RE-UPLOAD ALERT: Hi friends! This is a compilation of the entire Dungeon Design in Zelda series for Wind Waker. The first episode of which was uploaded in May of 2021. So, yeah you may have seen this stuff before. It is fascinating seeing how far my video making skills have progressed since then, and even how they progressed in the couple of months working on OOT's, MM's and then WW's Dungeons. I do feel, looking back, that there is a noticeable improvement in video quality starting here, with clearer visuals, better paced editing, and a lot of experimentation, but it still doesn't feel quite as good as what I'm making nowadays I suppose. But hey, I'm STILL not here to dunk on my own work! I often have people tell me that they like long form content and binge these videos, so I figured putting them all into one long video would be worthwhile. Ps, in the first few minutes I said that the soundtrack had an overhaul, but that’s not entirely true. Only some tracks were updated, not the entire game’s soundtrack. My b. Enjoyyyy! I appreciate you.
So in the forest temple you use the leaf to rotate the gear in the opposite direction and that takes you across. It reverses the mechanism. You're not supposed to just brute force it and push yourself back with momentum. 😅
Thanks for making this, I enjoy watching long-form media analysis of any kind wether it's games, TV series, movies, etc... I'd been waiting for something like this for Wind Waker, and I know this isn't that, this is just a compilation of videos you made before on this game and just grouped them into one video. But that's how I found this video, because it's cataloged as a long-form analysis. I'm enjoying this very much and will definitely be checking out next your Twilight Princess Dungeons video you released a couple days ago. Cheers!
the wind waker was my first video game I ever played (with it being released like 3 years before I was even born) so anything I see talking about it I consume
My first console game was SMB3 released in North America when I was 6 and I got the game when I was 8 years old bundled with the NES for Christmas. My uncle and aunt both had an NES already bundled with the SMB1/Duck Hunt cartridge. My first Zelda game was OoT but my grandmother played a different Zelda game on her green screen gameboy that I never really got into. When Wind Waker was released it was when console 3D games were still fairly new and realism was something people were looking forward to seeing in video games with games like OoT doing a lot better at that than older games like Sonic & Knuckles or SMB3 though still a far cry from PS4 and PS5 graphics. When Wind Waker came out it was mocked for looking cartoony and a lot of people my age avoided it for that reason but I finally did play it as an adult several years ago and it’s a great game despite the graphics and maybe the graphics were actually very appropriate for what they were going for.
@vvvvventy same here I was about 4 when it came out. This and Mario sunshine were my first 2 video games so they’ll always hold a special place in my heart.
It's not part of the dungeon per se, but i'm amazed you didn't at least mention the hilarious alternate way to defeat the Forbidden Wood's boss. Use a bottle to grab some of the sacred water surrounding the Deku Tree and then just....splash the boss with it when it first opens up, this instantly defeats it.
The Wind Waker was the first game I've ever played. I was born in early 1999, and I got it on release day. Played it with my father, it was the first game I also ever beat. By the time I was 5 years old, I had the game beat 3 times. It was a wonderful starting game to the series and to gaming alone. My parents were divorced and in an out of jail, and for a lot of my life, I lived with my grandma and felt such a strong connection with Link in this game. This game has shaped me in so many ways. Taking the scary pirate plung for Link was my equivalent to going to speaking out to the court regarding leaving my abusive foster family. Such a scary experience, but taking that plung and returning to my true family reminds me of when Link meets back up with Aryll. The look on their face, reminds me of the look of my grandma in the stand. Seeing Link's growth in this game, I feel, has the biggest difference than other Zelda games. Link becomes so mature in this game that Aryll and even the player can be proud of him. The dungeons in the game cause your brain to turn the cogs like crazy, especially at 4. Nintendo still makes crazy good games, and new Zelda games are great games as well. But Wind Waker is nearly PEAK Zelda game and will always have a place in my heart, and as I begin to try a baby with my now fiancée, I'm going to make sure they play it first too, but unlike me growing up, I'll be by their side the whole time.
If I allow for some nostalgia bias, Wind Waker will always be my favourite Zelda game. Nails the sense of adventure, and while the dungeons are all over the place design wise; the Forsaken Fortress is the series at its best combining story, action and dungeon exploring.
Wind Waker is my favourite game of all time. I love how thematically different it is from Ocarina which is so heavily focused on the past and dark future while WW is focused on the future with a dark past and how Ganondorf is the embodiment of that dark past in how he refuses to let go of old Hyrule and how the king choses to stay finally sealing the past away for a bright future.
Fun fact about Kale Demos that was not covered in the video, you can actually bring Forest Spring water from the water source surrounding the Deku Tree with you into the boss fight, and if you pour it onto the boss, it will instantly kill it. Just a neat detail.
@ScootsLounge it really isn't. It takes 20 minutes for the forest water to expire, or 30 minutes in the HD remake. It can get a little tight on the short timer, but I've personally never failed this trick after learning about it, even as a kid with the 20 minute limit. Worst case scenario, you've still got the means to beat him the old fashioned way.
So something interesting for the Tower of the Gods. The wall marks you mentioned as being stars and constellations actually bare quite a bit of resemblance to early model integrated circuits and the boss rooms electrified floor looks a lot like modern circutry. That along with the artificial lights, lasers, gold which has many technological uses, and the giant robotic boss gives the whole tower a more technolgocial feel then any other place in the game. It's actually a fascinating contrast of old-school marble temple construction and technology that has no equal in this world. Really gives the impression this might have been fashioned by the golden gods directly using a mix of technology they understand with their unearthly knowledge and direct divine power to make a test for possible heroes. Also explains the similarity to Sheikah designs, the Sheikah were very spiritual and tech inclined but ultimately taking inspiration from the gods, and the scary faces all over intended to scare off anyone too timid for the test rather then kill them.
I know a lot of people hated the Gamcube version of the triforce assembly, but I really liked it. The extra steps really made it feel like uncovering some lost, barely recorded yet sacred treasure to me.
I actually liked it as well. People often complain about 3D Zeldas having empty overworlds. The triforce quest sorta fixed that by having some use for that massive space, and it was fun
@@CaptBurgersonYes! I’ll never forget playing as a kid and discovering the ghost ship or the basement of the Cabana and feeling like I’m left with more questions than answers. That section of the game is what MAKES Windwaker for me. I’ve been going through these dungeon design videos and love the attention to detail. Thank you! They are bringing back great memories :)
I think there is one benefit in particular for the GameCube version of WW, and that is the Tingle Tuner vs the Tingle Bottle. The former is essentially another exploration tool that can also give you some more material and even small tidbits about Knuckle (the better of Tingle's siblings), while the Tingle Bottle was just a Miiverse item that could help accelerate completion for the Nintendo gallery
Something else that makes the Death Mountain = Dragon Roost theory is that you get Din’s pearl there. Things relating to Din or Eldin typically involve Death Mountain
One thing that is really striking to me is how much personality Link displasy despite not saying a single thing. He's funny, he's cute and he's *angry* While other Links kind of go along with them being a chosen hero right off the get-go, for this Link, it's personal. Fated hero or not, Ganondorf messed with *his* family, kidnapped *his* sister and then threw him away like garbage, leaving him for dead. Even Ganondorf looks a bit surprised the first time Link charges at him SCREAMING without any hesitation as if thinking "Whoa. This kid's out for blood this time" Is it any surprise then, this Ganondorf's death is one of the most brutal in the series so far? Toon Link is a scary little badass!
Damn, no comment on the funniest Zelda moment oat ☹️ when Link places the last pearl, then braces for an explosion that doesn’t happen right away and gets blown away anyway! It’s sooo gooooood!!
As someone who grew up on the zelda series, these videos provide a great sense of nostalgia for me even if I have played these games before. Thanks for creating videos analyzing something i am so passionate about.
I remember back in the day i was obsessed with this game on GC. I also loved the new game + outfit, but really wished he could wear a blue tunic like in 4 swords. Imagine my surprise when young me found a "tips and secrets" website that had a way to unlock any of the coloured tunics you wanted! All you had to do was beat the game. On each save file. And on the 3rd new game + you'd get to pick your colour instead of the invisible tunic. Well on the 3rd file this wasn't the case lol. I think what convinced me to go through with it was there wasnt these impossible conditions to "unlock" the secret like with other made up secrets for games. At least I know the game inside and out to this day 🤷♂️ The enhancements/slight changes and hero mode finally gave this game some more replayability for me after a while too. Windwaker will always be the GOAT Zelda for me. Most open world Zelda we had for a while too. Love your vids btw! This is my favorite series of yours by far :D
2:10:04 easy fix(?): Add in Giant Peahats like were had in Ocarina of Time and sand-covered rooms where the baby Molgeras attacked you if you fell in. The Giant Peahats could inhabit the upper chambers while the sand worms would fill in the lower floors. They could even have made it so that the Giant Peahats could be one-shot with the Hookshot to give a sense of increased strength.
I love WW so much I played it when it came out and those little guys the miniblins used to scare the bejeebus out of me with their little "de-deh!" noises. Especially when its darker. I need to replay it now ;;0;;
One of my favorite things about this game are Medli, Makar, the sages, and their songs. As a kid there was nothing like realizing that the Sage's songs make up the main theme of the game and that the wind waker lyrics that you have to use follow roughly the same notes
Being the first ever Zelda game I've beaten, Wind Waker is a very special and important game for me, and it's a game I come back to purely for that really comforting feeling!
i’m autistic, and ever since i played BOTW in october if 2022, zelda has become one of my special interests, including the past games. literally anything zelda. this video is perfect for me, thank you for making this compilation! i love all your videos!
Welcome to the group. I'm also autistic and Zelda has been one of mine since OOT. Back then, we just had the official guides and occasional video game magazine article to satisfy our curiosities about Zelda.
Have you played Link’s Awakening? That was one of my first Zelda games (still one of my favorites) and I thought the remake was pretty good. Anyway, there are a lot of autistic Zelda fans out there, so you won’t be alone in this fandom. Take care, welcome!
i clicked on this video strictly to see what you had to say about the earth temple since it’s a dungeon i adore so so much from the music to the puzzles to MEDLEY!!!!! and i must say i am OVERJOYED that someone else loves the final mirror puzzle seemingly as much as i do. it was so nice going through my memories of this dungeon while watching this video (i have terrible memory when it comes to stuff like this, and it especially doesn’t help that i took an edible and was REALLY high during this dungeon) but i remember so vividly being on a discord call with my friends and screen sharing my playthrough and when i got to that final puzzle and just looked out at what i was getting myself into i told them “i have never been more excited to do a puzzle in any game i have ever played” and i sat there for a little bit buzzing with anticipation. i am 100% watching through your skyward sword dungeon examination after this to see your thoughts on the ancient cistern (my other favorite!!!)
1:28:11 the music in the earth temple is one of my favorites from the ENTIRE series!! Particularly the didgeridoo which is an EXTREMELY underutilized instrument and needs to be popularized more. That combined with the steady drums really show off the earth theming. And the dissonant synth layers on top help the undead theming really shine through as well. It’s a great track IMO.
YESSS!!! YOU GET IT!!!!!! the earth temple is tied with the ancient cistern in skyward sword as my favorite dungeon in the series and the entire time i was playing through it i was just so obsessed with the music! i love the synth part, how it’s initially dissonant and then later in the theme resolves into a beautiful chord, UGH i cant get enough of this theme!!!!
This vid made me realize one of the biggest things I adore about wind waker: the golden goddesses actually matter. They also give an implication for where the spirit of the hero came from and why the goddesses are active in the adult timeline. See the spirit of the hero passes on after its current incarnation dies. OoT link doesn’t ever die in the adult timeline so the spirit never comes to protect Hyrule, that’s why the goddesses finally intervene here, their fail safe is gone. I love how it shows people still actually care about them and not just hylia
@@Thor-Orion Adult Timeline Link was sent back in time by Zelda to live out the childhood that was stolen from him due to being trapped in the Temple of Light for seven years, creating an impossible timeline that just doesn't have a Link in it anymore. Eventually, something (assumingly the Golden Goddesses) solved this, as Link reincarnates again as the Hero of Wind and later (unless there is a timeline we don't know about) the Hero of Wild.
Did I watch each of these individually as they came out originally? Yes. Am I playing this compilation right now as I clean and eat yummy food. Also yes. Like duh!
I think the Wind Temple should have been the fist dugeon to reintroduce the winged mothula. Every other mini-bosss becomes a reular enemy except for the Winged Mothula and the orange Wizzrobe.
This was my first Zelda! I’ve replayed so many times. Forsaken fortress used to creep me out as a kid 😅. My favorite dungeons have to be the two last ones even tho they were kinda frustrating at times.
I honestly adore the Skullhammer, it feels so fun to use and honestly is tied with Twilight/Skyward's Dual Clawshots as my favorite items and cracking the Bird's Skull with the Hammer is so satisfying and even when hitting other enemies it feels hilariously personal to use the Hammer to smash enemies over just a quick few Sword Slashes
I think the coolest thought is that, with Medley being a descendent of the Zora sage, it’s cool to think that the zora had to evolve into the rito tribe since hyrule was flooded.
With the whole Forbidden Forest = Kokiri Forest theory, another piece of evidence is that the Forest Haven theme has a lot of hints back to the Kokiri Forest theme.
I remember a while back I saw a theory regarding the Earth Temple that it was made by the Gerudo originally, and that the giant statue is actually a Gerudo thief grinning as they crawl through a small hole rather than a Redead. Don’t know if I exactly subscribe to it myself but it is an interesting interpretation
what do you MEAN jalhalla doesn't have big bug eyes???? are you telling me that the last 22 years of my life have been a lie??? that's my main takeaway here.
I am liking the fact that he talks about the music in this game for the most part when i play games i usually play without sound because i am trying not to disturb anyone else in the house so for some of these places this is the first time i am hearing the music
I’m pretty sure the Tower of the Gods boss room quite literally is the exact same room you fight calamity ganon in. The only reason they don’t look similar is because one is underground and red. They said that the shiekah technology was ancient. It wouldn’t surprise me if they found something from the era of the windwaker and just classed it as another sheikah room and lumped it in with everything else.
I WISH Nintendo would release this game (yes, for a third time… I’d buy it again, tho as of now I’m trying to emulate it lol) i think wind waker is the best zelda game. It gives that feeling of adventure so well! My personal favorite dungeons are tower of the gods and the earth temple. Oh god, that earth temple music 😩👌🏾.
supposedly, the reason why it forces you to do the earth temple first is because in the wind temple, the key item is the hookshot. and in the triforce quest in the original you need the hookshot to get the ghost ship map. and the other one is the enemy Gauntlet on the island north/northeast of Dragon Roost. so if you decided to do the wind temple first and got the hookshot, that would kinda mess up the Triforce Quest. especially in the original, the game WANTS you to do the Triforce quest as the last thing you do. if you REALLY want to, in the GC version, you can get all of the charts and shards right after you get the Skull Hammer. im sure there couldve been a way to keep you from going back to hyrule too early but thats atleast the theory i heard
My favorite Zelda. Not my favorite dungeons though, haha. Still like them, the design is great, but they're kinda ... really easy imo. Also, I still wait for a Switch port :(
In reference to your talk of how the boss doesn't really fit as the Wind Temple: There's a lot of things that don't quite fit with the Earth and Wind temples; key among them the Sages. "So you're telling me that the lady who can literally fly... is the Earth Sage... while the guy who is literally a plant... is the Wind Sage? Is it opposite day on the great sea?"
i find it extremely interesting that you point out how this game seems to be preparing for botw, because i saw that a lot in skyward sword! so many of the games ideas seem to carry over, and only more so in totk to my knowledge. backflips and parries, ancient technology, floating islands in totk, stamina, climbing, i could go on but i think you get the point. also unrelated, thanks for uploading these longer videos, these types of videos help me a lot for sleeping so most of these are in my sleeping playlist. can you tell I'm autistic too lol? :3
Wind Waker is such a good game, but unfortunately I came to this video right after getting your Twiligjt Princess video in my recommended. It makes it difficult not to compare the games and not downsell Wind Waker, especially since Twilight Princess is my all time favorite Zelda game
Wind temple is my favorite and the fact there were no new enemies types besides the orange wiz robes never bothered me. Even in the savage labyrinth floors 1-40 are based on the first four dungeons and the last 10 throws the toughest enemies at you with largest quantities. Wind temple tests your knowledge of the game prior to that point as has you use most of your items that you’ve acquired up to that point and has the biggest combat challenges up to this point.
I know this video is really old, but halfway through, I got a thought. Most of the optional treasure charts you get in the dungeons are for heart pieces. Not unlike the ones you can get in Twilight Princess, but for some reason they feel just less rewarding. Maybe because they are just adding steps to what was originally a straightforward reward.
That’s a very good point! To expand on that, I think there’s a disconnect there in that extra step, because you don’t know what the reward for that chart will be, and you may not even remember which chart is which when you’re actually fishing those things up from the bottom of the sea. I know I tend to just horde the treasure charts and then go and fish up a bunch at a time or just grab them on my way- so the act of getting the chart becomes disassociated with finding the actual heart piece in a way.
Regarding the scrapped Great Fish Isle dungeon and extended Triforce quest, it makes me think of how much better the Wind Waker could have been if it hadn't been rushed out of development. Still a great game and one that I love (I don't even necessarily mind the flipping of certain conventions), just feel like it could have been even better.
14:56 I don't consider this, like, a spoiler. In most of the past games, Ganondorf has always been the bad guy. It was pretty common to think something along the lines of, "Oh, Ganon is badguy for Zelda. Like Bowser is for Mario." The game even like, tells you in the intro Ganon came back and started doing evil, and then it shows you this mysterious evil person that a bunch of pigs are listening to? I don't think there was ever a mystery here to begin with.
I am surprised that they didn’t mention the way to one shot kill the forbidden forest boss as a fun side note. (Pour water on it from the sacred grove before it turns plain)
I get lost all the time! I think my brain just stores the room layouts and the map as two separate things, so I never remember to check them. Anyways, I got lost several times when I first did the beginning Fortress and got lost at least once every time I retry the game, I'm glad it's not just me.
I know it's by far no one's favorite, but the idea of a dungeon being a test of courage or filled with guardians meant to protect the treasure from evil actually comes from Zelda 2. Every single dungeon in that game is such a dungeon.
i actually think the tower of the gods boss might be one of the more interesting ones. if it's a building made by the sheika and it's a test of your power it actually makes sense they took inspiration from bosses from their own time. like how you compared him to king dodongo with the bomb feeding and ghoma with the eye shooting. that might have been the sheika's inspiration for their trial which only makes it more connected to ocarina of time
Hey ! I watch this video like 4 times Already, you have a nice voice and I like to fall asleep on it. 44.47 you don't need the Boomerang, just take a stick with a baba loot and lit the fire!
In interviews Aonuma stated that the cut dungeons couldn’t be put back in because they were already reused in later titles. So whatever dungeons were cut from WW, it’s likely they were given a second life in either Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword
So, you're kinda right about that. I think there are still insights made but not enough in hindsight. I do spend too much time talking about how to get through each individual room, it is feedback I've gotten and tried to take to heart and do better with. Otherwise, here's a copy+paste I replied to another similar comment: You're not wrong. I've learned a lot in the three years since I started making these Dungeon videos, and this was a trend I started noticing with my own writing, and started trying to pivot away from when I started into BOTW, TOTK, and the 2D games. In my more recent videos I feel as though I've found a better balance between recapping things and analyzing them, but yes it is definitely a growing pain some of my earlier stuff went through and it makes it hard for me personally to go back to many of my old videos. Thanks for watching nonetheless
I like the little segments about the dungeon in-betweens myself. I tend to use videos like this to keep me entertained while I'm at work or grinding in my more tedious games, so often I'm not exactly looking at the video while it plays. His explanations and descriptions, in and out of dungeon helps me with making a mental image for games I haven't played for years. What I'm trying to say is that I hope you don't phase out the in between sections completely.
@@CaptBurgerson you are really awesome, while the comment may have a point, there are so many people including myself which really enjoy this play by play with a few insights each time. I'm new to your channel, but I have absolutely loved binging this series. Keep doing what you're doing, because it's amazing and touching to those of us who love Zelda more than anything. Sending happiness and kindness to you!
@@CaptBurgerson hey no need to say thank you, we should all be thanking you for putting so much effort into your work!!! Can't wait to see what's next :D
Oh! I did not recognise up until now that the baton is the titular "wind waker"! In German it's called "Taktstock des Windes" (baton of the wind) - therefore, I always assumed Link himself is suppossed to be the wind waker since he wakes the wind using this baton. Mind blown. xD
Something that I personally find funny about windwaker is that its very open and very here is the world do what you want with it but it gets a pile of hate from people many of whom absolutely love breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom.
Wind Waker is my favourite Zelda game but even with heavy bias i do think getting to the first dungeon Dragon Roost Caven takes way too long and the game was clearly rushed
You know its kinda funny. The dungeons were my least favorite part of the game. Not because they are bad by any means but because the overworld exploration was just so good that having to do the dungeons felt like I was being interrupted more than anything. Yes the triforce hunt was easily one of the best parts of the game for me how could you tell?
One of these days I will understand what it is I hate so much about how WW HD looks. I feel like I'm the only one, but I'd rather get my old 18" CRT from the attic than play the remaster.
You know, Ganondorf HAD that 1 Opportunity to just Kill Zelda right there to avoid her from getting back up and using the Light Arrows again. But He DIDN'T. He showed Restraint, Mercy even. Why was that? Other than Gameplay Reasons, he did not have to Show Zelda Mercy by knocking her out. He had that Golden Opportunity to Kill her and then that would Spell Doom to Link because he wouldn't have Zelda as a Backup shooting Light Arrows. I mean it's just something to Ponder, why would he Waste such an Opportunity to Kill Zelda if that was going to be his Goal anyways? The King of Hyrule had already made the Wish, so why would Ganondorf not Kill Zelda in that Brief Moment, why would he only knock her out? Maybe Ganondorf didn't really Intend to Kill them, probably beat Link down to where he didn't have the strength to continue and knock Zelda out, but not kill them.
1:22:05 - Wait, since when did you *have* to do the Earth Temple before the Wind Temple? You make a big deal out of this but never explain why. And I distinctly remember having both Makar and Medlei on my boat at the same time when I played, so…?
it didn’t let me and i just finished a playthrough a week or so ago. makar is entirely unavailable to talk to until you’ve completed the earth temple! the deku tree tells you that he’s not around, and the music hint to find him isn’t there.
RE-UPLOAD ALERT:
Hi friends! This is a compilation of the entire Dungeon Design in Zelda series for Wind Waker. The first episode of which was uploaded in May of 2021. So, yeah you may have seen this stuff before.
It is fascinating seeing how far my video making skills have progressed since then, and even how they progressed in the couple of months working on OOT's, MM's and then WW's Dungeons.
I do feel, looking back, that there is a noticeable improvement in video quality starting here, with clearer visuals, better paced editing, and a lot of experimentation, but it still doesn't feel quite as good as what I'm making nowadays I suppose.
But hey, I'm STILL not here to dunk on my own work! I often have people tell me that they like long form content and binge these videos, so I figured putting them all into one long video would be worthwhile.
Ps, in the first few minutes I said that the soundtrack had an overhaul, but that’s not entirely true. Only some tracks were updated, not the entire game’s soundtrack. My b.
Enjoyyyy! I appreciate you.
So in the forest temple you use the leaf to rotate the gear in the opposite direction and that takes you across. It reverses the mechanism. You're not supposed to just brute force it and push yourself back with momentum. 😅
Thanks for making this, I enjoy watching long-form media analysis of any kind wether it's games, TV series, movies, etc...
I'd been waiting for something like this for Wind Waker, and I know this isn't that, this is just a compilation of videos you made before on this game and just grouped them into one video. But that's how I found this video, because it's cataloged as a long-form analysis.
I'm enjoying this very much and will definitely be checking out next your Twilight Princess Dungeons video you released a couple days ago. Cheers!
Unwritten rule of zelda. if a boss's name ends in duga or gera its theme is going to hit hard.
I like seeing all the dungeons and this is quicker than seeing all the lets play.
Never played or watched this one at all. Just seen vids mention it.
the wind waker was my first video game I ever played (with it being released like 3 years before I was even born) so anything I see talking about it I consume
My first console game was SMB3 released in North America when I was 6 and I got the game when I was 8 years old bundled with the NES for Christmas. My uncle and aunt both had an NES already bundled with the SMB1/Duck Hunt cartridge. My first Zelda game was OoT but my grandmother played a different Zelda game on her green screen gameboy that I never really got into. When Wind Waker was released it was when console 3D games were still fairly new and realism was something people were looking forward to seeing in video games with games like OoT doing a lot better at that than older games like Sonic & Knuckles or SMB3 though still a far cry from PS4 and PS5 graphics. When Wind Waker came out it was mocked for looking cartoony and a lot of people my age avoided it for that reason but I finally did play it as an adult several years ago and it’s a great game despite the graphics and maybe the graphics were actually very appropriate for what they were going for.
Same. I remember my friend bringing his game cube over when I was 4 and falling in love.
And when that was too stressful I played Mario sunshine 😂
@@hanzohasashi5603 that’s wild sms stressed me out more than any Zelda game
@vvvvventy same here I was about 4 when it came out. This and Mario sunshine were my first 2 video games so they’ll always hold a special place in my heart.
It's not part of the dungeon per se, but i'm amazed you didn't at least mention the hilarious alternate way to defeat the Forbidden Wood's boss.
Use a bottle to grab some of the sacred water surrounding the Deku Tree and then just....splash the boss with it when it first opens up, this instantly defeats it.
The Wind Waker was the first game I've ever played. I was born in early 1999, and I got it on release day. Played it with my father, it was the first game I also ever beat. By the time I was 5 years old, I had the game beat 3 times. It was a wonderful starting game to the series and to gaming alone. My parents were divorced and in an out of jail, and for a lot of my life, I lived with my grandma and felt such a strong connection with Link in this game. This game has shaped me in so many ways. Taking the scary pirate plung for Link was my equivalent to going to speaking out to the court regarding leaving my abusive foster family. Such a scary experience, but taking that plung and returning to my true family reminds me of when Link meets back up with Aryll. The look on their face, reminds me of the look of my grandma in the stand.
Seeing Link's growth in this game, I feel, has the biggest difference than other Zelda games. Link becomes so mature in this game that Aryll and even the player can be proud of him. The dungeons in the game cause your brain to turn the cogs like crazy, especially at 4. Nintendo still makes crazy good games, and new Zelda games are great games as well.
But Wind Waker is nearly PEAK Zelda game and will always have a place in my heart, and as I begin to try a baby with my now fiancée, I'm going to make sure they play it first too, but unlike me growing up, I'll be by their side the whole time.
Man best of luck to you I hope you and and your fiancé have a wonderful life
If I allow for some nostalgia bias, Wind Waker will always be my favourite Zelda game.
Nails the sense of adventure, and while the dungeons are all over the place design wise; the Forsaken Fortress is the series at its best combining story, action and dungeon exploring.
There is a Pirate game that is popular that is basically a multiplayer Wind Waker. It was way ahead of it's time.
Wind Waker is my favourite game of all time. I love how thematically different it is from Ocarina which is so heavily focused on the past and dark future while WW is focused on the future with a dark past and how Ganondorf is the embodiment of that dark past in how he refuses to let go of old Hyrule and how the king choses to stay finally sealing the past away for a bright future.
Fun fact about Kale Demos that was not covered in the video, you can actually bring Forest Spring water from the water source surrounding the Deku Tree with you into the boss fight, and if you pour it onto the boss, it will instantly kill it. Just a neat detail.
That sounds super annoying lol. But then again, so is that boss, so I suppose the effort might be more worthwhile..
@ScootsLounge it really isn't. It takes 20 minutes for the forest water to expire, or 30 minutes in the HD remake. It can get a little tight on the short timer, but I've personally never failed this trick after learning about it, even as a kid with the 20 minute limit.
Worst case scenario, you've still got the means to beat him the old fashioned way.
So something interesting for the Tower of the Gods.
The wall marks you mentioned as being stars and constellations actually bare quite a bit of resemblance to early model integrated circuits and the boss rooms electrified floor looks a lot like modern circutry. That along with the artificial lights, lasers, gold which has many technological uses, and the giant robotic boss gives the whole tower a more technolgocial feel then any other place in the game. It's actually a fascinating contrast of old-school marble temple construction and technology that has no equal in this world.
Really gives the impression this might have been fashioned by the golden gods directly using a mix of technology they understand with their unearthly knowledge and direct divine power to make a test for possible heroes. Also explains the similarity to Sheikah designs, the Sheikah were very spiritual and tech inclined but ultimately taking inspiration from the gods, and the scary faces all over intended to scare off anyone too timid for the test rather then kill them.
I know a lot of people hated the Gamcube version of the triforce assembly, but I really liked it. The extra steps really made it feel like uncovering some lost, barely recorded yet sacred treasure to me.
I actually liked it as well. People often complain about 3D Zeldas having empty overworlds. The triforce quest sorta fixed that by having some use for that massive space, and it was fun
@@CaptBurgersonYes! I’ll never forget playing as a kid and discovering the ghost ship or the basement of the Cabana and feeling like I’m left with more questions than answers. That section of the game is what MAKES Windwaker for me. I’ve been going through these dungeon design videos and love the attention to detail. Thank you! They are bringing back great memories :)
I think there is one benefit in particular for the GameCube version of WW, and that is the Tingle Tuner vs the Tingle Bottle. The former is essentially another exploration tool that can also give you some more material and even small tidbits about Knuckle (the better of Tingle's siblings), while the Tingle Bottle was just a Miiverse item that could help accelerate completion for the Nintendo gallery
So glad I got distracted from going through the individual vids just long enough for the compilation to drop. Much easier to finish them this way.
Something else that makes the Death Mountain = Dragon Roost theory is that you get Din’s pearl there. Things relating to Din or Eldin typically involve Death Mountain
Wooo windwaker HD was my first zelda. I love these dungeons, even if they aren't super hard
Best zelda game
And the MOMENT that opening scene rolls...I'm hooked, just like all those years ago.
Don't care what anyone says, these Dungeons are great fun and very underrated!
Loved this game for about 20+ years and never knew about the All-Purpose Bait distracting Puppet Ganon. Classic games never stop surprising you!
One thing that is really striking to me is how much personality Link displasy despite not saying a single thing.
He's funny, he's cute and he's *angry*
While other Links kind of go along with them being a chosen hero right off the get-go, for this Link, it's personal.
Fated hero or not, Ganondorf messed with *his* family, kidnapped *his* sister and then threw him away like garbage, leaving him for dead.
Even Ganondorf looks a bit surprised the first time Link charges at him SCREAMING without any hesitation as if thinking "Whoa. This kid's out for blood this time"
Is it any surprise then, this Ganondorf's death is one of the most brutal in the series so far? Toon Link is a scary little badass!
Damn, no comment on the funniest Zelda moment oat ☹️ when Link places the last pearl, then braces for an explosion that doesn’t happen right away and gets blown away anyway! It’s sooo gooooood!!
I like the Wind Waker dungeons. I would have liked more of them.
As someone who grew up on the zelda series, these videos provide a great sense of nostalgia for me even if I have played these games before. Thanks for creating videos analyzing something i am so passionate about.
I remember back in the day i was obsessed with this game on GC. I also loved the new game + outfit, but really wished he could wear a blue tunic like in 4 swords.
Imagine my surprise when young me found a "tips and secrets" website that had a way to unlock any of the coloured tunics you wanted! All you had to do was beat the game. On each save file. And on the 3rd new game + you'd get to pick your colour instead of the invisible tunic.
Well on the 3rd file this wasn't the case lol. I think what convinced me to go through with it was there wasnt these impossible conditions to "unlock" the secret like with other made up secrets for games.
At least I know the game inside and out to this day 🤷♂️ The enhancements/slight changes and hero mode finally gave this game some more replayability for me after a while too. Windwaker will always be the GOAT Zelda for me. Most open world Zelda we had for a while too.
Love your vids btw! This is my favorite series of yours by far :D
2:10:04 easy fix(?): Add in Giant Peahats like were had in Ocarina of Time and sand-covered rooms where the baby Molgeras attacked you if you fell in. The Giant Peahats could inhabit the upper chambers while the sand worms would fill in the lower floors. They could even have made it so that the Giant Peahats could be one-shot with the Hookshot to give a sense of increased strength.
I love WW so much I played it when it came out and those little guys the miniblins used to scare the bejeebus out of me with their little "de-deh!" noises. Especially when its darker. I need to replay it now ;;0;;
It’s so wild to me that this is the first 3D Zelda game since the N64 games the jump in quality even on the GameCube is simply staggering
One of my favorite things about this game are Medli, Makar, the sages, and their songs. As a kid there was nothing like realizing that the Sage's songs make up the main theme of the game and that the wind waker lyrics that you have to use follow roughly the same notes
Being the first ever Zelda game I've beaten, Wind Waker is a very special and important game for me, and it's a game I come back to purely for that really comforting feeling!
God bless these dungeon design vids, the OoT and MM ones keep me going
i’m autistic, and ever since i played BOTW in october if 2022, zelda has become one of my special interests, including the past games. literally anything zelda. this video is perfect for me, thank you for making this compilation! i love all your videos!
Welcome to the group. I'm also autistic and Zelda has been one of mine since OOT. Back then, we just had the official guides and occasional video game magazine article to satisfy our curiosities about Zelda.
We love another autistic person that has Zelda as a special interest
Fellow autistic! 🙋♀️ Same!
So jealous of you to be able to discover these games for the first time, what I wouldn’t give to experience them all again 😭😭have so much fun!!!!
Have you played Link’s Awakening? That was one of my first Zelda games (still one of my favorites) and I thought the remake was pretty good.
Anyway, there are a lot of autistic Zelda fans out there, so you won’t be alone in this fandom. Take care, welcome!
When I was younger, I didn’t understand the phantom ganon puzzle, so I brute forced it through every room until I got through.
i clicked on this video strictly to see what you had to say about the earth temple since it’s a dungeon i adore so so much from the music to the puzzles to MEDLEY!!!!! and i must say i am OVERJOYED that someone else loves the final mirror puzzle seemingly as much as i do. it was so nice going through my memories of this dungeon while watching this video (i have terrible memory when it comes to stuff like this, and it especially doesn’t help that i took an edible and was REALLY high during this dungeon) but i remember so vividly being on a discord call with my friends and screen sharing my playthrough and when i got to that final puzzle and just looked out at what i was getting myself into i told them “i have never been more excited to do a puzzle in any game i have ever played” and i sat there for a little bit buzzing with anticipation. i am 100% watching through your skyward sword dungeon examination after this to see your thoughts on the ancient cistern (my other favorite!!!)
1:28:11 the music in the earth temple is one of my favorites from the ENTIRE series!! Particularly the didgeridoo which is an EXTREMELY underutilized instrument and needs to be popularized more. That combined with the steady drums really show off the earth theming. And the dissonant synth layers on top help the undead theming really shine through as well. It’s a great track IMO.
YESSS!!! YOU GET IT!!!!!! the earth temple is tied with the ancient cistern in skyward sword as my favorite dungeon in the series and the entire time i was playing through it i was just so obsessed with the music! i love the synth part, how it’s initially dissonant and then later in the theme resolves into a beautiful chord, UGH i cant get enough of this theme!!!!
This vid made me realize one of the biggest things I adore about wind waker: the golden goddesses actually matter. They also give an implication for where the spirit of the hero came from and why the goddesses are active in the adult timeline. See the spirit of the hero passes on after its current incarnation dies. OoT link doesn’t ever die in the adult timeline so the spirit never comes to protect Hyrule, that’s why the goddesses finally intervene here, their fail safe is gone. I love how it shows people still actually care about them and not just hylia
Everyone dies at some point. Link wasn’t immortal just because he wasn’t killed.
@@Thor-Orion Adult Timeline Link was sent back in time by Zelda to live out the childhood that was stolen from him due to being trapped in the Temple of Light for seven years, creating an impossible timeline that just doesn't have a Link in it anymore.
Eventually, something (assumingly the Golden Goddesses) solved this, as Link reincarnates again as the Hero of Wind and later (unless there is a timeline we don't know about) the Hero of Wild.
Did I recently watch these videos individually? Yes. Am I going to watch the compilation now? Also yes.
Did I watch each of these individually as they came out originally? Yes. Am I playing this compilation right now as I clean and eat yummy food. Also yes. Like duh!
Nice! Right at the start of my work day, too!
I think the Wind Temple should have been the fist dugeon to reintroduce the winged mothula.
Every other mini-bosss becomes a reular enemy except for the Winged Mothula and the orange Wizzrobe.
Bro that 3 hour conversation yall had was so fucking good. Thank you 🙏🏼
The sound design of the floormasters is something that gave me serious nightmares 20 years back
This was my first Zelda! I’ve replayed so many times. Forsaken fortress used to creep me out as a kid 😅. My favorite dungeons have to be the two last ones even tho they were kinda frustrating at times.
I honestly adore the Skullhammer, it feels so fun to use and honestly is tied with Twilight/Skyward's Dual Clawshots as my favorite items and cracking the Bird's Skull with the Hammer is so satisfying and even when hitting other enemies it feels hilariously personal to use the Hammer to smash enemies over just a quick few Sword Slashes
I think the coolest thought is that, with Medley being a descendent of the Zora sage, it’s cool to think that the zora had to evolve into the rito tribe since hyrule was flooded.
Absolutely loved this game, this and four swords are the two you want to get people started with to get them into Zelda
With the whole Forbidden Forest = Kokiri Forest theory, another piece of evidence is that the Forest Haven theme has a lot of hints back to the Kokiri Forest theme.
I remember a while back I saw a theory regarding the Earth Temple that it was made by the Gerudo originally, and that the giant statue is actually a Gerudo thief grinning as they crawl through a small hole rather than a Redead. Don’t know if I exactly subscribe to it myself but it is an interesting interpretation
what do you MEAN jalhalla doesn't have big bug eyes???? are you telling me that the last 22 years of my life have been a lie??? that's my main takeaway here.
I would say that the tower also has some zonai influance
Yo not going to lie, the way ganadorf slapped tetra to the side was brutal to hell
I honestly had no idea you could do a side swing with the hammer and send those miniblins absolutely flying lol I need to try this
I am liking the fact that he talks about the music in this game for the most part when i play games i usually play without sound because i am trying not to disturb anyone else in the house so for some of these places this is the first time i am hearing the music
How can you play with no music? Some video games have absolutely remarkable soundtracks you’re missing out on!
Time to make popcorn
I remember when I launched the remaster of WW I actually just about teared up 😭😭😭💕💕💕
I’m pretty sure the Tower of the Gods boss room quite literally is the exact same room you fight calamity ganon in. The only reason they don’t look similar is because one is underground and red. They said that the shiekah technology was ancient. It wouldn’t surprise me if they found something from the era of the windwaker and just classed it as another sheikah room and lumped it in with everything else.
You know what else doesn’t make sense? This game!
Wind waker was my first ever Zelda game and I got it in 2005.
But the forbidden forest boss you can cheese with forest haven water. Instakill
I WISH Nintendo would release this game (yes, for a third time… I’d buy it again, tho as of now I’m trying to emulate it lol) i think wind waker is the best zelda game. It gives that feeling of adventure so well! My personal favorite dungeons are tower of the gods and the earth temple. Oh god, that earth temple music 😩👌🏾.
My theory was always that the forbidden woods were the corpse of the OOT great deku tree. It being kokiri forest also makes sense though
supposedly, the reason why it forces you to do the earth temple first is because in the wind temple, the key item is the hookshot. and in the triforce quest in the original you need the hookshot to get the ghost ship map. and the other one is the enemy Gauntlet on the island north/northeast of Dragon Roost. so if you decided to do the wind temple first and got the hookshot, that would kinda mess up the Triforce Quest. especially in the original, the game WANTS you to do the Triforce quest as the last thing you do. if you REALLY want to, in the GC version, you can get all of the charts and shards right after you get the Skull Hammer. im sure there couldve been a way to keep you from going back to hyrule too early but thats atleast the theory i heard
My favorite Zelda. Not my favorite dungeons though, haha. Still like them, the design is great, but they're kinda ... really easy imo.
Also, I still wait for a Switch port :(
In reference to your talk of how the boss doesn't really fit as the Wind Temple: There's a lot of things that don't quite fit with the Earth and Wind temples; key among them the Sages.
"So you're telling me that the lady who can literally fly... is the Earth Sage... while the guy who is literally a plant... is the Wind Sage? Is it opposite day on the great sea?"
i find it extremely interesting that you point out how this game seems to be preparing for botw, because i saw that a lot in skyward sword! so many of the games ideas seem to carry over, and only more so in totk to my knowledge. backflips and parries, ancient technology, floating islands in totk, stamina, climbing, i could go on but i think you get the point.
also unrelated, thanks for uploading these longer videos, these types of videos help me a lot for sleeping so most of these are in my sleeping playlist.
can you tell I'm autistic too lol? :3
Wind Waker is such a good game, but unfortunately I came to this video right after getting your Twiligjt Princess video in my recommended.
It makes it difficult not to compare the games and not downsell Wind Waker, especially since Twilight Princess is my all time favorite Zelda game
Wind temple is my favorite and the fact there were no new enemies types besides the orange wiz robes never bothered me. Even in the savage labyrinth floors 1-40 are based on the first four dungeons and the last 10 throws the toughest enemies at you with largest quantities. Wind temple tests your knowledge of the game prior to that point as has you use most of your items that you’ve acquired up to that point and has the biggest combat challenges up to this point.
“race back to outlet, give grandma a fairy and get some soup.” lmaoooo
I know this video is really old, but halfway through, I got a thought. Most of the optional treasure charts you get in the dungeons are for heart pieces. Not unlike the ones you can get in Twilight Princess, but for some reason they feel just less rewarding. Maybe because they are just adding steps to what was originally a straightforward reward.
That’s a very good point! To expand on that, I think there’s a disconnect there in that extra step, because you don’t know what the reward for that chart will be, and you may not even remember which chart is which when you’re actually fishing those things up from the bottom of the sea. I know I tend to just horde the treasure charts and then go and fish up a bunch at a time or just grab them on my way- so the act of getting the chart becomes disassociated with finding the actual heart piece in a way.
Dude, i love ur channel!!!!
Regarding the scrapped Great Fish Isle dungeon and extended Triforce quest, it makes me think of how much better the Wind Waker could have been if it hadn't been rushed out of development. Still a great game and one that I love (I don't even necessarily mind the flipping of certain conventions), just feel like it could have been even better.
Medli: "Here take this grappling hook I myself don't need and have been carrying the whole time while I squatted on your head. Okay thanks byeeee~"🙃
So hyped for the twilight princess video
Yes 🥳🥳 perfect for Friday 🎉
14:56 I don't consider this, like, a spoiler. In most of the past games, Ganondorf has always been the bad guy. It was pretty common to think something along the lines of, "Oh, Ganon is badguy for Zelda. Like Bowser is for Mario." The game even like, tells you in the intro Ganon came back and started doing evil, and then it shows you this mysterious evil person that a bunch of pigs are listening to? I don't think there was ever a mystery here to begin with.
I am surprised that they didn’t mention the way to one shot kill the forbidden forest boss as a fun side note. (Pour water on it from the sacred grove before it turns plain)
1:48:20 you can also use the boomerang to attack more eyes at once when fighting Bigocto
I get lost all the time! I think my brain just stores the room layouts and the map as two separate things, so I never remember to check them. Anyways, I got lost several times when I first did the beginning Fortress and got lost at least once every time I retry the game, I'm glad it's not just me.
The faces in the tower of the gods look kind of like the faces in the shadow temple in OoT
I know it's by far no one's favorite, but the idea of a dungeon being a test of courage or filled with guardians meant to protect the treasure from evil actually comes from Zelda 2. Every single dungeon in that game is such a dungeon.
One thing i know is this boy loves saying the word TITULAR
btw when you fight the earth temple boss if you have the iron boots you can just not get effected by the wind he trys to blow you with XD
i actually think the tower of the gods boss might be one of the more interesting ones. if it's a building made by the sheika and it's a test of your power it actually makes sense they took inspiration from bosses from their own time. like how you compared him to king dodongo with the bomb feeding and ghoma with the eye shooting. that might have been the sheika's inspiration for their trial which only makes it more connected to ocarina of time
Or Bongo Bongo, that ghost of a all the people the Shiekah tortured to death.
its always been interesting that the earth sage in WW is a Zora. then a Rito.
Hey ! I watch this video like 4 times Already, you have a nice voice and I like to fall asleep on it.
44.47 you don't need the Boomerang, just take a stick with a baba loot and lit the fire!
I'm about ten time now, one day I will finish it!
1: Earth Temple
2: Trial of the Gods
3:Hyrule Castle
4 : Dragonroost Cave
5: Forbidden Woods
6: Forsaken Fortress
7: Wind Temple
I really wish the HD version re-added the two scrapped dungeons. It wouldn’t have changed the plot that much, they just needed to add another sage.
In interviews Aonuma stated that the cut dungeons couldn’t be put back in because they were already reused in later titles. So whatever dungeons were cut from WW, it’s likely they were given a second life in either Twilight Princess or Skyward Sword
@@MySnugglePuppy that would change the game entirely and require them to change tons of item locations. At that point it’s a different beast.
This series doesn't really "examine dungeons". What it really does is simply explain what happens in the games from beginning to end.
So, you're kinda right about that. I think there are still insights made but not enough in hindsight. I do spend too much time talking about how to get through each individual room, it is feedback I've gotten and tried to take to heart and do better with.
Otherwise, here's a copy+paste I replied to another similar comment:
You're not wrong.
I've learned a lot in the three years since I started making these Dungeon videos, and this was a trend I started noticing with my own writing, and started trying to pivot away from when I started into BOTW, TOTK, and the 2D games. In my more recent videos I feel as though I've found a better balance between recapping things and analyzing them, but yes it is definitely a growing pain some of my earlier stuff went through and it makes it hard for me personally to go back to many of my old videos.
Thanks for watching nonetheless
I like the little segments about the dungeon in-betweens myself. I tend to use videos like this to keep me entertained while I'm at work or grinding in my more tedious games, so often I'm not exactly looking at the video while it plays.
His explanations and descriptions, in and out of dungeon helps me with making a mental image for games I haven't played for years.
What I'm trying to say is that I hope you don't phase out the in between sections completely.
@@CaptBurgerson you are really awesome, while the comment may have a point, there are so many people including myself which really enjoy this play by play with a few insights each time. I'm new to your channel, but I have absolutely loved binging this series. Keep doing what you're doing, because it's amazing and touching to those of us who love Zelda more than anything. Sending happiness and kindness to you!
@@nipsynuggets4930 thank you so much for saying that. It means a lot that people enjoy the videos
@@CaptBurgerson hey no need to say thank you, we should all be thanking you for putting so much effort into your work!!! Can't wait to see what's next :D
Oh!
I did not recognise up until now that the baton is the titular "wind waker"!
In German it's called "Taktstock des Windes" (baton of the wind) - therefore, I always assumed Link himself is suppossed to be the wind waker since he wakes the wind using this baton.
Mind blown. xD
OMG CAN WE PLS HAVE AN OPEN WORLD DESIGN SERIES 😁😁😁
I can't believe you didn't mention the Tingle statues. 0/10 Unwatchable.
my b
@@CaptBurgerson np. I love these videos.
Something that I personally find funny about windwaker is that its very open and very here is the world do what you want with it but it gets a pile of hate from people many of whom absolutely love breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom.
Wind Waker is my favourite Zelda game but even with heavy bias i do think getting to the first dungeon Dragon Roost Caven takes way too long and the game was clearly rushed
You know its kinda funny. The dungeons were my least favorite part of the game. Not because they are bad by any means but because the overworld exploration was just so good that having to do the dungeons felt like I was being interrupted more than anything.
Yes the triforce hunt was easily one of the best parts of the game for me how could you tell?
15:40 very nice music NOSTALGIC!
Whoahahaha DYUDE!
Whoahahaha DYUDE!
Gosh I love Windwaker!
shit all those dumgeon Design Videos really made me miss the old Zelda games even more
I DIS-LIKE THE PEA-HAT’S LMFAOOOOO …….. DAYUMMMM …….
“WWHD is the definitive version”
How… the music got slaughtered for no reason
“The music also gets a great overhaul”
Bro
That line in my script is actually a mistake. A great deal of the music is actually entirely unchanged lol
you forgot kalle demos one hit kill with forest water
One of these days I will understand what it is I hate so much about how WW HD looks. I feel like I'm the only one, but I'd rather get my old 18" CRT from the attic than play the remaster.
But wait how long has the king of hyrule been in the form of the king of red lions? How old is that boat???
....... So when was someone gonna tell me my idea of "burger" wasnt original
You know, Ganondorf HAD that 1 Opportunity to just Kill Zelda right there to avoid her from getting back up and using the Light Arrows again.
But He DIDN'T. He showed Restraint, Mercy even. Why was that?
Other than Gameplay Reasons, he did not have to Show Zelda Mercy by knocking her out. He had that Golden Opportunity to Kill her and then that would Spell Doom to Link because he wouldn't have Zelda as a Backup shooting Light Arrows.
I mean it's just something to Ponder, why would he Waste such an Opportunity to Kill Zelda if that was going to be his Goal anyways? The King of Hyrule had already made the Wish, so why would Ganondorf not Kill Zelda in that Brief Moment, why would he only knock her out?
Maybe Ganondorf didn't really Intend to Kill them, probably beat Link down to where he didn't have the strength to continue and knock Zelda out, but not kill them.
1:22:05 - Wait, since when did you *have* to do the Earth Temple before the Wind Temple? You make a big deal out of this but never explain why. And I distinctly remember having both Makar and Medlei on my boat at the same time when I played, so…?
Since always. You literally can not do the wind temple first. Story events / cutscenes won’t trigger
it didn’t let me and i just finished a playthrough a week or so ago. makar is entirely unavailable to talk to until you’ve completed the earth temple! the deku tree tells you that he’s not around, and the music hint to find him isn’t there.