I can't make my mind on this game. I love the highs but also hate very much the lows. It improves (a lot) Phantom Hourglass. Everything good from that game is here: charismatic characters, new amazing and creative gimmicks, soundtrack, cute story. It also follows the same structure meaning you go back to one dungeon multiple times. But the one temple you go back to is way more fleshed out and not annoying to go back to anymore.
Sadly the one big problem is traveling in the overworld. In my opinion it works just fine in Phantom Hourglass but here it's way worse. I don't know if it's just me but I really dislike it. It's slow and they shove a bunch of pointless enemies making it really easy to die. Instead of expanding my interest in Hyrule and giving me any feeling of exploration it becomes a boring chore that just slows the pace of the game for no reason.
Aside from that, I like how instead of making a pseudo open world game like Phantom Hourglass (where you get to choose the order you do the last three dungeons) they went full linear, which is perfect for these smaller games. The final boss is also one of the highlights. The developers, like in the last game, weren't afraid of experimenting and I'm all for that. I finished Spirit Tracks wishing that it was a trilogy and we had one more game with the theme of these two.
PS:
I'm conflicted. I don't know if I give this game 4 stars for the great parts in it or if I give it 3½ because of the weak parts. I figured I'd give it the 3½ for the simple fact that I don't feel like replaying or even finishing the side quests.
Sadly the one big problem is traveling in the overworld. In my opinion it works just fine in Phantom Hourglass but here it's way worse. I don't know if it's just me but I really dislike it. It's slow and they shove a bunch of pointless enemies making it really easy to die. Instead of expanding my interest in Hyrule and giving me any feeling of exploration it becomes a boring chore that just slows the pace of the game for no reason.
Aside from that, I like how instead of making a pseudo open world game like Phantom Hourglass (where you get to choose the order you do the last three dungeons) they went full linear, which is perfect for these smaller games. The final boss is also one of the highlights. The developers, like in the last game, weren't afraid of experimenting and I'm all for that. I finished Spirit Tracks wishing that it was a trilogy and we had one more game with the theme of these two.
PS:
I'm conflicted. I don't know if I give this game 4 stars for the great parts in it or if I give it 3½ because of the weak parts. I figured I'd give it the 3½ for the simple fact that I don't feel like replaying or even finishing the side quests.
Reviewed on Mar 20, 2023