More on Minish Cap/Phantom Hourglass

So I've slowly been playing through Minish Cap, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Sure, the story is forgettable (any Zelda game with Vaati as the main enemy means the story will be shit), but the gameplay actually holds up fairly well. And since lately I'm obsessed with writing about the portable Zeldas, I will continue to compare this one to Phantom Hourglass.

First of all, the heart pieces. In Minish Cap, you collect four of these to form a new heart container. In Phantom Hourglass, you collect one. That is pure, unfiltered, uncut horseshit. Did you just beat a minigame? Here, have a Heart Container! Did you just catch all the fish? Have a fuckin' Heart Container! Also, other than the ones you get in dungeons and the ones you start out with, there are only six fucking Heart Containers to collect! Horse. Shit.

(Okay, I guess that was more of an attack on Phantom Hourglass than a comparison between it and Minish Cap. Oh well.)

Secondly, the items. Sure, Phantom Hourglass puts new spins on old items (such as the Boomerang, where you literally draw the path it flies - had all the other items been as fun as this one to use, I wouldn't be complaining about the items so much, but the other items certainly are not as good as this), but goddammit, most of them have been in the series since day one! Even Twilight Princess had great new items(as well as its fair share of shitty ones), but Phantom Hourglass has relatively few new items! And the most important new "item" is only used for the worst part of the fucking game! And guess what! You don't actually use the item - it's just a timer for that annoying fucking temple! Delightful!

But yeah, Minish Cap's items. Many old items return (like the Bow and Arrows or Bombs) but some fairly interesting new ones appear as well. And, unlike in Phantom Hourglass, most of the items need to be used throughout the entire game in order to successfully traverse the countryside! Tell me, how many times did you use the Hammer outside of the temple it is found in? Pretty goddammed rarely, if at all.

Basically, as I play through more and more Minish Cap, I realize how much better it is than Phantom Hourglass. Both of them are entertaining games, but wow, is Minish Cap better.

(Click here for my first Minish Cap article)