Zelda: Wind Waker Unflooded Finally Lets Us Fully Explore Beneath The Waves

4 hours ago 12

Boat exploration in the Wind Waker Concept

Published Jun 30, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT

Known as 'Cyberpunk 2077's' biggest fan, Angharad is a Welsh games writer who thrives in anything related to digital storytelling. If a video game explores the intricacies and horrors of womanhood, she is there.

Thanks to previous work at GAMINGbible, GameByte, The Loadout, Game Luster, Angharad has built a strong understanding of both the digital world and what fans want from it and is eager to share her thoughts and expertise with readers.

Released back in 2002 and proving quite controversial at the time thanks to its unique new cartoon-style graphics, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker has since been appreciated for its twist to the franchise, and is now regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time.

However, despite receiving praise for its game play, level design, music and soundtrack, the cartoon artstyle was too much for some people, leading the Nintendo title to receive weak sales compared to previous entries in the franchise.

Nevertheless, the audience reception for The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker has turned around over the past two decades, and with many fans flocking to it consistently over the past few years, this fan-made project is enough to keep the hype alive.

A surprised Link and a screaming Ganondorf from Zelda The Wind Waker.

For the first time ever, the underwater kingdom of Hyrule will now be available to explore thanks to Wind Waker: Unflooded, a fan-made project by 3D modeller, Joe Kendrick, over on YouTube.

The project, which is currently 80% complete, aims to "reimagine the entire world of Hyrule in the art style of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker", and its creator has been sharing videos of their progress over the past few years.

With the majority of Wind Waker's map covered in water, it makes sense that one fan would like to see what lurks underneath and that is exactly what the Wind Waker: Unflooded project has achieved. As such, players can expect to explore the otherwise inaccessible area with the mod removing the water and unearthing the cities and locations underneath.

Unfortunately, the project is not currently available to play online, but hopefully, when it reaches 100% completion, it will be made available for fans to enjoy. In the meantime, however, said fans have taken to the comments of Kendrick's latest video to share their thoughts.

"What a pure joy to be able to watch WW's Hyrule grow before our eyes over the years!" One comment read. "You're realizing my childhood dream of discovering what lies beyond the "security" of Hyrule Castle." Another added, "Last video I watched was a couple of months ago… I remember falling off because I got disappointed with how difficult it is to see progress sometimes. Seeing this video where you’ve filled in a lot of gaps, along with the new intro showing the progress I’ve missed out on, really just warms my heart. Good luck to you as you continue chipping away at this beautiful piece of art."

If you wish to support the project to see it to completion, you can check out the link in the YouTube descriptions, but for now, we can enjoy seeing how Wind Waker: Unflooded is coming along in the meantime.