Topic: Playing Wind Waker again..

[ScaryTooth]

So, I've been playing a decent amount of my older games lately. I dunno why, I guess because there isn't a ton out that interests me that much at the moment. Last week I played HL2, then I played Metal Gear Solid 4 again. And then I got the urge to play "Wind Waker", so I whipped out the ol Gamecube, and Wavebird am currently going to town. And It made me think. This game is incredibly awesome, both gameplay wise, story wise, and artistically it's awesome.

I remember when the game was announced and was released. People bitched about it being to cartoonish, and childish. And it makes me sad because most games coming out currently are just artistically neutered. Everything has to be realistic, and rough looking. And it's lame. Look at all those modern warfare, call of duty, and medal of honor games, they all look ridiculously similar. Only once in a while will we get something that's really cool looking, and imaginative. I think the next game like that might be "The Last Guardian".  I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but the current state of games is kind of "blah".

Anyway, after WW, I think I might play FFIX. Which, I think is probably my favorite in the whole series....

[K-man]

Wind Waker was a great game up until the triforce scavenger hunt.  that's really the only problem I had with it

[ScaryTooth]

http://www.joystickdivision.com/2010/06/pretension_1_gamers_you_ruined.php

There is what I'm trying to say. Except that guy did a way better job of it.

[Cobra951]

This game is incredibly awesome, both gameplay wise, story wise, and artistically it's awesome.

I remember when the game was announced and was released. People bitched about it being to cartoonish, and childish. And it makes me sad because most games coming out currently are just artistically neutered.

I agree completely about WW.  I played through it again a couple of years ago, which is 5 years after its release, and still looked outstanding.  The interaction is fluid and very tight.  Camera control is superior to Twilight Princess's, which I swear was nerfed on the GC version to not make the Wii version look bad.

Skyward Sword has a style reminiscent of WW's.  It's not as cartoony, but looks painted more than realistic.  So not all games are artistically neutered.

Edit:

http://www.joystickdivision.com/2010/06/pretension_1_gamers_you_ruined.php

There is what I'm trying to say. Except that guy did a way better job of it.

[Hmm, I really misunderstood everything the first time, even who I was quoting.]

Disagree completely with this guy.  He's blaming consumers for Nintendo's creative decisions?  What a load of crap.  He's right in praising WW, but I think if anything, the look of Skyward Sword is that nice because of it, and not in any way a timid departure from it to please whiny fanboys.

[gpw11]

I'm playing this through Dolphin right now and it's amazing how well it scales to HD and all that. Very fun game, but seriously, the first time I sailed I was almost already bored with it. And this coming from a guy who had no problem with the train sequences in Spirit Tracks.

[Cobra951]

Much of it is shaded polygons rather than textured.  That is, the look is mostly procedural.  Upgrade the procedure, and it all takes a dramatic turn for the better.  Only the scant textures look blurry and out of place.  Plus it's cartoony, so it never looks dated, unlike early attempts at realism.  I'm convinced this is why Nintendo chose it for a remaster for the WiiU.

[gpw11]

Makes perfect sense.   You can apparently also install a shader pack to get all the bloom effects, etc but I haven't gotten to work unfortunately. 

But seriously, the sailing.... That part hasn't aged well, thank god for alt+tab

[Cobra951]

You sail faster in the remaster, according to what I've read.  I guess it's a common complaint.  I liked it fine.  It felt great to go sailing accompanied by the epic music.

[gpw11]

Yeah, one of the benefits of the remaster is that you can get a faster sail or something.   I think my dislike of it revolves around the fact that I play in pretty short bursts and it eats a lot of the time I'd rather be exploring a dungeon.  


EDIT:  Also, Black Flag may have ruined me.

[Cobra951]

Yeah, one of the benefits of the remaster is that you can get a faster sail or something.   I think my dislike of it revolves around the fact that I play in pretty short bursts and it eats a lot of the time I'd rather be exploring a dungeon.  


EDIT:  Also, Black Flag may have ruined me.

Oh, true.  Playing WW after BF would be anticlimactic on the open waters.  WW was fabulous in this regard, 12 years ago.

[gpw11]

Just finished this game and it was pretty amazing.  I love Zelda but tried to play Skyward Sword about a year ago and had to stop - there was a reoccuring mechanic that I just couldn't stand (I mean, besides the motion controls).  This was a ton more enjoyable for me even though I did find the sailing pretty tedious, as previously mentioned. 

I think my only real complaint would be that most of the boss battles weren't really as enjoyable as previous Zelda games I've played. 

Oh, on Dolphin there's also a way to skip the Triforce Quest at the end entirely and I did that.  I don't regret it at all.

[Cobra951]

I forced myself to get through the frustrating issues with Skyward Sword.  I'm glad I did, but I doubt I'll ever play it again.  The last 2 games I played on my Wii were Wind Waker and Twilight Princess (proper Gamecube version).  I can't remember which was most recent.  I played through WW more than once on the Wii.

[gpw11]

I tried so hard with Skyward Sword, but ultimately one of those sections where you have to sneak around and get orbs just pissed me off enough to not care anymore.  I would have loved to play more but just couldn't justify being (possibly irrationaly) miserable when I'm doing something I'm supposed to enjoy.

[Cobra951]

Yeah, that's horrible.  Pissed me off too.  But after a couple of failures, it got much easier.  I have this vague memory of some sort of snooze-button kind of trick on the timer?  More like a feeling than a memory now.  It's been too long.  Oh, and you can stay ahead of those assholes for a while too, so all is not necessarily lost when they go into chase mode.

Edit:  I said this about it back then:

Yeah, I hated those too, but they're not too bad after a couple of failed tries to familiarize yourself with the layout.  You can also run away from the guardians a lot longer than I thought possible when I first started.  Basically, never say die, and you should get through them all within a few tries.  It doesn't make it any more fun, though.  They do suck intensely, like the repeating dungeon in the first DS Zelda.

The "Quote from" line links to the SS thread.