Thoughts on Spirit Tracks

[WinterWolf]

I constantly hear people complain about Spirit Tracks, and I'm confused as to why.

I personally really liked ST, of course it's not going to be the best but I thought the double screen functionality worked well, the side quests were fun and the puzzles were just the right balance between challenging and imaginative. I liked the addition of the train, and I felt that the overworld in ST was much more immersive than WW's Great Sea which just felt like a giant version of OoT's overworld.


I loved using the microphone to play the Spirit Flute, as a musician it was fun and as a player it established more of a connection between my actions and how it affected the fate of Hyrule. I know for many people the microphone functionality was faulty but the concept of it is still something we haven't seen in other Zeldas.

I also don't understand why no one liked the train. I can kind of see that locomotives wouldn't really fit in the fantasy of the Zelda universe, but it takes place pretty far into the timeline. We're talking probably thousands of years before SS, which was the game that started it all, and had freaking robots.

While the Zelda in ST was no Tetra or Midna in terms of companions, she did have much more personality than previous princesses. She genuinely cared for her mentor and the citizens of Hyrule. She befriended Link on her own accord and she had natural fears and concerns, such as the fear of mice and she respected the Lokomos and especially Anjean. The Lokomos themselves I thought had more personality than any of the Sages in OoT.

Even most of the side characters had more development and personality than those in previous titles. Byrne, for example, realized what he was doing was wrong and offered to help Link. Niko was given much more depth as an elderly man than he had as a pirate. Alfonso wasn't the strongest character but he genuinely cared for Link like a family member.

And that's not even all I have to day about the game. Overall, the gameplay was fantastic, the music was brilliant, and I thought the plot was pretty solid, even without Ganon.


So, what are your thoughts?

 

[Sheiken]

Spirit Tracks to me is easily one of the most under appreciated Zelda games out there. It fixed many of the things people did not like about PH and Spirit Zelda was up there with Midna in the great companion department.

I think many people who complain about it never played it. It sold decent, but not as well as PH. Maybe they were turned off by the train theme? It kept me from playing it for the longeat time, but I was so glad I did once I got past that.

 

[WinterWolf]

I thought the train was more interesting than the boat, it was unique. We had already seen the boat and I think large overworld are more suited for land travel, like the train and Epona.

 

[Spirit]

I think i like it more than i should because its much better than Phantom Hourglass and i hate PH.

PH had 4 bad ideas constantly converge and become a complete cluster**** to play.

Touch controls were horrible, stealth isnt my strongsuit and timers are cheap challenge mechanics IMO.

So, having touch controlled, timed stealth sections that were repeated constantly throughout the game made playing it an utterly horrible experience from beginning to end.

As someone who loves the Wind Waker it hurt to see such a bastardization of the sailing too.

PH was a damn shame because i actually like the story, the new characters and i genuinely felt that the islands were a fitting expansion to the Wind Waker's world. I liked having three fairies that each had a different power up...

PH would have been a great game had it been 3D on a home console with no repeated timed stealth sections and sailing as it was in WW with some additions like upgrading your boat (which i also liked) but as it is i sodding hate it!

Enter Spirit Tracks. The graphics were better, the touch controls felt more responsive and better thought out. Having only straight lines to travel across didnt make the train feel like a lesser mode of transport like the sailing of PH did.

Spirit Zelda as a companion was quite refreshing, she was also written well and the story was intriguing. It still had the light heart with just enough peril that WW had.

There was no timed, repeated stealth sections... everything goes well... until i come across a flute section!!

Those flute sections break the game for me. I find it so hard to play. ST is the first Zelda where the actual gameplay mechanics stopped me from playing instead of a hard boss or fiendish puzzle.

If the flute wasnt a thing i'd love the game a lot more. Yet if PH had been better i probably wouldnt like it as much as i do.

As a result it'll hold a middle ground. Its not bad but its not great and the missed potential stings.

 

[Dio]

Spirit just wrote an essay so in contrast here is a short clip that sums up how I feel.

 

[DeactivatedUser2]

I feel it was a more worthy successor than PH but that's really not saying much

 

[Steve The Pirate]

GAR! I be Hatin This Game. Link be not a Train Driver. Link be a Sailor. Yarr

 

[CyborgElfStephanie]

It was my 2nd Zelda game in High School because I was very poor to get more fun new games and was stuck with Nintendo 64 with Ocarina of Time and not very much other games(Sucks to be me) And I really enjoyed it.

 

[Azure Sage]

It's currently my favorite Zelda game (will probbaly be replaced by BotW but thats off-topic). I absolutely adore the music and characters. Zelda being the partner AND being a fun character AND getting to fight and solve puzzles alongside you? Sign me the **** up. The teamwork puzzles in the Tower of Spirits are among my favorites in the entire series. I also love the story a whole lot. I enjoy everything about it immensely.

 

[CyborgElfStephanie]

It's currently my favorite Zelda game (will probbaly be replaced by BotW but thats off-topic). I absolutely adore the music and characters. Zelda being the partner AND being a fun character AND getting to fight and solve puzzles alongside you? Sign me the **** up. The teamwork puzzles in the Tower of Spirits are among my favorites in the entire series. I also love the story a whole lot. I enjoy everything about it immensely.

I loved how Zelda was with Link and helping him a lot too. Nintendo should have Link and Zelda help each other like that more often.

 

[Cartoonmaniac]

Spirit Tracks is definitely a unique game in the Zelda franchise, but that doesn't make it bad. I enjoy the train and its mechanics, and the world feels complete and fun. The characters and story are great, and having Zelda as a partner makes many of the puzzles stand out from other games in the series.

 

[Castle]

THIS GAME SUCKS!!!

srsly tho I guess it's acceptable if you like don't take it too seriously I s'pose <--- kinda like this guy

 

[d-devo]

Honestly I would have rather had another pirate style of gameplay. I love the open sea! I don't think Spirit Tracks was a bad game but to me I felt trapped with little options of navigation. "It's a pirates life for me"!

 

[LinkontheRink]

Played Spirit Tracks for the first time in a while. I like the game as a whole, including the temples and the bosses. The sidequests were decent. The biggest issue here was exploration which I feel hampered the game's true potential.

I had no problem with train which I think is cool, the issue I had is what the train did to the overworld. At first it was really cool riding around. Eventually it got very boring and repetitive. Even with the warp portals, getting somewhere really became a chore.

I think being confined to the train also made the overworld suffer. Its big enough, but most of it is just seen through being on a train. You want to actually do some exploring, you need to get off at a station and there weren't many places to do much exploring. I'd say maybe the Ocean Sanctuary and the Ocean Village and maybe a couple more places. Otherwise wherever you stopped, there wasn't much to find.

The Forest Realm was cool enough as it was chalked full of places/landmarks. But the rest... The Snow Realm was desolate. Yes I guess that's like the real world where there isn't much in cold, snowy area, but I found this Realm to be boring and forgettable. The Fire Realm was similar, though it had a few more spots to stop and the awesome target game. The Ocean Realm had a cool layout but so much emptiness. The sand Realm wasn't much.

A couple other things I wasn't to keen on. Tower of Spirits. While a huge improvement over the Temple of the Ocean King, I still dread this kind of temple. Stealth and patience... Meh.

Also the flute... Great concept. But I just can't execute it well. Every time one of the Lokomos told me I wasn't playing properly... ugh! Just found it finicky.

 

[Caramel H]

I always forget it exists, it's interesting in a way because it revolves around trains, but sounds boring to me when I see it as a full blown game.