The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

THE BAD:
-Battle system is subpar
-Sailing gets boring
-Some things require a day to pass in real time

SUMMARY:
Link returns to the Great Sea in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass! Tetra has landed herself in trouble once again and it's up to Link and new allies Captain Linebeck, Ciela, and Oshus to help. Although this is a direct sequel to The Wind Waker, the Great Sea has changed dramatically from the past iteration. Let's see, shall we?

One of the major breakthroughs in Phantom Hourglass is the control scheme. Link is controlled by moving the stylus where you want. He'll run toward it. This means no more fiddling with buttons. Slashes and stabs with the sword are made with sweeping motions and all of Link's items can be utilized with a touch in the menu screen.

Speaking of the items, there aren't a lot of them this time around. However, they are utilized very frequently, usually a puzzle can be solved using your items. The classic Bombs and Boomerang are back along with a few new items for good measure.

The dungeons are short, there is no doubt about it. On a handheld, this is unavoidable. However, they are fun for their size and some of them can get pretty complex. Don't expect to spend too much time in them however.

Combat is subpar, however, even for a Zelda game. Most enemies can be killed with one or two slices of the sword. Bosses are quite simple as well. Each one has a distinct pattern that must be exploited repeatedly. There are no advanced jump-roll-slash combo tactics like in some of the console games.

One of the great features of the game is the ability to customize your ship with the various ship parts in the game. There are seven sets of eight ship parts each, as well as a special set of golden parts. Your ship starts with four hearts; take damage at sea from enemies or crashing into rocks and explosive barrels and your health goes down until your ship sinks. However, for every three ship parts of the same kind you collect, your ship's health goes up by one heart. A fully synchronized ship will have seven hearts of health. Also, for the rare golden pieces, every two will grant an additional heart. This customization not only personalizes your ship, but allows you to survive longer at sea as well, handy for long voyages.

And the voyages do get long sometimes. The docks can be placed in inconvenient locations, and unless you get a special item that makes traveling easier, you're sometimes forced to traverse whole quadrants on your own. However, this is a minor point and doesn't get in the way of the action too much.

One aspect of the game that must be touched on is that some sidequests require a day to pass on the DS's internal clock. This can be a pain, but it doesn't happen too often.

Overall, the game is wonderful, a must buy for any Zelda fan, DS owner, or general gamer. Phantom Hourglass is groundbreaking for its touch screen control alone, but as you play through the game, it becomes that and so much more.

THE BAD:
-Not the best background music
-The game could be longer

SUMMARY:
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass has been a long awaited game for Zelda fans and just DS owners in general. It was voted DS Game of the year and is probably the best game that makes use of the touch screen.

Plot:
The game is a follow on to Legend of Zelda: Windwaker, and when you start the game it shows what happened in that game, before you run into the Ghost Ship out in the ocean with Link, Tetra and the crew. Tetra jumps aboard the ship, and does not return, Link falls in the ocean and wakes up unconscious on a beach. Your objective is to rescue Tetra from The Ghost Ship, before it is to late.

Controls:
The Controls in Phantom Hourglass are mainly with use of the stylus and touch screen. You use it to move, attack, access the menu, talk to people etc. It is even used to control the route of your ship. Nintendo have made it quite easy, and it does not take long to get the hang of. It definitely makes the game more fun and different to any other.

Graphics:
The graphics in the game are similar to that of Windwaker, quite cartoon like, but effective. On the small DS screen it is nice and bright and easy to see. They are good for fans of all ages and the game play makes up for it if anyone doesn't like them.

Gameplay:
The game play in Phantom Hourglass is great as you would expect from any Zelda game. It gets more challenging along the way, and the puzzles that you have to solve make the game very fun and more challenging. You collect money (rupees) to buy items and other things and there are many bosses to face, you never know what to expect when you face them. Side quests in the game make it last longer after you beat the game. The game can be finished quite fast if you play it a lot though, but there is always plenty to do after you beat it and it has plenty of replay value.

Online:
In Phantom Hourglass, the addition of Multi-player and Wi-fi play is added on into the Zelda series, to add on to Zelda's great reputation for Single Player.
During Multiplayer you play a game similar to hide and go seek. One player tries to find there opponent who is hiding somewhere around the map. This is great fun with friends and never really gets boring. There is also Wi-fi to try out. It is the same game, but instead you face people from across the world. With the edition of these Zelda can now be enjoyable for people who want the game to verse others, instead of just single player.

Summary:
Overall, Phantom Hourglass is just a great game and is well deserving of it's best Nintendo Game of the year award(07). I recommend anyone who owns a DS to try it out.