Plus, the warp gates are only one-way, what the heck?

This guy is just spewing bull*h*t. First off, the golden train doesn't need pirate necklaces. Second off, I had four dragon scales before the sand temple, and I wasn't even actively searching for them. He probably just sold them and then regreted later, so decided to blame Nintendo...

Also, the story is the best in the series so far. It has some minor pacing issues (major according to him,) but it's by far the most captivating of all the others. Perhaps with the exception of Majora's Mask... Also, the warp gates aren't one way after you activate them, Labrynian Rebel!

Also, he said "cut down exploration big time." Who the hell wants that?!? That's half the point of Zelda!

hello there, im a regular visitor to this site and to zelda dungeon and enjoy both sites greatly, and i thought i'd just share my thoughts on this subject in particular.
while i respect mases (and am a fan of his guides) with mases, i must respectfully disagree with the man on almost all the points. except for the trains speed, granted its a little slow, but aside from that i enjoy driving around, looking at the scenery,honking the whistle (heck, enemies show up often enough) ect.
However, i must say that his point on the boat in phantom hourglass cutting down on exploration and getting from island to island was quicker is a bit daft. the reason why being is the boat despite going over its own path, is perhaps the same speed, or slower than the train. The islands themselves (the plotbased ones at least) are placed annoyingly distant from each other despite the size of the world map, and the cyclone plate was optional. granted it's not hard to find, but for those who did ph mustve been dull in terms of exploration, considering both the playing feild AND horizon where just blue, with little variety in "landscape" apart from a few islands jutting out of the sea.
As for the spirit flute... does anyone besides me not see how easy it is to play? i mean, its not hard at all to blow and move the spirit flute, it's pretty much a mini game about timing, if a bit primitive, as such the songs only require short bursts of breath at the right point on he right note, not a blast of breath like a hurricane. (yes i am aware mases didnt say anything about blowing, im just talking about the fact that people including him find it difficult)
As for story, lol. spirit tracks had a more interesting plot than phantom hourglass did. indeed its a bit of a rehash of previous game plot lines, abiet in a differently told form, but hell its at least a plot people enjoy.
i liked phantom hourglass and its main villain and the ghost ship, but really the plot is a bit... crap. to sum up: link needs to find tetra, find sea charts (in annoying dungeon of boredom), find fairies, repeat annoyingly dull dungeon (inbetween each fairy and the next plot point),find ghostship, get tetra, find metal peices, go fight squid demon thing, nd game.... woo.
now i'm making it sound pretty bad (and if you use that for spirit tracks it might sound just as bad. but at least in spirit tracks you feel a bit more motivated than sailing around looking for navi /tatl recolours x3 then looking for 3 bits of metal to make a "sacred sword" then fight a squid.
As for treasure...eh he has a point in some cases, and the trains health upgrade was a bit of a dissapointment. but then so was the boat.
all in all i'd say while i do still enjoy phantom hourglass (when i look past the niggles) i prefer spirit tracks, an linebecks in both games so points to both of them for that at least :p
peace out to mases and all the folks at zelda informer.
p.s. sorry if i came off as a bragging tool. I dont wanna insult anyone ^^;

'Exploration' was mispoken. Not sure why I used that term. Just came out. I was just trying to say, (which I think the point still came across), that you could draw straight paths with Phantom Hourglass, rather than being forced to go along the path of the train tracks.

@mases

ahhh, i got it into my head you meant the amount of time it takes to get around. still i see your point. i'd argue to the point that you get many more train tracks through playing, but they need to be unlocked through sidequests, sooo i guess ive lost on that one :)
btw, i forgot to say i definetly agree with you on the rabbit minigame. it was pretty bad sometimes.

Wow, now I feel stupid O_o