depending what day you ask, WW's my all time favourite game, but I'm glad this happened, it was its own self-contained story and didn't need as sequel. Plus we wouldn't have gotten Twilight Princess, which isn't my personal favourite but it gave us Midna.
My Nintendo NewsZelda Wind Waker 2 was in development but was scrapped for more realistic game https://mynintendonews.com/2026/08/01/zelda-wind-waker-2-was-in-development-but-was-scrapped-for-more-realistic-game/