Phantom Hourglass impressions

[Baka]

 I got my copy of Phantom Hourglass last evening, and have a couple hours into it, and completed the first dungeon, the Temple of Fire, and the first "hourglass puzzle" segment. So far, I am quite pleased with the controls and am thoroughly enjoying Link's latest adventure.

The graphics are wonderful for the DS. While it can't match up to its GCN counterpart, its pushes the DS hardware and retains the same artistic style as The Wind Waker. The cinematic cutscenes are just polygon-ier versions of TWW. The characters are the same as TWW, and the cutscenes had similar character interactions, and it really feels like a true sequel to it, and not just a cheesy spin-off. Also, I thought they implemented classic Zelda songs well throughout the opening scenes, and I appreciated that.

The big issue here is the controls. Zelda's classic button layout is being swapped for stylus control. You move Link with the stylus, you slash enemies with the stylus, you create a path for the boomerang with the stylus, everything but a few menus are such are completely stylus controlled. I was expecting fairly awkward controls that would take a while to get used to, but so far I'm finding them surprisingly simple and easy to control. Of course, it's not as easy as control pad movement, but its not annoyingly awkward either. It makes battles a bit more difficult, but not in way that feels like its because of bad controls, but its just different, and you have to adjust to fighting with them. I'm really enjoying the control scheme, and feel that it adds a lot of depth to the game.

Also, I'm enjoying the difficulty right now. While the puzzles have been typical Zelda fair, and haven't been too hard, the enemies have posed a bit of a challenge. I don't mean just because of the controls, but the enemies movements and attack patterns had me predicting enemy patterns to hit them when the land, rolling away to dodge an attack, and having to react pretty quick, especially when the tectikes are involved. It's far from really hard, but you can't just kill everything on autopilot, like its felt the past couple of handheld titles. The new controls just add to the fun of combat, which had been growing a bit stale, as we battled the same old enemies again and again. The boomerang also adds to the puzzle solving and fighting experience. You have to select and draw a path for it to follow. You just start drawing a line and the line can twist, turn, spin, and zig-zag anyway you like before you reach the line's limit which is pretty far. You use it to hit far off crystal switches, and it can go right around walls and other sharp turns, allowing a lot of freedom for hitting stuff from. It also stuns enemies, and some have to be hit with the boomerang. Fighting with the boomerang actually requires some strategy, since it doesn't lock on, you have to create a path that will hit them, and their constantly moving around. You need to predict their patterns and get them, or create a long line that goes around where they are and is jagged and wavy so that there is more area where the boomerang could hit. Of course, you're vulnerable while wielding the boomerang, so you have to be quick and careful. You can also try to snipe enemies from afar or hit them from behind the corner, adding more depth to gameplay.

I was also pleasantly surprised with the difficulty of the first "hourglass dungeon". In between dungeons, it seems you will have to go to this temple and find maps to the next location. In the dungeon, you use the Phantom Hourglass to not get hurt while exploring it, since the dungeon sucks the life away from all who enter. The hourglass's powers are only for a limited time, and the time stops while you're standing on safe points. Then 10 minute time limit seemed like it was a lot, and was to help out noobs who would get stuck, but really, if you're careless the time can drain away pretty fast. Also, there's phantom guards who will chase you if he see you and you can only escape by landing on a safe point. You have to solve the puzzles and get keys to the next floor, while not running out of time or getting caught. If you get hit by a guard, you go back to the start of that floor, and lose precious seconds from your time. It's also pretty easy to take get careless and take damage from spikes and other obstacles and my 4 heart pieces drain pretty quickly. I died once in there from that. On the top floor, you have to carry three "force gems" over to a pedestal, without getting caught, but the force gems are heavy to carry, so it's harder to escape from them. I really enjoyed the Hourglass segment, and after that is where I stopped playing for the night.

Also, here's a short (and poor quality) gameplay video I made:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bhyj0PvmcwU

Some might find the video interesting to get a feel of what it looks like, even though its poor quality.

[blue_slime]

Nice.  I think this is definitely on my must get list.

[Baka]

Somehow it replaces "sucks the life out of you", with "koolaid the life out of you", but I fixed it. o.o

[Cannon_2]

That's great but I don't think I will get it. I'm not really into the whole cell-shaded link thing, but who knows I may get bored...

[.:DL:.]

I agree with what you said.  Everything.  This game IS awesome.


BTW, when you said that more time was added to the PH for the noobs who get stuck....you should change that.  Later on, it will seem like you will need MORE time.  Just keep playing and you'll understand what I'm saying. ;)

[OCD1]

So far, the game pretty much rocks. The controls wokr really well.

[butterflyboy1974]

I was happy with PH as well.  The thing that amazed me the most was the entirely new control scheme.  I found it be every bit as revolutionary as the Wii controls.  With Wii and DS, Nintendo has once again dared to do something completely new in an extremely competitive industry, and prevailed.  The genius of the new control schemes is that there is practically no learning curve, it feels natural after only a couple minutes!  They have actually succeeded in solving this problem:  how do we bring back the gamers who's skill and patience levels weren't strong enough to stick with gaming as the controls got more and more complex with each new console, and at the same time hold on to the 'hard-core' gamers who effortlessly pull of complicated combos on controllers with 12 buttons ?   I think Nintendo rules. 

[Transient Link]

E-A-S-Y thats about all I can say :|

[butterflyboy1974]

E-A-S-Y thats about all I can say :|

Yes I haven't heard anyone say that it's a hard game, but it's pretty fun.  It isn't without challenges, I'm not even gonna attempt to get all the gold ship parts.