5. Leave The Stealth To The Experts
So, I love Wind Waker. In my mind the Legend Of Zelda has never felt as fresh and as it did when Link took to the seas to rescue his sister, banishing evil from the land once more. It introduced new gameplay elements such as the countering system and created a story and cast of characters that were more fully-formed and emotionally involving than the series has managed before or since. One of the few things that definitely didn't work though, was the stealth section in the first quarter of the game, which forced you to move around Ganondorf's Forsaken Fortress without any weapons. To be spotted by the guards was to go straight to jail without passing go or collecting 200 rupees, and then you'd have to do the whole trek around the fortress again. Zelda games should be about puzzling out creative solutions and using skill to beat insurmountable odds, so foisting a sneaking section complete with insta-fail punishment was a frustrating misstep. Stealth never cropped up again throughout the rest of the campaign, so it's thankfully not too likely that Ninty will have another crack at going all Sam Fisher on us any time soon. Hopefully they'll stick to refining the series' core elements instead.
Mark Grainger
Contributor
Stereotypically awkward writer, gamer and general nerd. Dislikes writing in the third person, likes tea as much as the next man but not as much as a typical blogger and has breath as fresh as a summer ham.
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