Looking for a new DS game

[lamguin]

I have FFTA2, and my next purchase will be Pokemon: Diamond. What else is stand-out good?

Ideally, I'm looking for games with nice long playtimes here. I work overnight at a job where my primary tasks include: Being There and Not Sleeping. So a real timesink would be loverly.

Thanks in advance.

I'd also accept GBA suggestions.

[AlterForm]

For GBA, I have give a big recommendation for Golden Sun and GS:The Lost Age. Best RPGs I can remember for the system.

For DS I can't think anything that's a particularly good timesink, but The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was a fun one with particularly good stylus usage.

[Inhuman Bot]

Well, if you like JRPG's then The world ends with you is about as good as it can get on the ds. Personally, I reeaally don't like JRPG's aside from TWEWY, so it's not exactly biased on that account.
Anyways, it's also got a fairly high requirment for multi tasking if you want to beat noise such as The Ultimate Enemy (as all ingame keywords are in red:smallwink:)

I can't suggest much else.

[Jimp]

Any of the Advanced Wars series is gold. Turn based strategy game.

[Dihan]

I'd suggest Mario Kart DS and Metroid Prime Hunters but the wi-fi is full of snakers/Imperialist spammers and so isn't much fun.

[Diddgery]

If you want some games off the beaten path, I suggest the first Ace Attorney game (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) and Professor Layton and the Curious Village. The first is a point-and-click adventure game/court simulator/visual novel, while the latter is a point and click adventure game/puzzle game.

I also second the suggestion for Golden Sun. They're probably the best original RPGs on the GBA.

[Enlong]

Screw that, Ddiggery, I suggest all 4 Ace Attorney games.

Also, you might want to look into Final Fantasy IV DS.

[potatocubed]

Screw that, Ddiggery, I suggest all 4 Ace Attorney games.

Hmm, I dunno. The first one and the fourth one are fantastic, but the second one was a bit iffy and the third one wound me up so much with its 'wacky' characters that I just couldn't finish it.

Another vote for The World Ends With You - if it's stand-out good you want, that game is your best bet. The Phantom Hourglass is top-notch as well, although not very long.

@V: The words 'Fire Breathing Golem Attack!' never fail to send me into fits of giggles after that game.

[Dihan]

How could I forget the Ace Attorney series! Get it now!

Also, Elite Beat Agents. Honest, cheesy fun.

[Enlong]

Hmm, I dunno. The first one and the fourth one are fantastic, but the second one was a bit iffy and the third one wound me up so much with its 'wacky' characters that I just couldn't finish it.

Another vote for The World Ends With You - if it's stand-out good you want, that game is your best bet. The Phantom Hourglass is top-notch as well, although not very long.

Dude! Game 3 is my favorite! Godot is perhaps the best prosecutor, after Edgeworth, and due to the way it brought everything together, including story threads started in case 1_2, Case 3_5 had the highest HSQ of any Ace Attourney game so far for me.
In other words: pull it together and finish the game, you'll be glad you did.

[Atomsized]

DS:

Hmmmm, DQM: Joker isn't too bad of a game, to keep things simple, you collect a team of monsters, you fight with them, fuse them to create better monsters, and i guess you could say that in a way, it is like Pokemon, except you fight with 3 at a time and each has more skills.

Wario Master of Disguise (I think that was the title) is kinda, well, run around with an arsenal of costumes to defeat your enemies with while trying to beat the boss in the place that you're in, similar to the early Zelda games.

GBA:

Golden Sun (Definitely)
Megaman Battle Network series

[Drglenn]

DS: Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Mario Kart, Metroid Prime: Hunters, Final Fantasy 3

GBA: Fire Emblem (similar to advance wars in that you move units around a grid, but is more RPG than strategy)

[Terraoblivion]

Though they might not be the greatest timesinks ever unless you are heavily into grinding, the two Castlevania games for the DS are both excellent. I personally prefer Portrait of Ruin of the two, but that is merely a matter of taste.

[Kiren]

Trauma Center: Under the knife 2

great game, check it out

[Enlong]

Ooh! How could I forget Sonic Rush? Darn fine Sonic game right there. I would talk about Rush Adventure, I have it, but I haven't played it yet (don't ask). It's not terribly long, but it's fun, and I dare you to not spend at least a half hour trying to beat the semi-final boss with Sonic.

[Green-Shirt Q]

I had loads of fun playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time. It's a game where you get to BE the pokemon! And it has a new, origanal storyline unlike the same old storyline the other pokemon games have where it's the EXACT same story and gameplay over and over and over and over and over.............
I really don't know how to describe it's gameplay, but it stays fun for an extremly long time and stays crunchy even in milk (don't try putting the game in milk though, you can't play it afterwards. Take my word for it.)

[Enlong]

I had loads of fun playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time. It's a game where you get to BE the pokemon! And it has a new, origanal storyline unlike the same old storyline the other pokemon games have where it's the EXACT same story and gameplay over and over and over and over and over.............
I really don't know how to describe it's gameplay, but it stays fun for an extremly long time and stays crunchy even in milk (don't try putting the game in milk though, you can't play it afterwards. Take my word for it.)

You serious? I would think that as a Nintendo product, it would have at least the usual measure of immortality. I should know: I once lent Golden Sun: The Lost Age to a friend, and he got it put into the washing machine by accident. And it didn't even lose any save files.

[Inhuman Bot]

If you really like any of the following games, as in a fanboy level, you may be offended. Be warned.

I can't say I would reccomend the Phoenix wright games. Somewhere around 50% of them do not involve the interesting court cases. Nooooo they have to be goddamn investigations. Your a lawyer! not a detective!:smallmad:

Phantom Hourglass is pretty Meh, overall. you have to keep doing the same dungeon with the same invincilbe eneimes alot, and overall doesn't feel to fun.

Pokemon mystery dungeon is.... Well, It's not as interesting as games that came before it, such as Nethack or SLASH'EM, but it's not as complex either. In a simmalir vain, stay away from Izuna the Jobless mooch, especially the second. It's kinder then most games of it's sort as you don't lose all your levels when you die.

[Geno9999]

Try New Super Mario Bros. for the DS. It's easy compared to other 2D Mario games, but I like the way it combines 3D Mario moves into a 2D world.
Since you're also looking for GBA games, I'm trying out Fire Emblem (Blazing Sword in JP) and I'm liking it so far, so why not try it out for yourself?

[lamguin]

To compile the recommendations:
Golden Sun
The World Ends With You
Advanced Wars
Mario Kart: DS
Metroid Prime: Hunters
Ace Attourney
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
FF IV
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Elite Beat Agents
DragonQuest Monsters: Joker
Wario: Master of Disguise
Megaman Battle Network
Final Fantasy 3
Fire Emblem
Castlevania
Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2
Sonic Rush
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness
New Super Mario Bros.

A note on GBA games. I have a really stupid amount of GBA roms. So I can probably at least try it out, or have done so already.

A note on game length. Playing a good timesink is more important to my purchasing decision than playing a good game. Think Portal vs Civ. Both very good games, Portal being better, but I need something to waste time with. So I'd take Civ.

Golden Sun. I've tried the rom, and the beginning was so very boring when I tried playing that I gave up. I may give it a fairer shake again, but only if I get some truly ringing endorsements.

The World Ends With You is one I've never heard of. Research shall be conducted.

Advanced Wars was pretty fun, if very simplistic. Not worth the purchase price, for me.

Mario Kart DS. It's yet another Mario Kart. Has anything fundamental changed since Mario Kart 64? If not, I can let this one slide.

Metroid Prime Hunters could be very promising. Metroid Fusion was so amazingly fun, and long. I'd be a bit disappointed if it was done in FP camera, though. I just don't think it works well on a portable system.

Ace Attourney, from what I've heard, is a great series, but the games are regrettably short. As I said above, game length is of very great importance.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village is another I've never heard of. RESEARCH!

FF IV. Played it. Back when it was FF 2. Played it again when it was FF IV for the PS1. Tired of buying the same FF games over and over again. Preferred FF VI, anyway.

Zelda. I must admit, I'm a bit of a Zelda whore. But. The goddamn XTREME sand surfing temple from Twilight Princess kinda turned me off of the series for a while. I _might_ give it a try.

Elite Beat. See Ace Attourney.

DQM. Sounds very promising. I may give it a try. Always did love the DQ games.

Wario. A game made of minigames, right? Pass.

Megaman Battle Network. I tried one of these in rom form. It was pretty fun. It's very solidly in the maybe column.

FF3. The only numbered FF that I never played. *shrug* If it was that great, it would've been imported back when they did FFV.

Fire Emblem. Played the rom. Played the sequel. It's FFT lite. Good if you need a fix, but I've got the real thing.

Castlevania. Man. Just ... man. I get that they're (mostly) good games. I get that. And yet, I've never been able to get involved in a single one, despite many attempts.

Trauma Center. See Ace Attourney and Elite Beat.

Sonic Rush. The last good Sonic games were 2 and And Knuckles.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. Well, it's Pokemon, so it should be a fun little timesink. But, I'll already have a Pokemon game to fill that particular void.

New Super Mario Bros. Woo! It's the same game I've been playing since I was six. Good game? Yes. Kinda tired of it? You bet. Gonna buy it? Not a chance.

I appreciate all the suggestions, guys. Please keep 'em coming. If I shot down one of your ideas, do not despair. I yearn to hear more. In fact, I'd really like to put off buying Pokemon Diamond so that I can buy Pokemon Platinum when/if it ever comes out in the US. But that's a long way off, and I'm going to get bored of FFTA2 long before then.

[tonberrian]

I thought Golden Sun was a really great game. I've beaten it at least three times, and transferred to Lost Age twice to finish that. Might even do it again soon.

And as for timesinks, Disgaea would be my choice. However, the DS version doesn't come out until next month and it's already been released twice before.

[BanjoTheClown]

Heres some.

GBA:
Tales of Phantasia
Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
Yoshi's Island 3.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Zelda: Minish Cap
FF: Dawn of Souls, if you havent played FF 1 or 2.
FF VI Advance

DS:
Luminous Arc
Children of Mana
Mario Party Ds
FF: Chocobo Tales
Lunar Knights


thats all i can think of for now.

[Green-Shirt Q]

Wario. A game made of minigames, right? Pass.

Most Wario games, yes. But Wario Master of Disgiuise is mostly a platformer/puzzle game. There are some minigames in it, but they don't take up most of the adventure.

[Inhuman Bot]

MP:DSÉ :smallconfused:
Iève heard lotès of bad things about it. Is it actually that badÉ

[Saithis Bladewing]

Chrono Trigger!

Okay, so maybe it's not quite out yet, but...

CHRONO TRIGGER!!!

[Ziren]

GBA:
Yoshi's Island 3.


I give it you mean Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (THis is a remake of the SNES game, so ypu don't have to buy that one if you already own it for that console)


I'd also recommend Yoshi's Island DS.

[Mauve Shirt]

As ridiculous as it looks, Guitar Hero: On Tour is very fun.

[busterswd]

I would never advocate piracy. I would strongly suggest you not go to a certain website and not invest in an R4, which is essentially whatever games you want to play for 60 bucks.

Heh, anyway, as for games:

For length, you will be very hard pressed to beat Pokemon. While it's more fun if you play with a friend and trade with em, if you already like the "customizable 6 man team" idea from Tactics, Pokemon is another good fit. The only problem is one save file, so almost 0 replay value, unless you want to give up on all your work.

You shot down EBA for length, but it's actually a pretty good length game, as there are 4 difficulties, though the easiest one is hardly worth trying. I don't recommend EBA though as the songs are ass, if you do manage to (not) buy an R4, look up the original "Ouendan", it's the Japanese version with better songs. The second Ouendan, not so much. But again, lengthwise, you will get good bang for your buck. In addition replay value is pretty damn high; once you're done with all 300 tactics missions or you've done everything in Pokemon, there's not reason to come back.

Super Mario Partners in Time: Not nearly as long as Pokemon/FFTA2, but still a well made RPG that will keep you playing for quite a while.

Nintendogs: the game essentially NEVER ends, though it's like an hour of playtime per one sitting, until you start raising multiple dogs and unlocking new breeds.

Oh, and another vote for World Ends With You. Again, it's not nearly as long as Pokemon/FFTA2, but still a worthy RPG.


To be frank, if you're going for pure length, grab Pokemon and prepare multiple teams. FFTA2 and Pokemon are two of the most freakishly long games I've played on the DS.

[Jothki]

Etrian Odyssey and its sequel are good games to try if you're looking for a lot of grinding. They're based on old-school 2d first person view dungeon crawlers, and have a similar degree of lethality, including enemies called FOEs that are visible in the normal world and will almost always stomp you flat the first time you encounter any particular one. The levels are complex, but there's a built-in map editor on the bottom screen that you can fill in as you explore. Most of the game is spent venturing into the deepest area you can find, poking around and building a map until the monsters wear you down, and then retreating, slowly building up your levels, items, and knowledge of the dungeon's layout. There's also a good deal of customizability available for what classes the party members you create are, and what abilities they learn.

[Twin2]

Etrian Odyssey and its sequel are good games to try if you're looking for a lot of grinding. They're based on old-school 2d first person view dungeon crawlers, and have a similar degree of lethality, including enemies called FOEs that are visible in the normal world and will almost always stomp you flat the first time you encounter any particular one. The levels are complex, but there's a built-in map editor on the bottom screen that you can fill in as you explore. Most of the game is spent venturing into the deepest area you can find, poking around and building a map until the monsters wear you down, and then retreating, slowly building up your levels, items, and knowledge of the dungeon's layout. There's also a good deal of customizability available for what classes the party members you create are, and what abilities they learn.

This. If ever you wanted to find a nintendo hard timesink these games are it. Very fun, very long, and very challenging.

[Wabbajack]

tLoZ: Phantom Hourglass and Metroid Prime: Hunters are two games you should have tried before you buy them. I loved PH, but i heard of a lot of people who hated the controls. MP:H was the exactly opposite: I love the game, but i hate the controls.

[Linkavitch]

I have Super Mario 64 DS, and it took me a while to beat competely(I have all 150 stars!), and there are so many extra stuff that you will play it for a long time.

[SAMAS]

Not mentioned before:

DS:
Megaman ZX/ZX Advent.

Bangai-O Spirits -- relatively long, kinda hard... okay, Nintendo Hard. As I mentioned in said trope page, dying the middle of the tutorial is a very real possibility.

Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja. -- Don't let the cute japanese graphics fool you. This game is an old-school Rougelike, and is tough on those who like to save a lot. They just came out with a sequel that X-Play rated pretty highly.

Disgaea -- Not out yet, but just letting you know that Nippon Ichi is in fact bringing a port of their famous grind-fest to the DS, so keep an eye out for it.


GBA:
Drill Dozer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIE2jfpGd80) -- A rare non-Pokemon game from Game Freak. Very fun. The main character is an Assist Trophy in Brawl.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo -- A Falling Blocks style game from Capcom featuring Super Deformed Street Fighter and Darkstalkers characters. Kinda short, but good replay value.

Super Robot Taisen Original Generation 1 and 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy88mVFxGcE): The only two games of the famed Super Robot Wars Tactical RPG series to make it out of Japan. The second game is better than the first in every way, but the first is still fun on it's own (IMO), and contains a lot of story and history that's touched by part 2. Both are fairly long, and have alternate characters and branching chapters respectively for extra replay value.

[Drascin]

Disgaea -- Not out yet, but just letting you know that Nippon Ichi is in fact bringing a port of their famous grind-fest to the DS, so keep an eye out for it.

It's already out in Japan, actually, and I read it's coming out on the USA around... twenty-something of September, I think.

And yes, if you have FFTA and like it, you should probably hold an eye out for Disgaea. It's a pretty awesome game if you like TRPGs.

[ZekeArgo]

Awww comon, two pages and Izuna gets a mention without Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer even getting one little quip?

Izuna might be a decent roguelike, but if you want to play the closest thing to Rogue/Nethack without having to mod out your DS, Shiren is the game for you.

[Magnax]

I'll throw in another vote for TWEWY. It's probably the best game I have for DS right now.

Puzzle Quest hasn't been mentioned yet, but it's a decent game, and pretty long, if you're looking for a timesink.

[Drascin]

I'll throw in another vote for TWEWY. It's probably the best game I have for DS right now.

Puzzle Quest hasn't been mentioned yet, but it's a decent game, and pretty long, if you're looking for a timesink.

...Understatement. Puzzle Quest is one of the biggest bearers of Tetris Effects I know. And addicting as all get out - I have let six people try it, and now all six have it because they wanted more. Treat that game with caution :smalltongue:.

[lamguin]

I've played Puzzle Quest. That game was cool as heck.

Etrian Odyssey looked pretty close to what I'm looking for. Would you recommend the first or the second as a first purchase?

[Enlong]

I have puzzle Quest as well. I plan on beating it someday, if only because the computer is a cheating... jerk (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheComputerIsACheatingBastard) and I want to prove it WRONG!

P.S. New Puzzle Quest game is in development: This one uses a Hex Grid and is set in sci-fi deep space.

[Inhuman Bot]

I agree. I lose really quickly due to that damn computer >.>

[Calvin33]

I suggest Advance wars it is a TBS

[Twin2]

Etrian Odyssey looked pretty close to what I'm looking for. Would you recommend the first or the second as a first purchase?

I got the second one first as it fixes apparently a few of the things some people complained about. There's not huge plot to worry about in terms of both of them so you're not missing anything in transition from either one.

Edit: I can't stress enough though that this is a nintendo hard game. They will throw things at you early on that will kill you, multiple times if you're not careful.

[Krade]

I also own both Etrian Oddysey games. Fair warning: It is NOT for casual play. Is is hard as hell and unforgiving at the best of times. There's really no need to play the first one first since the biggest thing that you could get out of that is a moderately nice item at the beginning of the second game. I got it, it's not all that great. If you get the second, I suggest using a Hexer in your starting party and max out Poison ASAP. You'll be glad you did, trust me.

Edit: I just realized that I didn't actually say anything nice about the game... I like it, it's time consuming and grind-tastic, but once you get past a certain point (for both games that point was the 10th floor, for me anyway), the difficulty curve eases up a bit. I haven't gotten past the third stratum (15th floor) on the second one yet, but that's mostly due to the fact that FFIV DS came out soon after it and then FFTA2 as well, but after I'm done with those, I'm going right back to EO2.

[Twin2]

I'm up to the fifth strata, and trust me when I say they ramp up the curve some more just when you think it's eased down. :smallsigh: