Not Just Another Sunday (Princess Zelda Lives!)

White birds soar freely in the skies above the vast blue ocean. A pirate ship sails along, cutting through the waves. On deck is a crew of pirates and their leader Tetra, a brave and brash girl. Traveling with them is Link, the boy in green…

This is where my very own world-travelling, beast slaying, treasure hunting, puzzle solving adventure began last Christmas. You would have thought that I was a 12-year old kid when I ripped open a very neatly wrapped (I wouldn’t expect anything less from Dan) copy of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS last December.

Well, after spending months in search of Tetra (also known as Princess Zelda), I’ve finally defeated the evil Bellumand saved her. I may, in fact, now have some form of DS carpal tunnel as a result of today’s final epic battle.  

I have to admit that it probably wouldn’t take most “gamers” months to finish this game, but it makes sense for me because I tend to play DS in spurts here and there. Plus, with story driven games like Phantom Hourglass, you have to set aside at least a good 1/2 hour or 1 hour to play – this can be a challenge for a hard-working girl such as myself. Not to mention, this is not a game you can play in the car (the whole game is played via the DS Stylus pen and bumps in the road can mess you up).

The 14th game in Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series, Phantom Hourglass definitely deserves all of the awards it has recieved over the last couple years including being named “Game of the Year” in 2007 by IGN, GameSpy, and GameSpot and many others.

Great game – thanks Nintendo (and Dan)! Next on my list – the highly acclaimed Professor Layton and the Curious Village.