TwiddleGeek

Finished up Phantom Hourglass this week and I must say I really enjoyed the experience. Things really came together in the end to form a creative, imaginative, and humorous adventure that fans of the series really shouldn’t miss. Sure, the plot of Tetra getting sucked in by the ghost ship yet again is kind of weak, but the adventure itself more than makes up for it.

One thing that took me by surprise was how creative and fun to use the various items are this time around. Most every item has been reworked to not only incorporate stylus use, but to improve upon the base functions. The bow for instance is shot with a tap of the screen, making aiming rather simple. Complete with an addictive target shooting mini-game, it remains a handy and oft used weapon. Bigger improvements are seen in the boomerang, with which you can draw a path for it to follow, and in the grappling hook, which operates more like a versatile hookshot.

Overall I’d say they not only nailed the stylus controls, but also the DS hardware in general. The use of both screens, 3D boss fights, and drawing on the map was just spot on. The encouragement to take notes at any time lent the game the freedom to use more difficult puzzles than most, requiring the player to put more pieces together rather than having the solution tied to each puzzle area. Surprisingly, Phantom Hourglass has a pretty solid storyline to boot. While it’s no epic, it’s both humorous enough and interesting enough to keep watching for what happens next.

If you get the chance to play it, do so. The sailing still isn’t all that much fun, and it still takes longer than it should, but it’s nothing game breaking like it threatened to be in Wind Waker. Difficulty is still low, but not so low as to spoil the fun, and imaginative puzzles and good exploration add much to the experience. If you’re not put off by the somewhat short length, which is comparable to most DS titles, Phantom Hourglass is well worth the purchase.