it is time to decide what is the best Zelda game on the ds
- Thread starter Cherry
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Phantom Hourglass, no contest.
Just DS for this thread. This is game 3DS.
Commander_Has
He who hates the darkness and the light fears.
Spirit Tracks, It's got one of the only good pictures of Zelda ever.
Between Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, I prefer Phantom Hourglass.
I think Spirit Tracks has really good puzzles, and the gameplay involving Zelda is fun and unique. Traversing the overworld in a train is not my favorite. It's not bad, but I prefer everything else the series has ever tried - walking, horse riding, sailing, running as a wolf, flying a loftwing, and anything else I'm not mentioning like the animal buddies in the Oracle games. Riding a train is just inherently worse for exploration since you have to stay on tracks, but the different biomes are neat. When you get to leave the train to explore new areas, that leads to some fun exploration. The instant death from crashing into certain enemies was irritating, fast travel was probably the worst in the series of games that have it, and side quests involving the train were not my favorite. Another thing is that bunnies are cute and fun, but if you miss catching one, it's such a pain to reset the area to try again. Dungeons are fantastic in this game, but I think this is the least fun the series has ever been in terms of everything you need to do to go from dungeon to dungeon. I love this game overall, but there were a lot of things it could have done better. Lastly, the spirit flute is the single worst thing ever put in a Zelda game. I haven't had too much trouble with it relative to some horror stories I've heard, but I dread every section that you have to play with a sage.
Phantom Hourglass isn't perfect either, but I am less annoyed by its imperfections compared to Spirit Tracks and find myself more eager to replay Phantom Hourglass. I've only finished Spirit Tracks once (played deep into the game at least 3 times), but I've played through Phantom Hourglass at least 4 times. I think exploration in Phantom Hourglass is pretty great, and there are several interesting optional areas you can stumble upon in the sea. I appreciate the nonlinearity of the dungeon progression as well since that can allow the player to switch things up on different playthroughs. I don't think the dungeons and puzzles are quite as good as in Spirit Tracks, but they are still fun in Phantom Hourglass. The Tower of Spirits is better than the Temple of the Ocean King, but I don't dislike the Temple of the Ocean King. Even though it's repetitive, there are lots of different things you can do on repeated floors once you have more items so that is fun for me.
I love both games, but I think Phantom Hourglass is better.
I think Spirit Tracks has really good puzzles, and the gameplay involving Zelda is fun and unique. Traversing the overworld in a train is not my favorite. It's not bad, but I prefer everything else the series has ever tried - walking, horse riding, sailing, running as a wolf, flying a loftwing, and anything else I'm not mentioning like the animal buddies in the Oracle games. Riding a train is just inherently worse for exploration since you have to stay on tracks, but the different biomes are neat. When you get to leave the train to explore new areas, that leads to some fun exploration. The instant death from crashing into certain enemies was irritating, fast travel was probably the worst in the series of games that have it, and side quests involving the train were not my favorite. Another thing is that bunnies are cute and fun, but if you miss catching one, it's such a pain to reset the area to try again. Dungeons are fantastic in this game, but I think this is the least fun the series has ever been in terms of everything you need to do to go from dungeon to dungeon. I love this game overall, but there were a lot of things it could have done better. Lastly, the spirit flute is the single worst thing ever put in a Zelda game. I haven't had too much trouble with it relative to some horror stories I've heard, but I dread every section that you have to play with a sage.
Phantom Hourglass isn't perfect either, but I am less annoyed by its imperfections compared to Spirit Tracks and find myself more eager to replay Phantom Hourglass. I've only finished Spirit Tracks once (played deep into the game at least 3 times), but I've played through Phantom Hourglass at least 4 times. I think exploration in Phantom Hourglass is pretty great, and there are several interesting optional areas you can stumble upon in the sea. I appreciate the nonlinearity of the dungeon progression as well since that can allow the player to switch things up on different playthroughs. I don't think the dungeons and puzzles are quite as good as in Spirit Tracks, but they are still fun in Phantom Hourglass. The Tower of Spirits is better than the Temple of the Ocean King, but I don't dislike the Temple of the Ocean King. Even though it's repetitive, there are lots of different things you can do on repeated floors once you have more items so that is fun for me.
I love both games, but I think Phantom Hourglass is better.
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I agree that it is Phantom Hourglass. A true sequel to the Wind Waker, while the dungeons are lacking and some are annoyed by the Temple of the Ocean King, I find the WORLD of the Ocean King to be exceedingly interesting. The simple story about war, personified through Bellum and the Ocean King, is genuinely inspired, and the return of Tetra is a welcome addition, though she does not play a large role.
Spirit Tracks is a chore to sit through and it offers absolutely no replay value. Other than some challenging but fundamentally boring Secret Stations, the late game content is non-existent. And the story is one of, if not the, worst Zelda story.
I adore Phantom Hourglass and really do not like Spirit Tracks so this question isn't that difficult.
I don't think anyone vastly prefers Spirit Tracks over Phantom Hourglass, in the way I vastly prefer PH over ST, but I could be wrong.
Spirit Tracks is a chore to sit through and it offers absolutely no replay value. Other than some challenging but fundamentally boring Secret Stations, the late game content is non-existent. And the story is one of, if not the, worst Zelda story.
I adore Phantom Hourglass and really do not like Spirit Tracks so this question isn't that difficult.
I don't think anyone vastly prefers Spirit Tracks over Phantom Hourglass, in the way I vastly prefer PH over ST, but I could be wrong.
I think the biggest reason you select A Link Between Worlds is because you can’t read
I'm surprised that Phantom Hourglass has become the seemingly more popular option in recent years.
Spirit Tracks still takes it for me.
Yes, the train travel is more limited than boat travel, but the music is superior in Spirit Tracks, the dungeons are better, the whip is first introduced in Spirit Tracks, the Tower of Spirits is better than the Temple of the Ocean King, and Byrne is a great character.
To me Phantom Hourglass's only upper sides compared to Spirit Tracks are more dungeons, and that it used to have online play.
Spirit Tracks still takes it for me.
Yes, the train travel is more limited than boat travel, but the music is superior in Spirit Tracks, the dungeons are better, the whip is first introduced in Spirit Tracks, the Tower of Spirits is better than the Temple of the Ocean King, and Byrne is a great character.
To me Phantom Hourglass's only upper sides compared to Spirit Tracks are more dungeons, and that it used to have online play.
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The boat is better than the train,
dungeon ranking, lower number the better:
1. Ghost Ship
2. Mutoh's Temple
3. Snow Temple
4. Sand Temple
5. Goron Temple
6. Temple of Ice
7. Ocean Temple
8. Temple of Wind
9. Temple of Fire
10. Fire Temple
11. Temple of Courage
12. Forest Temple
PH: 42/7 ST: 36/6
PH: 6 ST: 6 TIED
The grappling hook is better than the whip, and the god awful whirlwind isn't in PH
The Temple of the Ocean King actually gives you a reason to return to it: the Tower of Spirits is just 6 mini-dungeons that I have to take the terrible train to over and over. And I barely get to use Zelda: she's as useful as the Goron was in one temple in the last game.
Linebeck is a better character than Byrne.
I concede on the music: ST has great music.
To each their own, but ranking the Fire Temple from Spirit Tracks so low is a headscratcher. Those mine carts are very fun, and get used in tjd boss battle to great effect.
And returning to the Temple of the Ocean King is just tedious.
Zelda could certainly see more use, but the fact she actively plays a role in the game was a breath of fresh air at the time.
it's not getting any better than this
Guinea
Much More Than A Soup™
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- Dec 21, 2022
Ikr, everyone is doing pros and cons of PH and ST but Balloon Trip is really without flaws, its just a flat out good game.
I give it to Spirit Tracks, 100%. I think it's a far superior game in almost every way.
Essentially, Spirit Tracks takes everything Phantom Hourglass did badly and improves upon them. Awkward controls? Fixed (mostly). Music? Incredible. Dungeons? Much better, and harder. Tower of Spirits? Leagues upon leagues better than the Temple of the Ocean King.
I've always found Phantom Hourglass to be a tedious grind of a game, with very little difficulty to make slogging through it feel rewarding. Spirit Tracks, on the other hand, while suffering from an incredibly tedious overworld travel gimmick (something both games are extremely guilty of), has a nicely balanced difficulty, a strong story, excellent dungeons, top tier music, great characters, smooth controls if still annoyingly gimmicky, and just overall I have a lot more fun playing it. To the point at which I would happily replay Spirit Tracks, while I would need to force myself to replay Phantom Hourglass.
While neither are what I would consider top tier Zelda games, Phantom Hourglass is problem the only Zelda game I can truly say I dislike. I've just never really had a good time playing it.
Essentially, Spirit Tracks takes everything Phantom Hourglass did badly and improves upon them. Awkward controls? Fixed (mostly). Music? Incredible. Dungeons? Much better, and harder. Tower of Spirits? Leagues upon leagues better than the Temple of the Ocean King.
I've always found Phantom Hourglass to be a tedious grind of a game, with very little difficulty to make slogging through it feel rewarding. Spirit Tracks, on the other hand, while suffering from an incredibly tedious overworld travel gimmick (something both games are extremely guilty of), has a nicely balanced difficulty, a strong story, excellent dungeons, top tier music, great characters, smooth controls if still annoyingly gimmicky, and just overall I have a lot more fun playing it. To the point at which I would happily replay Spirit Tracks, while I would need to force myself to replay Phantom Hourglass.
While neither are what I would consider top tier Zelda games, Phantom Hourglass is problem the only Zelda game I can truly say I dislike. I've just never really had a good time playing it.