Longtime and The Wind Waker. He's worked on almost every Zelda game since in some capacity, usually as a producer or supervisor. He's become a bit of a gaming legend for his contribution to the series, especially due to his lead roles on some of its biggest and best games.

But Aonuma's favorite Zelda game isn't one he directed (though it is one he worked on). In fact, it's not a game that has many defenders in the first place - it's on the lower end when it comes to critical ratings and player perception. Even so, it's an interesting choice in its own right, and reveals a lot about Aonuma's attitude towards the series. And when you look at the reasoning Aonuma provides, it actually makes a lot of sense.

Eiji Aonuma Named Phantom Hourglass His Favorite Zelda

"The Goal Was To Make Something Better Than Ocarina"

In a 2017 interview with Tri Force Heroes as an underrated title.) He gives a few solid reasons as to why it's his favorite: number one, his wife likes it. Number two, he's proud of the new style of gameplay that Phantom Hourglass introduced, and his role as producer on it.

"This is something my wife also likes, Phantom Hourglass. That’s number one. I was developing Twilight Princess, and the goal for that was to make something better than Ocarina. But then that game was something I proposed as a new style of gameplay, and I was a producer on that game for the first time, so I have a lot of sentiment for it."

And while you'll find few hardcore Zelda fans willing to it that Phantom Hourglass is their favorite game, no one's denying it introduced a new style of gameplay. Phantom Hourglass is a direct sequel to The Wind Waker, featuring Link and Tetra on a pirate adventure, seeking out the mysterious Ghost Ship. It retains the same cute, cartoonish cel-shaded art style, and the same basic gameplay cycle, balancing on-land exploration with steamboat travels on the Great Sea.

Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Took Some Big Risks

Even If Not All Of Them Paid Off

What is unique about Phantom Hourglass, though, is that it's an unusual blend between 2D and 3D Zelda. Although the graphics are technically in 3D, it plays like 2D, with a largely top-down perspective. The camera's point-of-view does switch to a more typical over-the-shoulder perspective when you're at sea, but even then, it controls like a top-down game.

That's because Phantom Hourglass is controlled almost entirely using the Nintendo DS' touch screen. You drag the stylus around the screen to control Link, and tap on objects to interact with them. This was kind of a cool feature when it came to navigation: I enjoyed dragging Link around the world and tapping on objects like I was playing a classic point-and-click adventure game. And being able to literally plot a course for the S.S. Linebeck by drawing on the world map, then having to quickly change your heading when you encountered unforeseen obstacles, was actually a stroke of genius.

Aonuma is credited as a producer on Phantom Hourglass - the first game he worked on in that role.

However, the touch-screen controls get awkward when it comes time for battle. All the attacks are controlled with various gestures - a swipe for a slash, or a line for a charge. These are terribly finicky, and it's tough to get a handle on the targeting. Some of the gestures are too similar to others - it's all too common, for example, to try for a spin attack and get a somersault.

Even so, you have to give Phantom Hourglass its props. It makes excellent use of the DS' unique hardware; no Zelda game since (except the direct sequel Spirit Tracks) has had the benefit of total touch-screen controls. That actually gives Link a lot more freedom of movement than he has in the typical top-down Zelda; unlike its immediate 2D predecessor The Minish Cap, in which Link can only move in the four cardinal directions using the D-Pad, he now has a 360-degree range of motion. It was undeniably a big step forward for 2D Zelda, and its impact can't be ignored in light of recent releases.

Phantom Hourglass Paved The Way For Top-Down Zelda’s Future

Echoes Of Wisdom Wouldn't Exist Without It

Phantom Hourglass might not be the best Zelda game - by many criteria, it's not even a good one. But it's an important entry in the series' history, because it established that 2D Zelda still has a place even amid the release of huge, open-world 3D games. At this point, I know stuff like Breath of the Wild is Zelda's future. It's hard to blame Nintendo, considering how well those games have sold. Still, I'd rather see more classic Zelda-style releases, but those seem to have mostly disappeared from the 3D arm of the franchise.

Instead, Nintendo reserves classic Zelda innovation for its 2D entries. The Link's Awakening remake tried a totally new art style, which was a massive hit, and spawned a direct sequel. That sequel, Echoes of Wisdom, introduced a totally unique new mechanic in the form of the Tri Rod. While I'm excited to see what the Switch 2 brings in of 3D Zelda, I have to it that the 2D wing of the franchise seems more interesting to me at the present moment - something I never thought I'd say.

And, though most Zelda fans would be loath to it it, that's all because of Phantom Hourglass' willingness to experiment. Its weird mix of 2D and 3D gameplay doubtless helped inspire A Link Between Worlds (also produced by Eiji Aonuma), which opened up a whole new dimension of possibilities for the series. For its innovation and inspiration, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that Aonuma picked Phantom Hourglass as his favorite game in The Legend of Zelda series.

Source: Game Informer