Now that Twilgiht Princess has been out for awhile and thoroughly enjoyed, the time has come to take a step back and compare it to its misunderstood predecessor, The Wind Waker.
Side by side, who is the victor? Is it manly man Link astride his noble steed, bow in hand, and Wiimote flashing? Or Chibi-Link firing on pirates from his courageous boat-king, swinging around like Errol Flynn, and parrying moblins like nobody’s business. Whose cuisine reigns supreme? Read on to find out.
- Risk vs. Reward: Enough with the Rupees! I don’t want to spend 10 minutes figuring out how to get to a treasure chest only to find 50 Rupees (that I can’t even carry). In games, the reward should always be commensurate with the risk. While this is often true in Zelda, (harder puzzles typically yield heart containers or items) both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess make you go out of your way to find useless Rupees. In Twilight Princess, some of Link’s gear, which is usually the best reward you can get, is almost totally useless. In Wind Waker, there are fewer tools to find, but overall they feel more versatile. Pretty much every tool in Wind Waker opens up many new possibilities. Advantage: Wind Waker
- Story & Characters: Wind Waker did a better job of getting you emotionally invested in the story right away. Twilight Princess is more of a slow burn. Overall, I’d say the story of Wind Waker is more internally coherent. You have a clear backstory, you have a villain from the outset, and you have a series of clear objectives. In Twilight Princess, details are revealed in bits and pieces, and it’s up to you to fill in many of the blanks. But where Twilight Princess really shines is in the character of Midna. For the first time in a Zelda game, you have a character with a real arc. She grows and changes throughout the story, and toward the end you really care about her. And for that reason alone I’m going to say… Advantage: Twilgiht Princess
- Visual Appeal: Wind Waker’s “Celda” style caused a storm of controversy when it was first revealed. There seemed to be sigh of relief when Twilight Princess images first appeared with a return to the Ocarina of Time look and feel. In both games, the graphic style supports the tone. But in Wind Waker, the characters and the world really come alive within the confines of the hardware. Link is extremely expressive, reacting to everything in the world with his eyes and his face. The world may be blocky and polygonal, but the styling and lighting makes it seem vibrant and dynamic. In Twilight Princess, you can see the edges and seams in the world beneath the textures, the Twilight Realm is, frankly, sort of bland. In Twilight Princess all of the characters have creepy painted on Barbie doll faces with little or no expression. It may be a more “realistic” look, but that doesn’t make it any more believable. Advantage: Wind Waker
- Stuff to Do: Both games are packed with mini-games, sidequests, and sundry optional objectives. The ones in Wind Waker have a lot more personality. But, due to the layout of the overworld (water vs. land) it’s much easier to find something cool to do in Twilight Princess. Some of the side quests in Wind Waker can be extremely tedious, whereas in Twilight Princess the mini-games are usually challenging without being frustrating. I miss the “Spliiiisshhh” guy from Wind Waker, but I’ve got to say… Advantage: Twiglight Princess
- Fighting & Killing Things: Twilight Princess has the benefit of the Wii controller and a series of unlockable special attacks. Wind Waker was an iterative improvement on Ocarina of Time. But despite the more diverse palette of moves you can learn in Twilight Princess, I found myself enjoying combat in Wind Waker more. There is a rhythm to combat in Wind Waker, which Twilight Princess seems to lack. I found the parry system from Wind Waker sorely missing in Twilight Princess. Combat in Twilght Princess is fun, but it feels unfocused and chaotic. Advantage: Wind Waker
Bottom line: Based on the points above, it would seem like Wind Waker comes out on top. But things are not always as they seem. One point that has not been addressed is… the triforce quest. Wind Waker includes one of the most tedious quests in gaming history, and it’s unavoidable. You have to do it to finish the game. Twilight Princess includes only one obnoxious fetch quest on the critical path, and it’s over relatively quickly. Were it not for the triforce quest, I would tip the scales in Wind Waker’s favor without reservation. But seeing as how this quest continues to blight an otherwise brilliant game, I’ve got to say I’d rather play: Twilight Princess.
What do you think? Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, the CD-i games… which Zelda reigns supreme?
I do feel like Twilight Princess has given me new items which aren’t utilized to their greatest potential. It’s one of the unfortunate downfalls of the new Zelda that mars an otherwise excellent game. Of course, when you first get a new item (such as the boomerang), it’s put to use almost immediately after you get it almost always, but I think if the developers would’ve had more time, they definitely could’ve focused on making use of the cooler items more consistently.
Good points overall!
I found your blog on a google search for “Wind Waker vs. Twilight Princess” and really liked this post.
I’m about 65 hours into Twilight Princes right now, and there are two things I’ve noticed, in comparison to other Zelda games, notably Wind Waker.
1) I’m putting WAY more effort into completing my collections in Twilight Princess than I ever did in Ocarina or Wind Waker. I only have 7 bugs left to catch, and 20 poes. I actually enjoy searching out the bugs, and I will probably finish AT LEAST that collection. Probably not the poes. Also, I have only 3 hearts missing, and that’s a Zelda Record for me ever since Link to the Past I think.
2) Playing through Twilight Princess has made me really miss the colorful stylings of Wind Waker, and after I finish Twilight Princess, I’m going either play through WW again, or get my girlfriend (who is playing through Minish Cap - her first Zelda game she’s put more than an hour into) to try it. She is hesitant right now, but when I show her the graphics, she may change her mind.
All in all, I don’t agree with everything you wrote above, but I agree with enough of it to give you a solid thumbs up. Some specific commentary on your post:
Risk Vs. Reward: I agree that it is very frustrating to spend 20 minutes trying to get to a chest, only to find out that it contains rupees, and you’re already maxxed out on your wallet. That said, I feel that Twilight Princess is the first Zelda game in ages where I feel that rupees actually have some real value. What exactly did we need rupees for in Wind Waker? I don’t really even remember. Twilight Princes has us saving up rupees to put a shop in the Castle Town, using rupees for Magic Armor, using rupees to give to the church. I’ve actually really enjoyed this aspect of the game, whereas in previous Zelda games (dating back probably to the first one) I’ve thought that the rupees were an afterthought.
Storyline: The storyline in Twilight Princess kind of bugs me. It’s just another “evil king takes over evil power, spreads evilness everywhere” storyline. Now, I haven’t gone into the Shadow Temple yet (I’ve just got the mirror re-assembled) so there’s very likely some story that I’m unaware of. But the story progression in Wind Waker really stunned me. There were so many moments that stuck with me, most notably the underwater castle that was frozen in time, and the flood at the end of the game. I have to give storytelling to Wind Waker.
Lastly, I completely disagree with you about combat in Twilight Princess. I really enjoy that they’ve given us a handful of new combat moves that I actually use pretty regularly. I really like the roll-around-the-back slash, and the helm-splitter. I’d use the sheild attack all the time if I could get the nunchuck to register it properly. In think the addition of these manouvers gives Twilight Princess the edge in combat. Besides, the combat in Wind Waker was so incredibly easy that I never felt I was in danger of dying.
Anyways, great read. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments PlusDrew.
In response to your point on combat, it might be because I’m getting old and slow, but these days I actually find myself preferring games that are just a bit too easy. That may be why I enjoyed Wind Waker more than Twilight Princess. Once I recognized the enemy patterns in Wind Waker, I could feel pretty badass without a lot of effort. Twilight Princess makes me work harder to feel awesome, which is probably a good thing if you’re looking for more of a challenge, or more interaction with the Wiimote.
I really hadn’t played through an entire Zelda game before Windwaker, and I suppose it may be for unfair reasons. The N64 games especially turned me off because of their uninteresting graphics (i know, i know)
and although I had played the two original Nes Zelda games and the SNES game, I only came close to finishing the second game (Side Scroller) for Nes.
That said, I dove into Windwaker because of the controversy, and found myself engrossed (at age 21 no less) and a video game for the first time in several years. Aside from the character designs themselves, I found the game extremely attractive, and myself emotionally involved in the story. I also found myself playing most of the sidequests (something I rarely do).
Moving on to Twilight Princess, I started off unimpressed, but as soon as Midna showed up, I was pulled right in (spending 30 hours of my weekend glued to the screen. I also might mention that I’m talking about the gamecube version, as I have no Wii. I’m currently playing through the Temple in the Desert ( I forget the name) and enjoying the game nearly as much as I did windwaker , however, I do find myself occasionally missing the waterworld of the prior game, as well as the childish humor.
I can’t help but wonder what a nice visual hybrid of the two games would render… either way, im pretty satisfied with the direction they have taken. I’ll be sad when im through with Twilight Princess.
Thanks for the comment Fex.
There’s going to be more of the Wind Waker style in the upcoming DS game, Phantom Hourglass. I’m not sure if it’s a true sequel, or a side story, or what the deal is. But it looks good. It’s nice to see Nintendo continuing that style in parallel with the more realistic renderings of Twilight Princess.
yessir
I’ve played most Zelda games and I have to say that Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are my top two.
The combat in Twilight Princess on Wii is really fun since it’s a new console,I think it’s much better than Wind Waker in that way, and I really enjoyed most of the boss battles, yet something just felt like it was missing during the game. I didn’t realize what that something was until I had finished the game.
The soundtrack. The music just wasn’t memorable at all. The only song that really stuck in my head was the Hyrule Field theme. I thought the soundtrack in Wind Waker was awesome. I loved it so much I bought it, and if you listen to it you can actually tell what part of the game it’s from. To me, music is really important in video games, so I was pretty disappointed with that aspect of Twilight Princess.
Visually, both games are amazing. I know some people would disagree, but I think they are both equal visually.
I fell in love with Wind Waker as soon as I started it. It was my first Zelda game which got me hooked on the Zelda series. All the characters were just so expressive and they all had these great personalities, although there weren’t many people scattered on those random islands… Probably the main reason I like Wind Waker better than Twilight Princess is because the characters in Twilight Princess are so flat, other than Midna, who is just awesome. The thing is though, Midna was developed so well but… Nobody else really was. At the start of the game I really liked Link, but later on he just became like a tool to me, there just wasn’t really anything there. Also, the whole storyline with Ilia was strange… I mean the main quest was to help Midna with Zant and the side quest was to help Ilia and the kids, right? It was the same in Wind Waker, instead you saved Aryll then Zelda. But at least Aryll wrote to you afterwards! Ilia doesn’t even do anything most of the time and I found myself completly forgetting her, as well as Zelda. Most of the villagers were completly unresponsive and didn’t even notice the huge barrier going up around the castle, and I found myself concentrating on the only really good character, Midna. I know I’m complaining a lot about this game, don’t get me wrong I love it, I guess I’m just a little let down. I would say Twilight Princess is a completly amazing game for so many reasons, but Wind Waker just has something about it that makes it more memorable.
I would give Twilight Princess 9/10 and Wind Waker 9.5/10.
Great comments Miss D.
I also thought it was a little weird that no one noticed the giant barrier go up around the castle, or the pretty major event where it gets torn down. Zelda did seem like she wasn’t tied to the story at all. I’m still confused by her saying that she is the twilight princess at the beginning of the game, when of course, she isn’t. But all the same, I still enjoyed the game. Even if the story was just a pretext to get from dungeon to dungeon.
I think that Midna called Zelda the Twilight Princess because she was mocking her. I mean, Zelda must have known that Midna was the actual Twilight Princess, and Midna didn’t really seem to like Zelda at the start of the game, so when Midna saw Zelda’s kingdom wrapped in Twilight I think she was making fun of her by calling her the Twilight Princess. That’s just my theory, though.
Also this is really bugging me… How do Zelda and Link leave the Gerudo Desert at the ending? Sorry this is not really Wind Waker VS Twilight Princess, but…
I think Wind Waker should have the advantedge in Sidequests, but it’s OK. I was worrying that you were going to say TP was better than WW. Whenever I hear that it brings trouble to my….uh….soul?
Anyways, long live Wind Waker! (and of course PHG.)
I LOVE WIND WAKER, I LOVE TWILIGHT PRINCESS!
Wind waker was great and the second part (phantom hourglass) is BRILLIANT! its funny, interesting, got fun and complex challenges…its got everything a good game needs!
wind waker was exactly the same and thats why i just couldnt stop playing it!
twilight princess is great at the same time and very addictive so i havnt stoped playing that either!
i just dont think there’s anything bad about both the games!
(LONG LIVE THE LEGEND OF ZELDA!)
Great thoughts. I was just thinking about this topic myself, so I decided to search it, and saw this.
I’m going to have to disagree with you on the story and characters choice. TWW had the deepest plot in any Zelda game, and as I was playing TP, I thought TP was going to come out on top. But, when I finished the game….I was disapointed. The ending seemed so cliche, and I was almost disgusted that I had hoped for a grand finale, only to see the story fall flat on it’s face. Sure, TP had the truly compelling Midna, but that’s pretty much it.
As for gameplay, they both ran on the same battle system, with one major difference. TWW had the parrying system, while TP had hidden moves. TWW had more of a flow to it, as stated above, while TP is a bit more focused, since you perform several of the same parry moves in TWW, but they require more than one button. TP triumphs in that respect. The items are fleshed out more in TWW, but TP has some that are just downright cooler. TP also had the wolf, although that wasn’t quite the same as good ‘ol hack and slash.
TWW wins in sound. TP was kind of a disapointment in that area(although I do enjoy listening to NP’s soundtrack. One very good track wasn’t even in the game!). Graphics are pretty much equal in my opinion.
The bottom line comes down to how they are altogether built. TP is super long, with just the right amount of difficulty. TWW was kinda easy and short, but very enjoyable. TP had terrible pacing, and TWW’s boat trips weren’t very memorable either. So, who’s the victor? Well, I gotta say TWW. It has a better, more polished feeling. TP is a great game, an improvement over Ocarina, but it was lacking in a few areas. TWW is a joy for me to pick up and play, while TP, despite its overwhelming amount of depth, doesn’t give me much replay value.
i think which you like better really depends on what game which you first started playing the Zelda series. I loved the Ocarina of Time, and therefore will NOT TOUCH TWW with a TEN FOOT POLE. The graphic style absolutely destroys the type of mood that ocarina set. If you want something fun, silly, and altogether happy, sure, play TWW. But if you like ocarina, don’t bother.
Hi KK,
I actually started playing the Zelda series with the first game. I’ve played all of them except for the Oracle games and the CD-i games. I actually felt that Wind Waker fit perfectly with the tone of the series as a whole. Wind Waker’s art style is definitely more in keeping with the world of Young Link from games like A Link to the Past, but I wouldn’t consider the story’s tone silly or trivial. I wouldn’t recommend that people who like Ocarina of Time avoid Wind Waker. There’s no reason why liking one means that you wouldn’t enjoy the other.
I agree with Maunders. Even though Wind Waker was the first Zelda game I really enjoyed, I still went out and bought Ocarina and played it. I still really love the game, even though it isn’t TWW. Why shouldn’t Zelda fans enjoy every Zelda game there is to offer? Sure, we may like some more than others, but that shouldn’t stop us from playing it. kk, I’m sure if you actually played through TWW, you would find things about the game you really enjoyed and would be able to see past the graphic design of the game.
I am new to this but i own twilight princess and i can say its no push over when it comes to zelda games im stuck in hirule castle but the moves are alsome and with the hidden skills and and all its a pretty follow up to oracle of time
oracle of time? lol.
Well, i think that the Wind waker is the best, and that TP was a waste of money, TP lacks inovation, have bad grafics if compared to the Wind Waker (in my opinion.), the whole wolf thing is ridiculous, Midna is annoying, the fishing sucks, the sound is horrible, TP Fails and the wind waker rules.
I just wanted to make a point that I have just recently played TWW through for the fifth time and it’s still not getting old, but I just played TP through for the second time and I’m already sick of it. Even though there are more side questy things to do and get (Like poes and bugs)in TP, that does NOT give it more replay value. It actually took me a year to pick up TP again after beating it, but with TWW I started a new file as soon as I beat my old one. That game just doesn’t get old lol.
Whoever thinks that TP is better than TWW, has got to be retarded. Did you even play both of the games? TP was horrible, from front to back. The whole bad ass thing it had going on, literally made my eyes hurt. I mean, come on; a WOLF?! It made no sense and added nothing to the storyline.
TWW however, was epic. Especially the final battle. I played the game twice, (I played TP once), and I can easily say it was the best game I ever played. Plus, I still haven’t finished the Nintendo Gallery sidequest. Just talking about it, makes me want to play it again.
I just hope that the next Zelda game will be as innovative as TWW and not as onoriginal as TP
Both games are very good, as each one has its strenghs and weaknesses. In fact, they are opposite extremes of a magnet.
The thing that frustrated me about twilight princess was the overall lack of difficulty throughout the game. The dungeons when you think about it are way shorter than the ones in the other games. I didn’t lose to a single boss the first time I fought them. The storyline was so cliche yet they had the right characters to try and make something novel out of it (Zant and Midna).
I would have designed the last battle in a way where you had to fight both Zant and Ganon switching from darkness to light. Maybe I would have lost once in this game had that happened.
Ocarina of time was about the same length but the puzzles were harder. Now A link to the Past was an awesome game! The bosses were tough as hell. My rankings are: Ocarina, A link to the past, Windwaker, TP, Oracle of Ages/Seasons, Majora’s Mask (what a weird one that one was!), and the rest of the lot.
The Ocarina of Time is my most memorable game porbabally had the biggest impact on me and i liked TWW it was a overall good game i rather focused on th egameplay and not the graphics but I Liked OOT and TWW. FUnny thing is my mom borrowed it from a friends son when i was little[OoT btw] and had the N64 and i liked the sparks that came out of the wall when u hit it and then i bought my own copy and yeh thts how i got into the LoZ series
SPOILERS BELOW
I guess Nintendo realized we like both characters since they put both WW Link and TP Link in Brawl.Yay~