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jp's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
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| [July 22, 2011 03:28:16 PM]
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I finished watching the final cut-scenes this morning on the train and I have to say that, all things considered, portable Zelda games continue to provide engaging, fun, and enjoyable experiences. It's really quite remarkable I think. They never stray too far from what makes a Zelda game, but at the same time it seems like they do go out much farther than people give them credit for. In the case of this one (and not having played Wind Waker), the sea-faring aspects were new, the touch controls, the ship customization (and trading!?), the fishing, and such.
Curiously, something happened towards the end that highlighted what might be one of the unique pleasure I get from playing Zelda games. I had just run into a "traveler" in the NE sea (at least I think this is where it happened) who, for some reason or another, ended up giving me a set of clothes (that were invisible clothes). At first I was surprised, because it seemed like a joke gift, and I wondered what the heck it was about. What was I supposed to do with these things anyways. (I should have checked my inventory to see if they appeared anywhere...) I forgot about the completely, until (a few days later) I ran into another traveller (this time I think in the SW quadrant). He immediately asked me about the invisible clothes. Would I give them to him? Sure, I said. He was ecstatic and proceeded to give me, in return, a telescope. And then, it hit me. (the curious pleasure I'm referring to). I faintly recalled an earlier Zelda game where you had some object, gave it to someone, received a new one in return that you had to give to another person, and so on. I remembered the "chain" of giving as being quite extensive (in terms of geography) and long (in terms of number of people involved). While I had no intention of following the chain of gifts in this case, I was reminded of the earlier game with a certain sense of fondness and pleasure. This may sound like nostalgia, but it was different. I felt happy at having "discovered" something about the game together with it evoking a pleasurable memory. I'm not sure what to call this "pleasure" (it doesn't quite fit any of the ones that game scholars regularly talk about). I am, however, convinced that it's something people will increasingly feel when playing games. For now I'll call it the pleasure of re-discovering the familiar.
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| [July 6, 2011 12:52:25 AM]
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I guess I must be halfway through since I've done most of everything on the half of the sea map I've uncovered?
So far the game is still classic Zelda even as it mixes things up a bit. You can customize the ship you're sailing in (not sure why I'd do that yet...) and there is a mailman who delivers letters to you from different characters you meet. THAT reminded me of Animal Crossing! It's a pity you can't write back... :-)
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| [June 14, 2011 05:48:58 PM]
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It's surprising how the Mario games manage to be so inventive and different from each other, yet still be eminently entertaining. The Zelda games, on the other hand, are incredibly similar to each other yet STILL manage to be eminently entertaining. I'm not sure why that is. Sure, Phantom Hourglass has a different setting (the sailing is new to me, though it features in Wind Waker) and there are a few new mechanics thrown in here and there...and the control scheme is different (it's a DS game...)...however it's the same old Zelda game. Well, at least it's the same old Zelda game I've been playing on handhelds for quite some time now. This isn't a bad thing at all, it just surprised me how comfortable it felt to start playing this one. It's deja vu...the good parts of it.
I'm currently trying to locate the Temple of Courage. I just dragged something up from the bottom of the ocean, but I'm not really sure what's going to happen next.
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jp's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Wednesday 8 June, 2011
GameLog closed on: Friday 22 July, 2011 |
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