"Yay, Wind Waker With Crappy DS Controls. Sign Me Up"

I'm still on my quest to find a Zelda game which interests me since “Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.” My most recent foray into the Zelda universe came in the form of Phantom Hourglass for the DS. In presentation, Phantom Hourglass is basically a scaled down port of Wind Waker, with a few added things to make the adventure seem fresh and new. However, most of the basic activities and things you did in Wind Waker, you will be doing all over again, but in different settings. Since I was not a huge fan of Wind Waker, I was foreboding the time I was about to spend with Phantom Hourglass.

The story in Phantom Hourglass takes place immediately after the events of Wind Waker. So it's a continuation of the story of Link and Tetra.

You will still be setting sail to look for treasures and trying to solve puzzles in and out of dungeons as usual. All of this seems very familiar, so how is Nintendo going to make this an adventure worth embarking on?

This is where things get a bit different from Wind Waker. Phantom Hourglass's entire gameplay design and interaction is 100% based on the stylus and touch features of the DS. If you want Link to move in a certain direction, you will point the stylus in that direction and Link will move to that location. He will move quickly or slowly, depending on how far away your stylus is from him. You now interact with items in the world by simply touching them. If you want to pick up a rock or vase, just click on it and Link will automatically pick it up. You can then touch the screen to specify where you want to throw it. All NPCs, signs, and areas of interest are all accessed by touching them with the stylus.

Combat is now simplified a bit, and consists of tapping on enemies to attack them. You can also trace a line between you and your foe and Link will do a standard sword swipe. If you draw a circle around Link he will do his spin attack.

There are a few other noteworthy additions as well. You can now draw on and add notes directly on your map, and you can now trace a path for your boat to travel on. Drawing on the map is fun and I found it to be a handy feature to have around.

With all of this considered, Nintendo has really gone out of their way to cover all aspects of Zelda gameplay and make sure it is all incorporated into the new touch screen style of play. While not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, the new touch screen gameplay really makes the game feel less existential than previous Zelda games and feels as if no prior experience with the series would be necessary to fully enjoy this game. There are tutorials explaining pretty much everything about the controls.

In wake of the new control scheme comes a few issues as well, okay, more than a few, but I'll get to them in the gameplay section.

Graphics 4/10

Well the graphics look pretty darn good for a DS game, but I still just can not stand this art style and direction for the Zelda series. Everything has been made to look appealing to two year olds again. I'm tired of playing as child Link, and dealing with characters that belong in a Sunday morning cartoon. The NPCs and all other characters retain their super-deformed status from Wind Waker, and it's just getting old.

However, Phantom Hourglass is about Nintendo pushing the stylus gameplay, so it must have been easier for them to re-use existing character models or just slightly tweak them.

Music and Sounds 3/10

Ugh, Wind Waker tunes that are now DS quality, sign me up. The remixed Zelda music still does not impress and it's even less interesting the second time around.

The sound effects are okay, and seem to have been ported well from previous games in the series. However, there is still no voice acting to speak of, which is a constant complaint of mine with the Zelda series. Why don't we get to hear any of the characters talk? Not that it would matter, since most of the dialogue is embarrassing to read anyway, since it's so corny, childish, and predictable.

This game also has the annoying return of Navi the fairy's voice. Your new fairy, Ciela, will use the exact same “Listen!” crap that got really beat to death in Ocarina of Time. Oh well, it's better to turn the sound off anyway, so that you won't have to hear any of the aforementioned stuff.

Story 2/10

Despite the story claiming to be a new chapter in the Zelda franchise, it still feels old and recycled and will have you doing the exact same things that you did in Wind Waker.

The story starts out with Link hanging out with Tetra and her pirates on their boat. Suddenly a ghost ship appears and through Tetra's curiosity, she gets kidnapped once again and it's Link's job to rescue her. This happens in the first scene of the game, and I was already tired of the story at this point. Shortly after this, Link will meet a Treasure Hunter named Linebeck and together they will venture forth to get Tetra back.

In general the story is not very poignant and bounces around a lot. Often times I had no idea what to do or where to go. Well I could always just go out and sail, because you know, that's fun.

Gameplay 3/10

Phantom Hourglass does it's best to make the touch screen controls work, but it ends up not being as precise as you may like, and seems to be more gimmicky than anything else. It's like the game is a tech demo for what the DS touch screen can do, good and bad. The fact that it just happens to be a Zelda game seems to be an added bonus.

The first problem I ran into with the touch screen controls is the fact that making Link run at different speeds is often a challenge and can be detrimental when there are high areas to fall off of. Next, were problems with the ability to roll, which is supposed to be implemented by drawing tiny circles on the side of the touch screen, yeah good luck with that. I could almost never get this to work. Luckily it's not really needed.

The combat controls also feel a bit off. Sometimes doing a slash will make Link slash his sword, and sometimes he will start running in that direction. The auto tapping it okay, but I just don't see why they did not give us the option to use the D-pad to control the game. Oh wait, yes I do. It's another example of Nintendo shoving their newfangled control schemes down our throats and forcing us to use them.

Not only do the controls feel forced and imprecise, but there is an NPC later on in the game that actually says something like “Oh if only I had a D-pad.”, or something like that. Basically it's Nintendo's version of laughing in your face and calling you an idiot for playing their boring, poorly controlled game for this long.

You now have more versatility with the boomerang since you can draw the path, but it needs to be done quickly if you are fighting enemies. Drawing a path for the boomerang around a wall is cool for the first puzzle, but then it just gets old and predictable.

The game is also very forgiving and the difficulty has been scaled down to mind-numbingly easy. In my opinion, making the game easy allows for the player to cope with the terrible controls and still have fun, even if the controls are imprecise and gimmicky.

So I really was not impressed with the gameplay at all. Pretty much all other aspects of the game are recycled from previous Zelda games and offer nothing new.

Longevity and Re-Playability 4/10

If you suffered through this game one time, I don't see why you would want to do it again. There are some hidden extras to find and many places to explore, but they seem to all mesh together and it really offers nothing new or intriguing for the series.

Conclusion

Another Zelda game that disappointed me. In some ways, this is the worst Zelda game I have ever played. I can appreciate what Nintendo has tried to do with the controls, but it really irks me that the player is not given the option to choose to use the D-pad to play. I'm really starting to lose faith in the Zelda series, and I'm wondering if the series has become too esoteric for its own good.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 09/29/08

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