"A disappointing sequel that focused on controls and very little else"

For a little background information, this is a direct sequel to the Gamecube game, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. The story to that game has little to do with this one, so it is ok to play this one having not played Wind Waker.

Sound: 7/10- Music wasn't bad, but plenty of it was recycled within the game. There just isn't enough variety. Also to be frank, it was all forgettable. Most games in the Zelda series have a signature sound piece or at least one that stands out. That wasn't the case here. Simply put, the sound was mediocre, but not terrible.

Visuals: 7.5/10- From a graphics standpoint, it was a nice transition of 3-D to the DS. There are some focus problems with some objects being blurry. The viewing angle could have improved. It was a bit too much of an overview.

Islands and dungeons as a whole were too bland for the most part. For most of the series, one could easily notice the theme of a dungeon, whether it be fire, desert, etc.. Dungeon layouts in this game didn't make it obvious all the time. That was a negative in my eyes, as I feel it adds more charm to the game, but that all depends on the gamer, so one may not feel the same as I.

Story: 8/10- As stated earlier, it is a direct sequel to Wind Waker, but plays virtually no part in this game except a few characters come into play, but only two are really part of the story, one being Link.

It starts off with Tetra and her crew, which now includes Link, go for treasure on the heralded Ghost Ship. Things don't go as planned and Link is separated from Tetra and here crew on an unknown island. He soon gets involved in a quest that becomes bigger than he thought.

One positive about the story itself is that it isn't linear from the beginning. Several other things will become your primary task during the course of the game.

New characters were developed well, most notably Linebeck and Ciela. In fact, Linebeck could be the best supporting character not named Zelda or Ganondorf.

Unfortunately, the story went so quickly that it was very hard to be sucked in. It would have really helped if it was slowed down some more. It wasn't consistent because of it.

Gameplay: 5/10- This score may even be too generous. As the title suggests, the controls were almost done perfectly. Items weren't new, but fully utilized the stylus. There was also a new feature that allowed you to make notes or pictures on maps to help you out and that was a solid addition.

However, as the title also suggests, it seemed as if Nintendo took a passive approach on the rest of the gameplay, focusing almost solely on controls. Ground combat seemed too much like hack and slash in this game and rarely forced you to use items you found in dungeons. Fighting almost seemed non-existent as well. Enemies seemed to be on the endangered list dungeons and islands.

I don't know how Nintendo pulled it off, but they made naval travel worse in this game than in Wind Waker. You will never come across a faster means of travelling, so be prepared to wait a lengthy amount of time to wait to reach your destination. Salvaging was brought back, but required some skill as you play a minigame of some sort to get the treasure. However, you can damage your crane and if you destroy it, then you have to go to a specific island to get it fixed, which can be a drag if you are far away. They also tried to keep you busy by having you jump over obstacles or fight marine and airborne enemies. It was largely ineffective. The thought that kept crossing my mind was, "Just leave me alone and allow me to reach my destination."

Once you reach your destination, another thought comes up as you see the island. "Just teleport me to so-and-so or such-and-such." There was almost nothing to do on islands other than perform the task given to you.

Under most circumstances, your destination was a dungeon. They utilized puzzles a lot, which is a plus to me. However, that didn't make up for how brief your stay in the dungeon was. They usually lasted 20-25 minutes, including the boss.

Speaking about bosses, they were nothing special. Other than one or two notable ones, bosses just seemed like an extension of your common enemy as they were quick and easy to defeat.

As a whole, the sea travel/ island exploration/ dungeon combo was more of a hassle than it was fun.

A new concept was the addition of a dungeon that would have to be explored about 5 times for it to be complete. With it was the concept of a timed dungeon as you had limited time. You could gain more time by beating bosses or finding hidden sand to add to your hourglass. Unfortunately, it became quite frustrating at times, so the potential of good feature was diminished.

What prevents the score from being a few points lower was Wi-Fi. It did have one flaw, in which it had a trading feature in which one could trade items to another game for a fixed price. This feature was essentially worthless and couldn't be unlocked until later in the game.

The battle feature is where the game shines. It is a bit complex to explain, but easy to learn hands on. Two opponents alternate between Phantoms and Link. Link tries to grab force gems and bring them to his base while the Phantoms try to stop him by hitting him with their sword.

As Link, you are invisible on the phantoms' radar until you have a force gem, but can become invisible to the radar if you step on a safe zone, which look obvious. You can never damage a phantoms and must always stay away from them. You control Link like you would in adventure mode.

As phantoms, you are invisible on radar to Link when he doesn't have a force gem, but are exposed when he does. You control them by drawing paths on the touch screen.

There are powerups on the map that are color coded for each side. If an opponent hits your own powerup, it is destroyed.

The bigger the force gem is, the more points it is worth, but Link will travel much slower as size increases.

A turn ends after Link is hit by a phantom or time runs out. Each player gets 3 shots a piece at each position.

A winner is tabulated by having the most points at the end of 6 total rounds.

Value: 5/10- This solely depends on Wi-Fi. Adventure mode has no replay value at all unless you are a perfectionist and have to get every gem and every salvaged treasure. If my description of Wi-Fi didn't take to your liking, then this rating is about a 1.

Overall: 6/10- A decent storyline and graphics, as well as great controls and Wi-Fi, save what is an abysmal game that should have been spent more time on developing some key areas. Without a doubt, rent this game first. If you are hooked on Wi-Fi, then it may be a good idea to pick this game up. If not, don't even bother wasting you money.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/14/08

Game Release: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (US, 10/01/07)