Did someone ask for a direct sequel to The Wind Waker on the Nintendo DS? Because that's we've got in the form of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, an action-adventure that will take you back to the seas and have you swiping and slashing and 'hiyah!'-ing your way around the world you wish Nintendo used more often.
I don't quite know where my love of The Wind Waker comes from - I still haven't made any progress out of that prison, but sure intend to. Now I learn (yeah, I'm not on top of the Zelda series, who knew?) of a sequel that I can hopefully enjoy just as much? Where do I sign up? Get me a ship!
Fun Times
Brilliant, my friend. A tad spoilery for those of us who haven't finished The Wind Waker yet, but I suppose Tetra turning out to be Zelda has a certain air of inevitability about it. Cracking artwork. Not sure about the expressions, but top marks.
Tetra tells everyone to knock it off, but you know what's going to happen, don't you?
Ah, it's good to be back. Sure, the graphics are nowhere near as wonderful as they were on the GameCube, but Phantom Hourglass hasn't skimped too much on the look, though with all the jaggies and lower resolution, it does look a little dated these days. Just a little, mind. Let's not kick the Nintendo DS too hard. It's not PlayStation Portable, but it's no slouch either.
What game was it where I desperately wanted someone to move based on poking a spot on the screen? Oh, Super Mario Galaxy. Different input devices, yes, but this is how you make use of a pointer, Nintendo. Pointing, not picking up stars.
Anyway, we're introduced to Grandpa who tells us that we might have some luck asking around town for a ship. Unfortunately, the one and only bridge into town has been brought down by an earthquake, and the only thing we can do is wait for it to be rebuilt - something that happens regularly, I gather.
No time for that, Gramps, we probably shout as we run off to explore what parts of the map we can navigate. There are enemies up north, and we don't have a sword to deal with them. There's a guy to the west who teaches us how to lift and throw rocks, though, which is a handy skill to use in combat, but it's not a sword, is it?
There is a saying, however, that the pen is mightier than the sword, and as a reward for hurling a bunch of rocks around his house, this guy tells us how to draw on our map, and tells us of a tree somewhere over here that we need to bash. So I draw a tree and hope to remember what it is whenever I'm in the region.
I could have scrawled "Bash tree" over the top, but I can't imagine being neat enough to not cover something important with my scribbles. There's an eraser, though, which I'll probably be making use of.
Taking notes is such a simple and obvious gimmick to include in a Nintendo DS game, but it has once again produced a child-like smile from me - and I didn't even need to draw a cock and balls.
Grandpa has a storehouse with a locked door, and Ciela says that there's a sword behind it. But how to get in? It's not got a keyhole, and throwing rocks at it does nothing. Instead, we've got to write down the number of palm trees that are on the beach on this signpost, where the correct answer will unlock the door.
Seven attempts later (I wasn't going to walk along the beach just for this puzzle) I had a sword, and Grandpa finally gives up trying to stop us and trains us in its use.
It is - thankfully after The World Ends With You - simple to attack your foes with your sword. Pointing to an enemy will see Link launch into an attack against it. Drawing a line between you and your opponent will see you simply swing your sword and drawing a circle around Link will have him perform a spin attack, capable of hitting multiple enemies and cutting down loads of grass too.
It is, essentially, yet more Zelda gameplay. A top-down view, familiar abilities, simple controls. You can argue it does nothing new as much as you can argue it doesn't need to - even if we ignore the stylus input, which is very obviously new.
The point is that when I go through this cave, I know what I'm likely to be doing, and I already feel comfortable in my ability to do it.
I wouldn't call this a dungeon in the true Zelda sense, but it throws us some keys and some puzzles and some enemies to deal with to get used to the gameplay. Stone tablets are carved with instructions to solve a switch puzzle to unlock the next door, and as we can write notes on our map, it's time to scribble down the combination to this door.
Alright, I make a minor mistake and get it wrong, but after defeating a few enemies we're able to try again and make progress through the cave. We get to chase rats who have stolen the key, having to block up holes with blocks to stop them running away from us, but eventually, we make it to the town where we can search for a ship out of here.
The man we're looking for has wandered off to the Temple of the Ocean King, the big stone structure at the top of our map, and it is said to be cursed. Captain Linebeck is probably a goner, but we've apparently no other option to take but to follow in his footsteps and try to find him.
And while we're up in the north, we can bash a tree...
Bashing a tree involves rolling into it, and rolling involves drawing small circles at the edge of the touchscreen. It's the only fiddly part of Phantom Hourglass so far, but somehow I managed to get it done and was rewarded with 100 Rupees for my efforts. It's not that big, by the way. The camera zoomed into the tree while Link was posing, that's all.
On to the temple!
The dead are talking to me and this is before I've even gone into the temple proper. This is a place where swords are ineffective and where sometimes your pen won't even write on your map. It's cursed, all right. Have I got what these poor souls didn't?
Do something about some pointy spikes? That sounds like something well within my skillset, sure. I have already saved the princess and, presumably, in turn, the world. What are a few pointy spikes going to do?
Bashing a switch nearby solves our problem.
Now free from his spikey prison, we're introduced to Linebeck, the captain we need to find to get us off this island. He's aware of the Ghost Ship too, only he's seeking some treasure relating to it, and doesn't want anyone else to get their grubby little mitts on it, ourselves included.
And shaking Link senseless, Ciela gets the point across that we just need his help to get Tetra back, nothing more, and this is enough to convince him we're on his side. He just needs one little trinket from this temple first.
A switch lowers some spikes and starts a countdown timer, but I don't know how long I've got or where I need to go. I run around the admittedly small area looking for clues, but I can't stay too long because the temple is slowly killing me. What I need is to probe and make notes. What I need is calm and clear thought. What I definitely shouldn't do is rush through it when I don't have enough health to make mistakes.
Sorry, Link. I'll, uh, I'll be more careful next time...
Final Word
I knew I was going to be playing Phantom Hourglass until I got to a reasonably sensible stopping point, such as getting off this island and sailing the seas. I didn't expect the reasonably sensible stopping point to be my death from stupidity, but it was a fitting point for me. It came long enough into a run to get an idea of the game, and early enough to not get caught up in Phantom Hourglass when I haven't gone through The Wind Waker.
If you couldn't tell, I rather like Phantom Hourglass, despite having seen what I'm sure is very, very little of it. Not only is it appealing with its looks, but it's also easy on the controls. It's welcoming to the unskilled, as many other Zelda and Nintendo titles are.
Sure, it might be more of the same. Every Zelda game is more of the same. They, like Mario titles, take the idea of there being only eight types of stories people can tell, laugh loudly, pick one of them, and tell it again and again, with different coats of paint and input gimmicks depending on the platform.
Well, for once I'm not going to argue with that, because I like this particular corner of the Zelda universe. I really haven't played very much of The Wind Waker or Phantom Hourglass, but they're some of the highlights to me. Still not as good looking as A Link to the Past, though.
You know what you're going to get with a Zelda title. If you like that, you like it, if you don't, I'm not going to bother convincing you otherwise. All I know is that Phantom Hourglass is on my list of games to get good at somewhere down the line, and ought to be one your list of having a look at. I can only hope the story is a good one.
With comfortable controls and a cracking art style, why wouldn't you give it a go?
Fun Facts
Despite the unfavourable reaction to The Wind Waker's art style back in 2002, producer Eiji Aonuma wanted to explore it once more, in a game he considers the first Zelda title to attract casual gamers. Why, that's me!
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, developed by Nintendo EAD, first released in 2007.
Version played: Nintendo DS, 2007, via emulation.