Zelda finds the way of the casuals on the DS.
At the beginning of the game, you're on Tetra/Zelda's ship with her slaves. You run into the Ghost Ship, Zelda runs for treasure, is kidnapped, you dive to the rescue, the fogs rolls in. There. Wait, this doesn’t this plot sound familiar? Anyways, you mysteriously end up on an island with a fairy that is more than willing to find your long lost friend, as well as saving the seas from evil monster(s).
Phantom Hourglass is controlled entirely by stylus, except the buttons can be used to bring up the map and item screen/map uses. You'd think a Zelda game controlled entirely by stylus would bomb in this game, surprisingly, it only makes it better. There are those rare instances where you will tap the screen to move somewhere, but mysteriously, you hit a wall with your sword and the "Phantoms" chase after you. About the Phantoms, they're part of "The Temple of the Ocean King" which has to be the worst co called idea of "fun" the Zelda team has ever thought of. You need to find 4 sea charts in order to delve deeper into the game. The Phantom Hourglass, in a nutshell, is your death clock. You are acquiring Two + minutes as you beat a boss, starting out with ten minutes in it. The Phantoms I mentioned earlier are indestructible knights that are watch - over’s in the castle. If they see you, run, and run fast to a safe zone, or you'll lose thirty seconds off your death clock. This would not be much of a Con if the Temple didn't reset itself every time you leave it, including when you warp out after you get your chart. There is that one warp halfway through the Temple thankfully, but that next half is the more stressful part of the dungeon.
There are five dungeons (including the Ocean King), and all of them have linear level design. It's not rare that you will be a temple in thirty to forty five minutes. There are no mini bosses, some puzzles/tasks feel forced in order to just make you use your item more. Every boss is easy, but they're all unique in their own way because they don't force you to hack and slash them, rather, unique ways on how to defeat them. You will probably only die once against each one, but they're still fun. A surprising feature is the map. Its one of those things where you think it’s something you can get in every quality game, this is different, thanks to the DS. Bring up your map with any button or stylus, and draw intersecting lines to help you solve puzzles, notes, and where treasures are located. It becomes might handy, and this game would suffer greatly without it.
Your sword attacks are limited to your forward swing, because your side slashes are slower, a caution to scratching your screen, and your three sixty degree swing is only good in certain instances. In Conclusion, it creates fighting enemies a chore
Zelda's combat is always easy, but their puzzles are challenging and keeps the game fresh after all these years. They're not in this game. The answers are practically given to you through the numerous stone tablets that give you obvious clues. Miyamoto really wasn't joking when he said Zelda and Galaxy would be easier for casuals. There is no other explanation why the islands and dungeons are so linear than Nintendo's will to expand the market. If this continues, how can we call "Zelda" our hardcore game? Your boat is controlled by the line you draw on your map with your stylus. Your ship gets to the islands rather fast, as you can customize your ship with different parts, adding a bit of reply value. This is a huge sacrifice, because annoying enemies are always flocking your ship every 10 seconds or so, which completely destroys the relaxation feel that helps exploration. Controlling your ship would have been a huge plus to the exploration type of people, but to the people who want to move on, you'll like this aspect.
Unlike Wind Waker, there is no morning or nights in Phantom Hourglass. This is a terrible move by Nintendo, because exclusive tasks that made Wind Waker so special are out, as well as that grasping atmosphere.
Phantom Hourglass also seems to be missing many side quests. In order to further appeal to casuals, you won't be hunting heart pieces down, they're limited down to only acquiring them after defeating a boss. There are only a couple mini games, too.
You'll be playing Phantom Hourglass from beginning to finish in about fifteen to twenty five hours; it's a pretty lengthy adventure considering the limits of the DS. You’ll be tempted numerous times to just play the game for long periods of time, because of its odd addictively. But once you’re done, you won’t find much reason to play again, unless you’re interested in its multiplayer. It’s no Four Swords, but it’s good to play every now and then if you can get into it.
It’s surprising how Nintendo squished in a downgraded Wind Waker look, and still look beautiful. This is truly the DS’ limit, but in order for it to be perfect, better modeling during cut scenes would have been nice.
The most disappointing aspect of Phantom Hourglass is its music/sound. You will hear re – hashing of Wind Waker music, and the new soundtracks rehashing, which includes all the same temple, island, caves, boss, etc. music. The new music is not even that great, except until the end game.
If you some how found out a way to have never played Zelda before in your life, this is a good place to start. For the rest of us, this is easily the worst Zelda game we have received in many years. Still, I recommended this game mainly because of how well it uses the DS’ functions, its charm, and odd addictivity. Phantom Hourglass is not a bad game, it’s just that you would expect so much better from the Zelda team. Zelda fan or not, there is fun to be had with this game, and you don’t need to dig its treasure.
Presentation: 8/10
Game play: 8/10
Value: 7.5/10
Sound: 6.5/10
Graphics: 9.5/10
Overall: 7.9/10 – Good!
Pros:
+: Addictive!
+: Charm
+: Graphics
+Bosses
+: Controls
Cons:
-: On - Rail Sailing
-: Temple of the Ocean King
-: Linear Designs
-: Rehashing Music (Which the new music is not particularly good anyways)
-: Barely any Side quests
-: Easy