Phantom Hourglass...The WORST Zelda Game? - (Under the Super Scope)

[RagnarokX]

See as someone who played Four Sword Adventures solo and loved every second of it (one of my favorite zeldas actually), requiring multiplayer for it to be fun is already a big negative. Every game becomes fun in co-op with friends.

But I'll be honest, it's hard to believe this game is that great of a coop game anyway when a fundamental mechanic (the totem) freezes the movement of one or both of the other players. Actually that just sounds like bad design for co-op.

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It's not true that every game becomes fun with co-op and how it's done can differ wildly. A game built to be done by a single player can have multiplayer tacked on and it can be more fun or less fun but isn't required. With TriForce Heroes the single player was tacked on. It's a game that absolutely requires 2 other humans. It seems to me that Nintendo didn't like the idea of requiring multiplayer so they made them tack on a single player option but the game is clearly designed around 3 human players, which is what makes it so good. Other games don't require cooperation as much and TriForce Heroes takes a bold direction.

The totem mechanic is brilliant. You have to coordinate each player to get things done. The bottom players can't perform actions but control movement and the top player can't aim but performs the actions. You really have to work together. The use of height in the game is probably one of the best uses of the 3DS' stereoscopic 3D in a practical application.

 

[ASilentProtagonist]

I liked this, but Minish Cap is the best portable Zelda!

 

[Deleted member 4037]

I love PH, probably more than BotW

dont @ me

 

[Clix]

I liked everything about the game, eventhe tenple of the ocean king, except the controls. Wish it had traditional controls with touch screen as secondary.

 

[chaobreaker]

Phantom Hourglass is a poor Zelda game for many reasons but one of them that still gets me to this day is its weak selection of usuable items

Just the same type of stuff you find in most Zelda games but with underwhelming touch control use

Spirit Tracks rectified this with some cool items like the Sand Wand and the ropesnake Whip.

 

[Alboreo]

I genuinely prefer it to Spirit Tracks. The overworld in the latter was one of my least favorite features to ever be in a Zelda game, to the point that it honestly ruined it for me.

 

[Farmboy]

I liked it when it came out, but nowadays it's more of a mobile game in terms of scope and ambition. Not that that's a bad thing; in fact I'd love a mobile Zelda that expands on its (better) ideas.

Linebeck rules.

 

[steviestar3]

PH is better than ST and SS.... but that's saying almost nothing at all.

Those were some dark times for Zelda.

 

[Treasure Silvergun]

That honor goes to Spirit Tracks. Phantom Hourglass at least works. ST completely lacks direction and faith in its own design.

 

[RagnarokX]

Phantom Hourglass is a poor Zelda game for many reasons but one of them that still gets me to this day is its weak selection of usuable items

Just the same type of stuff you find in most Zelda games but with underwhelming touch control use

Spirit Tracks rectified this with some cool items like the Sand Wand and the ropesnake Whip.

Click to shrink...

This doesn't accurately portray the weapons. The list LOOKS boring, but the ways all of the items are used are inventive and unique. You draw paths for the bombchus and boomerang to follow to solve puzzles that wouldn't be possible without the touchscreen. The hammer is held by the fairy and is used remotely from Link, which allows it to be used in ways the hammer can't in other games.

My favorite is the grappling hook. It's such a boring item in Wind Waker, but in Phantom Hourglass you can attach both ends to grapple points to create tightropes and you can use the tightropes as slingshots.

 

[onpoint]

Hated this and Spirit Tracks, though maybe hated the sequel more.

 

[Megatron]

I Actually liked this one a lot. It was much better than a Spirit Tracks and Minish Cap TO ME. I found the linearity of those two mind-numbing. But I am well aware I am in the minority in regards to Minish.

 

[Jpop]

Zelda 2 is the worst.

 

[Cryptosporidium]

Honestly, this game is one of the best Zeldas in terms of conveying adventure

Loved the characters and story, had a blast despite the Ocean King temple

 

[MisterGrey3000]

PH is better than ST and SS.... but that's saying almost nothing at all.

Those were some dark times for Zelda.

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"dark times" lol
I wish some of my fav series like Sonic, Bomberman, and Crash Bandicoot had dark times with games that were as polished, skillfully crafted, and creative as Phantom Hourglass or Spirit Tracks (especially).
FUCK, if those game series' dark times had entries that were even a 1/4 as good as Skyward Sword they'd be 50x more healthy and relevant than they are nowadays.

Zelda fans are loopy as fuck, I swear.

 

[Plinko]

I'm still flabbergasted somebody approved the concept of replaying the Temple of the Ocean King again and again. One of the worst gaming design decisions in history.

 

[goldenpp73]

Dunno how it could be worse than Spirit Tracks or some of the other spin off games, it's not amazing but it was pretty good.

 

[zenspider]

I love Phantom Hourglass, and still find it to be one of the most fun games of its generation.

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Same. Minish Cap was a terrible disappointment to me with how it locked up the overworld. Phantom Hourglass was a return to form for 2D Zelda, handheld Zelda, one of the most robust stylus games, and personally I found it more fun and engaging than it's console brethren at the time.

 

[NoReasonReally]

I genuinely prefer it and Spirit Tracks to Wind Waker, to be honest.

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Me too.

I honestly didn't find it bad at all, and was surprised with all the hate it gets when I started visiting internet forums

 

[Poppy]

i thought phantom hourglass was a bit underwhelming but enjoyable enough that i finished it. it was spirit tracks where i just checked out completely and wasnt having fun anymore

spirit tracks has some cool ideas with an overall imo really bad execution in terms of keeping the player engaged

 

[ZeldaGalaxy94]

One of my favorite Zelda- and DS-game
Loved it a lot more than WW

 

[zenspider]

I'm still flabbergasted somebody approved the concept of replaying the Temple of the Ocean King again and again. One of the worst gaming design decisions in history.

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It's a dungeon ass dungeon. Maybe I lucked by just getting the logic of it mechanically and design-wise, but I though it was really fun.

 

[Recluse]

No, I enjoyed Phantm Hourglass quite a lot.
I'm not even going to list the games I think PH is better than because I can't be bothered with a dogpile, but it's absolutely not the worst.

 

[Lordciego]

I think PH was a great game but is stigmatized because of its not tradicional control method and the Temple of the Ocean King. Story and characters were nice, gameplay was good and it had cool ideas like boat customisation or some puzzles and mechanics that took into account all of the DS possibilities.

 

[Kino]

I think PH was a great game but is stigmatized because of its not tradicional control method and the Temple of the Ocean King. Story and characters were nice, gameplay was good and it had cool ideas like boat customisation or some puzzles and mechanics that took into account all of the DS possibilities.

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When I think back on why i stopped playing this game, the Temple of the Ocean King is pretty much the only thing that comes to mind. That dungeon was so boring and reptitive, I gave up on finishing the last runthrough and never went back.

 

[Keldroc]

Definitely the worst Zelda game. Not a single good choice in the whole thing, but the timed repeated dungeon you have to go back to every time? Hell no. Only Zelda I couldn't finish. Total garbage.

 

[Green Tentacle]

I loved it at the time. I thought the characters were fun and that the touch controls were great for some things (boomerang, bombchus) and only slightly annoying at times (rolling in particular).

Now I want to find my copy of it and see how well I like it now.

One thing I still think was great about the DS Zeldas was their text system in the Japanese versions. You can tap any kanji character to show its phonetic reading, which was really helpful for me at the time. Regardless of how highly you rank them as Zelda games, I definitely recommend them to Japanese learners.

 

[Deleted member 35598]

The least best I would rather say...

 

[Tamath]

PH can't be the worst Zelda because Spirit Tracks exists. Fucking pipes rendered the game unfinishable. That and sitting on a train to get around the overworld was as dull as ditchwater, anyway.

 

[matrix-cat]

It certainly is for me. I've at least enjoyed every other Zelda game I've played, but I genuinely hated my time with Phantom Hourglass. I gave up somewhere in the second half when it sent me back to that damn temple for the fiftieth time. A dungeon with a time limit would have been bad enough, but this is a dungeon with a time limit, where you have to repeat stuff you've already done every time, with stealth sections, invisible enemies, invincible enemies, and parts where you have to carry stuff that limits your abilities. I just couldn't take another round (I know there are shortcuts, but they don't cut it anywhere near short enough).

It's also maybe the most egregious Nintendo moment of doggedly sticking to a control gimmick to the game's detriment. The game would have handled so much better if you could have controlled Link with the d-pad and used your weapons with the stylus, but Nintendo insisted on having you do everything with the stylus instead. People think Skyward Sword went overboard, but imagine if that game had made you waggle to walk, too :P

 

[Taruranto]

It's still weird how we went from the amazing Capcom portable Zelda games, to these mediocre two...

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I think "mediocre" is being kind here.

 

[SkyOdin]

I like Phantom Hourglass. It may be relatively weak as a Zelda game, but the series is so good that it is still better than a ton of other games. Linebeck is a great character too, and he brought a lot of hilarity to the game.

I'm also the guy who loves the Temple of the Ocean King. I enjoy its central gimmick of accumulating knowledge to make subsequent runs faster and more efficient.

This doesn't accurately portray the weapons. The list LOOKS boring, but the ways all of the items are used are inventive and unique. You draw paths for the bombchus and boomerang to follow to solve puzzles that wouldn't be possible without the touchscreen. The hammer is held by the fairy and is used remotely from Link, which allows it to be used in ways the hammer can't in other games.

My favorite is the grappling hook. It's such a boring item in Wind Waker, but in Phantom Hourglass you can attach both ends to grapple points to create tightropes and you can use the tightropes as slingshots.

Click to shrink...

That grappling hook is one of the all-time great Zelda items. You can attach a monster to a pot, which drags the pot in to crash into the monster. You can create both bridges and slingshots. If you ported that thing into Breath of the Wild you could engineer some amazing Rube Goldberg machines.

The touch controls are controversial, but they really worked for the tools. The ones in Spirit Tracks felt a little conventional in comparison.

 

[Cudpug]

It had some neat ideas but it's telling that I never finished it, never replayed it and didn't get Spirit Tracks due to thinking it would be similar.

 

[dude]

Nope, I liked it. It was quite formulaic, but I found the dungeons short and to the point. I liked the Temple of the Ocean King as well. I had more fun with it than with TP :\

 

[unicornKnight]

I liked everything in that game until that fucking dungeon... why? I hope one day a remaster will come to fix this shit.

 

[RagnarokX]

That grappling hook is one of the all-time great Zelda items. You can attach a monster to a pot, which drags the pot in to crash into the monster. You can create both bridges and slingshots. If you ported that thing into Breath of the Wild you could engineer some amazing Rube Goldberg machines.

The touch controls are controversial, but they really worked for the tools. The ones in Spirit Tracks felt a little conventional in comparison.

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Agreed. So good:

 

[NintendoMariah]

I actually really enjoyed Phantom Hourglass. It was at least better than Tri Force Heroes.

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Came here to post this. I didnt even continue on with Tri force. Phantom was really good

 

[Soul Unison]

Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks are the only Zelda games I've never finished and quit out of sheer boredom.

 

[Aprikurt]

The DS Zeldas are a blight on galactic purity.

 

[Velocity:Design:Comfort]

Phantom Hourglass is a poor Zelda game for many reasons but one of them that still gets me to this day is its weak selection of usuable items

Just the same type of stuff you find in most Zelda games but with underwhelming touch control use

Spirit Tracks rectified this with some cool items like the Sand Wand and the ropesnake Whip.

Click to shrink...

That PH pic is goddamn sad.

 

[djinn]

Spirit Tracks is much worse. PH has Linebeck and that makes up for a lot.

 

[Etrian Darkness]

I think Spirit Tracks is worse.
My bottom 3 Zeldas without a doubt.
Skyward Sword > Phantom Hourglass > Spirit Tracks

 

[FreddeGredde]

Only Zelda game I've started and didn't finish. Lost complete interest after just 2-3 dungeons and couldn't continue. Skipped Spirit Tracks as a result.

 

[KDR_11k]

Disagree, Spirit Tracks is worse on account of the goddamn train. Aonuma explained that he saw players rush through the train portions as fast as possible so he made the train slower. Yeah, that's what that needed... When the game added those enemy trains that you have to path around and sometimes just wait for their patrol route I just ragequit that damn game. Fuck that. At least the boat felt like you were in charge.

The trick with the Temple is that you're supposed to note down all the things you cannot use yet, in future runs you use those notes to go through new routes with your new items. I don't think any two runs in the temple were alike for me. Of course if you don't take notes and just run the same path as before you're getting a repetitive experience.

I'd say PH had probably the best puzzles on account of the varied item usages and the way it incorporated the map notes. Especially in Twilight Princess it often felt like "use hookshot on hook until puzzle is solved".

 

[Jonneh]

I actually find Spirit Tracks delightful. I'm writing the episode at the moment and it's so clever and well designed. Most puzzles in Phantom Hourglass are basically: "PULL THESE LEVERS: 4 2 1 3" and then you do it. Spirit Tracks has a similar take on this early on apart from the clue is "Hit the right switch before the top one..." - this kind of hint makes you think about the information being relayed to you rather than just noting down exactly what it's saying. It's so much more effective with the note system.

I agree that Linebeck is a great character but he's the only great character. Spirit Tracks has a far more vibrant cast and world, including one of the best Zeldas.

 

[Scythesurge]

I gave PH a good try, was pretty excited for it actually but never could finish it. I at least found it more playable than ST which is in my running for worst Zelda. Kinda find it funny to see people saying the NES Zeldas are the worst ones, I'd much rather play either of those today than any of the Zelda games from the 2000's lol.

 

[ghostemoji]

I tried to like this game and I was super excited to play it before release, but it's just bad. I didn't like a single thing about it. Hated revisiting the temple over and over again, didn't like any of the input gimmicks. Didn't really care for a single thing about the game outside of continuing on with Wind Waker's art style. Didn't even give Spirit Tracks a second look because of how much I disliked PH.

 

[Sojiro]

I played through it, and thought it was OK, but it and Spirit Tracks are definitely the weakest entries of the series imo. I don't think they're horrible mind you, but in a LoZ listing for me, Phantom and Spirit would be at the bottom.

 

[maximumzero]

I disagree. It's up there as one of my favorite Zelda titles.

 

[lazyguy deluxe]

Phantom Hourglass can't be the worst when Spirit Tracks exists.
I actually quite like Phantom Hourglass.
Honestly arguing about which Zelda is the worst or best is pointless cause everyone's opinion ranges so much from each others' your favorite is someone else's worst and vice versa.