The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD allows for Off-TV Play, leaving the TV free to be used otherwise while playing the game on the Wii U GamePad. This is only one of the many additions to the Wii U remake of The Wind Waker made in order to better player's experiences.

Apparently, many people complained of the long amounts of time spent sailing the seas on The King of Red Lions, Link's ship, so a new item has been added that can be used to sail faster. The ship was originally slow in the GameCube release in order to allow environments to load, but this time around it is not needed due to load time improvements through the increased power of the Wii U. The flow of the hunt for the Triforce is also being improved but details about how exactly that was being done were not provided.

In order to give the game a sense of realism and warmth, bloom effects are being added to the game's visuals. The actual Wind Waker, Link's baton used for different powers, is now controlled with the touch screen of the GamePad. The gyroscopic controls of the GamePad are also used as a means to control a camera, allowing players to take in-game pictures.