The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - Cane and Rinse 249

[JaySevenZero]

“That’s enough out of you, Sparkles.”

Not D-pads nor analogue sticks but styluses. Or should that be stylii? Either way, a contentious change of control method as we conclude the first year of our complete run through of Zelda reviews with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Leon, Josh and Leah discuss Daiki Iwamoto’s directorial debut, including – of course – its innovative but controversial conceit of a repeating ‘central’ dungeon. We also hear from the ever-reliable Cane and Rinse community and discover that, as with every other game in the series, opinions are spread wide.

Music used in this issue:

Track 1: Set Sail for Adventure (Title Theme) by Kenta Nagata/Toru Minegishi.
Track 2: Linebeck's Theme by Kenta Nagata/Toru Minegishi.

Cane and Rinse 249 was edited by Ryan Hamann.

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[KissMammal]

Great episode as always guys, just want to say how much I've been enjoying this Zelda series.

As to Leon's comment about the sparsity of ship parts - that's because this feature was designed so that parts needed to be traded wirelessly with other players in order to acquire a full set.

[gallo_pinto]

Great episode as always guys, just want to say how much I've been enjoying this Zelda series..

Agree with KissMammal. This series has been a blast.

In general, I agreed with almost everything you guys had to say about Phantom Hourglass. I didn't realize how much better Minish Cap looks than Phantom Hourglass until you all brought it up.

One thing mentioned that I disagreed with was the forced tapping during the long boat rides (the monsters, the trip wires, etc). I'm about 3/4 through Spirit Tracks (getting a head start on Volume 6!) and one of the things I miss about PH is the tapping. In Spirit Tracks I get REALLY bored during the train sequences because I feel like I'm wasting time. In Phantom Hourglass, there was always something to occupy your time. Sometimes it was a monster/hazard, other times it was the multiplying jellyfish that gave you rupees. But I was much more engaged with the boat sections than I am with the train sections.

Great episode and I can't wait to see what Volume 6 has in store!

[ratsoalbion]

Great episode as always guys, just want to say how much I've been enjoying this Zelda series.

As to Leon's comment about the sparsity of ship parts - that's because this feature was designed so that parts needed to be traded wirelessly with other players in order to acquire a full set.

Ah yes, of course. Thank you, I'd forgotten that and my research didn't remind me.

A feature now redundant anyway of course, and entirely non-functional on Wii U VC!

[KissMammal]

Yeah. I was playing PH in tandem with a colleague at the time, so were we able to exchange parts to get the best loadout.

I think I'd agree with the review consensus of a solid 8 out of 10. I liked it more than most people, though it's been so long now and I've forgotten so much about the game I don't feel I can speak with any authority, which is why I've struggled to contribute much on the series as a whole.

Apologies if I'm misremembering, but I don't recall the subject coming up so far in this retrospective - can we all just agree that stealth sections in Zelda games have always thoroughly sucked*? Doubly so in Majora's Mask and Phantom Hourglass, where there is the added stress of a time limit to complete?

*Frankly, I think I've only ever actually properly enjoyed stealth gameplay in Mark of the Ninja.

[gallo_pinto]

Haha. The other day I was just thinking about how much I enjoyed the "infiltrate Hyrule Castle" sections of the different Zelda games! I really like that section in Ocarina of Time and I just finished Four Swords Adventures where they have a really good infiltration level.

I'm with you for Majora's Mask and Phantom Hourglass though.

[KissMammal]

Ugh. For me it's all part of that unfortunate late 90s/early 2000s post=Metal Gear Solid trend, when every single action game released had to have a feeble 'me too' enforced stealth section.

Trying to sneak around enemies with zero information or feedback on what they can or can't 'see' or hear' in the vain hope that you'll luck out and not have to repeat the whole sorry process over again...

Couldn't stand it. I didn't even enjoy stealth in MGS!

[KissMammal]

One thing mentioned that I disagreed with was the forced tapping during the long boat rides (the monsters, the trip wires, etc). I'm about 3/4 through Spirit Tracks (getting a head start on Volume 6!) and one of the things I miss about PH is the tapping. In Spirit Tracks I get REALLY bored during the train sequences because I feel like I'm wasting time. In Phantom Hourglass, there was always something to occupy your time. Sometimes it was a monster/hazard, other times it was the multiplying jellyfish that gave you rupees. But I was much more engaged with the boat sections than I am with the train sections.

I think I'm in the minority that actually really loved the seafaring aspect of Wind Waker - I always found charting a course for an undiscovered island and setting sail really evocative and exciting, never boring.

One of the main reasons I was attracted to Assassins Creed: Black Flag all those years later was because the seafaring aspect reminded me of WW, and one of the things I ultimately disliked about the game was what I felt was kind of an ADHD approach to the sailing - they never really let things calm down for more than 20 seconds and the islands were so close together and the sea so crowded with other ships, navigation often felt to me more like pushing a shopping trolley round a crowded supermarket than exploring the open seas. I'm guessing this was because the developer was scared that players would get 'bored' if they weren't constantly throwing something shiny at them. It's a shame - there's a lot to be said for moments of calm and reflection to pace out the more frenetic gameplay.