Well, now that I've progressed significantly in the game I can safely say that Wind Waker does improve a great deal after the first initial tasks that Link must complete. WIthout releasing too many spoilers, I have to say that once you collect the three pearls, the storyline seems to improve greatly. And at this point I have to say that the plot so far is the best Miyamoto effort to date, and the character dialogue is still better than previous Zelda games. I appreciate the attention made to connect the game to Ocarina of Time, and bridge the gap between Link to the Past and Ocarina. There are aspects of both games here, and legend and elements of the environment to represent both. With the overall prevailing experience of this game being more comprehensive this should be played by any Zelda fan. Once you make it past the beginning, it's worth contiuing to play this game. For those people who complained about the Triforce's very passive role in Ocarina of Time, the Triforce is the binding focal point of Wind Waker, and you'll see Triforces everywhere, and obtain the triforce yourself. I'm releved that there isn't a total disregard to the plot of Ocarina of Time and the games fit together well enough. Related to the Zelda timeline though, this game is further in the future of Ocarina of Time than I previously thought. It is mentioned by a certain someone that the events in Wind Waker take place "hundreds" of years in the future from even the many years of prosperity after Ocarina of Time, so we could be talking like at least 300 to 700 years. Without spoiling the game, I can also make an inferance as to what happen to races like the Gorons, Kokiri, and Zora, explaining why they are not represented so significantly in Link to the Past. Another connection exists in the gibberish that some of the ancient creatures speak, that's the same glyphics and gibberish that appears on various monuments in Link to the Past, and written down in the Book of Mudora.

I have to say that the gameplay is exceptional although some my find it easy at first, while some might be paused for a brief period of time to figure out the various dungeon puzzles. Now that I have useful and interesting weapons to use, it has become more exciting to play, and I can combo enemies with items and sword attacks. I love the fact that I get to use the boomerang much more than previous Zelda games. I think that maybe older gamers will like this for the challenge and gameplay that it presents, because I don't think there are any adventure games that currently compare. There are really a ton of side quests and hidden things all over the map. I've only uncovered probably a fraction of everything so far, but I always find more to do. You don't necessarily have to continue the game

There's been some fairly decent music so far, mind you the dungeon music is almost non-existant or very subdued at times, using instruments you've probably never heard of like a sitar and a digereedoo (I don't even think I spelled that right), but it's an Australian Native Aborigine blowing instrument.

There are places where the graphics style is done very well in cel-shading form, other times characters just look odd, but as you progress in the game it starts to all come together a little better. The whole motif of the game works well as you'll later discover, and while playing Wind Waker there are various things that remind me of that game Kingdom Hearts, certain little things here and there. I finally did go "Wow!" on a couple of instances.

When I first started playing I was a little worried that the game would lumber along and flood me with all these infantile characters and a cliched plot, but now I can say that the game is worth playing once you get past some of the nonsense at the beginning. I think anyone can enjoy this, and hope that it does get played. I'll provide my final review of Wind Waker once I finish playing the game.