I've been playing The Legend of Zelda, Wind Waker for a few weeks now. To be honest with you, the only reason I even invested in a Game Cube was for this game. I've been a fan of Nintendo's Zelda from day one.
Produced by Shigeru Miyamoto (who directed the original Zelda titles as well as numerous other Nintendo classics including the Mario Brothers games), this game had a lot of potential. The first Zelda title to be released on the Game Cube, it had the ability to follow in the footsteps of Ocarina of Time and Majora's mask, introducing us to the most realistic Link of all created with new and better hardware. Instead, though, a new Link was created, a cartoon Link.
Much has been said about the schism this created among hardcore Zelda fans. Some thought the new look was absurd, others loved it. It gave the game's designers room for much more creativity and expression, though. When Link gets startled and his eyes bug out, or an enemy gets wacked from behind and runs around holding his butt, you begin to understand the benefits of this type of animation. As I've been playing through, though, I can't help but feel like I'm playing a Flash movie.
And that's it: Wind Waker feels like a Flash movie. Clean vector looking graphics and beautiful shading give the world a brilliant and exciting feel. Subtle visual effects like the rolling ocean and blurring of items and characters farther out in Link's field of view are hard to get used to at first, but make the game feel more realistic, even as the cartoonishness of it makes it easier to immerse yourself in.
The only drawback I've found so far is the lack of recorded dialog between characters and strangeness in character interaction. With digital audio and DVD based storage, you would think that dialog could be read and acted out and character's movie sequences would be more fluent and smooth, but that's not the case. In one section, Link is talking to two other characters, one who apologizes for causing him so many problems. In the blink of an eye, his face goes from showing no emotion to having a huge smile that disappears in an instant. It's easy enough to interpret this as Link emphasizing that it's no big deal and all is forgiven, but it feels like bang, bang, bang, and he turns and walks away. Those are the things that snap you back out of Hyrule and make you realize it's still only a game.
I'm not sure how far into the game I am, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far. Worth the wait and the time it takes to play, Wind Waker is a great next step in the Zelda series, even though there's still room for improvement. As far as I'm concerned, if this is where games are headed, at least we're going in the right direction. Artistic and rich, exploring Hyrule is a great way to relax and unwind.