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Nintendo DS
Cantido
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
After lots of Smash Brothers Brawl, I began craving a DS until I finally grabbed a DS Lite with Advanced Wars 2.
My favorite feature of this game is not the newer challenges and abilities or the dark and brutal story, dark humor (oh, Lyn, you're such a sweetheart!) or how fucking awesome it is seeing your troops smite those fuckers on the other screen. Those are both awesome. It's the soundtrack. It's official: Portable gaming can now produce sweet blowjobby metal
I don't want to go too out of control, but I'm wondering what my next purchases should be. None of the stores around me have Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, but they all have Portrait of Ruin. I was hoping to play them in order, but if it doesn't matter, I could just get Portrait of Ruin. I would also order Pheonix Wright, which I can't find anywhere but am incredibly curious.
I also just rented Yoshi's Island DS. Because Crayon Yoshi is better than 3-d Yoshi.
I have never played a Rouglike before, but I'm hearing Mystery Dungeon is good times.
Does anyone have suggestions and/or know what is the most efficient way to order these online cheaply?
My favorite feature of this game is not the newer challenges and abilities or the dark and brutal story, dark humor (oh, Lyn, you're such a sweetheart!) or how fucking awesome it is seeing your troops smite those fuckers on the other screen. Those are both awesome. It's the soundtrack. It's official: Portable gaming can now produce sweet blowjobby metal
I don't want to go too out of control, but I'm wondering what my next purchases should be. None of the stores around me have Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, but they all have Portrait of Ruin. I was hoping to play them in order, but if it doesn't matter, I could just get Portrait of Ruin. I would also order Pheonix Wright, which I can't find anywhere but am incredibly curious.
I also just rented Yoshi's Island DS. Because Crayon Yoshi is better than 3-d Yoshi.
I have never played a Rouglike before, but I'm hearing Mystery Dungeon is good times.
Does anyone have suggestions and/or know what is the most efficient way to order these online cheaply?
3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
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Advance Wars: Days of Ruin.
Which does I must say have some pretty good tunes.
You're mean. So mean.
Got AW: DoR also as well as Mario Kart.
Frankly I'm not terribly fond of either of them. DoR is kind of .. basic and annoying compared to tactical RPGs, plus I have no interest in the hokey dialogue so I just Start through it. Hadn't played Mario Kart since the original SNES version and suffice it to say they ruined it with retarded items.
So.. I did something I'm not terribly proud of and.. and I bought Pokemon. I fucking hate Pokemon, but the game isn't too bad. It's sort of MMOish in its appeal. Kind of open-ended, I spend most of my time chasing the next new ability for one of my fruits or a couple more levels for another evolution. Plus from reading the Pokeymanz thread it seems I've barely scratched the surface 12 hours in since I have no clue wtf they're talking about in there.
Also picked up FFIII used in case Pokemon sucked. It's good but I'm kind of past all these stupid hidden passages. That shit is annoying at this point.
Synopsis: Pokemon is a good time waster even if you're ashamed purchasing it, FFIII is a good remake if you dig the FF series, you already have DoR, and Mario Kart is a pile of shit unless you like fuckhead, meaningless AI racers in last place making you lose a race because Nintendo can't separate multiplayer items and single player items.
If you want an RPG experience unequaled this generation get Etrian Odyssey.
I think my best times on the DS were with Metroid Prime Hunters, oddly enough, but I'm a huge metroid junkie.
Talking more about the fact that it's the same units every map. By like the 13th or so campaign map you've got every unit there is. I got bored at around 17 or so because of the lack of variety.
I learned I like tactical RPGs not tactical games in general. Lack of advancement/upgrades gets boring.
DoR gets pretty tough beyond the 10th mission. A lot of the bonus maps are very hard for me.
Phantom Hourglass is good too.
That said, if you want tactical RPGs you'd be vastly better off with the PSP. Both Disgaea and Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions are really superior expanded ports, Jeanne D'Arc is interesting if somewhat feature-light and I've heard good buzz about Wild Arms XF.
And there's really no reason to be so down on Pokemon's aesthetic. It's an excellent, immensely deep party-based RPG hidden as a kid's cartoon, and if you're that upset about what people think about you you might as well remove the code from your sig.
OP: My favorite DS titles are a hodge-podge of stuff: Tetris DS, Elite Beat Agents/Ouendan, Puzzle Quest, Contra IV, Picross, Meteos, Phoenix Wright. There's a ton of stuff across different genres, so what exactly do you like?
EDIT: Oh, and Trauma Center! Most exhilarating game series I've played in years. Trauma Center + Contra IV is like buying Manliness Training.
Switch - SW-3699-5063-5018
I think there is another Luminous Arc coming along, and probably something else.
Good, then I'll play them in reverse order. (Plus, PoR is only 15$ here.)
I have nothing against Mario Kart. I know there would be snaking and stuff, and I'm totally capable of overcoming that. This is simply because I played Mario Kart 64 to death and know it too well to get a kick out of it for DS. I'll pass.
I was looking over the guide for the new Pokemon games. I've only played the Blue/Red The new pokemon look fucking stupid (except for an awesome looking Manta Ray and Lucario.) I would consider this game.
Lightweight.
In retrospect I probably would have gone with the PSP, but not because of the games. Already played/still have FFT original (I don't care at all about story so the relocalization means nothing to me and one extra class does not a game make), the more I read about Jeanne the worse it sounds, and if I really wanted to play Disgaea I could get it for the PS2. That leaves Wild Arms XF, which looks cool, but doesn't necessarily outweigh FFT:A2, Rondo of Swords, and the other 2 or 3 tactical RPGs coming for the DS. I actually give the games edge to the DS.. I just kind of long for a larger, prettier screen.
And I'm ashamed of myself for doing pokemans, not ashamed of what others think of me. I'm the one who hates the franchise, everyone else seems to love it.
I also bought Brain Training and Metroid Prime Hunters. BT is good for something to do for 5 minutes out of your day, and I actually enjoy the different challenges it sets. MP Hunters is brilliant thus far. Once you get used to the stylus controls for it, it sucks you in. I played for 20 minutes without realised the time had gone past while on a short train journey, and can definatley see myself playing for longer than that even. Also has fun multiplayer (wi-fi too!) to boot.
*Thanks Thanatos!
But I do love the DS... My only issue is there there's so much SHIT to comb through when you're walking through the store. The price you pay for having so many devices sold I guess. But man, I look at my area at Best Buy and there's nothing but lame Brain Training knock-offs and cooking games.
Oh well, they wouldn't be there if they didn't sell.
I don't agree with you that all the new Pokemon look stupid, but Lucario is actually one of them that does.
Magmortar is by far the stupidest, however. He looks like a British soccer hooligan.
There's Rondo of Swords, which looks somewhat promising. Luminous Arc was a major disappointment for me and I heard absolutely nothing good about Front Mission—but FE DS will undoubtedly be a killer app. I'm somewhat surprised that the DS didn't take off as a tactical RPG beast, but in retrospect (like what I've seen from Disgaea DS shots) it looks like using touch controls on a low-res screen means either screens where the GUI obscures all of the action or a strange stylus/button control hybrid that gums up the works far more than the should.
And I can't say enough good things about Etrian Odyssey. I'm not normally into dungeon crawlers, but the mapping on touch-screen takes all the pain out of that, and the quick battles and immense depth of character customization make it the One True Handheld RPG.
I'd give the game a solid B, if not a B+. The voice acting and art design really did carry it.
also, three words for you: Metroid Prime Pinball
My wife is going to LOVE that.
Nintendo DS Recommendations:
* Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword - this is Team Ninja's first game for the Nintendo DS. This is a brilliant and beautiful action game on the system that takes wonderful advantage of every aspect of the system. The game is held sideways like a book, which is very comfortable. The gameplay is action-oriented like the console Ninja Gaidens, and as Ryu Hayabusa, you perform all sorts of sword-based ninja attacks and combos, combined with stylistic special moves, acrobatic jumping maneuvers, and throwing shiruken. On top of that, you can progressively unlock new maneuvers to add to the combat, as well as a whole lot of varied and fun Ninja Magic spells, most of which you control the effects and direction of with the stylus. The controls are fantastic and work extremely well with the stylus. The graphics and music are beautiful and run smoothly. This is a testament to action games on the Nintendo DS.
* New Super Mario Bros -- One of the best Mario games since the NES days, it's a game that stays true to classic 2D marios but incorporates a lot of modern platforming gameplay elements.
* Mario Kart DS -- awesome kart racing/combat game. Several new circuits and also has a lot of "classic tracks" to race on; which are tracks from the previous SNES, GBA, and N64 games. Great multiplayer, lots of fun, and you can play it against people on the internet as well.
* Contra 4 - a true testament to classic 16-bit Contra gameplay, this game takes inspiration from every excellent 2D Contra game preceding it, and combines it all into one single awesome action game. It's tough as nails but extremely fair. Plus it includes tons of challenges that unlocks tons of bonus content - it also allows you to unlock the original Contra for the NES, and the sequel Super Contra for the NES, too. So it's 3 good games in one, with tons of content and excellent action shooter gameplay.
* Geometry Wars Galaxies - THE best space-shoot'em-up on the DS, this game takes the already extremely good and popular gameplay of Geometry Wars Retro Evolved and expands it exponentially by providing 60 unique levels, new enemies, and a system of 'Droids' that help you out that you can level up and teach new helper behaviours. This game also includes a 2 player cooperative or versus mode, and it also allows for online leaderboards. To top off this incredible package, you can also unlock the original GeoMetry Wars Retro Evolved in its entirety.
* Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits - this is a game that includes arcade perfect ports of tons of classic Konami games. These arcade games are all very well done and have tons of options, and they're all very well geared towards handheld pick-up-and-play gameplay. The game has 15 games, but the best of them are Contra, Gradius, Rush'n'Attack, Time Pilot, Twinbee, Track & Field, and Yie Ar Kung Fu. Tons of options to tweak each game's appearance and controls.
* Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - a new game in the Windwaker series of Zelda games, this is the best action-adventure/RPG game on the Nintendo DS. Not only does it have incredible graphics, but it fully utilizes the touch and dual screen abiliities of the DS for movement and special items and steering the ship and other various maneuvers. It's a great and expansive game, get it if you like Zelda-style gameplay.
* Planet Puzzle League - this is considered one of the better puzzle games on the Nintendo DS. It's based on an addicting system of blocks rising from the bottom of the screen, and by using the stylus, you maneuver different blocks to match, which subsequently disappear causing the blocks above to fall down onto them. The gameplay revovles around setting up the stack of blocks so that when you match a pair, it causes a chain reaction of falling blocks onto similar-colored blocks. The game has several good modes and difficulties and can also be played online or against friends from a single cart.
* Bleach DS: Blade of Fate - this is a 2D fighting game that is designed in the style of Guilty Gear, except that it supports between 2 and 4 players against each other. The game is very combo-centric yet uses a very unique control scheme; to top it off, the touchscreen allows for easy special move execution. The game has arcade and story modes as well as challenge modes, so there's tons to do. Lots of characters with plenty of variety of styles. Can also be played online.
* Professor Layton and the Curious Village - Professor Layton is an old-fashioned point-and-click adventure which requires your use of skills such as reasoning, knowledge and creativity to solve various puzzles. Except it's not a stupid or cheap game like the old DOS point and click adventures. It has very fun and rewarding puzzles to complete, that a smart person can achieve through critical thinking.
* Picross DS - this is a classic puzzle game for the DS, except it is unique in that it's not like traditional puzzlers like Tetris. You're given a slate of tiles onto which you are to chisel out an image, but you're only given clues as to what tiles to chisel out. It combines a sort of reasoning and an ability to figure out what blocks to chisel based on clues and other blocks; kind of like the sort of logic that Sudoku requires. This game is cheap, shouldn't be more than $15 either. Lots of cool Nintendo references in it too.
* Call of Duty 4 - this is the 2nd best First Person Shooter on the DS. It takes the excellent controls of Metroid Prime Hunters, but provides a very unique and fun single player campaign to complete. It emphasizes accurate shots and staying behind cover to take out enemies, and you have various weapons and grenades at your disposal. There are also cool levels that take place from a bombing aircraft, from the back of a truck, and from behind the machine gun of a helicopter. Great single player FPS if you enjoy those on the Nintendo DS. Also has an up to 4 player multiplayer mode.
* Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow -- Awesome Castlevania game. You explore an enormous castle, destroying enemies as you level up and become more powerful. You search for and gain new abilities to acccess new parts of the castle to explore. You ultimately are trying to powerup enough to find and defeat Dracula. Has like 3 or 4 endings depending on what you do.
* Castlevania Portrait of Ruin -- Similar to Dawn of Sorrow, except with a heavier emphasis on action/combat. This time you have 2 characters, one to specialize in Magic and one in Melee type of attacks, and you have combo-team attacks, so lots of depth there. Otherwise, similar and awesome gameplay. There's multiplayer boss rush mode and can also be played online.
* Trauma Center: Under the Knife -- this is a game in which you play as a rookie doctor who ultimately becomes amazing at surgery and must help cure a new virus created by a bioterrorist group. You use the stylus as a scalpel and other such medical tools. The game starts out easy, but gets tough quick. Each surgery requires figuring out a cool little trick of sorts in order to perfform well. Listening to your Nurse helps a lot. It's a fun game, but the difficulty can turn some people off.
* Kirby Canvas Curse -- Awesome Nintendo platformer in which you guide Kirby with the stylus by drawing pathways on which he travels. Extremely innovative and very addicting.
* Advance Wars Dual Strike -- This is an awesome strategy game in which you command a fleet of different fighters in your army against your opponents. THere's a lot of depth and strategy involved, but it's not a typical RTS. It's a good long game, with lots of depth and replay value, and it uses the touch screen well. It can also be played in long or short sittings. Great game if you can find it and want a long game with depth to sink your teeth into.
* Advance Wars Days of Ruin -- This is a sequel to the excellent turn based strategy game, Dual Strike. Get this game if you want but cannot find Dual Strike - it has just as great and addicting strategy gameplay but a unique story and some online multiplayer options.
* Meteos -- This is a really, really cool puzzle game, and arguably the best puzzle game ever. You use the stylus to line up certain blocks and send them shooting up the screen to destroy falling objects/enemies. The game has absolutely stellar presentation in its graphics and audio, and the game can get pretty deep in gameplay and very exciting and extremely addicting. Lots of replay value. Don't get the Disney Version, get the original "Meteos."
* Tetris DS -- this is another really good puzzle game for the DS. It takes Tetris and creates 6 different games based on the Tetris Theme, and gives the overall game a classic NES theme to its graphics and audio, which is awesome. You have Classic Tetris, which you can play for limited or unlimited play time to max your score, or you can play agains the CPU or another player (up to 10 from a single cart!) in multiplayer. You can even do a 'Battle Mode" in multiplayer which allows you to use crazy items like banana peels or turtle shells which have different effects on your opponents. There's also a cool mode called Push, in which you and an opponent each play tetris, but you use the same playfield on opposing sides. Each person tries to push the lump of blocks against the opponent's bottom line by lining up and clearing lines. There's other cool puzzle modes that use the stylus well. This awesome game can also be played on the internet.
* Elite Beat Agents -- this is a kickass music/rhythm game. You may or may not like it, but I love it. It has a lot of different crazy songs of all types, but the gameplay is based on tapping appearing/vanishing circles on the screeen to the beat of the music. It gets really intense and fun and addicting, kind of like Guitar Hero. It also gets pretty hard, so I hope you have some rhythm.
* Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time -- a kickass action-ish RPG game. Similar in spirit to Super Mario RPG. It's a cool, lighthearted story but it packs a lot of good and unique gameplay and interesting battle mechanics that use both screens and you have a 4-way partner system which opens the way for cool battle tactics and puzzles. Great game and interesting take on the RPG formula.
* Metroid Prime Hunters -- This is a love/hate game. Imagine Quake III with a Metroid theme. It uses the stylus like a mouse, so you have precise shots and such, but it's really best when played multiplayer, which can be done online. Probably try this before buying it.
* Brain Age -- Great little game that gives you lots of little 'minigames' that exercise your mind and tracks your progress. Cool and fun and good for short spurts of gameplay. Comes with an EXCELLENT version of Sudoku to play. Tracks progress of multiple players and compares them. Plus it's super cheapo.
* Sonic Rush -- this is like the ultimate evolution of classic 2D Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay. If you ever enjoyed, or even think you'll enjoy, the original Sonic games, you'll probably love this one too. it adds some depth to the speedy platforming with a trick system and a Rush system in which you can blaze through enemies at the speed of light.
* Sonic Rush Adventure - The sequel to Sonic Rush, this game retains most of the good 2D Sonic Rush gameplay but also includes a touch-screen style ship-steering 3D gameplay periodically between levels, unlocking new areas of the game, so it keeps things fresh and interesting.
* Megaman ZX -- One of the best recent 2D Megaman games. Pretty darn tough game, but very fair in its difficulty. Like Metroid or Castlevania, you travel an open world exploring for bosses. Once defeating a boss, you gain their abilities. This game lets you level up your abilities for more options and attack power. Also lets you choose between 2 available playable characters. Highly recommended if you like tough action games.
* Megaman ZX Advent - sequel to the first ZX game, this continues the tradition of tough but exciting 2D action/platforming of the Megaman ZX series. This game gives you the ability to not only absorb new attack powers, but also the ability to transform into boss characters to unleash new attacks and abilities. Also utilizes the touch screen for a map and some special features related to certain enemy abilities.
* Metroid Prime Pinball -- If you like Pinball videogames, this is the one to get. Kickass Metroid theme in graphics, music, style, and objectives. Real inexpensive too.
* Final Fantasy III -- remake of the classic and beloved FFIII. This classic game got a major freakin' graphical and audio overhaul and looks and plays gorgeously on the DS. Get if you want a traditional RPG to play.
* Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings: Revenant Wings offers some fresh gameplay for the mammoth RPG series and its dominant RTS element has been simplified to offer a good 20 entertaining hours or so. Witty story, great characters and a bite-size battle system that's ideal for DS. Fantastic rpg with impressive production value.
* Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates - A great Diablo-esque dungeon crawler action-RPG; it's balanced and has just the right loot curve, which offer not too many loot drops but good enough stuff to keep the difficulty proper. Game balance is great, the game looks beautiful, and there's even some really fun writing hidden beneath the youth/casual storyline. This is hack-n-slash done right on the DS. Even better in multiplayer if you can find someone else with the game.
* Diddy Kong Racing -- good Kart racer in the vein of Mario Kart. Good if you want another kart racer, but make sure to get Mario Kart DS first.
* Nintendogs -- This is a 'sandbox game' which means that you play it how you want it. Some people enjoy sandbox games, some don't, but Nintendogs is very popular. Imagine it as a virtual pet dog that you can train or play with and do all kinds of things. Uses the microphone, for example, to tell dogs to "Sit" or "roll over" and such, or use the touchscreen to throw balls/frisbees.
* Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords -- this is a combination of an RPG and a puzzle game. It plays like Bejeweled, except there's a story and you have RPG levels and items, so there's a lot of depth and strategy involved. Great game if you can find it.
* Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime -- very goofy and lighthearted but addicting RPG, whose gameplay is similar to Zelda. Good fun and a good action-rpg if you're in the market for one.
* Yoshi's Island DS -- this may at first seem like a kids' game, but it's quite a good platformer and thoroughly enjoyable if you liked New Super Mario Bros. It's a good and long game with lots of levels. Interesting platforming mechanics and bosses.
* Resident Evil: Deadly Silence -- a port of the PS1 classic Resident Evil in all of its original glory -- plus it has some additional touchscreen elements and extra mode to play. Get it if survival horror sounds good to you, or if you enjoyed the original Resident Evil.
* Clubhouse Games -- 42 games in one cart! This has tons of card games and board games to play that everyone can enjoy. Can be played online. Great multiplayer, good pickup and play. Lets you have multiplayer on multiple DSs from a single cart.
* Bomberman DS -- classic Bomberman gameplay in single player and multiplayer. Best recommended if you love multiplayer bomberman, as you can play yourself against the CPU or against up to 7 other people from a single-cart multiboot. 8 player across 2 screens is awesome.
* Lunar Knights -- an action RPG designed by the guy behind Metal Gear Solid (Hideo Kojima). It blends action, stealth, and action-rpg elements nicely and has a cool 2-screen gameplay mechanic involving the day/night to power your attacks. Cool action-rpg game.
* Phoenix Wright Series, also the Apollo Justice Games - These are excellent adventure games in the style of traditional 'point and click' adventure games. These games focus on the adventures of Phoenix Wright or Apollo Justice, attorneys at law, as they uncover the mysteries of their client's cases. Action centers around deducing mysteries from talking to characters and snooping around and finding evidence, and the action takes place in-court where you examine/cross examine witnesses and prove your case by proving or disproving witnesses and using evidence. Great style, great writing, great humor.
* Etrian Odyssey - one of the best dungeon-crawling style RPGs on the Nintendo Ds, this is one tough but unique RPG. It's gameplay is difficult but rewarding, and it offers a sense of accomplishment. Instead of a world that conforms to your level and rewards you with HP every time you level up, you have to strategize about which characters will enter the Labyrinth, how best to allot skill points among your characters, who charges the front line and who stays in back, and how much money you have to spend on reviving dead characters. Very difficult learning curve though.
* Shiren The Wanderer: a great NDS roguelike; so if you enjoy roguelikes, definite recommendation there.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
If you combine the list of A+, "must have" titles with the slightly less polished (but great) games whose genres appeal to you, you'd probably have a list of 25 games within a couple of minutes. The library is that amazing.
I think I own 25 DS games, actually. I play it more than the PC, the 360, the PS2, or anything else I have.
EDIT. Oh dear, Tetris DS seems harder to get online.
What kind of games do you like? Maybe I could suggest some more.
Get them.
http://www.audioentropy.com/
I
Luminous Arc was appalling, and the hammish and sporadic voice-acting only increased the offense of the unsophisticated (by which I mean that a five-year-old might have written it after watching some generic anime on Sunday morning) dialogue and the disjointed, color-by-numbers plot. I will say that the gameplay might have been acceptable if the scenarios had been better-designed: combat moved along quickly and with fun animations, and I found that the small cast of characters w/ pre-set classes was far more liveable than FFTA's menu-heavy job/ability system, but most of the fights were laughably easy except for a few that were, out of nowhere, absurdly hard.
Oh -- and the art was pretty.
Portait of Ruin is pretty sweet so far. But I just know DoS is going to be better because Soma is the motherfuckin' man.
Elite Beat Agents and Ouendan 1 and 2
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
New Super Mario Bros
Mario Kart DS, but at this point only if you're not going to get the Wii version soon
Contra 4
and any awesome GBA games you may have missed
You're not alone. This is a big thing for me too. I like alot of DS games I just get very annoyed at having to play them on a small crappy screen. I've had a DS lite since they've come out but I haven't touched the thing in about a year (my wife is using it for Spanish Coach atm).
The psp on the other hand seems to have a big/high res enough screen that I don't get annoyed playing it. If I were to only keep one handheld it would be the psp.
Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
My new DS needs more soul rape, so I'm going to get Shiren the Wanderer today, before it becomes 50 dollars on Amazon like Tetris DS.
It's also inferior to the original in every way.
http://www.audioentropy.com/