The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

At the end of the game, I still don't like the touch movement. It's something you get used to - not in a "learn how to take advantage of it" way, more in a "learn how to make it less inconvenient" way - but it's never a really enjoyable system. To be fair, they didn't have much in the way of alternatives; the game requires analog movement (different walking speeds), among other things, which would be perhaps even more cumbersome using the DS's digital buttons. Anyway, as I've said, the rest of the game is good enough for you to get past the control hassles.

The presentation is something I haven't really mentioned. Being a handheld game, and trying to emulate the flawless presentation of Wind Waker, naturally I had my doubts, but Phantom Hourglass delivered fairly well. The graphics are of course rough in some places, but I found myself appreciating the visual style even before the intro cutscene was over. There are some cases where the audio is sketchy, but for the most part, the game's sounds and soundtrack have been architected to sound impeccable. Several themes, like the fairy music for instance, are aurally indistinguishable from the modern, home-console compositions.

One of my favorite things about the game in general is the comical cutscenes: almost every animated scene in the game has a dialog joke and/or slapstick. Where Wind Waker might be seen through its cutscenes as lighthearted and innocent, Phantom Hourglass is genuinely humorous.

I haven't mentioned the multiplayer or wireless modes, and that's because I haven't even touched them. There is a multiplayer game of hide-and-seek that sounds kind of fun, but I haven't really been motivated to try it (since the same mechanics are joyfully implemented in two dungeons of the single-player game). There are also some methods of trading certain in-game items (like ship parts) with other players, including a passive Tag Mode. If you're interested in fully customizing the ship, this seems like the only way to go, but it's in no way necessary for beating the game.

I don't have an exact time, but if I had to guess, I'd say I finished in somewhere shy of 20 gameplay hours. There are more extras for me to collect, too, including some sunken treasure and some mystical items of power to charge up my stuff, but right now there's little in the way of a good guide to show me where what I've missed might be - in any event, a completionist could probably squeeze more out of it. There are eight dungeons all-told, if you're interested in those numerics.

Something I didn't even notice until I was most of the way through the game was how many of the fundamental Zelda laws were changed in Phantom Hourglass. I mentioned the lack of heart pieces before, but then there's also how the Dungeon Map has been totally reworked; there's no Compass (although there are magic statues that can show you where chests are); the Big Key is an item Link physically carries to the boss door. The whole 'Zelda' thing was really revamped for the DS, and yet, I didn't even really notice the changes as I was playing through them because of how intuitive it was within the game formula.

To make a long story short, this is a superb game. Learn to live with the controls and you've got yourself a real gem.

Progress: Saved the Ocean King