The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Wind Waker is most distinguished by its gorgeous graphics and sea-based setting. It seems like major departure for the series, but it is more true to open exploration of the NES games. The world really comes to life and feels more fully-realized than any Zelda before or since. The Wind Waker also has the most fun combat, with Link capable of nifty dodges and counter-attacks. Problem is, the enemies do very little damage, taking off only a mere quarter-heart per hit, so these advanced techniques are wasted. The lack of damage also means that there is less urgency to obtain heart pieces to increase Link's maximum health. And with the "treasure" of this game being the heart pieces, the lack of damage means that treasure-finding is less of an incentive to explore the vast seas. The potential of the seas is also wasted by the fact that game is lacking in content and ends too quickly. Ultimately, by the end, The Wind Waker doesn't feel as epic as it should be. I think with more challenging combat and (two) more dungeons, the game would've been the best game in the series easily, It is still a great game, maybe it is still the best in the series, but I can't help but think of what could've been.