The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is the tenth installment in the Legend of Zelda series made by Nintendo. It was released in 2002 for the Nintendo Gamecube.
== Plot ==
The adventure takes place in a vast ocean called the Great Sea, said to be Hyrule from Ocarina of Time, but filled with water so that only the tops of the mountains come up out of the water and thus creating many islands spread out across the ocean. A young boy named Link lives on the island of Outset with his grandmother and sister. The inhabitants of the Great Sea tell the legend of a vast kingdom with a hidden power. An evil man named Ganondorf located and stole this power, called the Triforce. Ganondorf ruled over the land until a boy dressed in green defeated him and sealed him away. Traditionally on Outset Island, when a boy becomes the same age as the legendary hero in green, that boy is presented with the same green tunic that the legendary hero was said to have worn. Link is presented with the tunic by his grandmother on his birthday. During his special day, he spots a large bird carrying a girl. The girl is dropped in a forest, and Link must locate a sword and go and save her. After saving the girl, whose name happens to be Tetra, Link returns to the village only to witness his own sister being captured and wisked away by the bird. Link then sets out with Tetra and her band of pirates to find his sister, and the adventure begins.
The crew sail to the Forsaken Fortress where Tetra knows the bird resides. Link attempts to infiltrate the fortress and save his sister, but is unsuccessful. Link is flung from the fortress by the giant bird; he is then rescued by a mysterious talking boat called the King of Red Lions, who tells him the story of Ganondorf, the evil of legend. The King of Red Lions gives Link the Wind Waker, a baton used to control the direction of the wind. He then instructs Link to sail around the Great Sea and locate the pearls of the Goddesses. Link obtains the pearls and places each at their respective island, collectively called the Triangle Islands, and causes the Tower of the Gods to rise up from under the water. Link defeats Gohdan inside the Tower to prove his worth, then travels below the sea in a golden light and comes to Hyrule Castle, frozen in time. The King of Red Lions instructs Link to go into the castle and retrieve the Master Sword. Link removes the sacred blade from its pedestal, causing the castle to un-freeze and unleashing all of the enemies inside.
After fighting his way out of the castle, Link returns to the Forsaken Fortress and saves his sister and other prisoners who were being held captive there. However, Ganondorf easily overpowers Link and proceeds to inform him that by taking the Master Sword, Link has broken the seal and unleashed Ganondorf's full power, and that the Master Sword can no longer repel evil. As Tetra's identity as Princess Zelda is revealed, Link and his friends are rescued by two Rito that they had helped previously. Link and Tetra go back to Hyrule Castle, where the King of Red Lions reveals himself to be the King of Hyrule. He tells them how Ganondorf was sealed by the gods and how Hyrule was flooded, creating the vast ocean with many islands. The king then combines a piece of the Triforce of Wisdom with the remaining fragment held by Tetra to transform her into Princess Zelda. Then the king informs Link that the Master Sword lost its power because the Sages of Earth and Wind were killed. Link uses the Earth God's Lyric to reveal Medli, a Rito, as the next Earth Sage, and the Wind God's Aria to reveal Makar as the next Wind Sage. They then restore the Master Sword to full power.
Link then must locate the eight shards of the Triforce of Courage and combine them to restore it to its full power. After doing so, Link travels to Ganon's Tower. After defeating copies of all the bosses found previously in the game, Link finally can confront the King of Evil. After much fighting, the Triforce is extracted from Link, Tetra, and Ganondorf and fully forms. Whoever touches it will have his greatest desire granted. Ganondorf tries to touch it, but the King of Hyrule gets there first. He asks the gods to give Link and Zelda a future and wash away Hyrule with Ganondorf. Realizing that he is now doomed, Ganondorf proceeds to battle viciously with Link. Link is eventually victorious, embedding the Master Sword into Ganondorf's forehead and turning him to stone. Link and Zelda escape and sail away to create a new world together, setting up the events of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.
== Gameplay ==
The basic controls are similar to the controls found in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Link can walk, run, roll, parry to the right or left, and flip backwards. Like other Zelda games, many items specific to each dungeon in the game are used. An example of a new item to the series is the Deku Leaf, which Link can use like a parachute to glide from one place to another. He can also use it like a fan to blow large gusts of wind at enemies and other objects. Link is equipped with a sword and sheild throughout the game. The combat system is changed from previous installments. In this adventure, Link can roll around enemies and strike from behind or jump over them and slash at their heads. In addition to the main quest, many side quests are available for the player. Link can collect objects such as feathers and necklaces and give a certain amount to characters in the game to receive rewards. Also, Pieces of Heart can be obtained throughout the adventure to increase Link's life energy.
The graphics and art style are also changed drastically from previous games. The game uses a variant of cel-shaded graphics, giving the game a more "cartoony" aspect to it while also adding advanced realistic effects such as bump-mapping. Some fans were discontented at this change in approach, but others praised it for adding much more detail to environments and character expressions. The music in the game is inspired from music in past installments.
Category:Stubs
Category:The Legend of Zelda series
Category:Games released on the Nintendo GameCube
Category:Games released in 2003
Category:Games that are rated E