Better than PH.
| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| Nintendo DS | 9.00 |
| Overall | 9.00 |
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I have made my dislike for Phantom Hourglass well known. I felt that game took the Zelda formula and removed many of the core elements that make Zelda special. However I could not deny that PH did introduce a new way to play Zelda which inspired new ways to use old weapons, new gameplay ideas and puzzles. Spirit Tracks builds on what Phantom Hourglass started and improves on the formula in almost every way. The core elements missing from PH are still missing in ST. You don't explore the overworld on foot, removing most of that sense of discovery. There are no random hidden heart pieces to find, all of them come from doing quests. The structure is similar to PH not to the classic Zelda games of old. The reason I enjoyed this title so much is because the dungeons and puzzles were taken to an entire different level than PH. This is the most interesting Zelda title I have played in a long time. I know almost every trick in the Zelda book, I went through Twilight Princess with ease only getting stuck once. This game made me sit back and think many times, never to the point of frustration, but just enough to give that great feeling of accomplishment when you hear that Zelda chime after a completed puzzle. Unlike PH, ST actually introduces brand new items. Some are similar to items past but a few are totally different like the whip and sand wand. All items make great use of the DS touch screen and other feature. There are core dungeons in which you find a new item and use it to get yourself through the dungeon. These dungeons are far better designed than the almost linear dungeons of PH. The boss fights at the end of these dungeons are as good as ever, it does follow the classic Zelda formula but what is wrong with that. The best part of the game aren't those normal dungeons, it is the tower which serves as the central dungeon. Unlike PH there is no backtracking, there is no repeating the same areas over and over. Also these dungeons don't feel like odd MGS like levels. After every dungeon you complete a new section to the tower opens up and it basically acts as another dungeon. Zelda joins in on the fun as she posses a giant armored guy which acts as your companion. In each section Zelda finds an armor guy with a different skill set, all these different armor types add new layers to the puzzle solving and combat. These areas buck the trend of using the new item to solve every puzzle. In these areas all items will come into play and many will have to be used together on top of using Zelda to get through these excellently designed areas. Simply put, the dungeons are FANTASTIC. I even feel that the rest of the world is more interesting than PH. Yes you have even less freedom in moving around than PH but I feel there are more things to discover in this Hyrule. Your train slowly upgrades as you play at some point you gain the ability to transport people. This opens up all sorts of side quests where Hyrulians ask you for favors. It sort of reminded me of Majora's Mask, the NPCs in this game are far more interesting than in past handheld titles. As you complete quests for NPCs you open up new tracks which lead to new locations to discover or even more quests. In a way this new system brings back the sense of exploration missing from PH. Since this is Zelda there are plenty of mini games to be found around the world and let me tell you they do not disappoint. Even the combat feels better. To be fair it is identical to Phantom Hourglass but the enemies in this game make better use of the items you acquire. Nintendo seemed to up the difficulty just a tad, I actually died a few times. There are two major sins that keep me from putting this game in the same breath as the best Zelda handheld, Link's Awakening. The train is the big one. Traveling around Hyrule is boring, it is tedious, and there is almost no way to speed it up cause finding portals almost takes longer than straight travel. They try to add all sorts of little things to do like avoid the evil trains, find bunnies and shoot random crap that comes at you (like a snowman that throws it's head at you, seriously). Sometimes these are welcome distractions and other times they just get in your way cause all you want to do is get to your next damn location as quick as possible, if you die you start over, ahhhhh! Most of the side quests require you to get something or someone from somewhere and take it somewhere else so get ready to spend lots of time on the tracks. The other sin is the use of the DS's blowing mechanic. The DS has a mic and this game tries to be clever in using it for items. One item is a plant thing that creates a mini tornado when you blow. This is used to solve puzzles and in combat, that is a lot of blowing. Far worse than that is this games musical instrument, the flute. There are segments where you must play the flute notes in a certain order and in rhythm, prepare for frustration. The mic is not great with precision blowing so why does this game make you sing notes almost perfectly to move on. These two aspects will break this game for some. If you can't tolerate the thought of the train I don't know if you should even bother. I will tell the rest of the game is fantastic but you will have to use that train a lot. This is one of the better handheld Zelda games. It is probably the closest to it's 3D counterparts offering a huge quest, took me nearly 30 hours. It has some of the best dungeons and puzzles of the entire series. If you can tolerate some of the annoying aspects you will experience one of the best games on the DS. |
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Posted by Dvader Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:06:13
Recently Spotted:
*crickets*
Lies.
I just made it into the mountain dungeon.
"The train is the big one. Traveling around Hyrule is boring, it is tedious, and there is almost no way to speed it up cause finding portals almost takes longer than straight travel. "
Yeah, getting those three keys from the flying monsters was torture. The train bits are far too long and they need to have stuff like PH, being able to jump, or turn around and head straight forward rather than achingly reverse. And I thought you would be able to magically freeform your track routes using your spirit train. The set tracks ande evil trains and long, loooong train treks just monopolise the playtime.
It's a decent game but I'm not loving it. How many dungeons do I have left including this mountain one?
My collection screen only shows a slot for one dungeon. So what is after firetop mountain?
BTW do you love the whip like I do?