The Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker Initial Impressions

[KungPaoChicken]

Planet Gamecube has imported the new Zelda game for the Nintendo Gamecube (Damn IGN and their damn Insiders):

http://www.planetgamecube.com/impressio ... ile&id=534

and

http://www.planetgamecube.com/impressio ... ile&id=543

Here are some notable excerpts:

It’s all about DETAIL. The new “toon-shaded” art style of Zelda... allows Nintendo to achieve a level of detail that no Zelda has had before. Link’s face is amazingly expressive, something very hard to get right with polygons... Even better, his face is FUNCTIONAL, his eyes calling your attention to anything you might have missed. This small change in art style gives us something that we’ve had to ignore in so many other games, which is a true sense of emotion. These characters FEEL, and every emotion is clearly defined and realized. No longer do gamers need to assume an emotion based on text or stick figure actions; everything a character is feeling is shown right on their faces.

...there is a particle and physics (wind) engine in the game that is quite simply phenomenal.

The enemy AI shows a varying degree of intelligence, even between like creatures. When you knock the weapon out of a Moblin’s hand, for example, he will look around for a suitable replacement weapon, rushing to it if he locates one. If there is no weapon to be found, they’ll proceed to fight you hand-to-hand.

...with every hit you land, the music reacts with a new note or percussion. We’re used to having music dynamically change when you enter or leave an area, but changing as you fight, and in direct reaction to that fight is new...

There’s really only one other accolade that I can give a game I’ve played so little of, but here goes: So far, I’m enjoying the game more than even Metroid Prime.

...this game... feels like it has been drawn from my very own imagination, the way I used to dream about the world when I was a child.

As an art form, games rarely invoke emotion. A few have managed to scare us, and those were truly revolutionary for their time, but this is the first time I’ve felt other emotions from a game, the way I can from an excellent movie.

...tons of new features and concepts, most notably the boat and an enormous sea to sail it on. Yes, this is how you’ll get from place to place, and the sea’s immense size gives quite an epic feel to the game. The sea is made of 49 square sectors on the map, each as big as Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule Field.

Sword combat is considerably more complex and engaging; Link can use multiple attack combos depending on what direction you press on the control stick. There are also new instant-death attacks that can only be done by pressing A when your sword glows, which seems to happen only when enemies are in certain positions and certain distances from Link.

Instead of thick black lines drawn around every polygonal model, the polygons themselves are almost difficult to make out. The character models in particular are amazingly smooth and round. The lighting effects are as natural as I’ve ever seen, and the game really knows how to show them off when it wants to. The glow coming off hot lava actually resonates all over the room, and you can watch it move and shift as the lava ebbs and flows. Shadows are also extremely well done, and Link’s own shadow is among the best I’ve ever seen in a 3D game.

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It's pretty cool that people are enjoying it this much despite the fact that they don't really know Japanese. Nevertheless, we won't know exactly how we will like it until we get to play it in March 2003. Personally, I can't wait.

[leathelanime]

are you going to post Zelda news every freaking week?

[The Wired Knight]

I knew aboaut the eye thing a long time ago. And in all honesty Zelda isn't the first game with facial animation likethis, Conker started it and Zelda just improvedon iat. Either waaya I knew it would be a good game, still don't like the graphics.

[HellBlazer]

At 1st..i thought the graphix sucked. But over the summer when i saw a video of the game..it completly changed my mind. The game is so smooth and cartoony..i love it

[leathelanime]

Cell-shaded graphics is the future and is very cool at that

::goes back to playing Jet Set Radio Future::