Tiring at times but worth the adventure
The legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is a DS zelda game. It’s a solid Zelda game although it has some missteps which may make it hard to finish through the game. But for those who tread on, it’s a great game to add to your Nintendo collection.
All Zelda games have the same story that just pan out in different ways. In this case, Tetra and her crew encounter a ghost ship, she gets kidnap, Link needs to save her. Apparently these events happen after Windwaker, i never played Windwaker but the game gives a good enough history lesosn to keep you updated. I found the story to be good and kept me going.
But like many Nintendo games, the sotry isn't the main point, it’s the gameplay. Zelda with the touch screen works surprising well with the player using the stylus to point Link into the direction he wants to move and the attacks he wants to make. It is a little weird at first but it gets comfortable in the end. Phantom Hourglass plays exactly like every other Zelda game before it. The only quarrel is that Phantom Hourglass makes you go back to the same castle over and over again forcing the player to go through the same parts. On top of that, this all needs to be done by a certain time. While I understand the developers added the time constraint to create tension, this makes the player lose the aspect of exploring which i feel was a integral part in playing Zelda games.
The second aspect is traveling to different islands with the use of a boat. All you need to do is draw a path to where you want to go and the boat will follow it. It’s an extremely good system and I enjoyed going between islands. There is a whole system of upgrading your boat but I barely touched that. I only used it to update my canon (since there are battles with monsters when you travel).
The graphics follow the same style as the Windwaker. Some people don't like this but I found it to be cool and unique. I think this cel-shaded Link also helps making the DS version look good despite not being as powerful as some other gaming systems.
The sound is good for the most part although link's companion is definitely annoying with his chirping sound. I ended up turning down the volume at certain points to avoid listening to it.
Overall if you enjoy Zelda games and are ready to travel through the castle several times, this is the game to play. It’s a great Zelda Experience.
