Really disappointed in Zelda Spirit Tracks...

[shams]

Ok, I'm not going to rave on too much here. Figure I'm about halfway through the game, and should reserve judgement until I'm done. But in short:

 - I loved Phantom Hourglass (more so than Twilight really)

 - big Zelda fan in general, have played all the games

I'm really disappointed with Spirit Tracks. I'm slightly less disappointed now than I was at the start, but still...

 - I feel its the first time there has ever been a real derivative game in the Zelda series. Every game up to now has been really original, and different when compared to previous titles (including Majora) - with Spirit Tracks, it feels like they took PH, added the on-rails part - and extended the game. Its more an expansion than a real new Zelda.

 - I enjoyed the boating in PH, but I'm close to disgusted with the train sections in ST. Apart from really not making *any* sense (in story terms) its just *not* fun in any way. Its also Zelda on rails - something that amuses me (in a bad way). Its lost a core element of the classic zelda gameplay - it limits exploration, removes puzzles from the overworld (and so on).

 - even the original zelda's had the player exploring a large world. In ST, they have managed to break it down to small, digestible segments - and taken away most of the fun in the meantime. The levels I have explored seem to be more about constraining the player, then encouraging exploration and creativity with the items.

 - the production (for a Zelda game) is some of the worst I have ever seen from Nintendo - ever. Part of the purpose of having an "on-rails" system is to enhance a game visually (control camera/placement) - but there is no attempt of this at all. The entire overworld feels like a quick tech demo, with programmer art - something someone whipped up in their spare time, and was considered 'good enough'. Some of the textures and flat trees ... are truly horrible IMO. In comparison the overhead levels are excellent.

 - its extremely 'rinse-and-repeat', even more so than I have ever seen before from any Zelda. Go to tower. Get 3 things. Attack X. Get map. Go to point 'A'. Solve Puzzle. Go to point 'B'. Play song. Go to temple. Solve temple. Go back to tower, do 4 times to get to end of game (* - based on my current experience - with some extra events thrown in here and there).

 - one of the big advertised things for me was the duality control of Hero & Zelda - but I was extremely disappointed to see it only used in the tower sections (to date). Boo hoo.

 - the player guiding is much worse than previous games. Lets just say I got "stuck" at a section because the game was telling me NOT to leave - when I actually had to leave, explore half the world, and learn some obscure song to continue. No hints, guidance or anything - in fact it was anti-guiding me. Boo, boo, boo!

...

There have been some pro's for me:

 - interaction with the Princess is cute and fun

 - the dungeons are classic zelda, with lots of fun puzzles (but so far with too little and easy combat)

...

I'm not going to write it off until I finish it - but so far its a disappointing 7/10 for me. I was hoping for much more from Ninty - I really hope the Wii Zelda is better.