LOZ: Spirit Tracks [Discussion]

[Tyrantrum]

Okay, first off. Gavin, you completely outdid yourself with the first post. Amazing!

Second, yes, I seriously want this game. This looks really fun and challenging. Controlling a phantom and Link? That's just plain awesome. I wish I had money. Maybe I should have bought Spirit Tracks instead New Super Mario Bros. Wii......ah well.

From what I've seen in the trailer and 'how-to-play' videos, this does look like it will be challenging, but the rating I read in a Game Review magazine didn't think so unfortunately. At least I'm going by my own opinion, instead of a stupid review, which was actually recommending not to get it. D:

Well, I guess I'll post here again after I get the game. To anyone else who just got it, I hope you have fun~

 

[HackChu]

I got it and in about 6 days(coulda been sooner) I made it to the final boss. Now I could beat it anytime I just chose not to, and the part when you gotta fight the train is a pain. But overall a great game although my hands hurt after awhile. I haven't gotten PH yet I hope it's good though, boy I sure have beaton tons of Zelda games.:)

Links Awaking was my first game ever and I beat it in 2nd Grade!

 

[Pokedra]

I found Spirit Tracks to be kind if disappointing, I think it just shared too many similar aspects to Phantom Hourglass. It did improve on some aspects such as not having to redo floors in the central dungeon and having slightly better dungeons but I feel the other aspects weren't as good. The boat was much better then the train in my opinion as it was faster and you had a lot more freedom.

I still haven't beaten it yet, it isn't really a bad game but I find Phantom Hourglass was much more enjoyable.

 

[Tanooki]

Yeah, I bought it. $25 on sale at Target; can't go wrong there. =P

I'm about half-way through (though I haven't been playing as much as I'd like), and, to be honest, it's an ok game. It's a huge improvement from PH, in my opinion. The train aspects are pretty fun, actually; that was one part I was very skeptical of before playing.

That said, however, I really would like to see a change of pace here; IE, maybe try and go back to the OoT-type style of Zelda for the next game. Basically, we've had two WW-style cel-shaded titles in a row. That's fine and all, but I believe Zelda is at it's best when it follows the OoT format. That particular game still stands as the series, so why not try and emulate it once again?

Also; it's been close to four years since the release of TP; the next game absolutely must be on the Wii. I believe this is the longest gap between main console releases since ALTP and OoT.

 

[Morkula]

I'm in the fourth realm right now and...I have to literally force myself to play it at this point. I've never had to do that with a Zelda game.

It's not a bad game by any means, just...like Triffy said, it seems really sterile and uninspired. I always thought the weakest point of Phantom Hourglass was the dungeon design - Minish Cap had great dungeons for a 2D Zelda and I was hoping for a return to form with ST. But if anything the dungeons are even more boring and generic than PH's. I'm wholly unimpressed with the sidequest-oriented nature of the game (Majora's Mask succeeded in offering a ton of sidequests because the world was so alive and vibrant and almost everyone - even generic characters - had a personality, Spirit Tracks fails at it because the world is so...lifeless and it takes so long to go anywhere with the train). The train is worse than the boat in every way - you travel over preset paths across dull copy/paste environments with some of the worst pixelation I've ever seen in a DS game, enemies spawn pretty much at sporadic preset points along the track, and the invincible enemy trains are just aggravating since they travel faster than you and hitting one means instant death. Also, am I the only one that finds the Tower of Spirits to be more annoying than the Temple of the Ocean King? The TotOK never bothered me too much, but I absolutely dread revisiting the ToS each time, and having to control Zelda just aggravates me even more.

I know it sounds like I really hate the game, but I don't. It's a good game...just not a good Zelda. I'd give it a 7.5-8.0 from what I've played so far, which is horribly disappointing for a Zelda game. I definitely thought PH was a better game. But I'll have to wait until I beat it to see if my views change - who knows, it could surprise me.

 

[Jolene]

To be honest, I'm really surprised that ao many of you are finding this game worse than Phantom Hourglass.

I can understand people not liking the train because it doesn't let you go wherever you want, but I disagree with the point that it doesn't allow for exploration. It's a different kind of exploration, but there are still lots of hidden areas for you to unlock. And there's far more of them than there were in Phantom Hourglass.

 

[ÇyänïdëÉX]

I would like too add that traveling gets much quicker later on with the warps

 

[TRIFORCE89]

To be honest, I'm really surprised that ao many of you are finding this game worse than Phantom Hourglass.

I can understand people not liking the train because it doesn't let you go wherever you want, but I disagree with the point that it doesn't allow for exploration. It's a different kind of exploration, but there are still lots of hidden areas for you to unlock. And there's far more of them than there were in Phantom Hourglass.

I like the train. It's the most exciting part.

I liked Phantom Hourglass. Far from my favourite entry in the series. But I thought it was a pretty nice snippet of things to come. The ideas were all there, they just could've have been executed better. As a first try, as an experiment to test the waters...I was more lenient on it. It's fault don't bug me.

But this sequel doesn't improve on anything. Yes it's the same engine, but that's no excuse.

Majora's Mask was built on top of Ocarina of Time, but it was not a mere level hack. There was more character development and interaction, better, more complicated, and larger (especially vertically) dungeons, a bigger focus on narrative, great music, etc. It did everything better...except for its length. If it had as many dungeons as OoT, I'm positive the gaming community would see it for the superior title that it is.

But, Spirit Tracks is not like this. It is not better. What I could forgive in Phantom Hourglass, I cannot forgive here. The dungeons are boring. They and the towns are empty. Everything is lifeless and bland. Aside from the overworld train travelling music, the music still sucks like it did in Phantom Hourglass. The best thing so far is just that Link has a little more personality in his responses beyond "Yes" and "No" now.

Boss battles are cool. As they were in Phantom Hourglass. But level design is horrible.

 

[Jolene]

The dungeons are boring. They and the towns are empty. Everything is lifeless and bland. Aside from the overworld train travelling music, the music still sucks like it did in Phantom Hourglass. The best thing so far is just that Link has a little more personality in his responses beyond "Yes" and "No" now.

Boss battles are cool. As they were in Phantom Hourglass. But level design is horrible.

Okay, but I don't agree with you. I thought that Spirit Tracks had great level designs, and probably the most original puzzles that the series has seen in awhile (most of them involve the phantom). I suppose that you might not like how straightforward the dungeons are in Zelda nowadays, but I think it's a lot better this way. Why do so many people enjoy getting lost?

I reckon you're just not playing it in the right mindset.

 

[Ivysaur]

Because being lost gives you some reason to backtrack, see where you forgot something and explore. When you find an item you forgot, or a hidden switch, it's a great feeling. But nowadays, when you reach a floor, you can solve everything within that floor, and forget about it as soon as you leave it. There is barely any backtracking. I found it really sad that I could beat the last dungeon in less than an hour.

The last segment of the Tower of the Spirits is what it should have been: you need to go ahead, press a switch, then go back, get another phantom, go to another room, find hidden doors to get hidden keys... if all the dungeons had been like this, the game would have been definitely better. Not to mention that, in GB, in 1992 or so, each dungeon used to have its own different music.

The game improves in the last couple of hours of gameplay, but... I miss the old, GB(A) Zelda games.

 

[Shadow]

Also, am I the only one that finds the Tower of Spirits to be more annoying than the Temple of the Ocean King? The TotOK never bothered me too much, but I absolutely dread revisiting the ToS each time, and having to control Zelda just aggravates me even more.

Temple of the Ocean King made me put down Phantom Hourglass for more than half a year before ever picking that game up again.

That said, I plan on including something similar in my new D&D campaign. Just with better reentry than the Temple of the Ocean king.

However, no mechanic in a LoZ game will ever be as frustrating as three days. Gah.

Looking forward to picking up this game whenever I get the money and finish my current game pile that's been there for eternity.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

Okay, but I don't agree with you. I thought that Spirit Tracks had great level designs, and probably the most original puzzles that the series has seen in awhile (most of them involve the phantom). I suppose that you might not like how straightforward the dungeons are in Zelda nowadays, but I think it's a lot better this way. Why do so many people enjoy getting lost?

I reckon you're just not playing it in the right mindset.

You make me sound so old ;__;

I don't want to get lost, but I want to think. I'm not getting stuck, I don't have to think about the puzzles, I just...do...them.

Besides which, the puzzles wasn't so much what I was talking about. The dungeons themselves are bland. Look at The Minish Cap and how much life is in every inch of that game compared to Spirit Tracks.

 

[Evolia Redmoon]

" I'm thinking of Buying Phantom Hourglass before pressing on to the new one...." She stares at Triforce's siggy.
" Oho my god...." Drools.

 

[ÇyänïdëÉX]

You are right they did not give it their all. In fact they haven't tried that much and it wouldn't be fair to compare phantom and tracks to ocarina or the 1992 links awakening. Those days the ideas were fresh and even though there is major area of exploration left to expose they aren't going for it because then what would that leave for the future? we can see this as some games in the past were amazing but short lived because they hit the high note.

The last 3-D zelda game i played was ocarina, i don't care for twilight nor did i care much for minish cap because of the name.

If anything i can say i loved from spirit tracks the village music, train music, and the use of the flute. Oh yeah i don't remember if you heard zeldas voice much but it was adorable in this game.

One more thing, yeah the dungeons are a bit short. I remember i recently played a link to the past and some dungeons were long and frustrating and you died a lot.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

The last 3-D zelda game i played was ocarina, i don't care for twilight nor did i care much for minish cap because of the name.

You must play The Minish Cap. Brilliant game. One of the better 2D Zelda titles and one a great game in general.

 

[SmashBro]

I beat it about 4 or 5 weeks ago, and it was a really fun game

 

[SolarAbusoru]

I really like this game, The locations are nice, traveling in the train is cool, story was good, the boss fights were either fun or annoying (actually, I only think Fraaz was annoying), I thought the puzzles were good, the mini games such as capturing rabbits and the Goron Target minigame are fun (although the rabbits can get a little bit annoying).
The music is excellent as well, controlling the Phantom was cool, I mean this is only the 4th main series Zelda game that allows you to control another character besides Link.

This game also has a very anime-esque feel to it in my opinion, and overall, I like it better than Ocarina of Time.

(PS: Links Conductor uniform rocks.)

 

[Eurydice]

I really like the game so far. I am currently at the sand temple, the only thing i dont like is the spirit flute. Each song took me at least an hour to beat. ugh

 

[ÇyänïdëÉX]

I hated the fire temple song because you had to jump across one note without playing the one in between. ohh yeah and the tempo was soooo off that i had to look up a guide on how to do it.

 

[Eurydice]

I hated the fire temple song because you had to jump across one note without playing the one in between. ohh yeah and the tempo was soooo off that i had to look up a guide on how to do it.

you actually could play the note in between as long as it was only for a second...thats how i finally beat it. that was my most hated of all of them. i didnt think i would ever beat it.