Zelda: Phantom hourglass provides a fresh, new experience for those entrenched in the series
Immediately evident and unique in this Zelda is the exclusive useage of the stylus, that's right, exclusive. At first I thought this would bring the game down but I was so wrong. In fact it enhances it... A LOT, and does a good job at it too. I was a bit skeptical at first about the 'drawing on the map' feature but man, now I think how I ever was able to do without. Something like this would be useful in metroid or castlevania games as well. Its useful because lets say you find a chest out of your reach and there is a post or two nearby... you can jot down where it is and come back to it once you get the item that will allow you to reach it, no more worrying about forgeting those items! Bombs are much easier to place too, you just have to tap where you want to throw something. Oh one thing I did find annoying was trying to use the boomerang in combat. To throw you must draw a path and it seems never to hit the fish monster's back when I needed it too... oh well, the hammer is sweet though.
AUDIO:
The audio was greatly influenced by the game's counterpart, Wind Waker, so you will hear a lot of the same themes and such along the way... that is not to say that its all unorigional and it was still good.
VISUAL:
The graphics are very well done for the DS. Comparing it to windwaker they are much the same, but in this one the art is much less cell-shade-ish though... I find myself surprised at the basic grass' detail everytime I turn it on. Not to mention as well that Wind waker was a Gamecube game not a 64 game so it makes it all the sweeter.
STORY:
The story is your basic zelda premise with zelda, or tetra in this case, being stolen away from some dark character and you go off and save her. Yet in this one there are many things done differently... For starters this is a direct sequel and starts off from right where wind waker left off. The characters are funny and varied but I would have liked to have seen more. As for storyline the ending was something else! Very well done how they incorporated the end boss' multiple forms! Im not spoiling anything more though so play it for yourself. Oh and sorry, no gannon or master sword this time 'round... A blessing or a curse?
OTHER THOUGHTS:
The Boss Battles are amasing! Especially the last temple boss and the end boss himself. The game overall was a tad easy as most of the enemies were little baddies such as snakes and slimes... I would have liked to see more bigger harder monsters in the temples and more enemies in general but oh well... Oh and another couple things: the amount of main items you recieve is only 7 and your collection screen doesnt hold as much as, say, Ocarina of time, unfortunately, also there is no replayability or 'second quest' like there was in windwaker, with the camera... But one very unique thing was that you can build and customize your ship... I never did get a full set though... The Legend of Zelda was a delight to play and I thouroughly enjoyed it despite some of it's shortcomings. 8.5/10 and a recommendation!