What makes a Zelda game different? If you released a new Zelda game without all the familiar names and characters, would people still recognize it? There are definitely certain gameplay elements that run throughout the series, but these can be and have been duplicated in other games (with varying degrees of success). However, what really separates Zelda games is an intangible sense of adventure, a thrill of exploration, and the feeling that what you do has epic proportions.

The Legend of Zelda: Kaze no Takuto embodies all of those qualities, while refreshing and often revamping the actual mechanics of the series. In one sense, this game is an oddball for the Zelda series, not unlike Majora’s Mask before it. Kaze no Takuto isn’t set in the traditional Hyrule, its progression definitely doesn’t follow the usual pattern of eight-dungeons-and-beat-Ganon, and its visual style is obviously a big step from the norm. But in spite of treading so much new and different ground, this Zelda has everything that makes the series fantastic, and many of its innovations will become cornerstones for the franchise’s future.

The biggest real change, and it is a drastic one, is that Kaze no Takuto has taken on a stronger RPG design than any of its predecessors. While battles are still real-time and there are no experience points or “leveling up", the story takes a far more prominent role than Zelda fans are used to. It’s not that the game’s design has been compromised to account for more plot, but rather that the same amount of story progression always infused into the series is now much more effective. To put it bluntly, the story is great. It’s creative, motivating, and unpredictable. It looks at the Zelda mythos from an entirely new perspective, and longtime fans of the series will be delighted to see a new take on the legend.

The other RPG-like difference is the overworld. Technically, every Zelda game has had an overworld, but Kaze no Takuto takes the concept more in line with traditional RPGs. Regular adventuring areas are of similar size to those in any Zelda game, but instead of major dungeons being separated by five or six “screens" or a relatively small stretch of land, they are now separated by an immense span of water. Link and his boat have an unbelievably huge world to traverse, and travel becomes a major new theme for the game. For the most part, it works wonders. The sea is literally full of things to do, monsters to defeat, and places to explore. If your favorite part of Final Fantasy games is exploring the overworld for secret places, you will have many, many hours of fun in Zelda’s nautical landscapes. The sea and its often lengthy voyages further add to the epic feel of the game, and for the most part, this enormous overworld both fits and adds to the Zelda magic. The excitement and overwhelming freedom of sailing such an expanse is nothing short of thrilling for much of the game. Eventually, travel becomes more of a chore, especially once you’ve thoroughly explored the sea and found most of its secrets. By that time you’ll have learned ways of getting around more swiftly, but even by the end of the game, it can take five or ten minutes of sailing to reach your destination. It can be pretty frustrating by that point, but the designers should be applauded for keeping the sea interesting and mysterious for a great majority of the game’s length.

Kaze no Takuto sets a new standard for charm and emotional involvement in a video game. Naturally, people will have different reactions to the game’s attempts to pull on your heartstrings, but no one could deny the steps Nintendo has taken to give a special kind of personality to the entire game. Simple, almost silly details, like making Link’s eyes very large to show emotion, are surprisingly effective. Funny and endearing characters are practically everywhere, and even the meanest bad guys have their moments. It might seem like giving the game such a light-hearted style would take away from the serious moments, but the opposite is actually true. You become attached to these characters, and when misfortune befalls them, you feel sad, worried, upset. It feels almost bizarre when you realize that they’re just characters in a game. This might be the first video game in which the characters are actually characters, in the literary sense. The effect is subtle and honestly hard to describe, but it’s undoubtedly there, and it makes this review quite difficult to write, as I try to separate my observations from my emotions. Consider yourself lucky that you won’t have to.

Mechanically, Kaze no Takuto is heavily based on the 3D gameplay of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, but with numerous and very welcome improvements. Link’s movement is now more fluid, and previously complex tasks such as pushing blocks and navigating the subscreen have been simplified. A new “free" camera mode allows for customized views, which can be both functionally useful and creatively enabling. When you’re on the open sea and sailing at full speed, finding the most beautiful camera angle is almost its own mini-game. Best of all, the new camera freedom comes at no cost to the gameplay; the N64-style camera is still the default, and you can switch back to it at any time with the L-trigger.

Even better is the heavily reinforced combat system. Link’s swordplay is now more varied than ever, while still being very simple to execute. The new evasive/offensive moves are a brilliant addition, and some of the tougher enemies all but require them. The game seems to delight in throwing more and more monsters at Link, often in large groups that definitely won’t be taking turns. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to be surrounded and beaten to a pulp. The extremely impressive enemy AI adds a ton of variety to the fights, and even baddies from early in the game can surprise you. In short, combat has become a more interesting, more prominent, and more challenging aspect of the Zelda gameplay.

If you’re not already convinced that this is an excellent game, let me sum things up: Kaze no Takuto is a brilliantly designed, brilliantly balanced, and brilliantly innovative game. No other game I know of has its mix of style, charm, and deeply refined gameplay. No, it’s not perfect; the incredible dungeons are sometimes separated by lengthy and arguably uninteresting adventuring bits, especially late in the game. The change of pace is nice, but it’s taken too far, especially in one case. But that’s a minor complaint amongst a host of compliments that I could never finish listing. This is the best Zelda game yet, the best GameCube title yet, and definitely one of the greatest games of all time.