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[Solid SOAP]

I just recently picked this up from Gamestop after years of avoiding it due to bad word of mouth. I've heard everything from gimmicky controls to poor level design, the works.

Well, about a dungeon in and I am really enjoying it!

It took a little bit to get used to the controls. They did feel gimmicky at first and I wasn't wild about the Wind Waker-lite feel it had, but I'm en route to the next section of the game and I'm really taken aback by how much I'm enjoying it. The game makes great utilization of the hardware, really pushes the original DS to its limit in all facets: the interface, the controls, both screens, even the graphics.

It's a great game thus far. I'm not exactly surprised that it's criticized because it is a huge departure from what one would expect from a Zelda experience, but I certainly am enjoying it. Plus, I hear Spirit Tracks is even better, so having that to look forward to excites me as well.

 

[leroidys]

Honestly I think the game is a pretty good experiment. My main complaints are a lack of interesting characters and original music. Spirit Tracks is a much stronger experience overall though.

 

[Solid SOAP]

Honestly I think the game is a pretty good experiment. My main complaints are a lack of interesting characters and original music. Spirit Tracks is a much stronger experience overall though.

Good to hear considering how much I'm enjoying this. Even the sailing is fun to me, feels like an extension of traveling from Wind Waker.

 

[TheGeniusArcana]

PH and ST are really excellent. The only thing I hate is that ocean King temple. The timer just makes it really awful.

 

[isny]

I just recently picked this up from Gamestop after years of avoiding it due to bad word of mouth. I've heard everything from gimmicky controls to poor level design, the works.

Well, about a dungeon in and I am really enjoying it!

It took a little bit to get used to the controls. They did feel gimmicky at first and I wasn't wild about the Wind Waker-lite feel it had, but I'm en route to the next section of the game and I'm really taken aback by how much I'm enjoying it. The game makes great utilization of the hardware, really pushes the original DS to its limit in all facets: the interface, the controls, both screens, even the graphics.

It's a great game thus far. I'm not exactly surprised that it's criticized because it is a huge departure from what one would expect from a Zelda experience, but I certainly am enjoying it. Plus, I hear Spirit Tracks is even better, so having that to look forward to excites me as well.

One dungeon in? This is why you like it...

The backtracking into the same dungeon over and over again is tedious and boring and stopped me and many others from ever bothering to complete it.

Spirit Tracks on the other hand was a masterpiece. Such a great game. Still not up there with LA, LTTP or LBW though.

 

[SkyOdin]

I'm a big fan of Phantom Hourglass. I think that the touch controls worked pretty well, and I particularly liked how the tools handled. So I think that the game got an unfair bad reputation. It is really a nice Zelda game. I liked Linebeck a lot too; the guy is hilarious and plays off of Link really well.

Of course, it is the Temple of the Ocean King that really makes or breaks someone's opinion of Phantom Hourglass. I for one loved the dungeon, and I would like to see a new take on it in a future Zelda game. Apparently other people disagree with me.

 

[Solid SOAP]

PH and ST are really excellent. The only thing I hate is that ocean King temple. The timer just makes it really awful.

I was biting my nails at the timer in my first outing. I lost all my time right before I grabbed the triforce piece and while I was on my way to deliver it my health was depleting, it was nuts. I imagine it gets very stressful later into the game though, and I also imagine that the penalty for failing is a complete do-over. We'll see how it holds up for me!

 

[tauroxd]

I have to say that I ended up liking the game more than I thought I would like it... But I still have nightmares about the Ocean King Temple and I still feel stupid for not figuring out the puzzle that

Spoiler

needed tha you close the DS.

 

[matrix-cat]

I found the controls pretty awful, categorically worse than proper button controls would have been, nothing more than a 'Look what the DS can do!' gimmick (same thing with Twilight Princess on the Wii, really), but I would have pushed through the awkwardness to see what the rest of the game had to offer if it weren't for the Temple of the Ocean King. That fucking place makes Phantom Hourglass the worst Zelda game to me, accept no substitutes. It's like every game design sin rolled into one nightmare of a dungeon: backtracking, repetition, stealth in a non-stealth game, a time limit, instant death, invisible enemies.

I got about halfway through the game, looked at a walkthrough to see how many more times I was going to have to go all the way back through it, saw that I still had like six trips back there to look forward to and just quit instantly. Nope. Life's too short.

 

[Solid SOAP]

I think that another DS or 3DS Zelda would be benefitted by combining traditional controls with touch controls. Stuff like giving me the option to touch where I wanna throw a bomb or draw a path for my boomerang would be great if I could control like with the control pad.

 

[tauroxd]

I'm a big fan of Phantom Hourglass. I think that the touch controls worked pretty well, and I particularly liked how the tools handled. So I think that the game got an unfair bad reputation. It is really a nice Zelda game. I liked Linebeck a lot too; the guy is hilarious and plays off of Link really well.

Of course, it is the Temple of the Ocean King that really makes or breaks someone's opinion of Phantom Hourglass. I for one loved the dungeon, and I would like to see a new take on it in a future Zelda game. Apparently other people disagree with me.

Oh, God, NO, I don't want anything like that in any Zelda ever again... Every dungeon should be unique in the way they look.

 

[Bitanator]

I actually really liked this game I thought is was fun for what it was, never got around to playing Spirit Tracks and would like to give it a go one day

 

[Captain_Wreckus]

Oh, God, NO, I don't want anything like that in any Zelda ever again... Every dungeon should be unique in the way they look.

agreed. This was my least favourite zelda of all of them.

 

[matrix-cat]

I think that another DS or 3DS Zelda would be benefitted by combining traditional controls with touch controls. Stuff like giving me the option to touch where I wanna throw a bomb or draw a path for my boomerang would be great if I could control like with the control pad.

I remember wishing I could control Link with the D-pad and use weapons with the stylus while I was playing. It would have been great (I'm sure I remember reading you could actually mod the game to play that way with Homebrew, somehow), but unfortunately Nintendo did one of their patented all-or-nothing approaches and just decided everything was going to be touch. No options, no nothing.

 

[Modest Mauser]

I know a lot of people complained about returning to the same dungeon repeatedly, but I thought it was neat. Each time you had new tools that allowed you to access shortcuts and move through faster. Learning how to get through the levels in as little time as possible was a cool challenge, at least to me.

 

[Cormano]

Awful controllers, one of the few Zeldas i couldnt beat.

 

[Rodney McKay]

I remember wishing I could control Link with the D-pad and use weapons with the stylus while I was playing. It would have been great (I'm sure I remember reading you could actually mod the game to play that way with Homebrew, somehow), but unfortunately Nintendo did one of their patented all-or-nothing approaches and just decided everything was going to be touch. No options, no nothing.

Yeah, not being able to use the D-Pad for movement was probably my biggest problem with the game. You still could have used the stylus for combat and item use, but I just didn't like tap and hold movement style.

I seriously don't remember the Ocean King temple being that bad. As you progress you open up shortcuts to get to the lower levels quickly and I kinda liked the stealth mechanic that it used.

I just couldn't get into Spirit Tracks because the train felt like such a limitation to exploring the overworld (and it became annoying to get around once the EVIL trains showed up). And that game had a repeating dungeon too, I think you just used a staircase to skip the stuff you'd done already. I also hated the stupid flute instrument.

 

[champloo]

I liked the use of stylus in this game a lot. Especially the ability to take memo and drawing shapes on the map. I remember the part when I got to draw my own map of an island. Really gave me the feeling that I was on an adventure.
Spirit tracks on the other hand was a disappointment. I guess the dungeons may be better. But the sense of exploration is gone since you cannot move freely on the world map.

 

[SalvaPot]

Linebeck its an amazing new character, full of charm.

I wish he was on Hyrule Warriors.

Edit: The Zelda Cycle is a thing of beauty.

 

[Foldedpencil]

I was pretty happy with it at first as well. I really like the Toon Link graphic style, and Limeback (edit:Linebeck) is a great supporting character. However as the game went I felt that the level design started to demand more and more complicated dexterity, which started to drain on me. Being left handed, ds games that heavily used both physical and touch controls at the same time were usually a problem. But it think overall, I just ended up getting board with it. I have tried to go back to it a couple of times but failed. I'll subscribe to the thread, maybe your experience will convince me to give it another go.

 

[Foldedpencil]

I liked the use of stylus in this game a lot. Especially the ability to take memo and drawing shapes on the map.

Every game with a map should have this feature!

 

[Solid SOAP]

Spirit tracks on the other hand was a disappointment. I guess the dungeons may be better. But the sense of exploration is gone since you cannot move freely on the world map.

That has me disappointed, tbh. I like being able to freely move throughout the overworld in PH so far, I wonder why they changed it?

 

[OnPoint]

Edit: The Zelda Cycle is a thing of beauty.

I don't believe in the Zelda cycle, at least for me. I disliked this game then and I dislike it now.

 

[SalvaPot]

I don't believe in the Zelda cycle, at least for me. I disliked this game then and I dislike it now.

I do think that with time more people give the games a better a chance, and a the players that did enjoy the game get more vocal about it.

 

[Solid SOAP]

The thing about Zelda games is that what makes them good, the dungeons, is fundamentally very similar for most of them. However, with each game there are significant overhauls of things such as art style, control schemes, methods of traversing the hub, etc that tend to make the series very divisive between each game. Then upon replaying the games, fans tend to realize how similar they all are, yet how each one innovates and makes the gameplay fresh between each game.

That's why I think the Zelda cycle exists.

 

[JinjoUnchained]

Good thing about the Ocean King Temple and its multiple runs is it actually allows you to play dungeons out of order. If you're really resourceful, you can make it further in the temple then you should and unlock later dungeons earlier.

 

[OnPoint]

I do think that with time more people give the games a better a chance, and a the players that did enjoy the game get more vocal about it.

Maybe also the naysayers get more quiet about it.

Honestly? It's likely expectation vs experience. You keep hearing how bad something is and you come to expect the worst ever of all time, and what you get doesn't meet your expectations. It's the opposite of overhyping something and that's what I think really is happening.

Objectively it's not the worst game. Even if I didn't have fun with it I can totally see why someone likes it. It's just not the kind of Zelda I ever wanted or want again.

 

[Solid SOAP]

Maybe also the naysayers get more quiet about it.

Honestly? It's likely expectation vs experience. You keep hearing how bad something is and you come to expect the worst ever of all time, and what you get doesn't meet your expectations. It's the opposite of overhyping something and that's what I think really is happening.

Thing is, I went into this with practically no expectations. I figured that it was a Zelda game made by Nintendo that had unconventional controls. I was willing to give them a shot to see what they had to offer, and as it turns out it's simply more top down Zelda goodness and I can't complain.

 

[Zalman]

The "bad word of mouth" is not because it's a bad game. It's actually a really good game. It's just not up to Zelda standards, for the most part.

 

[watershed]

Linebeck was fantastic but he was the only thing memorable about PH. I feel the game itself isn't particularly good aside from the fun and shock of seeing a 3d, top down zelda game on the ds.

 

[Solid SOAP]

The "bad word of mouth" is not because it's a bad game. It's actually a really good game. It's just not up to Zelda standards, for the most part.

Makes sense to me. I'm enjoyed it though, I'll probably be at dungeon two at some point tomorrow so I'll get back at yall then

 

[weekev]

Im In the minority camp. I thought the temple of the ocean king was a pretty cool idea, the timer was Bullshit though. I like the idea of having a central temple that you need items from all the other temples to progress to the next stage.
Spoiler edit

Spoiler

favorite bit of the game was the gimmick where you close the clamshell to print on the map (that is this one right?) hope OP is not using a 2DS for this playthrough.

 

[ajim]

Im In the minority camp. I thought the temple of the ocean king was a pretty cool idea, the timer was Bullshit though. I like the idea of having a central temple that you need items from all the other temples to progress to the next stage.

Agree with this. Really like the central temple to work through and thought it was done well. Was a nice change of pace.

Thoroughly enjoyed my time with phantom hour glass.

Underrated.

 

[score01]

I found this to be a really solid Zelda title and loved the implementation of touch controls. The issue I (and many others) had was the re-use of the central dungeon again and again and again. It's not something you expect in a Zelda and really hampered my enjoyment of the game. Still finished it though

Never got around to Spirit Tracks though - mic on DS was busted.

 

[OnPoint]

Thing is, I went into this with practically no expectations. I figured that it was a Zelda game made by Nintendo that had unconventional controls. I was willing to give them a shot to see what they had to offer, and as it turns out it's simply more top down Zelda goodness and I can't complain.

Fair enough. I'm glad you like it.

 

[Brashnir]

For me, the game is basically the poster child for games that don't respect the player's time. Everything is dragged out to a ridiculous degree.

There's aren't a lot of games that I hate, but I absolutely hate Phantom Hourglass.

 

[BowieZ]

Loved the Ocean King temple. Never felt repetitive to me as the new items gave you shortcuts for a lot of it, although I think there was usually one small part collecting three triforce pieces or something that you had to do three times or something. Other than that I found it rather effortless.

 

[Freshmaker]

I do think that with time more people give the games a better a chance, and a the players that did enjoy the game get more vocal about it.

People are free to like the worst games in the series if the feel like it. Nobody's obligated to think they're presenting some kind of fact about how the games are actually somehow above average tho.

 

[mickagau33]

I had a great time with the game (although the "returning dungeon" was not my favourite part). Touch controls were neat, I was pleasantly surprised after some friends told me it was "unpayable". The game also had a great deal of humour. The art direction was a bit bland. Overall, Spirit Tracks is a better game though.
And speaking of portable Zeldas, I found ALBW to lack in the "charm" and good setting departement compare to the 2 DS games. The setting and characters were really barebone (hope it is not a sign of things to come for the franchise)

 

[Beren the Empty-Handed]

Touch controls for combat was a terrible idea. To compensate for it they had to include enemies you could just wail on, since there's no way to do that with any skill.

 

[Jonneh3003]

I think its the only game to apply touch controls to a traditional adventure experience and do it successfully. The temple of the ocean king was a pretty bad design idea but the controls are so good and well implemented.

 

[ryanofcall]

Just wait until you have to beat the tower for the gazillionth time!

Spoiler

which was really the only issue I had with the game, other than that I thought it was a nice experiment

 

[FunkyDealer]

I think it's definitely an underrated Zelda game. I played through it for the first time just a few months ago.

The controls aren't very good for combat, but they shine during explorarion and puzzles.

Temple of The Ocean King gets old, but it's not quite as bad as it's reputation IMO. You only have to go through it four or five times I think, you go deeper every time and you'll be able to take a few shortcuts as well.

 

[Refreshment.01]

I think that another DS or 3DS Zelda would be benefitted by combining traditional controls with touch controls. Stuff like giving me the option to touch where I wanna throw a bomb or draw a path for my boomerang would be great if I could control like with the control pad.

The game has some fair criticism but most of it is unwarranted.

However, you are too early into the game to form any meaningful judgement.

 

[ASIS]

I remember really enjoying the game but I don't remember anything about it.

Spirit tracks is amazing though.

 

[Possumowner]

Enjoyed it far more than I expected, but once again as others have noted... Ocean King Temple...nightmares right there

 

[Refreshment.01]

Good thing about the Ocean King Temple and its multiple runs is it actually allows you to play dungeons out of order. If you're really resourceful, you can make it further in the temple then you should and unlock later dungeons earlier.

This is really interesting. It might have eluded me because i don't tend to replay the portable Zelda's much.

Is there a place with examples on how you can brake the order the way you espeak of?

 

[axisofweevils]

My first Zelda. Blew my mind at the time.

 

[Shuggananas]

It's meh but better than the spirit tracks abomination
Garbage flute, dungeons for 3 year olds, no thanks

 

[Card Boy]

There are rom hacks that add traditional controls.