It's a moment where you seek an intimation connection with powers beyond your own in a moment of desperation, usually. This isn't a revelation at all, it's just something I never thought about until that point. It must've been my fourth playthrough, but this didn't really click until I played WWHD (which I only got because of the Mario Kart 8 offer, so shout out to that). The primary theme of WW-the title theme and credits song-is actually a prayer song. In WW you see your objective ahead of time and the fun is steering yourself there, so the music is much more grand, you don't really want to stop until you have to. Stretches to gameplay, too: in BotW, the horse riding theme is almost mechanical, like puzzle music it fades easily, and encourages examination of the surroundings. Both of these games do a great job of having thematic consistency through all elements of the presentation and sounds, imo. In WW, the town themes make you want to dance, and sailing across the sea is made to feel liberating.
In BotW, it's impossible to forget the colours are less saturated, there are ruins everywhere, and the music is more delicate. The player and the inhabitants of Wind Waker's world don't even realize they're living atop of the ruins of Hyrule. Wind Waker and Breath of the Wild are both post-apocalyptic, and both mix melancholy with a sense of optimism, but they each emphasizes one feeling over the other. They've played in these areas before (MM), but WW seems the most devoted to use of mostly string and wind (~waker~) instruments, I think. As OP mentioned, the music is pretty distinctive. Oh hell yeah, I've been thinking about this ever since I played WWHD. It's the best Zelda OST of all time, yes, better than Ocarina of Time.Īnd obviously, it's an OST thread, so allow me to name some of the best tracks in the soundtrack:
It's one of the greatest game OSTs of all time. So- in this thread, I just want to appreciate The Wind Waker's OST. It's just, in my opinion, a work of genius all around- so much thought must have gone into its composition, and there's so much in there that's probably missed by most players. The entire thing uses a very distinct Celtic/Gaelic flavor, thanks to its choice of instruments, which gives it a very distinct and earthy feel, and makes it very powerful when there are callbacks to older Zelda themes, reinforcing the game's central theme of letting go of the past and trying to make your own future and greatness. None of this even mentions the cohesion of the whole OST. The final Ganon Theme has a very clear instance of Ganon's organ leitmotif from Ocarina of Time, while also including a small snippet of the main Zelda theme. For instance, this is what plays when Tetra awakens as Zelda, which is a very overt callback to A Link to the Past.
#ZELDA WIND WAKER WIND WAKER SONGS FULL#
Or, and this is my favorite: listen to what happens when Makar and Medli's Prayers are superimposed on top of each other:īut this isn't all- the entire soundtrack is full of clever callbacks and echoes like this. Or listen to The Ancient Hero, and then listen to Fado's Themeand Laruto's Theme. Now, listen to The Wind Waker main theme starting at 3:51.
You don't have to listen to all of it, just listen to a few seconds. The music expertly uses recurring motifs and leitmotifs- for instance, listen first to the Outset Island theme starting at 0:11. It often gets overshadowed by Ocarina of Time, which is more iconic, I agree, but Wind Waker's soundtrack is a true thing of beauty. Wind Waker has one of the best OSTs of all time, and the best OST in the Zelda series, bar none. I'm going to, instead, talk about the one thing about The Wind Waker that I feel is shockingly underappreciated- its music. Everything about it, from how charming it is, to its innocent sense of wonder at exploring a vast world, its sense of adventure, to its first steps towards the emergent open world game that Breath of the Wild would eventually become, to its now iconic graphical style, is perfect. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is a goddamn masterpiece, and a glorious, beautiful game that now finally gets its due.