Choo choo! All aboard the spirit train! The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is finally out and I’ve had the chance to play most of it for the past week. Most of you probably said “Uhhh…what?” when you heard the next Zelda would have a train in it. Others may have just done one huge facepalm. I’m here to show you what this game is all about and how it fairs to it’s not as identical twin, Phantom Hourglass. Continue reading to see the full impression/mini review. (this blog post does contain some minor spoilers from the first about 15 minutes of the game)
Storyline-
One of the things the Zelda series is known for is it’s somewhat clever storyline structure. Ok, sure, now the storylines aren’t as clever (you may be able to find some charts showing how almost all zelda storylines go). However each Zelda game has a nice amount of twists in the story that make you go “Oooo aaaa”, and this game isn’t shy on that at all. You start out in New Hyrule, a land settled by the original Link and Zelda from Wind Waker. You’ll find yourself as the stereotypical Link…except for the fact that you’re wearing a black train conductor suit! For you see, in this Zelda you are 100 years from the events of Wind Waker and there’s much newer technology (well not that much newer…there’s still no guns :P). Anyways when you first start you’ll be told how New Hyrule came to be by the one and only Niko. Yes the same exact Niko from Wind Waker (dang, he must be really old!). Anyways you’ll make your way to Hyrule to become an official engineer, yada yada yada, Zelda needs your help, yada yada yada, you goto the Tower of Spirits. I’m trying not to spoil too much here, but basically the Tower of Spirits is Spirit Tracks’s version of the Temple of the Ocean King (I’ll explain more about this later). Basically the Tower of Spirits was here when the people first settled here and so were the railroad tracks. Basically there’s one big bad dude in the tower and 4 temples. The spirit tracks transfer the energy from the temples to the Tower of Spirits so that big baddy can’t destroy Hyrule to pieces. Too bad for you, the Spirit Tracks and the Tower of Spirits were destroyed recently because of a certain someone. Basically what you have to do is get the chart for each rail road map, then go restore the power in each temple to rebuild the Tower of Spirits.
So yah, that’s basically the story in a nutshell. Oh and Zelda is dead. Nah just messing with you. She is technically dead though. Her body was stolen, so now she follows you around in spirit form acting as your Navi in this game (she’s no where near annoying as Navi was though). Basically she’ll be helping you in certain situations by possessing things, giving you hints, etc. But chances are, you already knew this from all the trailers. Also I think it’s fair to mention this game is more of a sequel to Wind Waker than Phantom Hourglass. Seeing as how Phantom Hourglass took place in an alternate world and Spirit Tracks has returning characters from Wind Waker.
Graphics and Controls-
Seeing as how this game uses basically the same engine as Phantom Hourglass the controls and graphics are almost identical. The only thing different would be the ability to control Zelda when she’s in a Phantom and when you’re on the train. The train controls are pretty simple, somewhat similar to Phantom Hourglass’s boat. However instead of drawing a line anywhere on the map to move, you have to draw it along tracks. You also have more speed controls, now instead of the normal go/stop you have: backwards/emergency brake, stop, forward, faster forward. You’ll also be moving the same way as Phantom Hourglass, but honestly touch controls are much better than a d-pad (especially in a full 3D environment).
There’s also a different menu look. I’m not going to say it’s the best Zelda menu in the series but it sure is a great improvement on Phantom Hourglass’s menu. I’m also not saying Phantom’s was bad this one’s just alot better. It has a much more alive feel to it, and it’s much more smooth. Also instead of items being in one corner and menu being in the other corner (the button’s for them that it) items and menu are merged into one thing.
Ignore the fact that it’s in Spanish and the graphics are a little worse (it’s much easier to take pictures of a game when they’re run through an emulator).
Gameplay-
Ok I’ll come right out and say this, Spirit Tracks has a train. Gasp! Ok, now that we’ve got that out of the way I want to now say that Spirit Tracks’s gameplay is of course similar to Phantom Hourglass’s (this is to be expected). Now that doesn’t mean Spirit Tracks is the same exact thing as PH (Phantom Hourglass) but with a train. Oh no no, it’s actually better than PH in terms of puzzles and combat. Honestly I love the puzzles given to you in Spirit Tracks, they seem much more creative than PH’s. This game successfully takes all the same old models/textures (with some new ones too) and makes much better puzzles with them. Here’s an example (this happens within the first 10 minutes, so not too many spoilers), you’ll need to help Zelda sneak out of the castle. But instead of the classic stealth sequence (where if either of you are seen you get caught) you’re given a guard uniform and you have to distract guards by throwing rocks or talking to them, then telling Zelda to go on.
Anyways, onto the train. The train is pretty fun for maybe the first half or 2/3 of the game. It can be customized like the ship, and you can shoot things with a cannon add-on (just tap to shoot). You will be drawing the path you want to take like on PH, but alot of times you’ll have to make a quick change in direction to avoid an Evil Train (basically they can’t be killed, they have minds of their own, and they’re bombs on rails). Also whenever you want to stop at a town you don’t just draw a path to it and hit ok, you have to actually time your stops to stop right at the station. There’s also some sidequests where you’ll have a passenger aboard. Basically whenever you have passenger’s you have the be the best dang train conductor you can be (don’t get hit by monsters, whenever there’s signs on the side of the tracks saying to go slow or blow your whistle you do it, and stop right at the station…don’t go past it). If the passenger get’s to mad they’ll just say “Screw this!” and get off. You may also have to (spoilers...sorta) transfer cargo to someplace, and if you’re hit a small amount of the cargo may be lost.(this is the end of sorta spoilers) Then there’s also some cool mechanics used with the whistle, like whenever you want to get an animal off the tracks so you don’t hit them you blow your whistle. Oh and like I said before the train is fun for maybe the first half of them game and then you’re like “Oh my god come on!” (there’s no way to make it go faster, even at the end of the game), so yes you do have some way of teleporting but it’s not as convenient as PH’s cyclone slate (don’t want to spoil too much). All I will say is it’s not readily available at any time, you more or less have to get to each teleportation place.
CHOO CHOO! I’m on a train, I’m on a train, I’m on a train motha ****er, on a train!
Now for items/dungeons. Some item’s are pretty typical like the boomerang, but there’s also unique items like the the flute (you slide the flute and then blow in it to play music, basically it’s the ocarina of this game). The flute can either be fun for you, or hell. There’s places where you have to copy what people play almost perfectly and it may take dozens of times to get it right. I’d have to say this is one of Spirit Tracks’ biggest faults. There’s also another central dungeon in this game (the Tower of Spirits) that you have to keep going back to (like Temple of the Ocean King) but it’s alot better. You don’t have to redo the same puzzles each time, instead you skip the last parts you already did. Also each part of the central dungeon has it’s own theme (darkness, sand, fire, etc.). In this central dungeon there are still phantoms but there are new types, you’re not timed, your life is not slowly depleted, but there are still safe areas where phantoms can’t see you. You also have to gather 3 tears of light in each level so you can damage a phantom and allow Zelda to possess them. Yes, Zelda can possess things, cool I know. The puzzles you can do with her in phantom form are surprisingly cool too. Needless to say you’ll have fun in this central dungeon.
Conclusion-
In conclusion Spirit Tracks obviously surpasses it’s brother in many many aspects. I may go as far to say that Spirit Tracks is what Phantom Hourglass should have been. You take Phantom Hourglass and fix most of it’s faults and make it a bit more fun the result would be Spirit Tracks. I’m not trying to say Spirit Tracks is a perfect game, but it is pretty fun. If you’re a fan of the series you will definitely enjoy this, if you’re not it will still be a great experience. One of the only huge faults I can find with the game is that the train travel’s “wow” factor dies out after a little bit and you may find yourself going “Are we there yet?”, and there’s the problem with the flute being a little over frustrating.
Overall Spirit Tracks is a great game, and it’s easily a recommended game to get.
Projected Scores-
I’m not going to be “officially” scoring this game as I haven’t actually finished it. This is more or less just a mini review. So this is just a projected score. After I finish the game fully I will go back here (or on the forums) and add my actual score.
Story 9/10 – Pretty good story compared to Phantom Hourglass and some other titles in the series. So far it hasn’t even mentioned the triforce or master sword, so hopefully this game with be the first in a while to break the stereotypical Zelda storyline problem.
Controls/Graphics 8/10 – Improved menu, responsive controls, graphics are good for a DS title. Only problem is it’s basically the same thing as Phantom Hourglass’s graphics and controls. However they did still add new monsters and models to the game.
Gameplay 8/10 – A train is truly something never thought of being used in a zelda game before. There’s also the fact that they have Zelda actually going on the adventure with you now and the puzzles are alot better than Phantom Hourglass’s. They really added some pretty cool mechanics to this game that makes you go “Wow that’s a cool idea!”.
Overall 25/30 or 8/10 – This is an awesome game for something on the DS. You should enjoy this game even if you didn’t like Wind Waker or Phantom Hourglass.
Great Review Delta!
Exactly My Thoughts!