Like Sands In The Phantom Hourglass... [REVIEW]

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Nintendo's latest installment of the Legend of Zelda series makes its debut on the DS in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. The fourteenth installment sees our hero on a quest to restore dominion of the high seas to its rightful ruler The Ocean King. Truth be told, this is the sequel to one of the few Zelda games I have not played (Wind Waker) and thus if I'm praising elements of Hourglass that were in Wind Waker...don't think poorly of me, I'm ignorant.

That aside, Hourglass is a visually appealing game that draws from the cell shaded art direction of Wind Waker but also takes from 2-D concepts found in black sheep LoZ: Four Swords. Luckily for us it does a great job of not taking itself too seriously (a la Ocarina and Link to the Past before it). Dialog and certain side tasks, aided by comical animations, are well thought out and often, laugh out loud funny. The characters are interesting and no one seems out of place or unnecessary.

The DS controls are fairly intuitive with about a 10 minute learning curve for experienced LoZ heroes. To attack you simply tap on an enemy as many times as needed and watch Link go to town. Shoulder buttons or tapping the item icon activates secondary weapons like the boomerang, arrow, or bomb. You control these the same way you use your sword, activate the weapon and then tap on an enemy. Some weapons like the boomerang and bombchus however can be used in a more precise fashion. You can draw the paths you want them to travel on the DS screen and viola, you've activated a normally inaccessible switch, knocked out a few enemies, or gathered a couple hard to reach hearts. In my opinion this is the best utilized combat system to date in any LoZ title; yes, better than Z-targeting).

In previous games, while the arrow and bomb were indispensable in your quest they were most useful for puzzle solving elements or specific boss battles -- this time around the easy touch targeting allows you to fire a devasting barrage of arrows at an oncoming herd of monsters. Furthermore, you no longer have to time a bomb throw to kill an enemy, it simply explodes on impact.

Much like in Wind Waker, the world map is the high seas. You can hunt for sunken treasure, fish, fend off pirate attacks and slay water monsters that lurk in the murky depths. There's an abundance of side quests to complete out on the ocean so being on the high seas doesn't feel like a waste of time. You can also customize your own skiff (see Gob Bluth: "... but Skiff is appropriate right?") ranging from demon decor to tropical trappings.

Hourglass is refreshing because it steers away from the traditional puzzle solving elements of Legend of Zelda. In previous assignments solving most puzzles involved making a block formation symmetrical or lighting a torch. This time around you'll find yourself mapping out specific parts of islands to find a pattern to draw, or a spot to dig. Don't be surprised if you find yourself yelling at a shopkeeper to get him to lower the price of a cannon, or getting an NPC character to pay attention to you. You'll even find your self blowing into the mic to put out candles, or screaming to incapacitate enemies with sensitive hearing. Another nifty aspect of Hourglass is the map function which allows you to draw and makes notes on sea charts and dungeon maps, something desperately needed in previous epics like Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, though impossible to implement on any system other than the Nintendo DS.

Nintendo does so much of the right thing so well that it's hard to penalize them for their shortcomings, but alas Hourglass does fall a bit short in parts. Many of the islands have the same color scheme and enemies making them a bit indistinguishable. After a while it feels like you're stuck in a bad run of Sim City map generators. Then there's the Ocean Temple which is the centerpiece in advancing the story. You come back here, what feels like more than periodically, to find sea charts to unlock more of the world map or complete other tasks. This would be perfectly fine if you didn't have to replay every floor of the dungeon each time you go back, and if you weren't timed. Granted you do get a halfway point, but the puzzles on each floor become more difficult the further down you get.

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is a great game that both veteran and newcomers alike will enjoy. The story is funny, the tasks are less daunting than it's epic siblings, and most importantly it controls great and is simply fun to play. If you played this and didn't enjoy yourself, then you definitely would not enjoy kittens. Titles like this remind us why we're still such huge Nintendo fans. Now they just gotta fix that whole internet thing...