Wow, Spirit Tracks gets more and more fun. I've previously complained, that the game is very monotone and linear. But between all the sidequests I hardly don't notice this anymore. It's a little bit like Majora's Mask, the four dungeons there are played in a strict order and every dungeon follows a certain pattern (like getting a new song to access it), but overall the game is so stuffed with sidequests, that you don't care or notice. Though Spirit Tracks doesn't offer any big sidequests like Majora's Mask does, there's plenty to do and to discover. Especially the hidden stations and their minidungeons are to my liking.
But I wasn't all lazy, I finally managed to play the Desert Temple. It was like I thought, the dungeon wasn't hard at all and pretty short. But still sweet thanks to the newest addition to the Zelda series, the Sand Staff. Really cool puzzle item, which also acts as some kind of Hyper Shovel in sand regions. I didn't like the fact, that there was no shovel in the game. It's actually the first handheld Zelda without a shovel, but now I perfectly understand, why they cut the shovel item out. For example in the Dune Sanctuary you can dig up hundreds of rupees in no time. Together with the Song of Discovery this is more than enough. There were some really nice puzzles in the Desert Temple, that made use of the Sand Staff. I played so much around with that item, that I accidently found the hidden key on the basement floor. Before that I wondered what "the key lies between the 1 and the 3" means, which referred to the eye switches on the floor. Fun item. The boss at the end of the dungeon was a pure puzzle boss and couldn't hold up to Byrne/Staven at all. But he looked like Stallord's little brother.
And the dungeon finally broke the overall pattern, instead of adding another section on the Tower of Spirits, it got you even another item, the Bow of Light. It works exactly as the similar item in The Minish Cap, if you draw and hold your bow for a second it powers the normal arrows up to Light Arrows, which insta-kill most enemies and even shoot through them. However, while this is awesome, it makes the archery minigame a little harder. The trick there is to draw and hold the bow while aiming, so the arrows shoot without the delay. Without that method it would be impossible to beat the similar minigame in Phantom Hourglass. And you can't do that any more, because if you load up a Light Arrow, it shoots through the enemies and you loose some bonus points. I still managed to beat 5000 points though even with the Light Bow, it's just not as easy.
And that's not it. The reward for the Desert Temple was not one, not two, but THREE items. In the cutscenes directly after the dungeon the Lokomo hag Anjean also handed me the Lokomo Sword. Couldn't she give me that right from the start? :D But the sword design is such a joke, it's the Master Sword (again!) just with rails engraved on the blade and a steam engine gear style handle. Like the Phantom Sword was just the Master Sword with the Phantom Hourglass in the handle. Lame. They could have come up with something more interesting. Like for example instead of just engraving rails on the blade, make the blade itself look like a rail. Something like the Razor Sword from Majora's Mask just longer and unbreakable. And with a different handle. Maybe in the dark red color of Links hat (the one from the engineer's uniform, not the his green tunic), that would have looked more unique.
However, now I'm supposed to return to the Tower of Spirits yet again. I sure hope, that I don't have to repeat that last section a second time, because the last section sucked. Useless Wrecker Phantoms. Also, this is not the Ocean King Temple, I don't want to repeat anything except for hunting missed treasures. However, the Lokomo Sword may change things. I probably won't have to collect the Tears of Light anymore and just go for the Phantoms straight ahead. My mission is to find a Golden Compass (a compass in a NDS Zelda game? Woah, and that's when I thought, I've seen everything...), that guides my to the Demon Train. It sounds a little bit like the Ghost Ship in The Wind Waker. You weren't able to access it without the Ghost Ship Chart. Probably the Gannon-Train goes over the Spirit Tracks somewhere, but I can't see it without the compass.
But before that I discovered two more hidden stations, both in the desert part of the Fire Land. First was the End of the Earth Station with its clever Sand Staff puzzles. Spirit Tracks definitely offers some of the best puzzles in the Zelda series since a while. You have to say that. I've beaten all three levels and got a Heart Container and one more Regal Ring on the way. The last level was really tricky, but it's nice to finally use your brain again for a puzzle in a Zelda game. The other station was the Dark Ore Mine and I only managed to deliver two bars. Stupid spider-crab-monster-thingy in the tunnel, I hate that thing. I sure hope, it doesn't respawn or something when I try again tomorrow.
Now I'm only missing one Heart Container, which is the one in the Beedle Shop. But seriously, the Beedle doesn't have ANYTHING worth spending rupees on. Just some worthless, overpriced treasures. He doesn't even offer the Golden Potion. I managed to get the Silver Membership somehow, but still no Heart Container. Sucker.
It's day 5 and I haven't beaten the game yet. Mostly because I'm taking it slowly or otherwise I would be through since yesterday. But for some reason I don't want the game to end just yet. And that's a very good sign. Spirit Tracks definitely is not the best Zelda game, but more and more I'm starting to like it. Choo-choo.
But I wasn't all lazy, I finally managed to play the Desert Temple. It was like I thought, the dungeon wasn't hard at all and pretty short. But still sweet thanks to the newest addition to the Zelda series, the Sand Staff. Really cool puzzle item, which also acts as some kind of Hyper Shovel in sand regions. I didn't like the fact, that there was no shovel in the game. It's actually the first handheld Zelda without a shovel, but now I perfectly understand, why they cut the shovel item out. For example in the Dune Sanctuary you can dig up hundreds of rupees in no time. Together with the Song of Discovery this is more than enough. There were some really nice puzzles in the Desert Temple, that made use of the Sand Staff. I played so much around with that item, that I accidently found the hidden key on the basement floor. Before that I wondered what "the key lies between the 1 and the 3" means, which referred to the eye switches on the floor. Fun item. The boss at the end of the dungeon was a pure puzzle boss and couldn't hold up to Byrne/Staven at all. But he looked like Stallord's little brother.
And the dungeon finally broke the overall pattern, instead of adding another section on the Tower of Spirits, it got you even another item, the Bow of Light. It works exactly as the similar item in The Minish Cap, if you draw and hold your bow for a second it powers the normal arrows up to Light Arrows, which insta-kill most enemies and even shoot through them. However, while this is awesome, it makes the archery minigame a little harder. The trick there is to draw and hold the bow while aiming, so the arrows shoot without the delay. Without that method it would be impossible to beat the similar minigame in Phantom Hourglass. And you can't do that any more, because if you load up a Light Arrow, it shoots through the enemies and you loose some bonus points. I still managed to beat 5000 points though even with the Light Bow, it's just not as easy.
And that's not it. The reward for the Desert Temple was not one, not two, but THREE items. In the cutscenes directly after the dungeon the Lokomo hag Anjean also handed me the Lokomo Sword. Couldn't she give me that right from the start? :D But the sword design is such a joke, it's the Master Sword (again!) just with rails engraved on the blade and a steam engine gear style handle. Like the Phantom Sword was just the Master Sword with the Phantom Hourglass in the handle. Lame. They could have come up with something more interesting. Like for example instead of just engraving rails on the blade, make the blade itself look like a rail. Something like the Razor Sword from Majora's Mask just longer and unbreakable. And with a different handle. Maybe in the dark red color of Links hat (the one from the engineer's uniform, not the his green tunic), that would have looked more unique.
However, now I'm supposed to return to the Tower of Spirits yet again. I sure hope, that I don't have to repeat that last section a second time, because the last section sucked. Useless Wrecker Phantoms. Also, this is not the Ocean King Temple, I don't want to repeat anything except for hunting missed treasures. However, the Lokomo Sword may change things. I probably won't have to collect the Tears of Light anymore and just go for the Phantoms straight ahead. My mission is to find a Golden Compass (a compass in a NDS Zelda game? Woah, and that's when I thought, I've seen everything...), that guides my to the Demon Train. It sounds a little bit like the Ghost Ship in The Wind Waker. You weren't able to access it without the Ghost Ship Chart. Probably the Gannon-Train goes over the Spirit Tracks somewhere, but I can't see it without the compass.
But before that I discovered two more hidden stations, both in the desert part of the Fire Land. First was the End of the Earth Station with its clever Sand Staff puzzles. Spirit Tracks definitely offers some of the best puzzles in the Zelda series since a while. You have to say that. I've beaten all three levels and got a Heart Container and one more Regal Ring on the way. The last level was really tricky, but it's nice to finally use your brain again for a puzzle in a Zelda game. The other station was the Dark Ore Mine and I only managed to deliver two bars. Stupid spider-crab-monster-thingy in the tunnel, I hate that thing. I sure hope, it doesn't respawn or something when I try again tomorrow.
Now I'm only missing one Heart Container, which is the one in the Beedle Shop. But seriously, the Beedle doesn't have ANYTHING worth spending rupees on. Just some worthless, overpriced treasures. He doesn't even offer the Golden Potion. I managed to get the Silver Membership somehow, but still no Heart Container. Sucker.
It's day 5 and I haven't beaten the game yet. Mostly because I'm taking it slowly or otherwise I would be through since yesterday. But for some reason I don't want the game to end just yet. And that's a very good sign. Spirit Tracks definitely is not the best Zelda game, but more and more I'm starting to like it. Choo-choo.
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