We’re now 30 something episodes into this podcast, and so far I’ve touched on some pretty big names in the video game world. There’s been Mario, Sonic, Pokemon and even Spyro the Dragon, but there’s one series I’ve avoided talking about until now: The Legend of Zelda. With how much people love this series, why haven’t I talked about any of the games? Simply put, I’m not a fan. Now, before you all hit that “unsubscribe” button, let me explain: I don’t hate the Legend of Zelda, I just think it’s overrated. Let me show you what I mean with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS.
The story for this Zelda title follows directly after the events of Wind Waker. This is one of those rare times that a Zelda game is easily put on the Zelda time line, but once you play it all the way through, you learn it’s a throw away game, so it could be placed anywhere really. Anyways, still adventuring on the great sea, Link and Tetra (this game’s Zelda) come across a ghost ship. Tetra does the obvious thing: jump right aboard. (Though that seems stupid, I do like Tetra over the “sit and do nothing” Zeldas from the past.) Hearing her scream for help, Link tries to jump after her but then falls short and unconscious. Instead of drowning in the water, Link wakes up to (HEY!) a god damn fairy, making me wish he did drown. Anyways, he find out he’s lost his ship, all his items are gone and he’s washed up on a strange new island, so he has to start adventuring all over again to save Tetra. And, that’s pretty much all you need to know to start off, the rest you piece together as you go along.
Since this game follows directly after Wind Waker, they also used the same look. Which was annoying mistake number 2, the first one being (HEY!). See, when Wind Waker was first announced, people made ass fun of the way it looked and continue to do so today. So why, in hind sight, would you make another game that looks like it, especially with a throw away game? The vibrant colors aren’t my issue except for the fact that the water looks like a big tarp, but I found that the people look creepy. Also, since the DS can’t quite match the GameCube’s graphics, down grading them caused some problems (as usual). One thing I noticed was these gray lines that appeared sometimes when one object covers another. Since this game has an overhead view most of the time, being nitpicky about the 3D graphics might be a little petty, but know what? This is my review and it did bug me.
Annoying mistake number 3 are the controls. Since this is the DS, they had the ability to make the entire game playable with the stylus. So, that’s what they did and gave you no other option. To attack you tap on an enemy, to walk you move the stylus around, to talk to people you tap on them, etc… This wouldn’t that big of a complaint, except that it’s totally unnecessary and I don’t have to option to turn it off.
But this is a Zelda game, and what really counts is the exploring. Over world adventuring is tedious, since, once again, you’re on a ship travelling on the ocean. You draw a line on your map and watch it go, but you can’t just leave it because you might get attacked by enemies, which makes the whole sailing experience annoying mistake number 4. The dungeons are pretty good though, if not a little easy, but that’s nothing really to complain about. But annoying mistake number 5 comes from the temple which you find the Phantom Hourglass, because you can’t just visit it once, you have to do it over and over and over again. Each time, you get more time in your hourglass to go farther and your new items help you do that too, but literally having to do the same stuff again and again like that was irritating.
I’m not gonna say that this game is a bad one, but it’s annoying to say the least, with 5 reasons BIG reasons. It comes off as painfully average, which is what I’m trying to say. Sure, this is no Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past or Link’s Awakening, but few in the Zelda series are. What I’m getting at it: maybe the Legend of Zelda isn’t that great as a series, but some of the individual games are. As for this one: it’s annoying and obviously marketed towards more casual players but has its moments of charm and some okay dungeons. It pretty much comes off as a very basic Zelda game. I give The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass 6.5 Levels out of 10.
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