The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: PHANTOM HOURGLASS

It's not often we see a direct 2D sequel to a 3D game. Generally, sequels in this series tend to go by console generation, hence Ocarina and Majora both for the 64, Four Swords and Minish Cap both being Game Boy Advance, and Breath of the Wild and its sequel being on the Switch, and yet here we are, a DS sequel to a Game Cube game, with Toon Link and Tetra off on another adventure on the Great Sea. This time, we see Tetra and her crew come upon a mysterious ghost ship, Tetra hop aboard to explore it, only for the ship to disappear and take her with it.

Toon Link is our protagonist, naturally, and he is joined by a fairy companion named Ciela. In this game, he has a lot of his basics, like his sword and shield, his bow and arrows, his boomerang, and his bombs, alongside the bombchu, the shovel, the hammer, and the grappling hook. He also carries with him the titular Phantom Hourglass, which allows him to traverse the Temple of the Ocean King (a major recurring location) without being affected by the temple's draining effects.

For our secondary characters, Tetra returns of course, turned to stone for a majority of the game, but generally doing her standard pirate-y stuff when she's not. Link also has three major companions: the fairy Ciela, a wise old man called Oshus, and a cowardly treasure hunter named Linebeck whose ship Link uses to travel around the map. Linebeck, obviously, can take on any aspect of his ship, so we have a cannon, a salvage arm, an anchor, a drill on the hull should you choose to buy it, being carried off in a tornado, and so on. He has also been known to hide in a box, so there's that. Oshus is eventually revealed to be the Ocean King, trapped in his old man form by the demon Bellum. Obviously he has his true form, and he can also teleport, fuse things with magic, and a number of elements of his temple can probably be attributed to him to, like the safe zones to protect yourself from Phantoms.

Other minor NPCs include Jolene, a female pirate who has been hunting Linebeck for abandoning her, who has her own ship complete with cannons, who duels link with her cutlasses, including a lunging and blocking maneuver (hmm, I'm not sure she's there yet. Might have to wait and see about the comics). Then there's minor characters like the smith Zauz, the fortune teller Astrid, and Beedle. The Anouki are also a race of ice-dwellers, but they mostly just fill NPC roles, so . . . not much to go on.

Bellum is the main villain this time around, and being around the time that people started to criticize the trend of Ganon hijacking the plot, it remains the main villain. It is a nightmarish sea demon that infested the Temple of the Ocean King and stripped Oshus of his powers. It can swim around or hang from above, attack with its tentacles, throw blobs and spew pink goop, and created the ghost ship as a lure to draw in sailors. It also possessed Linebeck toward the end, making use of his sword and spinning like a tornado.

Our bosses include: Blaaz, a master of fire; Cyclok, an Octorok with power over winds; Crayk, a giant hermit crab; the Diabolical Cubus Sisters who guard the ghost ship and shoot lasers; Dongorongo, sort of like a Dodongo; a Gleeok; and Eox, a giant stone warrior. A couple of mini-bosses also include a giant Eye Plant, a whale creature called Massive Eye, Jolene whenever she catches up with you, and the Phantoms, walking suits of armor armed with swords and shields, who will go on to play a massive role in the next game, so . . . more on that.

After that, our returning enemies include Chuchus, Octoroks, Rats, Crows, Tektites, Bubbles, Keese, Miniblins, Pols Voices, Moldorms, Poes, Skulltulas, Like Likes, Armos, Hinox, Beetles, and Stalfos. New enemies include Eye Slugs (the name says it all really), Reaplings (basically Grim Reapers), Sandworms, and Geozards (which kinda look like old-timey Zoras, but on land).

Being similar to Wind Waker, most of the important locations in this game are random islands scattered across a map, ranging from heavily important to . . . just kind of a random island. The most important here is Mercay Island, where Link washes up and where the Temple of the Ocean King is located. You get between all of these islands by boat, and our boats include Tetra's ship, the Ghost Ship, and the S.S. Linebeck. From there, our major dungeons include the Temple of Fire, the Temple of Wind, the Temple of Courage, the Goron Temple, the Temple of Ice, and Mutoh's Temple.

And that's pretty much it. Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Link: sword, shield, bombs, bombchus, boomerang, flute, ember seeds, gale seeds, Pegasus seeds, slingshot, magnetic gloves, power bracelet, Roc's feather, shovel, rod of seasons, switch hook, Harp of Ages, Tune of Echoes, Tune of Currents, Tune of Ages, gust jar, Cane of Pacci, mole mitts, flame lantern, Ocarina of Winds

Toon Link: sword, shield, bow and arrows, boomerang, bombs, bombchu, shovel, hammer, grappling hook, Phantom Hourglass.

Four Links: sword, shield, bow and arrows, boomerang, bombs, Pegasus shoes, Roc's cape, magnetic glove, spark his swords, pull apart, pick up and throw, push, push together, Force gems, fire rod, the fire arrows, quake, bombos medallions, hammer, shovel, power bracelet, cannon, box, vertical line, horizontal line.

Zelda: sealing spell, rainbow bridge, stone

Tetra: stone, basic pirate stuff

Ezlo: gust jar, Cane of Pacci, mole mitts, flame lantern, Ocarina of Winds, shrink, grow, elastic mushrooms, updrafts, parachute, magic cap

Linebeck: ship, cannon, salvage arm, anchor, drill, tornado, hide in a box

Oshus/Ciela: true form, teleport, fuse with magic, elements of his temple, safe zones, Phantoms, Phantom Hourglass

Din: dance, seasons

Nayru: sing, harp of ages, echoes tune, currents tune, ages tune,  time portals, fireballs, warp

Ralph: sword, (maybe?) bombs, bombchus, boomerang, flute, ember seeds, gale seeds, Pegasus seeds, slingshot, magnetic gloves, power bracelet, Roc's feather, shovel, switch hook

Jolene: cannons, cutlasses, lunging, blocking

Farore

Impa

Ricky: pouch, leap high, pair of gloves

Moosh: fly

Dimitri: swim

Malon

Talon

Tingle: steal Force gems

Dampe

Maple: broom, crash, potions

Beedle

Goron

Gerudo

Deku Scrub

Minish/Picori: shrink, grow, elastic mushroom, updrafts, parachute

Subrosians: shovels, hammers, boomerangs, warp points, buckets, smelt ore

Tokay: steal, swim

Anouki

Pirate Captain

Great Fairy

Ganon: disappear, trident, energy balls, slam, warp, seal Zelda, lightning

Onox: lightning, cyclones, mace, stomp to make rocks fall, blue flames, dragon form

Veran: possession, ghostly form, summon enemies, dark Links, dark energy balls, fairy, turtle, and spider forms, time warps

Vaati: fly, tentacles, cyclones, lightning balls, colored energy balls, claws, ring of energy balls, stone, teleport, flames, eyeball, dark blob, laser eyes, purple spikes, arms, magic cap

Bellum: swim, hang, tentacles, blobs, pink goop, ghost ship, Bellumbeck, sword, spinning tornado.

Dark Link: sword, shield, bombs, giant bomb, leap, multiply, fiery floor, icy floor

Twinrova: combine, fly, fire and ice, lava, glaciers

Vire: fireballs, shadow balls, fly, turn into keese

Armos

Hylian Soldiers

Wizzrobes

Deku Scrubs

Buzz Blobs

Darknuts

Keese

Gibdos

Lynels

Moblins

Octoroks

Goriyas

Zoras

Stalfos: scythe

Poes

Dodongo

Gohma

Eyegor

Helmasaur

Helmaroc King

Phantom Ganon

Hinox

Chuchu: spikes

Darknut

Keaton: knives

Phantom: sword, shield

Bosses:

Aquamentus

Dodongo

Mothula

Gohma

Digdogger

Manhandla

Gleeok

Medusa Head

Facade

Agunima

Frypolar

Pumpkin Head

Head Thwomp

Shadow Hag

Eyesoar

Smog

Octogon

Plasmarine

Ramrock

Swoop

Subterror

Smasher

Angler Fish

Dera Zol

Gouen

Dodongo

Gohma

Phantom Ganon

Stone Arrghus

Helmaroc King

Big Poe

Frostare

Giant Chuchu

Gleerok

Mazaal

Giant Octorok

Madderpillar

Blaaz

Cyclok

Crayk

Diabolical Cubus Sisters

Dongorongo

Gleeok

Eox

Eye Plant

Massive Eye

Stages:

Eastern Coast

Eyeglass Lake

Goron Mountain

Graveyard

Horon Village

Lost Woods

Moblin's Keep

Mt. Cucco

Natzu Prairie

Samasa Desert

Spool Swamp

Sunken City

Tarm Ruins

Woods of Winter

Temple Remains

Subrosia

Temple of Seasons

Gnarled Root Dungeon

Snake's Remains

Poison Moth's Lair

Dancing Dragon Dungeon

Unicorn's Cave

Ancient Ruins

Explorer's Crypt

Sword & Shield Maze

Onox's Castle

Labrynna

Cheval's Tomb

Crescent Island

Eyeglass Island Library

Fairies' Woods

Forest of Time

Jabu-Jabu's Shrine

Lynna City

Nuun Highlands

Rolling Ridge

Sea of Storms

Symmetry City

Talus Peaks

Yoll Graveyard

Zora Seas

Ambi's Palace

Coast of No Return

Deku Forest

Sea of No Return

Black Tower

Spirit's Grave

Wing Dungeon

Moonlit Grotto

Skull Dungeon

Crown Dungeon

Mermaid's Cave

Jabu-Jabu's Belly

Ancient Tomb

Room of Rites

Chamber of Insight

Sea of Trees

Talus Cave

Death Mountain

Palace of Winds

Lake Hylia

Cave of No Return

Hyrule Castle

The Coast

Village of the Blue Maiden

Eastern Temple

Death Mountain Foothills

Mountain Path

Tower of Flames

Field

Swamp

Lost Woods

Kakariko Village

Temple of Darkness

Desert of Doubt

Desert Temple

Pyramid

Frozen Hyrule

Ice Temple

Tower of Winds

Realm of the Heavens

Dark Cloud

Palace of Winds

Minish Woods

Trilby Highlands

Mount Crenel

Castor Wilds

Royal Crypt

Cloud Tops

Deep Wood Shrine

Cave of Flame

Fortress of Winds

Temple of Droplets

Mercay Island,

Temple of the Ocean King

Tetra's ship

Ghost Ship

S.S. Linebeck

Temple of Fire

Temple of Wind

Temple of Courage

Goron Temple

Temple of Ice

Mutoh's Temple

Thanks for reading! Next up, a sorta kinda sequel to this game, also on the DS (see what I mean?)