The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo DS)

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is the newest Zelda game, released in 2007. It was released after Twilight Princess, sometimes considered one of the best Zelda games. Can this game compare?

Graphics: 9/10
This game uses cute, cartoony graphics like those used in Wind Waker, which this game is a sequel to. It was definitely a good move by Nintendo - the DS most likely could not have handled realistic graphics or even if it could it would be more difficult. I'm not saying that cartoony graphics are a cop-out when companies should be making realistic graphics, of course. Cartoon graphics are an interesting direction for games and I think they should be used more often. The game's graphics are beautiful, particularly in the sailing section of the game. The only criticism I have with them is that the graphics can sometimes be a bit edgy. But it's not too bad, and it is a handheld game, after all.
Story: 7/10
You are Link, a hero travelling with his friend Tetra on a pirate ship. You are looking for the Ghost Ship, a mythical vessel which no one has managed to find before. Some events happen and Tetra ends up being taken by this ship, and Link is washed ashore. Here he meets an old man called Oshus and a fairy called Ciela. You and Ciela team up with Linebeck, a kleptomaniac treasure hunter with a boat, and you try to find the Ghost Ship to get Tetra back. A fairly cliché Zelda plot, of course, but the plot is told quite well so you tend to forgive this. However at times the plot doesn't really seem to go anywhere, yet this is made up for with interesting character development, particularly in Linebeck, but I won't spoil anything here. Despite the minor plot issues it's generally all right.
Gameplay: 8/10
This game has two main elements: Combat and puzzles. The combat is well done. The main weapon Link wields is the sword, which can be swung in different ways depending on how you use the stylus: Draw a horizontal line between Link and the enemy to do a horizontal swing, tap the enemy when you're close to stab and when you're far away to do a leaping swing, draw a circle around yourself to do a spin attack, etc. This isn't the only weapon, of course. One of the first weapons you get is a boomerang, a weapon which allows you to control where it goes by drawing on the touch screen and will definitely help you a lot in your adventure. The boss fights are often innovative and usually make use of both screens, sometimes using the top screen to show things like above the stage, a first person view from the monster, and a view of the monster's back. At one point around the midpoint of the game you are given the chance to control another person in addition to Link by touching the person's face on the touch screen to switch people. Although this was a nice addition and quite good fun it's a shame it wasn't used more often - a wasted opportunity by Nintendo. It is also possible to power up Link by collecting Power, Wisdom and Courage gems. At 10 gems you gain the power to use the Spirit of Power, Wisdom or Courage to enhance your skills, and when you collect the full 20 they improve even more. Power gives you extra strength in battle, Wisdom reduces the damage you take and Courage enables your sword to shoot beams. And now for the puzzle section of the game - also well done. The puzzles were difficult without being too difficult (most of the time…) and they often required use of all your items, even those you acquired long ago. The game allows you to write on the map, allowing you to make note of hints to potential puzzles. The only real problem I have is that some of these puzzles required a lot of running around and no actual thought to the puzzle whatsoever - a common puzzle is to mark whenever you see a stone tablet, statue or other landmark, then join the dots and use this picture in a way that is usually explained. But this didn't hurt the game too much. This game breaks a few trends set by other Zelda games, for example heart pieces have been replaced with heart containers, like what you get from bosses. Instead of having to do 4 easy tasks to get a new heart you now have to do 1 difficult one. I can't say I really like this personally, but it's an opinion.

Sailing: 8/10
Sailing's a part of the game that's too extensive to review in the gameplay section. A lot of the game requires you to sail to your next location using Linebeck's boat. When I first saw this I wanted to be quite critical - Wind Waker's sailing system had scarred me for life, seriously - but there really wasn't much to complain about. The sailing was dumbed down from Wind Waker - wind direction isn't an issue and it was generally easier. I believe this was a good move. You draw a course by putting the stylus on your boat and then moving it towards an island, which is quite easy but sometimes hard to get straight lines. You can tap the arrow at the bottom of the screen to jump, which enables you to get past a few obstacles but not really much else - another wasted opportunity here. You can also get a cannon early on in the game, which is great because you can fire at enemies. Yes, you get enemies at sea too. The enemies are generally quite easy, except the pirates which fire at you just like you do at them, and are the main things that can damage you. You also fight a few bosses on the sea which is quite fun. There's also a few minigames using your boat - you can fish, which is a sidequest that rewards you with a heart container, or you can use your salvage arm at points marked with an X on the map (which are marked when you get a treasure map) to recover treasure from the depths of the sea, usually ship parts (to customize your ship and give you extra stamina for your boat) or sand (to fill the Phantom Hourglass, which is explained in the game). What really got me about the sailing, though, was the attention to minor details. Seagulls sometimes glide along with your boat, which looks nice. That is until you blast them with the cannon. Yes, you can kill innocent seagulls. It's fun, really. It's a pity they didn't pay attention to some other details - the waves are almost always at the same level, meaning they never get choppy, and it's always shining no matter what time you're playing. That would definitely have been an interesting addition. But it doesn't matter, this game's sailing managed to not only beat Wind Waker's rendition and make sailing tolerable but it was actually rather fun too. Well done, Nintendo. Well done indeed.
Audio: 6/10
Not that great really. After completing the game I still can't recall any of the songs, meaning the songs weren't memorable. Luckily the audio was redeemed by battle sounds and cries, which brings me to another point - voices weren't used much at all. The Zelda games aren't known for their frequent use of voices but I was surprised at the lack of vocals. Usually people at least say fragments of speech. It's a shame really because this is the only real part of the game that lets it down.
Multiplayer: 9/10
Multiplayer is interesting. You have 3 rounds where alternate between using Link, whose goal is to take the force gems and put them in his own zone to score points, and 3 phantoms whose goals are to stop Link. After 3 rounds the person with the most points wins. You can push the arrow keys to make various taunts - cheering, gasp and booing. It's quite fun sometimes to keep pushing the arrow keys randomly and annoy the person you're playing against. The more games you win the higher your rank gets, and you have 5 options to fight people: Friend, Rival (continental), Rival (anywhere), Anyone (continental), Anyone (anywhere). A rival is someone of a similar rank to you. Although all of this sounds mundane, it can get quite frantic as you draw on your touch screen to try and win. There are 8 maps to play on, all unlocked from the start. I wish you could unlock more as you get higher ranked as it would give you more incentive to get to a higher rank, but sadly this wasn't included. Another small thing that annoys me is people turning off their DS when they're losing, causing the match to end without anyone winning, and I believe if they turn off their DS it should count as a forfeit, not a draw. Still good anyway.
Overall: 7.8/10
Graphics: 9
Story: 7
Gameplay: 8
Sailing: 8
Audio: 6
Multiplayer: 9
Overall: 7.8
It's a shame about the audio because it dragged the overall score down, but it doesn't matter - this is still a good game. It shouldn't have been released so late though. People unfairly compare it to Twilight Princess, which outdoes it easily. If only it had been released before Twilight Princess… Despite this, it's definitely worth buying. It's a good addition to your DS game collection.