The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Updated Hands-On
Zelda and Link pair up for the first time in Nintendo's upcoming sequel to the Phantom Hourglass.
A follow-up to The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks takes place about 100 years later, when Link and Zelda once again get themselves into a bit of a mess, and the poor boy with the funny green cap has to risk his neck to save the princess--again. Not that Link minds, though; one glance at the princess and he's ready to follow her to the ends of the earth. Nintendo invited us down to its office in Redwood City to give us a demo of the first hour of the game, and we got to see some of the new features and concepts that have been included in this sequel on the DS. The first part of this preview will cover the storyline and the first hour of what unfolds. So if you're not interested in any spoilers or story, please skip ahead.
The way the story is set up is that after the events of the Phantom Hourglass, Tetra and Link eventually find land--that's already inhabited--and establish a new kingdom known as Hyrule. The natives have a legend that tells the tale of an epic battle that occurred many ages ago, where a demon king arrived to wreak havoc. Luckily, the spirits of good dropped down from the heavens to fend him off and eventually managed to subdue him and stuff him in the tower of spirits, which is shackled by a long chain that extends across the land--also known as spirit tracks. Likely oblivious to the meaning behind the tracks, the residents of the new kingdom have been using these magical tracks to haul cargo back and forth. The game begins as we are introduced to Link, who instead of wearing the traditional green garb is dressed in a blue engineer's uniform as he's about to go to his graduation ceremony to become an official royal engineer.
We watched as young Link made his way to the castle and bumped into Chancellor Cole, a bizarre-looking fellow with two hats that look like they were stolen off a box of Lucky Charms. Cole mumbles something about vanishing spirit tracks and doesn't seem too pleased that the princess wants to be handing out diplomas instead. It is love at first sight when Link meets Zelda, and before the ceremony is interrupted and cut short, the princess slips Link a note and whispers a warning regarding the chancellor. Her note requests that Link meet her in her chambers, but Link will run into the chancellor one more time as he snickers about trains becoming useless before long.
In Zelda's quarters, she explains that the spirit tracks and the tower of spirits are connected and that the disappearing tracks must mean that something is happening at the tower. A wise sage resides there, but Zelda is unable to leave her castle because the chancellor won't let her. Her gut feeling says that he's hiding something, and she fears that something bad will happen, so she asks Link to take her via the train. Link obediently agrees and changes into his traditional gear, which also happens to be the uniform for the castle guards, and helps the princess sneak out of the palace.
The next section serves as a short tutorial, teaching you how to direct Zelda via the touch screen. As you tiptoe past castle guards, you can talk to some of them to distract them--or throw rocks--while the princess sneaks past. Using the stylus, you plot out where you want her to go, and she'll head in that direction until she gets called back by you or she reaches the end of the line that you've drawn. After escorting her out of the mazelike castle grounds, we bump into Alfonzo on our way to the train. Alfonzo was once a former master swordsman in charge of the palace guards but is now a simple engineer who is also Link's teacher. Zelda invites him to come along, and the three of them set off into the countryside, only to crash shortly after when the tracks disappear from under them.
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