First impressions of The Windwaker!

Anyone following my blog knows I've been super excited to play Windwaker for some time now, I've always favored Toon Link's style more and this game looks gorgeous.

I wrote a blog post describing my expectations for the game, in contrast to Twilight Princess which should arrive today or tomorrow, and I'm glad to say it met all of them. Time to talk about the good, the bad and the... well there isn't anything ugly. This game looks fantastic, the cell-shaded art and islands are all bright and scream out with character. 

I've been playing it on my GameCube for a couple of days now, and I've just defeated Gohma and left Dragon Roost Island to find the next pearl. This game may get better or worse (though i can hardly see the latter happening) but this is my impression and so far I love it. Let's talk about why.

1. It's so happy! The game has a lovely bright feel to it, you really feel like you're going on a big adventure, even smashing the enemies with your sword is energetic and fun. All the NPCs are unique and quirky, and you can't help smile at that soundtrack.

2. The story is really captivating, I love games with deep lore and this alternate flooded Hyrule is really intriguing. I've heard lots of complaints about having to sail too much, but I've just started and what little of it I've done was really enjoyable.

I love the way Link's courage is inspired by his quest to find his sister, its so touching and sweet that you can't help root for the little green guy.

3. The enemies and combat are fun and rewarding, the grapple-hook is great fun to use in combat as you can steal treasure and rupees from bad guys mid-combat! Even little things like putting your sword and shield on your back is satisfying.

That list could go on, but those are my top three favorite things so far. My one peeve with the game is the controls system, the left stick which is used for camera control is inverted. I've tried looking in the menu for invert options, but I can't see any. This can be pretty annoying for someone who's used to FPS and Xbox controls, but I'm slowly adapting. This made the boss fight with Gohma particularly hard, but it was still great fun and I loved it to bits.

I'll probably put up more posts as I progress in the game, so keep your telescope handy for more Windwaker articles on the horizon.

Oh, also Twilight Princess gets here soon as I mentioned so look out or that too. It could be fun to compare the games, who knows?

So whats your impression of Windwaker? Love it or hate it? Comment below, especially if you know how to un-invert the look controls!