Zelda: Spirit Tracks (or, 2 steps forward, 1 step back)

The Core Video Games Forum
#1

Well, Spirit Tracks is next on my queue. I’ve spent a little bit of time with it, so…

I got thru the first major dungeon and i"m on my way to the next (snow-based).

My major complaint right now is everything to do with Trains. As a plot device it’s just… silly. As a gameplay device it’s unnecessary; do I really need to drive a train to acess shit that in any other game would be within running distance? Ridiculous.

Well, the central tower here is much more interesting to navigate, and Zelda is an infinately more interesting partner than Linebeck. Her illogical fear of creepy crawlies notwithstanding.

Well that’s all I have to say about it right now.

#2

You’ve obviously never been a princess if you consider her fear of rodents to be illogical.

Besides this game is obviously a precursor to LttP in that this Zelda has taught her progeny to not fear rodents ergo LttP’s Zelda doesn’t thus the missing Link has been found.

#3

If it’s wrong to like semi-obscure references, I don’t want to be right.

#4

Have you ever held a real rat? You might feel differently if you did. I see them on a near daily basis. They’re big fucking critters :P.

Re: ST, I refer you to what I told you in your other Zelda thread. The start is interesting, but by now, you’ve seen everything there was to see. All you can look forward to is a lot more train and more assinine music shit.

#5

Actually it’s probably the busy work is really going to grate on me. Why the fuck did I need to pair up the anouki just to get where the snow sanctuary was? I just know it’s going to get worse from there.

As fair as the illogical fear; I’m sure princesses are scared of rats (apparently you were a princess so you should know?) but if she’s in a hulking suit of armour, why does it still bother her? Oh well, it doesn’t matter.

Just found Linebeck, or at least one of his decendents. Yuck.

#6

I do cancer research on rodents, moron :stuck_out_tongue:

#7

Umm… that wasn’t directed at you. Sorry for the confusion.

#8

Sorry, misunderstanding.

#9

Spirit Tracks can eat a dick. It technically may be better in that it did solve the pacing problems of the first one, but it created pacing problems in the process. Or maybe Im just a whiny bitch. Either way, I find having to constantly backtrack through the last section fo teh spirit temple by having to utilize all the phantoms over and over again to be just creating length, and while it is a unique mind bender, is just too much of a chore. And having to try to navigate around and destroy all the trains on the last map isn’t much better, IMO. I love zelda and I love games that emphasize puzzles, but the DS franchise has just kept doing it in a way that isnt fun.

#10

Out of curiosity, did you play Twilight Princess? To date, its hard to say I like Zelda games anymore because they’ve made many more Zelda games since LTTP that I disliked than I’ve liked. I give up on the series.

#11

Yeah, I liked Twilight Princess. It’s been a while since I’ve played it, so if you’re implying TP is similar in pacing and structure (obviously in a prettier 3D format) then I’d have to play it again to see for myself. Windwaker I liked except it was too easy and the sailing was a pain.

It could just be that the pacing and structure haven’t changed and at some point I just got sick of it.

#12

The wolf sections killed it for me in TP.

#13

Yeah, they were a downer. It got interesting when you could play both tho.

#14

Zelda handheld games have only gone downhill after Link’s Awakening, which is still, in my opinion, the best of that type even so many years and hardware changes later.

I own Spirit Tracks, by the way, I jsut haven’t gotten around to playing it yet.

#15

The Minish Cap was an interesting experiment as it had ALTTP-like graphics, an emphasis on mini-quests that reminded of Majora’s Mask and a few parts which were actually hard. I liked TP (though its last part was underdeveloped and the usual recipe started showing at times) but I hope the next Zelda takes a few risks as the two guys have said in interviews.

#16

To be fair LA is a damn awesome game.

The Oracle games were pretty good and the two versions were different enough to justify getting both. Plus it did some really cool things with some of its items like the Magnetic Gloves, The Seed Shooter, and so on. Also there was a ton of stuff to do and even the second quest offered new toys to play with instead of just sending you through the game again.

As Rig mentioned above, Minish Cap was a pretty good LttP clone but it was way too short and easy, and the Kinstone thing could’ve been better implemented.

As for the DS games I preferred PH to ST but both games really felt sparse like there was nothing to do save for questing (it wasn’t as bad in PH as the Fairy Gems were actually worth collecting unlike so many other collect-a-thons seen throughout the series). It should also be mentioned that Zelda herself is by far and away the best thing about ST.

#17

I didn’t play the Oracle games until recently. They were okay, and I agree I love some of the items (Magnet Gloves rock), But overall, they felt much more linear than Link’s Awakening. You had to go exactly where you were supposed to, and I hated how the Rod of seasons and the Harp of Ages, two items that were supposed to open up new areas to explore, only felt like they where there to artificially make the game longer, making you backtrack and waste time trying to find the right way to move forward. Link’s Awakening didn’t do that. I mean, as soon as you got the rock’s feather and the power bracelet, half the island opened up to you. That was awesome for exploration, making you feel like you really could go anywhere you wanted.

#18

On the other hand, the genius of LA is how it took the limited space afforded by the game boy and created an overworld with so many connecting passages and twists that it felt larger than it really was. I don’t remember if you could do the dungeons out of order.

#19

You can’t, but you’re right in that it really made the most of the system at the time. There were also a literal ton of Easter Eggs, secrets, and tricks ranging from the ever awesome Bomb Arrows, the whole escort sequence with Marin (i.e. visiting the Crazy Game, the South Face Shrine, or the well in Mabe Village), and appearances from other other Nintendo characters and critters such as Kirby, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Richard from Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru, Goombas, Piranha Plants, Wart, Mr. Write and even from the man himself Shigeru Miyamoto.

Its sad that it was the last game in the series to truly reward creative playing (although Majora’s Mask did come close). Hell, I was still surprised to find out about the Chicken Girl from LttP a few years back. The current games just don’t seem to give you anything really fun to play with anymore.

#20

And one-legged Yoshi.