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The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - did you buy it?

echeck

echeck

macrumors 68000
Original poster
It will probably be a few weeks before I pick this up, but I've been dying for some first-hand reviews.

So has anyone bought this yet? What are your thoughts?
 
its not available till tomorrow here in Vancouver.

I am mixed... the controls seem cool but a few reviews say they can be a pain at times since it misinterprets the motion you give. And sailing the ****ing boat reminds me of the boredom that was 50% of Wind Waker (still the best look Zelda game)
 
I keep hearing nothing but praise from the critics and magazines, be interesting to hear what regular players think.
 
I am probably going to pick this one up tomorrow. A lot of people on the East coast were saying that the game wasn't in stock today so I didn't bother to go look.
 
Going to look for it tomorrow. I hate the way Gamestop always says they don't have it unless you preorder. Hopefully Best Buy will have a few copies.
 
I read that it won't be available until the 4th. You mean I can get it now! 😱

FINALLY IT WILL BE MINE FOR THE PLAYING!!! 😀

<]=)
 
I bought and played it, but only for about 20 - 30 minutes. Not because it's bad, but simply because I have a biomechanics midterm tomorrow that I really need to study for (taking a quick break now, then back to it).

The controls work really nicely. The only two I'm a *little* worried about are the slashing and rolling controls. However, you don't start using them right away, there's a story to watch and it takes a few min to grab the sword. So I've had almost no time with them, and even in what little time I have played I was getting much better. All the other controls I've had to use so far work perfectly.

Overall, the game is fun, has good graphics, is easy to play, and oh yeah, is fun. Did I say that twice?

Take this with a grain of salt, because I'm *barely* into it, but from what I've seen so far it's really fun, and the controls work nicely.
 
I've gotta say (bearing in mind I haven't played the game yet) - I don't like the look of the graphics. It seems like a huge step back from the Minish Cap. The art in that was spectacular IMO, and whilst I'm also a fan of low-poly 3D art I just don't see it as a veritable Zelda style.

Then again full stylus controls wouldn't have been as fluid if used 2D sprites, unless they drew many angles. I can see why they've done it but I still sob a little 🙁
 
But, but, but, but, but, but.., Minish Cap's art direction was "based" on Wind Waker's style, which Z😛H is the "sequel!" 😱 And this is Miyamoto's baby. Just look a the spectacular paper-cut-out intro art! 😱

I'm a 2D sprite person also and will always appreciate it more so over 3D, so a portable 3D Zelda has me a bit if, since the Minish Cap translated WW's 3D art to sprite so wonderfully. I think that when you start playing the game, you'll see areas of 3D that work well. I still have fond memories of areas in Wind Waker that looked like they were ripped straight out of Don Bluth cartoon.

Besides the stylus control, which I'm sure I'll get used to, everything here screams Zelda to me. Wind Waker for me was the quintessential Zelda, still my favorite to date, so I have high hopes for this game.

<]=)
 
Now I would love a true Paper Zelda, maybe a Paper Metroid RPG whilst they're at it. Love the paper concept 😀

I dunno. Maybe in motion it'll win me over. 2D can be so pristine and crisp, detail as it was meant to be seen. 3D (at least low res 3D) doesn't get that across for me. Didn't stop me from enjoying Hunters anyroad 😎
 
I'm not really into the Zelda handhelds. But if it gets smashing reviews I might consider getting it.
 
I second that about a paper style. I love that stuff! 😀 I'm building my new portfolio site in a somewhat similar style. Nintedno has lots of influence on my likes. 🙂

Screen shots of 3D never seem to do it justice. As an example, Metroid Prime: Corruption looks 5 fold better in play than any screen shot I've seen and even looks awesome on my image bastardizing HD TV LCD

The problem with screenshots on 3D games, even the uber examples of the latest and greatest PC games, is that it's easy to see all of the imperfections and other fake areas that the current GPUs have problems with. Seeing a clean face texture next to a lower-rez texture that's slighly blurred, while everything is the devoid of occlusion always bugs me, and then there's the plastic look that we all love <sarcasm>.

At least with 2D games, a still shot is as the artist had intended down the pixel, not some new angle generated by a GPU. So all shadowing, etc.. are pleasing the eye. Just to state what you already know. 🙂

Hunters looks awesome on the DS IMO. I know it's low-poly, but everything is so clean and purdy for being pixelated. That game was well executed.

<]=)
 
only just got into the first cave, plays nice....massive lulz to who ever said it didn't look as good as minish crap.
 
ghall said:
I'm not really into the Zelda handhelds. But if it gets smashing reviews I might consider getting it.
Click to expand...

JackAxe said:
😱

So.. you haven't........ played... Zelda: A link to the past, or Zelda: Minish Cap? 😱

<]=)
Click to expand...

Zelda: A Link to the Past isn't just a handheld release. The best Zelda game ever created was originally released on the Super Nintendo, of course!

Silly little JackAxe. 😉

Now get to playing Phantom Hourglass and let us all know what you think!
 
Silly little evilgEEk, that info about Z:ALTP is common knowledge, so you bring nothing new to the plate and shall be punished accordingly. 😛 🙂 I owned it on the SNES version but didn't finish it. Later I played it on my Mac during lunch breaks, but didn't finish it. I didn't complete it until after beating Minish Cap. 😱 This is sad on my part, because I bought it for my GBA when it was released.

This game is great. It reminds me of Animal crossing when moving around. And they've once again visually captured Toungue's emotions -- that's what I always name my character. 🙂

So raggedjimmi, if you liked Animal Crossing, you'll like this game visually, even though I would say this is a step above so far and of course it's Zelda. 🙂

Must... unnNNnnnpause game...

<]=)
 
If anyone is interested, you can get a free player's guide if you buy the game at Toys R Us. Its in their weekly ad and available on their website. Not a bad deal although I have vowed to never use a player's guide for a Zelda game.
 
I would buy this game if I knew one fact:

it's longer that Minish Cap.

Minish Cap was too short. Why can't they make a game that rivals the length of Link's Awakening (my first Zelda experience).
😱
 
I am officially in love with this game.

evilgEEk said:
Zelda: A Link to the Past isn't just a handheld release. The best Zelda game ever created was originally released on the Super Nintendo, of course!

Silly little JackAxe. 😉

Now get to playing Phantom Hourglass and let us all know what you think!
Click to expand...

I think he meant "Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening". I have a bad habit of saying "A Link To The Past" when I mean "Link's Awakening" too.



Oh, for the 2D vs 3D thing? I've always loved 2D art, but Wind Waker had such a unique style that I'm willing to forgive the move to 3D. I definitely think this Wind Waker look suits the 2D world better than an Ocarina of Time styled world (not that OoT isn't great for 3D, but for an overhead view...nah).


Wind Waker is one of the most underrated Zelda games. I LOVED the art style.
 
I finally convinced my friend to play WW, because he wants to play Z😛H. He was one of those, it's too cartoony, so didn't bother playing it. 🙄 I really didn't understand where he was coming from, since he was a Zelda fan before I. 🙂

<]=)
 
bobber205 said:
I would buy this game if I knew one fact:

it's longer that Minish Cap.

Minish Cap was too short. Why can't they make a game that rivals the length of Link's Awakening (my first Zelda experience).
😱
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was short, but still enjoyable. I like long games also, but for the price I paid -- I think $30 -- the game was long enough. 🙂

Even if this one isn't as long as the the great Zelda of the SNES, I'll still be quite happy.

If you want a long game, look into Magical Starsign. If you can get past its girly-cutsey art direction -- which still looks great IMO -- the game is quite enjoyable. It's the best adventure RPG I've played recently on a portable. I played it over a period of 3 months and wanted more when it ended. I really hope they make a sequel.

<]=)
 
I've played it a lot more now (this is really going to hurt my grade tomorrow), and the game has just gotten better. If you like Zelda games, especially ones like LTTP, you should definitely pick this one up. The controls are great, as well. Writing on the screen, using the boomerang, etc, all work amazingly. I'm very impressed.
 
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