The Trainman Cometh

It’s a good time to be a Zelda fan. Spirit Tracks is now the fourth traditional single-player installment in the series in four years, it releases exactly four weeks from today in the U.S., and ever since the Nintendo of Europe site launched four days ago we’ve enjoyed a crapton of new information, images, and videos. (That’s a lot of fours.)

As we round into the last month of waiting, let’s recap some of our impressions of the game so far:

We can see from the get-go that Spirit Tracks strikes a good balance between novelty and tradition. The train particularly was an interesting addition that no one saw coming (except the con artists behind the “Project Deluge” rumor) and seems to have shaped up to be deeper and more interesting than the steamboat of Phantom Hourglass. While the story may seem similar to other games, the delivery seems fresh and new and everything that fans have asked for. I’m particularly excited that we will finally see the titular princess play a central role in the hero’s quest. On the other hand, the return of features and elements from popular games, such as the Tears of Light, the Phantoms, and a few cameos of characters from The Wind Waker, as well as the establishment of a New Hyrule, opens all kinds of doors for new stories while reminding us that this is still Zelda. (It’s also exciting for us theorist folk.)

But the real question is: what are YOU excited for? Leave us your thoughts!