Can Anyone Recommend Some DS Games?

[rob_simple]

I've not bought a game for my DS since....The Phantom Hourglass, I think, but recently I've decided to get back into handheld gaming and I wondered if there are any titles people could recommend?

For reference, the games I enjoy most on a handheld are usually either RPG's or Super Metroid/Castlevania style games.

(Ideally, older games I can pick up for buttons now would be preferable.)

 

[wintercoat]

Any of the Ace Attorney games

Any of the Castlevania games, with special mention of Order of Eclessia

Dragon Quest IX

Final Fantasy Tactics: Advanced and Advanced 2

Any Fire Emblem game

Ghost Trick - This one gets a special note, as it's a great puzzle game with a surprisingly great story. Must buy

Lock's Quest

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and Devil Survivor 1+2

Any of the Pokemon games, with special mention of Pokemon Conquest

The Professor Layton games

Radiant Historia - one of the best turn based RPGs that you will ever play. The combat is actually fun and intuitive, and the story is excellent to boot

Rune Factory - I personally recommend 1 and 3. 2 is alright, but annoys the fuck out of me because 2/3+ of the game is locked until you have a kid

The Dark Spire

There. I think that's good enough. That should last you a month or five

 

[rob_simple]

Excellent! I'm sure I'll be able to find enough to keep me busy here, thanks for the help

 

[Full]

Scribblenauts

Super Scribblenauts.

BAM all the DS games you need ever.

Oh yeah also 999.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

Hotel Dusk: Room 215.

That was a very good graphic novel mystery game. It has to be the only DS game I have completed and kept me hooked to the end. It's not a game you could play a game again soon after so you're better of renting it.

 

[Lilani]

-snip-

Thanks for all this, I got a 3DS XL recently and I was wanting to know all the DS games I needed to catch up on. Once I'm done with Pokemon White 2 and KH 3D, this will be my play list And at this point, a lot of them shouldn't be hard to find at Gamestop used.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Oh yeah also 999.

seconded.

Plus, all the pokemon games. the DS has by far the best pokemon games.

 

[The Wykydtron]

O MAI GAWD!

How has nobody recommended Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney yet? Fucking what. It's a logic puzzle game where you basically expose the REAL murderer in a series of murder cases by figuring out inconsistancies in witness testimonies and evidence and stuff. You're playing the Defence by the way. A defence attorney who gets his client off the hook by pinning it on someone else every time.

The entire trilogy is awesome with the third being the best of the entire series. There's then Apollo Justice but, we don't talk about Apollo Justice. Ever. Investigations was pretty good though.

 

[Worgen]

Ghost Trick, GET GHOST TRICK, its an amazing game with an amazing story, I think its the only game I've ever played to get mt to cry, sad doesn't make me cry, happy done right can on occasion though and Ghost Trick pulled that off.

 

[Gameslayer_93]

O MAI GAWD!

How has nobody recommended Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney yet? Fucking what.

first line of the first reply

OT: I really enjoyed the Advance Wars games, particularly Dual Strike, colourful characters and a simple yet enjoyable battle system kept me going for a while, plus its fairly old so should be ridiculously cheap by now

 

[madwarper]

Etrian Odyssey 2, 3 (4 coming out on the 3DS on the 26th)

Great series of classic rogue-like, where you use the touch screen as graph paper to draw the map of the dungeon.
You can skip EO1, since EO2 is more like EO1.5 (some polish and removing some class brokenness).

Spoiler: FOE

 

[The Wykydtron]

O MAI GAWD!

How has nobody recommended Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney yet? Fucking what.

first line of the first reply

OT: I really enjoyed the Advance Wars games, particularly Dual Strike, colourful characters and a simple yet enjoyable battle system kept me going for a while, plus its fairly old so should be ridiculously cheap by now

SHHHHHHHHHHHH

It doesn't count if it's in this huge list with no explaination of what it is or why you should bother. Random names on a list are worthless in my opinion. If the guy doesn't explain why he's recommending something then it's not a proper recommendation in my mind.

Also I kind of skipped over it because speed reading is overpowered

 

[Furioso]

Spoiler: snip

Any of the Ace Attorney games

Any of the Castlevania games, with special mention of Order of Eclessia

Dragon Quest IX

Final Fantasy Tactics: Advanced and Advanced 2

Any Fire Emblem game

Ghost Trick - This one gets a special note, as it's a great puzzle game with a surprisingly great story. Must buy

Lock's Quest

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and Devil Survivor 1+2

Any of the Pokemon games, with special mention of Pokemon Conquest

The Professor Layton games

Radiant Historia - one of the best turn based RPGs that you will ever play. The combat is actually fun and intuitive, and the story is excellent to boot

Rune Factory - I personally recommend 1 and 3. 2 is alright, but annoys the fuck out of me because 2/3+ of the game is locked until you have a kid

The Dark Spire

There. I think that's good enough. That should last you a month or five

What he said, with added attention to Pokemon: Conquest. To everyone who whines that they never change up Pokemon, I give you Pokemon + Fire Emblem! (It isn't nearly as hard as Fire Emblem though)

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

The World Ends With You

Elite Beat Agents

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and/or Bowser's Inside Story


And since you like Metroidvania style games:

Aliens: Infestation

 

[Quellan Thyde]

Here's one I'm a little surprised hasn't gotten a mention yet -- Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

And for the record, Hotel Dusk is possibly the only interactive novel I've ever really enjoyed.

 

[Vkmies]

Well I just got a 3DS, and I am collecting quality games for it now! There are surprisingly many fun games. I advice you to check out footage and reviews of there games, since some of them (Ninja Gaiden) have a litany of problems, but are still well worth trying out. Here are all the DS games I own, and I don't think I own any "Bad" games:

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
The Zelda-titles
The Phoenix Wright-titles
The Professor Layton-titles
GTA: Chinatown Wars
Star Fox Command
Aliens: Infestation
Civilization Revolution
Resident Evil: Deadly Silence
Shantae: Risky's Revenge
9 hours, 9 people, 9 doors

 

[BytByte]

The Professor Layton games are easily some of my favorite games because of the rocking music and gorgeous graphics. For the perfect wasting time get Yoshi Touch & Go. Granted, it is somewhat slim on game modes, but every time the layout changes and trying to get as far as you can gets real challenging real fast. You could probably find it somewhere for 5, 10 dollars because it came out pretty close to the DS's launch.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

A lot(if not all) all the titles I'd recommend have been listed, but I shall reiterate them for emphasis of their importance(order has no significance):

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
Apollo Justice Ace Attorney
Miles Edgeworth Ace Attorney: Investigations
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Resident Evil: Deadly Silence
Elite Beat Agents
The World Ends With You(I recommend the iOS version more than the DS version)
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Megaman Zero Collection
Megaman Battle Network 5: Double Team
Megaman ZX
Megaman ZX Advent

Mr. Xavarus, do you have any evidence to support this theory of yours?
Yes, your honor. I do have proof and I shall show it now!
[HEADING=1]Take that![/HEADING]

Spoiler: Block of Logic!

The Phoenix Wright titles along with Apollo Justice are sort of a point and click adventure game during Investigation Sequences and basically one major puzzle during Court Sequences. Every single titles is really well written and very well executed. Their stories have man tears and epic woven into their very fibers. Miles Edgeworth is essentially the same, except you can actually move Miles around the crime scene and such. It's done in a very similar fashion and also extremely good. The Ace Attorney series is easily my most highly recommended series of all DS games.

The Shin Megami Tensei titles are also very good titles. Devil Survivor titles are top down turn-based strategy games akin to that of Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics. Strange Journey is a first-person dungeon crawling RPG. Battle mechanics are essentially the same, about. You negotiate with demons to either fight on your side or leave you alone. Or you can battle and get rid of them yourself. I'm not so sure you can negotiate in Devil Survivor, it's been a long time so I don't remember. My only personal problem with the SMT series as a whole is that I end up rather wanting to watch them, instead of actually play them. But that doesn't mean they're any less exceptional games in their own right.

The DS Castlevania titles are all Metroidvania style. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is actually a sequel to the Gameboy Advance hit, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. But fear not, friend! Aria of Sorrow is not required to fully comprehend and enjoy Dawn of Sorrow. There will be minor tidbits you won't understand, but it's mostly tiny bits of backstory on Soma Cruz. The latter two titles take from and add to what the previous title brought to the table before it. They're all exceptional games and extremely addicting. I highly recommend them to anybody that's even remotely interesting in action platformers. Also, none of the three titles are linked to each other in the manner of a direct sequel, they merely take place in the same universe. They ARE linked, but it's more like the way Final Fantasy is done, than anything else. You don't need any of the previous titles to fully comprehend and enjoy the next title.

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is a first person graphic novel of sorts with some murder mystery thrown into it. This game will have you thinking on your toes on what you need to be doing and where you need to be going next and it's incredibly well written and amazingly animated. The story is utterly brilliant and the gameplay is excellent for anyone that enjoys a good puzzle or 50. Also, the music complements the game's style in every way.

Resident Evil: Deadly Silence is essentially one big remake of the original Resident Evil for DS. If you enjoy the game, get it. If not, don't get it. But if you've never played it before, Deadly Silence is the perfect opportunity. On the off-chance you don't know Resident Evil, it's a survival horror game where you play as Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine(the latter character is considered to be the 'easy mode' if you will) investigating a large mansion after a group goes missing. You're stuck inside and you have to find a way out(out the front door is a very bad idea). It's a great game and definitely recommend it.

Elite Beat Agents is a comical action rhythm game that's great to play for anyone that loves music or action rhythm games in general. It uses the touchscreen in an excellent way and it's chock full of great songs. It also has an actual story, believe it or not. I can't say much more except buy this game if you're even mildly interested in action rhythm(ignoring the fact that it costs like, 3-5 bucks now). You won't regret it.

The World Ends With You starts with Neku, a boy that wakes up in the middle of nowhere and has completely lost his memory, save for his name. He meets with others to find out he's part of the Reaper's Game and has to survive for 7 days(I think it's 7? I can't remember, been too long) or lose his soul and be wiped from existence. On the DS version of the game you play Neku on the bottom screen and his partner on the top screen during battle. A Psych Puck moves between the two telling you which character to focus on controlling during battle. The iOS version redoes battle mechanics in a very big way. You now control only Neku, Psych Puck has been done away with, and performing special actions will cause your partner to jump in and bust up the baddies for a short time and disappear again. It's an amazing RPG with a story full of feels. Honestly, I'd recommend the iOS(iPhone or iPad, you cannot switch the game between devices) version over the DS version because the graphics have been entirely redrawn for the iOS retina display and it's absolutely gorgeous. Not to mention that the battle mechanics have been redone in such a way that combat is actually much more comprehensible and a lot less likely to drive someone away from the game(my first time playing the DS version drove me away because I couldn't handle controlling two characters at the same time).

All of the Mario & Luigi titles are platforming rpg games. Now, I haven't personally gotten my hands on Partners in Time, I haven't found it yet. But I definitely want to recommend it because I've played Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story and the Mario & Luigi titles are definitely a must-have. Bower's Inside Story deals with Bowser once again trying to kidnap Princess Peach but winds up eating everything, including the princess, Mario and Luigi. Mario and Luigi constantly work their way through Bowser's system trying to get out. You also occasionally take control of Bowser himself as he fights Fawful. All the while Fawlful has the chortles on the sidelines because of Mario and Luigi's predicament.

Megaman Zero Collection is a must-have for all action-platforming fans and basically anyone that is a fan of Megaman titles as a whole. Well done story that spans four titles and while gameplay isn't technically all that different from previous Megaman titles, it's a load of fun.

Megaman Battle Network 5: Double Team essentially takes the Gameboy Advance titles Megamana Battle Network 5: Team Colonel/Team Protoman and smashes them together for an extra fun Nintendo DS experience. One thing to note that every Battle Network title is a direct sequel back to back to back to back, however none of the previous titles are actually required to understand the story of the later titles. They merely take place one after another. Now, the Battle Network titles are essentially Megaman RPGs. You play as both Lan and his Net Navi, Megaman.exe. Not at the same time, though. Combat takes place on a 3x3 grid for Megaman.exe and a 3x3 grid for the opponent(s) to move around on. Megaman.exe will normally just use his buster to fire at the enemy but Lan can upload Battle Chips for Megaman.exe to use during combat for special effects and massive amounts of damage. Certain chips even allow him to summon other Net Navis to aid him in combat. All of them are exceptional titles and to me, are second only to the Megaman Zero titles.

Megaman ZX series is essentially is basically a sequel to the Megaman Zero series. Which is, in turn, a sequel to the Megaman X series. As with previous series I've mentioned, it's not required to play the former to understand the latter. They're just a set of series that chronologically come one after the other. Megaman ZX deals with two humans, Vent and Aile that are to deliver a package when they are attacked. In the package is a Biometal, containing the essence of reploids from the Megaman Zero series that Aile or Vent(depending on who you chose) can use to assume that reploid's form and make use of their abilities in combat. The core gameplay is the same action platformer you'll see in other Megaman titles.

Megaman ZX Advent is a sequel to Megaman ZX and I've never actually gotten my hands on it, so I don't know how much of the previous titles you need. But it deals with a human named Ashe and a reploid named Grey. That's all I personally know. But if patterns are anything to heed, it'll be Megaman ZX gameplay with a whole new story.

O MAI GAWD!

How has nobody recommended Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney yet? Fucking what. It's a logic puzzle game where you basically expose the REAL murderer in a series of murder cases by figuring out inconsistancies in witness testimonies and evidence and stuff. You're playing the Defence by the way. A defence attorney who gets his client off the hook by pinning it on someone else every time.

The entire trilogy is awesome with the third being the best of the entire series. There's then Apollo Justice but, we don't talk about Apollo Justice. Ever. Investigations was pretty good though.

I talk about Apollo Justice. I love Apollo Justice. Along with the rest of the series. I'm actually currently replaying it. ;D

 

[Exius Xavarus]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Ignore this post. I meant to copy/pasta my quote, not make a second post. :{