Wired digs Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 at 6:49pm by Blake
From the article: “This is not your father’s Zelda. Nintendo’s given the decades-old game franchise a retooling in this new adventure for the DS. Everything you do in Phantom Hourglass is controlled through the unit’s touchscreen — none of that joystick business.
The new system is simple but brilliant: Green-capped hero Link will walk toward anywhere you tap the stylus. Poke a bad guy and Link will attack him. You can even make notes right on the game’s map, which helps a lot as you explore the spectacular cel-shaded world.”
See also: Infendo’s preview of Phantom Hourglass
September 25th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
looking forward to picking this up on tuesday, will distract me from all of the Halo madness that i can’t afford to participate in
September 25th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
I played through the import and it is indeed awesome. I was weary about an all stylus controlled Zelda, but it really turned out great. Controlling Link was second nature in a matter of minutes.
September 25th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
@killerheroes: how long was the game? hours-wise? i’m hoping to get a lot of play out of this game.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
So, has anyone read the IGN review yet? It got a really good review, but something bugged me about it. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think it had to do with the way the reviewer tossed around the terms “casual” and “hard-core”. I dunno, he just seemed kind of condescending when he talked about “casuals” and it just irked me a little bit.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:06 am
@ deadmantyping
I’d say about 13-15 hours. It could last more if you do the side quests and treasure hunting. It almost felt like a condensed console Zelda with full, lengthy cutscenes. The only disappointing thing about the game was that it was very easy. Some of the puzzles can be tricky, but the fighting and boss battles (although epic in scope) for the most part weren’t much of a challenge. Nonetheless, it was still very fun.
September 26th, 2007 at 7:41 am
I think in this whole “Nintendo shuns the hardcore” mess people often forget that the DS, a Nintendo platform, has plenty to offer the “sophisticated gamer.” This being a great example of that.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I was surprised that IGN extended Nintendo’s “games for the casual gamer” tactic to the DS. I have found that the most immersive and difficult games for Nintendo platforms come out for DS more than Wii.
Having said that, the game looks fantastic and I already pre-ordered it about a month ago. I won’t be disappointed with an easy difficulty level, since I won’t have too much time to play it.
September 26th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Well, there hasn’t been a DIFFICULT Zelda game since Zelda II, so when it’s easy, I won’t be terribly surprised.
I wish I had known I was getting this (it was a present, as I mentioned earlier) soon enough to replay Wind Waker beforehand.
September 26th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Can I ask a question which might get me hate mail?
“This is not your father’s Zelda. Nintendo’s given the decades-old game franchise a retooling in this new adventure for the DS. Everything you do in Phantom Hourglass is controlled through the unit’s touchscreen — none of that joystick business.”
Does this really make the game that different? Is input really that important with a game like Zelda? Isn’t the game supposed to be about adventure and discovery?