Not only am I a heretic who enjoyed The Dark Knight Rises, I also liked The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass! I guess I just have bad taste. Not like Paul McClain, who rips the game a new one. He does it gently, but with sincerity.
I even thought the Palace of the Ocean King was a pretty interesting concept, because I like the idea of returning to familiar ground to experience it in a new way. I am a terrible person who is destroying all that is good in the world.
I agree about most of the music being disappointing (Linebeck’s theme is awesome, though), but despite feeling a little disconnected from the gameplay by stylus controls, Phantom Hourglass was a game I was able to enjoy on its own merits. The mandatory revisits of the Temple of the Ocean King could get repetitive in some ways, but generally your new tools let you access new treasure chests and shortcuts, and it’s nice to have a starting wallet that can actually hold money, especially when there’s stuff that’s worth spending it on, like boat parts.
Spirit Tracks, though, I couldn’t get over the “like Phantom Hourglass but…” feeling. Train travel is inherently more linear than a boat, new areas come off more as unlocked than discovered, and it’s incredibly easy to get trapped and blown up by evil trains. And no matter how immersive they are, blowing operated tools are a bad idea because they can all too easily set off unintentionally by outside noises.
The whip was cool though, and I wish they had done more with the passenger and cargo mechanics.
I liked Dark Knight Rises, too! I also don’t think anyone who like Phantom Hourglass likes bad games.
I’ve been waiting forever to see what you had to say about this, and now that it’s come up, it… feels like a passive-aggressive swipe? I dunno, maybe I’m reading too much into things. I did appreciate the “gently” part, but everything else seemed like how I respond to people that go after Lost.
Wait.Maybe I deserved it.
How is it a swipe when I simply feel like an stranger to good taste?
Oh. If my article made you feel that way, then wow, it was better writing than I thought it was. But rest assured, I don’t think PH is a bad game. You didn’t want subjective writing, so by god, I went as objective as I could. But honestly, I can totally understand someone liking the parts I didn’t like. Except for the music. That was utter shit.
I’m not even sure I know what I meant by that last comment. I’m very tired and need to go to bed.
I enjoyed Phantom Hourglass, though I think that had as much to do with it being the first traditional Zelda I’d really sat down with since Link to the Past as anything. I admit I didn’t really miss the time-limited Temple or somewhat haphazard ocean navigation when Spirit Tracks came along to refine the new formula.
Game was really, really bland. It was a good game, but nowhere near what we expect from a Zelda game. It really felt a lot like the first Zelda in how open it was.
That said, I never finished the DS Zelda games. Minish Cap was brilliant, I thought.
Gotta say I enjoyed PH as well. I did pine for traditional controls at times, but the stylus proved to be much better than I was anticipating. Not unlike the other game that I was sure would be terrible, Metroid Prime. Maybe I’ll learn to reserve judgment until a game is out eventually.
I liked PH as well, and enjoyed returning to the Palace of the Ocean King. It became like a Zelda-equivalent of speed-running, or perfecting a lap in a racing game, cutting corners with new items to get to the next level faster each time.
Didn’t like TDKR though. Oh well.