Title: Phantom Hourglass
master K - October 20, 2007 09:55 PM (GMT)
Just got it today. Anybody else played it yet?
It seems alright so far. Not too keen on the touch screen movement but at least the touch screen isn't a mild gimmick here, and the boomerang control is cool. The microphone bits seem a bit tagged on and pointless though (I mean seriously, blowing out a candle to open a door? C'mon.)
I'm enjoying it more than TP so far, but to be honest, it still doesn't "feel" like Zelda, and as with TP the storyline just seems... rushed.
Now, I'm not going to be too harsh, as I'm not that far into the game, but I'm not expecting this to beat any Zelda pre Four Swords Adventures in terms of enjoyment, difficulty, or replayability.
mit - October 21, 2007 11:37 AM (GMT)
Awesome, I may pick it up later...
But I must say, the advert isn't anything special. Doesn't really make me go "Wow" or anything...
Strange how for one of their best games (I assume) nintendo makes what appears to be a fairly low budget advert, and for Red Steel, which got not-so-good reviews, they make awesome adverts which have sony fanboys going "Wow, I want that".
Meh.
paloupa - October 25, 2007 07:01 AM (GMT)
I got Zelda:Ph with a R4DS card which is actually fun cause i can try to develop ds games now :)
And when i was in the city yesterday
i got an very cool superb Zant doll(The bad guy from TP. YAY :mneeyah:
But not te be too offtopic :)
And with Zelda:PH i'm in the fire temple now, just got the boomerang.
But i got it in like 7 or 8 minutes, isn't that too short?
mit - October 26, 2007 03:11 PM (GMT)
Nice Zant doll you got there.
I've got an adapter meaning in theory I could download the PH rom and run it, but... meh. I mainly got it to run music and stuff on my gba.
paloupa - October 28, 2007 08:25 AM (GMT)
Right now i'm stuck in the temple of the Ocean King o_O
Atrius - November 14, 2007 04:24 PM (GMT)
Now that I finally have it I can talk about it!
Touch Screen movement took a while to get used to, I'm still not sure I'd say it's any better than regular controls overall. The boomerang control is nice, and it's great being able to aim where you throw things. The main problems I have with it are actual movement, I have a hard time changing directions fluidly and quickly, and still can't get the hang of rolling. I fail pretty miserably at all the "Rub" parts too unless I completely change the way I'm holding my DS to a more uncomfortable position where my stylus hand isn't supporting it at all. The fact that your hand is often covering a decent portion of the screen can be a slight draw-back too.
The boat is a nice change to Zelda (Keeping in mind I've never played WW) It didn't take long at all to get the hang of looking around and firing the cannon where you wanted to (Use Sea-Gulls for target practice :P) Haven't gotten into it much, but it looks like it's pretty customizable too once you get the parts which seem to be kinda rare.
The Difficulty level is, for me at least, incredibly easy so far, though I've only gotten past the first dungeon so far.
Overall so far I'd say it's a nice addition to the Zelda series, but not one of the great ones.
Oh, Wi-Fi Friend Code: 5069 2232 2595
paloupa - November 15, 2007 03:24 PM (GMT)
I got used with the controls by now, the rolling-move isn't that hard anymore.
It's strange they didn't just made customizable controls so you can switch from stylus-walk to normal anytime.
The only thing of Phantom Hourglass i don't like is the Temple of the Ocean King.
You have to get in that temple over and over and i don't like the temple, so i don't enjoy that very much... <_< (Every time you beat a normal temple you have to get back in to clear it again and do the same puzzles, so you get another sea-chart.)
By the way, the boss of the 3th temple (The temple of Courage) rocks.
*spoilers* lol Atrius better not read this.
When you're coming in, you see a massive spider who gets invisible when he sees you. And right after that the upper-screen will turn to his eyes, so you see where he moves to and all that is in 3D.
I don't really understand why they didn't made the whole game in 3D cause it looked very good
And just as Atrius said, i agree with the Difficulty level, it's just too low.
I never losed of a boss cause they are just too easy (they do look very cool though)
Oh and Atrius, i can't get Wi-Fi working, cause my internet is WPA and the DS don't supports WPA (only WEP <_<)
Else i would add-ya :)
master K - November 17, 2007 04:16 PM (GMT)
Atrius, is the online mode thingy any good?
Because I can do wifi, just can't be arsed to set it up, especially if the online mode isn't any good.
Atrius - November 18, 2007 03:27 AM (GMT)
Haven't tried it, honestly I'm more interested in using it to trade treasures and ship parts to get them all than for the battle mode.
Treasure prices are supposed to be different for different people so you could probably get rich by trading them, these are my prices:
Pink Coral: 1500
Pearl Necklace: 800
Dark Pearl Loop: 150
Zora Scale: 50
Goron Ember: 50
Ruto Crown: 50
Helmaroc Plume: 50
Regal Ring: 1500
paloupa - November 18, 2007 11:19 AM (GMT)
The online-mode is the worth of trying, but don't expect too much.
After a while it's getting boring (in like 20 minutes) and then u just want to play the single-player.
Oh and Atrius,
Where do i sell the items? and how far are you in the game?
Atrius - November 18, 2007 05:21 PM (GMT)
You can sell treasures to the guy who gives you their prices in the building north of the ship-yard. Also in the South-East sea there's someone on the travelers ship that buys specific items they want.
I'm working on getting the Pure Metals now.
paloupa - November 20, 2007 04:22 PM (GMT)
Ah, that bosses are just too weak (except dongoro)
With the phantom sword you can kill the phantoms :D So a better time for the hourglass
Atrius - November 20, 2007 05:31 PM (GMT)
Better time? Pff, no such thing :P

Didn't use any cheats, or glitches either
paloupa - November 21, 2007 03:26 PM (GMT)
Woah, mine was like six-and-a-half. <_<
paloupa - November 22, 2007 08:11 AM (GMT)
How the $%%#^did you do that anyway?
My time was :

EDIT: yay, i did it too <3
Atrius - November 24, 2007 05:23 PM (GMT)
You got 0:00 too?
Ah, I beat the game, and those cut-scenes toward the end are fantastic. It's got a nice comedy element to it to go with the cartoony graphical style.
paloupa - November 24, 2007 05:26 PM (GMT)
Yeah especially when that wooden raft was flooded you see lineback drowning in behind link, that was just soo kewl :P
Killswitch - March 7, 2009 08:11 AM (GMT)
I am a big time Zelda fan ( even have my own nerdy fan site ), but didn't like Phantom Hourglass as much. It was pretty cool, but the environment felt empty to me, and there wasn't enough to do (because you spent all your damn time in the Temple of the Ocean King ). I think it could have been much better had you been able to explore more. Most islands were small and lacking anything other than a few monsters here and there.
mit - March 8, 2009 06:15 PM (GMT)
I still haven't played phantom hourglass yet. I've got it, just haven't gotten round to playing, partly as I don't exactly have high expectations for it.
Killswitch - March 10, 2009 10:51 PM (GMT)
I'm currently playing through it again. It seems a little better this time around, but still not that impressive. Things such as opening doors in the temples, just noticing there is no ceiling, just blackness kinda bugs me. Playing through again through is giving me some ideas on a fan game though.