Wind Waker’s introduction always stuck with me as a kid. Outset Island is an idyllic paradise set amidst an apocalyptic world covered in a sprawling blue ocean. Humble townsfolk carve out a living in an isolated landscape where fauna and wildlife is plentiful, but escaping such a homeland is difficult, and visitors a rarity because the journey there is so treacherous. Yet those that call this place home have come to terms with their lot in life, knowing what awaits when venturing out into the world and how there is no changing their aquatic status quo.
Link was raised here alongside his little sister, cared for by a grandmother who harbours deep secrets about Hyrule’s history she can’t share until the time is right, eager to prevent her kin from falling into the clutches of destiny. You wake up, and it’s your birthday, groggily wiping sleep from your eyes as your sister wakes you up atop a lookout tower with your present in tow. This opening section doesn’t even breach an hour if you know what you’re doing, but Wind Waker wants you to bathe in the peacefulness of it all, chatting to neighbours who know you well and helping with herding pigs while carrying out similar domestic errands. It’s a blissful prologue heading towards disaster as your sister is captured and a band of pirates accompanied by a giant bird turns your island sanctuary upside down.
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The telescope your sister gives you is a symbolic gesture of the adventure that awaits. Your first glimpse through the lens not only reveals how much bigger the world really is, but it quickly sets in motion a series of events that will change Link’s life, and the fate of Hyrule, forever.I have written about the brilliance of Tetra before, and how her tomboyish attitude is a breath of fresh air compared to Zelda’s usual regal disposition.
She is the exact sort of person Link needs to transform him from an insecure little boy into the Hero of Time. When Link’s sister is kidnapped, she doesn’t make light of the situation, although she never once submits to doom and gloom, knowing there is a solution to the situation and Link only needs to believe. Doing this with an edge of mischief to her behaviour only makes it even better, so for Link’s first quest to involve rescuing her is a fitting collision of destinies.
Link is repeatedly told that he isn’t ready to leave Outset Island. Sword training has him beaten down and ridiculed for failing to follow simple instructions, while fellow townsfolk appear a mixture of tearful and indifferent to him leaving this place behind. It has done so much for him, and to immediately embark on a new adventure the second an opportunity arises almost discounts it all.
His guardian’s heartfelt speech when unveiling the Green Tunic is easily the opening’s most affecting moment. Your parents are not mentioned in Wind Waker, and your grandmother speaks in a way that teases regret in her past actions, and how an heirloom that hangs above the fireplace presents a period of time that will eventually come along whether she likes it or not. You’re handed this iconic outfit in a flurry of tears, knowing that donning it represents a new chapter in life where everything will change. Wind Waker understands the difficulty of saying goodbye, even if you can still pop back home for an unlimited supply of soup whenever you like.
Brief bouts of combat and small pockets of exploration across Outset Island tease what the rest of the game has in store, dishing out tutorials and narrative revelations with a cadence that feels equal parts fast and fleeting. Before you know it, Link is aboard a pirate ship as he waves goodbye to a life he’s forced to leave behind. Zelda has always excelled in setting the stage, whether it’sOcarina of Time’s Kokiri Forest orBreath of the Wild’s Great Plateau, we are only ever given enough mechanical freedom or narrative context to satisfy our curiosity, knowing that, above everything else, our actions are the main catalyst to adventure. We’re meant to feel overwhelmed, like whatever awaits us is going to present immense odds well worthy of the legend in which they’re contained.
All these years later, I still adore how Wind Waker takes its cutesy, cel-shaded art style and wraps it around an opening act that isn’t afraid to explore the hardships of letting go or the nostalgic value of domestic bliss our childhood homes are known to represent. Nobody sets the stage quite like Zelda.
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