More Phantom Hourglass news

I have read through my July issue of Nintendo Power, and have a few updates on Phantom Hourglass.

As you know, Phantom Hourglass is a direct sequel to Wind Waker. At the end of Wind Waker, you see the hero sailing into the sea alongside Tetra and her band of ‘terrible’ pirates. What happens next?

A few months into the voyage, Link is attacked by a mysterious ‘fog enshrouded’ ship and falls into the ocean. A fairy finds him afterward and helps him regain consciouness, on an island that he had never seen before and without his trusty King of the Red Lions. And from there, his fate is in your hands.

The game makes full use of the stylus, from lifting boxes to attacking to moving. You will have little use for the buttons other than R or L (yes, lefties, rejoice) except for the possibility of item shortcuts on the D-Pad and A,B,X, and Y.

The fairy changes color depending on what you are doing, and follows the stylus. And, on top of that, you will be able to capture more fairies to alter Link’s actions, in currently unknown ways.

Because of the new control scheme, your enemies will also change. Even familiar foes like Octoroks will have special weaknesses that couldn’t fit well into a console game.

Ganondorf will most likely not appear, since Link so valiantly slew him, and who would want our hero Daphnes Nohansen to have died in vain? But, according to Phantom Hourglass producer Eili Aonuma, his evil influence has spread far and wide. But, of course, we do not know its part in the story yet.

Link’s new ship, a paddle steamer, comes with a captain who is, according to Nintendo Power, “roguish, sometimes comedic[.]” “He has a kind of similar purpose as Han Solo did for Luke Skywalker,” as Aonuma put it.

Boss battles will take advantage of both screens. In the screenshot (top right) from the magazine it shows a monster floating on a whirlwind on the top screen while Link, on the bottom screen, needs to throw a pot at him.

The title, Phantom Hourglass, refers to an important gameplay mechanic. But, according to Aonuma, “I cannot talk about more than that at this point, but something like the time manipulation in Majora’s Mask is not a bad guess.”

A key feature in Phantom Hourglass is a new enemy type: the chasers. The chasers are immune to damage and can kill Link in one quick blow. Fortunately, they travel on set paths and only chase you if you are in their direct line of sight… and you can see them on your map. And, their are “sanctuary zones” where the chasers can’t enter, and by throwing certain jars you can create another sactuary.

And, finally, the chasers open up a new gameplay feature… Two-player versus. One player is Link, who is seen overhead and needs to find the Force Gems, and the other player controls three chasers via the map. The
one to capture the most Force Gems wins.

 

Three on one may not seem fair, but their is a catch that evens it up; Link can see all three chasers on his map, while the chasers can’t see Link unless he is in their direct line of sight.

Well, that’s a wrap. We will keep you posted.

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