The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

[JKTrix]

I just saw a couple of new videos for the English versiosn of the game, and I'm excited for it all over again. Particularly the last part of this one. You're fighting a boss who becomes invisible, but you (somehow) actually see the boss' POV on the 2nd screen while he's invisible, and you aim your attacks accordingly. Wow!

This is the other video if you're interested.

Game's out on October 1 in the US, then a few weeks later in Europe and Australia. I played the Japanese version of this game, but I didn't get too far into it. Lookin' forward to this one.

[Renmiri]

Yeah, me too! Me and my kids are Zelda maniacs and Wind Waker was one of our favorites

[Roto13]

October 1st? Wow, awesome. I can't wait!

[Necronopticous]

I played an hour or two of the Japanese version when it first came out and I was extremely unimpressed. Being forced to use the touch screen to move is annoying and gets tiring. Also, killing enemies seems like a complete joke since you just touch them with your stylus and they die. I'll give it another shot when it comes out, stateside, though. I really want it to be good.

[Fonzie]

Oh, I'm going to get this.

[XxSephirothxX]

I've been pretty skeptical of the touch screen control idea, but every experience I've read about except Necro's has been overwhelmingly positive. And considering how much I love Twilight Princess on the Wii (and I was worried about that), I think Phantom Hourglass will be great. Bring on the Zelda love.

[The Mog Ninja]

Touch Screen r bad

[JKTrix]

Touch Screen is Good. I played it for more than an hour and didn't have any problem. Though I had played Animal Crossing DS for quite a bit a while ago and got used to that method of control. It's true that early enemies can be killed with just a 'touch' (when you touch an enemy you do the leaping slash, strongest normal attack next to the spin), but naturally they get stronger and more strategic later. The only enemies in the first area are bats and rats and other small creatures.

I stopped playing the JP version because at the time I got to some puzzles I couldn't figure out. This was on the 2nd island you visit or something.


I did get a chance to try the Multiplayer though, through download play with a friend. It's actually really neat. It's like a cross between Pac-Man and Capture the Flag. One player is Link/Pac Man, while the other controls the 3 enemy Knights who are like the Pac Man Ghosts. (I'd imagine if you link 4 people together, 3 individuals would control each Knight)

There are big and small pieces of Triforce scattered around the map (you can see where they are on the top screen), and you get more points for 'capturing' the larger pieces. To capture them you have to pick them up, then drop/throw them in your highlighted 'Home' areas without being caught. Larger Triforce pieces make you walk slower, making you an easier target. There are various 'Zelda Items' around the stage as well. The Running Boots is the one I can remember (excuse my lack of Zelda lexicon), which allows you to dash. This works if you are holding the large Triforce as well, but naturally you can't change direction very easily so if you run into a wall, you drop the Triforce and are stunned for a second. Or you could run right into a Knight, thus ending your turn.

The way you control the Knights is entirely with the touch screen. For the Knights, the map is on the bottom screen and you draw a path on it to travel (You control each Knight individually). Once they get there they will stay there, unless Link crosses their vision area. I believe Knights can also utilize the 'Zelda Items' on the map to either aid in catching Link or prevent him from picking them up. Knights cannot enter any of Link's 'Home' areas, so if Link is running from a Knight he is safe in those areas. Naturally if he stays there too long, the 3 knights can surround him, making it impossible to escape. There's a timer on the rounds, so one can't stay in the Safe area for too long (or collect all the Triforce on the map).

Once Link is captured or the timer runs out, the turns switch. He who was controlling the 3 Knights now controls Link, and vice-versa. The objective is to see who can score the most points at the end of a certain number of rounds that you choose beforehand. It's lots of fun. I played about 3 entire games with a friend while waiting in the theatre to watch Transformers.

[Renmiri]

I used touch screen on Revenant Wings and it works fine. I hope PHG is similar

[Necronopticous]

One player is Link/Pac Man, while the other controls the 3 enemy Knights who are like the Pac Man Ghosts.

Ghosts!?

[Dragonsoul]

It's one of the very best rpg's coming out this fall that I am not getting. I am only getting Lost Odyssey and Mass Effect. I don't have enough time and money to get everything, but this is a good game.

p.s. Gah! I'm getting excited about FF XII right now, I'm still playing it right now, maybe I should just buy a DS and get FF XII: RW on Nov 20th!

[Rostum]

I really want to get this and Reverent Wings.

[JKTrix]

Dang, I was typing up a big response and Firefox glitched out

Anyway, controlling Zelda (the game) is a much more active experience than controlling Heroes of Revenant Wings or other similar DS games. Where the RTS style games are 'click an enemy, hero attacks automatically until it dies', Zelda has at least 4 different ways to actively attack enemies with the sword: jab the stylus in any of the radial directions around Link and he'll stab that way; slash diagonally and Link will slash; tap an enemy and Link will do a leaping slash; draw a quick circle around Link and he'll do the spin attack.

The Diagonal slash is different depending on the direction you slash (left-to-right or right-to-left), and Link will swing his sword accordingly in either a forehand or backhand way. This is important when you encounter enemies that are not defeated in one hit, as you will do smoother/quicker combos when including 'fore-then-back-then-fore again' attacks rather than just spamming forehand slashes. Naturally you can throw in some stabs. As long as the move you use isn't the same move you used prior, it seems to come out a little faster. Spin attack will end that particular combo string.

Movement is differnt than RTS styled DS games as well. It's much more reminiscent of Animal Crossing or even Mario 64 DS than the 'click and move there' style of Heroes or FF12RW. The only problem I've had with Zelda's movement control is Rolling. It's not particularly easy (I think you have to do a double-slash towards the outer edge of the screen while moving), but I haven't been in a situation where it is absolutely necessary for you to roll.

One player is Link/Pac Man, while the other controls the 3 enemy Knights who are like the Pac Man Ghosts.

Ghosts!?

They're like the Pac-Man ghosts in essence, since I was using the Pac-Man Metaphor. Link doesn't get anything like a Super Pellet (as far as I know) to be able to attack the Knights.

I found a pic, I'll describe it:

This is the gameplay when you're playing as the Knight (when you are Link, the 'game screen' is on bottom while the map is on top). I forgot that the Knights can see where Link is on the map. You see the 3 'knight' icons on the screen with lines going from them, those are the lines you draw to direct them to move. The light blue colored areas on the map are the 'safe areas' where knights cannot enter. It looks like it would be hard to trap Link in there as there seem to be multiple exits to the area.

The red and blue coloured areas are for each Link. I guess it is only 2-player. In the image, it is Blue Link's turn, so he has to get the Triforce into his Blue Area. Since they're showing Red Link's pile on the screen as well, perhaps it means he can steal from Red Link's pile. That'd be interesting, though it makes it more challenging for him to get back to his own area.

The red dot on the lower left side of the screen is one of the 'Zelda Items'.

I think in Multiplayer, you are able to control Link with the D-pad.

[Yamaneko]

Just picked up the game. I'm liking it so far (only about an hour and a half in). The touch controls take some time getting used to, especially drawing circles at the edges of the screen to do rolls. It's true that the game is a bit dumbed down from previous Gameboy offerings. You don't collect heart pieces anymore (you gain whole heart pieces) and from the time I've spent with it the enemies and puzzles are super easy.

It's sort of neat that you can pull down the map in the overworld or in dungeons to write little notes. So far this has been implemented forcibly with the game telling you to perform this action. Hopefully as I get farther ahead the opportunity will present itself so I can use this feature at my discretion without the game telling me to.

The Wind Waker graphic design totally works on the DS and I like that Nintendo didn't go with the 3D camera. The top-down approach takes me back to some of my favorite Zelda games. I think if you enjoyed LttP you'll really enjoy this game.

Anyone else playing?

[ljkkjlcm9]

my roomate has been playing it, and asking me for help whenever he gets stuck, which is funny because I want to play it later.

One part he was stuck on, you had to close the DS and then open it, and it transfered something from the top screen to the bottom. Only on the DS man.

Either way, he plugs it into his speakers for his computer, so I've heard the entire game so far lol

THE JACKEL