With the end of the DS's life more or less here with the recent release of the DS's last notable games, I've been retrospectively taking a look at the DS and realizing it's one of the best game consoles ever. It really satisfied my need for games that were simple but had a lot of depth, or a really creative concept, serving as a stark contrast to the ever more complicated and difficult to get into games being released on consoles lately. Even though I'm getting older and not playing as many games as I used to, I still probably sunk more time into the DS than most consoles, ever, so that's saying a lot.
What I want from you are recommendations on games I don't own. They can be major titles that are necessary to have a complete collection, or completely unknown gems that only you've heard of but you really liked. Throw a short pitch about the game at me if you care to. I really want to figure out what's out there that's worth playing. I'd say I'm pretty open to any type of game - the most important thing for a DS game, to me, is that it's easy to get hooked on quickly, whether it be a short or a long game. Also, I strongly favor 2D games over 3D games, usually.
Top 10 list:
1. Phoenix Wright (trilogy) 2. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin 3. Contra 4 4. Professor Layton (series) 5. Pokémon Black/White 6. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia 7. Kirby Canvas Curse 8. WarioWare DIY 9. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 10. Meteos
Entire collection (Games I really liked, like about a 8/10, are marked with a *)
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth * Advance Wars: Days of Ruin * Advance Wars: Dual Strike * Animal Crossing: Wild World Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Big Brain Academy Bleach DS Bleach DS 2 Brain Age Brain Age 2 Bust-a-Move DS Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow * Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia * Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Chrono Trigger * Contra 4 * Custom Robo Arena Elite Beat Agents * Feel the Magic: XY/XX Final Fantasy III Final Fantasy Tactics A2 * Golden Sun: Dark Dawn Hotel Dusk: Room 215 * Kirby Super Star Ultra * Kirby: Canvas Curse * Kirby: Squeak Squad Lunar Knights * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Mario Kart DS Mario Party DS Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team * Mega Man ZX * Mega Man ZX Advent Meteos * Metroid Prime: Hunters New Super Mario Bros. Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan * Phantasy Star Zero * Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney * Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All * Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations * Picross DS Planet Puzzle League * Pokémon Black * Pokémon Diamond/Pearl * Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness Pokémon SoulSilver * Polarium Professor Layton and the Curious Village * Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box * Professor Layton and the Unwound Future * Rhythm Heaven * Star Fox Command Super Mario 64 DS Tetris DS The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Trace Memory Trauma Center: Under the Knife Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! WarioWare D.I.Y. * WarioWare: Touched! Yoshi Touch & Go Yoshi's Island DS
Intending to obtain before end of year:
Kirby Mass Attack Professor Layton and the Last Specter
Okay, I realize it's probably hard to figure out what games are missing on a list that huge, but I know people are usually really militant about making sure that everyone likes their favorite game. Direct it in the form of an angry complaint if you have to (WHY HAVEN'T YOU PLAYED TWEWY/GHOST TRICK/WHATEVER WORST LIST EVER), I know that'll get you fired up to help me out.
If you want an adventure/horror game with a pretty lulzy storyline, Theresia's for you. I do not guarantee satisfaction in any other category.
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You laugh at my Celtic Guardian, until I use my Scapegoat, and then United We Stand, Mage Power, and 3 Axe Of Despairs, with Gaia Power out. 11900/7800
Definitely recommend Ghost Trick. It has good story, writing and a fun, likeable cast of characters, who all have amazing animations. You'll get a PW vibe from it.
WHY HAVEN'T YOU PLAYED TWEWY/GHOST TRICK/WHATEVER WORST LIST EVER
Also: 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island Dragon Quest IV, V, VI, and IX Radiant Historia (PLAY THIS FIRST) Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (if no 3DS, buy the 3DS version if you have one) Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Solatorobo: Red the Hunter
999 is the only adventure game/VN, the rest are RPGs.
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2011 Rivalry Rumble Contest - i am too lazy to edit this every day http://backloggery.com/articuno2001/sig.gif
The World Ends With You - The reason I haven't played this game yet is that I haven't liked any games Square has made since the SNES, except for the FFT games. RPGs for me come down to two extremely important factors - pacing, and character customization. Does TWEWY move quickly and have a lot of options for tweaking how I play the game? If "yes" to both things, I will strongly consider TWEWY.
Ghost Trick - I don't need to be sold on this very hard, I'm probably going to look into getting it soon.
Mega Man Zero COllection - I already own all four MMZ titles on the GBA, so I don't think there's any particular reason to own this, unless I get it like really cheap or something.
Last Window - This is a game I really want, but I'm not sure if it's worth the elevated price tag. If I really liked Hotel Dusk, should I just bite the bullet anyway?
999 - Is it a pretty sure bet that someone who loved PW and liked Hotel DUsk will like this? I'm still a little on the fence here, because it's actually really unusual that story-driven, "visual novel" games appeal to me. PW and Hotel Dusk did, though.
Anything with Dragon Quest in the name: Same RPG rules apply. Pacing and customization?
Anything with SMT in the name: Pacing and customization again, also are they worth playing even if I have absolutely no clue about the rest of the series? I've never played them.
Radiant Historia and other RPGs I know nothing about: Pacing/customization? Does it move fast and have a lot of ways to tweak my characters?
Pretty much everything else named so far I haven't even heard of, so I'll have to do a little bit of research and find out what they're like, but so far I like the number of unusual suggestions coming in.
From: Paratroopa1 | #018 The World Ends With You - The reason I haven't played this game yet is that I haven't liked any games Square has made since the SNES, except for the FFT games. RPGs for me come down to two extremely important factors - pacing, and character customization. Does TWEWY move quickly and have a lot of options for tweaking how I play the game? If "yes" to both things, I will strongly consider TWEWY.
From: BPandamonium | #019 From: Paratroopa1 | #018The World Ends With You - The reason I haven't played this game yet is that I haven't liked any games Square has made since the SNES, except for the FFT games. RPGs for me come down to two extremely important factors - pacing, and character customization. Does TWEWY move quickly and have a lot of options for tweaking how I play the game? If "yes" to both things, I will strongly consider TWEWY.
Yes and yes.
-- SomeC - sheer explosives since meeting that crazy hobo. BlAcK TuRtLe grabbed the Guru victory, slow but steady.
I'll probably give TWEWY a shot then, since it is one of the bigger name DS titles I don't own. RPGs are really hit or miss for me but I've liked most RPGs on portable systems that I've played.
From: Paratroopa1 | #018 The World Ends With You - The reason I haven't played this game yet is that I haven't liked any games Square has made since the SNES, except for the FFT games. RPGs for me come down to two extremely important factors - pacing, and character customization. Does TWEWY move quickly and have a lot of options for tweaking how I play the game? If "yes" to both things, I will strongly consider TWEWY.
It's a good thing TWEWY is the best game Square has made since the SNES then.
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http://i45.tinypic.com/fpchec.gif http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9413/cutepuppy16.png - Number of people that D'awwed: 63
Hm, Dragon Quest IV/V don't really have much in the way of customization. VI and IX, though, you can choose the classes and skill trees of each one of your characters, and in IX, their appearance as well. Check those out if you can.
The SMT games are a great way to start out with the franchise (in fact, it's how I started playing SMT games!) and both have excellent pacing and many, many demons to customize your party to your hearts content.
If you like Hotel Dusk, you will like Last Window, even with the price tag as high as it is.
Radiant Historia doesn't have much customization, unfortunately, but it's probably the best RPG on the DS and should be played anyway.
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2011 Rivalry Rumble Contest - i am too lazy to edit this every day http://backloggery.com/articuno2001/sig.gif
Paratroopa1 posted... Last Window - This is a game I really want, but I'm not sure if it's worth the elevated price tag. If I really liked Hotel Dusk, should I just bite the bullet anyway?
999 - Is it a pretty sure bet that someone who loved PW and liked Hotel DUsk will like this? I'm still a little on the fence here, because it's actually really unusual that story-driven, "visual novel" games appeal to me. PW and Hotel Dusk did, though.
Level-5 recently got the rights to the Kyle Hyde series, so there's hope they may be generous and release it here. It's very similar in terms of gameplay to Hotel Dusk, so it's all a matter of if you want to spend a lot of money on it. 999 does have puzzles and choices, it's not basically a straight up book. It's hard to find though, and you can experience it just as well as playing by watching YouTube videos.
Level 5 is awesome but I don't expect Last Window to see a release in NA, so I think I may just have to try to get it imported while I still can, if I even still can. I have no idea how hard it is to get now.
You could get the 3rd Bleach DS game if you want to have the whole collection of them that were localized. It's the last one NA got and it's an SRPG with a bunch of characters. I also highly recommend Devil Survivor since it's an amazing SRPG with multiple endings. The 3DS version is the definitive one due to added content, but the standard DS one is still great. The 2nd Devil Survivor comes out in Q1 2012 too so it's a good time to get it and beat it.
The customization in TWEWY is a big reason why I love it so much. Just about everything is customizable, from your equipment and attacks to your level and difficulty. Even the menu music.
-- SomeC - sheer explosives since meeting that crazy hobo. BlAcK TuRtLe grabbed the Guru victory, slow but steady.
Actually I didn't list this in my list but both Bleach games I have are Japanese. Not that that really makes a difference.
Strategy RPGs are a genre of game that intrigue me, but always seem to go wrong somewhere, somehow. Even though I liked the FFT games, they all did something wrong - they're all really slow. Pacing is a big issue in SRPGs and I often find myself getting bored of them for that reason. When I can get over that though SRPGs are great time-wasters and do always fulfill the customization requirement I have really well.
Oh also I do intend to get a 3DS for Christmas probably, so if a game has a better version coming out on the 3DS I'll probably wait for it then. Feel free to recommend those too, a game like Devil Survivor I'd probably be likely to buy on the 3DS because its library of good games is pretty lacking right now and I'm generally more likely to take chances on games early in a console's life than late.
I see you have Ouendan on there, so I guess you aren't opposed to other Japanese only games that don't really require knowing Japanese to play. May as well grab Ouendan 2 and Jump Ultimate Stars.
Japanese games are fine as long as it's relatively easy to play them without knowing Japanese (needing a FAQ to get through some bits is okay - needing a FAQ to have any idea what's going on at all is not). Ouendan 2 is interesting, but importing games is a bit expensive and I think the first one and EBA is probably enough for me unless Ouendan 2 is just so much better that it absolutely must be played.
Paratroopa1 posted... Japanese games are fine as long as it's relatively easy to play them without knowing Japanese (needing a FAQ to get through some bits is okay - needing a FAQ to have any idea what's going on at all is not). Ouendan 2 is interesting, but importing games is a bit expensive and I think the first one and EBA is probably enough for me unless Ouendan 2 is just so much better that it absolutely must be played.
JUS you may have to stupid your way through menus a couple of times and maybe look up what some objectives are but it's not too bad. It's basically a smash clone with more depth and Shonen Jump Characters. O2 just depends on how much you like the other 2 probably. It's fun, but doesn't improve, but does have a MUCH better soundtrack than EBA.
I'm not really an anime guy so JUS doesn't really hold a lot of appeal for me. I kind of like Bleach and I kind of liked the Bleach games but that's a bit of an outlier. If it's REALLY good I'd consider it though.
I don't know what other systems you have, or what games you have for those systems. That said:
Retro Game Challenge -- criminally underrated. Sales did not support its sequel coming stateside. Disgaea DS -- My understanding is that there are better versions. This one is plenty good. Trauma Center 2 -- If you liked the first one, here's the sequel. Legacy of Ys : Books I and II -- Depending on your tolerance for older games, this might or might not be a good pick.
I've got other games I never got around to playing that aren't listed.
From: Uglyface2 | #045 Disgaea DS -- My understanding is that there are better versions. This one is plenty good. Legacy of Ys : Books I and II -- Depending on your tolerance for older games, this might or might not be a good pick.
If you have a PSP, just know that these two have better remakes on that system than the DS. They're still worth a try if you don't have a PSP, though.
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