Some Good DS games

[toasty]

What is says. :p Perferably strategy or RPG games like Fire Emblem, Advance Wars. I'm pretty sure I'll be getting the new Advance Wars game, but I'd also like some recommendation about games that aren't so well known.

[potatocubed]

Consider this the obligatory The World Ends With You recommendation.

Also, the Ace Attorney games are excellent.

And Disgaea DS is a turn-based strategy in the same vein as Fire Emblem, etc. It's fun, but a bit grindy though.

[Comet]

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. So much fun, awesome story, insane replaying value, get it now.

[Mando Knight]

Dragon Quest. No, wait, everyone knows about that series.
Pokémon. Wait, even more well known.
Sonic Chronicles. Maybe...

[SKarious]

How about Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2? It's a bit easy and the story's nonexistent, but still a lot of fun and has many Character combinations.

[Zevox]

Good RPGs on the DS? Sit back, this may take a while...

Best of the bunch if you ask me: The World Ends With You and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. The former has an extremely unique, innovative, and fun combat system; a fascinating setting; pretty good story and characters; and great music - easily one of the best games Square-Enix has ever made, better than any Final Fantasy game I've every played by a hefty margin. The latter has a neat combat system that is sort of a mish-mash of tactical RPG maps and traditional RPG turn-based battles, with of course the unique Shin Megami Tensei twists to the battle mechanics, such as giving you an extra attack if you hit the enemy's weaknesses - it's actually not unlike Ogre Battle 64 in execution, if you ever played that. And being a Megaten game you get to train, customize, and fight with demons while you're at it. Moreover it has an excellent story, the best of a non-Persona Megaten game that I've played, which includes six different endings which you may actually be hard-pressed to pick between. I can't recommend those two enough if you're an RPG fan with a DS.

Another top recommendation I'd give is Disgaea DS. It's a tactical RPG with some similarities to Fire Emblem, feature a great cast of characters, good story, and lots of humor. The combat can get extremely over-the-top in the best ways, and if you like grinding, the game literally provides you with the ability to do it infinitely and still have fights you can get into that will challenge you. The maximum level is 9,999 (and you don't even need to go beyond 70 or so to beat the main story!), and any character can "reincarnate" (potentially into a totally different class if you wanted) to go back to level 1, yet still keep a boost to their stats based on how powerful they were before reincarnation. And via the random-dungeon "item world," there are always more enemies to fight if you want to, and they can always get strong enough to challenge you, even at level 9,999 if you have the proper item to enter. Don't think the grinding is necessary if you don't like that though - it absolutely is not, and the main story portion of the game alone is more than worth getting it for.

Then there's Chrono Trigger, another of Square-Enix's best works, which was re-released on the DS. If you didn't play it on the SNES, as I didn't, it's well worth getting. Let me put it this way: I hate Squaresoft's "active time battle" combat system, and while Chrono Trigger uses it, I actually forgot it was using that system as I was playing it. It's that good.

If you like your traditional-style JRPGs, I'd recommend the Dragon Quest games. There are remakes of 4 and 5 available for the DS already (I'd say 5 is the superior of the two, but both are good), and 9 is a new one coming to the DS in July or so for those of us not living in Japan. A remake of 6 has also been made, but has no release date yet outside Japan.

The Mario & Luigi games are pretty good - nothing too fancy, but quite humorous. The DS has two: Partners in Time and Bowser's Inside Story. I'd say the latter was the better of the two, but both were worth playing.

There's also Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, a turn-based RPG Sonic game actually made by western developer Bioware. While it is perhaps Bioware's worst work (aside from maybe Neverwinter Nights), it's also the best Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2 - Bioware has yet to make anything but good games, after all, so being their worst work is still a compliment.

There's also a remake of Final Fantasy 4 available. It is one of the best two Final Fantasies I've played, but it is noticeably dated, and has that always-irritating ATB system. Still, if you like JRPGs in general or Final Fantasy in particular and you haven't played it, it's worth giving it a shot. I've also heard there's a remake of FF 3 for the DS, but haven't tried that myself yet.

Since you specifically mentioned the series, I'm going to guess you know about the one Fire Emblem game and two Advance Wars games on the DS (if not, I'd certainly recommend both Advance Wars game, but would only recommend the Fire Emblem if you're a strong fan of the series). Though there is another Fire Emblem coming to it - a remake of FE3, with the Japanese title "New Mystery of the Emblem." Seems like it may be a bit more promising than Shadow Dragon was, given the new custom character they're introducing for it, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Oh, and there's also a Golden Sun DS being made, supposedly coming sometime this year. If you didn't play the first two of those, they're great GBA games, which you should be able to play on your DS unless you only have a DSi. If you did play them, odds are I don't need to say anything more to make you interested in the DS game.

Zevox

[Inhuman Bot]

Consider this the obligatory The World Ends With You recommendation.


x2.

Also, another vote for the Mario & Luigi RPGs.

[SAMAS]

A Your Mileage May Vary recommendation: Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier is a side story to at least three separate video games (Xenosaga (Episode III), Namco x Capcom, and Super Robot Taisen Original Generation 2).

If you don't mind importing, Super Robot Taisen W is a fun game, especially if you like giant robots and anime. A fairly detailed story analysis can be found on Gamefaqs. K is also available, but considered not as good story-wise. There are also two more OG Saga games, a sequel to Endless Frontier and Mashou Kenshin: The Lord of Elemental, which is more of a straight-up strategy game like the main SRW(T) series.

The three DS Castlevania games are RPG/Metroidvania hybrids, and are a lot of fun.

Metal Slug 7 often gets derided for not having a two-player mode, but I honestly have almost never played a Metal Slug game with two players, and I love the series to death.

I've heard Infinite Space is a fun Spaceship-based game, but kinda hard.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Consider this the obligatory The World Ends With You recommendation.

Also, the Ace Attorney games are excellent.

And Disgaea DS is a turn-based strategy in the same vein as Fire Emblem, etc. It's fun, but a bit grindy though.


I agree on all counts. I haven't played Shin Megami Tensei, but I've heard good things about it. I've been spending all my game money on Pokemon lately, so I don't know about more recent stuff. :smalltongue:

[Mirrinus]

Consider this the obligatory The World Ends With You recommendation.

Oh yes, full stop. TWEWY is awesome.

I am enjoying Final Fantasy Tactics A2, though. Gameplay seems more balanced compared to the first Tactics Advance; no longer can you just breeze through everything with your Concentrate Viera Assassins. Now it's all about Mirror Item/Item Lore Seeq Rangers (at least for the early game).

[chiasaur11]

Oh yes, full stop. TWEWY is awesome.

I am enjoying Final Fantasy Tactics A2, though. Gameplay seems more balanced compared to the first Tactics Advance; no longer can you just breeze through everything with your Concentrate Viera Assassins. Now it's all about Mirror Item/Item Lore Seeq Rangers (at least for the early game).

Although #^$& Chocobo hunts.

Pokemon already mentioned...

Mario's good. Little short, though.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

I am enjoying Final Fantasy Tactics A2, though. Gameplay seems more balanced compared to the first Tactics Advance; no longer can you just breeze through everything with your Concentrate Viera Assassins. Now it's all about Mirror Item/Item Lore Seeq Rangers (at least for the early game).

I enjoyed the gameplay a good deal. Story is very lacking though.

[JediSoth]

I rather enjoyed Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon, and would recommend that or Rune Factory 2. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is also a very good game.

[Setra]

If your DS is the kind that can play GBA games, you might want to look for some of those too, like the Final Fantasy games re-released on the GBA or Super Robot Wars: Original Generation.

As far as actual DS games, I'd like to second the recommendation of the Dragon Quest remakes, as well as the remakes of FFIII and FFIV, as well as Chrono Trigger and Disgaea DS.

As for games not mentioned yet, I would recommend Children of Mana.

[Ogremindes]

I rather enjoyed Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon, and would recommend that or Rune Factory 2.
They are flawed games, but very fun. They're hybrid farming/action rpg games. The problem in Rune Factory is mainly that one of the storyline dungeons is only open in Winter. I had to go through 3/4 of a game year without being able to advance the plot (in that time I levelled enough to walk all over the remaining bosses). Rune Factory 2 is pretty glitchy, but nothing game-breaking (that I've encountered so far). It seems a better game overall, but rarely deigns to tell you how to play. It also takes a long time for it's plot to move.

Other DS games I like are, in the order they're on my shelf: Mystery Dungeon Shiren the Wanderer (a decent rogue-type); Disgaea DS; Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor; Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey; the Professor Layton games; Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2; Chrono Trigger; Final Fantasy III; Etrian Odyssey 1 and 2 (only if you like old-school dungeon crawlers); and, of course, Pokemon (doesn't really matter which version, it's not much like they're different games).

If I started listing GBA games too I'd be up all night.

[Drascin]

...god, there are just too many. I want to start writing, but I know that if I did descriptions for every great game I've played in DS, I'd be here until wednesday. I'll keep to the strictly-RPGs to end faster, unless you want other genres too (in which case the list could be easily quadruplicated).

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor: Megami Tensei combat mixed with Persona-esque storyline and tactics map grids. A great game, with some storyline options that will give you actual pause.
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey: Classic Megami Tensei in its purest form - tame demons, use them to kill other demons, try to not die horribly as you save the world from its horrible doom. Really good.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Not really that much in the way of story, just loads and loads and loads of tactics gameplay with a load of classes and items to unlock and combine for your pleasure. Much more fun that the first one.
Etrian Odyssey 2: Okay, you know the old dungeoncrawlers? The first-person ones where a misstep or an excess of confidence could mean death? Well, they're back! Etrian Odyssey takes the classic gameplay and adapts it to the new days, with gorgeous results. Fifteen classes with lots of abilities and full freedom to build your party on one hand... the endless hordes of the Yggdrassil Labyrinth on the other. Good luck, explorer. You're going to need it. :smallamused:
Knights in the Nightmare: a little known jewel that mixed arcade shooting with tactical RPG in terms of mechanics, and Fire Emblem with Valkyrie Profile in terms of setting. Yes, really. And it works wonderfully. It's also insanely hard, and if you're a completionist, it will HATE YOU. But it's a game everyone should at least try, if only because it's so odd and original in a genre that really innovates so little.
Pokémon Platinum: 4th gen is easily the best pokémon gen. Platinum is the best game of 4th gen. This is self-explanatory, really.
Pokémon SoulSilver/HeartGold: You platyed Pokémon Gold in the old days, I'm sure? Well, a remake with oodles more stuff, improved mechanics, and a great attention to detail is likely to be up your alley then!
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time: action RPG, more diablo than anything, but still great fun. And it has Lilties, which makes it inherently awesome.
Disgaea DS: It's the same Disgaea in PS2, but portable. And Disgaea has always been great. Do you seriously need to ask?
Bowser's Inside Story: Funniest. RPG. EVER. Period. The game is great fun as a simple RPG, but it's the storyline and characters that really sell it. Bowser might be the best Villain Protagonist to ever grace a console, and the amount of references, jokes, and puns is enough to have you giggling at your DS like crazy. Please get this game.

...and those are just the ones I have. For other titles I've heard good things about, give a look to Infinite Space, Avalon Code, The Dark Spire, Dragon Quest Monsters, Glory of Heracles, or Fighting Fantasy, just from memory.

Really, the DS is more or less the best machine to have if you want RPGs :smallbiggrin:.

[toasty]

Wow, these are a lot of games... lol

If I got an Ace Attorney Game, which one is the "best" to get?

[potatocubed]

I'd recommend the first one. (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney)

My personal favourite is the fourth one (Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney) but you can't go wrong starting at the beginning with this series.

[Terraoblivion]

I concur. Ace Attorney is best played in order since later games will spoil events in previous ones. Also while you can play them out of order, you will miss out on a lot of the character development and relationships by doing that. And they are games you should definitely play if you have a DS, they are utterly hilarious, while still having plots that actually gets tense and even surprising at times. At least i doubt anybody had expected the culprit in the fifth case of the first game for a good, long while.

In any case my recommendations sound a lot like those others have made. The World Ends With You, for all the awesome of the story and art direction that others have mentioned. I don't feel like i need to point out what others have said already.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, i actually think it is the non-Persona game in the series with the best plot. At least, i know that the choice of who to support gave me pause because i could see the point everyone made, instead of it being a question of who i hated the most like in Nocturne. To no one's surprise i went with the hot girl in the end. *coughs* Anyway, it has a really great plot which i believe does manage to provoke thought in most cases.

Castlevanias, i believe that the three DS Castlevania games mark the pinnacle of more combative platformers for me. With genuinely interesting boss patterns, well-integrated RPG elements and a nice variety of skills to use the core gameplay flows quite well and almost never gets dull, unless you get into some of the big grinds that the games allow for. Similarly while the plot of all three games can best be described as cheesy and cliché, the general atmosphere of the games more than makes up for it. The design of the castle and other areas, as well as the music is some of the best in the business at building an atmosphere, in its own way it is as good at this as TWEWY, it is just a completely different atmosphere that it is going for.

Finally, Disgaea DS. I cannot really comment on the additions made for the DS version since i haven't played that one much, but that doesn't change the important parts. The gameplay is still orthodox strategy RPG taking to its utmost logical consequence, at least if you want to, and the plot is still the hilarious and surprisingly engaging story of a spoiled brat's ascension to the throne of the Netherworld. Laharl, Etna and Flonne also makes one of the strongest main casts i can remember seeing and then there is Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth! He is just plain hilarious throughout.

And this should be a good solid chunk of games to play, given that i gave you eight recommendations from those i personally played alone. And while i haven't played it i'd add Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey to the list too. I just love Megaten too much not to, but i let those who have played it explain why it is great.

[Drascin]

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, i actually think it is the non-Persona game in the series with the best plot. At least, i know that the choice of who to support gave me pause because i could see the point everyone made, instead of it being a question of who i hated the most like in Nocturne. To no one's surprise i went with the hot girl in the end. *coughs* Anyway, it has a really great plot which i believe does manage to provoke thought in most cases.

But I thought neither Midori nor Izuna had an ending? :smalltongue:.

[Penguinator]

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume is a good game, with decent voice acting as well. The play is pretty good if you're decent at button mashing. The story is involving and takes different paths. The characters have well-developed backstories, but once they join you, they become fairly nonexistant. (Like FE: Shadow Dragon) Aside from that, it's a good game, with great replay value. You can choose whether to keep or sacrifice your allies, gaining new abilities for the main character (which carry over into replays) if you choose to sacrifice. Only thing, the "Best" ending is nigh on impossible (the boss, reaching there isn't hard. It's the blasted final boss) without a few key abilities. Definitely worth your time.

Stands out from the previous titles in the series, in that the main character is not the Valkyrie, but rather seeks revenge against the Valkyrie.

[Lord Seth]

Wow, these are a lot of games... lol

If I got an Ace Attorney Game, which one is the "best" to get?My personal favorite is the third, but I'd recommend either starting with the first or getting the most recent game, Ace Attorney Investigations.

However, the DS versions of the older games are still a bit expensive. If you have a Wii and don't mind losing the portability (as well as the fact they haven't upped the graphics), the first three games were ported to WiiWare, and they're a lot cheaper there.

Also, let me throw in another vote for The World Ends With You.

[Zocelot]

I knew TWEWY was a good game, but before reading this thread I didn't know it was such a popular one. I'll add a recommendation to it.

Also, I didn't enjoy FFT:A2 at all, I felt like it was grinding after more grinding with no semblance of plot.

[John Cribati]

Scribblenauts, in which you can go back in time and ride a dinosaur to fight robot zombies.

[ScottishDragon]

Scribblenauts, in which you can go back in time and ride a dinosaur to fight robot zombies.

Hmmm I bought this game,was great,and got bored with it in a week,all the levels are similar,most fun is the sandbox mode.(which is awesome btw) But that's all I liked about it.When I buy songs I can't tell which is which.I still reccomend it,great for about 2 weeks of awesome.Cthulu is awesome.
And if your having trouble killing stuff type in ooze,indestructable.

[UglyPanda]

But I thought neither Midori nor Izuna had an ending? :smalltongue:.Amane has an ending. Yuzu as well, but that's the depressing ending*.

I'm going to write same games that people haven't mentioned yet, but may or not be worth a purchase:
Bangai-O Spirits
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Elite Beat Agents
Yoshi's Island DS
Professor Layton
My World, My Way & Master of the Monster Lair are fun, but very repetitive.


Footnotes (contains spoilers):*Not depressing as in a sad tearjeaker, sad as in everyone dies**.
**In other words, it's the apocalypse ending***.
***Then again, not everyone dies, there had to be somebody for Metatron to bitch at at the end.

[Terraoblivion]

Yes, i meant Amane's ending.

Everyone outside the Yamanote Line survives and God begins his war to subjugate humanity. It is not so much "everyone dies" as it is the ending where all bets are off and you get to play Mad Max with angels and demons.

[Drascin]

Amane has an ending. Yuzu as well, but that's the depressing ending*.

I had forgotten about Amane's, but I know Yuzu had one. The fact that I excluded her there was fully intentional :smallwink:.

Me, I tried to go for Gin's ending, realized it was almost freaking impossible on first playthrough (seriously, what the hell), went for Atsuro's instead. Stupid supernatural creatures, get off my lawn! :smallbiggrin:

[Terraoblivion]

Yeah, Gin's is rough. I went for it on my second go, though, and haven't played a third time. Not sure who to pick this time either. Logically speaking i should probably go for either Yuzu, to get it out of the way, or Naoya and then leave Atsuro for last, but i'm not sure. It would give me the best chance of being able to kill Lucifer without having to do another run just for that.

[Oregano]

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time: action RPG, more diablo than anything, but still great fun. And it has Lilties, which makes it inherently awesome.


Also FF:CC: Ring of Fates. It has rougher gameplay(it was released first),a vastly different approach to level design, is more story focused and lacks online multiplayer. It's still a great game and really develops the CC universe. It also has Meeth AKA the best Lilty ever.:smalltongue:

[Penguinator]

Yeah, Gin's is rough.

Now I learn I shouldn't have gone for Gin. Well, crap.

[Comet]

Funnily enough, the Gin/Haru ending in Devil Survivor was the first one I ran through. And I didn't even have much trouble with it, found it by accident and ran through without excessive grinding.
I was a bit confused when I came online and found people claiming that the Gin route is apparently hard to unlock and even harder to finish.

The only ending I didn't go through was Atsuro's. That seemed kinda...boring. It sounded like Gin's route, but less epic, so I didn't bother.
Is there any special bonus you get for completing all the routes?

[Zevox]

Yes, i meant Amane's ending.
...but... Amane's not hot. :smalltongue: *ducks for cover*

Anyway, I went for Naoya's ending first. His arguments made entirely too much sense given the evidence you see and the events you go through during the lockdown. Heck, if it weren't for the fact that, for some odd reason, you amass your demon forces and engage in fighting in the human world rather than sticking to the underworld and heaven, I'd be entirely pleased with that ending.

Went for Gin's second, but I got bogged down trying to fuse some high-level demons that were complicated to make at one point, and another game distracted me, and I haven't gone back since. Probably should, even if only to try my hand at Lucifer.

Zevox

[Terraoblivion]

I actually unlocked Gin's ending on my first attempt too, but i went for Amane anyway.

And Zevox i'll be honest, i think that the artstyle of the game makes pretty much all the characters pretty ugly, especially Atsuro with those bizarre eyes placed way too far apart. But with an artstyle more conductive to attractive characters Amane would definitely be hot.

[Penguinator]

Funnily enough, the Gin/Haru ending in Devil Survivor was the first one I ran through.

Huh. This boss is killing me, though. What demons/abilities did you use?