The gems of Nintendo DS, game recommendations to dualscreen-virgins & veterans

[Azu]

Did you never get around getting a DS because you thought it was for kids or aren't/weren't interested in portable gaming then? Are you now getting 3DS because it seems awesome and perhaps you're now wondering if you might want to play some of the good games of DS whenever you don't have any 3DS games to play? Or maybe you are a long-time DS owner who hasn't always followed too closely as to what developers have whipped up for DS and you feel like you might've missed on some great games and you'd want to rectify the situation? Then this is a thread for YOU. Like (semi-)promised, here's the (beginning of the) thread where I'll try to give as full a look on DS's games that are worth playing as possible. I'll start with Action & Action/Adventure games and update the thread with other genres little by litte.


Action & Action/Adventure

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Release date(s):US: October 4, 2005
Japan: August 25, 2005
Europe: September 30, 2005
Description: The first of three Metroidvanias to be released for DS. It continues the story of Soma from Aria of Sorrow. Don't let the stupid anime-cover fool you, it's still the kind of dark, medieval (though, it takes place in 2036) game filled with atmosphere like past Castlevanias. The gist of Dawn of Sorrow are the souls of enemies that appear randomly after killing them that give you new attacks & other special abilities, which you can level-up by sucking even more souls of the same kind. It makes for a very Pokemon-like GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL mentality when you absolutely WANT to have the soul of that one particular enemy which seems might be useful, which can be somewhat frustrating sometimes due to low drop rates. One of the best Metroidvanias around, highly recommended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRxXm0__CoE (E3 2005 trailer)

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Release date(s):US: October 21, 2008
Japan: October 23, 2008
Europe: February 6, 2009
Description: After the somewhat disappointing Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Order of Ecclesia is a return to form. It streamlines the advancement a little, but that makes for a refreshingly different kind of experience after years of the same expansive Metroidvania-formula after Symphony of the Night started the trend. One of the best things about Castlevania has always been the boss fights and Order of Ecclesia has some of the best ones in the whole series. The game does away with the traditional weapon system, instead opting for one that mixes the soul-system from Dawn of Sorrow and weapon-leveling from Portrait of Ruin. All-in-all, it's doesn't offer anything TOO new to fans of Metroidvanias, but it more than makes up for that by just being a generally polished, tight, challenging & well thought out experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QhTHYuibqQ (Trailer #3)

Contra 4

Developer: Way Forward Technologies
Publisher: Konami
Release date(s):US: November 13, 2007
Japan: March 13, 2008
Description: Contra 4 is as old school as it gets. If Contra 3 had had a sequel a year after it was released, it would've been lucky if it was even half as good as Contra 4. It's certainly a blast from the past. This game is not for the wuzzies. It is always challenging, it has no save function and its relentless in its pacing, there's not a moment of peace in this game. If you think you've still got it in you to return to the harshness of old-school games, this is a perfect game for you. The game also includes the original NES Contra & Super C, so there's plenty of arcady shooting hell waiting for anyone who decides to buy this game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB67IjbBO9o (Gametrailers Gameplay, horrible players :S )

Dragon Ball Origins

Developer:Game Republic
Publisher: Atari
Release date(s):US: November 4, 2008
Japan: September 18, 2008
Europe: December 5, 2008
Description: Made by the same people who brought gamers classics like Folklore, Dragon Ball Origins is a rare breed: a very charming little Dragon Ball game that's actually good and isn't the millionth rehash of the same formula. The game is pretty much like a more action-filled, episodic Legend of Zelda. It lacks a bit of polish/refinement in certain areas (the adventure-part could certainly be a bit more fleshed out, the touch-screen controlled action has some kinks etc.), but as far as Dragon Ball games of recent years go, this is one of the better ones that's easy to recommend to anyone looking for a fun adventure in the Dragon Ball universe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEPFs7effe8 (trailer)

Dragon Ball Origins 2

Developer: Game Republic
Publisher: Bandai
Release date(s): Japan: February 11, 2010
North America: June 22, 2010
Europe:July 2, 2010
Description: As the sequel to the above game, it continues to offer more of the same charming Dragon Ball action, but this time you get to play as other characters too & there's coop as well. Not much to say about it other than if you liked the first one, you might want to consider checking out this sequel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvF0p0x_0VI (trailer)

Elebits: The Adventure of Kai and Zero

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Release date(s): Japan: December 11, 2008
North America: January 6, 2009
Europe: February 20, 2009
Description: Some might remember Elebits as one of those quirky launch era Wii games. While the aim of finding & catching Elebits-creatures is unchanged in this DS Elebits game, the game is not about playing with the physics & first-person exploration of everyday-locations. Instead, it's now a more puzzle-filled top-down adventure game, where you travel different worlds solving puzzles to advance. Whereas the original Wii game was kind of an arbitrary fool-around-with-physics-for-a-while experiment, The Legend of Kai and Zero feels like much more of an actual game with a story & fun gameplay. Even if you are one of the few who actually played Elebits and even if you hated it, Elebits: The Legend of Kai & Zero is well worth playing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-v4IpgMTxY (GC 2008 trailer)

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales

Developer: h.a.n.d.
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: December 14, 2006
North America: April 3, 2007
Europe: April 25, 2007
Description: The Final Fantasy name has been attached to many games of varying genres & quality in the past. The iconic chocobo-creatures have also had their fair share of games which give them the spotlight. Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales is another one of those games, but instead of being some heated Mario Kart-like racing or a Roguelike, it's a lighthearted & charming adventure through different fables filled with mini-games & simple card-based battles, where the Chocobo takes the main role & some know Final Fantasy characters fill the others. Surprisingly, the game also has online multiplayer where you can duel in battles as well as mini-games. This game is not for every Final Fantasy fan (especially those who take them too seriously) and while it might seem like the name is there just to attract sales, it's actually quite good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZd36bdeUuM (Battles trailer)

Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosey Rupeeland

Developer: Vanpool
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: September 2, 2006
Europe: September 16, 2007
Description: Certainly the biggest "wtf, there's a game about this character?!?!?" entry to this list or any list ever made, the existence of this Tingle game defies logic. But exist it does, and it's a fun game at that. It plays much like a Zelda game with exploration, dungeons & bosses, but the aim is to build a tower. To build the tower you need rupees, and rupees you get for doing a varying list of tasks & finishing dungeons. As goes for the nature of the character, you must buy items & information from NPCs and this is done by haggling with them. Most of the charm in the game comes from the plain weirdness of it, but it's a decent action/adventure game otherwise too. Not quite up to the highest Zelda standards, but decent nonetheless

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lqaBzdm3mg (gameplay vid)

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

Developer: Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar North
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Release date(s): North America: March 17, 2009
Europe: March 19, 2009
Description: Nintendo platforms are known of being kid-friendly and one of the reasons for that is because it mostly lacks games like Grand Theft Auto. Rockstar decided to take a chance and developed this criminally poor performing Chinatown Wars for DS. It's closer to the early top-down GTAs than modern ones, although it does take some features from more recent games in the series (in addition to taking place in the same city as GTAIV), but it's all the more fun because of it. It's an ambitious DS title and easily one of the best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvv068IpnvY (trailer)

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Developer:
Publisher:
Release date(s):
Description: Since I personally don't really like this game and due to that have never played Spirit Tracks, I'll leave out adding any info on them at this time, as the list is so big & compiling it is so time-consuming even without them. They are on this list because I know plenty of people HAVE enjoyed them and they are Zelda games, after all, so they deserve a mention.

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Developer:
Publisher:
Release date(s):
Description: -

Mega Man ZX

Developer:Inti Creates
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: July 6, 2006
North America: September 12, 2006
Europe: June 22, 2007
Description:Mega Man hasn't really been relevant since the SNES days, but good games have still been made. Mega Man ZX is yet another "new" series akin to the X & Zero series. It differs from them in that it doesn't actually star either Mega Man or Zero. Instead you control a couple of kids who can use Biometals to get similar suits/powers. The traditional elements like boss fights & different weapon types remain. As with the Mega Man Zero series, gone are the days of clear levels. Instead you have more of what is like a mix between Metroid & Mega Man. The map layout is much like in other Mega Mans, but the road often divides into two or more paths. Advancing in the game is mission-based, so you take on a mission and then try to get to the destination. The only really bad thing in the game is the map, which is so bad that it's often hard to understand how different places are connected. If you are hoping for a classic Mega Man experience, you're out of luck, but there's still enough Mega Man in there to please fans who want to give a different kind of Mega Man a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agKnMZfvKZk (E3 2006)

Mega Man ZX Advent

Developer: Inti Creates
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: July 12, 2007
North America: October 23, 2007
Europe: February 29, 2008
Description: A sequel to the above game (duh). Adds a bunch of stuff & somewhat fixes the map issues of the first game (although, still far from perfect). If you get only one of these two games, get this one, but I'd recommend both of them for fans of the series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA-DmRZmRrE (E3 2007 trailer)

Mega Man Zero Collection

Developer: Inti Creates
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: June 10, 2010
North America: June 8, 2010
Europe (patchy release, not released everywhere): June 11, 2010
Description: As the name implies, it's a collection of the four Mega Man Zero games that were released for GBA with an added artwork gallery and an Easy Scenario that molds the four games into one and offers some alterations that make the games a bit easier for those who find the originals too hard. Perhaps a bit more traditional than ZX, but not quite like the classics, these games also offer plenty of challenge & Mega Man fun. I like these Zero games more than the sequels ZX & ZX Advent, although those are worth playing too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ETzaqOCOt4 (Reveal trailer)

Metal Slug 7

Developer:SNK Playmore
Publisher: SNK Playmore (JP) / Ignition Entertainment (US) /
Release date(s): Japan: July 22, 2008
North America: November 28, 2008
Europe: February 27, 2009
Description: Yet another classic shoot 'em up series revived on the DS with a full-blown old school sequel. Perhaps not quite as successful in its aim as Contra 4, but for fans of the genre & series, it's a nice addition to the collection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ybX_KCBbfo

Monster Tale

Developer: DreamRift
Publisher: Majesco
Release Date: US March 16 or 22 (depends on the retailer), 2011
Description: The most recent game to be released on this list. Not even a week old and not even released in all parts of US yet, this action/adventure game from the makers of Henry Hatsworth has already enthralled people with its nice, colourful visuals and refreshingly fast pace of advancement. The game plays pretty much like any Metroidvania, so you can expect plenty of action filled exploration, platforming and power-ups that help you advance into new regions. The "thing" of Monster Tale is the monster called Chomp who you find in the beginning of the game who starts following you. As you progress, it gains certain moves that might help you advance into new areas as well as to beat the crap out of enemies. The game could use for some more exciting level design and slightly more exploration (it's not quite Metroid in freedom), but the more-than-stellar action & somewhat Tamagotchi-like features of raising your monster more than make up for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP1hg_62O9M (Reveal trailer)

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword

Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Tecmo / Ubisoft (Europe)
Release date(s): Japan: March 20, 2008
North America: March 28, 2008
Europe: June 27, 2008
Description: Ninja Gaiden on a handheld, with pre-rendered backgrounds and touchscreen-controls to boot? BLASPHEMY! Or not. Few would have ever suggested making a Ninja Gaiden that was played with touchscreen, but it works surprisingly well. It's no Ninja Gaiden 1 or 2, but it gets the work done rather well. Overall it offers the same kind of fast-paced, often brutally hard (especially on harder difficulty levels) action as the console games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JIEaVZ0xr8 (TGS 2007 trailer)

Okamiden

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: September 30, 2010
North America: March 15, 2011
Europe: March 18, 2011
Description: Okami is one of the best Zelda-likes ever. Okamiden is a sequel that suffers from much the same problems as Devil May Cry 4 & Resident Evil 5 in that it's clear that many of the people who worked on the original are not present at Capcom anymore. That said, it's still a good adventure/action game in the vein of Zeldas for DS. The combat is maybe a bit more cumbersome than in the original game, but all-in-all it's a decent handheld tribute to Clover's original.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzPJ7CxW0qE (Captivate '10)

Scurge: Hive

Developer: Orbital Media
Publisher: SouthPeak Interactive
Release date(s): North America: October 24, 2006
Europe: October 13, 2006
Description: Another Metroid-like game for DS, but this time from a bird-eye perspective. I think the game is a bit too long for the amount of variety it offers but whenever that Metroid itch starts to bother you again and you might not want to play Super Metroid for the 1000th time, this is one new alternative to consider.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdeYRzb8C38 (GBA trailer, game plays the same on each platform)

Shantae: Risky's Revenge (DSWare for DSi/3DS)

Developer: WayForward Technologies
Publisher: WayForward Technologies
Release date(s): North America: October 4, 2010
Europe: February 11, 2011
Description: 8 years of ritual sacrifices & daily prayers for Cthulhu (or almost 9 for Europeans) and the sequel for one of the best & most rare Game Boy Color games (the cheapest copy @ Amazon.com being 140$), Shantae, got a sequel. The bad news (for some) is it's still exclusive to DSi since it's only available through DSiWare. The good news is, 3DS will have access to all those DSWare games. WayForward is one of the few developers who still put some serious effort in keeping 2D games alive and they offer consistent quality. Shantae: Risky's Revenge is no different. Risky's Revenge is possibly one of the best action/platformer games of recent times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyJlQp-BjYk (Debut trailer)


Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble

Developer: Clover Studios
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: November 2, 2005
North America: November 8, 2005
Europe: February 24, 2006
Description: Anoter Clover franchise to come to DS. A bit watered down version of the console counterparts, just like Okami, but still a decent way of getting a Viewtiful Joe fix on the go. The touchscreen powers are a bit bleh in action-parts, but they provide for some cool puzzles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCC9_U7QW2Y (TGS 2005)



Next up! Adventure games/Visual Novels. Look forward to it!

[Azu]

Adventure games

999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

Developer: Chunsoft
Publisher: Aksys Games (NA) / Spike (JP)
Release date(s): Japan: December 10, 2009
North America: November 16, 2010
Description: Fan of visual novels? Fan of Japanese, slightly weird (but still serious) shit? Then 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors should be right up your alley. It tells a story of 9 persons who have been trapped in a deadly game, controlled by Zero (the person in my avatar). To get out, they have to solve a series of puzzles in a series of rooms that are behind numbered doors, and they have 9 hours to do so. The game is basically divided to two different segments. One is the visual novel part, which probably takes most of the time. This is basically just you reading through tons & tons of dialogue and sometimes picking some alternative in how to answer to a question or such. The other one is the gameplay segment. Pretty much every time you enter a new door, you will have to find out a way out of the new room (or series of rooms). This involves solving some puzzles, most of which are quite logical & easy and it's mostly just about exploring your surroundings & finding the right stuff to do what you're supposed to do. There are quite a lot of number-based ones, where you have to figure out the passcode from hints you're given.

All in all, I'd say the story is the reason to “play” this game. The characters are likable and after some introductions & figuring out what the hell is going on in the beginning, it grips you like very few game stories and doesn't let go before you've gone through at least 2 or 3 alternative endings (it has 6 of them, or 5, depending on how you count them). I personally didn't like the more supernatural aspects that popped their head more in the latter parts of the story, but I feel that didn't stop me from enjoying the experience. Most of the decisions, motives of the characters & happenings are quite tied to reality, while the more supernatural stuff is just there as a reason WHY they are there in the first place. Anyways, as far as visual novel “games” go, this is one of the better ones. If you've never played one, I'd say 999 is a good place to start and try finding if you like this genre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=869azSXO1BI

Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: September 15, 2005
North America: October 11, 2005
Europe: March 31, 2006
Description: I reckon the number of people who visit gaming forums & have a DS who haven't even HEARD about these games is very few. But yes, this is the famous courtroom drama game. While these are possibly my favorite DS games, they are not perfect, of course. The investigation parts can be a bit boring gameplay-wise since all you do is click, click, click your way through environments trying to find new pieces of evidence or just otherwise useful stuff. The fun characters & dialogue makes them entertaining, but it could do with some more interactivity & versatility. All-in-all these are great experiences that bring the kind of excitement to the court room rarely (if ever) found there in real life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syAJyKyfomY

Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright: Justice For All

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: October 26, 2006
North America: January 16, 2007
Europe: March 16, 2007
Description: This is the weakest part in the Phoenix Wright trilogy, apart from its superb last case, which I won't spoil at all since that would be cruel. It needs to be experienced first hand. What can I say, it has some of the weakest cases of the series (both storyline-wise as well as just having some retarded contradictions), the remixes & new songs are not quite as good as the ones in the first and the localization isn't as good because Capcom ditched Alexander O. Smith's company in favor of cheaper in-house localization (what a mistake that was). Still, it's an essential part in the trilogy and well worth playing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPcIDmgz4d8

Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright: Trials & Tribulations

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: August 23, 2007
North America: October 23, 2007
Europe: October 3, 2008
Description: The last part of the trilogy is also the most epic & the best. Some might think that the supernatural elements of the series are a bit too out-there in this game, but meh, they've been a big part of the series now so it would just make sense that they come into play in this game too. It gives a great conclusion to pretty much every little storyline that has been woven since the start of the series, giving a wonderful send-off to many of the characters. You need to play these first three games in order and Trials & Tribulations offers a worthy ending for one of the most fantastic game series of all time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY_4zsfHlgY

Ace Attorney Apollo Justice

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: April 12, 2007
North America: February 19, 2008
Europe: May 9, 2008
Description: Fourth game in the Ace Attorney series, first without Phoenix Wright as the main character. It's a bit hated amongst some of the fans for a few reasons. First of all, even though Apollo Justice is the main character, he doesn't quite get the spotlight in the same way Phoenix Wright did in the past. Still, even with these weaknesses, it's still a good game filled with great puzzles, emotional moments & more or less surprising plot twists. My personal ranking of the first four games is: PW3 > PW1 > AJ > PW2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi_CcuHwHZQ

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: May 28, 2009
North America: February 16, 2010
Europe: February 19, 2010
Description: AAI is the first Phoenix Wright game to make big changes to the formula. This is the first one to follow a kind point & click formula AND the first without courtroom scenes. There are some nice new features to this game that make it fresh to play, but there are, however, a couple of cons to this game which drop it from being a contender for the best Ace Attorney game. First of all, even though seeing the characters on screen and this being a more traditional point & click style game is a turn for the better, you're usually limited to a couple of rooms at most. The other weakness is the story. While the trademark features are still there, it sometimes feels like some of the cases are too long. You might have collected enough evidence to prove the suspect guilty, yet they still find a way to stretch the ”confrontation”. I understand the devs have tried to add some super-surprising twists & suspense, and even some of the cases in previous games suffer from this problem, but Investigations takes everything a bit too far. Especially the last case just keeps going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. It's the first game where the series creator Shu Takumi has had no involvement in, and it shows in some areas. It's still a good game, but clearly not on the level of past games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTbz_LFnLr8

Another Code: Two Memories (EU)/Trace Memory (US)

Developer: Cing
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: February 24, 2005
North America: September 26, 2005
Europe: June 24, 2005
Description: The first adventure game of DS is still the one with some of the best uses of DS's features for puzzle-solving. It tells a nice & simple story with focus on two things: helping to return the memories of a ghost boy who decides to follow you after you ”bump” into him at the cemetery in the beginning and helping the main character Ashley find her father. This is not a long game (even if you get stuck on some puzzles, I can't see it taking any more than 6-ish hours for even the slowest gamers), but I feel it's a game worth playing through, especially if you can find it cheaply nowadays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZE63IrdEhY

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director's Cut

Developer:
Publisher:
Release date(s):North America: March 24, 2009
Europe: March 27, 2009
Description: It's a DS port/remake of the first Broken Sword. Not really much else to it. It still offers an engaging story, great puzzles and some nice graphics and although the DS port could be better, this is a decent way to have a Broken Sword with you at all times.

http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/br...JDuPo9wlL75-Rw

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Release date(s): Japan: June 19, 2010
North America: January 11, 2011
Europe: January 14, 2011
Description: The main character dies. Oh yeah, that's a huge spoiler... from the first few seconds of the game! This is the first original game Shu Takumi, the creator of the Ace Attorney series, has worked on in almost 10 years. And it's obvious he hasn't lost his touch in designing likable characters & entertaining gameplay. If you've played the Ace Attorney games and feel they've grown a bit stale, this is just the right kind of elixir to remedy that which fans of Takumi have waited for. It has all the trademarks of Takumi's Ace Attorney games, but in a new, refreshing package. The gist of the game is that you're a ghost, who's lost his memories who tries to figure out who killed him. You can manipulate objects in environments and move around them, as well as use phones to cover bigger distances, and little by little you'll start to pick up the pieces of what has happened that night and why you were killed. I don't think it needs to be said there's more than meets the eye with all that's going on and your murder is not just some random accident. All-in-all, it's a game with a great story, some superb character-animations, some cleverly designed puzzles (the game's not too hard, though) and awesome music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwH4ZRyN2B0

Hotel Dusk: Room 215

Developer: Cing
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: January 25, 2007
North America: January 22, 2007
Europe: April 13, 2007
Description: Film noir. Visual novel. First person exploration. Dialogue. Puzzle solving. That's pretty much Hotel Dusk in a nutshell. It tells a story of an ex-cop-turned-salesman Kyle Hyde who gets drawn into a mystery which has ”surprising” ties to his past. It's slow-paced and the story takes quite a while to get to higher gears, so this is not a game for the impatient ones. If you enjoy a somewhat slow-burning & well-developed story, Hotel Dusk is another great game from Cing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYY3ocPMx9w

Jake Hunter Detective Chronicles: Memories of the Past

Developer: WorkJam
Publisher: Aksys Games
Release date(s): Japan: ???
North America: May 26, 2009
Description: This is also more of a visual novel than a game and as the name suggests, it's another game where you solve crimes. The story is decent and NOTE: if you got interested about this game, do make sure you get the Jake Hunter game with the Memories of the Past subtitle. There is another one which is basically this game minus a lot of content. Memories of the Past was released by Akzys because fans of the genre complained for bringing the other, butched version to North America first.



Last Window: The Secret of Cape West

Developer: Cing
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: January 14, 2010
Europe: September 17, 2010
Description: This is a sequel to Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Only released in Japan & Europe (for once sux 2 be U, Americans). Another sequel that plays much like its prequel. So.. first person exploring, some puzzle solving and an intriquing murder mystery story with a good cast of characters. I found Last Window's story much better than Hotel Dusk's, which dragged on especially in the beginning. While the game does make quite a lot of referances to the first game, I don't feel they are necessary to understand most of the story of this game. So if you don't mind playing the better game first, then from Kyle Hyde's adventures, Last Window is the one to go with. This ended up being the last game from Cing and it's a worthy one at that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBdiVdU-YPM

Professor Layton & The Curious Village

Developer: Level 5
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: 15 February 2007
North America: 10 February 2008
Europe: 7 November 2008
Description: So... the first Professor Layton... These are puzzle-collections mixed into a light adventure game/mystery story. The puzzles rarely have anything to do with the story, which might irk some, but they can be very entertaining to solve (if you like solving puzzles). The story just gives some insentive to solve them, to see the next cutscene and, ultimately, solve the mysteries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy_Q4k-kCmc

Professor Layton & The Diabolical Box

Developer: Level 5
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: November 29, 2007
North America: August 24, 2009
Europe: September 25, 2009
Description: The second part. Plays exactly the same as the first one with some new puzzle-types and small refinements. The conclusion to the story was perhaps a tad disappointing, even if it contained one awesome cutscene and a great song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT61o-jZeuU

Professor Layton & The Unwound Future (US)/The Lost Future (EU)

Developer: Level 5
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: November 27, 2008
North America: September 12, 2010
Europe: October 22, 2010
Description: The third part. If you aren't bored of all the puzzle-solving yet, there's no reason to stop at the second game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2ED_EJwJR4

Theresia

Developer: WorkJam
Publisher: Aksys Games
Release date(s): Japan: September 11, 2008
North America: October 30, 2008
Description: Theresia is a first-person, dungeon crawling horror adventure game that has a heavy atmosphere and a nicely mature storyline (or, actually, two of them). Another of these games that you play mostly for the story and where the gameplay is kinda clumsy and, in many ways, flawed. As said, there are two separate storylines that are somewhat connected. The game takes you through mazes filled with all kinds of creepy religious stuff and torture chambers. The gameplay itself isn't really that exciting (you wander around the environments, explore some of them and solve some puzzles), it's the mysterious yet clearly tragic story that is behind everything that will keep you going more than anything. The most annoying aspect of the gameplay are all the traps that the game has an abundance of and which aren't always that clear even if you explore carefully. Luckily not all of them are fatal and they just hurt you. The rest of the game is solving all kinds of puzzles that can be somewhat tricky, although nothing too impossible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLz70D_5zBQ

[Azu]

Reserved for later use (Fighting & Music games)

[Azu]

Reserved for later use (Platformers)

[Azu]

Reserved for later use (puzzle & racing games)

[Azu]

RPGs (incl. action RPGs)

4 Heroes of Light: Final Fantasy

Developer: Square Enix / Matrix Software
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: October 29, 2009
North America: October 5, 2010
Europe: October 8, 2010
Description: A kind of return to roots, this Final Fantasy game offers a blast from the past. In many ways it reminds you of the early days of Final Fantasy in its simplicity, where the story is no more than an excuse to send you to places. It has been (fairly) criticized due to some design decisions that make the game a bit more pain in the *** to play than it should be (you can't pick the target in battles, inventory-limitations), but depending on the player those might not be deal-breakers. This is absolutely not a game for those who hate old school. But for many of those people glamouring for the past of FF filled by fantasy-cliches, this might be a game worth checking out. Oh yeah, it's got nice graphics with a charming Animal Crossing meets Final Fantasy kind of style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYytUIxFN3g (E3 2010 trailer)

Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island


Developer: GUST
Publisher: NIS America
Release date(s): Japan: March 12, 2009
North America: October 27, 2009
Description: A part of the still on-going Atelier-series of little girls and alchemy, this simple yet somewhat complex JRPG is probably a good fit for the kind of niche audience it's going for. Basically, add bits of light RPG, bits of alchemy and some sim-esque town-building/management and you've got Atlerier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island. In it you do battle to gather stuff, you gather stuff for Alchemy, you do alchemy to perform quests (& for items that can be used in battles) and you do quests to get money & other stuff which are helpful in expanding the resort at Sera Island. As with any Gust game, there are several different endings depending on how you play the game and how you interact with the people in it. It's the kind of JRPG that's not spectacular in anything, but it can be a time-sink for some people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMSAjYdH2vs

Chrono Trigger DS


Developer: TOSE / Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: November 20, 2008
North America: November 25, 2008
Europe: February 6, 2009
Description: One of the short-list contenders for the ”Best RPG of Infinity”, this JRPG continues to impress people who've only played it recently, some 16 years after its initial release. With a dream team of character designer Akira Toriyama (some of the best & most original designs he's ever done), composer Yasunori Mitsuda (easily the best overall OST he's done) with the help of Nobuo Uematsu (some of the best work he's done) and designer Hironobu Sakaguchi, it's really not a surprise it turned out the way it did. One of the most memorable casts of JRPG characters, an interesting time-travel story with humor as well as drama, a fast-paced & fun battle-system and soundtrack filled with emotion, it's no wonder it has withheld the test of time so well. Also, this is the first time the game has been officially released in Europe, so now there's no excuse for anyone to miss this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVl6Ue9r-Oo

Contact


Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Atlus
Release date(s): Japan: March 30, 2006
North America: October 17, 2006
Europe: February 2, 2007
Description: One of the more obscure DS RPGs, which is not a surprise taking into account it's from Grasshopper Manufacture. It's a game that breaks the fourth wall between game & reality in an interesting way. The game aknowledges the gamer being in control of the main character Terry in his quest to find cells to power-up a professor's space ship that crashed down. The professor, who is on the upper screen, is constantly giving player advice on how to help Terry in his quest, while actually keeping it as a secret from Terry that the gamer is controlling him. Like pretty much every Grasshopper game, it might be a bit too weird for many gamers. And while it has some good gameplay ideas, they haven't always been done in the best of ways. Battles, in particular, could've used some more polish. Still, the special nature of the story makes it worth playing. It's one of the more overlooked DS games. I wouldn't say it's even near to the best of DS RPGs, but I'd maybe recommend it if you want something a bit different.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXQkNyu-DIU

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

Developer: TOSE
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: December 1, 2005
North America: September 19, 2006
Description: I probably should've put this in the action/adventure genre, but oh well, what's done is done. It takes the funny looking slime-monsters from the Dragon Quest series and gives them the spotlight. This game is the definition of light-hearted fun. It offers a kind of not-too-serious Dragon Quest version of Legend of Zelda with plenty of dungeons to plow through, secrets to be found & side-quests to be done, not to even mention the tank battles where these massive machines duel for victory. It's not the hardest game around, but it still keeps the gamer interested with its charm & fun gameplay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW6yEhsuvkk


Dragon quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

Developer: Arte Piazza / Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: November 22, 2007
North America: September 16, 2008
Europe: September 12, 2008
Description: The first part of the Zenithia Trilogy remakes is a good job, but one that's not perfect. First of all, it's not quite as challenging as the original, but this probably makes it easy to approach for DQ newbies. I found it somewhat annoying that you basically start the game from point-zero four times with the different characters until they are finally united in the story. Usually this is done JUST when things start getting interesting gameplay and story-wise. Also, they removed party-talk from the localized versions, which is kinda dumb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rHcE98gHxU


Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

Developer: Arte Piazza / Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: July 17, 2008
North America: February 17, 2009
Europe: February 20, 2009
Description: The second part in the Zenithia Trilogy. The connections between IV & V are clearer than anything in VI, but do not be scared off by that, you can play all of these separately and not really miss too much. DQ V is often regarded as the best of the series, probably mostly because of its well told story, as gameplay wise it's more of the same traditional JRPG stuff as before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJStlMr1AQE


Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie

Developer: Arte Piazza / Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: January 28, 2010
North America: February 14, 2011
Description: The last part of the somewhat loosely connected Zenithia Trilogy, it's a worthy end of the SNES era Dragon Quests. With a good story, some added gameplay features and solid gameplay, it's a RPG you don't want to miss. You will want to finish your Dragon Quest DS remake collection with this gem of a JRPG.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mH6f3DNO80


Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

Developer: Level-5 / Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: July 11, 2009
North America: July 11, 2010
Europe: July 23, 2010
Description: The only original mainline Dragon Quest for DS is a worthy addition to the series. While I personally will always have a grudge against the Dragon Quest fanbase due to them whining so much that they changed the game back into the kind of traditional RPG it is now instead of the game being a coop-emphasizing 4-player action RPG like it was originally supposed to be, I can't deny the quality of IX. It's got great production values for a DS game, the world is filled with stuff to do and it's an overall enjoyable JRPG experience. It makes some changes to the formula due to being so multiplayer focused, but it doesn't harm the single-player experience too much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0smdaQL6Mlg

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker

Developer: TOSE
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: December 28, 2006
North America: November 6, 2007
Europe: March 14, 2008
Description: If Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime can be considered a Dragon Quest x Legend of Zelda, then this is Dragon Quest x Pokemon. While mainline Dragon Quest games have had plenty of monster-taming, this is only about finding, capturing and training new monsters much like you do in Pokemon. While some close-minded people might brush this off as just as a Pokemon-clone, that this is not. It's got enough of its own to separate it from Pokemons, one of the most important things being the Fusion system where you can mix two different monsters to create a completely new one. It has some problems with being a bit too grind-heavy, but then again, so is pretty much any and every Pokemon-like game, so that's not necessarily to be considered a bad thing just for this game. So if you want more Pokemon-ish goodness, DQM: Joker is a decent choice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH4oOUr3qlU

Etrian Odyssey I

Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus (JP & US) / Nintendo (EU)
Release date(s): Japan: January 18, 2007
North America: May 15, 2007
Europe: June 6, 2008
Description: Do you think you're hardcore? Do you want to map your own dungeons? If the answer to both is yes, then Etrian Odyssey is your kind of game. Taking cue from old-school first person dungeon crawlers and adding the feature to make your own dungeon layouts, this game will offer plenty of challenge, where death can await you at every turn if you're ill prepared.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11didKak-DE


Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard

Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Release date(s): Japan: February 19, 2008
North America: June 17, 2008
Description: If you haven't gotten enough off getting ***-raped in the first game, there's the sequel to those who want more punishing. It builds on the first game by adding character classes, new stuff to the dungeon map editor and other stuff. It's mostly the same, but since it's so well done, that's not a problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U03V4MAutbc (this is how you lose in the game)

Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City

Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Release date(s): Japan: April 1, 2010
North America: September 21, 2010
Description: Yes, there's a third Etrian Odyssey. It seems like people enjoy getting their *** kicked around to oblivion. The third game has 12 all-new character classes and not only does it add sailing to the game, it's also the only game in the series to offer alternate endings depending on some decisions you make in the game. If you're a fan of the genre, they are all worth getting, but if you are afraid of the difficulty, then one might be enough to satisfy your masocistic side, and if that's the case, then this third one is probably the one to get due to all the additions to the series since the first game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0MgsjFQwIE

Final Fantasy III DS

Developer: Matrix Software / Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: August 24, 2006
North America: November 14, 2006
Europe: May 4, 2007
Description: Far from being the best FF or JRPG in general, this remake is, however, a good one. If you want to play every FF and have yet to play FFIII, not only is FFIIIDS your only (legal) way of playing it in English, it's also the best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyK03P1oZO8


Final Fantasy IV DS

Developer: Matrix Software / Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: December 20, 2007
North America: July 22, 2008
Europe: September 4, 2008
Description: An even better remake than III DS, this IV DS remake adds a whole lot to the original, including voice acting (which can be turned off if one doesn't want to hear characters speak), minigames, new gameplay features + it's as challenging as ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHl2lrj_6GQ

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates

Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: August 23, 2007
North America: March 11, 2008
Europe: March 21, 2008
Description: The original Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was a good multiplayer game even if it required more stuff to play than even Bill Gates could afford. Ring of Fates continues on the same pathway of offering some fun Secret of Mana like multiplayer action. Its singleplayer is much more fleshed out than the original CC's single player and it's actually a completely separate part from the multiplayer with a proper story & everything. Since there's no need for cables between DSs, it's a bit easier to have at least one friend who you can play the multiplayer with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGcJb8hGScU

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time

Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: January 29, 2009
North America: March 24, 2009
Europe: March 27, 2009
Description: You might've heard some criticism over this game, but that's mostly due to the Wii version, which was kind of a half-assed effort from Square Enix in that it had absolutely no advantages when compared to the DS version. From a gameplay point of view, Echoes of Time makes some changes for the better compared to its predecessors. It adds in the classic MP-system so you don't have to collect magic to be able to use them. Also, it now has a targeting system, which removes the annoyingly high possibility of missing the enemy. Other than those changes, it's still the same kind of fun multiplayer action RPG than the previous Crystal Chronicles games were.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGJKh3V8uP4

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

Developer: Camelot Software Planning
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: October 28, 2010
North America: November 29, 2010
Europe: December 10, 2010
Description: After years of begging & rumors, Nintendo FINALLY announced Golden Sun: Dark Dawn at last year's E3. This is Golden Sun through and through. It still features some great puzzles and decent fun battles, which are a bit on the easy side, though. While not as good as its predecessors, this is another worthy addition to DS's RPG-selection that every JRPG & especially Golden Sun fan should at least try.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifIB8PZSwSQ

Inazuma Eleven

Developer: Level-5
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: August 22, 2008
Europe: January 28, 2011
Description: Did you like blitzball in FFX? Or hell, even if you didn't, Inazuma Eleven is THE sports RPG to own. Sadly for many of you, it was never released in US and even in Europe it's hard to find. But the effort is worth it as this is probably one of Level-5's best series. Too bad Nintendo has no trust in this succeeding outside, which is the reason for the half-assed European launch and no US release at all. In essence, it offers a RPG where you have your exploration and leveling up your characters. In the actual soccer matches, you use the stylus to control the team members and have all kinds of special abilities that can be used to win the matches.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X69QTgk7YAs

Infinite Space

Developer: Nude Maker / Platinum Games
Publisher: Sega
Release date(s): Japan: June 11, 2009
North America: March 16, 2010
Europe: March 26, 2010
Description: Have you ever imagined how it would be to play an actually good Star Trek RPG, but with a somewhat Japanese flare? Well, Infinite Space is the way to do that. It features space-travel, building & maintaining a fleet, visiting space stations & their bars for information & items, real-time space battles and a two-part story that first focuses on the growing up story of the main character and then on bigger issues around the galaxy. At times it can get a bit tedious and its interface is a bit clunky, but it's got a rewarding story to make up for that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCzs05WllMI

Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days

Developer: h.a.n.d / Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: May 30, 2009
North America: September 29, 2009
Europe: October 9, 2009
Description: This is a game that can't be easily recommended, but if you're a certain kind of (patient) gamer, you can possibly get much joy out of this game. It's basically Kingdom Hearts II done on DS as well as it's possible. The things that drive people away from this game is the s l o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o w start and mission-based nature. The game takes many hours just for practice/tutorial-missions that are as boring as they are pointless. It doesn't really get going until the latter half of the game and even then it recycles the worlds way too much. Still, for people who don't mind the repetitive missions and who enjoy a challenge (there's plenty of it in Days, if you want to), then this is a kind of addicting game to play, especially if you go for fulfilling all the goals in missions as well as completing all the Challenges.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8jLwwRVoic


Kingdom Hearts: ReCoded

Developer: h.a.n.d. / Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: October 7, 2010
North America: January 11, 2011
Europe: January 14, 2011
Description: From a plot point of view, ReCoded is even more meaningless than 358/2 Days and it's annoying how they YET AGAIN find a way to put you into the shoes of KHI-Sora and you go through the same kind of storylines in the same worlds you've already played in I, CoM & 358/2 Days, but it has several advantages that may help even people who hated Days to like this game. While the original Coded was released before Birth By Sleep, ReCoded is actually more like a sequel, both in story and gameplay. It takes the best sides of Birth By Sleep's battle system and Days' panel character development system and evolves them both even further, making for a fun game to play. While DS isn't the best platform for fast-paced 3D action games, ReCoded does as good a job as the best of them to work around the limitations/problems. All-in-all this really isn't a game you play for the story, but if you want more Kingdom Hearts fun, ReCoded is a decent choice even taking into account DS's hardware limitations. I'd pick this over Days, if you want one DS Kingdom Hearts and don't care about the story at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ssOgHjc9o

Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals

Developer: Neverland / Square Enix
Publisher: Natsume
Release date(s): Japan: February 25, 2010
North America: October 12, 2010
Description: The beloved Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals was as traditional as JRPGs can get with the exception of offering some truly awesome puzzles. Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals throws almost all of that away. It keeps the basic premise & plot the same, but instead of being a traditional, slow JRPG, it's a fast-paced action RPG. It's still got puzzles, but otherwise it's almost like a completely new game. It's fun, but for some of the fans of the original making such big changes will probably cause a heart-attack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV3IWjXu5l8

Lunar Knights

Developer: Kojima Productions
Publisher: Konami
Release date(s): Japan: November 22, 2006
North America: February 6, 2007
Europe: March 30, 2007
Description: Kojima Productions HAS done other things than just Metal Gear Solid and here's the proof. It's somewhat of a sequel to GBA's Boktai games, but it lacks the "sun-sensor" which made the earlier Boktai games somewhat special (although, with a DS Phat or lite, you CAN put any of the GBA Boktai's to the GBA slot and it'll work with Lunar Knights). Gameplay wise it's kind of a traditional action RPG, which plays around with the light vs. darkness feature. It's also got some puzzles and simple stealth segments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSXYs9Db2WE

Magical Starsign

Developer: Brownie Brown
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: June 26, 2006
North America: October 23, 2006
Europe: February 9, 2007
Description: A fan of more traditional RPGs? Well, this might be a game for you. A lot of the game has to do with planets, which conquer not only the story (you visit the six other planets of the solar system) but also the gameplay (the alighment of the planets affects the amount of damage you give & take). It's not the brightest star in the galaxy (pun SO intended) when it comes to the story, but it really does have its moments and the battles make up for that by having a few nice features to separate it from other similar JRPGs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWVV2rT7g5A


Mario & Luigi 2: Partners In Time

Developer: AlphaDream
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: December 28, 2005
North America: November 28, 2005
Europe: January 27, 2006
Description: The first Mario & Luigi for DS makes good use of the dualscreens in cutscenes and battles as well as offers the kind of humor everybody's come to expect from all these Mario RPGs. It's not the best of them, but no fan of Mario RPGs is gonna want to pass this up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjyBV7t_EAQ

Mario & Luigi 3: Bowser's Inside Story

Developer: AlphaDream / Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Release date(s): Japan: February 11, 2009
North America: September 14, 2009
Europe: October 9, 2009
Description: I've always felt that the Mario & Luigi series is not quite on the level of the Paper Mario series. They are both Mario RPGs and while the duo-dynamic is fine and all, on other levels I feel like they don't quite reach the greatness of Paper Marios. That is, until Mario & Luigi 3. It's imaginative, very original and just plain out super-fun. The best of the Mario & Luigi games, this is a good finale for the series on DS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW6YDv_EhnY


Nostalgia

Developer: Matrix Software / RED Entertainment
Publisher: Ignition Entertainment
Release date(s): Japan: November 6, 2008
North America: October 27, 2009
Description: A fan of Skies of Arcadia? Then look for a DS JRPG no further! Okay, so this is almost nothing like Skies of Arcadia, but I got your attention, didn't I. They share airships and airship battles, that's about as far as the similarities go. This is a decent RPG that falls between the ”timeless classic” and ”ok” classes of JRPGs. It does some interesting things, but it never quite reaches the greatness of the all-time greats and the story with its "my adventurer father goes missing, so I'll become an adventurer myself and go look for him" stuff is really basic. Still, it's good enough to warrant a look from any JRPG fan with a DS and lust for something that isn't a sequel to well-known franchises.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_MWdVEKxlk

Phantasy Star Zero

Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: Sega
Release date(s): Japan: Decenber 25, 2008
North America: November 10, 2009
Europe: April 12, 2010
Description: While people are waiting for Sega to develop a "proper" Phantasy Star sequel, others continue to enjoy these multiplayer & loot-whore orientated Phantasy Stars. After the disappointing Phantasy Star Universe, Sega has now been correcting their mistakes on PSP as well as DS. On PSP with its PSP series and last year on DS with Phantasy Star Zero. PS0 is kinda low-key and not suited for people looking for the flashiness of other action RPGs like Kingdom Hearts or fast-pace of the Ys games. For anyone who has the tendency to be hooked to games with simple gameplay yet endless replay-value, Phantasy Star Zero is a worthy candidate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nku8A4pAp4o

Pokemon Black & White

Developer: Gane Freak
Publisher: Nintendo / The Pokemon Company
Release date(s): Japan: September 18, 2010
North America: March 6, 2011
Europe: March 4, 2011
Description: Pokemon will seemingly always be Pokemon. I'm a bit bothered by the fact that outside of new Pokemons, there's very little in the way of significant changes. While there are some additions like group battles & (shocker) the Pokemon actually having some motions in battles, the core gameplay is still very much the same it was 15 years ago when Pokemon was first released. Still, these games are certainly doing something right since they keep on entertaining millions of people around the world. And at that, Pokemon Black & White are probably the best Pokemon games around simply due to the number of features & content it offers.


Radiant Historia

Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Release date(s): Japan: November 3, 2010
North America: February 22, 2011
Description: Imagine a wonderful world where some developer, which might be called Atlus, mixes some of the best sides of Valkyrie Profile (battle-system) and Chrono Trigger (time-travel), adds in a story that's almost all devoid of annoying JRPG character stereotypes and has some wonderful compositions from everyone's beloved Yoko Shimoura. Wouldn't that be awesome? Oh wait, that's THIS world! This game is probably one of the last big DS RPGs now that 3DS has arrived. And what a JRPG it is! It offers a compelling story, fun battles and a lengthy quest that can take well over 40-50 hours to complete 100%.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD9FevMw1_o

Rune Factory 1, 2 & 3

Developer: Neverland
Publisher: Natsume
Release date(s): Japan: 1: August 24, 2006, 2: January 3, 2008, 3: October 22, 2009
North America: August 14, 2007, 2: November 18, 2008, 3: November 9, 2010
Europe: February 13, 2009, 2: October 8, 2010
Description: The Harvest Moon formula had grown a bit stale at one point, but then came Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon that injected new life to it by mixing action RPG play with the everyday farmwork. There are three Rune Factory games for DS, all good and all worth getting. If you only had to pick one, it's probably once again the wisest to pick the most recent one, since it has the most features, adds a 4-player multiplayer & is generally the best one in the series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYx189MMRpg

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Release date(s): Japan: October 8, 2009
North America: March 23, 2010
Description: For some, the Persona games might be what the Shin Megami Tensei name represents. Strange Journey, however, is what Shin Megami Tensei games are actually about. Old-school dungeon cralwing that gives no mercy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaGTapB7ufc

Suikoden: Tierkreis

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Release date(s): Japan: December 18, 2008
North America: March 13, 2009
Europe: March 17, 2009
Description: Let me start by saying Tierkreis is a decent RPG. While the battlesystem is simple, it's still quite an enjoyable & epic journey for a handheld RPG. The following complaint is from someone who's a fan of past Suikoden games. The biggest problem of Tierkreis is that unlike its predecessors it doesn't take place in the same world as the others. Because of this, the world is much poorer than the richly developed history of I-V. That doesn't prevent the game from being an enjoyable RPG, but for long-time fans of the series, it's certainly something that makes this a lesser RPG when compared to past greats like I, II & V. Also, the main characters voice actor is real bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti4tiOoo5jU

Summon Night: Twin Age

Developer: Flight-Plan
Publisher: Atlus
Release date(s): Japan: August 30, 2007
North America: June 3, 2008
Description: This is probably as close as DS owners are going to get to hack 'n slash games like Diablo (except it's the total opposite in its up-beat atmosphere and light-heartedness). This action RPG is completely controlled with a stylus and it works pretty well. It's got some nice customization & play value. It's nothign too earth-shattering, but there really aren't that many games on DS like this and this is one of the only decent ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtEY7kUU6Qo

The World Ends With You

Developer: Jupiter / Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Release date(s): Japan: July 26, 2007
North America: April 22, 2008
Europe: April 18, 2008
Description: If we leave the Chrono Trigger port out of the equation, then The World Ends With You is the best JRPG on DS. This game offers a slightly bad first impression in that in the beginning of the game the main character is possibly the most annoingly emo main character in existence. A whiny brat that should die. But then something happens and he starts being somewhat likeable. It offers some really good use of DS's touchscreen & dual-screen nature, addicting leveling up of badges that give you spells & special attacks, a story full of great twists, great graphics and a catchy soundtrack. What more could you hope from a Square Enix JRPG?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPFEkmq0z6k

[Azu]

Reserved for later use (Shmups & strategy games)

[Azu]

Reserved for later use (Other)

[StaticAge]

Wow, awesome list so far

*goes off to find out how to unlock the NES Contra in Contra 4*

[Noxia]

Azu, I wish I could rep (read that slowly) you a thousand times over for doing this thread.

Edit: Humble request for RPG section next

[dc89]

I'm certainly interested to see the other posts! Nice worse far!

[DarkVincent07]

ohmygod this is amazing.

you are the forum king. I need to branch out... all I play and own for myself is Pokemon haha

[Azu]

Azu, I wish I could rep (read that slowly)

Edit: Humble request for RPG section next

Gah, the list of RPGs is the longest. :S I guess it might just be better to get it over & done with, so yeah, I might do RPGs next. It might not happen until Tuesday or Wednesday, though, kinda busy (or at least should be busy) reading to a test until that.

I'm certainly interested to see the other posts! Nice worse far!

Thanks.

ohmygod this is amazing.

you are the forum king. I need to branch out... all I play and own for myself is Pokemon haha

Heh, you really should branch out, so much more to the DS than Pokemons. :P

[Wasib]

This is good. Looking forward to the other lists now.

[Avrum]

Hot damn, nice work here. I personally can't wait to try out Monster Tale. It's out now but I'm pretty knee deep in Pokemon White to bother with any other games at the moment. But Monster Tale is next on the list.

[Noxia]

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss Azzzuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uu. DC, surely this warrants being a sticky?

[Azu]

Gah, no, how did you notice?! The RPG list is not quite ready yet (some missing details, descriptions, Youtube-trailers), I was going to finish it before bumping up the thread to tell everybody it's done.

[dc89]

Stuck!

[Noxia]

Gah, no, how did you notice?! The RPG list is not quite ready yet (some missing details, descriptions, Youtube-trailers), I was going to finish it before bumping up the thread to tell everybody it's done.

Checked everyday since last week

Did not know Lufia was on DS! Once I'm done with Bowsers Story i'm going to get Radiant Historia, and then The World Ends With You.

Thanks DC for sticky.

[Azu]

Aaaaand... it's done. I'll probably read through it once to fix some typos/bad grammar that I can notice, but yeah, other than that there's not much I'm going to do to the RPG list anymore.

[Azu]

Any requests as to what genre(s) you'd want me to do next?

[Noxia]

Adventure for moi

[FdMstng99]

Adventure for moi

Agreed!!

[Azu]

Adventure games you will get, then! Already written the descriptions for a bunch of games. Not sure when I'll have the time to finish it, but hopefully it won't take quite as long as the RPG one.

[DarkVincent07]

tossing up between FFIV on DS or the new PSP one :S :S

on DS it has less content, but is much cheaper. What do you rekon Azu?