Ben L.: Well I think the first thing that comes to mind for a lot of theorists is the similarities to Phantom Hourglass. I admit, the first time I saw the trailer I immediately thought "It's a Phantom Hourglass sequel!". The significance of that being, of course, that it takes place on land, and not on water.

Watching the trailer a few more times got me thinking more clearly though, and several things indicate this is not a direct sequel to Phantom Hourglass.

Firstly, Princess Zelda appears to be in power, and ruling from a castle. Second, Link appears to be acting in reverence to Zelda. Thirdly and finally, Link is donning a conductor's outfit.

Now, the first point has several connotations severing it from a direct connection to Phantom Hourglass. If this is the same Zelda (or Tetra) from the Phantom Hourglass and The Wind Waker, why is she suddenly so accepting of her role as Princess, when she rejected it in the previous two games?

Even assuming that she decided it was time to step up and act like a Princess, how did she do so? The islands of the Great Sea are certainly not unified physically, or in civilization and government. There certainly isn't enough time (judging by the fact that she looks to be about the same age as Tetra) for the Deku Tree to have united the Great Sea islands into a kingdom for her to rule, as The Wind Waker implies is a possibility, nor enough time for a castle to be built.

If she and Link discovered a new land, like they hinted at in The Wind Waker, there's still a problem. How was she able to immediately assume the role of Princess in a foreign country?

Secondly is the problem of Link's attitude towards the Princess. Bowing in reverance is not how one usually acts to someone he's been travelling with for a number of months, especially if that someone is a notorious tomboy. It just doesn't make sense for this to be the same Link and Zelda from the previous two games.

Finally there's the issue of Link's attire in the trailer. In the opening scene of him riding a train, he's wearing what appears to be a conductor's outfit, as well as a postman's hat. This implies to me that, like several other games, Link starts off with a "normal" job, before assuming the role of the green-clad hero. This looks like another origin story.

All this, in my mind, adds up to a new Zelda who accepts her role as princess, and a new Link who begins as a mail-delivering train conductor....not a Phantom Hourglass sequel by any means.

However, based on the limited information we've seen, I still think this games takes place at some point after Phantom Hourglass...just not directly. The inclusion of a controllable Phantom [previously seen only as an enemy in Phantom Hourglass] may be an indication of relation between the games.

Casey: Spirit Tracks more than likely will not be a sequel to Phantom Hourglass, like many first impressions may have indicated. There is simply to much going against it. The game takes place on a large piece of land, which could still be an island, but there appears to be a well constructed castle already there. Since Link and Zelda look to be of similar age as in Phantom Hourglass, its hard to argue that Tetra's pirate ship discovered this large island and built a castle, not to mention a rail road, in such a short period of time. An existing population could have built the castle before hand, but then it would be hard to explain why Princess Zelda appears to already be in power.

Then there is the whole Princess Zelda issue. At the end of Phantom Hourglass, Tetra was still Tetra. The Wind Waker indicated that the Triforce of Wisdom is what reveals Tetra's true identity, as in the traditional dress and hair style. When the Triforce of Wisdom piece was united with her neckless, Tetra became Zelda, and when the Triforce left at the end of the game, Zelda went back to Tetra. This clearly indicates that Tetra will only appear as Zelda when she posseses the Triforce of Wisdom. In Spirit Tracks, Tetra must somehow re-obtain the Triforce, which isn't impossible, just very unlikely in a short period of time. Technically Tetra could just let her hair down and find or make a pretty dress, but at the beginning of Phantom Hourglass, she makes it clear that she prefers being called Tetra over Zelda.

My next impression was the possibility of Spirit Tracks being a prequel to The Wind Waker. This speculation was only based on the fact that the castle in the trailer and Hyrule castle in The Wind Waker look very similar. Also inside this Hyrule castle, we do see a picture of a young Zelda, not too different from the Zelda we see in Spirit Tracks. Unfortunately, this logic doesn't work either in regards to The Wind Waker backstory, based entirely on Ocarina of Time. This backstory makes numerous references to the Hero of Time, so if Spirit Tracks were to take place before The Wind Waker, the backstory should have referenced this particular Link. Since the backstory leaves no room for additional generations of Link and Zelda, this theory proves incorrect.

Basically, Spirit Tracks has a hard time relating to either Phantom Hourglass or The Wind Waker, at least directly. There are Phantoms in Spirit Tracks, but this isn't the first time Nintendo has reused old ideas or characters in similar games. Majora's Mask borrowed a lot of ideas from Ocarina of Time due to its short develop period, which seems similar to Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks' development period.

The one intriguing thought was the possibility of Spirit Tracks mirroring Phantom Hourglass in a split timeline. In the adult ending of Ocarina of Time, Hyrule eventually gets flooded, which eventually results in the invention of the steamboat. In the child ending of Ocarina of Time, there is no great ocean, so Hyrule instead could have invented a steam engine designed for trains. Regardless, I think it is safe to say, this is a new Link and a new Zelda's story, completely unrelated to the Hero of Wind and Tetra as seen in The Wind Waker.

Alex: I concur that it's pretty obvious that Spirit Tracks is not a direct successor of Phantom Hourglass in terms of the story, at least not one featuring the same cast of characters. Stylistically it definitely owes much to The Wind Waker, though - we can see this in the character design for Zelda and in the exterior of Hyrule Castle, and even in the brown-colored Postman garb Link wears in the trailer (modeled after the Rito; compare to the red hat and white jumpsuit Twilight Princess's Postman wears).

In response to Casey, I disagree that the appearance of a "princess" Zelda means that the Triforce has to be involved - Tetra "became Zelda" when she gained the Triforce of Wisdom, yes, but that was partly related to the revelation of her duty as its protector, not solely a product of possessing the Triforce in and of itself. At least, so far as we know. She does not lose the princess garb immediately upon Ganondorf extracting the Triforce from her, after all - she only loses it once Daphnes perishes beneath the waves.

Can we agree that the "Phantom"-like monster from the trailers actually is some form of the Phantoms from Phantom Hourglass? Certainly the design could have been reused for no specific reason, but the fact that the Phantoms were actually integral to the plot of the last DS game may indicate otherwise.

As a matter of interest, it's possible that Link's occupation as a mail carrier is related to the mail-sorting sidequest and gift of the Delivery Bag by the Rito in Wind Waker. We've seen similar instances where small mini-games have carried over into future games - the Mask sidequest in Ocarina of Time formed the basis for a full-blown sequel, and there are hints in the game that Link should become a rancher, matching the occupation the next Link has in Twilight Princess. Perhaps there's a similar connection here.

Dathen: Looking at timeline placement, as you guys have mentioned, on first impression Spirit Tracks may appear to be a direct sequel to Phantom Hourglass. In my opinion the most likely placement seems to be as the sequel to Phantom Hourglass, but not a direct one. It seems like Nintendo may be trying to produce a game indicating that Link and Tetra of Phantom Hourglass do find a new land, or that the Great Deku Tree succeeds in joining the land together, maybe even both. Spirit Tracks seems like a bridge between Phantom Hourglass and the rest of the adult timeline, being instigated by Nintendo to combine the timeline together. The similar design to Phantom Hourglass and the Wind Waker does suggest a relationship, however I'm inclined to think it is not the same Link, being at least a few generations from that.

Casey, you raised the possibility of a pre Wind Waker placement, mainly because of the similar Castle design. I have pondered that as a possibility and haven't yet cast it aside as a no. If it was pre-flood, to stay consistant with the Wind Waker's backstory, the game shouldn't involve Ganondorf and would most likely not be a Triforce related conflict, like Majora's Mask or Phantom Hourglass. That I don't like, as I would like to see the debut of Ganondorf on the DS, as well as the stylus being the Master Sword this time around. Though it is unlikely, because of the graphic relation to the adult timeline, I would love Spirit Tracks to be a post Twilight Princess game, thus expanding the stump of the child timeline that most timeline theories have.

To raise the issue of the train which has received a notable response from fans. I don't see this train as anything unusual or too technologically advanced for the Zelda universe. It looks to be wooden, but also steam powered, making it not much different to Linebeck's boat from Phantom Hourglass. Some people have said 'does this mean there will be planes in Zelda soon?', which is an exaggerated question. The train is not much of a step forward from Phantom Hourglass. The interesting point is that from the trailer it seems Link is controlling the steam train and manning the cannon at once, which was a task divided between two on Linebeck's boat. That leads me to think of companions. It will be interesting to see if this Link does have a companion like Navi, Tatl or Midna.

Spirit Tracks is the first release to the Zelda series since I've become a hardcore fan and had the technology to match new games, so I'm looking forward to it's release.

Ben S.: While the idea of trains in a Zelda game scares me, I won't deny that a new title being announced is extremely exciting. Spirit Tracks, the game in question, is clearly built off the same engine that Phantom Hourglass ran on, and features our favourite protagonists Link and Princess Zelda. But what most people would have noticed when they saw screenshots or watched trailers of this new game is the steam train that Link drives around Hyrule.

The trailer shows that this train works exactly like Linebeck's boat in Phantom Hourglass; it has four hearts as an indication of its health and it sports a cannon to destroy any annoyances that inhabit the trains path. The only difference between the two modes of transport is that the player set a course for the boat, where as the train follows set tracks, and the player simply decides what tracks to follow. Nintendo said that they wanted fresh ideas for the Zelda series, but I think it was quite lazy of them to simply recycle the boat structure from Phantom Hourglass when implementing the train for this new game. It also seems that they have reused the Phantom concept from Phantom Hourglass, as Link is shown controlling one to complete puzzles in a dungeon. To me, this train aspect also implies that this game will be aimed at a casual audience rather than the hardcore Zelda fans, which is a disappointment as Nintendo told their hardcore fans that they were thinking of them.

As for the timeline placement of Spirit Tracks, I am thinking on similar terms to my colleagues. The land that is very likely Hyrule, due to the familiar castle, is set in what appears to be a land based area, and only features two prominent bodies of water. Furthermore, Link is first seen sporting a lovely conductors outfit, but later he is wearing his famous green clothes. This likely means that the hero of Spirit Tracks shall receive the heroes clothes once danger appears. All of this leads me to believe that Spirit Tracks is not a direct sequel to Phantom Hourglass, but that does not mean it can't come sometime after it. This game could likely prove the theory that the Deku Tree managed to expand the land, thus allowing other games to fall on the adult timeline with ease. Of course, it is just as likely that Spirit Tracks could follow other games, or even be a stand alone title.

Looking at the map with more detail, we can see that behind Hyrule Castle there appears to be a mountain range, the land is dominated by forests and wilderness, there is a strange tree to the west of Hyrule castle and there are many different rail road systems all across the map. What is odd is that while there are many tracks that Link can guide his mystical train along, there is very little civilisation other than the castle. While the map we have seen is likely only a section of the entire world map, it is still strange to not see any cities in this section. Even more interesting is the purpose of the strange tree. Is it the Deku Tree, or is it simply a dungeon? If it is indeed the Deku Tree, then perhaps this game is placed near Ocarina of Time or The Wind Waker, as they are the only games where we see an active Deku Tree. It could even be a brand new Deku Tree, seeing as it is in a different position relative to Hyrule Castle than the other Deku Tree's have been.

The trailer and screenshots have raised many questions, but unfortunately there is little we can do to better understand this game as of now. Although I am disappointed that this game looks like it will recycle many elements from Phantom Hourglass, I am still eagerly awaiting its release to learn more about the story that Nintendo have developed. Perhaps when this game is discussed at this years Electronic Entertainment Expo, we will learn more about Link and his magical train.

Ben L.: Ben S., you bring up a good point about the appearance of a large tree on the map. Of course, the only tree in the Zelda series to get special recognition is the Deku Tree (and its spinoffs, the Maku Trees) so I think it's a logical conclusion to come to that this is the Deku Tree.

That said, the presence of a Deku Tree is hardly timeline indication in my mind. If the Deku Tree and Koroks succeeded in uniting the islands of the Great Sea together, than this game could be any time after Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass.

Seeing as Twilight Princess lacked a Deku Tree, it's also possible that this game comes on the Child Timeline in between Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. If, like in Ocarina of Time, the Deku Tree withers away for some reason, it could explain its apparent absence from Twilight Princess.

I think the most interesting thing about this potential Deku Tree is its geographical placement. Ocarina of Time's Deku Tree was far southeast of Hyrule Castle, and Wind Waker's was also slightly southeast of the underwater Hyrule Castle. The tree in Spirit Tracks is almost directly west of the castle, and it's much closer than either of the other two Deku Tree appearances.

On the subject of geography, I'd be willing to bet that the map we're shown in the trailer is only one fourth of the total game map. Phantom Hourglass used a four-part map, and the trailer gives some hints that Spirit Tracks will follow suit.

When watching the two screens at once, you'll see that Link moves surprisingly fast on the top screen's overworld map in comparison to how far his train is moving on the bottom screen - too fast for this to be the entire map. Also, the south and west edges of the map appear to have a blue border, implying that the map extends further north and east, but not south or west. I'm fairly certain we're only seeing the southwest fourth of the Spirit Tracks map.

Another geographical note is that, while most people are shouting "land-based!", I think it's possible that the map we see is a giant island, or at least a penninsula. The large river-like body of water covering much of the eastern side of the map appears to also extend down beyond the south border, indicating that the land is bordered on at least two sides by water. Reminds me of the large western landmass in Adventure of Link.

Dathen: The point you made Alex about possible inspiration for the mailman occupation in Spirit Tracks coming from the mail sorting sidequest in The Wind Waker. That seems extremely likely to me, especially seen Majora's Mask, as you said, was a building upon the mask sidequest from Ocarina of Time. A mailing system has made its appearance in most of the three-dimensional games, and could likely be the idea they've decided to elaborate on. I'm interested to see how that ties into the storyline, let alone what the actual story is.

Ben S., you mentioned earlier how in Phantom Hourglass the player could draw a path for the boat where as in the Spirit Tracks trailer Link's train follows already set tracks. Though the tracks are already set, I wonder about there physicality. They do seem to occupy a large portion of the map we see (which I agree to only be a quarter of the playable map) but could not really be there to the average person. Indeed a weird idea, but my basis for suggesting that is the title, Spirit Tracks. From the trailer the general assumption would be that "tracks" refers to the train tracks, though it could refer to the controllable Phantom's tracks or something else altogether, but how does the term spirit fit in? Although that is still only a tentative title, the term 'Spirit' intrigues me. Nintendo seems to be taking a ghostly turn in naming Zelda games; Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks.

You also said Ben S. about Nintendo's targeting of the casual gamer with Spirit Tracks. I agree that's what they're doing, and have been doing for some time. They feel secure that the hardcore fans will go for it, but are trying to attract new people to the franchise. I hope that this doesn't make it an easier game, which leads me to a point that I've wanted to discuss. I really enjoyed the new style of playing Phantom Hourglass brought to the series, making it overall more interactive. The touch screen aside, methods of puzzle solving were unique. I loved using the mic feature to call out to people and to blow out flames, also the map puzzle that involved closing the DS to complete it. Those are the sort of things I long to see in Spirit Tracks.

Reggie Fils-Aime, the President at Nintendo of America, has made a number of comments about the puzzle solving, and frankly, I await seeing how these puzzles really do match up, also with the possibility of Spirit Tracks being Dsi-enhanced. It may be that Nintendo uses this release to really promote the DSi's features, such as the camera and online abilities.

"But the way you use the stylus to solve puzzles in Spirit Tracks is really provocative. I really like that. I think it ... hearkens back to some of the classic Zelda puzzles." - Reggie Fils-Aime

"[Spirit Tracks] makes full advantage of the touch screen. What I love about it is the way you solve the puzzles, there's new unique ways to solve the puzzles." - Reggie Fils-Aime

Ben S.: Dathen brings up an excellent point about the way Nintendo will utilise the DS' capabilities for puzzle solving in Spirit Tracks. It will likely borrow many features seen in Phantom Hourglass such as the use of the stylus for various tasks and even the microphone, however, as the game is targeted to casual players, I doubt the difficulty level will be high. Phantom Hourglass may have featured many unique ideas for puzzle solving, but I found that they became repetitive, and I hope this mistake is not repeated in Spirit Tracks. The train idea was refreshing, but lets hope that's not all that is new.

On the subject of game play, I'm intrigued by what items Link will wield in Spirit Tracks. The trailer shows the use of what appears to be a variation of the Gust Jar seen in The Minish Cap. While this item looks fun and useful, I don't think it takes full advantage of the Touch Screen, as it seems to be a linear based item. The trailer also showed Link using the classic Boomerang, a weapon that was fantastic in Phantom Hourglass due to the way it could be thrown. I'm hoping Nintendo can think of other unique ideas, as Phantom Hourglass, although having many good ideas, featured many linear items, such as the Grappling Hook, the Bow and the Hammer. Nintendo must explore the depths of the Touch Screen and its uses for Spirit Tracks by utilising more items such as the Boomerang in order to surpass Phantom Hourglass and appeal to more players, casual and hardcore alike.

Ben L.: Dathen, that's a good point. The tentative title for the game seems to suggest that the tracks are magical in some way. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if, much like you can chart your course in Phantom Hourglass, the stylus could be used to create new tracks.

Ben S., earlier you mentioned the fact that there is little apparent civilization. My first inclination is to assume that the map we are shown is not as fully-detailed as it will be when the game is released. Forests, rivers, and mountains are shown, but only two real landmarks, Hyrule Castle and the likely Deku Tree, are present. I have a feeling that the final map will be more fleshed out.

Whether or not that is the case, the possibility of drawing train tracks could be used to create a more centralized civilization. If the various towns and landmarks are scattered across Hyrule, maybe Link will slowly bring the people closer together by connecting locations via train tracks. His outfit hints that he will be a postman, bringing news from place to place, and connecting them physically by train tracks would be another step in the direction of uniting the peoples.

Dathen: On the contrary to you Ben S., I thoroughly enjoyed the mechanics of Phantom Hourglass and didn't find them repetitive at all, except of course for The Temple of the Ocean King. My biggest disappointment in Phantom Hourglass was the lack of any new items, however that was compensated for by the Touch Screen being able to do such things as draw boomerang and bombchu paths. I found the usage of the grappling hook as a human slingshot nice, but I don't want to see these things in Spirit Tracks. Hopefully it produces a number of new items and impressive ways to use them as there doesn't seem to be much more the DS could do with the classics such as the boomerang. Reggie seems confident that we'll be impressed.

Some other possibly interesting things that strike me from the trailer include the music. If the trailer is anything to judge the soundtrack by, it sounds like it will be quite a good one. I hope for a larger soundtrack than in Phantom Hourglass, and hence a larger overall game. It seems to me that all the footage we see in the trailer is fairly early stuff. The dungeon and boss are probably the first, because of the three hearts and the other footage looks like it maybe the opening cutscenes and some early gameplay. They're just giving us a small teaser of the beginning basics. Furthermore the trailer implies the control of the train is more flexible than Linebeck's boat, with a throttle for speed and a horn.

To sum up, the journey to the announcement of Spirit Tracks has been an arduous one for Zelda fans. Since the release of Majora's Mask in 2000 we've had a new Zelda released each year in North America; up until 2008 that was. With that gap we can hope for a great game, like with the two year gap between Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. The gap year did have its share of rumors. Earlier this year there was the 'triforce clock' countdown which excited some fans only to disappoint them. Last year we had IGN's The Legend of Zelda: The Valley of the Flood hoax claiming that Zelda had met the Twenty-First Century, which interestingly did involve a train as Spirit Tracks does.

With only a two minute teaser from Nintendo on this release there isn't too much fans can assume without speculation. No hints of possible storylines were included in the trailer and so us fans await some further announcements from Nintendo. Most likely our next update on Spirit Tracks will be at this years E3, which is June 2-4. Reggie has hinted that we may get release dates at E3, so sit tight Zelda fans for just over a month and we may learn more about The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. As Bill Trinen said, in the meantime 'try to stay away from ledges and sharp things... Zelda fans'