And just like that, ten years have sailed by — The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD was released on the Wii U ten years ago today, and while we spend most of our days now pining for this incredible seafaring adventure to swim onto Switch, we want to reminisce in a completely different way today. The Wind Waker is beloved by almost all Zelda fans, taking Link's adventures to the Great Sea. Our green-wearing hero is on an adventure to save his sister Aryll and, eventually, find the Hero of Time's power to defeat Ganondorf.
It was a fresh drop in the ocean for the series with a new setting, many new characters, and new items. But, significantly, it took the franchise in another new visual direction for Link — one which proved (undeservedly) controversial to some fans back with the 2002 GameCube release. Even Miyamoto was reportedly not a fan of the cel-shaded style in the first place.
Over ten years later, fans got to re-experience this seminal entry on the Wii U. That version of the game — which shifted the menu to the Wii U pad and made some in-game tasks significantly easier — is still stuck on that console. But we want to focus on one particular difference with the HD rerelease: those visuals.