Does Spirit Tracks's Overworld Outweigh Its Benefits?

[A Link In Time]

While many fans personally disagree, critical opinion deems The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks to be the worst of the fourteen main Zelda games with an aggregate score of 87 on Metacritic and 86.92% on Gamerankings. The primary complaint revolved around the disconnected and linear nature of the overworld. One problem with recent overworlds especially those of the DS games and Skyward Sword is "unlocking" portions after completion of a specific task, usually completion of a dungeon. The problem was compounded in Spirit Tracks due to the elemental nature of each area prompting it to feel more like a Mario game with specific themed worlds than a Zelda installment. The set rails also sapped exploration from the ovverworld although sidequests including rabbit collecting slightly alleviated the problem.

But among these vices, there was much improvement which appears to be largely ignored by major gaming sites. Without delving deeper many dismissed Spirit Tracks as a Phantom Hourglass 2 sans the exploration. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Spirit Tracks improved upon central dungeon design with a convenient spiral staircase allowing players to progress from where they left off in the Tower of Spirits; the game also boasted superior dungeon and boss design over Phantom Hourglass and cast Zelda in one of her most prominent narrative roles heretofore. Were those changes too little? Did the hindrance of the overworld overshadow these perks? Discuss below.

 

[JuicieJ]

The train portions are really the only significant flaw with Spirit Tracks. While I think they have a lot of positive things about them, they also have a lot of negative, creating a bipolar experience while traveling across the rails. However, everything else in the game is simply fantastic and does very few things wrong. The game is a vast improvement over Phantom Hourglass, fixing nearly every issue its predecessor had, much like Skyward Sword with Twilight Princess (I know ST came out first, it's just an analogy).

Like you said in the OP, the Tower of Spirits and the dungeons were all superior, and the on-foot overworld portions were much more entertaining and innovative, as well, not to mention the bosses are some of the coolest in the franchise. It's one of Zelda's stronger titles despite what the haters have to say, and even though its one major flaw drags it down a noticeable amount, it's nowhere near enough to kill the entire experience. Truly a phenomenal game.

 

[Night Owl]

While it did improve a lot from Phantom Hourglass as far as the central dungeon and general controls are concerned, It gets largely overshadowed by the train travel.

Being on rails caused the overworld to feel tiny. The map looked and is huge, but it felt small because you are only free to interact with the areas on or near the rails.
Towns, dungeons, and other stations are really the only places you can look for treasure, which makes the world feel that much smaller.

Yes the bunnies and missions helped alleviate it but it wasn't enough.
The lack of freedom made the overworld a chore to travel.

In Phantom Hourglass you had freedom to explore every square inch of the sea, and we had seacharts for treasure hunting.
The sea did a much better job of keeping it from seeming tiny because we had more freedom.

 

[Cel-Shaded Deku]

I found Spirit Tracks to be an improvement over Phantom Hourglass but just average even after factoring in nuisances such as the overworld and the Spirit Flute songs, which was more of a problem but still not worth getting butthurt over, in my opinion. The main problem the game has is that there really isn't anything about it that stands out about it and after one playthrough I had little motivation to play it again, and the huge, empty overworld has little to do with it because Windwaker is largely the same but I really like that game.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

...Huh. I must be the only person here to actually LIKE the overworld. But I just like trains in general, so it's an unfair bias.

I really like this game, and ironically the train sections are a part of that reason.

 

[MW7]

I agree with you overall. The questionable overworld design with the tracks definitely doesn't overshadow the many things the game does extremely well. For me the puzzle design was probably the best (which for me just means most challenging as well as creative) of any Zelda game other than Oracle of Ages, and I actually had to think about what I was doing or had to do fairly often. The dungeons were very enjoyable for me because of the layouts and puzzles. I would say though that the overworld is easily my least favorite of any Zelda game. In Wind Waker or Skyward Sword the boat and loftwing weren't executed to perfection, but they definitely added much to the experience of the respective games. Spirit Tracks is the only game that for me the transportation system outright detracted from my overall experience of the game. Still it's a great game, but I really disliked the train a lot. I still play the game for its many positive aspects, but the transport system and overworld are only bearable for me and rarely enjoyable.

 

[r2d93]

Spirit Tracks casts a massive shadow over Phantom Hourglass IMO. It is better in every single possible way. Better story, better soundtrack, better bosses, better dungeons, better transportation, everythingg.

The only reason that I think ST is ranked so low is because it's PH's sequel. People were disappointed by Phantom Hourglass, and had no interest in playing just a follow up on the same system to a game that isn't really that good. Which is a massive shame because Spirit Tracks corrected so much that Phantom Hourglass got wrong

 

[Terminus]

The big ****up was the overworld and the fact that it was effectively nonexistent.

Considering the SS Overworld came after this, I just hope this doesn't signify a franchise-wide change... ulp.

 

[JuicieJ]

The big ****up was the overworld and the fact that it was effectively nonexistent.

Considering the SS Overworld came after this, I just hope this doesn't signify a franchise-wide change... ulp.

It's been a series-wide thing since OoT, to be quite honest. Almost every modern Zelda overworld has issues that are hard to ignore. :/