The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass(ゼルダの伝説 夢幻の砂時計 Zeruda no Densetsu Mugen no Sunadokei lit. "The Legend of Zelda: Hourglass of Fantasies"), is an upcoming video game in Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda series, for the Nintendo DS. It will feature 3D cel-shaded graphics with an overhead camera perspective primarily, but incorporating different views based on context.

The graphics are similar in style to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Nintendo of America confirms that Phantom Hourglass is its direct sequel. Satoru Iwata unveiled it with a trailer during his keynote address at the 2006 Game Developers Conference in San Jose. Phantom Hourglass will first be released in Japan on June 23, followed by the rest of the world in the 2007 holiday season.

Story


Set several months after Link’s quest to save his sister and defeat Ganon, Link, Tetra and her pirates are at sea exploring, questing to find a new homeland. In the middle of a dense fog, they find an abandoned ship, and Tetra goes to explore. When she gets into trouble, Link tries to rescue her, but he falls into the ocean and loses consciousness. Washed up on the shores of a mysterious island, he awakens to the sound of a fairy named Shiera, whose intentions are to aid Link through his adventure to find his missing companions.While looking for clues to find the ghost ship, Link unexpectedly meets a man named Lineback who is seeking the riches from the treasure of the ghost ship. Since both are looking for the ghost ship, the two decide to work together. 

Gameplay
The gameplay in this Nintendo DS game is mostly overhead, similar to most 2D The Legend of Zelda titles, but the character models and the environments are in 3D. The rendering environment is similar to Animal Crossing for the Nintendo GameCube, and somewhat like the Nintendo DS sequel to Animal Crossing. The touch screen is used to show the main gameplay, used to control Link, or to solve puzzles (such as the hourglass shape at the beginning of the trailer shown at GDC), while the upper screen is mostly used as a map screen. The map can also be brought down to the touch screen, allowing the player to write notes on it. It will also be used to create a taller screen in some events, such as the battle scene in the trailer. All boss battles will use both the top and bottom screen. The microphone will be used in some way as well.

Link will have a fairy yet again, similar to Navi and Tatl from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, respectively. Shiera (the fairy) acts as the cursor for touch screen input with the stylus, as the trailer shows the fairy directing Link. However, unlike in the Wii version of Twilight Princess, the fairy and Link will have some form of communication, as revealed in E3 gameplay.

There will be sailing in this title similar to the sailing system found in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Instead of a sail boat however, a steam boat is Link’s mode of transportation, requiring no manipulation of the wind. The boat’s course is plotted ahead of time using the stylus, allowing the player to concentrate on attacking foes with its cannon as the boat travels to its destination point.

Link will be meeting members of new and old races during his adventure. Gorons will be making an appearance in this game. The Gerudo could be back as well, but it is not confirmed. The lady could just be a hylian fortune teller. A new race will also be making an appearance. They (atleast in the japanese version) will be called "yukiwaroshi".

There is one "master dungeon" that Link must complete in the game. However, he can only make limited progress, and must work through other dungeons before he is able to proceed further in the primary dungeon. In the "master dungeon" and other locales there are enemies known as "Chasers". These enemies follow the player, cannot be defeated, and can kill Link with one hit.

Footage from the demo shown at E3 2006, official screenshots as well as the official trailer, show a few items included in the game, including bombs, a bow, the boomerang, and a cannon for the boat. An icon in the lower left corner of the touch screen showing the word "Menu" will bring up a menu in which the player can choose their current item, which will appear in the upper right corner.

The Game Developer's Conference of 2007 unveiled a new trailer for the game, which depicted Link getting trapped by enemies and having to rub the touch screen with the stylus repeatedly to escape.

Battle mode
A multiplayer battle mode will also be included in Phantom Hourglass. This battle mode is a 1-on-1 multiplayer game officially dubbed "Hide-and-Go-Seek" by Eiji Aonuma. In an arena, one player takes on the role of Link, while the other player, on defense, controls three Phantom Guardians. Players of both sides are aided by power-up items that shortly appear on the playing field, such as the Pegasus Shoes, a Decoy, a Time Increase and a Whirlwind maker.

Link’s goal is to grab a Force Gem from one of the many zones and carry it to his own base at one side of the arena. The other player, controlling the three Phantom Guardians, must try to find and catch Link before he scores any points. When Link is caught, or if the turn-time has passed, players switch sides. A game consists of three rounds, and in each round, each player takes a turn at both sides. The maximum length of one whole multiplayer game is 12 minutes.

The game will support multiplayer via both local and online of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Release
According to the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass will be released in Japan on June 23rd, 2007, at least 4-6 months ahead of the North American and European versions. (This Date has been stated as 4Q or October 2007 in various sources)

Weaponry

 * Hero's Sword
 * Shield
 * Boomerang
 * Bombs
 * Cannon
 * Bow and arrows

Enemies

 * Red ChuChu
 * Crow
 * Rat
 * Phantom Guardians
 * Yellow ChuChu
 * Peahat
 * Octorok

Development
The main objective in the game’s creation was to fully utilize the DS’s hardware, having a Zelda game controlled by the stylus/touch screen alone. Eiji Aonuma hopes the new control scheme will follow through into future Zelda titles, and maybe even other adventure games for the DS.

The first concept for control was that the player would control Link by using the D-pad and buttons, having a 2D map on the bottom screen, while all the visual 3D action would take place on the top screen; similar to Metroid Prime: Hunters. The team found however that this control scheme didn't work well, which saw the change to the 3D stylus method of control as the game uses now.

The game was first shown to the public at the 2006 Game Developers Conference, in the form of a trailer. At E3 2006, the game was in playable form for the visitors, and also saw the introduction of the multiplayer mode. At E3 it was announced to be released in the fourth quarter of 2006, but as Nintendo kept quiet on the game in the months following, it became apparent it was going to be delayed and in late November, it was officially announced to be delayed into 2007. At the 2007 Game Developers Conference, Nintendo announced the game will be released in the USA in the 2007 holiday season.[3]

The reason for Phantom Hourglass' long delay was recently revealed in an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto. According to him, he had been so busy developing Twilight Princess that he had not been able to get involved in the creation process for Phantom Hourglass at all. When Twilight Princess was finally finished, he was able to look at the nearly finished beta for Phantom Hourglass, and he desperately wanted to become creatively involved in it. He begged Iwata to delay the game, in order to allow him that opportunity. In the interview, Miyamoto apologizes to fans for the delay, but states that the title will be "much better".

Four Swords DS
The project initially started out as a Four Swords game for the DS, and the same team, having discovered the potential of cel-shaded graphics on the console, ultimately decided to opt for a single player adventure instead. When Nintendo first announced the Nintendo DS at E3 2004, Eiji Aonuma also hinted at a The Legend of Zelda title for the system. Shigeru Miyamoto stated in October 2004 "We're thinking of bringing Zelda: Four Swords to the DS", but Aonuma later remarked that the idea never reached the development stage.. In late 2005, Aonuma told Electronic Gaming Monthly in an interview that the new The Legend of Zelda game for the Nintendo DS would not be a Four Swords title, and rumors were finally put to rest when Nintendo announced Phantom Hourglass as the actual DS project at the 2006 Game Developers Conference.

Awards
At E³ 2006, the game won the Game Critics Awards for Best Handheld Game.

Screenshots
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