PixlBit

Hey everyone!  As I said a few weeks ago, I was having surgery done on my arm to correct some unfortunate nerve damage, and wasn't expecting to be around here much at all.  Well, I had it done, but it wasn't quite what anyone had expected.

The initial plan was to take the nerve itself, move it from where it usually goes, cut muscle, and slide the nerve under that (like in this diagram).  I was looking at my arm being wrapped up for three weeks followed by about three months of physical therapy to get that muscle working properly again.  Pretty crummy, all things considered.  But sometimes, I actually manage to have good luck; during the middle of the operation, the surgeon discovered that his original prognosis was wrong, and that the real problem I had was a completely anomalous bit of muscle pressing my nerve.  This guy does about 600 ops a year, and sees this maybe two or three times in that span of time.  So he worked on that problem instead, and I was instead wrapped up for one week and will not have to go through physical therapy!

For those reasons alone, the whole turn of events felt more like a miracle than anything else, and I spent much of last week in a pretty great mood because of that.  Sadly, I didn't spend much time working on my backlog of games like I said I would.  Why not?  Because my arm was in a half-cast all the way down to the wrist; honestly, the only thing I could play without cramping the heck out of my arm was a bit of Phoenix Wright: Justice For All, but I was eager for a bit more.  Indeed, getting back into gaming was one the reasons I'm so happy with how things worked out, and thankful that I wouldn't end up going stir-crazy with little to do.  Plus I have a scar now, and recent polls indicate that chicks dig scars.

So, now that I'm back into the swing of things (partially), I'm digging into the backlog starting with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS.  Like many gamers, I love Zelda games.  They're great, and awesome, and timeless classics, and everything.  But as I eluded to before, I have this tendency to get games, stockpile 'em, and, once I get the time to actually dedicate to gaming, never play but a few.  Even for a series that means a lot to me, this title didn't even get put on the back burner--it got put in the dang fridge, yo.  So I decided that this would be the first I'd really take on: start it from the beginning, and play it till the end.

If you haven't played Phantom Hourglass, I'm assuming it's because you either don't have a DS or because you just couldn't "get" the game.  If you're in that latter group, I'll say that you're in somewhat good company with me.  I played it for a bit after first getting it but put it down shortly thereafter (for whatever reason), yet some quirks about the game stuck in my mind.  I think it'd be one thing to simply say, "Yeah, it controls weird with only a stylus," or to lament how there's too much sailing like in its prequel, Wind Waker, or to roll your eyes whenever you have to blow or shout into the microphone (thank God I'm playing this game at home; the people on the tram would think I was nuts).  If you spend perhaps thirty minutes with the game, or at least after the first dungeon boss, I think there's a lot about it that leaves the player saying, "This is...off."  Having put about ten-and-a-half hours in so far, it's certainly how I'm still feeling about the game.  And mind you, this is a different kind of "off" from the persistent malaise in Majora's Mask.

One one hand, it's a "primer" game, a child's introduction to Zelda.  The combat is almost heinously easy and most of the puzzles are simple enough.  I wouldn't say it makes the game boring, but it keeps it from being that much more compelling either.  On the other hand, it's also a handheld Zelda game designed for its hardware.  The graphics are nice, yet I'm curious if the experience could have been fleshed out better had they gone with a 2D style similar to older Zelda games.  Moments like the aforementioned mic screaming are fun enough to avoid feeling like they were shoehorned in, and the stylus controls are solid for the most part.

So far, I think my biggest reservation to the game is the pacing.  There are moments where it feels like the game's about to pick up and you really are about to hit the high seas to go do stuff, but the delivery is ruined a bit; likewise, there are moments where you don't realize that you're about to go do something and it's about to be a pretty big deal.  In that regard, it feels inconsistent in how it pushes the story along.  Plus, much of the game is centered around one particular dungeon to which you must return and explore deeper.  Not bad, but that aspect's a little lackluster.  But hey: so far I'm only (maybe?) about halfway through.  If I really hated the game, I'd have quit a while ago; my qualms with it aside, I'm actually having quite a bit of fun with it.  And let me just say: there need to be more Zelda games in which Link has a lobster on his shield.

 

Anyway, all of this aside, I'm looking forward not just to finishing this game, but to finishing others as well!  When I'm done with Phantom Hourglass, I'll probably post a list of games in my backlog and perhaps let some of you guys make up my mind for me as to what I should tackle next!  Oh, and I picked up a new(er) game today: I found a copy of The Legendary Starfy today at Best Buy for $15 in the discount section.  So there's one more game for the pile!  But for sure, I'm just as eager to start writing some more for here, and you guys can definitely expect to see something else from me before the week's end.  'til then, everyone!