Zelda: Spirit Tracks

[MinisterofDOOM]

So...the followup to Phantom Hourglass is here, and I've been reading a lot of comments praising it as "the Zelda lover's Zelda game" which is pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum from Hourglass (which some of you will recall I was not altogether happy with).

I've completed what I would guess to be maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the game now and I have enjoyed it. As with PH, the game lacks a lot of "big Zelda" features. But the gameplay this time around is much, much more in tune with what long-time Zelda fans have come to expect from the series. It's less hand-holdey, less repetitive, and not dumbed down. Dungeons are genuinely enjoyable (but still on the short side). Boss fights are great and even a little dynamic than last time around.

The train is a lot of fun, largely because it finds other ways to involve you than the popup obstacles and incessant enemies that ruined sailing in Phantom Hourglass.

The touch screen controls are mostly the same, but there have been some obvious refinements and a few little tweaks. The most significant tweak, perhaps, is Link's roll/sommersault move. In PH you "drew circles" at the edge of the screen. It didn't work well because of the fact that during normal maneuvering you AVOID having the stylus near the edge of the screen...and with a screen protector it caused more problems with edge-of-screen touch detection. The new method has you tapping in the direction you want to roll...tap anywhere in that direction, not just at the edge. It works much better, but also introduces a new problem: tapping enemies is a main method of attack. So attacking fast moving enemies leads to a lot of accidental rolling until you learn to account for the new style, and even after that it happens occasionally.

ST's big new "gimmick" is Zelda. She's along for the ride with Link this time, and she's actually fun to have around. She's not miss helpless princess...MOST of the time. And she offers a nice player response outlet...something silent Link can't do. She can possess phantoms (same phantoms from PH) giving the player control over them and the dual character control method actually works quite well (you draw a path for the phantom and steer Link as normal, switching between them as you wish).

I still wish the game had more of the side content from bigger (and even smaller, for that matter) Zelda games. There are no heart pieces, only full containers. No wallet upgrades. No optional collection quests. And no optional dungeons for these things to be hidden in. There's just the main story and a few minor, discreet distractions along the way. I know the DS game world has to be smaller, but I still find the lack of heart pieces difficult to ignore.

Overall, the game is good. It just isn't as good as a Zelda game should be. I spend a lot of my time with ST thinking "I should just shut this off and play Windwaker." But windwaker isn't portable.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Damn I was thinking about buying this....can you recommend any other RPG for the DS?I just got done beating Chrono Trigger a gazzilion times and it bores me.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I really don't have many RPGs for the DS. Phantom Hourglass is definitely worth buying...it's a great game by normal standards, it only falls on its face by Zelda standards.

The FF Crystal Chronicles games are pretty fun, and they support coop too. They're not very role-play-ey...more hackandslash overhead like Zelda.

[takethewall]

Definitely looking forward to getting this after the holiday season is over and I have money.