Looking for Action / Adventure DS Games

MegaMan001

We haven't had a thread like this in oh, a few weeks and at least none appear in the last 4 pages.

I am looking to expand my DS collection. Currently my DS games are all old SNES RPGs (Final Fantasy ports, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past) and my only DS game is Hotel Dusk. Don't get me wrong, they are all great. I am however, looking for something that is a little more 'actiony' and interactive.

I've played Trauma Center before and I do plan to pick that up, but are there any more gems I've missed? I am particularly interested to hear about Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (does it play like Symphony of the Night? Cause Symphony is pretty bad ass).

So, any action / adventurey type games out there I should pick up first?

mynameisguido

I've really enjoyed Children of Mana. It has some RPG elements, but it's very much an action game.

yalborap

Dawn of Sorrow is...Sort of like Symphony. it has the weapons and the like, but instead of subweapons and spells and the like, you have souls. You have ones that take the place of sub-weapons(red souls), ones that take the place of random spells and the like(blue souls, various effects done by pressing or holding R), and stat enhancers(yellow souls. Always on when equipped). Also, you have to use souls to upgrade your weapon unless you just find a weapon through random drops, including occasionally boss souls, which will make it hell if you need to get everything.

Fun as hell, though, and worth the cash.

Jebral

I would most definitely pick up Castlevania: DoS. Plays like a more polished and well balanced version of SotN. The games gimmick revolves around collecting the souls of your enemies to gain magic abilities and attacks, and the more of a certain type of soul you get, the more powerful that particular spell becomes. That combined with using souls to synthesize better weapons can lead to lots of grinding if you're a completionist, though.

Portrait of Ruin is very good too, and they toned down the grinding aspects. And it has whips.

Really, you can't go wrong with either one.

MegaMan001

That sounds great, how about Super Mario 64? I never played it on the N64, but I've heard it's pretty much one of the more solid platformers out there?

EvilBadman

The Control in Mario DS is fairly horrendous. Use the stylus at all times or cramp your hand holding down a button to run.

Jebral

Mario 64 is an excellent, excellent game.

My favorite 3D platformer by a mile, actually.

But it's greatness is due in large part to it's controls, which are kind of weak on the DS. Neither the touch screen nor the dpad is an adequate substitute for a good stick.

yalborap

I had zero problems with the controls in Mario. And considering it's pretty goddamn cheap by now, just get the damn thing. It's not like you're making a big investment.

Gilder

If we can recommend platformers with action stuff, then how about Kirby Squeak Squad? You should know what to expect from a Kirby game and it's a great Kirby game anyway.

That also made me think of Kirby Canvas Curse. Pick that up too. It doesn't get much more interactive than a game where all movement is done on the touch screen.

Lemmy

I never really had a problem with the controls on Mario DS. It had been years since I had played 64 though.

New Super Mario Brothers is also very good - but a bit short.

Dawn of Sorrow is really good, I loved it, Portrait of Ruin is just as good.

I would also suggest you check out Megaman ZX, given your username.

TehSpectre

Artreus

Lemmy wrote: »

I never really had a problem with the controls on Mario DS. It had been years since I had played 64 though.

New Super Mario Brothers is also very good - but a bit short.

Dawn of Sorrow is really good, I loved it, Portrait of Ruin is just as good.

I would also suggest you check out Megaman ZX, given your username.

Listen to this person.

Target Practice

I found that the touchscreen controls to Mario 64 worked lousy on the original DS... but wonderfully on the DS Lite.

cwapfobrains

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is a great little action-adventure in the vein of Zelda, but with TANK BATTLES! (which are ridiculously fun). And it has nothing to do with the genre you claim to be looking for, but puzzle quest is amazing. Just throwing that out there :P

bruin

cwapfobrains wrote: »

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is a great little action-adventure in the vein of Zelda, but with TANK BATTLES! (which are ridiculously fun). And it has nothing to do with the genre you claim to be looking for, but puzzle quest is amazing. Just throwing that out there :P

YES YES YES YES

Mashalot

Ok I'm gonna poop on some games mentioned. Nothing personal at all. I kind of found Lunar Knights as dull as dirt, though it looked nice. Character designs weren't my thing. One of the few DS games I regret buying. Children of Mana is similar, plays worse but has art direction that's more appealing to me. Megaman ZX is cool but the lack of a decent map is kind of brain melting, especially if you put the game down for any length of time. Metroidvania meets Megaman with no useable map. I've never liked 3D platformers and have never been able to get into Mario 64. It gets universal praise for being the 3D platformer that broke the mold but I just dislike the experience. Both on DS and the real thing. NSMB is pretty good but it's no Mario 3 or World, also the save system totally sucks for a pick-up-and-play portable game.

I liked Portrait of Ruin much better than Dawn of Sorrow. Maybe it's just cause it was less similar to the 3 GBA Castlevanias. Having to draw seals to beat bosses in Dawn of Sorrow was just lame and forced. Not that hard but lame. I actually felt compelled to 100% Portrait of Ruin though. Dawn of Sorrow I just slowly beat out of obligation and put aside. Not that it's a bad game guess it was just too samey for me.

The 2 games I really devoured on the DS were Portrait... and Rocket Slime, which was kind of easy but I loved and still love to death. Very polished game. Actiony for sure.

edit: mario 64 is still like $30

Synthetic Orange

What's the average playtime and replay value on Rocket Slime?

bruin

Synthetic Orange wrote: »

What's the average playtime and replay value on Rocket Slime?

I'd say between 10 and 15 hours, and it has multiplayer tank battles if you've got friends with the game. You might want to play through the single player again, but probably not right after you play it for the first time.

Mashalot

bruin wrote: »

Synthetic Orange wrote: »

What's the average playtime and replay value on Rocket Slime?

I'd say between 10 and 15 hours, and it has multiplayer tank battles if you've got friends with the game. You might want to play through the single player again, but probably not right after you play it for the first time.

Yeah, not super long. I think I might have 20+hrs on my save. If you want to 100% the game there's a ton of monster and item farming that's just kind of tedious after a point but totally unnecessary to do to beat & get the most out of the game.

I like shorter games though. Don't totally understand how absurd length = quality to some people.

Daedalus

Megaman ZX is cool but the lack of a decent map is kind of brain melting, especially if you put the game down for any length of time. Metroidvania meets Megaman with no useable map.

Pause the game. Press L. There's your map.

It wasn't that hard to find. I think it's even in the manual (but who reads those anyway, right?)

bruin

Mashalot wrote: »

bruin wrote: »

Synthetic Orange wrote: »

What's the average playtime and replay value on Rocket Slime?

I'd say between 10 and 15 hours, and it has multiplayer tank battles if you've got friends with the game. You might want to play through the single player again, but probably not right after you play it for the first time.

Yeah, not super long. I think I might have 20+hrs on my save. If you want to 100% the game there's a ton of monster and item farming that's just kind of tedious after a point but totally unnecessary to do to beat & get the most out of the game.

I like shorter games though. Don't totally understand how absurd length = quality to some people.

Yeah, I'd say it's just long enough for the game.

Mashalot

The Warlock wrote: »

Megaman ZX is cool but the lack of a decent map is kind of brain melting, especially if you put the game down for any length of time. Metroidvania meets Megaman with no useable map.

Pause the game. Press L. There's your map.

It wasn't that hard to find. I think it's even in the manual (but who reads those anyway, right?)

O_o
All I remember was a bunch of strung together blocks representing areas. It's a map but but about as useful as going on memory. Maybe I should just get over it and beat the damned thing. I'm probably being unfair...

yalborap

Mashalot wrote: »

The Warlock wrote: »

Megaman ZX is cool but the lack of a decent map is kind of brain melting, especially if you put the game down for any length of time. Metroidvania meets Megaman with no useable map.

Pause the game. Press L. There's your map.

It wasn't that hard to find. I think it's even in the manual (but who reads those anyway, right?)

O_o
All I remember was a bunch of strung together blocks representing areas. It's a map but but about as useful as going on memory. Maybe I should just get over it and beat the damned thing. I'm probably being unfair...

You are. The map may suck but the game is goddamn awesome.

Mashalot

I didn't mean to say the game was bad, I thought it was excellent except for the map.

I just don't have as much time to sit down and plow through games anymore and the lack of a good map interferes with my ability to pick it up after going a spell without playing and remember the details. Not that the game designers should be faulted for my lifestyle or something.

But I think it's valid to warn people in a similar boat with similar preferences.

I'm actually jonesing to play it again but it's gonna hafta to wait for a rare lazy, quiet weekend or something.

Taya

This thread has a list of DS games worth playing and the genre of the game is next to the title.

My poor Ultimate DS Games Thread... it quickly falls of the first few pages where nobody can see it and thus, doesn't help anybody.

Darlan

I'd like to get Mario 64 DS, but it's hard to pay 30 bucks for a launch game. Hope it drops soon.

Squashua

Don't get Contact. It's the most boring game ever. Grind, grind, grind.

Ginsane

Thoughts about Touch Detective? Better than Trace Memory, worse than Hotel Dusk.

yalborap

Squashua wrote: »

Don't get Contact. It's the most boring game ever. Grind, grind, grind.

It's more about item use, really. You'll get a lot farther packing spare potions than grinding.

Taya

Ginsane wrote: »

Thoughts about Touch Detective? Better than Trace Memory, worse than Hotel Dusk.

Worse than Trace Memory and worse than Hotel Dusk.

I liked Touch Detective but I'm glad I got it as a gift instead of paying money for it. It's kind of wacky and interesting but a lot of the solutions are really off the wall.

Mashalot

yalborap wrote: »

Squashua wrote: »

Don't get Contact. It's the most boring game ever. Grind, grind, grind.

It's more about item use, really. You'll get a lot farther packing spare potions than grinding.

Totally. Though I ended up needing to stop & grind for potion parts briefly. I just picked the game up again after stopping for a few months and just beat the pyramid boss thing...

the game's pretty clunky but for me it has sort of a weird old-school charm.

The collective disappointment had more to do with the unreasonable hype that preceded the game for months and months and months and the unexpected fact upon release that the core gameplay was a throwback to, like, 18 years ago. When everyone wanted an orgasmic collision of earthbound with zelda or something.

Bantry

I'm going to give another vote for Lunar Knights.

The story's pretty meh, but the gameplay is very much fun.