Boggy Recommends: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Posted on Oct 1, 2026


Release Year: 2007
Completion Date: October 1st, 2026
Developer/Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo DS Time to Beat: 22 Hours

Thoughts: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds kindled a love with the Zelda franchise for me. While I did play Ocarina of Time, I didn’t play it the right way. I didn’t play for fun, I played to complete it. I didn’t find joy in running head first into the puzzles, I hid behind guides and Let’s Plays. What those runs lacked in mechanics, they did get me into the world of TLoZ. The music, the characters, the design, and the world. And, for that, I’m grateful. I do feel like I’ve come along way with my appreciate of the franchise, which makes the Phantom Hourglass my first Zelda game in which I know how to have fun with them, sooooooo how did it go?

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass may be the most technically innovative game I have ever played.

It certainly is one of the most novel games of the era, if not of all time. This game is the Nintendo DS. You people don’t understand what I am saying right now. THIS GAME IS THE NINTENDO DS. Simple as that. There are multiple moments in Phantom Hourglass that I closed my DS to run over to my girlfriend and tell her immediately what just happened in this game. I won’t say anything in specific here, but suffice it to say that every part of the cow (read DS) was used in this game. And this is heartbreaking to say, but by the end of the game, Phantom Hourglass misses the “perfect” mark.

There are two core issues with Phantom Hourglass that provide jusssst enough friction to piss me off to demote it to a recommend, rather than “Boggy’s Eiffel Tower” or something similar. Shiver her timers or Booty-rific are probably more topically appropriate.

  1. The “handedness” of the stylus: This whole game can be played with the stylus. At most you’re gonna use the shoulder buttons, but 99% of the time, you’re maining the stylus, and it’s magical. You won’t believe what you are capable of with the stylus. You will walk away from the ~20 hour playtime feeling like a got damn expert with that thang. Now, the first time you have to drag your hand the opposite side of the screen, your heart is gonna hit your asshole in disappointment. God forbid you’re left-handed and idk if this game is even playable. There are simply too many moments where the stylus-centric gameplay is a bit miserable to use and it never really gets better. It’s never a significant amount of the gameplay to where in every fight you feel it, but it’s just there the whole game so it is a ding. There are also smaller, potentially “skill issue” things: it’s pretty difficult to swap weapons quickly in fights, when targeting with an item it’s too easy to release and fall off platforms,
  2. This game is one or two dungeons too long: The short of this is that the developers give up on the DS-centric mechanics and make a run-of-the-mill Zelda game by the latter half of the game. I can’t express the job of being completely stumped on a puzzle and then thinking, “there’s no way. There’s no way, I do [redacted].” Then, you do [redacted] and it works and YOU FREAK OUT. By the second half, you’re just doing puzzles like all of the other top-down Zelda’s which makes the stylus-centric design feel more like a hindrance than a novelty. This, combined with the feeling that the last two dungeons feel phoned in, makes this game feel like it drags too much. If I’m feeling this way in a Zelda game, then it’s a problem. Also, the gimmick of this game is that you run back-and-forth between the Ocean King’s Temple in metroidvania style where you can progress further into the dungeon as you collect new items throughout the world. I personally liked the Ocean King Temple gimmick, but it does feel like it was one visit too many. I think the game would be the perfect length/pacing with two less dungeons (making it about 15 hours), but certainly removing the Temple of Ice or Mutoh’s Temple for sure would be excellent for pacing. The Temple of Ice makes no use of the conflict between the two tribes. They spend all this time building up the hate between the two tribes, but then you finish the dungeon and nothing happens. The Yook aren’t even main characters in the dungeon itself. It makes no sense. They just simply aren’t as memorable in any way to the first half’s temples.
  3. The FUCKING STUPID ASS SALVAGE GAME SUCKS.

While I am certain the first point stands for most players, the second is super subjective so probably won’t effect you. Regardless, this game is 100% worth playing. I can’t express how this game changed my relationship to the DS, which I have been playing its various iterations since it originally released in 2005. I will never forget these moments. They are some of the highlights of any game I have played. So, let me hightlight the muuuuuuuuch longer good list!

  1. The character design: OH. MY. GOD. The character and world design is EXCELLENT in this game. It’s timeless and unique and never gets old. I will say that Link is the worst design by far. I found his character to be oddly lo-fidelity or a little off compared to everyone else. Lineback is Jack Sparrow par excellance and every character you meet is brilliant. It all plays so well on the DS as a platform and I was continually excited to see the next island. I need to give a special shoutout to Golden Chief Cylos and the canon game guy - these two I can’t even write because I’m chuckling right now.
  2. The introductory sequence: I LOVE this intro. The pirates telling tales of it all was a brilliant conceit to start the game. I thought it was silly and still holds up today. Also, let’s go Link for finally being with a brown girl.
  3. The sailing mechanics and island-based world:
  4. The use of the two-screens: Every time the game does a sweeping cut-scene into a game mechanic, it’s truly magical. Like chills. The bosses become larger-than-life, making Link feel equally small. More than once, I forgot to move my character because I was so drawn into the animations and how the boss negotiated the two screens.
  5. The bombshoos are fucking cute: That’s it.
  6. Lineback: Is he a trope-y man who is a coward who shows up when you need, but is otherwise a loser who can’t share his feelings? Yeah. Does it work? Baby, you better believe it. Also, I think Lineback’s design is the most striking in the game. Does he also have a hot ex that he won’t face? Ohhhhhh yeah! There are also small moments, especially to the end, where he makes some character progress. Lineback is your ship captain, he’s been there at the start and end of every dungeon and every adventure over 20 hours. He really makes you feel your progress and it does feel a bit emotional when you depart at the end of the game.
  7. Escort? I hardly know her!: This game has one of the only satisfying escort missions in any game I played. It doesn’t drag on, the escorts aren’t too vulnerable, and the pay-off is really satisfying. The dungeon boss fight is unique and really well-paced.
  8. Hot readhead: Enough said.
  9. Boss mechanics: