Playing it Through: Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass

I got LoZ: Phantom Hourglass for Christmas last year (yes, I know, I am always late to the game on modern stuff), but I was just wrapping up the absolutely amazing Skyward Sword and I was saturated with Zelda goodness.  That was not the time to embark on another Zelda epic.  And I had always heard that PH was an instant classic.  The debut LoZ game for the DS with innovative controls, great story and tricky puzzles, Phantom Hourglass earned the hype it received.  Or so they say.  Me?  I got Spirit Tracks the year it came out (the previous Christmas, no less) and fell in love with the railroad theming and the whimsical game play that takes its cue from Wind Waker (which I hold is a really great game BECAUSE of the sailing, not despite it).  Everything I read said that ST was a veritable clone of PH just with a train instead of a boat.  Well, I loved ST, so if PH is the source material, it must be great, right?

Let's find out.  I had a lot of fun playing through FFVII in the first PiT, and that was a game I had played a million times.  Let's see how it goes with a game I'm playing for the first time.  If you are reading along with me, I'd love to hear your experiences.  Drop me a message in the Comments section.  I'll also take any tips or tricks you might know, but please keep spoilers to a minimum unless I ask for specific information.  Discovery is a great deal of the fun in Zelda games!

After playing Phantom Hourglass for a few hours, I can already see the parallels between it and Spirit Tracks.  Both games feature a frame quest off which the main quests spoke.  In Phantom Hourglass the Temple of Ocean King is the frame quest and as you explore it you unlock the other major quests of the game.  Since Zelda games tend to start at the micro level and work to a much larger scale, I am certain this game will follow suit.


The game starts out with a retelling of Wind Waker, kind of, after which Link shows up on the shore of Mercay Island.  Navi shows up (I know its not really Navi, but you and I both know it pretty much is, so just go with it) and leads Link to the her Grandfather's house, who also happens to be the wise man of the island and, as later events will suggest, more than he appears.  From the outset, the game doesn't really have a tutorial level, per se, but the first parts of the island introduce many of the basic skills that will be required to play the game.  Using the stylus to move isn't exactly intuitive, but you get used to it.  The hardest part is rolling, as into trees.  Scribbling along the edge of the screen tends to just wiggle Link around, not always prompt the desired action.  Combat is pretty simple since tapping a foe causes Link to attack it.

I get through the first cave easily and enter the town.  It is a relief to see that "town" equals about 3 houses.  This will greatly reduce the amount of inane chatter before I can get on with the quest.  The goal is to meet the smarmy and tattered sea captain who will be our dark horse companion for the trip.  His name is Linebeck and he is effectively a foppish ninny.  To that effect he has gone missing in the Temple of the Ocean King and must be rescued.  The Temple is, unsurprisingly, a huge puzzle that lays the groundwork for the game's key gimmick.  Parts of the temple are ensconced in an evil pink fog that will drain your life. Fortunately, there are also safe zones.  The key is to get in and out of the fog while solving the puzzles that will set Linebeck free.  Very standard Zelda stuff.

You called?

The temple is pretty easy and Linebeck is soon free.  Once freed he characteristically flees the Temple forcing Link to follow him back to town, specifically to the dock.  Speaking with Linebeck at the dock prompts the Old Man (not Mister Old Man, mind you, but similar in many ways...) to show up and send Link off to find clues as to the whereabouts of the Ghost Ship that kidnapped Zelda (I failed to mention that this was the point of the game, but this being a Zelda game I assumed you would have already guessed what our objective was).  The first place the Old Man suggests to look is Ember Isle, where there lives a wise soothsayer called Astrid. Since Linebeck is now tied to the quest, his vessel has been volunteered for the job.

Driving the boat has been significantly changed since Wind Waker, and maybe for the best, although I really enjoyed the sailing in that game.  You pretty much just draw a course on your map and then let the boat go along.  You have to pay attention as hazards will crop up and you may have to avoid or jump over them, but for the most part you just let the boat go its way.  On the way to Ember Isle, I ran across Beedle's ship, which wanders the seas selling all manner of interesting things.  I picked up a part for the ship, more on that later, and checked out many other goods a budget of 60 rupees will not support.  Leaving Beedle, I proceed to Ember Isle where a whole new puzzle presents itself.

Astrid appears to be locked in the basement of a house as precautionary measure when the Ghost Ship recently paid a visit to the island.  Her assistant was meant to come let her out after the ship left, but he has not returned.  The secret to opening the door to Astrid's room is to find the three torches on the island and touch the map on the wall outside her chamber where those torches stand.  Clues are pretty obvious and the biggest tip off comes when you meet her assistant's ghost near the first torch.

With the torch locations discovered, Astrid points you toward your next objective: freeing the spirit of Power trapped inside the volcano.  The trek up the volcano is pretty easy, but getting in the door introduces another new kind of puzzle and one of the novel game play aspects the Nintendo DS features.  To open the door of the volcano dungeon you must blow out the candles that flank the door, literally.  By blowing into the microphone on the DS you actually blow out the candles in front of you!  I realize that by now this is old hat to the rest of the universe, but is is still pretty cool.  (A similar game play aspect was utilized when you first meet Astrid as you must call out to her behind the door.  Any noise will suffice, but it's a lot more fun to actually call out)

Once inside, standard Zelda dungeon rules apply.  The puzzles are fun and not overly complicated.  A puzzle with a mouse and a key led to some fits until I figured out exactly the best way to trap the little bastard.  The puzzles get a boost when the boomerang is found.  Here the stylus control really shines as you draw paths for the boomerang to follow to hit triggers and unlock doors.  And in typical Zelda style, the boss fight at the end of the dungeon requires you to use the item found within it to achieve victory.  One nice touch is the boss key gimmick which sees you carrying the key to the door and tossing it in to unlock it.  This adds a new kind of puzzle to the dungeon which is equal parts fun and frustrating.

The final boss of the volcano dungeon is Blaaz, whose name I think wants to be pronounced "blaze'" but looks more like "blas." Blaaz attacks by splitting into three parts and lobbing fire attacks.  As mentioned above, the boomerang is required to smash all of the pieces of Blaaz back together.  Once reunited, bash Blaaz with the sword until he regroups and the whole thing starts over again.  Hit Blaaz enough times and he goes out in a puff of smoke.  Your reward is the freedom of the Spirit of Power and, of course, a heart container.

According to Astrid there are three Spirits:  Power, Wisdom and Courage.  (familiar, much?)  All three must be located and their power drawn upon to reveal the location of the Ghost Ship.  Apparently there are also these tear drop things which can amplify the powers of each spirit.  I have seen a red one like the one you get on Ember Isle in Beedle's shop and another in the shop tent back on Mercay.  They were both really expensive, so I am guessing they are important.  More on that as I play along.

For now, though, it's back to Mercay Island so that the Old Man can tell us where to go next.  On the way back, I make another stop at Beedle's ship and pick up another ship part, a sickle anchor.  On Mercay Island there is a ship builder who can modify your ship (the same goes for the train in Spirit Tracks).  As you collect parts you can visit the builder to upgrade the ship.  Different parts bestow different benefits and if you use all of the parts from a given set you get an extra bonus.  If this is anything like the aforementioned train in Spirit Tracks, this will be a neat addition to the main game.

The Old Man suggests a return trip to the Temple of the Ocean King might help illuminate the next part of the adventure.  Linebeck accompanies for some reason (treasure he says).  Once inside, the Old Man appears and points Link to the pedestal on the second floor of the Temple.  There Link finds the gimmick object for the game: the Phantom Hourglass.  The glass has the power to protect Link from the pink fog in the temple that drains life, but only for a short time.  Once the sands have drained they must be recharged by the sun.  Thus, it must be used sparingly.  Having claimed the Hourglass, the secrets of the Temple can be revealed, slowly over the course of the adventure, that is.  And that's where I left things.  In the Temple, ready to explore the next level.

So far this seems like a pretty standard Zelda adventure.  It borrows much from Wind Waker, and I am hoping for more divergence in the adventure as the game progresses.  I'm in the minority that has no problem with the kid Link adventures or the cell shaded style they are done in.  All I really am looking for is a fun adventure with great puzzles and lots of action.

Follow Link and I through Hyrule after the JUMP!

Girl on Girl Games: Lovely Lisa

I'll admit it: I usually come down on the side opposite staunch feminism, because I feel the extreme view robs femininity of its inherent value in favor of masculine attributes. I celebrate the things about womanhood that enrich our lives and, in turn, the world. I like skirts, nail polish, and sewing. I generally do all the cooking here in the Electric Frankfurter kitchen. But, I also salute the strides made by women throughout history that have made it possible for me to also enjoy things beyond that sphere--like job opportunities, generalized education and birth control.

I think I usually give "girl games" more of a pass because I know there are bigger battles out there. If a girl likes a Barbie doll, what's the harm? Barbie has had all kinds of careers and drives a Corvette. She's had lots of wedding dresses, but somehow, she's never settled down. Barbie is practically an independent woman. 

Then, there's Lovely Lisa. No game, not even Chronotrigger, has so successfully pulled off time-traveling in such a thorough way.

Lisa appears to be a doll, but a thirty-five second internet search only revealed other dolls and a few porn websites, so I'm forced to assume this doll doesn't exist in this country. She, and her doll-like family are here to help young girls, ages 5 and under, learn to be nice young ladies. That's not my choice of words: it's the game's own parlance.

Lisa's world is represented as a town. From the town, you may access Lisa's home to perform household chores, the "career center" to try out "fun jobs", or the "charm school", where you can learn ladylike talents. Other options from this screen allow you to buy or design outfits for Lisa with points earned in the other activities.

 First, home. Lisa's mom looks a little tired to me, like perhaps she's been downing a lot of little yellow pills while running for the shelter of her "mother's little helper." And who could blame her? She's been busy, what with having six children under the age of 6, buying them all matching outfits with ribbons and bows. Dad seems like a nice guy, though; a little young for the father of a large family, but what the heck? I'm sure he can afford it.

From here, Lisa can choose various household tasks that are appropriate for a girl to do. When she helps mom, she can do the laundry, the cooking, or the shopping! Helping out with her younger siblings yields cleaning and babysitting chores--and finally, helping Dad allows her to build furniture. This is Dad's only possible chore.

Girl on Girl Games: Style Savvy

Once upon a time, your humble contributor (me) was just a little girl. Actually, I was this girl:

Adorable, yes?

But, as time went on, and my mom stopped doing my hair and picking my clothes, I turned into this girl:

I'm the one on the left.

And now I'm reviewing a fashion game.

All jests aside, I really do enjoy fashion. I read InStyle on airplanes just like anyone else; I have whiled away many a rainy Saturday watching marathons of What Not To Wear. When the occasion arises, I have no problem putting together an outfit that doesn't make me look like a mental patient. Now, I don't have a ton of money to blow on clothing, so I don't get a lot of practice at looking fantastic.

Luckily for me, there's Style Savvy.

 The game is simple. You are a young fashionista on the go, and you've taken a sales job at one of the hottest boutiques in town. You work your way up to the top, get your own store, and the rest is history. Well, actually, the rest is just serving customers, managing inventory, and competing in fashion contests.

You start in your apartment, your launchpad to fashion stardom. You apparently get to keep all the vendor samples (and you apparently fit into vendor samples ...ahem...) and so you are able to make outfits for yourself out of anything you've bought for your store. You can do your make up, also. And, like all apartments, it is from here that you can adjust your identity and volume level.

A very metro-girl apartment. I feel like I'm in Ikea...

 In case you're wondering, here's me:

Faaantastic.
(keep reading, fools!)

A Closer Look at My French Coach for the Nintendo DS

Bonjour!  C’est moi, votre bon ami Stan!  Aujourd’hui, j’etudie Francais avec My French Coach pour le Nintendo DS.  Je sais déjà un peu Francais, mais je voudrais apprendre plus.  My French Coach est bon pour beaucoup des choses, mais pauvre pour plusieurs tres important choses que vous avez besoin de parler francais bien.


The above paragraph was made possible entirely by working with My French Coach for the Nintendo DS.  But don’t cash in those lottery tickets for a plane ride to Marseille just yet!  As I state above (for you non-francophones out there), the “game” is good for a great many things, but it comes up short in some very important areas that are fundamental to communication in a foreign language.  As you might have garnered (nothing gets past you!), today we’ll be taking a Closer Look at My French Coach and just how it fares as a poor(er) man’s Rosetta Stone.

Before we delve too deeply into the program itself, a short history is appropriate if we are to understand my perspective on this particular subject.  In the interest of full disclosure, I feel obligated to tell you that I already knew a pretty decent amount of French when I started playing this game.  I took two years of French in high school (mostly staring at Mrs. Wilborn our buxom French teacher, sorry Mrs. Wilborn, but its true…) and following that I tutored French in college for two years (tutoring mostly 19 year old ladies’ tennis and volleyball players, again a distracting experience).  In order to obtain my MA, I was forced (you heard me) to pass a French fluency exam that consisted of translating a body of text from French to English.  I failed…the first time. (naturally I blame women!) But the second time I passed it and believe me it took many hours of study to get it right.  So, you can see that going into this “game” I was armed with a fragmented understanding of the language.  I believe overall, that puts me in a good position to judge just how well My French Coach prepares the uninitiated for their first foray into a foreign language.

One additional brief caveat before we get our hands dirty. I’m not entire sure what to call this thing.  You may have noticed my attempt at neutral language in the preceding paragraphs.  I am hesitant to call this a “game” when it is more of a learning tool, but calling it a learning tool sort of de-emphasizes the approach that the program takes in order to teach the language.  Furthermore, to simply call it a program is rather vague and muddies the water conversationally.  Therefore, I think we are going to agree that this is still a video “game,” even though it a special kind of “game” that can be used as learning tool as part of its primary function.  So you’ll have to bear with me if the language is transitory during the following dissertation.

Now, if I recall correctly, this is supposed to be a Closer Look at a video game, so let’s get back to the task at hand.  My French Coach for the Nintendo DS is part of a line of video games aimed at teaching novices how to speak and otherwise navigate a foreign language.  To date, the line consists of games for Spanish, English, Japanese, and Chinese.  What is taking so long for Italian and German, I have no idea.  The line seems to have some momentum and perhaps for good reason.

My French Coach consists of a series of “lessons” designed to provide a basic introduction to the French language.  You are given an instructor as guide, and oh what a fine instructor she is, to the lessons and are able to select the lesson of your choice from a list; hence you can revisit old lessons to refresh as you need to.  When getting started, you will be asked to take a “placement” exam of sorts to determine where in the lesson plan you should begin.  This is basically just to see how familiar you are with the language to avoid time-wasting repetition of known material and also to keep rookies from getting in too deep too soon.  The game placed me at Lesson 9 based on my test results and while that may have been a little simpler than I feel I was knowledgeable of, it never hurts to refresh.

Once you get going, the game is divided into three sections: Learning, Games, and Reference.  The Learning section is basically the “main game” where you progress through the lessons opening new harder challenges upon earning a certain number of points that are meant to indicate mastery of the material.  There are 50 lessons in all and beyond that you may continue learning under what is called the “Open Plan.”  This area is basically vocabulary drills and games that build upon the fundamentals already covered.  You will not obtain any new grammar rules or sentence structure beyond this point.  The Games section let’s you play any of the learning games you have unlocked up to that point.  There are eight games in all and although two of the games are very similar there is enough variety to keep this section fun.  You’ll even be ranked by grade level (i.e. I am a “5th Grader” at the time of this writing) depending on how well you perform in the games overall.

The Reference section might very well be considered an entirely separate section of the game, even though you can certainly use it as part of your learning experience.  The Reference section contains a place to view your progress as well as all of the unlockables in the game and how you are doing with individual words and concepts.  There is a Dictionary which is basically an abridged “French/English translation consisting of all of the terms used in the Learning section. Finally perhaps the most useful section in the whole game is the Phrasebook.  A concise compilation of helpful phrases you may have need of should you find yourself on the Rue Biscarra and desperately need to know how to get to Le Maya on Rue Vernier or if you happen to run into someone from Fiji (Tu es des Fidji?) You know, because it happens.  The Phrasebook has a lot of useful phrases and will even speak them for you if you are too embarrassed to bust out with “Ils vont marcher jusqu’au parc” on your first go.  At the end of the day, the Reference Section may be the most valuable part of this whole game.

The main section, however, is probably why most people buy this game.  Chances are good if you are considering purchasing My French Coach you have at least a passing interest in learning, or relearning like me!, French.  Thus most of your time is going to be initially spent in the Learning section.  The big question is, just how much can you expect to learn from the lessons to be found in this game?  The answer is mixed.  As I said in the intro: “My French Coach est bon pour beaucoup des choses, mais pauvre pour plusieurs tres important choses que vous avez besoin de parler francais bien.”  Translation:  The game is very good at many things, but comes up short in some vital areas if you hope to speak French proficiently.

The lessons start off with elementary vocabulary and phrases and progress to incorporate slightly compound sentence building and expanding word sets.  These things the game gets right 99% of the time.  There are some things it teaches that are odd or on the rare occasion outright incorrect, but for the most part the elementary education is solid.  You’ll learn basic noun-verb agreement and simple and inverted sentence structure.  You’ll pick up the fundamentals and by the time you get to the 50th and final real lesson, you should have a pretty good handle on elementary French.  Unfortunately, that is where the game will leave you.  After the 50th lesson, you will be shuffled off to what is called “Open Plan” which is basically just a series of vocabulary drills that add new terms to your inner dictionary.  You’ll not pick up any more grammar rules or be introduced to any new concepts, but you will be deluged with new words to learn.  Not that increasing your vocabulary isn’t valuable, but you’ll hit this wall pretty fast if you are ambitious and get into the game, and that can be a buzzkill for the hungry student.

Your best bet once the “Open Plan” is unlocked is to back out of the “Learning” section of the game and moving to “Games.”  You’ll still accrue points and unlock new levels and new vocabulary, but you’ll be free of the structure of the “Learning” section, which becomes a list of words followed by a random game, each and every time.  Under the Games section you’ll be able to set the parameters for each game and you’ll be able to include all of the material you have learned thus far as well as mix in the new stuff.  This will help you avoid the inevitable, repetitious conjugation game that can occur when playing the Random Game in the Learning section.  Plus, you’ll probably get more of a challenge out of playing the Games with expanded parameters and the inclusion of the all the material you had learned.  If you want a real challenge, try tackling “Spelltastic” with Open and Hard settings. Wow!

It's Whack-a-French-Mole-Word-Thing-Game...

The only real let down with My French Coach is the early and limited ceiling of what you will learn with the game.  While the game does a good job giving you a foundation for the language, it leaves out some really important stuff, like how to form a negative phrase.  Unless you plan to go to France and have everything happen just right, chances are good you are going to want to say something in the negative.  Thus, it would be nice to be able to negate something, but you’ll not get that lesson from My French Coach. (If you look back, you will see I did not use a single negative in that opening passage) You’ll also not be introduced to more than a couple of irregular verbs, and trust me, in French, some of the best verbs are irregular.  The game even plays dirty with you by introducing you to semi-irregular verbs and asking you to conjugate them in the Open Plan levels (verbs like “distraire”).  The game takes you only so far, and for me, it simply isn’t far enough.  In addition to negation, where are the reflexive verbs, where are the past and future tenses?  These things are still basics of the language and would be extremely useful for someone trying to be functional with it.  I’m not suggesting that the game make you fluent in fifty easy steps, but I do think that it could have gone a little deeper than it did. Beyond that, the game executes pretty well. Despite a few odd glitches in a few of the games (nothing major, just a few mechanics that get stuck here and there), you’ll be off and learning French in no time.

Oh my dear lord. I promise I will learn whatever this foxy little tomato is teaching...

Final Look:
My French Coach for the Nintendo DS is a pretty good French primer and will serve you well as an introduction to the French language.  It is not, nor should it ever be confused with, a replacement for the fine language learning tool known as Rosetta Stone (the makers of which may feel free to send me a free discretionary copy at their leisure).  My French Coach is fun and it helps getting into a foreign language accessible, but know going in that it is only going to take you so far, and depending on how far you want to go, that may or may not be enough.  For serious students and those who really get into learning French, you can certainly have a good time with My French Coach, but ultimately you are going to want a lot more than this game is going to offer. For those with a more casual interest in foreign languages, this game and its companions are a fun way to play around and maybe pick up a few things along the way.

Next time
I honestly have no idea, the holidays are coming up and I'm stupid busy, but I promise I'll take a look at something between now and then. I just picked up Quest 64 and I've been playing a lot of video game golf...