Now that I've beaten it, Wind Waker thoughts and complaints

[Charlie]

Well, I've beaten it... got all the treasure charts, all the pieces of the hearts, all the figures...

Man, what a let down overall. I mean, it's an excellent game, but it's too short, too easy, and it's the first game I ever played that when I realized I was almost to the end, I tried to delay it as long as possible.

I mean, come on Nintendo, what is up with your obsession with making short games? Luigi's Masion, Pikmin... the only games that got it right were Metroid Prime (which was just the right length) and Mario Sunshine. But Wind Waker? There were only eight *true* dungeons. For a game as big as Wind Waker, eight is not enough. And although I dug the storyline, I still felt that the scope of the game was just not big enough.

I'll give Wind Waker credit for making me realize what a true masterpiece Link to the Past is. Save Zelda, fight in three Dungeons, fight a big boss, fight in eight more dungeons, fight in Ganon's tower, fight Ganon. The scope was incredible. And it's not because Link to the Past was 2-D and Wind Waker was 3-D, because Wind Waker was excellent. But the scope of Link to the Past was much better.

Additionally, I must say that some of the side missions in Wind Waker were terminally boring. For example, to get a piece of the heart in Outset Island, you have to hit the old swordsman 500 times without taking more then three hits. I mean, it wasn't hard or anything, but it's so long and boring (and painful for those with Carpel-Tunnel like myself) that it makes you question if it's worth it to have EVERY piece of the heart. Link to the Past didn't do that to you.

So my verdict is Wind Waker is good, but it's not the five-star title I thought it was... ****1/4 stars. Good effort, too fucking short.

[hamburgler]

I still haven't even beat the game even though i'm trying my hardest to beat the game.

[BenT]

You completed the Nintendo Gallery?!

That is SO much work, and for what? Blah.

[Sylentwulf]

Yep, Easy and short. a LOT to do if you finish all the sidequests, but since when has Zelda been about Sidequests? This isn't an RPG, I miss the first 3 Zelda's, ya know, the good ones.

"For us with Carpal" - Chalk another one up to Charlie's illnesses, and legendary finds.

[Achika]

I completely agree with you charlie.

Except, 8? I really only counted 5....

Dragon Roost
Forbidden Woods
Tower of the Gods
Earth Temple
Wind Temple

I didn't really count Forbidden Fortress--it reminded me too much of the beginning of LttP. It wasn't really a dungeon, just the "beginning" of things. Same with Ganon's Tower. Whoop-t-do rebeat the same bosses? Where are my new puzzles?

[Charlie]

""For us with Carpal" - Chalk another one up to Charlie's illnesses, and legendary finds."

You know, Carpal Tunnel is not an uncommon thing. But I brought it up because hitting that old fucker 500 times while holding down the trigger button was an extremely painful experience. But go ahead and talk shit like that and be an asshole... whatever you have to do to feel like a man I guess.

@Achika: I'll grant you that... I did count BOTH Fortress levels (the first one and the one after the Master Sword) and Ganon's Tower, although I guess I shouldn't have. But as large as the game was (49 'square miles') I simply can't believe that there wasn't room for just a few lousy more tunnels. Then the insult to end all insults: the ending sucked and it teased a second quest. Of course, the second quest is the same exact fucking thing as the first one, except Link has different clothes on and starts with the camera. Whoopie (spins finger in the air)! They didn't even make the levels harder or re-arange the map or anyting. Of all the games that I'm willing to say are Zelda games (which excludes to N64 'zelda' games, Adventures of Link, and the CDi games), Wind Waker is the worst one.

Mario Sunshine kicked ass, but I'm starting to think Myamato is losing his edge. Pikmin was neat, excecpt for it was too short... same with Luigi's Mansion and Zelda. It's like he's got these great ideas but he can only strech them so far before he's run out of things to do so he just ends the games. In Wind Waker, the levels that were there were neat, for the most part (I didn't really care for the Wind level though), so why couldn't there have been a couple more levels?

Don't get me wrong, I can't wait for the next game... and unlike most people I didn't mind the sailing part at all (I really liked it actually). THAT was a neat idea, but when they can only come up with five dungeons to put on a huge map, then maybe this wasn't the game to have the sailing... it could have been just as good using the old Hyrule concept.

The rumor is the next Zelda is going to use Air Ships ala Skies of Arcadia. Yeesh. That's the one thing I DIDN'T like about Arcadia.

[Sylentwulf]

The Funny thing is Miyamoto really didn't even have anything to do with the game. He checked it over and offered suggestions, that's about it. He DID get the final yay or nay as far as things went, but he didn't come up with most of it, and didn't design barely any of it.

[ehall]

I just read the post listing the dungeons. All I have to say is, I'M ALREADY IN THE LAST DUNGEON??? WTF? I thought I would have at least a few more hurdles before I get to Ganon, and now I find out that he's the next stop? I'm just so stunned that it's going to be over so quickly. I mean, I noticed everyone saying how short it was but OMFG!!! I just can't believe it.....

Maybe I'll go buy Prime.

[zmeston]

The Funny thing is Miyamoto really didn't even have anything to do with the game. He checked it over and offered suggestions, that's about it. He DID get the final yay or nay as far as things went, but he didn't come up with most of it, and didn't design barely any of it.

While I'm obviously not in a position to say for certain, I suspect that with the evolution of Miyamoto's job into a one-man quality-control division, and the production-team requirements of modern game design, Miyamoto hasn't participated in any meaningful way with the creation of a game in a very long time. (Except for his GCN pet project, the not-exactly-smash hit Pikmin, a.k.a. Miyamoto's Virtual Boy -- which is getting a sequel for no good reason other than Miyamoto demanded one.)

-- Z.

[Raedon]

It's no OOT..

Wind Waker needed twice the content.

As it is right now it IS a kids game, more then any other Nintendo game ever created. Except Yoshi's Story. And not just a kids game but a kids game a 6 year old girl could finish in a few weeks.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars and most of that is because of the graphics and sound. I'll give it 3 1/2 out of 5 for the interesting future Hyrule story.

[brandver3]

WTF guys. It was a great game. The story was well thought out, it flowed, it had side quests, and a lot of them at that. There were loads of hidden caves and things to do. It was a really big game.

The problem is everyone expects it to be Final Fantasy in length. The reason FF iis so long is because you do the same shit over and over and over and over. I can honestly say that most of LOZ:WW is a new and different experience from the last.

Everyone is ripping it for being too short and then knocking the story. But if you though it was boring and easy and had a bad story, then why would you want it to go on any longer?

There seems to be this syndrome among gamers that i have seen more of lately. Everyone expressing how games need to be longer, but with less of the repeditive content that RPGs are known for.

It can't be done. With the cost of making a game today, and the man power and the need to keep things fresh and new, you either geat a game with a great story and a truly unique experince, and it be short, or you get a very long game were 50 hours is the same thing over and over and over.
You can't have a 60 hour game that is completly different and new and always changing with a great story. You can't make a game like Zelda any longer without losing a lot of the story flow and making it repetative.

I personally perfer short games that are a fullfilling experience. I don't base my like or dislike of a game on how long it was, but how much I enjoyed it while I was palying it. I have a lot of games to play, new ones come out every week. I'm glad there are some short games that are a blast till the end.

[Raedon]

The problem is everyone expects it to be Final Fantasy in length. The reason FF iis so long is because you do the same shit over and over and over and over. I can honestly say that most of LOZ:WW is a new and different experience from the last. .

No WW plays just like OOT and the dungeons have many of the same puzzle elements making WW an even easier experience. The dungeons are also much smaller then OOT.
OOT was a 45 hour game.. just the game, not the side quests.. FF 3 and 7 were both 40 hour games. What is your point? WW takes about 25 hours from start to finish if you skip all the quests.. the game is half side-quests and that is more then any other game to date and it doesn't work.

We are critical of WW BECAUSE it's a Zelda game, this isn't Rachet and Clank. Zelda has a legacy to uphold as the game now spans half or more of many of it's players lifes. I've been gaming only 21 years of my life and 15 of those followed the story of Link and Zelda in the world of Hyrule. THAT is why I'm so critical.

[Sylentwulf]

I didn't notice anyone saying it was a bad story?

It was NOT long enough, they dragged it out by making you go back and forth a lot in the puzzles, and making you sail ALLLLL over the place lloking for the triforce parts, etc...

Noones saying it was a BAD game, or had a BAD story, just that they seemed to give up and say screw it, lets finish this thing already.

[brandver3]

I just fail to see why everyone is so critical. It was a well made game that in no way was rushed. End of story.

[Raedon]

sorry, but your "end of story" isn't the majority..

Zelda:WW

Story: 4
Graphics: 5
Sound: 4
Control: 4
Gameplay: 3
Replayablitiy: 2
satisfaction: 2 1/2 - fun but to short No sense of acomplishment with finishing game.

[Anonymous]

A large chunk of Miyamoto's responsibility was creating teams that could make a game the same way he did. Now that those teams have been formed, Miyamoto can afford to be the James Cameron of his industry, making the odd vanity project while supporting cash cow hit games. Here's hoping he doesn't turn into a Kevin Costner.

[brandver3]

fun but to short No sense of acomplishment with finishing game.

You saved Zelda, defeated Ganon, and everything was right in the land (or ocean) of Hyrule once more. What else do you want. A 15 mintue cinema and Miyamoto at your doorstep thanking you for beating it?

And that was about the best way ever to kill a last boss.

[Charlie]

"And that was about the best way ever to kill a last boss."

LMAO! FATALITY!!!

Seriously, you know what the wasted potential was? Instead of just dredging the Triforce pieces out of the water, you should have had to fetch them out of a dungeon. If they REALLY wanted to make it cool, you should have had to fetch them out of a dungeon under water in Hyrule... in a 3-D version of an original Zelda's dungeon. Now THAT would have rocked.

Yeah, you get the Triforce chart out of the great sea, and it opens up a dungeon under water in Hyrule. Sigh...

"WW takes about 25 hours from start to finish if you skip all the quests.. the game is half side-quests and that is more then any other game to date and it doesn't work."

25 Hours? I think if a player skipped all the side quests, the game could be done in under 20 hours... just like Pikmin or Luigi's Mansion. Pathetic. You know what? Nobody expects a Mario game to be a 40 hour epic, and yet Mario Sunshine was. I hate the excuse that if you don't think it's the best game ever, your standards are too high. It's a cop out.

[brandver3]

It is not a cop out. Maybe some of you don't really see the kind of crap that has been coming out on a weekly basis lately. I just don't see why we all have to sit here and nit pick one of the best games that came out recently because "its Zelda, we expect more". Why tear apart the only freaking decent game to come out in a month or two when you could be tearing apart a game that needs it, like maybe one of the trillion crappy platform titles or maybe a sports game. They are the convayor belt crap of this industry, not Zelda.

You can beat the first Zelda in 25 hours and it has no side quests. What makes WW so different?

[portnoyd]

Without looking at anyone else's post, and that this is the I beat Zelda GC thread, I'd like to say this and it won't spoil anyone. (I havent beat it yet):

TINGLE AND HIS $3,200 RUPEE "DECIPHERING" FEES CAN LICK MY SWEATY BALLSACK! WHAT THE FUCK IS A LOOPY 35 YEAR OLD FRUITCAKE GOING TO DO WITH OVER 3 GRAND?!

Just.. really, really pissed me off when one map cost me $400, and then the next one, and the next one, and then got pissed at *me* when I ran out of cash. If I could kill Tingle in game, I would.



dave