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Button-mashing DS game for boyfriend?

TrowizillaTrowizilla Registered User regular
edited July 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
So my boyfriend has decided he wants a DS game to play while he's waiting around to pick me up for work. However, his taste in videogames is... rather limited.

Things the game can not have:
Lots of precision jumping. He played God of War and gets frustrated with the platforming aspects.
Obviously turn-based combat. He's fine with disguised turn-based, like in City of Heroes, but nothing with menus for combat.
High difficulty level. Think super, super-casual gamer here. If he gets frustrated, he just quits, and then we're out the price of a game.
Too long an opening sequence. He just quits.

Things that would be good:
Long/Lots of replay value.
Simple combat, but lots of it.
Not too much reading.
Not too cutesy, although exceptions can be made.

Games that he really likes:
Dynasty Warriors

Games he enjoys before getting irritated with them:
City of Heroes
God of War
Kingdom Hearts
Guitar Hero
Katamari Damacy
Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap

If anyone has suggestions for a game that would suit him, I'd love to hear him. Also appreciated would be suggestions for "gateway" videogames that might help him branch out into other genres.

TL;DR - Suggestions for DS games for my patience- and taste-challenged significant other.

Trowizilla on

Posts

  • ArikadoArikado Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Advance Wars: DoR
    The World Ends With You

    I'd recommend FFTA2 if he is into mission based RPG tactics games.

    Arikado on
    BNet: Arikado#1153 | Steam | LoL: Anzen
  • MJMJ Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Wow this... really makes it difficult, because some of the best DS and GB Advance games have a hefty load of platforming.
    I'm just gonna say 'The World Ends With You' will tickle his fancy. It's pretty intense though and reeks with style, like Kingdom Hearts.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmLdyyFKjxQ

    Also 'Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow' was pretty good imo. It requires alot of platforming and navigation though. It may be harder to find, but the sequal is pretty good I hear. It's chock full of baddie killin' though.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S2obmC4VyY

    MJ on
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  • TrowizillaTrowizilla Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Arikado wrote: »
    Advance Wars: DoR
    The World Ends With You

    I'd recommend FFTA2 if he is into mission based RPG tactics games.

    Those are all turn-based, right? He won't play those.

    Trowizilla on
  • LifeVirusZEROLifeVirusZERO Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I've never played it, but Sonic Rush might me a good idea. I'm a big fan of Sonic games and if it's anything like other Sonic games, it'd be a pretty good choice. Simple, yet fun to play. Kinda cartoony, but in a cool way. Not too much reading.

    Can anyone vouch for this game?

    LifeVirusZERO on
    6ltl5i0ap7.png
  • George Fornby GrillGeorge Fornby Grill ...Like Clockwork Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Space Invaders: Extreme is good. great for short-attention span play sessions.
    Geometry Wars is also good for short sessions. And both games include explosions.

    George Fornby Grill on
  • ArikadoArikado Southern CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Trowizilla wrote: »
    Arikado wrote: »
    Advance Wars: DoR
    The World Ends With You

    I'd recommend FFTA2 if he is into mission based RPG tactics games.

    Those are all turn-based, right? He won't play those.

    Not TWEWY.

    Arikado on
    BNet: Arikado#1153 | Steam | LoL: Anzen
  • Folken FanelFolken Fanel anime af When's KoFRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    New Super Mario Brothers
    Any of the Castlevania DS titles
    Mario Kart DS

    ...and as a dark horse.... the first thing I thought of when I saw button-mashing in the title was

    TouchTheDead.jpg

    Folken Fanel on
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    Dyvim Tvar wrote: »
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    Everybody @Folken Fanel plays as.
  • ANTVGM64ANTVGM64 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    The more I think about it, Touch the Dead may, in fact, be the perfect title.

    Guy wants twitch game, he also wants a quick game to play while waiting for girlfriend to get out of work. It's a short game, so he can beat it repeatedly, attempting to beat his highscore. Bam! Self competition and that addictive nugget that makes a game addictive. Second, it's a conversation topic that can lead to discussion.

    Boy: I beat my high score.

    Girl: That's great.

    Boy: Right.

    Girl: It's good to achieve new things.

    Boy: It is.

    See, right there, positive energy, all because of this man, this BOSTON RED SOX fan, who deserves some sort of award, I am here to provide it.

    ANTVGM64 on
  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    edited July 2008
    I am going to have to second Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, and would like to further add that people who don't like DoS probably have no soul and therefore aren't really people. There is some jumping around but most of it isn't too bad. If difficulty and menus are an issue, I would recommend against Portrait of Ruin, which frankly I found to be a pain in the ass.

    Despite the menus and the turn-taking, I found the Pokemon games were pretty good gateway games, the earlier ones especially. My own personal gateway game was .hack//INFECTION, which is a mock-MMO for the PS2. Lots of button-mashing there, though again with the menu system.

    How do you think he'd feel about a Nintendog? It's good if you're going to be playing most days (the game keeps track of time), and despite the fact that it sounds cheesy as hell, it's actually somewhat relaxing to sit and play with a little DS puppy.

    Honestly, if I were you I'd probably sit him down with a copy of Tetris and tell him to go to town.

    ceres on
    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • CyvrosCyvros Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Trowizilla wrote: »
    Things the game can not have:
    Lots of precision jumping. He played God of War and gets frustrated with the platforming aspects.
    Obviously turn-based combat. He's fine with disguised turn-based, like in City of Heroes, but nothing with menus for combat.
    High difficulty level. Think super, super-casual gamer here. If he gets frustrated, he just quits, and then we're out the price of a game.
    Too long an opening sequence. He just quits.

    Things that would be good:
    Long/Lots of replay value.
    Simple combat, but lots of it.
    Not too much reading.
    Not too cutesy, although exceptions can be made.

    I'm not a heavy gamer, so I can't make a lot of suggestions, but Lego Star Wars fits most of the requirements. Some of the jumping and shooting can get fiddly because the 'camera' angle changes occasionally, but it's got lots of basic combat (Jundland Wastes in Episode IV has literally endless combat with Tusken Raiders), you can skip the opening sequences and it's easy.

    Because it's Lego, it's slightly cutesy, especially when you get the Emperor using Force Lightning. But that's on the sort of "cool" side of cutesy.

    You have to replay each chapter at least once - I've been playing one or two chapters a day for the past two weeks and I'm still not through it. You have to collect the studs, the minikits and the red bricks to get everything done and to get this done, you have to replay some of the chapters a couple of times (and/or read walkthroughs).

    It's basically a fun game you have to go through a few times where you can't really die. And you get to build things with Lego.

    I hear that Lego Indiana Jones and Lego Batman (to be released in September, IIRC) have very similar gameplay styles, so they might be worth looking at.

    Cyvros on
  • Folken FanelFolken Fanel anime af When's KoFRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Oh fuck, Tetris DS.... goddamn. I don't care who you are, buy this fucking game. All of you.

    Folken Fanel on
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    Dyvim Tvar wrote: »
    Characters I hate:

    Everybody @Folken Fanel plays as.
  • IrukaIruka Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited July 2008
    My casual kick has always been kirby, its so goddamn easy and its less about jumping, you can fly. But Its cute and I wouldn't qualify eating things as "combat".

    Metroid is a title I want to throw out, you can get the old metroid and metroid fusion for gamboy advanced, they arent to hard to find used. I don't recall them being super platform based, but Im good at platform games so my judgment maybe clouded.

    What about something super long lasting like Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing?

    Iruka on
  • CyvrosCyvros Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Oh fuck, Tetris DS.... goddamn. I don't care who you are, buy this fucking game. All of you.
    Even Wikipedia makes it sound exciting. I'll take eight!

    Cyvros on
  • ANTVGM64ANTVGM64 Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    edited July 2008
    Do not play Animal Crossing: WW unless you like crying tears of boredom as you realize that you just paid for a new job, and it's not even a very interesting one.

    ceres on
    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • Lindsay LohanLindsay Lohan Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    There's always the Lego Starwars/Indy games - those do have some platforming, but they are mostly simple beatem ups with puzzles. The first Starwars game for the DS was also a beat em up with fun combat. If you don't mind GBA games, Final Fight One and TMNT are great. They are all a bit cutesy, but frankly with handhelds like the DS that tends to be the case.

    Ultimate Mortal Kombat for the DS is a spectacular port and great for quick pick up and play action too.

    Lindsay Lohan on
  • RyeRye Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I have a good suggestion:

    Gunstar Super Heroes.

    It's lots of fun, easy to control, has two different characters you can go through with, and it's hella fast paced action.

    Watch some of this video and see what a cool seizure it makes:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DClg7Wr4IhA&feature=related

    It's actually a GBA game, but it plays in the DS.
    (The embed doesn't work - Click the link)

    Rye on
  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    How about Meteos? It's got some frantic scribbling action, lots of replayability, unlockables, multiplayer (with one or more carts, I believe) and an awesome soundtrack.

    Forar on
    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • DeathPrawnDeathPrawn Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, maybe. I haven't played more than the demo, but it was chock full of action-y goodness.

    DeathPrawn on
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  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    DeathPrawn wrote: »
    Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, maybe. I haven't played more than the demo, but it was chock full of action-y goodness.

    Yeah, I was about to say the same thing.

    Daedalus on
  • anonywhoanonywho Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I second Meteos, would he be into something like Wario Ware?

    anonywho on
  • RubickRubick Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    If he doesn't like precision jumping, I wouldn't really recommend New Super Mario Brothers. I suck at that aspect and New SMB drives me crazy over it.

    Rubick on
  • Post BluePost Blue Redmond, WARegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Sounds to me like he would enjoy Castlevania: Dawn of Souls very much. Simple yet enjoyable platforming, satisfying leisurely combat, mild puzzle solving, soul collection system that lets you determine your own level of involvement. Perfect.

    Post Blue on
    Moments before the wind.
  • TechBoyTechBoy Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    What the hell people.

    Why hasn't anyone recommended Phantom Hourglass yet?
    Things that would be good:
    Long/Lots of replay value. CHECK
    Simple combat, but lots of it. CHECK
    Not too much reading. CHECK
    Not too cutesy, although exceptions can be made. uh... CHECK?
    Awesomest Game ever!! CHECK

    TechBoy on
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  • MahnmutMahnmut Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Rocket Slime? Simple combat, highly replayable, text can safely be ignored. Caveat: Is cute.

    Mahnmut on
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  • MundaneSoulMundaneSoul fight fighter Daehan MingukRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    There are a lot of great recommendations here and a lot of fairly dense ones by people who clearly didn't read the OP. I'm playing Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow right now and it's brilliant, but it breaks two of your rules: it has plenty of platforming and could prove difficult for a casual gamer.

    Sonic Rush is a good recommendation - the gameplay is very fast-paced without a lot of the more complex platforming aspects of earlier Sonic games...it's mostly just about blazing through everything as quickly as possible.

    Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword also seems like another good recommendation, though I've not played it and am unsure where it's at as far as platforming/difficulty go.

    Also, Space Invaders and/or Geometry Wars may just be the perfect game(s) for your guy. They're very easy to pick up and play and loads of fun.

    And you need the GBA Gunstar Heroes. Because it's Gunstar Heroes.
    Mahnmut wrote: »
    Rocket Slime? Simple combat, highly replayable, text can safely be ignored. Caveat: Is cute.

    I won't debate that Rocket Slime is a wonderful game, but while the text can be safely ignored, there's also a decent amount of it and a fairly lengthy opening sequence.

    MundaneSoul on
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  • Post BluePost Blue Redmond, WARegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    There are a lot of great recommendations here and a lot of fairly dense ones by people who clearly didn't read the OP. I'm playing Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow right now and it's brilliant, but it breaks two of your rules: it has plenty of platforming and could prove difficult for a casual gamer.
    I definitely read the original post, and I got the impression that the boyfriend is okay with platforming itself as long as it's not too tedious and doesn't involve 'lots of precision jumping'. Maybe not, but that's how I read it. You clearly think of Dawn of Sorrow differently, but in my opinion the platforming is very accessible, minimally emphasized and of absolutely no consequence, and the game overall is the most casual experience in a series that hasn't been difficult since its 16-bit days.

    He wants lots of replay value, simple combat (and lots of it), not much reading and nothing too cutesy -- all of which apply here. I still think he might like it.

    Post Blue on
    Moments before the wind.
  • Folken FanelFolken Fanel anime af When's KoFRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    TechBoy wrote: »
    What the hell people.

    Why hasn't anyone recommended Phantom Hourglass yet?
    Things that would be good:
    Long/Lots of replay value. CHECK
    Simple combat, but lots of it. CHECK
    Not too much reading. CHECK
    Not too cutesy, although exceptions can be made. uh... CHECK?
    Awesomest Game ever!! CHECK

    because he didn't really get into Minish Cap?

    Folken Fanel on
    Twitter: Folken_fgc Steam: folken_ XBL: flashg03 PSN: folken_PA SFV: folken_
    Dyvim Tvar wrote: »
    Characters I hate:

    Everybody @Folken Fanel plays as.
  • CyvrosCyvros Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I played a few chapters of Lego Indiana Jones last night and I found it requires a bit more precision jumping than Lego Star Wars, but they're both pretty similar otherwise in the controls department (I find Lego Indy cuter, though).

    Cyvros on
  • blanknogoblanknogo Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    blanknogo on
  • TechBoyTechBoy Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    TechBoy wrote: »
    What the hell people.

    Why hasn't anyone recommended Phantom Hourglass yet?
    Things that would be good:
    Long/Lots of replay value. CHECK
    Simple combat, but lots of it. CHECK
    Not too much reading. CHECK
    Not too cutesy, although exceptions can be made. uh... CHECK?
    Awesomest Game ever!! CHECK

    because he didn't really get into Minish Cap?

    Well, the only thing we know for sure that the bf likes is Dynasty Warriors, which is basically a game about cutting through throngs of enemies like butter and doing the occasional badass super move. I'm pretty sure there's not anything like a portable Dynasty Warriors for the DS.

    But if what appeals to him about that game is the simple but fluid combat (and not say, the Three Kingdoms setting, or the minor RPG elements) then I would still recommend PH. The stylus based combat is intuitive and I got a Dynasty Warrior-ish vibe from time to time when I was slashing away at monsters.

    Although I will admit that the game is heavy on puzzles and questing for this or that and not so much on combat, so if he really despises that aspect of the Zelda games then I guess PH won't be that much different.

    TechBoy on
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  • DoleyBobDoleyBob Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    TechBoy wrote: »
    TechBoy wrote: »
    What the hell people.

    Why hasn't anyone recommended Phantom Hourglass yet?
    Things that would be good:
    Long/Lots of replay value. CHECK
    Simple combat, but lots of it. CHECK
    Not too much reading. CHECK
    Not too cutesy, although exceptions can be made. uh... CHECK?
    Awesomest Game ever!! CHECK

    because he didn't really get into Minish Cap?

    Well, the only thing we know for sure that the bf likes is Dynasty Warriors, which is basically a game about cutting through throngs of enemies like butter and doing the occasional badass super move. I'm pretty sure there's not anything like a portable Dynasty Warriors for the DS.

    But if what appeals to him about that game is the simple but fluid combat (and not say, the Three Kingdoms setting, or the minor RPG elements) then I would still recommend PH. The stylus based combat is intuitive and I got a Dynasty Warrior-ish vibe from time to time when I was slashing away at monsters.

    Although I will admit that the game is heavy on puzzles and questing for this or that and not so much on combat, so if he really despises that aspect of the Zelda games then I guess PH won't be that much different.


    Actually...there was a Dynasty Warriors made for the GBA which you can get on amazon no problem.

    http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-73571-Dynasty-Warriors-Advance/dp/B0009XEC2A/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1217418689&sr=8-21

    It's only 6 bucks before shipping too. Now I'm totally unsure of its quality but hey, it hits the nail right on the head. You may also want to try looking into some of the regular beat 'em ups on the DS and GBA since I know they're out there but I'll be damned if I can think of any off the top of my head right now.

    DoleyBob on
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    The GBA version (not the DS version) of the TMNT game that came out a couple years ago is a great sidescrolling beat-em-up.

    I've also heard good things about Contra...4? The DS one.

    KalTorak on
  • ManonvonSuperockManonvonSuperock Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Contra would rape him on easy. That is a no-go.

    ManonvonSuperock on
  • TrowizillaTrowizilla Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Update: We went to Gamestop and he's picked out two games: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (because he saw me playing it and it's pretty easy, go figure) and a Spiderman game that he's enjoying. I'm going to borrow Phantom Hourglass from my brother, so we'll see if he likes that without spending money on it. I already have Rocket Slime (omg adorable) so I might see if Boyfriend will give that a whirl, too, but it may be too cutesy. So, those will be next on the list of Thngs to Try, as I won't have to spend money.

    Touch the Dead sounds perfect for him except for the difficulty level. That may wait until he gets used to the DS a little more and stops flailing at the touch screen.

    Lego Star Wars is an excellent idea and I'll be on the lookout for it. Lego Batman would be even better; the boy loves Batman more than he loves me.

    He's actually kind of interested in getting a proper Pokemon game, mostly because I keep squealing about the awesomeness of my Infernape. He'll need his own, though; no way am I erasing one of my saves. :P I'm thinking Fire Red or Leaf Green might be a nice, simple entrance to the series.

    A lot of the remakes of older games are too hard for him, sadly. Plus, they nearly always have tons of jumping.

    Ninja Gaiden sounds interesting, as long as the difficulty isn't too high.

    Sonic Rush is a good idea.

    Lots of suggestions for Dawn of Souls. My only worries are that it might be too difficult and that he might balk at the gothic-ish style of it. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, there are no punk-themed games about killing Dracula, so he may have to just suck it up.

    Thanks for the ideas, everyone! I've got enough to keep him entertained for awhile, yay.

    Trowizilla on
  • Asamof the HorribleAsamof the Horrible Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    blanknogo wrote: »

    Not only does it have endless dialogue and awful character designs, but it's terrible dialogue that makes you want to claw your eyes out (or just rapid tap the screen until the words go away)

    I suggest geometry wars

    Asamof the Horrible on
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