Phantom Hourglass Impressions
October 6th, 2007I’ve been playing PH for a few days now and thought I’d offer up some impressions. In general, I’ve had a great experience so far, although it’s not without some flaws.
The Good:
- I’ve been really impressed at the way PH manages to make some older Zelda game dynamics - like the boomerang - feel fresh. I haven’t necessarily done anything new in PH, but what I have done before has still been given a unique spin.
- I’ve always been a fan of the Wind Waker art style, but even something as minor as the slightly exaggerated character sizes in the DS version make the game seem brighter and more dynamic.
- Why more DS games don’t allow for map annotation is something I’ll never understand. Being able to scribble notes and hints on your map makes recalling old bomb locations and item requirements far easier, and in a game like Zelda helps dramatically.
- I’m always a fan of games that allow you to customize your transportation (I liked Skies of Arcadia for the same reason). Sailing in WW could be a bit tedious, but PH has provided enough to do that it hasn’t really bored me yet.
The Less Good:
- Although the controls are generally adequate, some of the movements are a little too hard to pull off consistently or in succession. In particular, the roll requires a bit of a lead distance, and the standing slash is difficult to execute if you’re moving or if an enemy is coming at you quickly. Additionally, sometimes the touch screen seems a bit off - like when you use the eraser on the map screen.
- The world just doesn’t seem big enough. I realize a WW-esque epic is probably not doable on the DS, but conveying the scale of the ocean is important to a sailing-themed game. WW had the ocean positively littered with random searchables.
- Although I like the course-plotting mechanic, switching back and forth between the main screen and your sea chart becomes unwieldy when you want to follow an object or avoid incoming cannon fire. As a result, it can be frustrating to reach a distant object or keep from taking enemy damage.
- PH has a similar “great taste, less filling” vibe to the New Super Mario Bros. game. Although I loved NSMB, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had already been there and done that. NSMB stripped away some of my favorite game mechanics, like cape/tail flying; the return to the classic feel was interesting, but I don’t know that stripping everything away is necessarily required to go back to basics. Similarly, if I play a modern Zelda, I don’t want to have to wait 2 dungeons to get bombs… you need to really reward the player for playing with “favorite” weapons like the Hookshot, or even entirely new ones (I think Twilight Princess pulled this off particularly well).
Future bulletins as events warrant.
Posted in DS, Geoff |
October 6th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
To me, Nintendo franchises I once adored are dying. They are casualizing every fucking thing.
What’s next, Metroid Morph ball Training?
October 6th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
“What’s next, Metroid Morph ball Training?”
With FREE roller ball controller peripheral!
@laspy,
I feel the same way about video games in general. Not so much that they are casualizing things, this has been happening for a decade. (save points every 5 minutes, unlimited lives/continues, etc, all make games more approachable for casuals, which is a good thing). Maybe its because I’ve been gaming for more than 2 decades. So much just seems stale lately. Halo 3 is a good example. All this hype over more of the same boggles the mind. How can a franchise that started its life with a tagline like “combat evolved” evolve so little over its lifetime? I was hoping Lair would break that chain, but no joy there. Now, I’m holding out hope for No More Heroes, Mass Effect and a few others. We need more adventurous devs and people who will buy their games.
October 6th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
One comment… PH does simplify Zelda a bit, but fortunately it doesn’t do so nearly to the extent that, say, “Link’s Crossbow Training” does (http://www.pressthebuttons.com/2007/09/shooting-gorons.html). A fact for which I am extremely grateful.
October 6th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I’m sure I’ll get it eventually, it actually sounds pretty interesting. And windwaker may have been my favorite 3D zelda.
October 6th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
I actually really like PH. In my mind, A Link to the Past was the best Zelda game, and except for the three Game Boy/GBC games (Awakening, Ages and Seasons) I haven’t liked any of the games to come after it (i.e., the 3D ones) very much.
The 3D games took things very text-heavy, and the text was usually utterly banal — and the designers wouldn’t let you skip it. They also changed the focus of the game from exploration to puzzle-solving; PH rectifies this with a nice balance.
“The world just doesn’t seem big enough. I realize a WW-esque epic is probably not doable on the DS, but conveying the scale of the ocean is important to a sailing-themed game. WW had the ocean positively littered with random searchables.”
Yes, and I hated it as a result. Sailing around would be almost as obnoxious as Wind Waker if they had to put in enough room to cram all of that crap in.
I just can’t agree with your gripes. All of the things they took out are things I hated in the other recent Zeldas.
“Why more DS games don’t allow for map annotation is something I’ll never understand. Being able to scribble notes and hints on your map makes recalling old bomb locations and item requirements far easier, and in a game like Zelda helps dramatically.”
I don’t know if the core gameplay will appeal to you — it’s a Wizardry-type game — but Etrian Odyssey might be worth a look if you enjoy that kind of thing. It’s brutal — you can easily stay alive if you’re cautious, but if you’re not, you’ll die very quickly — but it offers a great sense of exploration. You map the dungeon yourself on the touchscreen, adding little symbols and notes as you see fit.
It also does a great job with party customization. It offers a good mix of classes, and allows you to spec them out as you see fit — and any combination is viable if you build them properly. Add to that the fact that you can “retire” characters and redistribute the points they got from leveling if you find that your current party isn’t meeting your needs and you have a very customizable, very enjoyable experience. The only thing it lacks is a decent story.
October 7th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Cisco-
Regarding Halo 3, certainly the campaign is nothing really new (and in fact, I am HATING the particular level that I am on now), but there are some great new features in it that at least “evolve” some aspects of games in general.
In summary, the online implementation of Halo 3 is unmatched by ANY game that I know of. Up to 4-player online coop, the forge editor, everything you do in multiplayer or campaign saved for future playback, the ability to save these films and create clips and screenshots, viewing screenshots online and getting new game modes, clips, and levels either through Halo 3 itself or ready to download from online, the ability to easily party up from the general playlists… It’s an extremely well made online component that sort of beats LittleBigPlanet to the punch in terms of a user-created online experience.
And if you haven’t played Rocket Races yet you are missing out. I don’t know any other games that play quite like that. =)