If you hated Wind Waker, you'll really hate Zelda U.

[curl-6]

spemanig said:

curl-6 said:

It's not just trees and grass though; hills, mountains, buildings, water, wildlife, all of which present gameplay as well as aesthetic variation.

Seriously, show me these big  empty areas of Zelda U. The area close to link in the e3 shot has people, goats, 2 houses, a forest, a well...

Hills don't change gameplay, and there is wildlife in Wind Waker's ocean. It would take minutes for Link to travel to the forest in that picture and, as we can see here:

It still doesn't change the gameplay. Giant forest. There's lake on one side. I think I saw a little house. That's it in the immediate area. Nothing for minutes.

I couldn't get better puctures because there aren't many screen shots of that video.

Terrain elevation does change gameplay; it can hide secrets and other features, and obscure the terrain ahead, motivating exploration, and pushing you to search for higher vantage points, which may themselves require searching for a path that can reach them. You could miss a whole dungeon because  you didn't check the far side of a hill.

Wind Waker's flat ocean does none of this.