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THE LEGEND OF ZELDA PHANTOM HOURGLASS - The Ultimate Review
Sorry if I’m going to be harsh in this review but I am a harsh reviewer and only the BEST games get above 90%.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Format: DS. Price: £29.99. WiFi: Yes.
A Zelda game. A DS Zelda game. The first DS Zelda game. Sounds revolutionary, doesn’t it? Sounds fantastic fun, doesn’t it? Shocker of the month: it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a goodish game but it is, compared to other Zelda games, nowhere near as good. And it’s all down to one reason really: it lacks the Zelda charm. More of that later.
So, you slot this little game into your DS and tap the icon of it. And, oh my goodness, it looks nice! A spectacular seascape with, get this: Wind Waker seagulls and Wind Waker clouds and Wind Waker graphics. Seriously: the graphics are officially awesome and in a stark contrast to my recently reviewed Endless Ocean, the start of the game seems super promising and, guess what? It is.
Once you set up your file (only two this time round compared to the usual three, random move by Nintendo), you tap Go and you’re instantly there on Tetra’s ship! Ooh! I’m not going to ruin the narrative but umm, how shall I put this… Tetra gets captured. Again, yes, but since this a handheld game, in Nintendo’s opinion, the story doesn’t matter. So the story is a downer for me, with generally the same thing going on all the time and an uninspiring narrative that doesn’t keep you interested.
And that is one of the key thing about handheld games that Nintendo has overlooked. If you want to keep coming back to it (Zelda is really not a constantly play game on the DS, again more of that when we talk gameplay), story is a key issue.
So, back on track from my first moan, we have the graphics again. Yes, they are tasty (!) and essentially the best part of the game. It really does look like Wind Waker squeezed realistically into a tiny DS game cartridge. By far the best graphics on DS so far, beating other good lookers such as Final Fantasy III. Actually though, Mario Slam Basketball is good too.
So, the first island – you’ve been washed up (on a side note, this part of the story does work since you feel new to the island and you have no burdens) and have to explore “Mercay” Island. And this really sets a high height to reach for the rest of the game – playing through this first island is inspiring stuff and makes you think the rest of the game is going to be officially awesome.
But then it slips. It’s hard to place but the novelty seems to wear off and the controls start to annoy you. And it’s gimmicky really.
The ability to write on the map is a nice prospect and is quite helpful for some dungeons, but when the method is repeated over and over again it gets very boring and samey. The note making is also restrictive and tough to do.
The controls – the controls! They’re awful. Well, at first they’re nice but soon they also get gimmicky. It becomes inaccurate and your baby Link character is aimlessly moving around. The “privilege” to be able to tap on enemies is broken and adds no difficulty to the game – it’s literally tap on an enemy and that’s it: dead.
Well once you get out on the ocean to the frankly gorgeous visuals, you hope the controls will perk up a bit.
They don’t. Drawing a route on a map means that it’s tricky to turn if you see something and since I had to do a fair bit of this game to review it, I took to reading something on the journeys across the ocean and occasionally tapping on the touch screen whenever an enemy appeared. Seriously, after the first go, it’s not interesting whatsoever.
It is, without a doubt, an innovative game, with plenty of extras. Also, map noting is a fantastic move by Nintendo but including it in EVERY SINGLE DUNGEON really isn’t that pleasant and it soon becomes a restrictive hindrance. There are so many HUGE opportunities here for a Zelda game but they are overlooked and missed out… Where’s an island like Windfall Island from Wind Waker? Where’s an interesting dungeon? Where’s a vaguely interesting enemy? The answer: nowhere.
And blowing into the bleeding microphone: don’t even get me started. It’s unnecessary and RUINS the Zelda experience. It’s like imagining Twilight Princess where every so often, you have to randomly shake the Wii Remote to open a door. It would be an unnecessary hindrance.
I mean, Phantom Hourglass does unquestionably use the DS’s features, but not in a solid and interesting way. Some of the best games on DS are the ones that don’t use all the features at once! Take Advance Wars and Mario Kart DS: class games – no gimmicks.
Now, gameplay. Zelda gameplay has always been awesome (bar a few exceptions: Zelda II, I’m looking at you!). It’s not awesome for Phantom Hourglass.
Like I previously said: the first Island is great fun gameplay wise and sets a high standard. But it’s so repetitive! The dungeons could have been done so well – the puzzling action – filled mastermind dungeons of Zelda lore have gone out the window: now it’s all gimmick after gimmick.
In one respect, it’s like the recently released 360 title Assassin’s Creed (linking a Zelda game to that tripe, I never thought I’d see the day), awesome first level, repetitive rest of the game.
One other plus point is the WiFi. You can do single cart play and multi card play, friend code online or anyone online. This is how all multiplayer games should work with the options and apart from the shoddy controls; the online game is good and quite strategic. You have to get various Force Gems scattered over the map and place them in your base etc etc. However, when you play as the Dark Nuts, the level of control goes down a notch and you have to resort to drawing a route on the map. Grrr!
But it is a good point to the game and does work. But there are heaps of quitters…
I might be feeling harsh and mean, but considering my previous love for Zelda games (including saying TP is the best game on Wii, it is!), it doesn’t inspire or attract me whatsoever. Repetitive, gimmicky, too many DS features used, horrid stylus controls but lovely graphics and good WiFi mode. This really is one of the downsides of the Zelda Series and in my opinion; the DS has ruined a perfect formula.
So for the scores!
GRAPHICS: 9.5/10
Amazing graphics – the only game to rival this on the console is Mario Slam Basketball so this gets away with a 9.5 rather than the perfect 10.
AUDIO: 7/10
Zelda tunes but on the DS speakers they don’t live up to their name. And they include some REALLY odd, annoying tunes in there too – 7.
GAMEPLAY: 4/10
Great gameplay at the start but is let down by repetition and gimmicks. The dungeons (compared to other Zelda’s) are thin and sparse so this huge amount of doing the same thing over and over gets it a measly 4.
INNOVATION: 6/10
It does unquestionably use all the DS functionalities. But in an unnecessary and downright repetitive way. The writing on the map puzzle in EVERY dungeon soon gets old and the controls can get very glitchy.
SCORE: 64%
“But it’s a Zelda game!” – I hear you scream. This has no Zelda charm and no feeling to it. Repetitive, gimmicky and dull. Only the graphics and the audio (and the fact that there are some horrendous DS games out there) saves it from falling below 60%.
Oblivion252
Did you enjoy the review? Please give feedback or your opinion of the review or the game!
Last edited by oblivion252 : 26-11-2007 at 07:07 PM.
Reason: changing spacing etc
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