Would you say that the Windwaker was a step in the right direction for Zelda?

I really like this game. Although I've played all the Zelda games this is the only one I actually own myself, and I must say that I truly enjoyed it. The graphics were amazing and different and the gameplay was great, although there was a pretty large amount of sailing sometimes. To me the size of the dungeons were just fine, though. No problem there.

I think it was nice that the developers got to experiment a bit, especially with the look of the game, but the new one seems to be going back to the older look... and it really looks exciting.

I disagree. Strip away those cell-shdaed graphics, and you have a replica of Ocarina of Time's gameplay. Nothing was really changed in gameplay except battles are now much easier because you have the win button (A button) and the enemies just stand their and let you kill them. The graphics just made it look different, but the gameplay has not changed.

Zelda gameplay isn't supposed to differ very much from game to game. Refinements like parrying and being able to wield enemies' weapons are satisfactory.

It was a decent game, but it had its poor points. The sailing was terrible, it was far too monotonous and tedious. Even once you get the warp song, you can only get to a few of the islands with it. And there wasn't enough dungeon work. The dungeons they had were nice, but I would trade in an hour of sailing for an extra five minutes of dungeon any day. Had there been five main islands, with a dungeon on each, with only a couple side islands to visit, it could have been a much more enjoyable experience. But I don't want to have to spend forever sailing just to get from point A to point B.

Ocarina of Time did overworld travel well. The overworld was still fairly large, but the time it took to get from one point to another was still faster than it took to get from one island to another (and since you may have to go past three islands to get to your destination, you'd be at it for a while). Plus, once you got the warping songs, you could go to every important map area except Lon Lon Ranch and the Gerudo Valley instantly.

Wind Waker wasn't a bad game, but it didn't live up to its potential. The best thing about buying it was that I got a copy of Master Quest.

I agree with SuperNatural on most points here. The battles in this game were far too easy, as were the minigames/puzzles. I was very disappointed in those areas. I also didn't like how "kiddy" the game was, and I'm dearly hoping Twilight Princess is better there.

As far as the sailing goes, I actually didn't mind that at all; it was an interesting twist, anyway. I also rather enjoyed the new battle system with the parrying and everything, but it was essentially useless in the game because the battles were so easy, you couldn't really use it for anything.

If they just make the next game's battles hard, I'll be happy with that much.

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As far as the sailing goes, I actually didn't mind that at all; it was an interesting twist, anyway. I also rather enjoyed the new battle system with the parrying and everything, but it was essentially useless in the game because the battles were so easy, you couldn't really use it for anything.

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I thought it was pretty useful, myself. Especially for Darknuts.

All official Zelda games, were a step in the right direction... with exception to that old side scrolling one.

I think Wind Waker was a step in the wrong direction in that it alienated a portion of the Zelda fan community. Now, eventually most people came around and realized it was just as good as the previous entries in the series; the gameplay was true to the roots, the combat was more fun than ever, and there was still a large world to explore with enough sidequests to satisfy just about everybody. But, from a business standpoint, switching to a graphical style that made everybody stand up and say "wtf?" was definitely not a good idea.

I don't understand why you guys hated the triforce search at the end of Windwaker. To me, it was the first time in a Zelda game that actually had use of rupees. Before than, if you collected a rupee, well, who really cared? Wow, look at that, nowhere to spend it. This time, there was actually a story objective to collect that much money to beat the game. I enjoyed it, honestly.

i like it so far, despite the Harvest Moon like graphics. i don't think i ever played a game that involved much free movement (besides Tenchu), and i really enjoy it. one thing i don't like how i begin like a mile away from the point i last saved, though it's quite minor...

It had its ups and downs.

To sum it up for me : The graphic landscapes looked awesome but the characters destroyed my virgin eyes

It was decent. The bosses were cool, albeit pretty straightforward, the music was excellent, the sper deformed chibis were...not something I'd like to see revisited, but the sailing...it was interesting at first, but it lost it's appeal. Fast. The battle when in the boat was lacking at best, and extremely confining. The triforce gathering quest...it was okay, but I didn't like being forced to shell out massive amounts of cash to complete a quest.

There is no such thing as a step in the right direction for Zelda. Nor is there a step in the wrong direction. Zelda has always been at the forefront of innovation in video games, and has always been an amazing experience. Hopefully it will continue to do so in the future.

By the way, how come no one ever mentions The Minish Cap? Everyone is quick to pick on Wind Waker, but Minish Cap was an even greater departure from the series norm and no one seems to care. Doesn't make any sense.

What was particularly divergent about The Minish Cap? Switching between two perspectives of the same world is old hat in this series.

I ask the same question as Kishi. There was not much that really made the Minish Cap different than other Zelda games, or at least not much that I can see.