The Wind Waker certainly is a very interesting case. If anything, my opinion of the game has only grown since its release. The Wind Waker did so many things right: It showed the power of the Gamecube, possessed a musical instrument which was not only central to the story but also fun to play, juxtaposed the principles of light and dark, and possessed one of the most sentimental, rich, and varied stories in franchise history.
At Space World 2001,a more realistic Zelda game in the vein of Ocarina of Time was shown to highlight the power of the Gamecube. Fast forward two years and the seemingly cheerful and cell-shaded Wind Waker is released. In retrospect, however, The Wind Waker is a greater technical marvel than Twilight Princess. Twilight Princess suffered due to trying to portray a more photorealistic world on a system that was not up to the task. Taking a more stylistic approach, The Wind Waker avoided this same fate. Nintendo made excellent use of the Gamecube's color palette with The Wind Waker and only added to the immersion of the experience by providing smooth transition between the fundamentally similar but truly different worlds to explore in the game. There was everything a Zelda fan could want smashed into that title-realms of forest, fire, water, and so much more.
The musical instrument whose name is in the title of The Wind Waker was also a pleasure to play. Above all, it was never a hassle to pull out The Wind Waker and change the direction of the wind, teleport or the like. This was something that disappointingly was not true of the harp in Skyward Sword. Nintendo should take note from its past successes when creating another instrument for future installments. The Wind Waker is my second favorite instrument in the Zelda franchise after the Ocarina of Time in the N64 games.
On the surface, The Wind Waker seemed like a tranquil experience catered to children moreso than any installment before it. That could not be farther from the truth. Things quickly took a turn for the worse when Aryll was kidnapped by the Helmaroc King. In that respect, The Wind Waker followed in the footsteps of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask-it quickly got the player into the action. Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword struggled in that department. The melancholy tone that would repeatedly break the game's happiness returned in the Forsaken Fortress and every subsequent dungeon. This contrast between happiness and despair-yin and yang-was personified most clearly in Ganondorf. The traditional series villain took on a completely new role in The Wind Waker. No longer was he the same power-hungry, greedy, and arrogant overlord from Ocarina of Time. Centuries of being trapped away in the Sacred Realm hardened his soul. Ganondorf appears to be a much more pensive figure than ever before. This is heavily implied in his choice of diction throughout the game, ": Do you sleep still? Wait! Do not be so hasty, boy... I can see this girl's dreams... Oceans... Oceans... Oceans... Oceans... Oceans as far as the eye can see. They are vast seas... None can swim across them... They yield no fish to catch... What did the King of Hyrule say?... That the gods sealed Hyrule away? And they left behind people who would one day awaken Hyrule?". While eventually turning berserk and challenging Link to a sword fight to the death, Ganondorf does not initially have malicious intentions-at least on the surface. This new approach to a villain in the series is a testament to The Wind Waker's timeless appeal.