I need help with Zelda: The Wind Waker

[Ridah]

I just started playing  Zelda: The Wind Waker on GameCube. So far I like the game but good god, either I'm numb in the head or I can't navigate through the game for shit. I just reached the Forsaken Fortress and the place feels like a maze to me, the map doesn't help very much. I've killed all the dudes controlling the lights but now I have no idea where to go. Everything looks the same in this place to me.

Now, I do have the strategy guide for it so I can always consult that, but I was hoping for some general advice when playing this game if anyone has any. Did you guys like the game?

[Farscry]

Been a long time since I played through this one.    I loved the game until I ran across the Fetch Quest of Doom (tm).  Then I hated the way the game killed all pacing at that point and ended up putting it down for almost a year before I finally just grabbed a guide to rush through the Fetch Quest of Dooooooom!!! (tm) and get back to the real game.

Utterly fantastic game aside from the horrible, horrible forced fetch quest near the end.

Man, I hated that fetch quest.  Have I mentioned how much I hated it?  I think I may have...

[semiconscious]

i loved every endless sea-going moment of wind waker, but am not sure i can help you (it was a while back). once you've knocked out the lights, i think there was access to an upper area, but that's about as clearly as i can remember...

great game...

[weleavefossils]

I loved it, except for the end which definitely has a rushed feeling to it.  Overall it was good.

I think you need to climb up one of the outside ladders or go through one of the doors inside, if you don't then you are just going around in circles.  But it has been so long.

[Ridah]

Thanks for the warning, I'll be sure to have that portion of the strategy guide bookmarked for when I reach it

[Farscry]

i loved every endless sea-going moment of wind waker

You know, I loved that too.    I just hate forced fetch quests of great length that kill the pacing of a game.  

Don't let my dislike for that one aspect of Wind Waker mislead you; I thought that it was otherwise an absolutely fantastic game.

[JCC]

Ok, now that you've disabled the lights you can go to the top of the tower and finish the FF (for now). (BTW, I thought this part of the FF should have been later in the game, it's pretty freaking hard to lose your sword that early in the game, but I digress.)

I don't know exactly where it is on the map, but you're looking for a room that you can enter from a door on either side. In the "middle" of the room is a set of steps that leads up to a double door, which from there you can climb up to the top. The room has two of those hippo/pig dudes who throw the fire at you and put you in the cell if they catch you. There is barrel by either entrance you can hide in. The room looks like this:

 EDIT: Well crap, I couldn't get the post to leave my spaces in  to show it properly... It's basically shaped like a door frame with the entrances on either side of the "bottom" of the frame and the stairs at the right side of the "top" of the doorframe.

[Jocke]

Ok, I just came home and is pretty stinking drunk so forgive my incorherent rambling if any.

After you crash all the lights are you not supposed to go dwon on waterlevel outside the BIG door and have a miniboss fight or something? It was a long time ago I played windwaker but...

I agree tthat the getting all the pieces part of the game was a bit too much but still it was a great game and after that part it got great again. Loved the game, can't wait for the next one.

[weleavefossils]

Ok, I just came home and is pretty stinking drunk so forgive my incorherent rambling if any.

After you crash all the lights are you not supposed to go dwon on waterlevel outside the BIG door and have a miniboss fight or something? It was a long time ago I played windwaker but...

I agree tthat the getting all the pieces part of the game was a bit too much but still it was a great game and after that part it got great again. Loved the game, can't wait for the next one.

I thought that was the second time you went there, man now I want to get this out again and play it.  Every Zelda game makes me feel like that after I don't play it for a good while.

[Tebunker]

i loved every endless sea-going moment of wind waker

You know, I loved that too.    I just hate forced fetch quests of great length that kill the pacing of a game.  

Don't let my dislike for that one aspect of Wind Waker mislead you; I thought that it was otherwise an absolutely fantastic game.

Okay, you know it took me all of a half and hour to do that at the end. I kept dreading it because I would read comments like yours and then I knocked it out and was like, "what?"

Excellent game, just wished I had finished it earlier instead of being afraid of the fetch quest. One of the better endings in the series.

[unbreakable]

About the only part I hated was that pirate castle.  It seemed like there was only one specific way to the top, and if you messed up it took you about 10-15 minutes to get back to that area.  Really, really bad design.

Other than that, I liked the game, but IMO many other Zelda games were more fun.  I didn't have a problem with sailing around like many other critics did, but for me the game just seemed to be lacking something (some intangible I can't nail down).

I'm a big fan of Adult Link, so I'm really looking forward to the next game.

[Dafones]

I quite enjoyed WW, but I did have a few gripes with the game. First, the pacing was all over the place, besides the fetch quest at the end. The momentum would build, then die down, back and forth, lurching like a car with a shitty clutch. I really didn't like the common enemies in the game - the blobs, the guards, the knights - though the combat was great. And though I liked the cel shading style, I really didn't like the colours. I know that sounds kind of funny, but the visuals were missing a richness that was very, very strong in ALttP, OoT, and MM. WW looked bland to me. And where were the temples?!? I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more temples! (Twilight Princess may be the cure for this one, if it ever comes out.)

But the game was still fun, still worth finishing - and man was that ending epic. Really cool.

[weleavefossils]

I loved the WW style..my favorite is the swirls from when you killed someone.  It did at times seem like it was lacking some depth or details.  I still think overall I loved the look and feel of OoT the best.  

Am I the only one that didn't really understand Majora's Mask?  I honestly never have played it more than a hour here and there.  I always tell myself to try again since I have it on GC.  Is it worth it, or not?

[semiconscious]

Am I the only one that didn't really understand Majora's Mask?  I honestly never have played it more than a hour here and there.  I always tell myself to try again since I have it on GC.  Is it worth it, or not?

shadow of the colossus included, i had as much fun with majora's mask (the cube version) as with anything i played last year - maybe my favorite zelda of'm all! i'd been put off by some of the stuff i'd read, but, once the 3-day aspect clicked for me, & i got in the flow of it, the game just got better'n'better (even took the time to collect all of the masks). an amazing, beautiful game...

[Dafones]

Am I the only one that didn't really understand Majora's Mask?  I honestly never have played it more than a hour here and there.  I always tell myself to try again since I have it on GC.  Is it worth it, or not?

Oh man, don't get me started on how much I love Majora's Mask. Such an overlooked gem. I think the concept of the three day cycle kind of freaks people out, but many don't realize that you can save your progress at any time, turn the system off, and continue where you left off next time. You don't have to tackle a dungeon all at once, though I think they were designed to be a little easier to tackle. You just had to remember to warp back to the past or save before turning off the system - not as easy as just saving the game in the menu, but not extreme by any means. Love that game.

[Belgedin]

Am I the only one that didn't really understand Majora's Mask? I honestly never have played it more than a hour here and there. I always tell myself to try again since I have it on GC. Is it worth it, or not?

Hated it when I first started. I put it down for a year after an hour of playing. Eventually I fired it up again, don't know why. After wrapping my head around the save system and everything I played as much as I could. I LOVE that game now; man, definitely in my top 5 (maybe even 3) Zelda's.

[weleavefossils]

Sadly I have lost the cartridge for the n64, thankfully I have it still on the cube.  I will give it a try again, most definitly.  I think I just never took the time to try and understand it.  Maybe my next project..

[CrayolaSmoker]

I hereby decree that all references to "forced fetch quest" be redubbed to "tri-forced fetch quest" to make them game-magazine witty.

That is all.