RPGs for the DS?

Yopaz

Sarcastic overlord
Jun 3, 2009
6,092
0
0
Capitano Segnaposto said:
Corinthian said:
Well, I finally caved and bought a 3DS XL. At this point in my life, a portable gaming experience is just more realistic for me. But that's beside the point.

I snagged a copy of Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest IX. Enjoying both thus far. But I'm looking for a few other titles to help kickstart my collection. In particular, I'm eyeing a few RPGs:

- Nostalgia (gave my a total Skies of Arcadia vibe)
- Tales of the Abyss (looked fun, though I've read some so-so reviews)
- Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals

Does anyone here have any input on these games, positive or negative? Am I missing some must-have RPG/Action RPG titles? Some of my all-time favorites include FF9, Rogue Galaxy, Dragon Quest 8, Xenogears, Dragon Age Origins, and Skies of Arcadia. I'm an unabashed fan of turn-based battles, overworld maps, and grinding.

I am not a fan of strategy RPGs, I fear. Which is a shame, as I dug the atmosphere of the new Fire Emblem but I just can't get into the gameplay.

I really do appreciate any advice one way or the other. I'd rather not break the bank as I build up my DS collection.
Okay, massive list incoming:

Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
Etrian Oddyssey
Etrian Odyssey 2
Etrian Odyssey 3
Etrian Odyssey 4 (3DS)
The World Ends With You
Dragon Quest 4
Dragon Quest 5
Dragon Quest 6
Dragon Quest 9
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded
Pokemon Pearl/Diamond/Platinum (Not a huge fan of Gen 4 myself)
Pokemon SoulSilver/HeartGold
Pokemon Black/White
Pokemon Black2/White2
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey


I know you don't much care for Turn-based, but these two games are some of my all time favorites, pick them up and if you can, wait for the updated version for the sequel on 3DS:

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor: Overclocked
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2

While not nearly the size of the PsP's JRPG library, it is still sizable with at least 1,000 hours worth of games here.
He said he was an unabashed fan of turn based. It was strategy RPGs he didn't care for.
 

Subbies

New member
Dec 11, 2010
296
0
0
One of my favorites for the ds is Magical starsign. It's pretty, fun and has a good sense of humor.
 

Shoggoth2588

New member
Aug 31, 2009
10,250
0
0
VoidWanderer said:
If you want a decent DBZ RPG, I definitely recommend DBZ: Attack of the Saiyans.

It felt great to play a proper DBZ RPG from a little before the first Goku vs. Piccolo Jr fight (You start as Tien, Yamcha and Chiaotzu) to the end of the Vegeta Saga. I figured the standard DS recommendations are here so I figured I would recommend this.

Sucks they haven't made a sequel for it yet.
What really sucks is how that game has kind of become a collector's item...I don't know how much it is at Gamestop or if you get it as a cart-only kind of thing but if you want it new you're going to have to shell out.

Any given Pokemon would be good for a DS RPG. My personal favorites being the Heart Gold/ Soul Silver titles.
 

Yopaz

Sarcastic overlord
Jun 3, 2009
6,092
0
0
Capitano Segnaposto said:
Yopaz said:
Capitano Segnaposto said:
Corinthian said:
Well, I finally caved and bought a 3DS XL. At this point in my life, a portable gaming experience is just more realistic for me. But that's beside the point.

I snagged a copy of Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest IX. Enjoying both thus far. But I'm looking for a few other titles to help kickstart my collection. In particular, I'm eyeing a few RPGs:

- Nostalgia (gave my a total Skies of Arcadia vibe)
- Tales of the Abyss (looked fun, though I've read some so-so reviews)
- Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals

Does anyone here have any input on these games, positive or negative? Am I missing some must-have RPG/Action RPG titles? Some of my all-time favorites include FF9, Rogue Galaxy, Dragon Quest 8, Xenogears, Dragon Age Origins, and Skies of Arcadia. I'm an unabashed fan of turn-based battles, overworld maps, and grinding.

I am not a fan of strategy RPGs, I fear. Which is a shame, as I dug the atmosphere of the new Fire Emblem but I just can't get into the gameplay.

I really do appreciate any advice one way or the other. I'd rather not break the bank as I build up my DS collection.
Okay, massive list incoming:

Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
Etrian Oddyssey
Etrian Odyssey 2
Etrian Odyssey 3
Etrian Odyssey 4 (3DS)
The World Ends With You
Dragon Quest 4
Dragon Quest 5
Dragon Quest 6
Dragon Quest 9
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Kingdom Hearts RE:Coded
Pokemon Pearl/Diamond/Platinum (Not a huge fan of Gen 4 myself)
Pokemon SoulSilver/HeartGold
Pokemon Black/White
Pokemon Black2/White2
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey


I know you don't much care for Turn-based, but these two games are some of my all time favorites, pick them up and if you can, wait for the updated version for the sequel on 3DS:

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor: Overclocked
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2

While not nearly the size of the PsP's JRPG library, it is still sizable with at least 1,000 hours worth of games here.
He said he was an unabashed fan of turn based. It was strategy RPGs he didn't care for.
I forgot to add in the "Strategy" part after the Turn-based part. I will go fix that now.
That makes sense then, you did recommend an awful lot og games with turn based combat so I was a little confused there.

Also I forgot to say it in my last post, great work with that list!
 
Jan 1, 2013
193
0
0
Corinthian said:
Sir Christopher McFarlane said:
I would think of buying Radiant Historia (DS title). It's a game made in part by Atlus' Persona team. It centers around time-traveling, with your hero named Stocke attempting to bring to a end the war that has been ruining his continent. The war is speeding the process of desertification of said continent and is a misuse of its resources. He lives and can re-live key moments in History that command the fate of that continent. The time-travel aspect is used in an interesting manner. You can use it at will in every save point. As the game progresses, you get abilities that will allow you to explore areas you have already been through more completely, almost as a Zelda game. You gain abilities such as seeing the invisible, using explosives and cutting down vegetation.
The battle system is turn-based. Your adversaries will be disposed in a 9-tile square, where you can shuffle them around to advantageous positions. It's a nice addition to the usual menu-driven system. It also employs chaining attacks for better damage. The game isn't grindy. You learn abilities by leveling up and completing sidequests.
The music is very good too. It was scored by Yoko Shimomura.

Since you're a fan of Dragon Quest VIII, I think you should try V on the DS. It has an uncommonly gripping story for the series' standard. The game's battle system is what you expect out of DQ. In V, ou control your protagonist as a kid as he grows into a husband and a father and searches for the Legendary Hero that can smite the Lord of the Underworld, who is breaking out of his prison bit by bit. The game allows you to recruit, equip, train and control the ordinary mosters you find on random encounters as player characters, as well as add some story characters to your party. I think this is the best Dragon Quest game.
Hey, both of those sound awesome. DQ V particularly sounds cool-- can't think of many games where you control your protagonist from childhood to fatherhood. Are there actual party members you can recruit and interact with?

Big knock on DQ IX-- creating your party members creates a rather hollow feeling.
Yes. Including, but not limited to your immidiate family. Most interaction happens in the form of the party dialogue, as in DQ8. In V, the party dialogue happens on the exploration screen. You don't need to load a new one.
I would give a thought to buying Radiant Hisotira first, as Atlus games have less copies around than Squeenix games.
 

madwarper

New member
Mar 17, 2011
1,841
0
0
Elementary - Dear Watson said:
Rune Factory... Was that the Harvest Moon with combat game that came bout?
Usually the same as normal Harvest Moon; Getting established, building up your homestead, developing relationships with the locals, proposing and marrying one of the maidens.

Add some hack and slash action bits to gather materials to craft better equipment.

Heck, half of the main story of RF2 as locked until you had a kid.
Someone gave it to me, but I am yet to play it! Any good? What i it like? Any tips? (I always sucked at the start of Harvest Moon games... What's the best wat to start this? What shall I focus on growing/collecting?)
That depends on which one you've got. RF, RF2, RF3 on the DS, RF: Frontier or RF: Tides on the Wii. I've only played RF3, Frontier and Tides.

You start out with your farmstead in shambles. So, you grow/collect on what clear parts there are. And, as you gradually get more tools (axe/hammer), you can clear more of your farm of debris and can plant more. Then, with enough building materials (lumber), you can build a barn. After some dungeon exploring, you can befriend some monsters to have them gradually take over your farming duties, giving you more time for dungeon exploring.

Also, as you explore the dungeons, the materials will be able to upgrade your basic farm tools so you can farm with more efficiency.
ie. The watercan starts at 1x1, then 1x3, then 3x3, then 3x9, then 9x9.

Then again, it's really up to you how you play the game. I've heard of some people who forgo farming altogether and rely mostly on fishing.
 

Azaraxzealot

New member
Dec 1, 2009
2,403
0
0
Corinthian said:
Terminate421 said:
Pokemon: Black 2 or White 2 will satisfy you, though you won't get much milage out of the 3DS until X and Y come out. It'll easily fit your RPG needs, the difficulty and levels have been ramped up and there are over 300 available pokemon in game.
Man oh man. I haven't played Pokemon since Red/Blue. Has it changed much beyond the addition of new Pokemon?

And any major differences between Black 2/White 2?
All the changes have been good (unlike most game franchises, which introduce new elements that may be reviled):
-You can breed pokemon to get more pokemon and sometimes they can even inherit moves of the parents.
-You no longer need to worry about your "box" being full when catching pokemon, theyll automatically be put into a new box if one is full.
-More pokemon means more balance in the metagame and also more options than all psychic types.
-You can re-use TMs infinitely like HMs.
-You can make pokemon un-learn HMs
-You can get pokemon to learn moves that they had from previous levels in case you caught them at a higher level.
-I've never had it crash or freeze on me since the RSE era
-All the pokemon are animated in battle so you can see them moving around and shit and it's cool
-Unlimited bag space (at least I've never run out)
-Able to trade and battle over the internet (you don't even need cables to battle in the same room anymore)
-They're certainly longer now.

All in all, if you liked Red/Blue, you'll be more than satisfied with later games.
 

Tom_green_day

New member
Jan 5, 2013
1,384
0
0
While I don't have a DS, you may enjoy Monster Hunter (whatever the new one's called). It has strong RPG elements as well as hack 'n' slash gameplay for the most part, although you can really choose your approach. If you like Japanesey aesthetics, you could do a lot worse.
(This is from someone that can't stand JRPGs)
 

DRTJR

New member
Aug 7, 2009
651
0
0
Radiant Historia, Pokemon Black or White (Surpisingly good story), and Golden Sun, were all exelent RPGs IMHO so take that for what you will.
 

Corinthian

New member
Apr 7, 2013
26
0
0
Thanks a ton for the replies. I'm attempting to track down a copy of Radiant Historia. Hope to also snag Nostalgia, despite its mediocre reviews.

Scarim Coral said:
Let see-

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. It isn't too important that you had to played the previous two GBA games beforehand.

Phantasy Star Zero. It pretty much like any other Phantasy Star games like Online but on a much smaller scale but it's still a great game to played.
I loved the original Golden Sun. Lots of good memories with that title. I'll look into this latest entry.

And Phantasy Star Zero has certainly piqued my interested. How is the online component doing? Worth trying?
 

Snoozer

New member
Jun 8, 2011
132
0
0
The World Ends With You! Very good title, interesting battle system and it hasn't got the usual fantasy setting (like so many other RPGs)
Also Pokemon Black/White 1. Only around 150 Pokemon till you finish the game, very well made and it actually got me playing Pokemon again.
 

Scarim Coral

Jumped the ship
Legacy
Oct 29, 2010
18,157
2
3
Country
UK
Corinthian said:
Thanks a ton for the replies. I'm attempting to track down a copy of Radiant Historia. Hope to also snag Nostalgia, despite its mediocre reviews.

Scarim Coral said:
Let see-

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. It isn't too important that you had to played the previous two GBA games beforehand.

Phantasy Star Zero. It pretty much like any other Phantasy Star games like Online but on a much smaller scale but it's still a great game to played.
I loved the original Golden Sun. Lots of good memories with that title. I'll look into this latest entry.

And Phantasy Star Zero has certainly piqued my interested. How is the online component doing? Worth trying?
Err last time I've check, the online multiplayer was a ghost town (took ages to hook up with someone and even then it was only with one person and not a full 4 member party). In saying so however this was when the game was out months after release so no more steady flow of new people who bought the game.
It was still possible to played online by yourself since it's the same as the story/ offline mode but the emenies were alot harder (can still be defeated depending on your gear).
If you still want to played online with others you best bet is finding others to co op with you (don't asked me, I stop playing that game ages ago) or maybe signing up to a PSO website like PSO Planet but I don't know if they still playing it (probably the die hard fans).
 

McMarbles

New member
May 7, 2009
1,566
0
0
Nostalgia was just plain old-school fun. My only complaint was how utterly worthless magic was.

Tales of the Abyss has shaped up to be pretty good.

The Lufia remake was a big disappointment.

Here's some other less-well-known ones...

The Rune Factory series is interesting.

Suikoden Tierkris was overlooked and underrated.

Sands of Destruction was... something to play. It was okay when I was playing it but I barely remember the thing.

Magical Starsign was a very early DS RPG and a spiritual sequel to the Japan-only Magical Vacation. It starts out cute and takes a left turn into Nightmare Fuel territory.

Avalon Code was an interesting experiment, though I'd say it's technically more of a Zelda-style action-adventure than an RPG.
 

Corinthian

New member
Apr 7, 2013
26
0
0
madwarper said:
This thread is lacking Etrian Odyssey. Escapist, I am disappoint.

If you can find EO2 or EO3 for the DS, GET THEM!
EO4 has been released on the 3DS, and you can try the demo on the shop.
An updated remake of EO1 is going to be released in Japan sometime this summer.


Also, the Rune Factory series is worth looking into for action/RPG.
Rune Factory 4 should be released outside Japan on the 3DS this summer.
Is there much of a plot/character development in the Etrian Odyssey series? Or is it strictly dungeon crawling?

And how much action is really in the Rune Factory series? Does it feel tacked on?
 

sextus the crazy

New member
Oct 15, 2011
2,348
0
0
Elementary - Dear Watson said:
Also... Check out Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, and Bowsers Inside Story for some fun turn based Mario games that are actually quite fun!
QFT. I've played both of them and they're both a blast.

Elementary - Dear Watson said:
Radient Historia has great reviews too... I haven't played it yet though!
haven't played to far in, but some cool ideas to keep you intersted.

Elementary - Dear Watson said:
New Fire Emblem which looks awesome!
The new fire emblem is awesome!

Elementary - Dear Watson said:
There is an older Fire Emblem on the DS too, a port of Shadow Dragon which could be good! (If you can source it!)
It's solid, but not great. The JP only sequel is better, so get a copy and then use the fan translation.

OT: Can't think any that haven't been mentioned. The World Ends with You is probably my fav JRPG for the DS, so there's that.
 

madwarper

New member
Mar 17, 2011
1,841
0
0
Corinthian said:
Is there much of a plot/character development in the Etrian Odyssey series? Or is it strictly dungeon crawling?
While there is a plot, it's bare-bones at best. And, since you register all your own guild out of their selection of classes, there's no character development (other than levels, skills, equipment, etc).
EO is more akin to the classic "Here's a dungeon, explore. Why? 'Cause it's there, that's why."

And how much action is really in the Rune Factory series? Does it feel tacked on?
Quite a bit. There are 4 seasonal dungeons, and at least one other final dungeon.
 

wintercoat

New member
Nov 26, 2011
1,691
0
0
Do you like Castlevania? If so, or hell, even if you're not much of a fan, check out Order of Eclessia. Excellent game. Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow are alright, but Eclessia is the best of the three.

I'll second the Etrian Odyssey series, though their hard as fuck. Expect to be grinding a lot if you pick these games up. Oh, and F.O.E. You will learn to hate those glowing balls of hate and malice.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 1+2 are pretty good SRPGs, and Strange Journey is also really good. Kinda like Pokemon, only with demons and it takes place during the Apocalypse.

All of the Final Fantasy games are worth a look. There's a whole list of them. I would strongly recommend Final Fantasy Tactics A2, though it, also, is an SRPG.

The Mario 7 Luigi games are some of the best Mario games put out on any platform. I wish I could get a 3DS for when the next one is released.

All of the Pokemon games are worth a play, though if you're only going to play one of them, I'll recommend Black and White. I haven't played B2 & W2 yet, but all things considered, they're probably good as well.

Though you're not a fan of SRPGs, I'lkl still recommend Pokemon Conquest. It's really, really good. It's about what you'd expect from a Pokemon SRPG, but with a medieval Japan coating.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Re:Coded are worth playing if you've played the other games. They're both solid installments in the series.

The Rune Factory games are all fun, though I'd personally stay away from 2. Locking away 50%+ of the game until after you have a kid is bullshit. :mad: 1 and 3 are solid games though. I personally find 1 to be the strongest of the three.

And I will second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh Radiant Historia. One of the best RPGs I've played in a while, with a great story, fun mechanics, strong character development, and engaging combat that involves a bit of strategy. It is a solid game in every aspect.
 

Corinthian

New member
Apr 7, 2013
26
0
0
wintercoat said:
Do you like Castlevania? If so, or hell, even if you're not much of a fan, check out Order of Eclessia. Excellent game. Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow are alright, but Eclessia is the best of the three.

All of the Final Fantasy games are worth a look. There's a whole list of them. I would strongly recommend Final Fantasy Tactics A2, though it, also, is an SRPG.

The Mario 7 Luigi games are some of the best Mario games put out on any platform. I wish I could get a 3DS for when the next one is released.

And I will second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh Radiant Historia. One of the best RPGs I've played in a while, with a great story, fun mechanics, strong character development, and engaging combat that involves a bit of strategy. It is a solid game in every aspect.
Are you talking old school Castlevania? Or Lords of Shadow-type? But I'll look into Order of Eclessia. Appreciate the tip.

And have you spent much time with the FF4 DS remake?
 
Jan 1, 2013
193
0
0
I have. I think it's the best version of FF IV. It expands upon the storyline of the original, adds voice acting, the 3D bobbleheaded characters are cute and the battle system has been revamped.
It used to be FFIV would drop you a character with a nearly useless ability like Edward, whose only abilities are waisting a turn singing or getting out of you sight. In the DS version, he has a brilliant ability called Bardsong that can inflict status effects on the whole enemy team reliably, and that can be inherited as an augment when he is gone.
The abilities now either work properly, or have been exchanged by ones that do, and some others have been added in just for kicks. They all work reliably, which is good because the game is much harder than it used to be.
The New Game Plus is still BS though. You can only fight the game's superboss if you play it twice. I haven't done that.