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2002

This was a pretty good year for gaming for several different reasons, but the reason I'm excited to talk about this year is because one of my favorite games of all time was released this year. It's a game that didn't necessarily get a fair shot when it was released due to a couple different reasons, one I'm sure being that people expectations were a bit high for what was delivered. But as time went on, this game in particular garnered more popularity and is now seen as a staple and a must play in the series. I'm talking about The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, or as i'll mention it for the rest of this post: Wind Waker

I still remember pretty vividly the first time I ever played this. I was in my younger brothers room because he had the Nintendo Gamecube at the time, and I somehow acquired a copy of Wind Waker. I hadn't really played a lot of Zelda games at this point in my life, so getting into a new one seemed like a pretty good idea. Little did I know I would end up spending hours and days playing through this on a small TV in my brothers room. I enjoyed everything from using the boat on water, to doing the dungeons, to even filling up every square of the map. I honestly believe that this was one of the very first times I actually 100% completed the entire game. I did all the mini side quests and found everything I could. The graphics were pretty great for their time, but I think people were expecting something more along the lines of Twilight Princess which if I remember correctly, caused Wind Waker to really not be a big seller at the time. It's a shame too, because if people could have gotten passed the games look and dove into it much like I did, I think a lot more people would have enjoyed it. It has everything that makes a great Legend of Zelda game, but I just think the graphics held it back.

Fortunately, years later we did get an HD remaster, and my god, I prefer the HD remaster over the original, despite the original still looking pretty good for its time. The HD remaster not only added more beauty to the graphics, but added some quality of life changes that really made the game that much more enjoyable. More specifically I'm talking about the upgraded sail that makes you travel twice as fast when riding on water.

I also thought it was really cool to still follow the same trend as Ocarina of Time by giving you a musical instrument that has special powers that allows you to teleport around the world etc. I honestly think the Wind Waker as an instrument is cool than the Ocarina, though both serve their purpose really well, and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if the opinion was the opposite. Both games come with great music, but I just really like the more simplified ideas behind Wind Waker. Really worked well with its overlaying theme of being on an island in the middle of nowhere.

Speaking of the map, it's huge. Lots of dungeons, lots of places to explore. Lots of neat quirky individuals to meet. Wind Waker has everything to make a great Zelda game like I said, and it honestly has some of the coolest boss fights. Especially the one against Ganon at the end. I've always enjoyed boss fights in Zelda games but I think Wind Waker adds a little extra spice to make it feel familiar yet also it's own thing.

Hell, I would play Wind Waker right now if I had my Wii U set up. It's still a great time to go through and I highly recommend it to anyone that hasn't taken the plunge yet. Also play the HD remaster. It's better in every way.