The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Oct 2, 2007

Nearly pitch-perfect, Phantom Hourglass is a beautiful game to play. It's accessible for newcomers but familiar for series pros. The major issues of its direct predecessor, Wind Waker, are dealt with, and the stylus control scheme more than works. For the most part, it shines. But what makes Phantom Hourglass a five-star game is, simply, fun.

I have no memory before this island...

Set as a direct sequel to Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass recounts the story so far in the first of many cinematics. These sequences are all nicely done, and give you a real chance to appreciate how well the cel-shaded art style of Wind Waker works on the 3D-challanged DS hardware, with sharp colors and crisp animation. Play proceeds with the action on the lower screen and the map on the upper.

Controlling Link is done solely through stylus input. As he moves around the world, you simply place the stylus where you want him to go and he will make a bee-line for it. The closer the spot is to Link, the slower he'll go. If you want to carefully tread through traps, you'll be holding the stylus right by Link to tip-toe past the flames, spikes or whatnot. If you want to just run through a map and get somewhere, your stylus will probably be at the edge of the screen to send Link off at full speed.

To attack, just tap an enemy within range and Link will stab at them. You can also slash (with the stylus) between Link and an enemy for a slash attack, and spin-attack by drawing a quick circle around Link. A small circle on the edge of the screen will send you somersaulting to that edge. Unfortunately, these key commands, the bread and butter of combat, aren't as reliable as they should be.

Since the DS interprets your stylus inputs for you, all too often one input will become another command. Somersaulting is the worst offender. Even with practice, far too often you'll end up slashing instead of rolling, making the move too unreliable for combat. Frustration will mount when Link idly steps over a ledge to fall instead of making an easy jump, or when you die in a boss fight because instead of attacking the boss you've tapped on, Link takes a stutter-step towards it.

The frustration is moderated by a very approachable difficulty curve. This isn't a polite way of saying "easy," although regular gamers will doubtlessly find Phantom Hourglass an unchallenging experience. Hearts are abundant, things move at speeds that are easy to track with the stylus, you begin with the ability to hold as many rupees as you like, and even if you die, you'll find you haven't lost too much progress. Instead, combat, puzzles, and boss fights are all crafted to place the emphasis on satisfying problem solving and exploration. The difficulty is perfect; Nintendo has crafted a Zelda games that people who have played nothing but Brain Age will be able to finish, but series fans will be able to dive into happily.

The story is that you'll be fighting first to free Tetra, your companion from Wind Waker, from the Ghost Ship, a monstrous vessel that kidnaps people from the seas and islands of the world. To do so, you'll need to go deeper and deeper into the Temple of the Ocean King, a multi-leveled dungeon that serves as the game's hub. The process is to find a clue there, go to the dungeon the clue reveals (sometimes even interpreting the clue is its own puzzle), and return to the Temple of the Ocean King to go a bit deeper to get another clue. It's not Shakespeare, but it's more than good enough to drive the game forward.

The Ocean King's Home is His Castle

What makes the game so satisfying is a great understanding of Zelda design, as well as careful, conservative implementation of the stylus controls. "Solving" each dungeon is a floor-by-floor affair, with puzzles rarely reaching past one level. Despite that, each dungeon is built wonderfully, full of those moments where you shift from "I can't solve this" to an ecstatic "eureka!" They're micro-servings, not the multi-leveled puzzles of a console Zelda, but this isn't a console Zelda.

Combat becomes routine fairly quickly, but this is Zelda, not Ninja Gaiden; series veterans should have already been planning on avoiding most monsters. Newcomers should enjoy getting to play a "hardcore" game and actually succeed rather than constantly die as they try to figure out what the X button does before quitting to train their brain some more. And where cutting down crows quickly becomes less interesting than avoiding them, boss fights are absolute pleasures.

Boss fights, both on sea and on land, are where the design decisions of Phantom Hourglass shine most satisfyingly. By hardcore standards, the fights are easy; expect to routinely beat bosses on your first try. But boss fights take spectacular advantage of the DS hardware, whether because they have you throwing bombs up at a flying boss to bring him down from the top screen or playing impromptu baseball to bat shots back at a quartet of witches. Visuals and sound compliment some of the best, most enjoyable boss fights in the series.

The top screen is usually your map, but you can easily swap it down to the bottom screen to take notes on. It sounds like a minor feature, but having all of your notes with you, all the time, is a huge perk. It makes taking notes far less frustrating, which means you're more likely to, which makes the whole game less frustrating and more fun. More impressively, once you've used the boomerang or bow with the stylus, you'll never want to go back to those primitive d-pad and face button controls.

Tapping the "use" icon in the upper right hand corner of the touch screen (or holding the left shoulder button) sets you to item mode. Tracing your boomerang's route gives you incredible control over it, making it an integral part of puzzles that wouldn't be nearly as satisfying with any other, less accurate type of control. Barring hitting an obstacle, it will go exactly where you draw. Firing your bow is equally easy and equally superior to standard controls. The game's action controls are a bit too loose to start a stylus-only control revolution, but map notes and item use hit that nail on the head.

Those are the core systems when you're on foot. Traveling from island to island (with a pirate!) is time filled with sea battles and pirate duels, a vast improvement over Wind Waker's dull trips. Simply trace your route on the sea chart (by bringing it down onto the touch screen, of course) and your customizable ship goes off!

We All Live On a Red Boat, On a Red Boat, On a...

Customizing your ship begins with getting a basic cannon, which you fire by tapping on your target. Combat is more challenging here than on foot, requiring a steady shot and good understanding of speed, but still not particularly difficult. But, and not to sound too much like a broken record, it is simply fun. Trips are usually just long enough to be entertaining without being so long they drag on, with combat coming up just often enough to keep you interested as you watch the gulls fly by.

One of the most satisfying reasons to explore hidden parts of the world is to find some of the many ship parts you can customize your vessel with. From your bridge to your cannon, you can take the ship to the shipyard and see just what kind of super-vessel you can come up with. Be sure to buy a salvage arm early, letting you take advantage of the treasure maps you'll find. Salvaging treasure from the bottom of the sea is represented by a simple mini-game that can be frustrating, since failure requires sailing back to the dock to get your salvage arm fixed, but is a nice diversion to have.

Multiplayer adds some great casual fun to the game. Most dungeons in single-player are guarded by invincible "phantoms," clinking ghost-knights. Their only weakness is that they can't enter certain "safe zones" on the map, or see Link once he enters them. In multiplayer, one person takes the part of Link, attempting to grab tri-force pieces and throw them to his base area, while the other player takes on the role of a force of phantoms, tracing out their paths on an overhead-view map while looking out through one of their eyes on the top screen. There aren't many maps, and only the one game mode, but it's a fun mode and you can play it locally, wirelessly or even with one cartridge.

Phantom Hourglass tries to be all things to all people; easy and approachable enough for the DS' vast install base of casual users but rewarding and challenging enough to satisfy the hardest of the hardcore Zelda fans. Somehow, magically, it succeeds on both counts. Phantom Hourglass isn't perfect, but it's one of the best experiences, casual or hardcore, available in gaming today.