The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: Difference between revisions

 

The plot picks up right after ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Wind Waker]]'', with Link sailing with Tetra's crew on the trail of the mysterious [[Ghost Ship]]. When the ship is in sight, Tetra goes aboard and disappears, prompting Link to go on after her. He is tossed from the ship, and wakes up on a strange island where a fairy named Ciela finds him. During his quest to save Tetra, he meets up with Linebeck, the captain of a steam boat, and the wise but mysterious old man Oshus. Oshus gives Link the titular Phantom Hourglass to ward off the curse placed over the Temple of the Ocean King by Bellum.

* [[Bigger on the Inside]]: Not only do islands look a lot smaller while you're sailing than they do on land, they also have larger varieties in elevation like cliffs, hills and peaks when you're viewing them from your boat that aren't quite as evident when you're walking around on them.

* [[Build Like an Egyptian]]: The Cobble Kingdom.

* [[Comic Book Adaptation]]: Yet another [[Zelda Manga]] has been made, this time about this game.

* [[Cosmetic Award]]: Beedle's "Complimentary Card," which sounds like it can be exchanged for a free item. When you redeem it, {{spoiler|he compliments you.}}

* [[Demonic Possession]]: Used on {{spoiler|Linebeck in the end of the game}}.

* [[Earn Your Fun]]: The shooting gallery, Maze Island, and the "training" with the captain of the Prince of Red Lions.

** The {{spoiler|Phantom Sword}}, which sure would have come in handy a lot sooner than you're able to get it.

** Then there's {{spoiler|Ciela's ability to create Time Spheres, which give Link the ability to freeze time}}.

* [[Game Mod]]: A patch that, surprise surprise, makes the controls button-based.

* [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]: In the final scene, the Ocean King offers Linebeck a single wish in return for his help. Linebeck asks to have his ship which was sunk earlier returned to him. This is supposed to be a bit of [[Character Development]] for the usually cowardly and greedy Linebeck, but it still comes off as a bit money-hungry if you've gone through the pains of collecting and equipping all the Golden Ship Parts, which would make said boat worth every Rupee in the Great Ocean.

* [[Ghost Ship]]: Literally!

* [[Guest Star Party Member]]: For part of the dungeon on Goron Island, you switch control at will between Link and Gongoron, the son of the chief of the Goron tribe. You get to play as him again in the race on the nearby Dee Ess Island after you clear the dungeon.

* [[Guide Dang It]]: The second Sea Chart. Who would have known that you're supposed to {{spoiler|''close the DS'' to put the marking on it?}}

* [[Hold Your Hippogriffs]]: When Linebeck refuses to enter the Ghost Ship Ciela refers to him as a "cucco." Cuccos are [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp|chickens]] in all but name and ferocity.

* [[Identical Stranger]]: Zauz the blacksmith bears an extraordinary resemblance to Ganondorf.

* [[Intergenerational Friendship]]: The adolescent Link and the adult Linebeck. Eventually.

* [[Invisible to Normals]]: The Hero's New Clothes, making a return appearance (so to speak) from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|Wind Waker]].'' Allegedly they can only be seen by very honest people.

** Generally played straight, but there's a hilarious subversion towards the end. After Zauz forges the {{spoiler|blade of the Phantom Sword}}, he tells Link to take it back to Oshus, who can finish the job. When you meet Oshus, he asks Link to take out the Phantom Hourglass. For no reason whatsoever, Link decides to (unnecessarily) go through his typical [[Item Get]] motions. However, Oshus, apparently not in the mood, [[Crowning Moment of Funny|grabs the hourglass from Link mid-motion, leaving Link with his hand in the air and...nothing in it!]]

** Also parodied at the beginning when Link does this while not being able to stand straight from Linebeck shaking him too hard, accompanied by a wonky version of the [[Item Get]] sound effect.

** And parodied before that when Link opens up a chest and finds...nothing in it.

* [[It's Probably Nothing]]: The Phantoms take the fact that this kid that they chase always vanishes into thin air a bit ''too'' lightly. Possibly [[Justified Trope|justified]] by the fact that they are relatively mindless, presumably undead [[Mook|mooks]].

* [[Kid Hero]]: Link is still not beyond the age of thirteen in this game.

* [[Not Completely Useless]]: The items in the trading sequence, which otherwise serve no useful purpose -- the kaleidescope, for example, looks ridiculous if you don't know why you have it.

* [[Obviously Evil]]: As noted, the Cubus Sisters. Seriously this is what the youngest sister says when describing her "captured" sisters. (Red text not included)

* [[One-Time Dungeon]]: The fourth dungeon -- and '''only''' the fourth dungeon is an example, but averts one instance of [[Lost Forever]] because [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything|The Dev Team Thought Of Everything]].

* [[Or Was It a Dream?]]: While Link and Tetra are first led to believe it was [[All Just a Dream]], {{spoiler|Link finds the Phantom Hourglass on him and sees Linebeck sailing away in the distance}}. Doubles as a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Links Awakening|Link's Awakening]]''

* [[Point of No Return]]: Once you finish crossing the bridge leading to the final boss it collapses, leaving you stuck on the other side of the room. Ciela tells you that this is it; there's no turning back. Then a warp path to the beginning of the dungeon appears, [[Subverted Trope|subverting]] it.

* [[Precocious Crush]]: An odd one. After defeating the [[Ghost Ship]], if Link returns to Molida Island, he'll encounter a girl near the dock who wasn't there on his previous visit. She swoons over her mental image of the hero who defeated the [[Ghost Ship]] and gives Link a treasure map to give to the hero, who she seems to think is much older than him.

** Also, in a more subtle example, three of the four sections of the map feature areas where rocks are arranged in a formation of three, and an island is hidden near each of them.

* [[Schmuck Bait]]: Played straight ''and'' subverted with the [[Obviously Evil]] Cubus Sisters on the Ghost Ship. Played straight when one of them {{spoiler|tries to lure you into opening a booby-trapped treasure chest}}; subverted when another {{spoiler|warns you not to shoot the Reapling guards in the back lest you piss them off - it turns out that it's the only way of stunning them, making it ''much'' easier to slip past}}.

* [[Sealed Good in a Can]]: The Ocean King.

** The game is [[Book Ends|bookended]] with ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening|Link's Awakening]]'' references: it begins with Link on a ship caught in a storm and ending up washed ashore on an island, and ends with {{spoiler|Link meeting a whale-like creature who returns him to his own world where his adventures seemed to be [[All Just a Dream]]}}.

** There seem to be at least a few thematic shout-outs to ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]]'', as well, such as Link freeing trapped guardian spirits (the Ocean King and his helpers/the Four Giants), an emphasis on time limits (the Hourglass/the three-day cycle), a bad guy with tentacles and big, yellow eyes who seems more like a destructive force of nature than a thinking, plotting villain (Bellum/Majora), a yellow fairy companion with a bit of an attitude (Ciela/Tatl)...

* [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World]]: The Isle of Frost and its dungeon.

* [[Stalker with a Crush]]: Pirate Girl Jolene. When Linebeck {{spoiler|left and robbed her}} she didn't take it lightly.

* [[Stupidity Is the Only Option]]: On the [[Ghost Ship]], Link has to "rescue" four little girls, "the daughters of the house of Cubus." It becomes increasingly [[Obviously Evil|obvious that they're really evil]], but there's nothing else to do but "help" them.

* [[Surveillance Drone]]: The Phantom Eyes. They don't hurt you themselves, but if you don't get to a safe zone ''fast'', the Phantoms come...and they do.

* [[Tutorial Failure]]: The game tells you to "draw little circles at the edge of a screen" to perform a roll. In reality, the technique is more like wiggling at the edge of the screen — drawing circles will just make Link flail around with his sword.

* [[Vendor Trash]]: Goron Amber, Ruto Crown, Regal Ring, Pink Coral, Pearl Necklace, Dark Pearl Necklace, Zora Scale, and Helmaroc Plume. Interestingly, their value and rarity varies greatly from game to game, so what may be common and cheap in one game can be extremely hard to find and worth a lot in another. This also applies to extra ship parts as well.

** While you're sailing, a flock of seagulls will gather behind you. You can shoot them.

* [[Warp Whistle]]/[[Warp Zone]]: A variation -- writing symbols on a blank slate [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|summons golden frogs who use cyclones to transport the ship to various parts of the ocean]].

** Doubles as a [[Shout-Out]] to [[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|its predecessor, which also had a frog who summoned cyclones for your ship.]]

** [[Hypocritical Humor]]: Linebeck's original (and increasingly subverted) reason for going with Link at all is to make money and plunder stuff.

 

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[[Category:The Legend of Zelda]]