What are everyone's thoughts on the rerelease of Wind Waker for WiiU while we wait for the next game? Below are are some tidbits from the Nintendo Life article about it. You can read the full story here:
New Content
Please be aware that this section contains minor plot spoilers, so read at your own risk
Improvements making use of new hardware are to be expected, this is after all being released on a new console. Yet to really sell it to the existing owner, The Wind Waker HD needs to have something new. In the same way Ocarina of Time 3D reintroduced the Master Quest, The Wind Waker has plenty left to discover.
Revealed in an interview with series producer Eiji Aonuma, a decision was taken during development to cut a few dungeons from the game, leaving obvious gaps in their wake. For example, during the first quest to retrieve the Goddess Pearls, you arrive at a ruined Greatfish Isle and discover that the Water Spirit Jabun has fled following Ganondorf’s attack. After eventually tracking Jabun down, he simply gives you Nayru’s Pearl – considering the lengths you had to go to for the previous two, this seems a little too easy.
So perhaps now is the time to reinstate this legendary lost dungeon, and give Jabun the story he deserves alongside Valoo and the Great Deku Tree. Reinstating this dungeon, perhaps as part of an open Greatfish Isle, would be a valuable addition to the game, and would lend credence to Jabun simply giving you the pearl after finding him.
The other area where dungeon space has been clearly cut are the Fire and Ice Temples, which only appear as short item acquisition quests in the original game. Expansion of these would greatly improve the overall gameplay, although perhaps removing the original dungeons entirely would tarnish the faithfulness to the original.
A continued controversy with The Wind Waker, and another area that has since been apologised for by Aonuma, is the late-game Triforce fetch quests, which sees Link searching across the Great Sea for the eight fragments of the Triforce of Courage. Aside from the length of the quest, the anticlimactic nature of it as the final battle approaches has been a point of debate for years, and now Nintendo can rectify this. Much like the Fire and Ice Temples, simply removing it does a disservice to the original game, but perhaps a more streamlined approach is in order. Mini-dungeons upon finding the pieces could perhaps enhance the quest, but whatever the case, it’s an area that could do with a tune-up.
While these are the well documented elements that the producers have admitted to wanting to change since launch, there are a few other areas that could really sell The Wind Waker HD to the returning player. With the recent canon revelations put forward by Skyward Sword, and the timeline placing set by Hyrule Historia, there is a chance to add extra continuity into The Wind Waker, and maybe clear up why Beedle only appears in a few games (it’s important to know!).
A Master Quest is another option to add in, remixing the dungeons slightly and making the ocean more dangerous. And then there’s the exploration of Hyrule Castle. The game goes to great lengths to assert that this is the world of Ocarina of Time underwater, so why not let us explore a bit more? Zelda fans would love to revisit Castle Town Market or enter Hyrule Field in the world of The Wind Waker, and even if there is nothing there it is something that would be memorable to all Zelda fans.
New Content
Please be aware that this section contains minor plot spoilers, so read at your own risk
Improvements making use of new hardware are to be expected, this is after all being released on a new console. Yet to really sell it to the existing owner, The Wind Waker HD needs to have something new. In the same way Ocarina of Time 3D reintroduced the Master Quest, The Wind Waker has plenty left to discover.
Revealed in an interview with series producer Eiji Aonuma, a decision was taken during development to cut a few dungeons from the game, leaving obvious gaps in their wake. For example, during the first quest to retrieve the Goddess Pearls, you arrive at a ruined Greatfish Isle and discover that the Water Spirit Jabun has fled following Ganondorf’s attack. After eventually tracking Jabun down, he simply gives you Nayru’s Pearl – considering the lengths you had to go to for the previous two, this seems a little too easy.
So perhaps now is the time to reinstate this legendary lost dungeon, and give Jabun the story he deserves alongside Valoo and the Great Deku Tree. Reinstating this dungeon, perhaps as part of an open Greatfish Isle, would be a valuable addition to the game, and would lend credence to Jabun simply giving you the pearl after finding him.
The other area where dungeon space has been clearly cut are the Fire and Ice Temples, which only appear as short item acquisition quests in the original game. Expansion of these would greatly improve the overall gameplay, although perhaps removing the original dungeons entirely would tarnish the faithfulness to the original.
A continued controversy with The Wind Waker, and another area that has since been apologised for by Aonuma, is the late-game Triforce fetch quests, which sees Link searching across the Great Sea for the eight fragments of the Triforce of Courage. Aside from the length of the quest, the anticlimactic nature of it as the final battle approaches has been a point of debate for years, and now Nintendo can rectify this. Much like the Fire and Ice Temples, simply removing it does a disservice to the original game, but perhaps a more streamlined approach is in order. Mini-dungeons upon finding the pieces could perhaps enhance the quest, but whatever the case, it’s an area that could do with a tune-up.
While these are the well documented elements that the producers have admitted to wanting to change since launch, there are a few other areas that could really sell The Wind Waker HD to the returning player. With the recent canon revelations put forward by Skyward Sword, and the timeline placing set by Hyrule Historia, there is a chance to add extra continuity into The Wind Waker, and maybe clear up why Beedle only appears in a few games (it’s important to know!).
A Master Quest is another option to add in, remixing the dungeons slightly and making the ocean more dangerous. And then there’s the exploration of Hyrule Castle. The game goes to great lengths to assert that this is the world of Ocarina of Time underwater, so why not let us explore a bit more? Zelda fans would love to revisit Castle Town Market or enter Hyrule Field in the world of The Wind Waker, and even if there is nothing there it is something that would be memorable to all Zelda fans.
