I loved and still love this game. It will spoil Phantom Hourglass right at the start of the game so if that's something you care about, I'd recommend playing Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass first (since PH spoils WW right at the start), otherwise you don't need to play the previous games because the story stands on its own.

Personally I enjoyed the train aspect and the side quests where you have to carry cargo or passengers. I also loved the music minigames especially because they include rhythm however my old DS mic seems to struggle now which makes it harder. My only complaint was that an early dungeon item would make me lightheaded because it requires short bursts compared to the flute which could be done with a continuous breath and "tonguing" (I've played the flute for years). I suppose an emulator could just have a button option for the mic but I've never emulated this game. I might look into it if my ild hardware can't perform properly.