Very mixed bag. Charming story and some very cute Link / Zelda moments. Improved upon PH in terms of dungeon puzzles and bosses which are often fantastic. While the game is at times great, there are things that make it very frustrating. There are an absurd amount microphone blowing mechanics (i dont think i have to explain to DS owners why this would be an issue. God forbid you try to play this on an emulator).
Quite a few otherwise very clever puzzles with phantom zelda also require finicky and annoying interaction with the DS touchscreen. I personally don't mind the stylus control scheme in PH and ST. It isnt ideal but it worked well enough in PH. The combat and movement mechanics in ST are generally more complex, however, especially in sections with Phantom Zelda. This increased complexity really reveals the flaws with the stylus control scheme. You will inevitably run into situations where you know exactly what to do but end up fumbling around with frustrating controls to do it.
Other than this the trains you ride for much of the game are very slow, and you lack means for convenient fast travel like the glyphs in PH. This wouldn't be a big issue if the train travel wasn't widely implemented but its an absolute core part of gameplay. You'll probably be spending 50% of your time in the game or more conducting your train - even more than this if you decide to do the side content, which is pretty much all transporting people and supplies in your train.
Overall this is a very charming and unique game with a lot of potential that gets bogged down by some pretty massive flaws. I would recommend that big Zelda fans play it for at least a couple hours to try it out. If you like it enough to keep going it can be an enjoyable experience. If you find it frustrating don't hesitate to put it down. There are far better Zelda games to spend your time on.
Quite a few otherwise very clever puzzles with phantom zelda also require finicky and annoying interaction with the DS touchscreen. I personally don't mind the stylus control scheme in PH and ST. It isnt ideal but it worked well enough in PH. The combat and movement mechanics in ST are generally more complex, however, especially in sections with Phantom Zelda. This increased complexity really reveals the flaws with the stylus control scheme. You will inevitably run into situations where you know exactly what to do but end up fumbling around with frustrating controls to do it.
Other than this the trains you ride for much of the game are very slow, and you lack means for convenient fast travel like the glyphs in PH. This wouldn't be a big issue if the train travel wasn't widely implemented but its an absolute core part of gameplay. You'll probably be spending 50% of your time in the game or more conducting your train - even more than this if you decide to do the side content, which is pretty much all transporting people and supplies in your train.
Overall this is a very charming and unique game with a lot of potential that gets bogged down by some pretty massive flaws. I would recommend that big Zelda fans play it for at least a couple hours to try it out. If you like it enough to keep going it can be an enjoyable experience. If you find it frustrating don't hesitate to put it down. There are far better Zelda games to spend your time on.