The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was released on December 13, 2002, for the GameCube and was one of the most controversial Zelda games up until that point.

The months building up to release had mixed reviews from the fans because of the art style. They had wanted a more realistic, gritty Zelda game in the same vein of Ocarina of Time. The game’s art style had more of a Saturday morning cartoon style to it. The characters were all vibrantly colored and were full of personality. Over time, this game became one of the most loved Zelda games by the fans. The combat is exceptional because they really fixed the problems that the lock-on functionality had in Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time. Every puzzle in the dungeons feels fun and different from the last. The game has a great open world that includes islands among a vast, open sea. The Wind Waker itself controls the wind so that the boat that you travel on can actually move. The game doesn’t have too much of a difficulty spike, but if you aren’t paying attention, it’s going to come back and bite you. The Wii U also got a port of this game so if you’re wanting it to be more accessible, there is the alternative.

I give this game an 8/10.