#33: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
My first Zelda game and my second game ever. I think I was just 6 years old back then. Massive nostalgia. A fantastic adventure with some great creative ideas.
I love almost everything about this game. Many people critisized the Temple of the Ocean King, that you had to go through all of it over and over again. But I had fun with it, often repeating it just to get through faster.
Obviously it looks ugly in hindsight, even though back then it looked totally okay to me.
The dynamic between the characters especially Linebeck and Ciela is great with some funny dialogue and great character development.
The dungeons offer some great puzzles and very unique bosses, in particular the third boss in the Temple of Courage was very memorable. This giant turtle called Crayk turnes invisible and on one screen you can see Link as always and on the other screen you see what Crayk sees from his point of view. That concept is something I haven't seen anywhere else.
The Goron Temple stands out because of how you beat it together with a Goron.
The section where you try to find the Ghost Ship in the fog was always very scary to me.
I like the map navigation way more than in Spirit Tracks since it offers more movement freedom. And you can jump. On the other hand Spirit Tracks does make a bit more out of limitation it creates by creating tention when you try to get past demon trains and making more tracks a reward for completing certain side quests. Both have their positives. The ship offers way more customisation than the train in Spirit Tracks.
The soundtrack is great. (That reminds me that I forgot to talk about the soundtrack in Ocarina of Time. OoT's soundtrack is imo in the top 3 in the franchise together with The Wind Waker and Skyward Sword, but I can't decide which one's the best.)
Bellum as the main antagonist is surprisingly effective considering he's a mindless monster that doesn't talk. I find him very memorable and think he's the third best main villain (not counting Ghirahim and Zant) in the Zelda series behind Ganondorf and Demise, not in terms of the fight but the character. Yes, I like Bellum more than Vaati. The ending is great.
This game made me truely fall in love with gaming and the Zelda series.
Great, fun game. Will always love it.
Phantom Hourglass is the fourth Zelda game on my list thus far.
