The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is the first Legend of Zelda game for the Nintendo DS, and is also confirmed to be a sequel to The Wind Waker.

The development team for Phantom Hourglass has many returning developers from The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, many of whom, in turn, were close to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Graphics
The games graphics are done in the style of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The game is played with a top down perspective, but with 3D graphics. The trailers released by Nintendo show that there are also full 3D cut scenes.



Gameplay
As mentioned before, the trailer shows traditional gameplay in the style of The Wind Waker. Link is shown in a field, in a dungeon, on a ship, and battling an Octorok. Along with the Octorok, the familar Moblin and a fairy make appearances.

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 Mercay Island, he awakens to the sound of a Fairy named Ciela. Ciela takes him to her "grandpa" whose name is Oshus. Link goes to the temple of the Ocean King and rescues Linebeck, Link sets off in search of Tetra, and a way back to where they belong. With his new ally Linebeck, Link searches the islands for the Sand of Time, which will expand the usefulness of the Phantom Hourglass. He is also looking for three spirits which are obtained after each temple. After the Temple of Courage, it is revealed that Ciela is the spirit of courage and that she split herself in two in order to save herself from Bellum. Link then seeks out the ghost ship and finds Tetra, but she has been turned into stone. Oshus appears and reveals himself to be the Ocean King. He says that Bellum attacked him, and that he was forced to split himself in two. He also says that his other half is at the bottom of the Temple of the Ocean King. He also says that only the Phantom Sword can defeat Bellum. He recommends that Link go to Zauz's Island. Here Zauz tells Link that the Phantom sword cannot be forged without the three pure metals given by the Ocean King to three tribes. Link must go to the Goron Island, the Isle of Ice, and the Isle of the Dead to find these metals.

Multiplayer
In the multiplayer mode of Phantom Hourglass, players will take turns playing as three Phantom Guards (defense) and Link (offense). Power ups can be collected to assist you with this. The goal is to collect more Force Gems than the opponent. When a Phantom Guard hits Link, the turn is over and the players switch sides. The multiplayer mode is only for two players, though online play has been officially announced, indicated by the Nintendo Wifi Connection logo on the American and Japanese box art.