The Legend Of Zelda - Ranking Every Gameplay Gimmick

Phantom Hourglass introduced a first for the series, The Temple of the Ocean King, which was a central dungeon that gamers had to return to many times throughout the game. In fact, the player had to make at least five separate visits to the dungeon during their adventure.

This gimmick wasn’t met with universal approval and was labelled as backtracking, but this was not actually the case. You see, each time Link returned to the temple he did so equipped with a new item that allowed him to skip existing puzzles and explore new areas of the dungeon.

There was something undeniably thrilling about this mechanic, which gave players the feeling that they were getting the better of a massive, sprawling dungeon. Couple this with the temple’s seemingly invincible Phantom guardians and a tense time limitation and you’ve got all the ingredients for a classic Zelda dungeon.

The game is also notable for successfully translating the intricate Zelda control scheme to a touch screen. This made the game extremely approachable for less experienced players and allowed for some inspired puzzles. Phantom Hourglass is an underrated gem of a game.