New Information on Spirit Tracks

[Aeolus]

A preview courtesy of 1up.com.
http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3176790

A couple of things to note.
- Spirit Tracks is set 100 years after Phantom Hourglass.
- Its set in a new land of Hyrule.
- There will be trains.
- They're fixing the rolling.
- This game's Zelda is playable.
- The first dungeon item is a microphone powered fan.
- This game's version of the Palace of the Ocean King features an elevator to skip already cleared parts.
- There will also be items to enable you to directly face the Phantoms early on.

Anyways discuss.

[Prime Mover]

- This game's version of the Palace of the Ocean King...

fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck.... FUCK!!!!!!!

not buying it.

[Eusis]

- This game's version of the Palace of the Ocean King...

fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck.... FUCK!!!!!!!

not buying it.

Because it's impossible that they could learn from mistakes and make something more enjoyable? This one apparently lets you skip past cleared areas, that alone can make this a lot better, and if it's not timed then even better (and it doesn't look that way if one of those screens was from the tower).

[Prime Mover]

True... I guess it was a gut reaction. I just hated everything about the Palace of the Ocean King. The fact that they even THOUGHT about bringing something even remotely similar back into the game just makes me cringe. I really hate the centricity of it. The thing I tend to like about Zelda games is that they don't usually have one center place of origin. They have several towns, several dungeons, and whatnot, that you can come back to if you want, or when the story dictates it, but none have any more real importance than any others. Palace of the Ocean King made the game almost feel "misison based" because of it's insistance that you return to one central locale.

[Eusis]

True... I guess it was a gut reaction. I just hated everything about the Palace of the Ocean King. The fact that they even THOUGHT about bringing something even remotely similar back into the game just makes me cringe.

Oh, I agree there, but Nintendo GENERALLY puts out great titles or improves on serious flaws, so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt here.

[Aeolus]

I didn't mind the Ocean Palace. Considering how 90% of the world map involved sailing from point a to point b, having someplace to use all of those awesome tools other than their respective dungeons was a godsend (especially after Twilight Princess).

So yes, I for one, welcome Phantom Hourglass the way it was meant to be.

[Eusis]

Ideally they'd excise that element (traveling by vehicle) altogether. I wonder if they may've implanted that as a way to give people a break from moving Link around with a stylus though, as much as it annoys me to see Zelda handling exploration in this way that would make sense.

[Aeolus]

I didn't mind it since it was a definite step up from Wind Waker's boating, and in fact, I did appreciate the hunt for hidden islands. Its just not something that allows for much outside of the vehicle's mechanics (and now that I think about it there hasn't been a Zelda game that didn't feature some alternative method of transportation since Minish Cap, unless you count Four Swords Adventures).

[Dice]

Phantom Hourglass was probably the most disappointing Zelda title I ever played.  I'm super sceptical about this.  Feels sorta uninspired too.  I get a vibe from the Nintendo staff were more on a "Hey, let's make Link do this!!" as opposed to "I have a great idea for the Zelda series" train of thought.  Hah.

[Dincrest]

can i maeks choo choo trian crash?!?!?!?!

Don't ask me why I wrote it that way, but if there's choo choo trains, I wanna make them crash.  I will be disappointed if Spirit Tracks does not have at least one choo choo train crash.

[GrimReality]

Same reaction as Prime. Why would they even consider bringing back the Ocean King Temple? Even a "improved" version?
I also agree with Dice in that this has to be amazing awesome to even get some interest out of me. So far it looks like Blah. The whole trains thing makes me think they're shooting for the 5 year old demo.

I also recall the music being horrible and repetitive. Every dungeon pretty much had the same boring bgm. NOT cool.
Yeah, I pretty much wrote this off right after it was announced.

[Gen Eric Gui]

If this game DOES have a choo choo train crash, I'll buy it.  If not...I'll just wait for 3D Dot Game Heroes.

[Eusis]

I also recall the music being horrible and repetitive. Every dungeon pretty much had the same boring bgm. NOT cool.

For whatever it's worth I liked the music in the trailer I watched, but otherwise this is one of my biggest concerns with the game. I don't need an amazing soundtrack here, just one that does a decent job, and in this case the soundtrack only served to make the game feel even blander.

[WildArms]

Well i wont break my tradition to buy all zeldas here, anyhow, i wonder if they are finally going to make "romantic" stuff or something happens between zelda and link... i mean... its already time for that and maybe would make the story more entretaining, but i must say, i dont expect much

[Aeolus]

Same reaction as Prime. Why would they even consider bringing back the Ocean King Temple? Even a "improved" version?
I also agree with Dice in that this has to be amazing awesome to even get some interest out of me. So far it looks like Blah. The whole trains thing makes me think they're shooting for the 5 year old demo.

I also recall the music being horrible and repetitive. Every dungeon pretty much had the same boring bgm. NOT cool.
Yeah, I pretty much wrote this off right after it was announced.

If I recall correctly that was the exact same thing said about Wind Waker before it came out. And if I recall correctly it ended with Ganondorf getting a sword planted directly into his skull.

Also, I'm sorta hoping that the overworld for this game bares some kind of resemblance to AoL's overworld (or a piece therein of). It might finally put to rest those debates of what the Zelda timeline looks like.