DS Games

[Del Murder]

I have a 30 minute train ride to and from work every day and I use that time to play DS. I've been doing this for the last 6 years so I'm searching for more DS games I haven't played. What are your favorite DS games? Recommend me some!

Please note that I have played most of the popular games so don't bother recommending any Pokemon, Mario, Zelda, Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Professor Layton, Phoenix Wright, or Dragon Quest games. I know about those. I want some hidden gems!

For those who are also looking for a hidden gem of a DS game I highly recommend Radiant Historia. It plays like an oldschool Square SNES RPG. In fact if I were to compare this to any other game it would be Chrono Trigger, which is high praise from me since I consider CT one of the top 5 games of all time.

[Hollycat]

Megaman ZX Advent is an amazing title.
Super scribblenauts can be a fun little distraction
ViVa Pinata pocket Paradise is fantastic, better than the XBOX version
the megaman battle network games are great fun
Any kirby game except mass attack
Animal crossing Wild world

[Laddy]

999.

[blackmage_nuke]

My friend really likes Inazuma 11 but I think he just likes the accents in the english version

[NeoCracker]

Since you've been playing Persona 3, I suggest Devil Survivor. Stratagy RPG from the same makers as P3, and it is glorious. Among the best titles of the Genre, both 1 and 2. (Mind you stories aren't connected, so there is no need to play 1 before 2.)

[CimminyCricket]

The Etrian Odyssey series is a pretty awesome soul sucker. It's like an old school dungeon crawler where you walk though a dungeon and draw a map and stuff. You get to choose between 7-12 classes (based on which incarnation of the game you purchase) and you can go about with a maximum of 5 people in your party.

[Faris]

The only game I will be listing that wasn't popular is Master of the Monster Lair. I highly recommend (if you haven't tried them yet) Fire Emblem (I do hope that more of this series is released :(), The World End With You, and Scribblenauts.

[Pike]

I lost all of my DS games a while back :(

I was a HUGE fan of SimCity DS!

[Madonna]

Have you bothered with The World Ends With You? The only thing I do not see you doing on your ride is yelling to activate a certain pin-type's attack, but it is a crazy-weird story and design to it that makes The World Ends With You worthwhile. Armor? You mean sweet, fashionable threads. Weapons? You mean these super kawaii pins you can put on your backpack. Fast-paced combat takes place on both screens, your support characters are all very different, and seeking out noise can be fun.

How do you feel about the Contra series? Contra 4 is available on the DS and by all reports does the brand justice. I am led to believe that means it is hard, requires you to learn a few enemies' attack patterns the hard way, keep firing like there is no tomorrow, and loads of fun.

Lock’s Quest is a tower defense game made by the same guys who did Drawn to Life and Scribblenauts, and I enjoy all three games. The latter two because I like being creative (seriously, Drawn to Life is a lame platformer, but lets you draw and color your character, weapons, vehicles, and more) while Lock's Quest has actual good gameplay and design. It is fun and frantic.

Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Jessweeee♪ loves it. I am playing it, but I do not know how to recommend it. You click on lots of things and pursue a story?

Also seconding Etrian Odyssey. Get one, get all; whichever. They are all old-school dungeon-crawling fun.

[Hollycat]

The World ends with you is a game you are either going to love or hate with such extreme passion that you fling the game card into the nearest river, sue the developer for brain trauma, and live happily ever after in a loony bin. That or you'll just be like meh.

[Jowy]

i wish i still had my copy of "Electroplankton"...it was fun for short bursts. I got $70 for it at The Exchange though so that was rad.

Del, are you able to play any GBA games with your DS model? Since I assume you've already played everything noteworthy, take it back a handheld generation and pick up Fire Emblem and Drill Dozer.

[NeoCracker]

I just noticed Del Said this, but yes.

Radiant Historia is great. I may have a few issues with it, but on a whole it's terrific.

[krissy]

999.

[Del Murder]

I played the crap out of TWEWY. I liked the recommendation of Devil Survivor and 999 so I'll give those a try. I also may check out the Fire Emblem series at some point.

[Fynn]

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey - a really engrossing game, but be careful - it can get punishing at times.
Also, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn is nice if you've played GS 1 and 2.

[Yeargdribble]

I you haven't played the Hotel Dusk or it's sequel, you simply must do so. Simply amazing.

If you run out I'd suggest checking /v/'s Recommended Games wiki (http://vsrecommendedgames.wikia.com/wiki/Nintendo_DS). It's a great place to get a quick idea of what games are worth playing including a lot that aren't quite mainstream.

I think pretty much everything mentioned in this thread is on that list, though I can understand wanting a personal touch in your answers that suits your style of gaming.

Oh, and if you do play The Last Window (Hotel Dusk sequel), you'll have to do it the shady way, but no game is more worth it than that one.

Honestly, it's gotten so hard to find some DS games, especially the slightly more niche ones I haven't played yet, that I've fully given in to the dark side and almost exclusively emulate because I don't want to pay $80 for only the cartridge with the label half scratched off.

[Hollycat]

Fire emblem is crap on a cracker.

[Del Murder]

I've played Dark Dawn. I hope there's a sequel because it was great. One of my favorite DS games.

I'll also look into Hotel Dusk.

[I Took the Red Pill]

WarioWare Touched and Elite Beat Agents are both tons of fun; they both kind of require you to look like a total idiot whilst playing them though.

Have you checked out Age of Empires: The Age of Kings? I loved that game, and it kicked my asssssssss. Some of the missions took me ages (pun intended) to complete.

[Jiro]

Another one for Fire Emblem; I absolutely adore the series!

[Faris]

I played the crap out of TWEWY.

Yeah... This game is the reason why screen protectors became my new best friend.

[Skyblade]

The only game I will be listing that wasn't popular is Master of the Monster Lair. I highly recommend (if you haven't tried them yet) Fire Emblem (I do hope that more of this series is released :(), The World End With You, and Scribblenauts.

Fire Emblem? Really? I mean, sure the series is great, but I thought that Shadow Dragon, the DS release in the series, was easily the worst of all the US releases thus far, and not even really worth playing.

Play the GBA ones, they're far superior.

[Jiro]

Shadow Dragon is pretty good for what it is: a re-release of the original. How old is that game, anyway?

[Skyblade]

Just because you're remaking an old game, doesn't mean you have to give it graphics to match. I mean, yes, I've always been against the pointless graphics race that the industry has been in, but that doesn't mean you have to work to make things look worse! The GBA graphics were frelling beautiful, and Shadow Dragon looks like crap, especially in comparison.

The few noticeable changes were, I felt, basically all negative. The Class Swap system was pointless and I felt really detracted from the series. The extra chapters were bland.

I just felt it really could have, and should have, been executed a lot better.

[Jessweeee♪]

Hotel Dusk and TWEWY o: