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Spirit Tracks (SPOILER-FREE!!!SORTA!!! =0 ) Review

Started by HylianHero92, December 18, 2009, 06:05:27 PM

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HylianHero92

Many longtime Zelda fans we're appalled, shocked, and even disgusted by the Spirit Tracks trailer shown at the Game Developer's Conference 09.

Some were angry:
Quote from: MagmarFire on March 25, 2009, 01:20:39 PM
Looks cool, but...it doesn't seem...very Zelda-like to me. It feels too modern. If it's a sequel to Phantom Hourglass...yeah, major overkill. Chances are it'll be darn easy, too. >:

Guess I'll just have to wait until more information comes out...

Some didn't know just what to think:

Quote from: Chuckinator on March 25, 2009, 01:33:48 PM
I am unaware on how to feel about this... :-[

I might even go for slightly sad...

I mean links conductor outfit...

Others defended it:

Quote from: kamakaziplumber on March 25, 2009, 04:28:57 PM
What do you guys want? I can't believe that the same people who were dying for a new Zelda game are now nitpicking because IT HAS A TRAIN. Steam power was established in Phantom Hourglass; heck, it might have even been in Wind Waker, I forget. If they've found a "new Hyrule", it is reasonable to think that they'd build a simple train. Alternatively, the train could be some kind of special, Link-specific mechanic. Either way it's just a new way to get around that makes use of the DS's touch screen. Epona is great, we love Epona, but Epona wasn't in Wind Waker or Phantom Hourglass, either. Epona also doesn't have a built-in cannon.

THIRD, I find it ironic that the majority of us who are happy or excited about this game are older. Yet those of you who are complaining that it's for little kids, are younger. What does that prove? Maybe that you guys should suck it up and be happy that there is something to be happy about, instead of being pessimistic and petty. Maturity isn't determined by the rating of the video games you play, you know. It seems we're forgetting about that.

ARGH. It felt good to rant.

Then half of us were convinced it was a hoax....

Quote from: FunTykoon on March 28, 2009, 03:43:16 PM
Quote from: TP Zelda on March 25, 2009, 07:25:03 PM
Quote from: FunTykoon on March 25, 2009, 07:16:37 PM
Quote from: Hi no Seijin on March 25, 2009, 04:32:16 PM
Quote from: FunTykoon on March 25, 2009, 03:16:39 PM
Guys, it's a April Fools joke. It's blatanly obvious. The conducter suit, the shadow-guard, THE FREAKING TRAIN, they would never do this stuff.
Quote from: kamakaziplumber on March 25, 2009, 02:49:15 PM
ALSO: This is almost certainly not an April Fool's joke. Major companies don't make up major news at major conferences.
I'm going with KP here.

I can almost promise you that this is a April Fools joke. Just watch. Just remember, I called it.

And if you're wrong?

stab to the back, I guess.


And then there was Bill Trinen:

Quote from:  Bill TrinenTry to stay away from ledges and sharp things for the rest of the day, Zelda fans.



It was a mess.


At first,  I beat on it saying things like:
Quote from: Colonel Roy Mustang on March 25, 2009, 04:51:03 PM
I am not mad that it has trains. I'm mad because it's Phantom Hourglass. With the boats replaced with trains. I'm mad because I'm afraid. I'm afraid Nintendo will kill Zelda with this and future games like they murdered Mario with Mario Party and/or any sports game with the word Mario in it.

But now, after purchasing and beating the game, I can assure you guys this is certainly within the top 10 Zelda games ever.


It fixes just about every single issue PH had.

They do the "Main, recurring, Temple" (This time called the "Tower of Spirits") thing once more. However, this time you do not have to do any floor you don't want to over again, while you can go back if you desire. The puzzles and traps within are devious and clever. In fact, even some developers got stuck doing them! ;)

But one of Spirit Track's biggest strengths is it's music.

The songs played with the Spirit Flute before each dungeon are simply amazing. The overworld music is an original track with buts and pieces of familiar tunes mixed in, creating an exciting theme it perfectly for a train ride. The music for exploring the Tower of Spirits gives a sort of "epic adventure" feel and is, again perfectly fit for the place. The best piece I've heard (possibly within the entire series) though, is the game's final boss theme, a boss in which I shall speak no further of (just for Mags!) to prevent spoilers.

The main theme itself is wonderful and is included within many other pieces in the the game, but not repetitively.

Outside of music, the dialogue is also superb, especially the dialogue between (more like one way  :-*) Link and Zelda.

Zelda plays a much bigger role in this game as well. In the Tower of Spirits, she can posses the Phantoms that roam it's halls. Different Phantoms have different abilities, such as a Phantom that can warp places, so you can use that to solve some clever puzzles within the tower.

The cutscenes are another strong point in Spirit Tracks. They have an extremely surprising amount of drama and detail. That's right guys.


They actually have hands this time around!


One thing they didn't fix though, is the Tag mode. I still don't understand how to use it.  ??? Also, the multiplayer, to make it brief, is kinda sucky if you don't have a lot of friends who can play it with you.

Sidequests are a much bigger part of the game this times too.

You can drive people to different places and, if you don't get them killed, they'll give you a force gem. Force gems add more tracks to the map, gaining you access to different stations, caves, minigames, and even more sidequests. There is one sidequest that you do for Niko, the Pirate who appeared in TWW and PH (and is now nearly 100). He gives you a stamp book to collect stamps from stamp stations scattered across the entire world. Some are easy to access, while others are near-impossible. It's well worth the work, however. At 10 stamps, he gives you (SPOILER! MAGS LOOK AWAAAAAAY!!!) Link's shield from Phantom hourglass, now called the "Shield of Antiquity" because it is nearly 100 years-old. (END SPOILER)

At 15 stamps, he gives you (SPOLIER) your old engineer's clothes back, though wearing them is optional and you can alternate at will. (END SPOILER)


And then at 20 stamps he gives you (SPOILER) a swordsman scroll, allowing you perform the great spin move. (END SPOILER)



So, in a deku nutshell....


Pros:
Great story
Superb Music
Impressive Presentation
Well-written dialouge
Well-developed game controls
Fixes PH's screw-ups
Challenging puzzles
Huge overworld
Fun sidequests
You actualy get to (SPOILER) wear your old clothes!(END SPOLIER)
Humor (that is actually funny for once :-[ )


Cons:
Tag Mode still sucks
Mulitiplayer pointless without three more friends
Train Parts are extremely difficult to get
Postman thinks he is an actual train  :o



Overall, it gets 4 and 3/4



Out of 5

Pea-Tear Griffin

Well that's nice to know it was as good I've heard. I am getting it tomorrow and was gonna be outraged if it wasn't worth the time...

Go n-ithe an cat thú is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat

MasterKeyX

Relief has flooded through me. At first, I was really angry too. How could they?

But now.. I'm happy. Content. I look forward to playing it.


RIP my LeafGreen team: 2005-2010

HylianHero92

Quote from: MasterKeyTheWiz on December 20, 2009, 08:58:09 AM
Relief has flooded through me. At first, I was really angry too. How could they?

But now.. I'm happy. Content. I look forward to playing it.

That's really good!  :)

The issue is that everybody still has the same mindset they did when the first trailer was revealed. We need to spread the word that the game is more than exceptional!  :-*

MasterKeyX

I just got it for christmas. So I'll play it a bit and write how I feel about it here.


RIP my LeafGreen team: 2005-2010

MagmarFire




Advanceshipping and Rion had better be Chuck Norris approved.

DW

I can't even get into the fourth temple because I'm so sidetracked doing all the sidequests. It's so great.
­

Hi no Seijin

Quote from: Kixash on December 31, 2009, 12:05:32 AM
I can't even get into the fourth temple because I'm so sidetracked doing all the sidequests. It's so great.
Same here.

Of course, there's also Kingdom Hearts distracting me, but still.
Best.  Cane.  EVER!
Secretary of Lolcats; I won the MagmarFire Award for 2/21/08!
Filler.Filler.Filler.Fillah!  Filler.Filler.Filler.Fillah!

HylianHero92

Quote from: Winry Rockbell on December 31, 2009, 07:14:52 AM
Same here.

Of course, there's also Kingdom Hearts distracting me, but still.

GAH!

DON'T EVEN-














Jk



But getting to the topic, I've just realized this is the first time an important character... or ANY character for that matter, has actually died. I nearly cried at the end, not because Byrne died, but because Anjean said "The spirit is persistent." I was afraid Byrne was coming back. But, alas, he did not. Thank you God for that.   ;)

MagmarFire

Quote from: Colonel Roy Mustang on January 01, 2010, 11:15:17 PM
But getting to the topic, I've just realized this is the first time an important character... or ANY character for that matter, has actually died. I nearly cried at the end, not because Byrne died, but because Anjean said "The spirit is persistent." I was afraid Byrne was coming back. But, alas, he did not. Thank you God for that.   ;)

I know! We need more endings like that! I hope the creators know they're beginning to let unpredictable elements into the series more and more. Especially since Zant was hijacked by Ganon in Twilight Princess.

Come to think of it, I would really like for a game to have a complete downer ending sometime, too. Yeah, it sounds masochistic, I know, but Zelda needs more of that emotion. The last time I really ever cried from playing a Zelda game, it was way back when I finished Ocarina of Time, my first game in the series. I want the series to pluck at my heartstrings more like that.



Advanceshipping and Rion had better be Chuck Norris approved.

Fishalicious

Quote from: Colonel Roy Mustang on January 01, 2010, 11:15:17 PM
But getting to the topic, I've just realized this is the first time an important character... or ANY character for that matter, has actually died. I nearly cried at the end, not because Byrne died, but because Anjean said "The spirit is persistent." I was afraid Byrne was coming back. But, alas, he did not. Thank you God for that.   ;)

There's this game called Majora's Mask bro you should play it

Er, wow that was snarky. But Mikau, Darmani, the Deku Butler's son, um... basically... half of everyone in MM (technically everyone if you get a game over) and a few other people in some other games.

And TP, being "darker and edgier" than anything else in the series had a few deaths. "Remember what happened to the woman from the general store? She left to fight that thing, and when the rest of the town arrived, she was already gone, and there were two of them there!" Referring to the Twilight Beasts, of course, but guess what. You kill them. So yeah. indirect murder ftw

And didn't Zant die at the end of TP? I though he snapped his own neck. Actually, I just realised that I don't really know what was up with that... I guess it could of been him "severing ties" to Ganondorf somehow. I mean, if you see how bendy he was in the boss battle/cutscene, I'm almost positive that couldn't have broken any bones.

Oh, and you know the end of Windwaker? Yeah. That whole.... thing. DOWNER.

WELL. ANYWAY. people have died before. That is my point. V: but I do agree that we need more of that in the series, part of why I love WW so is because of all the intense feelings Link must be experiencing. Sounds pretty cliché but like... while a lot of it has carefree and "omg yay" times, there's some very serious and touching moments, particularly toward the end.

MagmarFire

I think he may be talking about characters that you actually grow an attachment to throughout the game. A few of the characters you mentioned, like the woman from the general store, were never really shown alive, and for all we know, it was like that before the game even started. Byrne's case is a little shaky, since you really didn't see him all that much and, thus, didn't get much time to grow too attached to him. However, this is notable because since Byrne did a heel-face turn, a genre-savvy Zelda fan would be able to predict that he wouldn't die, being...good and stuff. In Zelda, if you have an ally who supposedly dies, he/she usually comes back somehow. Not Byrne so much.



Advanceshipping and Rion had better be Chuck Norris approved.


xarlote

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