Pandora's Box: The Ultimate GameCube Tier List

#3: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Rating: E

Players: 1

Price Range: ~$71 USD

The third 3D game in the Legend of Zelda series and the first one on the system.

Okay, now, this one is a bit divisive too, especially this version of the game compared to the Wii U remaster, which is basically on a dead console as of now unfortunately, very much like Sunshine and one of the later entries in the ranking, where there's not really much competition of which it could be.

However, this game is amazing and snags the bronze medal of the entire list.

This game is quite tragic since, well, people didn't like it due to the cel-shaded graphics, which were new at the time thanks to more advanced technology. At first, people where...confused, as the Space World 2000 trailer with Ganon and Link fighting was more...realistic and in line with the art style of the previous games in the series on the Nintendo 64. Seeing a cartoonish art style gave people the impression that it was for kids, and this unfortunately led the game's sales to be disappointing and the travesty that was Twilight Princess to be the way it is.

However, now, the art style is considered one of the game's best aspects, aging like fine wine, as the cel-shading is what allows the game to really hold up even more than two decades later. Every part of the game's presentation is truly amazing. The unique cartoonish design upon everything really makes it appear beautiful, from the way the characters emote, to the way the Great Sea has these bent lines to appear as waves and disappear as you get closer, it all looks fantastic while running very well, although not at 60 FPS, which is not bad considering the draw distances and the presentation. It all works so well.

But...yeah, this is one of the console's premier adventure games.

To me, this is superior to Twilight Princess in virtually every single way minus something at the end of this experience that we'll get to, but my gosh, this is an amazing game. It's a little divisive, but the consensus is that it's a great game.

As mentioned, the graphics are fantastic, allowing the game to really hold up from a technical perspective. Unlike Twilight Princess, whose graphics caused it to appear drab, muddy, and with bloom effects that just make the game look kind of bad to me, here, it looks beautiful, with all of the locations and characters being insanely memorable. Outset, Windfall, and Dragonroost Island are all quite iconic areas in the series. The Great Sea as the overworld, with the mountaintops of the previous era being the islands, as the Hyrulean gods flooded Hyrule to stop Ganon from destroying everything is not only an intriguing idea, but the open-world is quite great. While it's somewhat empty and takes a while to traverse, you are always bound to find something interesting on your way to your destination. It's easily one of the best open-worlds in the series up until that point, as it's quite the amazing sandbox. And the characters? Oh my gosh are they quite great.

Link himself is incredibly expressive, which makes him a lot more relatable, even if he's just an impressionable character to the player. His sister Aryll is very sweet, kind, and sympathetic despite her limited screen time. Tetra is also a standout, as she's basically a captain of a pirate crew, and completely turns the entire disguise plot on its head, as unlike the previous two games, where Zelda disguised as Shiek, but Smash made it incredibly obvious and didn't really do anything other than giving surface level monologues and tunes for Link to play for teleportation, here, Tetra has a much more active role and is tomboyish, which is unlike the character. Also, unlike Ocarina, this Zelda doesn't even know she's Zelda to begin with and is incredibly shocked that this is basically her own fate, to hold the Triforce of Wisdom. The reveal is actually incredibly well done. And then there's Ganondorf, who is in one of his best reincarnations yet. Not only is he kind of intimidating and willing to kill Link and Zelda despite being children to the point of being unhinged, but he's actually kind of sympathetic, wanting to use the Triforce to restore Hyrule, albeit in his own image and monologues at how the 'winds' have caused his people suffering, a government in a desert where he was the only man amongst a tribe of women and meant to be their salvation from the lack of resources and quality of life, while it help and made everyone else's existence better really makes you sympathize with him. He wasn't born a monster, but everything around him made him one, and even if he wants to restore Hyrule in his image to cause pein to all that opposed him, he still wants to bring back Hyrule, the prosperous world sunk under an infinite sea. His laughter is so chilling that it honestly makes him the best human version of him by far in addition to one of the better forms of Zelda and Link. Even the side characters are quite amazing too. The King of Red Lions, the sentient sailboat, is a joy to talk to for advice and as your transport across the ocean. Beatle is easily the most iconic shopkeeper of the entire series, which is really no small feat. The Rito, the bird-like race who have evolved from the Zoras...for...some reason (it's kind of contradictory as the place is flooded), are quite interesting and are one of the more unique races in the series, especially in the set of games in the Breath of the Wild continuity. Medli is just a nice and charming girl who kind of feels sad and yet mature about being called to a higher purpose and having to leave her life behind. She's definitely a fan-favorite. Then you have the Koroks, these little tree people that were once the Kokiri forest people from the previous games. While they are admittedly annoying, they are at least endearing in a way. There are also the one-off characters. Salvatore, who hosts several minigames, including one of the best ones in the series, Sploosh-Kaboom, which is basically Battleship, is one of the more iconic ones from this game, being this rather depressed guy who is rather lonely and appreciates you going out to even in the middle of nowhere to play his games. You even have this one girl in this lavish penthouse who asks you to send a letter to a Moblin, y'know, an enemy, and it's incredibly strange and kind of hilarious at the same time. You have a really cool version of Tingle, who, while tied to the worst part of the game, is quite expressive like Link is. The characters are just quite special in this game, with their designs, movements, and facial expressions making them livelier than ever.