say it's easy: I, for one, am happy enough with it's difficulty level. I haven't figured everything out just by looking at it yet (but I will admit I do more often than not). What I hate are games that artificially make it difficult (like RE say - I'd enjoy the game if I could just pick stuff up as I go and not worry about leaving something around until I actually need it - if that's the case then don't show it to me until I'm about to use it. I have no problems with resource management (like only holding two guns and ammo in Halo say), but I can't stand what I see as artificial difficulty).

I'd give it a 10 but, to be honest, I'd give any Zelda game a 10.

NE146

04-08-2003, 05:40 PM

Yeah.. I've hit a few tough spots myself.. I wouldn't call the game 'too' easy. I think it's just right! :D

wberdan

04-09-2003, 01:28 PM

i am developing a love/hate relationship with this game.. ive already gotten super pissed at it, and i'm only to the boss of the second "dungeon". the camera is a pain in the ass, and some of these dungeon layouts are annoying as hell. i'm sure it will only get more frustrating from here...
i do like how it feels kind of like a SUPER legend of zelda for the nes... it seems a little easier than the n64 ones, but maybe thats just me.
all in all i would rate it an 8 thus far

willie

Raedon

04-09-2003, 01:43 PM

No.. Zelda:WW Is WAY easy, I don't know what happens if you die.. and I've beat the game.. The hardest puzzle took me 45 minutes to figure out. The game is great for sure, but Nintendo used the ocean to make the game longer..

I estimate it took me 25 hours to finish, that is the exact same amount of time it took me to finnish .HACK//Infection.. a game known to be way to short. It's amazing and fun to play, but I would have been more all googly about it if I was 10 years old and it was my first Zelda game..

Seems OOT will be the last of the great Zelda's unless Nintendo goes under and has to make games for Microsoft/Sony.

Nature Boy

04-09-2003, 02:23 PM

No.. Zelda:WW Is WAY easy, I don't know what happens if you die.. and I've beat the game.. The hardest puzzle took me 45 minutes to figure out. The game is great for sure, but Nintendo used the ocean to make the game longer..

Why does dying have to imply difficulty? That's the difference between us I guess - I think only about how long it takes to solve the puzzles and accomplish the goals. Dying *could* be part of that I suppose, but not dying so far hasn't bothered me - in fact, it's made the game less frustrating methinks.

I recently played through Splinter Cell and, even though I died *plenty* of times, I don't consider it to be a difficult game. But, again, I look at it from the 'how often did I get stuck and how long did it take me to find my way' point of view. Would I think less of it if I hadn't died? Dunno. I would've been suprised though (given the nature of the game).

NE146

04-09-2003, 02:54 PM

*slight spoiler warning*

The last most frustrating thing I solved was in the forest dungeon where the tentacles all come out from the floor and you have two wood doors to bomb.

I couldn't figure out how to break one of the wood doors. I thought the tentacles blocked your ability to throw a bomb there.. turns out they don't. It took me all of 3 days to figure that out :embarrassed: as I tried EVERYTHING else..

Sylentwulf

04-09-2003, 04:27 PM

I died one time! Wanna know how? heh

I was carrying that BIG STUPID PIG across the bridge, and ALLLLL the way up the hill, when I accidentily tackled him and he got mad, the thing takes off like 5 hearts PER HIT, I was dead VERY VERY quick.

Most difficult enemy in the game. The pig. (even the small ones) (Although I highly doubt he can be beaten at all, just SURVIVING is very hard.)

Achika

04-09-2003, 04:34 PM

Well, I've been playing for the past two days and I love it. I just got past the Deku Tree and spent all morning sailing the ocean after Mr. Red Dragon lets me go where I please now. The oceans are huge! I put the boat in the direction I needed to go, got up, went to the bathroom and came back about a minute or so later and I was just on the opposite end of the square. But those tree spirits are so damn cute!

I'm only viewing the game on a 13" TV, so the lines I'm not noticing. My big gripe is that your rupy pouch is only 200 rupy's big. You might as well NOT go searching for treasure.

Sylentwulf

04-09-2003, 04:37 PM

Hey, those forest spirits, they make the same sound, and are UNBELIEVABLY similar to the forest spirits in Princess Mononoke. What's the story? Anyone have a link? (heheh, link, get it?)

NE146

04-09-2003, 04:48 PM

My big gripe is that your rupy pouch is only 200 rupy's big. You might as well NOT go searching for treasure.

Hey, your friend Tinkle is calling you! :)

Sylentwulf

04-09-2003, 05:02 PM

Yes achika, find the tingly one :)

Achika

04-09-2003, 05:56 PM

Yes achika, find the tingly one :)

I already did--on PS2 ;)

ubersaurus

04-09-2003, 06:28 PM

I'm in one of the last dungeons (the part where the boat has you checking out two dungeons at once), and, in what is a very rare happening, I got stuck. I haven't gotten stuck in a zelda game in years. It's sweet @_@
I really like the game. I like how easy it is to get the upgrades to your equipment/money bag, and the fact that there are so many sidequests and stuff. And lets face it, the moblins look awesome in this game. It's a Zelda game, through and through, and that means quality.

Sylentwulf

04-09-2003, 06:42 PM

Yes achika, find the tingly one :)

I already did--on PS2 ;)

lol, I got my first one today, sealed, unfortunately, the lady of the house just got into THAT time.... so I'll have to wait a week to do a.... 2 player game :)

Raedon

04-09-2003, 10:15 PM

Yes achika, find the tingly one :)

I already did--on PS2 ;)

LOL

orrimarrko

04-10-2003, 10:21 AM

Great game so far (the Tower of the Gods just appeared for me.)

I have seen the lines when I am out to sea, and I don't have an HDTV.

Two complaints thus far: not enough action, and they feel the need to "spell" everything out for you.

Whether YOU (Nature Boy) take into consideration "dying" as an indicator of difficulty or not, it should be noted that "dying" is not typically associated with a game's level of difficulty. Target Earth (Genesis) isn't hard because of the puzzles or some shit, it's because you keep getting blown up.

I don't feel that there are enough enemies to fight (thus far). The puzzles are not difficult, just time consuming. Also, many of them are NOT essential to the progress of the story/game.

If you are a completist, or if you enjoy replay value, you could get your money's worth. However, from point A to B, this is not a hard game at all.

Also, is it me, or is there too much information given when you speak to characters in the game? I feel like they tell me too much - also making things a bit easier.

Still a blast to play, but I think it's easier than Super Mario Sunshine - and I didn't think that was possible. (BTW, in SMS, I got everything there was to get.)

Just my thoughts.

NE146

04-10-2003, 12:43 PM

Also, is it me, or is there too much information given when you speak to characters in the game? I feel like they tell me too much - also making things a bit easier.

I noticed that too.. that seems to be a problem w/ Nintendo games of late. I hated that they walked you through Metroid Fusion. And that constant hinting in Metroid Prime as well. Ditto for the GBC Zelda's and I'm sure there are other examples I forget. It's like you almost have to TRY to get lost in a game (by not reading what people say) so it doesn't hold your hand throughout the entire game and constantly tell you what to do and where to go! Remember the first Zelda.. that was all exploration. They didn't tell you shit! :P

There's gotta be some balance somewhere that they have to reach. Walking you through the entire meat of the game just sort of takes the fun out of it. We need to digress a little bit I think x_x

Sylentwulf

04-10-2003, 03:12 PM

Lady Jaye

04-11-2003, 06:34 AM

Hey, I've got an idea for this! What about having an "A and B" difficulty setting, just like in the old days? Difficulty A: Easier version with many hints from characters, Difficulty B: Same game, but without (or with less) hints. That way, more experienced players get to play without hand-holding (or so little), while younger/newer gamers can still enjoy the game without too much frustration.

It's true that this is the most annoying aspect of the Oracle games (among others): you finish part of the game, than the Deku Tree (or the owl, in Link's Awakening) leads you to the next step. And to think that, in the first Zelda, it was to each our own!

Heh, someone oughta tell Nintendo.

Nature Boy

04-11-2003, 10:13 AM

I noticed that too.. that seems to be a problem w/ Nintendo games of late. I hated that they walked you through Metroid Fusion. And that constant hinting in Metroid Prime as well. Ditto for the GBC Zelda's and I'm sure there are other examples I forget. It's like you almost have to TRY to get lost in a game (by not reading what people say) so it doesn't hold your hand throughout the entire game and constantly tell you what to do and where to go! Remember the first Zelda.. that was all exploration. They didn't tell you shit! :P

Maybe I'm getting lazy or something, but I liked how they did Metroid Fusion. I hate not having any idea where to go next - I find it frustrating. It seems to me too many companies make games where you require a guidebook and I just don't enjoy that after awhile. It's a personal preference thing.

The thing I like about Zelda (previous ones, I'm not done this one enough to comment yet) is that you really get rewarded if you pay attention. For example, if you get bombs out of a pot outside a room you know they're making sure you have the resources to get through it. I find that much more enjoyable than running around trying to find bombs afterwards.

As I said it's a personal preference thing. I'd rather have a 5 hour game that gives me mapping and lets me know roughly where to go next than the same game taking me 20+ hours and I have no clue what's expected of me.

Raedon

04-11-2003, 10:49 AM

Difficulty levels, remember them nintendo? Easy/Medium/Hard?

They should probly be re-implemented ya know... maybe an age question at the beginning of the game instead. Double damage for gamers over 13 or something. This way nintendo gets to keep all of their imaginatory kid gamers, and satisfy their adult gamers as well.

For me killing enemies isn't Zelda, it's in the dungeons and puzzles.. You could give enemies more "hit points" but that wouldn't make it more challanging to me as the combat system lends itself to looking good more then being challanging.

The dungeons needed to be harder. There were to many clues. I guess I'll have to leave Zelda for the kids now..

Achika

04-21-2003, 11:03 PM

The dungeons needed to be harder. There were too many clues. I guess I'll have to leave Zelda for the kids now..

Aie, I'll have to agree with you here. I think if you've played any of the 3D Zelda's you've played them all. The puzzles have been recycled since OoT. Now they are just leading around by the hand, one after the other after the other.

I mean, WTF? There were three hit kills all over the place. Going by Zelda "tradition" this was supposed to stop after the first boss.

I just got done with it. After a feeble attempt to get the game to last longer by filling my gallery, I decided to make the pain stop. Went and beat it, and the last thing I have to say is,

"No, seriously, where is the real final battle and the real ending?"

YoshiM

04-21-2003, 11:57 PM

I think Nintendo has sacrificed game difficulty for story. Except for the tons of sailing, the story is very cool and worth the price of admission (in fact, it's the one game that has convinced me to get a Gamecube which I just picked up today). I kinda see it like Metal Gear Solid: it was only 10 hours long but it was one helluva 10 hours.

Sylentwulf

04-22-2003, 07:33 AM

Hey the final battle was great, can't put that part down
SPOILER
Zelda actually DOES something for once with her triforce, lol.
As for the ending <shrug> this is a typical ending for a videogame, the only GOOD endings I can recall are Final Fantasy 4 and 6, Chrono Cross.

IMO if you play a game for 40 hours, the ending had BETTER be at LEAST 40 minutes long.

ubersaurus

04-22-2003, 01:40 PM

Well, having finished the game completely I'm gonna add my own thoughts...
First off, this game was alot of fun for me. I actually enjoyed the story, the sailing, digging around for treasure, the sidequests, etc. they were pretty entertaining.
That said, the weak part of this game was that it was easy. I didn't die. Once I used a fairy to revive but that was the only time I "died". The bosses were all easy to figure out (except for the Dragon roost one, that was a pretty novel, though easy, boss). Going through the dungeons was like goin through the motions I've been doing since the first Zelda games. Personally, I think they should have had the little caves where you got the bracelets and boots be dungeons, that would've lengthened the game out as long as I think it should have been.
Maybe if I hadn't played all the prior zelda games, I wouldn't have noticed how easy some of those dungeons were. But as it was, I've done alot of those puzzles before, with the exception of the buddy dungeons, but I think the earth one seemed a little...rushed, I suppose is the word I'm looking for. As for the final fight, it was choreographed worse then the final fight in Ocarina. Certainly, it was cool to watch, but to actually play it was weak. And the ending! The ending was completely what I didn't want to see. It left open too many, Hyrule/timeline related questions, and was too damn short. Half of it was the damn credits!
I think they tried to extend the length of this game using the sidequest thing, which, though worked fine for majora's mask, didn't come off so well here. Who gave a shit about that guy and girl on windfall getting together? With Anju and Kafei, you at least felt something for the characters. The lack of the main zelda theme, like ocarina, seemed to me like a stupid thing to leave out.
Of course, like I said, I liked this game. But I seriously doubt I'm gonna go back through it a whole lot, except to take a few photos and get some figurines.