Wind Waker: How would a new player know about the Nintendo Gallery?

[Andy Bates]

This may seem like an odd question, so bear with me:

I'm playing Wind Waker (actually WW HD) for the very first time, and I got the Deluxe Picto Box. I knew about the figurines from hearing about the game over the years, but I never found anything in the game that mentioned it. I eventually looked up a walkthrough and found out where the location is, and it doesn't seem like something you could find by accident.

So my question is: How would new players know about the existence of the Nintendo Gallery? Are there clues anywhere in the game? Does a Wind Fish drop hints about its existence? Did I miss some vital clue, or is this just something that you're supposed to find completely through random chance?

I mean, if it's something that's really hard to find, I don't feel as bad consulting a walkthrough. But it seems odd that such a cool feature would exist in the game without any way for the average player to know it was there.

 

[Jirohnagi]

Well at this point i think the makers were counting on the fact the player wouldn't have gotten bored of the novelty of the Hoi pears and were using a seagull to fly around Forest Haven.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

it doesn't seem like something you could find by accident.

uh...it kinda is,speaking as someone who played the game as a kid
you just have to notice the couple mini islands around forest haven and check them out,and that one dude tells you about a switch and assuming you've tried the hyoi pear by this point,you can find the gallery on your own

 

[Locke]

yeah, pretty sure I found it on my own when I first played. There's a conspicuous door on a conspicuous island by one of the most prominent islands in the game. iirc there's a sign by the door too.

Palace of Figurines Nintendo Gallery (Membership Required to Enter)

And an NPC explains everything (iirc he's standing just outside the place?)

Y-You're incredible! D-Did you just... FLY down here?!

That's the coolest thing ever! Hey! If you can fly, do you think maybe you can hit that switch over there? Huh? Can you?

Huh? You can't see it? It's just over there, up toward the top of the Forest Haven... Don't you have a Telescope? I mean, who doesn't in this day and age?

You have to hit that switch up there if you want to get down into the Nintendo Gallery nestled beneath this island. If you had a Telescope you could probably see what I'm talking about. ...That switch is a real pain!

See, once you become a gallery member, they teach you how to activate the switch, but I'm not a member yet...

Dang! If I could only fly through the skies... Whee! Like a seagull! That would be great...

The switch is way up on top of that island, at the base of that one branch... You see what I mean? Right in that little nook...

Oh and yes one of the fishmen explains it too:

Hey, small fry, do you know about the Nintendo Gallery? The only way in there is to hit a switch that's way up high on the Forest Haven. But the only way to do THAT would be to bribe one of the gulls by putting a little bait on your head!

 

[Andy Bates]

Thanks for the responses, everyone! And thank you Locke in particular for such a thorough answer!

It makes me feel better to know that one of the Fishmen gives you a hint for the location. (I must not have found that one yet!) I was always under the impression that the figurines were part of the Picto Box quest, and I was frustrated that Lenzo didn't point me to the Gallery once I got the Deluxe Picto Box. I thought maybe I was doing something wrong, or missing a vital part of the chain. Now I'll know where to go when I do the New Game+!

 

[Kyru]

Yeah! I totally found it by accident and by accident I mean my curiosity got the better of me and I had to go to the island and check out the door I found. Then the man on the island tells you about the switch and you find the gallery.

You can find it by accident, however you have to be an adventurer which is like the entire game!

 

[Sheik]

Well for me it was just a simple matter of "Huh, there's an island over there... I wonder if I can reach it with my leaf..."

Honestly, though, I kind of understand why the developers didn't have the Nintendo Gallery just out in the open where every single player would find out about it. Any player who only plays the game to get from Point A to Point B probably wouldn't even want to bother with a side quest that involves taking a picture of every mother****ing character and enemy in the game. It's a treat for players who take time to explore and fully appreciate the overworld.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

dude all you legit had to do was a little exploring,its really not something so cryptic you need to consult a walkthrough for
its kinda like finding the ice rod in link to the past,except less ambiguous

by the way,i apologize in advance if i came off as overbearing

 

[Spirit]

"Whats that switch i cant reach over there do? Lets send a seagull!"
I found it my first time too without much hassle i guess it all depends on how thorough you are.

 

[Polychrome]

There's enough in the area to get you curious. I think I used the leaf the first time I played. The island kinda sticks out.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

If you're an explorer when you play (as I usually am), then it's not overly difficult to stumble upon. If you check all the different tiers in the Forest Haven and go outside to see what's out there, you should be able to see it. If you look closely at the islands, you'll see a man on one of them standing beside a yellow hatch. That already sounds suspicious, and if you look even closer, you'll be able to notice that that same island has a sign beside the hatch. That island is just begging to be explored by this point.

 

[Andy Bates]

dude all you legit had to do was a little exploring,its really not something so cryptic you need to consult a walkthrough for
its kinda like finding the ice rod in link to the past,except less ambiguous

by the way,i apologize in advance if i came off as overbearing

Like I said, I thought it was part of the Picto Box quest chain. After I got the deluxe picto box, I expected Lenzo to send me on a quest to go find the Gallery. He didn't, which is why I looked up how you get there. I just wanted to know how people would normally run across it.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

Like I said, I thought it was part of the Picto Box quest chain. After I got the deluxe picto box, I expected Lenzo to send me on a quest to go find the Gallery. He didn't, which is why I looked up how you get there. I just wanted to know how people would normally run across it.

well they [the player] just had to notice that lone isle in forest haven and have enough curiosity to go there,and there's even a dude that tells you about it who's right next to it
in fact,im pretty sure most people would have found out about the gallery before they find a fish man that explains it to them

 

[Andy Bates]

well they [the player] just had to notice that lone isle in forest haven and have enough curiosity to go there,and there's even a dude that tells you about it who's right next to it
in fact,im pretty sure most people would have found out about the gallery before they find a fish man that explains it to them

There are a lot of islands that you can't get to until later in the game when you have the right equipment, which is why I imagine a lot of people wouldn't necessarily investigate every single island as soon as they see it. And the guy who tells you about it is on the top of the island, so he can't even tell you about it until you've actually reached the top, which involves going through a different door inside Forest Haven that you might not even notice. It's not like you can just get to that island from the outside.

So yeah, I get that I didn't find the island the first time through, but you don't have to rub it in and say, "Well I'm sure most people would have noticed it anyway."

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

There are a lot of islands that you can't get to until later in the game when you have the right equipment, which is why I imagine a lot of people wouldn't necessarily investigate every single island as soon as they see it. And the guy who tells you about it is on the top of the island, so he can't even tell you about it until you've actually reached the top, which involves going through a different door inside Forest Haven that you might not even notice. It's not like you can just get to that island from the outside.

So yeah, I get that I didn't find the island the first time through, but you don't have to rub it in and say, "Well I'm sure most people would have noticed it anyway."

you can actually,there's like a latter behind it,besides you get the LEAF in forest haven,and there's this one cliff that you jump ofd that leads you directly to it or at least within eye sight,don't quite remember; also not noticing that exit? the only one that's miss-able is the one that leads to an island w/ a treasure chest
granted i don't think you'd have the time to get there during the first mission in forest haven [assuming one wanted to proceed in the story],but getting there is definitely within the realm of everyone's capability after forbidden woods

also

by the way,i apologize in advance if i came off as overbearing