Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass review (DS)

One of the first things I do when starting a Zelda game is have a look at the items screens. Specifically, I look at the slots set aside for collecting the important plot objects. If you’re a seasoned Zelda player, then you can pretty quickly figure out what you’re in for and in roughly what order those blank slots will be filled.

Perfect Formula

Zelda games follow a formula, as if you didn’t know. You start off ‘innocent’, go on a seemingly minor quest, and that unlocks a major quest. Complete that and you find you’re only half way through. A plot twist means you have to complete further quests, and that everything before amounts to training – but in a good way.

Phantom Hourglass sort of follows that, only this is an actual sequel, following on from exactly where you left Link at the end of the Gamecube title Wind Waker. You’re sailing with Tetra (well, Zelda really, though she doesn’t like to be called that) and her crew of rubbish pirates. She gets snatched by a nasty Ghost Ship, you fall in the water trying to get to it, and you’re washed up on an island. A good excuse to strip you of all the weapons and equipment you had at the end of Wind Waker, I guess.

Starting the game, you meet a mysterious old man (natch) who tells you all the things you shouldn’t do, spurring you on to doing them and starting your quest. Saving Tetra involves saving the Ocean King and restoring peace to the seas. Your helper/cursor is a fairy that isn’t in the same mould as Navi in Ocarina of Time, so rest easy there. The DS controls (all done by stylus) are nicely intuitive, so you get going. Immediately, the problems start.

Where Does The Time Go?

The pacing (after a brief spell of linearity at the start) is perfect. The temples you visit and the puzzles they contain are damn near perfect Zelda gameplay. Graphically, sonically, the game is fabulous. Suddenly, life is built around when you can get back to your DS and crack on with the tasks at hand. Everything else will just get in the way.

Take this (late) review. I began by intending on playing it past the halfway mark and then writing the review. Then I could go on to other games (like the table tennis game for the Wii, the review for which will likely now be late). As I played I decided that, to do a fair review, I should see what the boss battles in the second half were like by comparison to the first half. Then, I decided I should finish the game. Then, I decided I should try to go back and finish the wee bits of the side quests I hadn’t quite done. Just in case. Then, I decided I was being silly and should just write the damn review.

Then go back and finish the remaining minor quests…

Niggles

The game isn’t without its issues, but they are very minor. Combat is done with a sweep of the stylus, and there are a bunch of attacks available. However, you’re unlikely to use much else than tapping on an enemy to launch a very effective jumping attack. That feels disappointing, and leaves most enemies as nothing more than a minor distraction. Once in a while, you’ll use the spin (mostly to cut grass), and the swipe attack is used in a couple of the (universally brilliant) boss battles. Puzzles in the game are simple, maybe too simple, and often have handy signs nearby that give away the solutions, and not in a subtle way.

Ocean travel (the world is a series of islands similar to Wind Waker) is less boring than in the Gamecube title, and a lot quicker thanks to your ‘paddle steamer’ boat. However, despite shortcuts available later, navigating the four-part ocean can still become annoyingly fiddly and dull. Basic sea travel is done by drawing a route on a chart that your boat slavishly follows (though you can interrupt it at any time and, if needed, draw a new route). You can, eventually, unlock ‘warp points’ that get you about the seas a little quicker. While travelling, you will be attacked by a variety of critters, some of which can be easily dealt with, some of which (the sharks) inexplicably cannot be. Or possibly I have fat thumbs…

All of these issues are impossibly minor in the context of the rest of the game. My goodness it’s good!

Sucked Down

The main quest is absorbing, with the ability to complete tasks, thanks to new equipment or piece of information, being delivered at a perfect pace. This quickly draws you into the trap of playing for “just another five minutes to do X”, and then your whole weekend is gone and your family will think you’ve died. It’s difficult to get lost or forget things, as you can make notes on the maps you find (though a separate quest notepad would have been nice).

One possible issue in the main quest depends on how you feel about backtracking. The Ocean King’s Temple, on the island you wash up on, is the main temple in the game. The Phantom Hourglass refers to an item that grants you temporary immunity to the life-sapping nature of the corrupted building, patrolled by deadly armoured figures. Once the sand (that you collect from dead bosses and some sunken treasure chests) runs out, you start taking damage quite quickly. Safe spots in the dungeons stop the sand running down or any damage being taken.

You have to return to this temple regularly, with each new piece of equipment granting you access to new areas. Even though there are shortcuts through some of the levels, including a portal about halfway through that lets you skip the first half-dozen levels, it’s still a little bit of a slog at times. Not too bad, but still enough to drop a fraction of a review point.

Bossy

Though combat is a little meh with the minor characters, the boss battles are fantastic. Mind you one of them, a sort of mini-boss fight on the open sea, was against a flying whale thingy with eyeballs on it - Bullet Witch returns to haunt me! The variety and invention in the bosses is refreshing, and the anticipation of what the game will do in the next boss encounter draws you on rather than putting you off.

The cast of supporting characters is great, with some of the cutscene antics genuinely funny. The sea captain you join up with, the cowardly Linebeck, deserves particular mention, as does the very creepy Man of Smiles. There are minor tasks to do for some of the people you meet, consisting of the usual find-the-owner tasks. As well as these, there are bonus items to hunt for, including heart containers, ship parts, Hourglass sand, treasure maps, and jewellery. Treasure maps highlight points on the ocean where chests lurk. In an advance from Wind Waker, there is an entertaining mini-game where you have to manoeuvre the grabbing claw under the sea both on the way down and back up. Hit the critters or terrain and the claw takes damage and can require repair back on the main island. It’s a nice little diversion that never really gets tiresome.

Call to Adventure

Overall, Phantom Hourglass absorbed me and ate my time more so than the Wii Zelda has done. Maybe it’s because it can sit in my bag calling to me, tempting me to do just one more thing. More likely, it’s because Phantom Hourglass is uncluttered, pure and wonderful Zelda gaming at its best.