This is where it truly comes into its own, providing a sense of adventure and discovery that’s rarely found in most modern titles. While it'll often prod you in the right direction, it’s not always a straightforward affair, and in most instances you’ll need to explore the overworld, updating your sea chart and knowledge of each island you find along the way.
Nevertheless, exploration remains a key aspect of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. As a result, the second half pales in comparison to the first, with the exception of the epic confrontation that takes place at the end. Without spoiling it, other assets are also re-used to pad out the final stages a clear sign that Nintendo had a demanding schedule to meet in 2003, but also – and more worryingly – that it doesn’t see any problem with this part 10 years later.
It’s important to note that there still are some map translating/navigating and minor puzzle-solving challenges during this part of the game – which makes sense as it retains an element of exploration – but it’s just nowhere near as fun as working your way through a large themed dungeon. It’s definitely a lot better in terms of pacing, but many of the shard mini-quests fail to match the inventiveness of the core dungeons. Now you can simply find most shards straight away, although you’ll need to complete a simple puzzle or beat a bad guy or two beforehand. Previously you had to find a sea chart for each shard, get it deciphered for an absurd amount of Rupees and then use it to locate the shard. Unfortunately, Nintendo hasn’t opted to insert new dungeons in its place, but it has at least streamlined the entire process of collecting Triforce shards. It was clearly inserted in the original as a means to artificially lengthen it, and not only did this completely kill the relatively smooth pace of the game up until that point, but it also highlighted how few dungeons there were to explore. For the uninitiated, it is essentially a glorified fetch quest where you locate eight shards of the Triforce of Courage. The most substantial difference in this regard is found within the notorious Triforce Quest segment. The core content and structure remain mostly unchanged and this is just as well the dungeon design and puzzle-solving elements were never in need of an overhaul and still hold up very well today. An extensive number of tweaks have been made to the core gameplay, nearly all of which have helped to drastically improve the overall pacing. However, there’s so much more to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD than just its pretty makeover. Moreover, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD’s game world is brimming with emotion and character, making it the perfect story to be retold in high definition. The move to HD is only partly responsible for the game's lush graphics - the main reason why the visuals excel is all down to the original art direction taken by Nintendo it has a timeless quality and the fact that a simple resolution boost and improved lighting can make it look as good as it does now just goes to show far how ahead of its time the GameCube version truly was. It's not damaging to the gameplay in any way, but it's just a shame that such slowdown is present despite Wind Waker being on a much more advanced system. If there's one minor gripe that can be levelled at the game it's the fact that the frame rate still drops now and again when things get a little hectic. Distant objects are no longer subject to blurring and the improved lighting results in a brighter, much more vibrant look and feel. In fact, with the exception of the odd basic animation here and there, it doesn’t look out of place at all when compared alongside modern efforts on Wii U and other HD systems.
The first thing you notice when you start playing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is just how much at home its colourful world looks on Wii U, and that none of its charm has been lost during its transition.
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