Recently, Nintendo has updated their site with a new trailer for the upcoming sequel to Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks. It gives out heavy doses of information about the new game, so those who do not wish to spoil anything should wait until the game itself comes out. It reveals the mysterious partner Link receives in this game, which I was disappointed to find out because after I had heard at one point “Oh, Link gets some help now!” I certainly wanted to find out on my own rather than this. This will also give glimpses at various cutscenes and the like, as trailers do, but I do feel it revealed a bit much in terms of hoping it would only have just enough detail to keep on topic while keeping vague enough to hold my interest. In any case, the only true other disappointments I can see are what seems to be a lack of sea and ocean- A true staple of Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass which I at least came to know and love, and that the trailer is coming out so very close to the game’s release which ruins the point of a trailer outside of commercials for advertising.
The fluid and smooth DS controls we saw in Phantom Hourglass appear to make a comeback, something honestly surprising coming from a company that likes to try and fix what isn’t broken. The trains aren’t given away in the trailer, along with too much of the plot, which made me quite happy, and the possible system of train-travel seems pretty cool, despite not holding any classic standing with or true relation with the Legend of Zelda games. It is truly sad to see something as valuable to the cell-shaded series as the sea not be there if it is truly gone, but I certainly am willing to look to this game with an open mind and the desire to see what does happen next in the plotline of this fragment of the Zelda series.
Overall the trailer was nice, and showed off some cool stuff, such as what appeared to be a Gale Boomerang and a boss or two. But, if you do not wish to have anything spoiled for you at all, even just that tidbit of information that I got bent-out-of-shape over, I recommend holding off and getting the game for yourself to find it out. Spirit Tracks is set to release in the United States of America on 12/07/09.
