I posted my
thoughts on this one in the 2016 Backlaugust thread, which I will repost here for your convenience:
---
I've conquered my first Backlaugust game:
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks!
Okay, so time for my full thoughts. Big ST fans may want to skip ahead to the next post, but there were a few pleasant surprises near the end that I'd like to mention.
First and foremost though, I wasn't thrilled with this one overall. The three core facets of gameplay--on train, on foot (solo), and on foot (escort)--were all flawed in their own ways. The train was far too slow and linear for me; I skipped nearly all of the sidequests because I didn't feel like traveling much. Worrying about the one-shot bomb trains became tiresome after a while, and the fact that you see all your locales on the map really kills the exploration. To make matters worse, the teleportation system is needlessly convoluted and extremely limiting, feeling most similar to the very first game's Power Bracelet than any sort of modern (LttP onward) warp system. It'd be nice if the train upgrades were actually
upgrades, instead of aesthetic tweaks.
The on-foot Link-only adventuring was probably the strongest aspect, feeling much like Phantom Hourglass and containing some decent puzzles and boss fights in its own right (I was partial to the
Fire Temple and Sand Temple bosses in particular). But the stylus controls were, in retrospect, a mistake. Link just isn't that fun to control in this game, and only a couple of the items really benefit from it. The downside is that there were plenty of times where I'd walk off an edge or slash a bomb I wanted to pick up or rolled into an enemy instead of jump-attacking it, etc. And the item selection/usage was ridiculously clunky, to the point where using each item was crazy stop-and-go and unpleasant. You can't just run towards an enemy and smack it with the boomerang while approaching, you've got to stop, poke the thing, draw the line, and then approach. Everything feels staccato. Also, the Spirit Flute was really flawed in registering one's toots--thankfully it's not used THAT much in the game.
The escort missions were the worst part. Take the control issues with controlling Link and multiply them all by 10. The Spirit Tower got me steamed up near the last couple sections due to how frustrating and finicky everything was. Like the item-switching, everything felt really stop-and-go for an engine that wasn't really built around it, and the pacing was slow and tedious as a result. This might've worked in a sort of methodical way if the controls were better, but there were countless times where Link or Phantom Zelda just wouldn't do what I wanted them to. Like Link would jump off Zelda's shield into the lava, or Zelda would get stuck behind a wall due to lousy pathfinding, etc. I think these were the worst segments in any official Zelda game, in fact, topping its older brother's Temple of the Ocean King in annoyingness. At least that one had you only controlling one character with unreliable controls!
Lastly, the graphics were kind of crummy. The art during the credits was beautiful and made me long for a game that looked more like that; a 2D game with higher-resolution sprites would've been most welcome, especially using the TWW art style. But with the DS's rudimentary polygonal models, there was a ton of aliasing and chunky-looking characters, plus the environments really lacked charm with their angular, inorganic designs. Everything was so blocky and unappealing, just like in Phantom Hourglass.
Okay, enough negativity. Stuff I liked include the soundtrack, which really had some great moments (ST's overworld is a top 20 Zelda song for sure) and was a clear improvement over its predecessor. There was a decent amount of stuff to shoot at and interact with in the train segments, and I kinda liked the "follow the sign" mechanics when ferrying a passenger. Some of the items were kind of cool, like the
whip and the Sand Rod (which made solid use of the touch screen). The underwater section near the middle of the game was equal parts cool and whimsical and exactly the kind of thing I like to see from this series.
ENDING SPOILERS AHEAD, ALL ABOARD. The ending sequence took me by surprise. Even though I died 7 or 8 times during the
Tears of Light train bit near the end, they all felt exactly like my fault. The new mechanics of boosting with the whistle mixed with the fast-paced Pac-Man action was surprisingly fun, and I really regret that they didn't use this idea sooner in the game, because it showcased the potential of the train stuff nicely. The ending sequences as a whole were all very good, actually, bringing together a lot of ideas into a cohesive whole. I even liked the two-character stuff at the end! And I also found the last hour surprisingly endearing, with
Zelda embracing Link after getting her body back (awwww), and the two of them clasping hands, hinting at a bright future (awwww). Bryne ended up being a pretty cool character too, although
it felt like a cheat having Anjean just sort of drop that he's not REALLY dead. Why not just have him make that sacrifice and then confirm that his spirit can move on or whatever? They tried to have their cake and eat it too, possibly because they thought it was too dark otherwise? I dunno, TWW had the guts to have a death at the end and it worked well.Also,
possessed Zelda was terrifying. Great work to whoever designed that, good heavens.
So the last sections helped save this game from a dreaded sub-7 score, but I'd be lying if I said I'm looking forward to replaying this in the future. There was just too much frustration, too much sluggishness and downtime throughout the whole game to really feel great about it overall. I'd have to overall give it about a 7/10 and say it's the weakest in the official series.
---
In short, my least-favorite Zelda. Not awful, but frustrating in a way that first-party Nintendo games rarely are. I did like several things about the game's end sequence.
