Game of the Month #40 (May 2018) - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Legend once told of a great evil that was vanquished by a young boy dressed in green, wielding a magical sword known as the blade of evil's bane. This boy, who traveled through time to save the land, was known as the Hero of time. After sealing away the great evil, he disappeared and his story was passed down through generations. However, many years later, the once thought forever sealed evil returned and, with the Hero of Time nowhere to be seen, the people of the land prayed to the gods for a miracle. No one know what happened to the land after that. Though the Kingdom and any memory of it has vanished, the legend of the Hero of Time still survives and it has become tradition for the people of Outset Island to dress the boys in the same green clothes when they become of age.

Our game picks up on the birthday of Link, our main character who is less then ecstatic to be of the age where he's given the clothes. This is the lest of his worries as the arrival of a huge bird carrying a pirate named Tetra sparks a bigger journey when it drops her and accidentally kidnaps Aryll, Link's younger sister, when it comes back. As a way of thanking Link (and being guilt tripped by the Rito postman), Tetra and her Pirate crew decide to take him to where the bird took Aryll, The Forsaken Fortress. Once there, Link infiltrates the hideout and finds out that his sister and a few other girls are being held at the top. However he is shortly caught by the bird and thrown into the ocean. Luckily, a talking boat that goes by the King of Red Lions saves Link and asks him to go on a quest to find something that will defeat the master of the Forsaken Fortress, Ganon. This quest will not only save his sister and the other girls locked in the hideout, but eventually save the world from whatever evil scheme Ganon has up his sleeves.

The original version was on Gamecube and an HD version was ported onto the WiiU with some added features.

Wololololo! Excited for this month!

Completed on Wii U in December 2016. 35-36 hours that went by so quickly. Not my favorite in the franchise, but a very fun and rewarding game ! Highly recommended.

Started playing the HD version (though having owned the original since about 2006 but never really played it past the Forsaken Fortress! - as far as I remember anyway, I played it briefly before Twilight Princess was released).

Up to Windfall Island now, so hopefully made more progress so far than I did on the original :)

I like to much this Zelda, I finished the Gamecube version and it became the second Zelda that I like more, behind just A Link to the Past.

The art direction is very very fun, the puzzles in the dungeons are cool, the only thing that could be better is the fight against the enemies, I guess the regular enemies a little easy.

Wow its weird to think that's it been over three years since I played this. I really enjoyed this game and its definitely one of my favorite games. I'd also rank it as my third favorite Legend of Zelda game. The art style is great, especially in the HD version and it was quite the experience to play. The story is one of the best in the series too in my opinion. And as it always is in the Zelda series the soundtrack was top notch. Wind Waker is one of the rare games where I mostly just focused on it solely (granted I was also busy with my senior project at the time so it was the only game I really could play). I don't think I'll end up replaying it this month, but I'm looking forward to what everyone thinks. Hope you all enjoy!

Yes!! I'll probably start this one later in the month (mid-term vacations on may 21rst to may 25th), so I can give it all the attention it deserves (and I can finish it once and for all)

Don't feel like digging out my Gamecube just to replay this but I remember growing to like Wind Waker quite a bit. Hope everyone playing it for the first time, or even replaying it has a good time :D

Putting this on ice for now. It's not really in the spirit of the book club if only one person is seemingly playing it.

Putting this on ice for now. It's not really in the spirit of the book club if only one person is seemingly playing it.

I'm playing it! I just haven't been able to really talk about it since my semester is reaching a fever pitch right now. I'm sure others are in a similar boat.

That being said, it does feel like for the past year or so the GotM hasn't really been all that active (or at least not as active as it was when it began). Maybe that's something worth discussing as a community?

I'm playing it! I just haven't been able to really talk about it since my semester is reaching a fever pitch right now. I'm sure others are in a similar boat.

That being said, it does feel like for the past year or so the GotM hasn't really been all that active (or at least not as active as it was when it began). Maybe that's something worth discussing as a community?

Yeah, I get the feeling that some people vote for a game they want others to play, or vote multiple times for the game because they want the game to have the GotM status. Given how small the community is I don't think either of those votes are helpful to the GotM getting a decent discussion.

I guess if people only voted on the game that they are willing to play that month it would improve things, however, given the anonymity of the vote it probably will still suffer from issues.

Yeah, I get the feeling that some people vote for a game they want others to play, or vote multiple times for the game because they want the game to have the GotM status. Given how small the community is I don't think either of those votes are helpful to the GotM getting a decent discussion.

I guess if people only voted on the game that they are willing to play that month it would improve things, however, given the anonymity of the vote it probably will still suffer from issues.

Just have people post what they are voting for. Eliminate the poll. Have someone tally the votes that were posted by the users (which isn't that much, given it's a small community). This wold eliminate multiple vote stacking

Just have people post what they are voting for. Eliminate the poll. Have someone tally the votes that were posted by the users (which isn't that much, given it's a small community). This wold eliminate multiple vote stacking

Yeah, probably a good idea, and maybe allow people to put their weight behind more than one game too (think Kerf suggested something like that in the podcast).

Yeah, I did think it kinda strange WindWaker went from, like, two votes to like six in an hour.

I am still playing the game, but it is slow-going, seeing as I have played this game numerous times now. Not only that, but nearly anyone who would have any passing interest in playing the game is likely to have done so already.

Serious question here... I haven't been following this thread. I'm just wondering what is it about. It seems to be about people actually playing the game of the month. It's what I seem to understand by reading people's comments about the thread not being really popular or the fact that not so many members are actually playing ?

The way I see it, the 'Game of the Month' thread could change into a thread about people playing the game, but also talking about it, what they liked or disliked about it. We could give out thoughts on the music, the game mechanics, the graphics, the overall story and gameplay and the difficulty level of the game. This could also help people who haven't played the game yet to see if it's a title worth looking at more seriously. And for those who have played said title, that could be a good way to remember how we felt while playing it.

In a way, the GotM thread is a good idea, but it could be much more than what it seems to be at the moment.

What do you guys think about this ?

Yeah, I did think it kinda strange WindWaker went from, like, two votes to like six in an hour.

I am still playing the game, but it is slow-going, seeing as I have played this game numerous times now. Not only that, but nearly anyone who would have any passing interest in playing the game is likely to have done so already.

I saw Yakuza do a similar thing near the end, where WW was a certainty - I hadn't voted in the tie break, as I felt like I had a few too many games on the go, but as WW was out in the lead by 3 or 4 votes (think it was up to 9 votes at the time), I thought I would cave and get stuff set up so I could play it too. Next thing I saw Yakuza had 9 votes too. As I had already prepared to start playing WW, I thought I might as well put in the deciding vote.

I'm one of those few people who have had an interest in playing it, but never actually got around to it for various reasons. Will certainly get back to it after I finish off Peace Walker though :)

Serious question here... I haven't been following this thread. I'm just wondering what is it about. It seems to be about people actually playing the game of the month. It's what I seem to understand by reading people's comments about the thread not being really popular or the fact that not so many members are actually playing ?

The way I see it, the 'Game of the Month' thread could change into a thread about people playing the game, but also talking about it, what they liked or disliked about it. We could give out thoughts on the music, the game mechanics, the graphics, the overall story and gameplay and the difficulty level of the game. This could also help people who haven't played the game yet to see if it's a title worth looking at more seriously. And for those who have played said title, that could be a good way to remember how we felt while playing it.

In a way, the GotM thread is a good idea, but it could be much more than what it seems to be at the moment.

What do you guys think about this ?

People do talk about the GotM as well as it is (and have done since it started), so voting for a game just because you want it to be discussed seems a bit pointless (also a discussion can be created about a game at any time :) - arranging multiple people to play around the same time is more difficult )

IMO the voting should really be an "I'm up for playing it" tally, whether replay or fresh, more players = more chance for on-going discussion being created. Not that it always works out that way, as people sometimes lack the time to post in the thread.

Just a bit out of topic (kind of), but I've been playing Phantom Hourglass for a few days now. I knew it was a sequel/follow up to Wind Waker, but I was so happy to realise how close it was in terms of gameplay macanics and just pure enjoyment. The game seems to pick up right after the end of Wind Waker. I'm six hours into the game and so far it's as fun and entertaining as the first game of this 'trilogy'. I highly recommend this game to anyone playing the game of the month at the moment (if you have a DS or 3DS that is).

Okay this is a game I've already played and i have a too large of a backlog for repeat plays :p

Anyway for a long time this was my favourite zelda game (until BotW). I loved the ascetics of this game and just sailing around the world was such a joy for me. The story was alot of silly fun and Zelda is the best version of Zelda i feel in any of these games (Pirate Zelda). The dungeons were ultimately easier then other Zelda games but i don't really hold that against the game as was always fun to play through and explore.

Okay this is a game I've already played and i have a too large of a backlog for repeat plays :p

Anyway for a long time this was my favourite zelda game (until BotW). I loved the ascetics of this game and just sailing around the world was such a joy for me. The story was alot of silly fun and Zelda is the best version of Zelda i feel in any of these games (Pirate Zelda). The dungeons were ultimately easier then other Zelda games but i don't really hold that against the game as was always fun to play through and explore.

Indeed! The first time that you take the boat and go free across the sea is fantastic!

Here’s an orchestrated medley of some of the game’s soundtrack that I just realized I should share with you all. Warning the video it plays has spoilers I think (Its been awhile since I’ve watched the video portion of it, I usually just listen to the audio).