Have you ever had that feeling of regret? Why didn’t I see this sooner? Why did I wait so long? I recently picked up Zelda: Phantom Hourglass with high expectations. I mean, this is a legendary game. Link is the “other Mario” of the action/adventure world (and yes, for a long time, I thought Link=Zelda, Zelda=Link). And besides doing some fishing in Zelda for the Wii, I had never played any other Zelda game. But I deeply regret that because now I know what I’ve been missing out on.

This game was built for the DS, and I mean that in a good way. Your stylus is the key to everything. Use it to move, attack, take notes on your map where X marks the spot, draw the path where you’re sailing to, direct your cannon attacks… really, it’s just everything. Drawing a symbol on a door or slate can even determine where you’re going what path you’re heading on! I could go on about how creative it gets, but I wouldn’t want to give away any spoilers. And that’s only part of what makes this game so amazing. There’s also a great storyline (including pirates!), challenging puzzles, vast environments, and who couldn’t love Link??

It’s now been about 3 weeks since I started the game. I play about 1+ hours a day on my train ride plus a few hours here and there so I’m guessing I’ve played about 20+ hours worth. Yet, I feel like I’m far from completing the game. About 10 hours in, I thought I was almost done. But that so-called-final-boss was just the beginning of another adventure. I keep thinking, “Am I almost done? Is the end near?” but at the same time, I’m enjoying myself so much that I don’t want it to be over. In the end, Zelda really gets me through my work day because I know at the end of the day, that’s what I have to look forward to on my ride home.