Yesterday, after about a month and a half of on-off play, I finally reached the end of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on DS. Coming out of it, I'm left with impressions of a pretty neat little game that does some really great things with the capabilities of Nintendo's money-printing handheld. More than that, though, I'm left wondering about the future of the Zelda franchise on Nintendo's handheld platforms, and whether or not Phantom Hourglass's innovative mechanics might be forced to take a backseat before they've even had a chance to fully mature.

Phantom Hourglass does some really incredible things with the Zelda formula. When I say incredible, I mean it - the innovations made to accommodate a Zelda adventure on the Nintendo DS put the supposedly 'revolutionary' motion controls of the Wii version of Twilight Princess to shame. First and foremost, the implementation of touch-screen control deserves serious praise. Every single item in Link's inventory feels and controls just how you'd expect it to. What's more, the new input methods breathe fresh life into a lot of the series' mainstay items. Being able to whip out Link's boomerang and simply draw its route on the touch screen makes sense, and the added precision improves ten-fold on the unreliable follow-your-movement boomerangs of past top-down Zelda games. I think the biggest praise I can offer the game's control scheme is that at no point did I feel like I was missing the option of button control - I simply couldn't imagine playing Phantom Hourglass in any other way.

The other aspect of Phantom Hourglass's design I think is really worthy of praise is its boss battle design. From the opening skirmish against a fire demon to the climactic final showdowns with Bellum, almost every boss battle in Phantom Hourglass makes great use of the DS's dual-screen capabilities and demands that the player pay attention to both screens to stand a chance of victory. My personal favourite was Crayk, a giant enemy crab with the ability to make itself invisible. While the bottom screen kept a simple top-down perspective on Link, the top screen illustrated the view through Crayk's eyes, encouraging the player to control Link on the bottom screen while using the top screen to judge the boss's position in order to land a hit on him with the bow and arrow. This innovative use of the DS's unique hardware to provide an equally unique series of boss fights was one of the things that kept me playing Phantom Hourglass through to the end.

I say 'one of the things' because these two major plus points aside, Phantom Hourglass is a pretty average game (at least by Zelda standards). It has some notable issues, one of which is an over-reliance on backtracking. I realise that pretty much every Zelda game to date has featured a degree of backtracking, returning to previously-explored places now and again to uncover new areas and advance the story, but Phantom Hourglass takes it to new extremes. The issue primarily manifests itself in the form of the Temple of the Ocean King, a multi-levelled mega-dungeon which Link must navigate several times in order to progress through the game. Unfortunately, this means re-solving most (or even all) of the dungeon's previously-solved levels just to get back up to speed. There is a halfway point that you're free to warp to once you've hit it, and the game does offer up some short-cuts as you pick up new inventory items, but it doesn't change the fact that the prospect of returning to the Temple of the Ocean King was enough of a nuisance to make me stop playing for days or even weeks at a time.

The other major issue I had with Phantom Hourglass was the lack of challenge it presented compared to other Zelda games, particularly in terms of the puzzle-solving within the dungeons. Most solutions were obvious, while those that weren't often had solutions clearly signposted nearby. My guess is that the game was specifically designed to be simpler than your average Zelda for two primary reasons - so as to gradually introduce the new touch-screen controls to players, and to take into account the younger pre-teen demographic that had by then adopted the DS as its gadget of choice. The game is also pretty short and lacking in scope for a Zelda title, something I'd be more inclined to put down to the presumed limitations of the cartridge format.

Even for all its faults, I really hope that Phantom Hourglass is a clear indication of where handheld iterations of The Legend of Zelda will be going in the future. A dream scenario for me would be a top-down Zelda adventure that adopts the control scheme of Phantom Hourglass and marries it with a longer, more challenging adventure, similar to that of Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess. I'd also gladly welcome the incorporation of more inventory items, provided that they were given the same treatment. Now that the foundations have been laid with Phantom Hourglass and its sequel Spirit Tracks, I would like to think that's the direction that Nintendo hope to take the Legend of Zelda on the 3DS and beyond.

At the same time, though, part of me is worried that the higher spec of the 3DS will lead to the innovative aspects of Phantom Hourglass being pushed aside in favour of something much more akin to the console iterations of Zelda. This worry mainly stems from the recent port of Ocarina of Time to the 3DS, coupled with reports here on Giant Bomb that Eiji Aonuma is interested in giving Majora's Mask the same treatment. I've got no problem with re-releasing old games, but I do think that there's something wrong if those re-releases are taking priority over moving a franchise forward. Given the success of Ocarina of Time 3D (and the likely success of Majora's Mask 3D, should such a thing happen), I wouldn't be completely surprised if Nintendo decide to move away from the Phantom Hourglass formula, and instead try to turn the next original handheld Zelda release into something that's indistinguishable from its console counterparts in terms of how it plays. I wouldn't be surprised, but I would be disappointed.

At the time of writing this I haven't played Spirit Tracks, but if it's anything like its predecessor and manages to cut back on some of the backtracking, I'll definitely be picking it up somewhere along the line. I just hope that it won't be the last handheld Zelda in this style that I'll ever play. Thanks very much for reading, guys. I'll see you around.

Dan

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Currently playing - Forza Motorsport 3 (X360)

Yesterday, after about a month and a half of on-off play, I finally reached the end of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on DS. Coming out of it, I'm left with impressions of a pretty neat little game that does some really great things with the capabilities of Nintendo's money-printing handheld. More than that, though, I'm left wondering about the future of the Zelda franchise on Nintendo's handheld platforms, and whether or not Phantom Hourglass's innovative mechanics might be forced to take a backseat before they've even had a chance to fully mature.

Phantom Hourglass does some really incredible things with the Zelda formula. When I say incredible, I mean it - the innovations made to accommodate a Zelda adventure on the Nintendo DS put the supposedly 'revolutionary' motion controls of the Wii version of Twilight Princess to shame. First and foremost, the implementation of touch-screen control deserves serious praise. Every single item in Link's inventory feels and controls just how you'd expect it to. What's more, the new input methods breathe fresh life into a lot of the series' mainstay items. Being able to whip out Link's boomerang and simply draw its route on the touch screen makes sense, and the added precision improves ten-fold on the unreliable follow-your-movement boomerangs of past top-down Zelda games. I think the biggest praise I can offer the game's control scheme is that at no point did I feel like I was missing the option of button control - I simply couldn't imagine playing Phantom Hourglass in any other way.

The other aspect of Phantom Hourglass's design I think is really worthy of praise is its boss battle design. From the opening skirmish against a fire demon to the climactic final showdowns with Bellum, almost every boss battle in Phantom Hourglass makes great use of the DS's dual-screen capabilities and demands that the player pay attention to both screens to stand a chance of victory. My personal favourite was Crayk, a giant enemy crab with the ability to make itself invisible. While the bottom screen kept a simple top-down perspective on Link, the top screen illustrated the view through Crayk's eyes, encouraging the player to control Link on the bottom screen while using the top screen to judge the boss's position in order to land a hit on him with the bow and arrow. This innovative use of the DS's unique hardware to provide an equally unique series of boss fights was one of the things that kept me playing Phantom Hourglass through to the end.

I say 'one of the things' because these two major plus points aside, Phantom Hourglass is a pretty average game (at least by Zelda standards). It has some notable issues, one of which is an over-reliance on backtracking. I realise that pretty much every Zelda game to date has featured a degree of backtracking, returning to previously-explored places now and again to uncover new areas and advance the story, but Phantom Hourglass takes it to new extremes. The issue primarily manifests itself in the form of the Temple of the Ocean King, a multi-levelled mega-dungeon which Link must navigate several times in order to progress through the game. Unfortunately, this means re-solving most (or even all) of the dungeon's previously-solved levels just to get back up to speed. There is a halfway point that you're free to warp to once you've hit it, and the game does offer up some short-cuts as you pick up new inventory items, but it doesn't change the fact that the prospect of returning to the Temple of the Ocean King was enough of a nuisance to make me stop playing for days or even weeks at a time.

The other major issue I had with Phantom Hourglass was the lack of challenge it presented compared to other Zelda games, particularly in terms of the puzzle-solving within the dungeons. Most solutions were obvious, while those that weren't often had solutions clearly signposted nearby. My guess is that the game was specifically designed to be simpler than your average Zelda for two primary reasons - so as to gradually introduce the new touch-screen controls to players, and to take into account the younger pre-teen demographic that had by then adopted the DS as its gadget of choice. The game is also pretty short and lacking in scope for a Zelda title, something I'd be more inclined to put down to the presumed limitations of the cartridge format.

Even for all its faults, I really hope that Phantom Hourglass is a clear indication of where handheld iterations of The Legend of Zelda will be going in the future. A dream scenario for me would be a top-down Zelda adventure that adopts the control scheme of Phantom Hourglass and marries it with a longer, more challenging adventure, similar to that of Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess. I'd also gladly welcome the incorporation of more inventory items, provided that they were given the same treatment. Now that the foundations have been laid with Phantom Hourglass and its sequel Spirit Tracks, I would like to think that's the direction that Nintendo hope to take the Legend of Zelda on the 3DS and beyond.

At the same time, though, part of me is worried that the higher spec of the 3DS will lead to the innovative aspects of Phantom Hourglass being pushed aside in favour of something much more akin to the console iterations of Zelda. This worry mainly stems from the recent port of Ocarina of Time to the 3DS, coupled with reports here on Giant Bomb that Eiji Aonuma is interested in giving Majora's Mask the same treatment. I've got no problem with re-releasing old games, but I do think that there's something wrong if those re-releases are taking priority over moving a franchise forward. Given the success of Ocarina of Time 3D (and the likely success of Majora's Mask 3D, should such a thing happen), I wouldn't be completely surprised if Nintendo decide to move away from the Phantom Hourglass formula, and instead try to turn the next original handheld Zelda release into something that's indistinguishable from its console counterparts in terms of how it plays. I wouldn't be surprised, but I would be disappointed.

At the time of writing this I haven't played Spirit Tracks, but if it's anything like its predecessor and manages to cut back on some of the backtracking, I'll definitely be picking it up somewhere along the line. I just hope that it won't be the last handheld Zelda in this style that I'll ever play. Thanks very much for reading, guys. I'll see you around.

Dan

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Currently playing - Forza Motorsport 3 (X360)

I keep meaning to go back and finish Phantom Hourglass, but doing so will have to mean doing up a new game altogether as well as buying either a new DS or a 3DS, as the shoulder button on my old DS has been permanently jammed. I've got more to say on your write-up, but I'm afraid I'm in a rush at the moment. I'll be back online later to say more, but essentially, great stuff as always.

I REALLY want a Majora's Mask 3D overhaul- and since they've got half the assets already made, it seems like a no-brainer. Anyway, as much as I say I'l like a new hand-held Zelda game, chances are I wouldn't play it. I played a few hours of Phantom Hourglass before getting bored- I guess I haven't played one since the Oracle games.

Oh, Dan. I totally forgot about you, and I also forgot about playing Phantom Hourglass. Something made me play through that game, but I don't really know what. It certainly wasn't an amazing game, as you said. 
I guess it was just a perfect game to play in little chunks. In view of that, I'd much rather see more of that on a handheld than console ports. 
 
And of course I have to ask about "Enduring Final Fantasy VII". I suppose you have reached a point where going back to it and the required state of mind would require a tremendous effort? :)

I love Zelda. I love 3D Zelda. I love 2D Zelda.

I could not get into either Spirit Tracks or Phantom Hourglass. At all. Was not a fan of the boat or the train mechanics. I also heavily disliked the non-organic puzzle design of Phantom Hourglass. Not to mention the stressful-timer-thing.

I sincerely hope that Nintendo changes their handheld Zelda direction.

I got like half way through that game and quit playing it because I got sucked back into Poke'Mon, I should go and finish that. Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks both are some of the best games on DS though if you ask me!

The thing is, for as surprisingly well done as the controls in Phantom Hourglass (and subsequently Spirit Tracks) are, they're also the epitome of gimmick. Is there any real reason why you need to control everything with the touch screen, like that surprisingly good Ninja Gaiden game? No, not really. Is it good that it works? Of course it is. However, now that they have actual processing power and analog control, I wouldn't be surprised if an original 3D zelda came out for the 3DS at some point. Then again, I think I like how the split works so far, with the 3D stuff on consoles and the 2D stuff on handhelds. For as much as all portable 2D zeldas are kind of similar games, there's something to be said for that style of gameplay over the console versions.

I haven't played it, but PH is the only Zelda a buddy of mine actively dislikes. His biggest complaint is the constant revisiting of that one dungeon. My sister got Spirit Tracks and loved it, but my friend is really hesitant to give it a shot, all because of his feelings towards PH.

Play Spirit Tracks, that one was actually good.

I agree in that I hope they continue trying to do different and interesting things on handhelds for future Zelda titles. Making the 3DS another PSP would be incredibly disappointing.

This reminds me that I never played Spirit Tracks. I should do that, especially with my love of DS related trains. You know what I mean.

THE TRAIN WILL NEVER DIE!!!!

I agree in that I hope they continue trying to do different and interesting things on handhelds for future Zelda titles. Making the 3DS another PSP would be incredibly disappointing.