The game released a day after my 13th birthday and yeah, it was pretty damn pretty.
Simple Greatness - The Windwaker
On 07/12/2019 at 02:47 PM by Matt Snee See More From This User » |
I bought my Gamecube from a friend who was moving to Europe. I didn't think much of it at the time... I hadn't been into video games for a little while, and I had just moved to Philly, where I didn't know many people. For a short while, I think it was 2003/2004, Nintendo's Zelda game The Windwaker was the most beautiful part of my life. While some people didn't like the cartoon graphics and the sailing, I loved both, and it remains one of my favorite Zelda games.
All my life I had romantisized sailing - and had done a little too, in Ocean City, MD. But I had always dreamt of it, and now there I was, along a fantastic sea, aboard a little sailboat that talked to me. I loved floating through the waves and discovering islands. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before, a beautiful freedom I had never imagined.
The game isn't without its faults - climbing through that tunnel in the beginning of the game looking for that mouse or whatever is insanely tedious - but the game provides many joys. I don't want to spoil things for people who haven't played it, but for me, the moment when the Hyrule tower rises out of the sea is one of my favorite in all of gaming history.
Nintendo released a more beautiful version of the game for Wii U a few years back, and I played a bit of it. Wish I had played more. I'm hoping they'll release it for Switch.
But, that day when I first started the game, and saw Link's footprints trailing him in the sand...that was a great day.
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