Review: Phantom Hourglass

Phantom Hourglass' most noticeable feature is its pitch-perfect recreation of The Wind Waker's cartoonish, cel-shaded art style. I loved The Wind Waker's original aesthetic, and it makes perfect sense for Phantom Hourglass. The clean, colorful style is well-suited to the DS' graphical capabilities, and more importantly, Phantom Hourglass is a direct story sequel to its GameCube predecessor.

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I've been looking forward to this game ever since I first heard about it. This glowing review has pretty much sealed the deal, I'm gonna go and pick it up tonight.

"It's hard to believe it's been only two and a half years since a hand-held Zelda title debuted."

Au contraire. What about "Link's Awakening"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Link%27s_Awakening

I sometimes sort of forget that I still own a DS. I've not bothered getting any of the games on it that have such great reviews, because...well to be honest, none of them have longevity. They're all "beat the game, shelve it" and this is no different.

I think I might pick up this, Puzzle Quest, and Metroid Prime: Hunters just before I head home for the Christmas holiday and have to leave my Xbox 360, PS2, and GameCube behind. After all, going three weeks without gaming would be completely unacceptable. ;)

Katana314:
I sometimes sort of forget that I still own a DS. I've not bothered getting any of the games on it that have such great reviews, because...well to be honest, none of them have longevity. They're all "beat the game, shelve it" and this is no different.

Elite Beat Agents
Pokemon Pearl/Diamond
Phoenix Wright 1-3 (well, if you like rereading books...)
Mario Kart DS

Still playing them.

mobilesworking:
"It's hard to believe it's been only two and a half years since a hand-held Zelda title debuted."

Au contraire. What about "Link's Awakening"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Link%27s_Awakening

Link's been adventuring on hand-helds for nearly a decade and a half, of course--I meant that it's hard to believe it's only been two and a half years since the release of the last hand-held Zelda title. Namely, The Minish Cap. Pardon the confusion.

CantFaketheFunk:

Katana314:
I sometimes sort of forget that I still own a DS. I've not bothered getting any of the games on it that have such great reviews, because...well to be honest, none of them have longevity. They're all "beat the game, shelve it" and this is no different.

Elite Beat Agents
Pokemon Pearl/Diamond
Phoenix Wright 1-3 (well, if you like rereading books...)
Mario Kart DS

Still playing them.

I still play polarium just about everytime I get on a plane, and my little brothers and I play multiplayer advance wars for endless hours whenever the family gets together.

If you don't like playing "linear" games on a handheld, then don't buy the linear games. But don't make the mistake of thinking there are no games worth getting on the DS. That would be foolish.

sorry no more sailing for me, to me zelda WW is great looking but the water world theme kills it for me ,get me a motor boat or be able to warp to every other spot on the map and I might try and play it then,until then I get sea sick >>.

3 out of 4 of those games seem really out of my interest range. The last one is linear and probably beaten relatively quickly. (Phoenix Wright)
The thing is, it seems like with the DS you pay $20-$40 for what's essentially either a minigame or a set of minigames. Call me back when they have an untiring, single gameplay design that they can make an entire game around.

Katana314:
3 out of 4 of those games seem really out of my interest range. The last one is linear and probably beaten relatively quickly. (Phoenix Wright)
The thing is, it seems like with the DS you pay $20-$40 for what's essentially either a minigame or a set of minigames. Call me back when they have an untiring, single gameplay design that they can make an entire game around.

I know what you mean I'd rather have a DS player on the WII or GC so I can sit down and enjoy the few games I can stand, Castlevina is not so bad but it more generic than ever, most DS games seem to be do overs or mini games half of which I will pass.

Katana314:
3 out of 4 of those games seem really out of my interest range. The last one is linear and probably beaten relatively quickly. (Phoenix Wright)
The thing is, it seems like with the DS you pay $20-$40 for what's essentially either a minigame or a set of minigames. Call me back when they have an untiring, single gameplay design that they can make an entire game around.

The PW games can take a decently long time first playthrough depending on how meticulous you are (I'd say maybe 12-20 hours first playthrough? Possibly even longer than that) and, again, they're more played for the story and experience than anything else.

Also, Elite Beat Agents/Ouendan, like I said. Simple game design yet one of the most brilliant and entertaining things on the DS.