A Touching Epic

by Matt Fiske on 30 Nov 2007

Taking to the high seas once again, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hour Glass takes advantage of the Nintendo DS's unique hardware to provide a unique handheld gaming experience.

The game takes place directly after The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and features the same cel-shaded graphical style and characters. This time, Link must save his friend, the adventurous young pirate captain Tetra, from her abduction by a mysterious Ghost Ship that's been plaguing the seas.

Along the way Link encounters new allies such as the sea-faring Linebeck. He provides Link with transportation in his paddle boat, but due to his cowardly nature he "allows" Link to do more dangerous things such as fight monsters and venture into dungeons.

The game's main innovation is the use of the DS' two screens. The top serves as an interactive map and notepad and the bottom serves as a control panel.

Taking notes, drawing symbols, marking locations and even doing your own cartography are critical in Link's quest to save Tetra. The touchpad is also used to control Link's movements, sword attacks and to navigate Linebeck's ship.

Special weapons, such as the boomerang, can be controlled by charting a path for it to follow. Some game elements require the player to speak loudly or blow into the DS' microphone, such as when trying to attract certain characters' attention or when blowing out flames. Other instances, such as transferring locations from map to map involve closing the DS and opening it again so that the images on the two screens are flush with each another and "stamp."

A new item called the Phantom Hourglass allows Link to venture into hazardous locations that normally drain life away. The Phantom Hourglass protects Link in these areas, but only for a limited amount of time. Throughout the game, the player is able to upgrade the time limit on the Phantom Hourglass when dungeons are beat and upgrades are discovered. The mysterious nature of the Phantom Hourglass is gradually revealed, and its secrets are not known until later in the game.

The game also offers multiplayer game play, using both the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and the DS' native transfer ability. The multiplayer game focuses on an aspect of the main adventure: sneaking in catacombs to carry items called Force Gems past marauding sentinels known as Phantoms to their respective home bases before time runs out. While not as strong as the main adventure mode, the multiplayer aspect adds another level of functionality to an already entertaining game.

Overall, the control system of the Nintendo DS adds new life to the dungeon rubric that Zelda games typically offer. With plenty of puzzles to solve, weapons to acquire and side-quests to complete The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hour Glass holds up to the high standards set by The Legend of Zelda franchise, and will no doubt keep players entertained for countless hours.

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