THE INFERNO
Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate!

Rate this Entry

Ghostly clock-thing

Posted December 2nd, 2009 at 12:23 AM by Misheard Whisper
Updated December 2nd, 2009 at 9:43 AM by Misheard Whisper

aka Phantom Hourglass. (See what I did there?) Just finished it for the first time without walkthroughs. Last time was, what, eight months ago? I got so lost in all the freaking temples that I went online for help. Now that I've completely forgotten all the directions I picked up, I decided to pick it up and try again.

I got so addicted, so fast. I stayed up till 2:30 this morning playing it, and I see no difference for tonight (even though I've clocked it). If this is not an awesome game that takes full advantage of the DS's unique capabilities - the mic, the stylus etc - I don't know what is. The entire game is played with the stylus, from opening theme to credits, which is a really neat touch. There are button shortcuts, but I don't use very many of them. You don't need to. The controls are neat. As soon as you pick up a sword (and after the obligatory I-shall-teach-thee-to-wield-a-blade session) you can perform a variety of different attacks, just by moving the stylus in different ways. There's the stab, the slash, the targeted charge, and my personal favourite, the spin-in-a-circle-and-knock-the-stuffing-out-of-everything-nearby move.

The graphics are excellent, considering the limitations of the platform. The world is colourful and attractive, and for the most part, interactive. You can even use your sword - among other things - to cut the grass that grows everywhere to reveal handy health boosts and money. The music is pretty neat, too.

My favourite part of the game would have to be the variety of 'tools' you can use. Some of these are weapons, but they're all kept and controlled separately from your sword. There's a boomerang (exactly follows the path you draw on your screen), a set of bombs (useful for blowing holes in walls), a set of Bombchus (mobile bombs that you can send wherever you want within a certain radius. They're also good for getting places you can't), a bow and arrow (stun dem Phantoms) and a hammer.

Oh god the hammer. The hammer is, idk, God's gift to Link. The best boss battle (all of them are great fun, btw) is straight after you get the hammer. You're facing off against a giant stone Colossus-esque figure named Eox, and to beat him, you have to - get this - launch yourself into the air by standing on one end of a special seesaw and hitting the other end with your hammer. Then, while in midair, you use the hammer - which btw is a huge mallet (carried by a fairy) that you control through some sort of telekinesis - to hit pressure points on his body (conveniently marked with big red buttons XD) and munch his armour, while he stomps around, pounds you with his giant fists and shoots a dozen arrows at you at once. It is so much goddamn fun, I lost on purpose a couple of times just so I could do it again. :3

There are a few other tools, like the shovel and the grappling hook, but yeah. You have to use all of them (except the shovel, I think) to beat the boss at the end of the level you get them in.

God, I love this game.

On the final runthrough of the Temple of the Ocean King, I completely forgot that the Phantom Sword could kill Phantoms, so I snuck around and wasted heaps of time. After sitting through the ending sequence and remembering that it doesn't let you goddamn save after the last boss, I am currently having great fun charging through and beating the crap out of those big armoured beasties that used to scare the hell out of me when I first played it.

No, seriously, I had nightmares because of that frigging temple.

Well, there's my review of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Go buy it. And if you already have, why are you not playing it right now? >:[
Posted inVideo games
Views 1165 Comments 0
« Prev     Main     Next »
Total Comments 0

Comments