urgh Zelda Phantom Hourglass does have a stupid control scheme

[Mondain]

Who's friggin' idea was it to allow stylus-only gameplay? Totally useless gimmick, it's only use is to make the game sound cool and trendy in advertisements. It's so awkward to just move, you either go too slowly or way too fast. Hitting with the sword by quickly drawing lines on the screen is awful too. And, I don't like to have the screen's view obstructed by my fingers and by the pen either. Why not also give an option for traditional controls? Fuck you, Nintendo!

This is a shame, because even if the 3D graphics are immensely crude, the game seems to be really, really well done and fun.

And lol, Nintendo's games now all have translated french diaglogue and menu text, and this one is no exception. It probably verifies what's the default language of your DS in the system settings, and then makes use of it in the game automatically. Much to my surprise I saw that some of the uncouth characters in the game (like the farmer) speak with crude quebecois slang!

[TVC15]

It's gotten good enough word of mouth that I'm going to nab it.  Everyone I've talked to that has played through it says that it starts out much weaker, so maybe it gets better.

[Mondain]

Jesus, of course, GameSpot is praising Zelda's stylus control, saying that it's precise and perfect.

Nintendo could make up any gimmick no matter how purposedly mediocre, and the medias would still worship it to no end. The Virtual Boy might've met a different fate if it was released in an era where Internet use abounds.

[Flannel Boy]

medias

singular: medium
plural: media

[Mondain]

medias

singular: medium
plural: media

i knew that, it's a voluntary use just to piss random people off

[Vizzys]

gimmick?
Touch control in Phantom Hourglass is fucking awesome.
Maybe you just never got used to holding a pen if you didn't go to school.

no

[Mondain]

gimmick?
Touch control in Phantom Hourglass is fucking awesome.
Maybe you just never got used to holding a pen if you didn't go to school.

it's useless, imprecise, slow, cumbersome, and tiring for the hand, it serves no positive purpose other than to look and to feel trendy

i just longed for a traditional control alternative, they could've given people the option for both and still use the stylus for those shitty writing recognition puzzles like in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

[demi]

medias

singular: medium
plural: media

i knew that, it's a voluntary use just to piss random people off

Whatever you say, man.

[demi]

I'd get it today, but I swore off DS games until I get a flash cart.

Unless anyone feels like giving me a birthday present. Holla.

[Mondain]

medias

singular: medium
plural: media

i knew that, it's a voluntary use just to piss random people off

Whatever you say, man.

what, gimme a break, we're on a laid-back forum, it's not as if we were writing important college exams, i don't even follow the rules of punctuation and capitalization here... don't you think that in my latest english assignment that was extremely well graded, i made sure to write proper, meticulous english?

some basic rules of grammar and conjugation are just frustrating to take into account and don't lend themselves very well to snappy writing, so on occasion I'll really ignore them just to flout them

doesn't mean that I'm not fully aware of them in the first place

[Vizzys]

So you don't like it either, Viz? 
Phantom Hourglass is rocking, and I'm surprised gamers are not all in agreement on the subject - I really thought this would unite everyone.

No I do not

The two ds games that have perfected stylus control:

kirby canvas curse
its a wonderful world

[drohne]

yeah, between the wacky controls and the ugly 3d i'm skipping it for now. i picked up minish cap recently, so if i get a jones for a portable zelda, i'll just play that

[tiesto]

Up to the end boss of the linked Oracles games, then its onto this one... The Oracles games are fantastic, a lot better than the Minish Cap. Play those if you haven't.

[Synbios459]

Zelda stylus controls are NOT handicap-friendly:(

[Mr. Gundam]

Oh yeah, this came out today. I'll have to stop by Fred Meyer on my lunch break and pick it up.

MLB Power Pros also comes out today, I think. That is going to rock. Hardcore.

[bluemax]

Oh yeah, this came out today. I'll have to stop by Fred Meyer on my lunch break and pick it up.

MLB Power Pros also comes out today, I think. That is going to rock. Hardcore.

The impressions from the Japanese one were pretty disappointing. I hope Konami fixed that shit up.

[Beezy]

I'll pick this up the next time TRU has a buy 2 get 1 free deal. I bought enough DS games in the past month.

[Madrun Badrun]

medias

singular: medium
plural: media

i knew that, it's a voluntary use just to piss random people off

Whatever you say, man.

what, gimme a break, we're on a laid-back forum, it's not as if we were writing important college exams, i don't even follow the rules of punctuation and capitalization here... don't you think that in my latest english assignment that was extremely well graded, i made sure to write proper, meticulous english?

some basic rules of grammar and conjugation are just frustrating to take into account and don't lend themselves very well to snappy writing, so on occasion I'll really ignore them just to flout them

doesn't mean that I'm not fully aware of them in the first place

Aren't you from Quebec?  I take this misspelling as a direct attack on us proud English!

[Mr. Gundam]

Oh yeah, this came out today. I'll have to stop by Fred Meyer on my lunch break and pick it up.

MLB Power Pros also comes out today, I think. That is going to rock. Hardcore.

The impressions from the Japanese one were pretty disappointing. I hope Konami fixed that shit up.

I don't care. We're getting a Power Pro game in North America. I'm supporting Konami and Take Two for being so incredibly awesome.

Fred Meyer didn't have Phantom Hourglass, even though they had a huge cardboard standee for it...

[DJ_Tet]

bought it today at Circuit City where you can get free zelda headphones and screen wipe and retractable pen stylus

I like the controls so far, although I need to alter my screen guard as the bottom of my screen isn't as sensitive as I'd like.  Other than running into the water a couple of times at the beginning I haven't had any control issues.  Some attacks I can pull off faster, it's neat.

[hyp]

i wanna try this out, i tend to like the same games groo likes... so i will give it a chance.  but if the stylus controls don't click with me within the first 2 hours of play, it's back to blue dragon.

[bluemax]

Oh yeah, this came out today. I'll have to stop by Fred Meyer on my lunch break and pick it up.

MLB Power Pros also comes out today, I think. That is going to rock. Hardcore.

The impressions from the Japanese one were pretty disappointing. I hope Konami fixed that shit up.

I don't care. We're getting a Power Pro game in North America. I'm supporting Konami and Take Two for being so incredibly awesome.

Fred Meyer didn't have Phantom Hourglass, even though they had a huge cardboard standee for it...

Good point, I'll grab it after I get paid again.

[Van Cruncheon]

picked it up, but i didn't really like the stylus controls in the jp release. still, i'm a whorebag for zelda.

[Mr. Gundam]

picked it up, but i didn't really like the stylus controls in the jp release. still, i'm a whorebag for zelda.

None of the stores in Auburn have it. Well, Wal-mart might, but I don't want it that bad.

[tiesto]

There was like a billion copies at the Best Buy near work. Some older (had to be in his 40's) dude was picking it + guide up on the line with me.

[Van Cruncheon]

fred meyer in bellevue has it; well, had it this morning

[MrAngryFace]

I grabbed it too. Getting solid word of mouth and good reviews. I liked the stylus controls of Kirby Canvas and Mario vs Donkey Kong 2, if its half as good ill be fine.

[Mr. Gundam]

I picked it up at the Target in Federal Way before getting on to I-5 this evening, I might have to take the DS to work tomorrow and try this out during lunch.

[Ichirou]

medias

singular: medium
plural: media

i knew that, it's a voluntary use just to piss random people off

George W. Bush said the same thing about "internets." Hmm...

[FatalT]

We put it out today. Had like 2-3 spots of it.

[Mondain]

played this way more at college and I'm still very disappointed by it

there are some very nice elements; the premise seems pretty interesting and I fucking love the pseudo 2D/3D world that Nintendo has made

I still really don't like the stylus use, it feels like a useless gimmick; games are all about reflexes and a stylus isn't really suited for that sort of intensive use

also, most dungeons and environments seem really, really small and the overall design and complexity seems to be sorta dumbed down compared to past Zelda releases

as for the plot, I've probably completely outgrown Zelda stories, it seems like a lousy parody of itself now, and captivates me about as much as a Barney episode would

lastly, I noticed that intensive stylus use produces light scratches and blemishes all over the DS' screen... that really settles this, I'm dropping it

playing the much better Final Fantasy Tactics port with the awesome translation instead

[Van Cruncheon]

you mean fft: the slowdown war now with extra slowdown

[demi]

lastly, I noticed that intensive stylus use produces light scratches and blemishes all over the DS' screen... that really settles this, I'm dropping it

I noticed intensive usage of the PSP produces smudges and scuffs on the case and screen as well. Really bothered me.

Then I realised - DUH

[Van Cruncheon]

i noticed intensive use of a gaming platform for games yields fun

i also noticed that intensive use of piracy for games procurement yields assholery

[MrAngryFace]

FFT the lazy port.

"Hey guyz if we juz fix the crappy translation they'll call it good!"

[demi]

The new cutscenes are nice. They're voiced now!

It's not De-light-a, it's Delete-a

[MrAngryFace]

thats important to the gameplay!

[demi]

In the age of non-games, I think it's a huge step forward for the industry. Cutscenes for all!

[MrAngryFace]

huzzah!

[DJ_Tet]

lastly, I noticed that intensive stylus use produces light scratches and blemishes all over the DS' screen...

You should have gotten some of those screen protectors that Teddman recommended.  No scratches here.

I love the control scheme for the record, it's nice doing something new in Zelda.  You do know there is a rom hack out there that lets you use your control pad though?

[tiesto]

Hate to say this but I am not liking the control scheme at all. Just beat the fire dungeon right in the beginning but I dunno, I am just not getting used to even general stuff like moving around. And after immediately coming off double-heading the Oracles games, PH feels like banging Hilary Swank right after Scarlett Johanssen. I'm hoping I'll get used to and eventually grow to like this control scheme, and I am definitely gonna stick through and beat this game.

[Mondain]

DJ_Tet, got a link that contains more information about that control modification? That would be interesting to try out.

Although the dungeons seem too dumbed down and the cutscenes and characters too gay and corny for it to really be good. Gone are the days when Zelda was epic, dark and serious like in LTTP, and didn't hold you by the hand constantly.

The cutscenes and characters were perfectly balanced in OOT, but in the subsequent games Nintendo went way over the top with the handholding and the unbearably corny dialogue. Now that the next title is inevitably going to be for Wii, these aspects will probably only get worse. And it will be even less difficult than it ever was before.

[Van Cruncheon]

what?? linebeck is like the best zelda character ever. mondain, you useless taco, you totally borked this ph troll with your smug incompetence.

[Mondain]

perhaps, but sadly the rest of the crew along with the overall atmosphere seems even cornier than in the past

and well, these support characters are all clichés now, it's all been said and done, they fail to surprise us

isn't that vaguely what the latest 1UP review of 8.0 said of the game?

[MrAngryFace]

Epic and Dark zelda is for french canadian retardos

[Mr. Gundam]

I just played some more PH during my lunch break, and I'm really enjoying it. I wouldn't mind trying it out with traditional controls, but the stylus works very well.

[DJ_Tet]

Posted by Babaganoosh at OA:



D-pad hack!

Unpack rom with DSlazy - replace arm9.bin - repack.


http://heranbago.com/other/zeldaph/arm9.bin

[TVC15]

Does anyone know where to buy an R4 cart online?  Reliable, of course.  The site I know is back-ordered and has been for a while.  I wanted to get it there because I'd get a discount there (yay goon!), but I am sick of waiting.

[Van Cruncheon]

perhaps, but sadly the rest of the crew along with the overall atmosphere seems even cornier than in the past

and well, these support characters are all clichés now, it's all been said and done, they fail to surprise us

isn't that vaguely what the latest 1UP review of 8.0 said of the game?

so now you're endorsing 1up as a reputable authority? i thought all game reviewers were distinguished mentally-challenged shills, by your egocentric measure.

the review was written by jeremy "toastyfrog" parish, whose one defining characteristic as a reviewer is that he doesn't know what he fucking wants from games any more. he's emblematic of the zd set's review-of-convenience style. shame, too, because if half of the reviewers in his mold could ever establish a consistent context for their reviews that wasn't 3 parts hip internet-aware quasi-iconoclasty to 1 part earnest nostalgia, they might actually offer up credible analyses. they ain't dumb; they're just backwards.

[MCD]

Does anyone know where to buy an R4 cart online?  Reliable, of course.  The site I know is back-ordered and has been for a while.  I wanted to get it there because I'd get a discount there (yay goon!), but I am sick of waiting.

Will this do?

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Ds-R4-Revolution-Lite/dp/B000WGK89K/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-3943825-3150226?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1191446135&sr=8-2

[Mondain]

I absolutely don't endorse 1UP and am wary of all review sites, but some of them might bring up good points from time to time, even if the bad far outweighs the good

bits of cynicism that might deserve mainstream attention

[MrAngryFace]

Oh mondain, youre a horrible gamer.

[Oblivion]

And who gives a fuck about atmosphere in the first place

Hey, now. What's wrong with caring about atmosphere? I'd think that's pretty important playing certain genres, such as adventure, and FPSs.

the review was written by jeremy "toastyfrog" parish, whose one defining characteristic as a reviewer is that he doesn't know what he fucking wants from games any more.

Yes.

[Smooth Groove]

i noticed intensive use of a gaming platform for games yields fun

i also noticed that intensive use of piracy for games procurement yields assholery

Why did Mondain mention that VF5 for the 360 isn't a purchase for him?  He just downloads 360 games regardless of how good they are.   

[PhoenixWright]

How I feel about this game is this: When DS was announced, people looked at its feature list, and saw it as gimmicky. Nintendo then went on to spend years proving that it's not mere gimmicks, and can actually allow for good games, both traditional and non.

Then they release this and say "lol, we r gimmicky. we fooled u all." At least third parties don't do this gimmicky bs with their ds games.

[MrAngryFace]

what?

[demi]

suck and blow, baby

suck and blow

[PhoenixWright]

I was referring to Phantom Hourglass's control scheme. It's in the topic title.