Was PH Really That Bad?

A lot of people around here really seem to think that PH sucks. I disagree. I think it was pretty good. Sure there was a different was of controlling Link and it was cell-shaded, but was it really that bad?

Personally, I liked it. A few things I didn't like were that they changed the name of the Master Sword, they changed the hookshot, and it was a little bit kiddy, but those didn't kill the game for me. What do you guys think?

I thought it was a good game overall, it just didn't measure up to the standards of the Zelda franchise. That's my take on it, anyway.

I didn't really think it was bad - on the contrary, it was an enjoyable game - but for me it didn't really come up to the same standards as other Zelda games I've played. For instance, I found the dungeons far too easy, and the music a bit too repetitive.

BTW, the name of the Master Sword wasn't changed, rather the Phantom Sword was an entirely new blade altogether.

Originally Posted by Astarael

I didn't really think it was bad - on the contrary, it was an enjoyable game - but for me it didn't really come up to the same standards as other Zelda games I've played. For instance, I found the dungeons far too easy, and the music a bit too repetitive.

The dungeons didn't have as much challenge, but it was handheld after all! The music loops were a bit short, though. No excuse for that.

BTW, the name of the Master Sword wasn't changed, rather the Phantom Sword was an entirely new blade altogether.

You know what I mean. The sword that you get after the first part wasn't "the Master Sword."

It was like....I don't know....it was terrible......I only keep it....to complete my collection.....which I doubt I should do...anyway...

Originally Posted by Aerem the Wise

The dungeons didn't have as much challenge, but it was handheld after all!

The dungeons in Link's Awakening are some of the most challenging of any Zelda game, and it was on the Game Boy, whose technology is ridiculously inferior to that of the DS.

Originally Posted by zeldamaster17

It was like....I don't know....it was terrible......I only keep it....to complete my collection.....which I doubt I should do...anyway...

And why is this? Can you explain why it was terrible?

PH is a great game, i enjoyed it as much as OoT and AlttP (scream crazy at me all you want)

Originally Posted by Aerem the Wise

And why is this? Can you explain why it was terrible?

It was....shorter than....my trip.....to Georgia....year before last......two days....

Pauses....are.....annoying.......

And you aren't?....

Please stay on topic guys. If you are going to fight, take it to visitor messages or PM's

PH was one of the most innovative Zelda's in years. The thing was that it repeated those innovations which, for example, made the dungeons very similar. Also there wasn't much to do in the overworld.

PH did excellently with the controls. It utilized all of the DS's features.

Sadly, the game itself was easy and boring.

I loved PH's controls, and all items you got were actually useful! Like the bombchus, I never used them in OOT or MM unless they were necessary, which was like one time in MM. But in PH they are so much easier to use and I ended up using them almost all the time.

And I actually liked the dungeons, sure they were easy, but they still had nice gimmicks and were fun to play through.

Also the boss battles, oh the boss battles. Best boss battles in the whole series, in my opinion.

I, too, am in the minority that enjoyed the game very much. It had innovation, an easy-to-use, get-to-the-point kind of collection of items and weapons (hey, it's better than having to keep crud items like the Slingshot in TP), impressive controls, and perfectly balanced replay value (there's mini-game scoring, fishing, ship part collecting, Wi-Fi playing, trading quest doing, fairy upgrading, etc.). The originality and personality in the characters and the story reminded me of why I enjoy the Zelda series of games, as playing Twilight Princess had fogged my memory of such...

Originally Posted by Aerem the Wise

You know what I mean. The sword that you get after the first part wasn't "the Master Sword."

Well, that's still good. I hate the typical 'Link gets the master sword to rescue princess Zelda from Ganondorf' with 'beat three dungeons, something important happens, beat another couple dungeons, final boss'. It's boring and repetitive.. although PH did mostly follow this storyline.

It wasn't my favorite game. I didn't like how the islands seemed detached from the sea (how everything goes to white when you're leaving an island, in stark contrast to TWW's smooth flow), Toon Link looked... eh... in that game (spiked appendages for hands can really ruin some cutscenes in my eyes), and the controls, I would have been much happier if you could use the D-Pad or the stylus/touch screen, and I think most people out there will agree.

Nevertheless, it's an alright game. I'd still rather play ALttP or TMC (if I were playing a handheld Zelda).

Originally Posted by CWP

I, too, am in the minority that enjoyed the game very much.

You, Sir, are not a minority. The bad opinions on forums are normally the minority. Phantom Hourglass is the youngest Zelda game and already the fourth best selling (not counting multiplatform releases). It sold 4,83 million copies, which is great. 99,9% of those people, who bought the game, never go online in forums like these to complain about Phantom Hourglass, like few people do here.

And no, Phantom Hourglass was not bad. It continued the toon style, which is a good thing, and the controls were one of the best on the Nintendo DS system. The controls are a lot of fun, and most Zelda fans complaining about the controls never even touched the game, because they simply didn't like the thought of controlling a Zelda game with the touchpad and never gave it a chance to begin with. The Ocean King Temple was a welcome challenge, they tried to do something different to challenge the longtime Zelda fans and that's a welcome approach. And I liked how the second half of the game was entirely non-linear. You could start with Mutoh's Temple and play the Goron Temple at the end, pretty cool. We didn't have that level of non-linearity in the overall game-course for a while and it added something to the replay value. The amount of collectable items was really nice, they were not so easy to complete and those items gave you some valuable stuff, unlike for example those boring 60 Poe souls. The ship parts and Spirit Gems kept me playing and enjoying this game for a while. And there was finally online multiplayer! You could even trade items online, which was very popular for while and brought Zelda fans from all over the world together.

Of course the game certainly had its flaws too, but which game doesn't? The normal dungeons were too small and easy, and there was a lack of deeper NPC interaction, some advanced sidequests in this direction would have been nice. And the music, yeah, probably the worst selection of music in the entire series.

But overall I'm not unhappy with Phantom Hourglass and I'm looking forward to Spirit Tracks.

Originally Posted by Blood Dragon

It wasn't my favorite game. I didn't like how the islands seemed detached from the sea (how everything goes to white when you're leaving an island, in stark contrast to TWW's smooth flow), Toon Link looked... eh... in that game (spiked appendages for hands can really ruin some cutscenes in my eyes)

The DS is a portable system and can't handle as much graphics as the GC or Wii. That is wh they didn't have the smooth transitions from leaving the island and going to the sea. That is also why everything looked a bit spiked. As an amateur game maker myself, I know that this was because of the DS's graphics capabilities. It couldn't handle the detailed models they used in TP, OoT, MM or TWW.

I really liked the game. I didn't love it as much as I could have, because of the easiness and kiddy graphics. But I liked the plot, and the multiplayer was fun, and the portability was good. It just didn't rise up to meet the standards.