The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

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The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Wordmark Zelda Phantom Hourglass.svg
Original title ゼ ル ダ の 伝 説 夢幻 の 砂 時 計
transcription Zeruda no Densetsu: Mugen no Sunadokei
Studio Nintendo EAD
Publisher Nintendo
Senior Developer
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 JapanJapanJune 23, 2007 October 1, 2007 October 11, 2007 October 19, 2007
North AmericaNorth America
AustraliaAustralia
EuropeEurope
platform Nintendo DS
genre Action adventure
Subject Fantasy
Game mode Single player , multiplayer (2)
control Stylus
medium module
Age rating
USK released from 6
PEGI recommended for ages 7+
PEGI content
rating
Game contains violence

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass ( Japanese ゼ ル ダ の 伝 説 夢幻 の 砂 時 計 , Zeruda no Densetsu: Mugen no Sunadokei , literally: The Legend of Zelda: Hourglass of Visions ) is a video game from Nintendo for the Nintendo DS portable console . It was published on June 23, 2007 in Japan and appeared on October 19, 2007 in Europe . It sold more than 4.6 million times.

Phantom Hourglass is the second Zelda title for a handheld console to be developed within Nintendo, after Link's Awakening , and the first Zelda game for the DS. In terms of content and visuals, the title is based on the GameCube game The Wind Waker .

action

The plot is set after the events in The Wind Waker . The protagonist Link (the name can be freely chosen) is out on the high seas with the female pirate captain Tetra (later Princess Zelda) and her crew. On their journey they get caught in a fog and encounter a ghost ship. Tetra takes a closer look at the ship and is kidnapped. When Link follows her to the ship to save her, however, he falls into the sea. When he wakes up on an island, he is found there by the fairy Ciela and her grandfather. Link learns from him that he has to find the three light spirits of the Sea King, namely those of strength, wisdom and courage, in order to free Tetra.

To find the three spirits, he must find two nautical maps from the Temple of the King of the Sea. Upon entering the temple he was able to save Captain Linebeck, who from then on made his boat available to him. Since the temple is cursed, however, and everyone who enters it gradually sucks life energy out, Link needs the power of the phantom hourglass . With her, Link can stay in the temple for a while (initially ten minutes, expandable up to 25 minutes) without any energy being drawn from him. After each successful boss fight, the clock is extended by two minutes. With the power of the spirits, he finally succeeds in freeing Tetra - but it is petrified. Ciela's grandfather reveals his true identity as King of the Seas and Link learns from him that he has to kill the monster Bellamu in order to transform Tetra back. But to be able to injure Bellamu at all, he needs the legendary phantom sword. The blacksmith Sauz can forge the phantom sword, but needs three steels that have been given to the three peoples - the Schalach steel to the Gorons, the azure steel to the Anouki and the emerald steel to an ancient holy people - and must be found on new islands.

After Link has found the three steels (for this he needs the other two sea maps from the Temple of the Sea King) and Sauz has forged the sword, Link sets out for the final encounter with Bellamu deep in the Temple of the Sea King. After Bellamu is (apparently) defeated, the cave where the fight took place collapses. Ciela's grandfather can teleport Link to Linebeck's ship at the last second and bring Tetra back to life with his newfound strength. Suddenly, however, Bellamu reappears and kidnaps Tetra on the ghost ship. Link and Linebeck can capsize the ship by shelling them and go on board. Bellamu attacks Linebeck and turns him into a phantom knight. After Link has defeated him (and thus Bellamu as well) Linebeck and Tetra are free again.

In the credits it turns out that Link and Tetra were in a kind of parallel world, and only ten minutes have passed in the real world. When Link sees Linebeck's ship on the horizon, he knows that his adventure wasn't a dream.

Game mechanics

The game is operated almost entirely via the Nintendo DS touchscreen . Similar to Twilight Princess ( Wii ), a little fairy acts as a cursor for the stylus ( touch pen ). The player character Link follows the cursor independently. Sword blows are triggered by tapping or swiping over an opponent. Movement paths can be drawn with the stylus for objects of daily use (items) such as the boomerang or running bombs ( crawling mines ). A map is displayed on the second screen, above the touchscreen, which can be called up on the touchscreen and made with notes if necessary. In the same way, the journey route is determined on the nautical chart with this option. The ship is equipped (later in the game) with a small on-board cannon for fighting at sea, a gripper arm for retrieving treasures and a magical compass for faster travel (through warping) across the sea. In addition, you can fish from the ship if you have got the fishing rod and are in an area of ​​the sea marked by a fish.

There are seven thematically different dungeons in the game that the player must master.

A dungeon (the temple of the King of the Sea), which can only be explored gradually, is based on a side quest in Twilight Princess. Link can find the nautical charts in it to find the three ghosts or the three steels, for example. The temple is divided into 14 floors, the further Link progresses in his adventure, the deeper he can advance into the temple.

There is a curse on the temple so that life energy is sucked out during the stay. When you receive the phantom hourglass, you will be freed from the curse for a limited time (initially 10 minutes, maximum 25 minutes). The time is stopped in the so-called purple “protection zones”.

There are phantoms inside the temple. The phantoms walk around on predetermined paths on a floor. Overall, Link encounters three different types of phantoms: blue, "normal" phantoms; Red ones that are faster than blue phantoms; as well as golden ones, which in turn are faster and stronger than red phantoms, and can teleport to Link as soon as the phantom has been spotted by another phantom. The phantoms are initially invincible for Link, after receiving the heroic bow he can briefly stun them with a shot in the back. With the receipt of the phantom sword, he can also destroy them.

To protect himself from the phantoms, Link can use the protection zones, since the phantoms cannot enter there and Link cannot see. After Link has completed half of the temple, a kind of teleporter is created with which he can return directly to the center of the temple.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer mode is comparable to a “ Capture the Flag ” mode: One player controls Link, who has to avoid three phantoms in a labyrinth-like room. The aim is to collect the "Force" crystals distributed on the map and bring them to a protection zone in the player's color. The player who controls the phantoms tries to prevent this. However, it does not control the phantoms directly, but rather draws their route on the map. The "Force" crystals are available in several sizes. Smaller crystals are lighter (make Link run faster), but also earn fewer points. Large crystals are difficult (therefore let Link run slowly), but also bring a lot of points. Spread across the map are power-ups for both Link and Phantom. They accelerate Link, make it stronger, or randomly distribute the neutral crystals on the map. After a round is over due to the time running out or Link being captured, the sides are swapped. The opposing player can carry away his own crystals and neutralize them by throwing them into a protection zone. After every three rounds the game is over and the player with the most points wins. Multiplayer is possible both locally and online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection .

technology

Phantom Hourglass is a three-dimensional cel- shaded graphic-style game. The visual design of characters and environments are based on The Wind Waker . The player mostly looks at the action from above, similar to older 2D Zelda games. The game is one of the few for the Nintendo DS that consistently uses almost all of the system's possibilities. In addition to full control via the touch pen, the microphone is used to blow out candles or to wake people up. In boss fights, the top screen usually acts as an "extension" of the touchscreen to give the player a larger field of vision.

development

On March 23, 2006, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced the name The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass in his talk at the Game Developers Conference . Development was led by Eiji Aonuma , who was also responsible for Majora's Mask , The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess .

As of December 30, 2007, it had sold 3.8 million times.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.mobygames.com/game/nintendo-ds/legend-of-zelda-phantom-hourglass/credits