Current Events > Is Phantom Hourglass good?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I just started it, but after having played like 6 Zelda games in the past year I'm a little over the "start in a grassy area, go to the fire temple, now to the water temple, and finish at the temple of time" thing
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Yes, but it takes a while to get into. It's one of my all-time favorites.
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No. Bottom 3 Zelda along with ST and SS.
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It's ok, but it's weak for a Zelda game.

Spirit Tracks on the other hand is a drastic improvement. They fix almost all the problems with PH, and then make it even better. High tier Zelda game.
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It's garbage. It's like Nintendo somehow forgot that the DS has a dpad and buttons. And then realized the game wasn't long enough so they made you go through the same garbage dungeon like 6 times.

People complain about the CD-i games but at least those had working dpad controls

it is o k
but also has one of the worst puzzles in any game ever
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Darklit_Minuet posted...

It's garbage. It's like Nintendo somehow forgot that the DS has a dpad and buttons. And then realized the game wasn't long enough so they made you go through the same garbage dungeon like 6 times.

People complain about the CD-i games but at least those had working dpad controls

The stylus controls are good though. I've played the DS games with button controls (using an action replay), and they were inferior.
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i honestly really disliked it along with spirit tracks. DS has no good zelda games.

Darklit_Minuet posted...

It's garbage. It's like Nintendo somehow forgot that the DS has a dpad and buttons. And then realized the game wasn't long enough so they made you go through the same garbage dungeon like 6 times.

People complain about the CD-i games but at least those had working dpad controls

Is that the one with the shitty tower

DarkChozoGhost posted...

The stylus controls are good though. I've played the DS games with button controls (using an action replay), and they were inferior.

There's no reason to force you to use the touch screen to walk around or scroll dialogue boxes

i couldn't stand either ds zelda.
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DarkChozoGhost posted...

The stylus controls are good though

lol
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Darklit_Minuet posted...

DarkChozoGhost posted...

The stylus controls are good though. I've played the DS games with button controls (using an action replay), and they were inferior.

There's no reason to force you to use the touch screen to walk around or scroll dialogue boxes

No problem with it either. Moving with the stylus in those games is better than moving with buttons. I have played with both. People only hate the controls on principle, not based on quality.
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It's somewhat interesting at least but if it's already boring you then I would drop it. And I would stay away from Spirit Tracks, it's the same game just worse.
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PH and SS are both just bad games. Not 100% unbearable, but the good points don't come close to justifying everything that's wrong with them. In no way, as games or pieces of the timeline, are they worth keeping around.

DarkChozoGhost posted...

People only hate the controls on principle, not based on quality.

It's really cool that you can just casually read my mind through the internet.
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DarkChozoGhost posted...

Darklit_Minuet posted...

It's garbage. It's like Nintendo somehow forgot that the DS has a dpad and buttons. And then realized the game wasn't long enough so they made you go through the same garbage dungeon like 6 times.

People complain about the CD-i games but at least those had working dpad controls

The stylus controls are good though. I've played the DS games with button controls (using an action replay), and they were inferior.

I also tried it with the D-pad hack and I agree. The stylus is annoying at first but after a while it becomes fluid and you realize that it does enhance the experience. Most of the puzzles wouldn't work without it. If it were a traditional Zelda game it would be a valid complaint, but it's not really.

I think it's telling that people complain more about the controls than the actual structure of the game. It's like they didn't even play long enough to see what they were going for with it and why it's 100% necessary.
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the only good thing to come out of the ds Zeldas is the inclusion of the phantom armor in botw
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Seitar posted...

And I would stay away from Spirit Tracks, it's the same game just worse.

You mean the same game, but 1000x better
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DarkChozoGhost posted...

No problem with it either. Moving with the stylus in those games is better than moving with buttons. I have played with both. People only hate the controls on principle, not based on quality.

There's plenty of touchscreen heavy games that don't force you to use the touchscreen to advance dialogue. Dragonball Origins is basically Zelda's control scheme but with those minor fixes that make it so much better.

Plus look at The World Ends With You - very heavy touch controls, you can play practically the entire game using only touch, yet you can walk around and advance dialogue and menus with buttons.

There's no reason to remove controls from a game. Controls that have been in every fucking game since the dawn of button controls on games

Probably the worst main line Zelda game right next to SS
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I didn't enjoy Phantom Hourglass and I couldn't finish Spirit Tracks.
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People hate on it too much. It's got problems but it's still fine.

I'd sooner replay the DS games than Link to the Past.
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Darklit_Minuet posted...

There's no reason to remove controls from a game. Controls that have been in every fucking game since the dawn of button controls on games

That's fine. But having button controls would not have improved the game in any remotely significant way.
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Much no
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ST>>>PH
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didn't like the DS Zeldas and I say that as a huge lifelong Zelda fan.

The controls are not good and the game is bland.

I mention this all the time, but Spirit Tracks was a borderline broken game because a lot of DS's were shipped with faulty mics and the flute sections require mic precision to pass them.

I had to literally borrow someone else's DS just to get through those sections of the game and MANY MANY people had this issue

just a bad game all around tbh

But it had good music

Phantom Hourglass turned me off of Zelda for a couple of years it was so fucking bad.
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Spidey5 posted...

People hate on it too much. It's got problems but it's still fine.

I'd sooner replay the DS games than Link to the Past.

dude wut
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DarkChozoGhost posted...

Darklit_Minuet posted...

There's no reason to remove controls from a game. Controls that have been in every fucking game since the dawn of button controls on games

That's fine. But having button controls would not have improved the game in any remotely significant way.

Why would fixing the biggest issue of the game not improve it significantly?

It still wouldn't be a good game, but it wouldn't be awful

gimmick controls in a Zelda game are always bad imo. Especially twilight princess and the ds games. Gimmick puzzles are fun, but forcing us to play the entire game when traditional controls would've been a valid option irritate me.
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Traditional controls would not have been valid for most of the puzzles.
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Darklit_Minuet posted...

Why would fixing the biggest issue of the game not improve it significantly?

Because it's not a big issue.

The stylus controls are good. Adding analog controls wouldn't have hurt, but the stylus controls would still have been superior. Therefore, adding an inferior control scheme would not have significantly improved the game.
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I didn't mind the stylus controls for the most part. But drawing that hourglass at the end of the game, holy **** did I hate that.
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Sounds like you guys just really hated the controls... I actually like them
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it's probably the worst handheld zelda

Colorahdo posted...

Sounds like you guys just really hated the controls... I actually like them

They are good controls. The vast, vast majority of people that dislike the controls hate them out of principle, not based on quality. It was still part of the backlash for motion controls of the wii, anything different was automatically bad.

That being said, the game has some flaws. The music is weak, probably the weakest soundtrack in the series as a whole. The dungeons are so-so, most of the characters aren't interesting, boat travel is boring, and the islands aren't that fun to explore. The Temple of the Ocean King can get repetitive, though sometimes you'll have enough new equipment to mix it up.

Spirit Tracks is a drastic improvement. Aside from slight graphical improvements, it has the second best soundtrack in the series, 2/3 villains are spectacular, the dungeons are great, the stations (equivalent of islands) are fun to explore, there's a lot more to do while traveling on the train (more than makes up for the slight loss of freedom from PH), there's an instrument again which is cool, and the Tower of Spirits is one of the best dungeons in 10 years. Also, Zelda is your partner character. Not only is she the best rendition of Princess Zelda, she's also the best partner in the series. She's adorable, helpful, not too intrusive, relevant to the plot, and you finally get to play as her. Controlling the phantoms is a lot of fun, and contributes to great puzzles.

The only major downside to Spirit Tracks is the lack of a good warp system. You've got one, but it's not really sufficient. PH also utilizes the items a little bit better, but both make excellent use we haven't seen since the Oracle games.
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