The Best Legend of Zelda

For my money, PHourglass is better than Spizzer (yes, we're doing it). It shouldn't be the case: Spizzer has more mechanics, arguably the best use of the Zelda character ever and, well, trains. It also doesn't feature the Tower To Which We Must Always Return. And yet, and yet. PHourglass has much more charm, in my book, and the ability to explore a generous overworld instead of figuratively being funnelled from place to place. Driving the trains also became tiresome for me very quickly.

Both DS Zeldas are flawed, for me, but I have better memories of PHourglass.

Zero may have joked on twitter about actually doing a Zelda-like poll / vote, what's peoples thoughts, especially seeing Okami just turned 10.

I enjoyed that poll and reading people's thoughts very much. Well done all! I'm not a fan of Hyrule Warriors, but intelligent well educated people really like it, so I accept it's not for me. (Also you guys liked it as well )
And Arthrun's right - Phantom Hourglass is, in my opinion, a drudge. I think it's the only Zelda game I haven't 100%ed (INCORRECT JIMBOB - YOU DIDN'T GET ALL THE FIGURINES IN WIND WAKER BECAUSE ONE OF THE DUDES DISAPPEARS AFTER A WHILE)

But no, I don't want to do a poll of "games that are a bit like other games".

Yes, I was being a little arch when I suggested a Zelda-like game poll. I would also not look forward to defining what makes a game 'Zelda like'. Furthermore, I know what vote I'd like us to do next... but let's give the voting threads a rest for a little while. The Best Of Zelda vote isn't over yet!

"The Best Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening"

I predict DX to top it with original in second

I'll take Spirit Tracks linear tracks over PH's large mound of absolutely nothing any day of the week. The large nothingness worked in Wind Waker because it had a decent amount of content, so the mass of nothing made it feel like an actual ocean. PH had none of that. Not to mention every island felt exactly the same bar one or two thanks to the use of the exact same music and visual assets the entire time.

Honestly I'm of the view Phantom Hourglass is the one of the pair that lacks a soul. Spirit Tracks oozes the feeling that, for all its small niggly flaws, the dev team actually tried and put their heart in to it. It was a far cry from PH's cheap flash game presentation.

Small niggly flaws, like inescapable insta-death trains and absolutely nothing to discover because you were stuck on rails? You may say it felt nothingy, but I remember PH having a few totally optional islands that you at least have to go after yourself.

The two games largely look very similar? I like the presentation of both of them. PH still had a good number of islands, and like WW the free-roam approach gives a feeling of exploration and discovery that by comparison is missing from Spirit Tracks. I also find it hard to claim PH as soulless when it features none other than Linebeck himself.

As for sound design PH is pretty forgettable and made no real impact on me, but it's not a primary concern for me as a handheld game,where half of my play time will be spent muted anyway.

The journey is only half of the equation. If the destinations are small in number and almost entirely grass filled platues filled with chu-chu's and miniblins they aren't worth the time. In Wind Waker we travelled to isles made of fire and ice, seemingly in-scalable peaks of ruins, and all manner of bizarre and charming islets. In PH we travelled to the same samey island seven times.

More to the point, if the journey doesn't offer anything meaningful with its "freedom" then that freedom becomes redundant. You had free movement in OoT's Hyrule field too, didn't make it anything but a droll empty space used solely to get from one local to another. The same goes for the sea. The only real difference between PH and ST was in one you draw a line, the other you travel one already set.

It should also be noted that Spirit Tracks has a slightly longer completion time than phantom hourglass, meaning it has more or the same amount of side content as ph. So the "extra islands" become somewhat redundant. Especially the remark about discovery, since it was always patently obvious where everything was as the map was revealed, same as Spirit Tracks. The discoveries were at actual locations, which Spirit Tracks had far better of.


Seven or so years later I can remember many a part of Spirit Tracks. Phantom Hourglass? Aside from the same dungeon shtick and the islands that I suspect I fail to recall distinctly because they simply weren't distinct about the only memorable thing I remember is Linebeck, and that the me that played it back then was far easier to please.

@Drunka are we getting to see what else placed where, as be nice to know where likes of Links Awakening came.

Gently unstickied so that it can float down the forum at its own pace, much like Link's raft at the end of Link's Awakening.

masofdas wrote:

@Drunka are we getting to see what else placed where, as be nice to know where likes of Links Awakening came.

Yeah some time. I've got a life mate

I'm so lonely