Bumping this so that the next time I have impressions this is on the first page.

Yodariquo said:

Ravenprose said:

Dvader said:

Bumping this so that the next time I have impressions this is on the first page.

There's this new feature that's included in every web browser called Bookmarks (or Favorites). They allow you to literally "bookmark" any page on teh internetz that you want (such as this very page!), so that you can always go right back to it anytime you want with just a simple click. No bumping required.

There's this new feature on The VG Press that allows you to Favourite forum posts when you click the Star in the upper right corner so you can always go right back to it anytime you want with a simple click. No bumping required.

Touché

i finished the game today and saw the ending.  however i feel i played this game sort of in a hurry as i feel i want to finish as many games as i can before the new year when i will be neck deep into university work (on top of job related work) and won't hardly get to play any games...

so while i feel i missed out on a lot of the side quests (most of which involved transporting people from place to place on the train, or buying cargo from one place and transporting it to somebody at another place) and right now feel i would very much love to enjoy the whole thing again at a more leisurely pace and do a lot more of those side quests.  however i feel that with most games i enjoy but i hardly ever get to play games twice these days.

so for now these are my final impressions (will try to sum them up into positives and negatives):

positives:
1.  Tried and true Zelda formula of an epic world/kingdom/princess saving story, doing quests for various curious peoples and solving great dungeons combining battles and environmental puzzles to great effect.
2.  Hefty quest.  5 elemental temples with all but the first one being fairly non-trivial.  Tower of spirits with 30 odd puzzle filled stealthy levels which altogether more than doubles the dungeon solving in the game.
3.  Good selection of items.  Some new ones some returning ones.  Great use of items throughout the game both for combat and for puzzles.  You don't just use an item in the temple where you find it, or just until you find the next one.
4.  Mostly great set of bosses.  With the exception of the unremarkable boss in the first temple the game has some great bosses.  Some of them are harder than the bosses we've seen in the last few Zelda games.
5.  Zelda as a sidekick is great.  Not only does it enhance the story with making the relation between her and link much more active and much more lively but in the tower of spirits it adds a whole new dimension to the gameplay when she occupies 4 different kinds of phantoms with varying properties to help Link solve all kinds of puzzles.
6.  The train concept is fun, at least at first.
7.  Nice collections to fill.  There is treasure to collect and many different kinds of it to find.  Also a book which you have to stamp a page at each individual place you visit.  Finding the stamp stations can be lots of fun and the stamps are very nice to look at.  There are many different train parts to modify the train with (same as the ship parts in Phantom Hourglass) but i did not bother with this aspect of the game at all.
8.  Game is challenging.  Combat at some places needs to be well thought out.  you need to strategise in terms of which items you need to do what with, and even what you need the phantom to do.  it is more puzzle-like, if you want, than before.  it is not a throwaway distraction between puzzles like in the last few games.
9.  Almost forgot to mention this.  The end credits are amazing and had me in big smiles.
10.  The controls are fantastic.  I almost didn't include this as it goes without saying for anyone who has played Phantom Hourglass.  They are almost identical to those of that game but they feel more refined more responsive and generally improved a good bit.
11.  Game makes great use of the unique features of the DS.  The touch screen is used for controlling everything in the game (as already mentioned) to great effect.  The second screen has the dungeon floor map, or the world map and you can write useful notes on it.  the mic is used a good bit.  i didn't mind this but apparently some find it annoying.  No snapping the DS shut puzzles this time around though and generally fewer gimmicks i think on the whole that in Phantom Hourglass.

negatives:
1.  Riding the train everywhere gets old.  Even with the addition of trying to avoid the evil trains and however great the train tune is, it does get old.
2.  Overworld exploration is lacking.  You are not able to explore every nook and cranny of a large sprawling overworld like in past Zelda games.
3.  Catching the bunnies (a mini-game of sorts) is most aggravating.  Luckily it isn't necessary to bother with them.
4.  Some fetch quests before you can open your way to where you need to go next.  nothing terribly long or unpleasant though in my experience.
5.  The last few levels of the tower of spirits are pretty devious though this would be in the positive if it wasn't for one particular puzzle which had me randomly bombing parts of the wall ala NES Zelda.
6.  There is a very annoying train game before you face the last two bosses.  It took me many tries to do it and it pissed me off as i really wanted to get to the boss at that stage.
7.  The final boss is very easy.  It's a fun fight, but it was a little disappointing there wasn't more of a challenge (or perhaps the game's bosses had me spoilt until that point).  I could figure out exactly what i needed to do (and it was an easy thing to do) in all the different stages of the battle almost immediately.

overall:  9.2
game is great (which i think vader will agree with).  it is also a great zelda game (which i'm not sure vader will agree with).  i am at a stage where any game i feel compelled enough to complete has to be great by default, but this game was especially enjoyable for me.  it is a quality nintendo product through and through with production values through the roof which is a joy to behold and a joy to play throughout.

There are "evil trains" in the game?

Dvader said:

Ravenprose said:

There are "evil trains" in the game?

Yes, stupid evil trains with angry eyes that chase you around and if they touch your train you need to start the whole train ride over again.

Is this some kind of metaphor?