The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Released in North America on October 1, 2007, for the Nintendo DS by Nintendo, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass features hours of touchscreen-based exploration, battles, and puzzle solving.

As I recently finished catching up on console Zelda games (serendipitously getting to Breath of the Wild right after its release), I've decided to now catchup on Zelda handhelds. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. Four titles to go, beginning with 2007's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS.
At first glance, Phantom Hourglass seems like a DS gimmick. It's Zelda, but now you have two screens, and you have to use a stylus! Truly, in Phantom Hourglass's first minutes, as I realized that I'd even have to tap the DS stylus on the touchscreen to make game protagonist, Link, do something as simple as walk across the screen, I was extremely skeptical. However, only minutes later, I suddenly realized just how brilliant this control scheme is.



Occurring immediately after The Wind Waker in the Zelda timeline, Phantom Hourglass finds mute child-warrior, Link, sailing across the Great Sea with the titular princess, as they attempt to find a new, landborne home. In true Nintendo fashion, Link and Zelda's ship runs into some type of ghostly vessel, Zelda is princess-napped, and it's up to Link to save her. He soon runs into a greedy sailor named Linebeck, who immediately sees the monetary advantage of playing host to an adventurer. Linebeck offers Link the use of his boat, and the two set off to save Zelda, and in Linebeck's case, find some treasure. Along the way, there's an evil force named Bellum to contend with, and an Ocean King and faeries who offer their assistance.



As in most top-down perspective Zelda games, Link roams an overworld, this time by boat, visits towns for supplies and information, and dives deep into multilayered, puzzle and enemy-filled dungeons in order to find artifacts and items that will help him in his quest. Link's world is open, but he can reach more of it when he acquires certain items, like bombs that can break through weak walls.
The hook this time is, of course, the stylus controls, and thankfully, they are just as intuitive as just about any innovation Nintendo has touted in the last 35 years. My greatest worry was that Phantom Hourglass would feel too casual, but thankfully, Nintendo has incorporated so many strategic elements and delightful quirks into the game's battles and puzzles, this isn't the case. While tapping on an enemy to attack it with Link's sword might sound simple at first, feverishly tapping the boomerang from the weapon-select menu, aiming its path with the stylus to hit an enemy at its weak point in the back, then rushing in to finish it off with Link's sword, is not. All this tapping never becomes burdensome, though. It just works.



Likewise, Phantom Hourglass' dungeons have been meticulously designed to make the most out of the game's stylus and touchscreen mechanics. Dungeon puzzles are often ingenious, and the balance between fighting and puzzle-solving in them is perfect. With a tap of the B-button, the top-screen map can be shifted down to the touchscreen, allowing the player to write notes that can then be shifted to the top screen. The gameplay mechanics are simply brilliant.



However, Phantom Hourglass isn't without its faults. The game features a central dungeon that must be revisited time after time throughout the game. Activities in the dungeon have a timed deadline, and the dungeon is patrolled by phantoms who can take chunks of your remaining time away. As you get deeper into this dungeon, it gets more difficult, and though the dungeon has teleportation portals that can be activated, it's still a chore to get through. The items Link obtains from the game's other dungeons can be used to access shortcuts in this central dungeon, but so much time is spent finding these shortcuts, they might as well not even exist. Considering how well-designed the other seven dungeons are, this is a disappointment. It does add three or four additional hours to the game, but considering Phantom Hourglass takes 25 hours to complete even without the central dungeon, I'd rather a tighter, shorter game, than one with this sort of irritation.




While I'm complaining, Phantom Hourglass's music consists of just a few short pieces, repeated ad infinitum. After 1998's Ocarina of Time introduced a unique musical theme for each of its 9+ dungeons, it's rather disappointing that Phantom Hourglass' dungeons all feature the same looped 30-second piece--and one recycled from former games, at that. The sound effects and overall sound design, though, are fine. Also, the angular graphics, while bright and solid, feel like they could be a bit more polished. The cel-shading here doesn't come anywhere close to the Gamecube's The Wind Waker. The camera movement and framing in the cutscenes, however, is excellent, especially when both screens are used. And finally, controlling the camera during boat travel is a pain. The player draws a course for the boat on the map with the stylus, then taps "GO." However, enemies attack often while Link is on the water, and dragging the stylus frantically to swing the camera around, so that you can see and fire, often feels futile. It's the one time the stylus controls really let the player down.
Like any Zelda game worth its salt, Phantom Hourglass is packed with side-quests and mini-games, including fishing, and sea floor treasure-hunting. The latter is done by dropping a salvage arm into the ocean, and guiding it with the stylus around obstacles and enemies. This is great fun, though I'm terrible at it. Link can even customize Linebeck's boat with various parts he finds, and certain combinations can even enhance the boat's stamina.
Overall, this adventure might take place on a small screen, but it's vast and jam-packed with content.  Phantom Hourglass is a great, though not quite perfect entry in the Zelda cannon, and makes me excited to chug into its sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

8.0

Graphics

Bright and adequate, though nothing spectacular, except for in some of the beautiful cutscenes.

7.5

Music and Sound

A few short pieces repeated over-and-over-again throughout the game, though the overall sound design is good.

9.3

Gameplay

Very inventive and intuitive touchscreen-based gameplay, featuring thrilling battles, ingenious puzzles, and brilliantly-designed dungeons, marred slightly by a repetitive central dungeon, and a few camera quirks while sailing.

8.5

Lasting Value

Nowhere near as long as recent console efforts, but a very complete and side-quest-packed 30-hour adventure, nonetheless. 

8.8FINAL SCORE