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The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Some legends just never seem to die. But if the legend is Zelda, why on Earth would you want it to end? Ever since making its debut back in 1987, Zelda has become one of the most critically acclaimed series in the history of gaming, perhaps second only to fellow Nintendo stable mate Mario in terms of overall praise. Reaching its peak back in 1998 with the peerless Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64 (said by many to be the best game ever made), the series built something great into something simply spectacular.
But that was 10 years ago and games have changed since then, in particular the consoles themselves. In the current generation of games consoles, it’s fair to say that it’s Nintendo who have been the main innovators in terms game controls and presentation. Whereas the Wii is proving that’s there’s more to gaming than pressing buttons and is giving gamers the chance to be more “actively involved” in game playing, the DS appears to have taken influence from modern day PDAs with its use of touch screen technology and dual screens in order to present a new form of gaming. Unfortunately, a lot of developers try to shoe-horn in a bunch of touch screen controls and double screen levels in order to take advantage of the DS features and as such lose a lot of the enjoyment in the process. Nevertheless that hasn’t happened here as Zelda remains the fun, engaging adventure game that it always was.
What will be most surprising to fans new and old are the games’
controls. As expected with a DS game the stylus acts as a sort of futuristic control stick. Tapping any part of the screen you lead the hero Link in the direction you want him to go in, touching an item or another character will allow you to interact and pressing on an enemy when you have a weapon equipped will allow you to attack. Attacks involve drawing the appropriate shape onto the screen and weapons like boomerangs can be thrown around corners by drawing its route on the screen. It’s quite a hard system to explain in words, but once you play the game all the talk of leading your character around and making shapes to attack suddenly makes a lot of sense. Not surprising, considering that Nintendo themselves are behind this game and they should know more than anyone the best way to get the most out of the DS.
Although the controls take a little getting used to and the idea of playing a Zelda game without buttons seems somewhat preposterous, they soon become second nature. While it appears to be nothing more than a gimmick when you start, the controls do actually add a challenging aspect to the game. No longer can you simply button bash through a tight battle, it will now take timing and expert handling of the stylus to fight your way out of trouble. Like Twilight Princess on the Wii, this is Zelda very much in the 21st century. That’s not to say it’s completely infallible though, as there are odd niggles that can be annoying at times. Because the controls are based on sensitivity, occasionally you’ll press the stylus on the screen to indicate where you want Link to go only for him to pick up and item or talk to a nearby character. These seem to happen at just the wrong time, like in the middle of a boss fight and as it’s not really a mistake on your part, they do spoil what could be a flawless game.
As for everything else, it’s the usual Zelda fare. There’s the sidekick fairy, useful weapons to find (bombs, arrows, etc), huge boss battles and the occasional puzzle. Once again the ever trusty stylus comes in handy once again with the ability to write clues directly onto the
game’s map, perhaps the most useful new feature. No longerhave to keep a notebook nearby in order to solve puzzles as you can add or erase any notes whenever you feel like and as the map is presented in full view on the top screen, it removes the irritation of going the menu all the time.
As ever the item in the title, in this case the Phantom Hourglass, is the key to the game’s progress. With this Link is able to travel deep into “cursed” temples without dying, but the added twist of being constrained to a time limit and having to dodge past unbeatable enemies, called Phantoms, who patrol the corridors. Stealth and brain power are as important to this game as strength and special weapons. These parts do add an extra difficulty but on the whole Phantom Hourglass is quite easy. While this isn’t particularly a negative point per se, sometimes you wish that the puzzles were more challenging or that boss fights had more to them than simply learning their routine.
Although the DS is a console that’s not particularly known for its 3D visual power, LOZ: Phantom Hourglass does look superb. There’s none of the disappearing body parts or other glitchy nonsense that dogs other DS releases, the game has a lush, polished quality that leaves it head and shoulders above of the competition. The look of the characters and the scenery is based on The Wind Waker on the Gamecube (meaning cel-shading, big heads and piracy are afoot), which makes sense given that this is the sequel. Nintendo have reverted back to the traditional top-down view used on the older games and handheld versions but with a graphical update. The whole thing feels new yet still has a woozy, nostalgic familiarity. It’s like when you notice a remake of your favourite cartoon on the TV; it doesn’t look the same and the idea of it doesn’t sit right with you but eventually you’re sucked in and start to remember why you liked it so much the first time round. Except with LOZ: Phantom Hourglass, you’ll have no shame in admitting that you prefer this version to the old one.
The Battle Mode, which makes full use of the DS Wi-Fi connection, allows two players to go head-to-head as either Link or as the Phantoms in a “capture the flag” style game. As Link you must collect Force Gems (which are worth different points depending on the size) and take them back to your base whilst avoiding the Phantoms, who are controlled by the other player. The players take turns as Link and after three rounds whoever has the most points wins. It couldn’t be simpler. Or more fun; in fact it plays out as a game in its own right. The Battle Mode not only allows players to challenge friends and strangers all over the world to increase their rank but also has unlockable items after completing a certain tasks (called “Big Plays”). Of course, being an online game it does suffer from the occasional lagging problems and untrustworthy players leaving the game as they are about to lose but this is to be expected considering the technology has yet to reach its peak.
One of the criticisms sometimes aimed at the Zelda series is that the story and dialogue are a bit plain and unimaginative. While it’s true this game is never going to win awards for its storytelling and narrative, the fact that the cut scenes only have few lines of conversation (with Link as silent as ever) allows more cartridge space for fighting and puzzles - the reason for buying the game in the first place. Some games, like the brilliant, never-ending Final Fantasy series, benefit from huge reams of well-written text and deep character development in order to enhance the experience; all you need to know about Phantom Hourglass is that Princess Zelda has been kidnapped and it’s up to Link to travel around the world in order to find her. It’s a classic case of if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
The main problem with this game specifically is the aforementioned control hiccup, but this can be easily eradicated and fine tuned should N intendo plan a sequel for the future (no doubt it’s alreapipeline). A less serious setback is that the main game feels overly short. In modern times people expect their RPGs or adventure games to last a good month but any Zelda fan will probably manage to have this done in around 20-25 hours. Although Nintendo have tried their best to pad out the games’ main storyline with loads of fun mini-games (fishing, salvaging treasure) and hidden items, these will only prolong the adventure if you aim to collect everything in the game. Also Link has to travel around the world on a boat, accompanied by a bothersome, self-centred sailor called Lineback, which doesn’t compare to an old fashioned horse.
That being said, LOZ: The Phantom Hourglass is the most complete DS game so far. No other game on the DS has provided so much entertainment yet encompassed the full potential of the consoles’ features. Nothing in this game feels forced or out of place, it appears that Nintendo have looked at every game on the DS so far and chosen the best elements from each in order to create it. As a result this will become one of the benchmarks for adventure games in the future and has surely over taken Mario Kart DS as the reason to own the world’s current best selling handheld console. But next time, make it bit longer please.
Overall 9/10
Genre: Action/adventure/puzzle
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Ages: 7+
Available on: Nintendo DS,
