My impressions so far... a review of the beginning
I am writing this as I play the game. And what I will say is something I have not heard any other reviewer say. This game is great, and keep in mind I have not played the first.-hour glass-. Now I am as far as the first temple, and so far the train stuff just seems like skin for a formulaic Zelda game but what made this instantly better than any other Zelda is how Zelda herself is. (NOTE:This is not really a spoiler since. I assume most know someone special joins link for the first time in a ZELDA game. But...) When you are finally given the main quest, Zelda looks at you and tells you good luck and have a safe journey. Only to be told that she would need to come along. Now in every other zelda game I have played(all non windwaker universe). Zelda always gave off this,” I may be captured but I know everything that you will learn and not tell you, plus i have great powers and orchestrating a plan which link is a pawn in” Vibe to her… I guess you could call it her being pompous. But the Zelda in spirit tracks is a lot more energetic and interesting and it is obvious she does not know all and or is orchestrating a plan to save every one. I like that a princess finally is going to do something and doesn’t have her mind set on the greater good. Zelda has her own selfish reason for joining the quest and is not great at hiding it. As for the other characters, all seem pretty stereotypical and tolerable; with exception of the lokomos (sage stand in). Their design just irks me, but this will not hurt the game in anyway. As for game play, I am just loving how little effort you need to put in. All you need (so far) is a stylus and a set of working lungs, and unless your aquatic, I am sure you will not have a problem. The game play is so effortless and after getting your first item, the faintest blow will translate into a whirlwind of epic proportions. Now when using the stylus I have had a slight problem doing the spin attack and since you can only use the stylus, time based situations are not fun.Other then that the combat is great and responsive with link getting cartoony dizzy after doing a spin attack or roll to many times. The music is very Zelda oracina of time but doesn’t have the same catchiness, with you only putting the smallest of inputs to get the song going. This is not necessarily a bad thing if you are playing on the go. On the bus blowing into a ds for long periods of time may not be “cool”, convenient or “hygienic”(think flu bug). The level music is descent and not memorable.So if you want a zelda game that has very little separating you from methodically playing the game, this is the game for you. SO GRAB A DS AND START BLOWING SOME SPIRIT FLUTES!!!!(No homo).
edit:I have just completed the first temple and i will say this is, the boss battle was very zelda, play any from the last 12 years and you have the template, with the first being incrediablly easy. What i noticed is that the camera angle will change as is needed, and i found that to be just great, for no apparent reason. Now the game can look pretty good showing you a magical pediastal (it looks so good) and the recreation of the tracks. The first dungeon is very short and i completed it very quickly(i assume other dungeons are longer and edit this review to state this when i finish), this is only good if (again) you are on the go. And since all the zelda games have you go somewhere explore the dungeon and beat the boss repetitively, this review should be a good assumption on the game. I hope this helps you, pick up a truly enjoyable ZELDA game.
