03-07-2008, 02:28 PM
Legend of Zelda has been one of the most well respected video game franchises in history. When it all started with The Legend Of Zelda, people around the world went on a adventure to save a princess from evil. Over time, new platforms come and go, but the one thing that stays true is Zelda. And that truth isn't more awesome then in The Phantom Hourglass! So strap your seat belts in and get ready for a review of this great game!!
This particular Zelda game is taking place directly after Wind Waker with link and tetra (Zelda) on their pirate ship. They soon encounter the Ghost Ship. This Ghost ship is claimed to have taken countless sailors and people. Tetra in good nature, decides that she is going to investigate this ship but disappears while aboard! And so your off to find the Ghost ship and rescue Zelda yet again. Sadly, nothing very heart wrenching or amazingly surprising. Just same old "save zelda from evil" thing going that almost all zelda games suffer from. So don't expect to much from story here.
Now the main thing about this game is that its on the Nintendo DS system. All you need for this game is the stylus and nothing else. You tap to us your sword, bombs and most everything else. Its pretty easy to see that Nintendo dumbed things down a bit to draw in more casual gamers. This to me is a punch in the face. I hate what Nintendo is doing with its great series and dumbing them down. But on the other hand it doesn't kill the game.
The Game on the DS is simply amazing. The 3d graphics are great in game and in the cut scenes. Smoke effects are just as nice as in Wind waker. Some textures up close do suffer from being nasty and repetitive. But this is a hand held and taking that into consideration, this game is amazing graphically.
Gameplay in this Zelda game here go back to the Zelda roots. Instead of being a kind of 3rd person game, it goes back and dose more of the top down view. This is great for the DS and what the controls are trying to do. Basically you move the stylus to where you want to go. It takes a while to get used to and i had trouble jumping from ledge to ledge, but you'll get used to it. Overall i would say this game is alot more like Link to the Past and The Original Zeldas dungeon wise. But it still has some aspects from recenter games... Find item, unlock new area, so on... Just like in wind waker, you get a boat. But instead of going manually, you plot your course and then just let it go. This may seem boring, but there are PLENTY of enemies out in the see to bomb. There where some things that did bug me gameplay wise... The bosses where way to easy. I thought the final boss was almost as hard as the first one! And not only are the bosses really easy, the game overall is just simple and not challenging like some other Zelda games. I didn't get stuck once! But in Ocarina of Time i got stuck, died or just didn't know where to go sometimes! I almost enjoyed being frustrated at that game then being bored out of my skull with this game. And why did Nintendo feel that they have to make the player scream into the mike every so often to blow out a fire or open a door? I may be over exasperating back there but you get the point. I still did have alot of fun with this game its just not the challenge that the Zelda series needs to get starting.
The games sounds are great. Everything you would want with classic themes, new themes and great sound effects for bombs and so on. But i would highly recommend getting some head phones for this game. The DS's little speakers just can't handle a bomb, music and swords at the same time. Overall, classic.
Story ~ 8
- Nothing new or interesting really, but same old zelda stuff we love
Controls ~ 7.8
- They're ok but i hate how dumbed down they are.
Graphics ~ 9
- Great graphics on the DS
GamePlay ~ 8.2
- Way to easy but still good just because its zelda
Sound ~ 8
- Great music and sound - Get headphones though
Luben Presents a review of
Legend Of Zelda Phantom Hourglass
This particular Zelda game is taking place directly after Wind Waker with link and tetra (Zelda) on their pirate ship. They soon encounter the Ghost Ship. This Ghost ship is claimed to have taken countless sailors and people. Tetra in good nature, decides that she is going to investigate this ship but disappears while aboard! And so your off to find the Ghost ship and rescue Zelda yet again. Sadly, nothing very heart wrenching or amazingly surprising. Just same old "save zelda from evil" thing going that almost all zelda games suffer from. So don't expect to much from story here.
Now the main thing about this game is that its on the Nintendo DS system. All you need for this game is the stylus and nothing else. You tap to us your sword, bombs and most everything else. Its pretty easy to see that Nintendo dumbed things down a bit to draw in more casual gamers. This to me is a punch in the face. I hate what Nintendo is doing with its great series and dumbing them down. But on the other hand it doesn't kill the game.
The Game on the DS is simply amazing. The 3d graphics are great in game and in the cut scenes. Smoke effects are just as nice as in Wind waker. Some textures up close do suffer from being nasty and repetitive. But this is a hand held and taking that into consideration, this game is amazing graphically.
Gameplay in this Zelda game here go back to the Zelda roots. Instead of being a kind of 3rd person game, it goes back and dose more of the top down view. This is great for the DS and what the controls are trying to do. Basically you move the stylus to where you want to go. It takes a while to get used to and i had trouble jumping from ledge to ledge, but you'll get used to it. Overall i would say this game is alot more like Link to the Past and The Original Zeldas dungeon wise. But it still has some aspects from recenter games... Find item, unlock new area, so on... Just like in wind waker, you get a boat. But instead of going manually, you plot your course and then just let it go. This may seem boring, but there are PLENTY of enemies out in the see to bomb. There where some things that did bug me gameplay wise... The bosses where way to easy. I thought the final boss was almost as hard as the first one! And not only are the bosses really easy, the game overall is just simple and not challenging like some other Zelda games. I didn't get stuck once! But in Ocarina of Time i got stuck, died or just didn't know where to go sometimes! I almost enjoyed being frustrated at that game then being bored out of my skull with this game. And why did Nintendo feel that they have to make the player scream into the mike every so often to blow out a fire or open a door? I may be over exasperating back there but you get the point. I still did have alot of fun with this game its just not the challenge that the Zelda series needs to get starting.
The games sounds are great. Everything you would want with classic themes, new themes and great sound effects for bombs and so on. But i would highly recommend getting some head phones for this game. The DS's little speakers just can't handle a bomb, music and swords at the same time. Overall, classic.
Story ~ 8
- Nothing new or interesting really, but same old zelda stuff we love
Controls ~ 7.8
- They're ok but i hate how dumbed down they are.
Graphics ~ 9
- Great graphics on the DS
GamePlay ~ 8.2
- Way to easy but still good just because its zelda
Sound ~ 8
- Great music and sound - Get headphones though
Overall - 8.5