Why Do People Dislike Phantom Hourglass?

[Ice]

Meh oh well, everyone seems to bag on it because it seems that a lot of "casual gamers" liked it. Usually what seems to happen is when a lot of non-video game fans or "casual" gamers like something, all of the "core" gamers chuck it and say "WTF IS THIS? I'm not playing this game it doesn't make me look cool". It's the fact that it's easy and seems to fit a casual gaming style is what turns people off. Usually cores and casuals can't be on the same page on a video game. If Casuals like it, cores leave, if casuals don't like it, and the game is still actually good, cores will stay on it.

How do you all feel personally about Phantom Hourglass?

 

[Aelic7]

I love Phantom Hourglass. It was the first Zelda game I played and I thought it was awesome (Except for the Temple of the Ocean King). I loved the controls, items, everything. I don't know why people hate it.

 

[Austin]

I think a lot of people had issues with the control scheme. Personally, I didn't mind too much, but would it have killed Nintendo to have given us the option to switch between touch screen control and traditional control? The controls were innovative, for the most part (I still can't manage to roll), but choices are always good. I have some complaints concerning the touch screen, I thought it was used for some unnecessary things. That tablet thing, for example, that transported your boat around. I thought that the need to draw symbols on the tablet and actually record them yourself was obnoxious. Not to mention that I could never draw the symbols correctly for whatever reason.

The OP is right when he says that some people had issues with the difficulty, but I doubt that was a big reason, as that isn't unique to PH. It's been a "problem" in all recent Zelda titles.

 

[43ForceGems]

I admit I am one of those people :cry:

I am sorry, but I hated PH from the second time I played it. I guess this thread would be a good time to lay them down again.

1. The Soundtrack. There were only about literally 30 in the game, and only 2 of them were not redundant and good.

2. The Sequelness. It was too much like the Wind Waker, in a sense of, sailing, and all the stuff that made it like WW. WW was a great game, but PH seemed just too much like it. I want a new Zelda game, not almost the same thing that's already been done.

3. The Story. The story was basically the same as LA. Which as I already said, I want a new story, not some thing that's already been done.

4. The "Difficulty". If that's what it should be called. It was in my opinion the easiest Zelda games, tied with TP and ST. I like a challenge. But NOT like OoA.

5. The Temple of the Ocean King. The Tower of Spirits was better because you didn't have to do what you already did! Even if there was new things you could do and new shortcuts you could take with new items, you still had to keep repeating yourself. And that music.......

There, are those good reasons?

 

[peahats95]

PH was my second zelda game and at first I liked it but then after I played it again I really did not like it.

Story:

The story I thought was overall boring and the only good charecter was Linebeck. The main "villain" Bellum never uttered a single word throughout the entire game. Bellum just felt like a normal Zelda boss than a villain. I think that after the great story of the Wind Waker, this game could just not follow up.

Music:

by far the worst part of the game. Most of the tracks in the game were either recycled or repeatative. After the music of TP and past Zelda games, the score felt like a complete dissapointment.

Gameplay:

I thought the controls were very innovative, But a lot of the controls were never utilized fully and therefore the game just felt empty. The TotOK got very annoying and I was always dreading the return to it. The rest of the dungeons hardly felt unique and the exclusion of Mini-Bosses did not help. At least the bosses were good.

 

[Linebeck1000]

Because all aspects of it are watered down. The villain and story are generic (especially when compared to its epic prequel) and there are only two or three true characters. Most "characters" in this game can just be replaced with signposts and serve the same purpose. Its short and easy of course, barely any content at all. When I finished the game and started hunting for sidequests I was like, "What? So that's it?". It doesn't have a true overworld, barely any sidequests or secrets to be found. Its really pitiful when this game is compared alongside the likes of aLttP or even the more recent Minish Cap, with their glorious overworlds and all of their content, and the former came out many years ago. And don't get me started on the boring linear dungeons, music, terrible control scheme and horrible 2.5D graphics...


The game does have a few redeeming factors, but they're few and far between. Its a great game, but terrible for a Zelda game. But the thing I had the most problem with is the terrible lack of content when it comes to the overworld. Like I said before, I think 2D Zelda games should have at least as much content as Minish Cap, with all its sidequests, kinstones to fuse, and secrets to find in the overworld. Phantom Hourglass just doesn't have the Zelda magic, nor does Spirit Tracks.

 

[Zelda64]

I know an answer to your question. 5 words: Ocean King and control scheme.

 

[Master Kokiri 9]

Well, I'm reevaluating all the games I've played so far and a lot of them have been moved around, so I don't know quite where PH is on my list of Zelda games yet. Anyways, here are some reasons why I believe that people dislike PH so much.

#1. Difficulty

Simply because it's incredibly easy. It's the easiest game in the series, and it never gave you a challenge. Not to mention, the difficulty was skewed between the TotOK and the other dungeons, the TotOK basically being a difficulty leech and leeching away all the difficulty of the other dungeons.

#2. Story

The story is actually, in my opinion, very good in PH but really it doesn't seem that many other fans like it so much because "it's a LA clone" in terms of plot. The only similarity I see is the dream scenario that it was all just a dream. But it's debatable in PH but undeniable in LA and the only way the two games are similar is that they're both portable games as well as PH possibly being little more than a dream. But again, it's debatable whether or not PH was a dream.

#3. Casual Gamers

Most Zelda fans these days bag on PH simply because it was geared towards casual gamers. It's somewhat unfair to bag on a game because it appealed to casual gamers instead of core gamers if you ask me. Simply because it's geared towards casual gamers doesn't make it less of a game and, let's face it, PH is actually geared towards both. It's easy enough for casual gamers to just be happy with beating the game and doing it, but it's hard enough that core gamers will be searching for a long time for everything to get a 100% completion. After all, I had to spend many upon many playthroughs to find every single thing there is to get there.

#4. Temple of the Ocean King

The Temple of the Ocean King, while a cool little concept, was just overall not good for PH. It sucked away the difficulty from the other dungeons while still being incredibly easy in and of itself, not to mention you had to go through a ton every single time you had to visit it, even if you used the yellow warp.

#5. Gameplay

Another reason why people seem to dislike the game so much is because of the gameplay. Apparently, people disliked the new control scheme of the game and the lack of ability to use the classic controls. Apparently, people also disliked the sailing in PH too (as do I) in addition to other things that I'm probably forgetting.

 

[Callum1064]

I loved it! It was my first Zelda game, it's really what led me to trying out the other games in the series and I loved them!

 

[zora warrior]

I disagree with practically everybody on ZD when I say the TotOK didnt annoy me. I already posted why in another thread,so basically it was way too easy and i could finish the entire temple in a few minutes. It really wasnt annoying to me. I didnt like PH, cause it was WAY too easy, too short, too boring, and, for most people, too repetetive. (im assuming thats how you spell it) ST was like MM, except not as good. The music was WAY better than PH, the puzzles and bosses harder, wasnt repetetive (ok maybe a little), and though it was kinda short was still a good game. (exept for the sudden train idea)

 

[Sturgeon]

My only complaint (and a HUGE freaking complaint), was the Temple of the Ocean King. Other than that, I have no complaints at all. The story wasn't exactly what I had in mind for a Zelda game, ST was way better than that. If I had to rate PH, I'd give it a 8/10, easily.

 

[Ice]

Hmm..gotcha..seems like Phantom Hourglass would probably have to be as controversal as Zelda II: Adventure of Link. However, when you say "What is your least favorite Zelda game"...it is true as said on the Zeldathon stream a couple days ago... "What is your least favorite piece of gold" is what you're asking.

 

[Vanessa28]

Personally I don't dislike PH at all. It was my first zelda Game I played and finished. It just isn't my fav game out of the series. I never had that much trouble with the Ocean Temple. I never ran out of time so that wasn't the big deal but it just isn't a game I would love to play over and over again

 

[13foxes]

Personally I like PH. There's no such thing as a bad or terrible Zelda game. It has good story, and better gameplay than most of the games out there. But some people expected too much after TP, plus the standard for Zelda game is too high, so PH couldn't fulfill those expectations and people just look at the bad side of it (TotOK, sailing steam boat,...). If people lower their standards for Zelda games, PH would become a great game. It's still better than many games, just because it's not as good as the other Zelda games doesn't mean it's bad.

 

[Rishian]

I just got it and started playing it.
The controls are taking some getting used to.... plus I HATE cell shading, but it's actually a pretty fun game.

I'll give it a 6.5/10