19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Handy Guide, November 20, 2007
This review is from: Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Prima Official Game Guides) (Paperback)
Phantom Hourglass is a huge game. It helps to have a little leg up every now and then and this is a pretty good guide to help with. Much like the Twilight Princess Guide produced by Prima, this thing is huge. Full of tons of information. But thankfully, it's a little better organized than the Twilight Princess guide and can be used with a lot less page flipping.
The guide begins with an introduction telling you a little about every Zelda game up until Phantom Hourglass. It's nice trivia and a bit of a catch up for anyone interested. It then jumps into all those basics. Getting you used to the controls and giving you some good gameplay tips. Then there's the items list which will point out all the items, how to use them and when you find them. Then it'll introduce you to the characters you'll meet along the adventure as well as showing you all the enemies and telling you how to deal with them. Each enemy also has a threat meter for you to see just how big a threat it is. It's really cool stuff. And very much appreciated.
The walkthrough is written almost exactly like the walkthrough in the Twilight Princess guide. Each chapter begins by outlining task for you to do. You can then look for each task in the walkthrough and read about how to perform it. In the corner of the guide there is also a heart meter to keep you updated on how many hearts you have. For example, when you get to the Temple of Courage you should have ten hearts. If you don't, you know you've missed something. It also shows you all the items you can obtain in an area as well as all the denizens. The walkthrough also shows you a bio for each new character as you meet them.
Much like the Twilight Princess walkthrough, it's the thickest part of the guide. Its got all the puzzle solutions and some good boss strategies. But as with the Twilight Princess guide, you really need to use it as you go. If you miss one heart piece, for example, it can be hard to figure out just where you missed it in the walkthrough. And as with a lot of Prima guides, the walkthrough is very text heavy. All the info is there, but you might be flipping around for a while to find it. Just the same, there's a lot of unnecessary text going on. It takes a while for the walkthrough to get to the point because it spends a lot of time detailing what is happening in the storyline rather than what to do next.
At the very least it has some easy to use maps. The sections for each area are also pretty big and the map is always at the beginning. So you'll probably end up having to flip back and forth from the main text to the map as well. At least you get the feeling everything is covered.
There is also a section dedicated to talking about multiplayer and this too is pretty big. After that we get to the legendary checklist that details just about every item and where every chest, heart piece, etc. can be located.
It is a pretty good guide overall, there's just a lot of page flipping to be done. At least it's much more organized than the Twilight Princess guide. If you need help with The Phantom Hourglass, then this is a good guide to use.
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Zelda Through The DS Scrolls, October 5, 2007
This review is from: Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Prima Official Game Guides) (Paperback)
When it comes to video games for the Nintendo DS, no title is hotter than The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. The game has brought new fans all over for the Nintendo DS. Yet, with all the hype, Nintendo has recently decided to stop making strategy guides for some of their games, and instead leave it up to a third party. Prima, has made some very tough strategy guides that haven't really brought out the best in gameplay, and this is no acception. The maps here aren't as well-rendered as what Nintendo could've made, but the tips are very handy with the gameplay, especially during the side-quests, but overall it just could've been better. I hope Nintendo consides making one soon, because it could've been a lot easier for gamers to play.
Maps: C
Tips: B-
Overall: C 1/2+
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great step-by-step Guide, December 26, 2007
This review is from: Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Prima Official Game Guides) (Paperback)
This is a great step-by-step guide for the DS game! It includes pictures, secrets, tips, and detailed instructions to help you succeed in the game. I use it as a reference once I've tried everything, otherwise why play the game! (: It has gotten me out of a hopeless situation every time.
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