by far the worst non CD-i Zelda and this is coming from someone who liked Phantom Hourglass, one of the few games I really disliked even as a child.
The main problem is the overworld traversal is one of the worst I have ever seen in a video game. I honestly think the entire idea behind the game was short-sighted because riding a train from destination to destination isn't an interesting idea, it means you're experiencing the world on-rails and can't hop off at interesting destinations. Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass were both criticized for having barren open worlds but this takes it to another level, with its exploration mechanics feeling like fast travel with extra steps. Additionally the train is not only boring, but frustrating to travel with as the map is scattered with Phantom Trains that move faster than you and kill you instantly if you collide with them. The path they pick to turn is random so often I got killed for what felt like no fault of my own, just because I got unlucky with the path one of the phantom trains took. You can run from them since shooting them slows you down but if you end up facing them you're SoL.
On top of this the dungeons are the least memorable in the series for me, and the story is also one of the weakest and least memorable in the series featuring a "not ganon" villain that looks just like ganon anyways. The only part of this game I liked was phantom zelda was a cute companion.
The main problem is the overworld traversal is one of the worst I have ever seen in a video game. I honestly think the entire idea behind the game was short-sighted because riding a train from destination to destination isn't an interesting idea, it means you're experiencing the world on-rails and can't hop off at interesting destinations. Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass were both criticized for having barren open worlds but this takes it to another level, with its exploration mechanics feeling like fast travel with extra steps. Additionally the train is not only boring, but frustrating to travel with as the map is scattered with Phantom Trains that move faster than you and kill you instantly if you collide with them. The path they pick to turn is random so often I got killed for what felt like no fault of my own, just because I got unlucky with the path one of the phantom trains took. You can run from them since shooting them slows you down but if you end up facing them you're SoL.
On top of this the dungeons are the least memorable in the series for me, and the story is also one of the weakest and least memorable in the series featuring a "not ganon" villain that looks just like ganon anyways. The only part of this game I liked was phantom zelda was a cute companion.