Phantom Hourglass is the most disappointing Zelda game I've ever played, but it does have some good moments.
Pros:
- Great boss battles
- Awesome climax
- Good music (considering it's music from earlier Zelda games)
Cons:
- Somewhat frustrating controls
- Disappointing ending/uninteresting story
- Pixely up-close graphics
- Traveling is a bore
- Lack of new weapons
Okay, the biggest problem I had with Phantom Hourglass (PH) was the controls. I found it very hard to see what I was doing sometimes because having to drag the stylus around the screen to get Link to move meant my fingers and hands would get in the way and I wouldn't be able to see where Link was running. On several occasions, I longed to use the good old D-Pad like in older several games.
As for the story, it wasn't enough to actually make me care. The story is pretty much Tetra is kidnapped by a Ghost Ship and Link has to save her and the world at the same time, which really isn't anything new except for the whole Ghost Ship thing. As for the ending, the climax leading up to it was one of the best I've ever seen in a Zelda game, but the ending was very disappointing and practically a copy of another Zelda ending.
Since this is a sequel to WW, it obviously has to revolve around ships and sailing from one island to another. I loved this aspect in WW, but in PH it was just a lame repeat of sailing in WW. Instead of having full control of the boat, in PH you just draw a route on the map and let the boat go by itself. So the majority of traveling consisted of you waiting for the boat to reach its destination, which was occasionally interrupted by monsters. You can't just run away from all of the monsters (because most of them home in on the boat), so you have to destroy them with your cannon. That's it. The only thing that made traveling bearable was the fishing and salvage minigames, and the ability to automatically transport yourself across the map using whirlwinds ala golden frogs.
Overall, PH looked okay, except for when the camera zoomed in close on characters. Once the camera zooms in, the background and, especially, the characters become very pixely. Since, for the most part, the camera didn't zoom in too much, it was easy to ignore this.
Lastly, the single greatest thing about PH was the boss battles. For a handheld Zelda game, these bosses were massive and the most entertaining bosses I've ever had the pleasure of fighting. Thanks to two screens, the bosses seemed like they were the largest bosses Link has ever gone up against. Another little added bonus was that the bosses weren't simply "wait for the red/weak spot to appear and hack at it with your sword." Old items found in previous Zelda games were put to new use through the boss battles in great ways. The one boss battle that really sticks out in my mind was the one where Link had to launch himself in the air and whack the boss' weak spots with a hammer.
In the end, the Phantom Hourglass wasn't as great as I thought it would be, but if you can look pass most of its failures, you'll find an okay Zelda game.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - 6.5