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The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
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Graphics & Sound:
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on the Nintendo DS is glorious. It is in the top three best games I have ever played, and I would like to erase my mind and play it all over again. The music is amazing, and comforting, and makes me feel like I just baked cookies and chugged a glass of cold milk. It is, of course, reminiscent of every Zelda game, so the sense of nostalgia for those of us who have played previous Zelda games is awesome. The tinkly fairy sounds are the clincher for me. Nothing sounds better than a tinkly fairy when you are bored/depressed/otherwise not overjoyed at the prospect of being awake.
The graphics are great for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on the DS. Everything is fluid, the colors are vivid, and little Link looks crisp as he darts and flips across the screen. The cut scenes are lovely, and I want a DVD with all of them on it, so I can watch them over and over again. The top screen always looks sharp and smooth, and is very fluid with the lower screen. I was impressed with a lot of the boss battles that took place on both screens. The graphics never interfered with the gameplay, and they just made my eyes happy. What's not to love?
The sound really plays a huge part of this game. When I was sitting in class playing the game, I was sorely tempted to turn the volume up and face the wrath of my teacher. It is just that good. The sound effects are pertinent and add so much to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Clinking your sword against a wall plays a certain tone, however, if that wall can be demolished via a bomb, it plays a different tone. The music is so catchy that it will never occur to you to turn your volume down unless you feel the urge to be polite in a quiet situation.
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Gameplay:
Gameplay for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is absolutely amazing! Running around the world, smashing baddies, and trying to figure out puzzles and your way through the dungeons is so much better than anything else I can imagine. Well, almost. Eating cookie dough is way up there too. You start out pretty much where you left off in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, with Tetra and her gang of goof balls. Action happens swiftly, and Tetra is sucked into a void by an evil ghost ship of doom. It is now up to our heroic Link to dash after his friend and save her again! Ya know, as a female, if I were living in Link's world... I would just hide in a box underground to avoid being captured time and time again.
You do a good deal of sailing in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, but not half so much as you did in Wind Waker. Where the sailing really, really bothered me in Wind Waker, I enjoyed it in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. You get a cannon in which to shoot baddies with! Watch out, though, I splattered my fair share of seagulls during some of my more overzealous moments. Poor things.
Right, so, basic gameplay format for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: Make a run through the Sea King's Temple to get a sea chart, jump in your wicked cool, customizable boat and sail to aforementioned spot on the chart, find your way to the dungeon, complete said dungeon, sail back to the Sea King's Temple for next sea chart, rinse, repeat. This actually is a lot of fun, however, running through the Sea King's Temple every bloody time is a lot of backtracking and can get slightly frustrating. My advice is to run it all in one go, or face the risk of chucking your poor DS across the room in irritation.
As will all Legend of Zelda games, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass has a few cute mini-games spread through the game. These add replay value for when you want a bit of Zelda goodness, but do not feel like running through a dungeon or slicing away at weeds for hours. The most exasperating mini-game is using the grappling hook to get sunken treasure. I had such problems with that, that I just gave it up all together. I didn't technically need most of the sunken loot, so I decided to save myself the supreme annoyance it caused and forgo it all together. Navigating a swooshing grappling hook on a chain through moving mines is just not fun! All this aside, the greatest bit of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is that you can draw on your map. This comes in so handy during the game, that I think without this feature it would have increased in difficulty to a frustrating level. |
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Difficulty:
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is put at a great difficulty, but tiptoes about at the edge of easy. More experienced gamers might find the game a bit too easy, but that in no way impedes upon the game experience as a whole. The dungeons can be completed in one sitting, and I only died once during all of the boss battles. This is slightly refreshing, however. The game ends up being more about enjoying the experience then stocking up on hearts and potions and praying to the gods of Hyrule that you stay alive long enough to get part way through the dungeon.
The dungeons can be completed in one swoop, as I said, but they are so much fun! The ice temple is one of the hardest, per usual, but if you have any cognitive skills at all, then you can get through without much of a hassle. I think part of the ease of this game comes from experience with so many other Zelda games. If you, or someone on your Christmas list, is new to the Zelda games, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass would be a great place to start them out at. The game does not take too long to complete, and the evil water temple was absent.
The most difficult aspect of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is the Sea King's Temple. When you enter the temple, you notice little blurbs of purple, and later find out that these are the only places that you can stand that will not continuously drain your life! With every new dungeon you complete, you must backtrack through the Sea King's Temple and reach a new level each time. This can be more frustrating than waiting in line at the DMV. If you did not have the ability to scribble on your map (directional arrows, and "do not step here!"s), the temple would be a bigger pain than it already is.
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Game Mechanics:
The most innovative part of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is that you use the stylus exclusively. That's right, the stylus. The D-pad is snubbed in this game, and I love it! I was a bit worried about this when I first heard about it, but it only takes minutes to get the hang of it, until walking across inch wide, ice covered ledges are child's play. With a simple squiggle of the stylus at a bottom corner of the screen on your DS, Link somersaults until he gets so dizzy that he has to stop and let the stars clear out of his head. When you circle your stylus around Link, he does a powered up sword swing. He will continue to do this (no recharging needed), until he is too dizzy to continue. I spent long periods making Link dizzy. It was way too much fun.
The stylus is used to control Link's weapons as well as Link. Using the boomerang and the bombachu's becomes incredibly entertaining. The boomerang's path is traced out with the stylus, and after the path is complete, Link lets the bit of wood go and there is a moment where you want to drop your DS and just clap. Tracing the path for the bombachu is the best! When you select the cute little blue bombs, your map drops down into the main screen, and you draw your path... so, so very cool. This is a great way to get to switches when your boomerang just won't reach.
Tapping on enemies with your stylus causes Link to lash out at them with his sword of doom, and is very satisfying. The same method is used during boss battles, and doesn't take very long to get the hang of.
If I was a Jedi, I would wave my hand at you and tell you to go out and buy The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. It is amazing, and will probably be my favorite game for the DS to ever come out. So, consumers, go out and buy every adult and child you know The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and while you're at it... buy a copy for yourself. |
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-Phate Kills, GameVortex Communications AKA Ashley Field |
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