Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Is Secretly One Of The Best Zeldas – Feature

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To have fun the thirty fifth anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, we’re operating a collection of options taking a look at a particular side — a theme, character, mechanic, location, reminiscence or one thing else totally — from every of the mainline Zelda video games. Immediately, Kate reminisces concerning the good, the dangerous, and the stylus controls of Phantom Hourglass…

, I am unable to resolve if The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is admirably courageous, or lovably silly. The hand-held Zelda video games have all the time been slightly… bizarre, whether or not it is Minish Cap’s “what if Tingle had a household” or Spirit Tracks’ “what if the dangerous man was a practice”, and that is largely all the way down to the truth that Nintendo can afford to go a bit wild on the Zeldas that are not on the massive consoles. They fly slightly below the radar, they are not all the time 100 per cent canonical, and in consequence, they’ll simply play with the established system slightly extra, since nobody takes them fairly as severely as a full-fledged title.

Enter Phantom Hourglass: the sort-of-but-not-quite sequel to Wind Waker, wherein the world continues to be A Large Moist, however Tetra the badass pirate is not trapped within the physique of a blonde girl who’s caught in a basement. It was fairly a big gamble – Wind Waker was an enormous success, and is without doubt one of the most beloved Zelda video games to at the present time, so to set a sport in its world is a dangerous proposition.

For essentially the most half – at the least, for my part, which is what you are about to get a number of hundred phrases of – Phantom Hourglass carried the torch properly, however what it is remembered for greater than something is its central dungeon. Let’s get into that first, eh?

The Temple of the Ocean King, AKA the Bane of the Video Sport Participant, is a temple dungeon divided into particular person ranges on every flooring that have to be accomplished a minimum of 5 instances. When you thought Ocarina of Time’s Water Temple was a ache within the bum, then you definitely ain’t seen nothing but. Every time you revisit The Temple of the Ocean King, you need to re-do most of the puzzles and stealth challenges you have already accomplished – as a result of, oh yeah, the entire thing is a stealth dungeon – though new objects gained within the meantime will open up the occasional shortcut.

DID I MENTION THAT THE DUNGEON IS ALSO TIMED? No, I didn’t. However it’s, and going over the time restrict will deal harm to Hyperlink. Deadlines, stealth, and repetition are maybe my three least favorite sport mechanics – and but, I think about Phantom Hourglass considered one of my favorite Zelda video games of all time. What provides?

Effectively, many issues provides. To start merely, it is a improbable use of the DS’ know-how; the stylus is used for all the pieces, from motion to fight to at least one significantly nice second the place you need to map out a whole island on paper. Certain, that will have been a detrimental for some individuals, and I definitely do not assume I would take pleasure in it fairly as a lot as we speak, what with all that tendonitis I’ve, however again then, it was a revelation.

Nintendo have all the time loved experimenting with their console tech, and for the primary few years of the DS, the Wii, and the 3DS, we had been handled to some novel and artistic makes use of of these applied sciences. For the Wii, it was video games like Wii Sports activities and Okami; for the 3DS, Luigi’s Mansion and Tremendous Mario 3D Land used the autostereoscopic function as a lot as they might; on DS, only a few video games reached the stylus-use heights of Phantom Hourglass.

One of many biggest options of Phantom Hourglass was the way in which it let gamers doodle everywhere in the map. Breath of the Wild’s map pins and stamps had been however a restricted replication of Phantom Hourglass’ note-taking, which might allow you to jot down the place particular objects, chests, and enemies had been, or simply draw an enormous dong, when you needed. Some dungeons revolve across the concept, and Bombchus particularly (that are way more helpful on this sport than some other) require drawing a exact path that does not contact any partitions. Pen-based gameplay? Heck yeah! Signal me up, child.

However, for a chunky-looking handheld sport that was making an attempt to copy a particular, cel-shaded fashion on a way more highly effective console, Phantom Hourglass can also be full of character. Taking its cues from the cheeky, expressive Wind Waker Hyperlink, Phantom Hourglass has our hero pulling all kinds of goofy faces, with an enormous deal of humour made doable by the animation, even regardless of his lack of spoken traces.

There’s additionally Linebeck – the love-him-or-hate-him sea captain launched in Phantom Hourglass – who fulfils that satisfying trope of “washed-up treasure bastard with a coronary heart of gold”, and Oshus, the loveable, grumpy previous man who helps Hyperlink in his quest after which seems to be a whale-deity. It is all the time those you least anticipate. Each character on this sport is brimming with character, tales, secrets and techniques, and

Most followers of the sport will keep in mind its best, and most irritating second above all others – the bit the place you need to switch a map to a different map. For me, I found it totally accidentally, and I am positive I am not alone in that. After a confused 20 minutes of making an attempt to attract, button-press, and logic my approach to victory, I closed the console and stepped away – solely to find that that is precisely what you are alleged to do. Phantom Hourglass punched via the fourth wall and broke into the meta-game by insisting that you just switch particulars from the highest display screen to the underside display screen by folding your DS in half like a e book.

There have been a bunch of video games within the meantime (and earlier than Phantom Hourglass) that used intelligent console trickery to pressure gamers into making an attempt new issues. There’s the (deserted) Banjo-Kazooie Cease ‘N’ Swop function, which required gamers to modify out cartridges whereas enjoying, or ‘s trick the place you need to change controller ports to cease the boss from “studying your thoughts”. These bizarre little fourth-wall-breaking tips are annoying whenever you’re enjoying the sport, for positive, however develop into legendary as time goes on, and nostalgia’s erosion rounds off the sharp edges.

Penning this has made me realise how a lot I miss stylus-based gaming. There’s nothing fairly just like the verisimilitude of a touchscreen, or the instantaneous manner it helps you to work together with issues on-screen. With a mind, a finger, a button, and a sport, there’s all the time a slight delay between every, however brain-touch-screen is satisfying in some deep-seated primal manner. Do not ask me why! I am not a scientist, regardless of claiming a number of instances to be good at science.

Plus, as a gamer and individual with a horrible consideration span and a love of fidgeting with issues to remain centered, you possibly can’t beat a stylus. You may draw little doodles with it, and a few of my finest work on Phantom Hourglass – as ephemeral because it was – was beautiful to see, each time I might return to a map with an enormous Toon Hyperlink sketched throughout it.

Phantom Hourglass, general, is each admirably courageous and lovably silly, you see. That is why it is so nice: like most of the finest Zelda video games, it tries new issues, and regardless that it typically falls over its personal toes like a pet studying to chase a ball, you possibly can’t assist however smile. The repeated dungeon may not be essentially the most enjoyable, however it’s definitely attention-grabbing, and the riddles and puzzles are so frustratingly smart-yet-obvious that Professor Layton himself could be proud. It isn’t the riskiest Zelda, and it isn’t essentially the most well-polished Zelda, however it’s so filled with coronary heart, appeal, and wit that it stands alone as doubtlessly the funniest of all of them.

I hope, sooner or later, that we get again a few of what we misplaced after the heydays of DS-based Zeldas: the stylus controls, the goofs, and the liberty to doodle everywhere in the map. We have accomplished horses, boats, and trains, so how about, er, a Zelda sport in a automotive? Or a airplane? Hit us up, Eiji Aonuma. We have got some improbable concepts.