Top five RPGs on the DS

[Fynn]

Alright, my turn. The DS was an awesome platform for RPGs. List your favorites!

(could someone edit the title and icon so that it fits the theme in the other threads? I just don't pay enough attention these days)

Here's my list, in no particular order:

Radiant Historia
Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Final Fantasy TA2
Pokemon Black Version
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Wanna put SMT: Strange Journey somewhere in there too, but I can't decide.

[blackmage_nuke]

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is the only non port DS RPG i've played
I've played but havent finished Chrono Trigger DS

[Bolivar]

My favorites really are the Dragon Quest, Pokemon, and Final Fantasy III remakes.

[Wolf Kanno]

5. Final Fantasy: Four Heroes of Light - I'm cheating because I haven't actually finished this game but I was pretty damn impressed with what I've seen of it so far. It has an interesting take on the job class system and a quirky cast of characters.

4. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 - I like to think of this game as the anti-FFTA because they seem like polar opposites to me. While FFTA had a great story and good gameplay boggled down by some questionable game design choices, FFTA2 largely fixes a lot of problems the most prominent being mission variety. This is a really well crafted game that while not perfect was fun to play. The downside is that it's cast of characters and main story are forgettable, in fact the side-missions have more compelling characters and writing than the main cast and even getting some FFXII characters as team mates isn't enough to save the cast. Now if only we could get a FFTA remake using FFTA2 game design...

3. Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey - Course I'm going to put this on here. This is a really well crafted dungeon crawler that while it is both frustrating and slow at time, really brought back that old school RPG feel. If you want to know what "classic" MegaTen felt like from a dungeon perspective, here is your game with walls with invisible paths, trap doors, warp points, damage floors optional mini-bosses that might be a pain or might be a Fiend who will totally ream you. Hell, even the plot is surprisingly really well done if still muted. is probably one of the few MegaTen games where both Law and Chaos heroes are presented as flawed but genuinely human characters whose choices seem reasonable considering all they both go through. With that said, despite it's high ranking on this list I would probably never recommend it to anyone because it's old school enough to be infuriating, but maybe that is why I love it.

2. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 - Is one of the best written KH games. Seriously Roxas and Xion have the most soul crushing storyline from an SE game and this game just rubs it into your face. The gameplay is surprisingly better than you would think it would be though still not as good as other entries but the game did seem to finally figure out how to make magic work in a 3D action game which served them well when BbS came around.

1. The World Ends With You - Go play this, it's like the best RPG on the DS. I shouldn't have to sell this to you. :colbert:

[Colonel Angus]

The only one I played was III, which was pretty good.

[Fynn]

5. Final Fantasy: Four Heroes of Light - I'm cheating because I haven't actually finished this game but I was pretty damn impressed with what I've seen of it so far. It has an interesting take on the job class system and a quirky cast of characters.

4. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 - I like to think of this game as the anti-FFTA because they seem like polar opposites to me. While FFTA had a great story and good gameplay boggled down by some questionable game design choices, FFTA2 largely fixes a lot of problems the most prominent being mission variety. This is a really well crafted game that while not perfect was fun to play. The downside is that it's cast of characters and main story are forgettable, in fact the side-missions have more compelling characters and writing than the main cast and even getting some FFXII characters as team mates isn't enough to save the cast. Now if only we could get a FFTA remake using FFTA2 game design...

3. Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey - Course I'm going to put this on here. This is a really well crafted dungeon crawler that while it is both frustrating and slow at time, really brought back that old school RPG feel. If you want to know what "classic" MegaTen felt like from a dungeon perspective, here is your game with walls with invisible paths, trap doors, warp points, damage floors optional mini-bosses that might be a pain or might be a Fiend who will totally ream you. Hell, even the plot is surprisingly really well done if still muted. is probably one of the few MegaTen games where both Law and Chaos heroes are presented as flawed but genuinely human characters whose choices seem reasonable considering all they both go through. With that said, despite it's high ranking on this list I would probably never recommend it to anyone because it's old school enough to be infuriating, but maybe that is why I love it.

2. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 - Is one of the best written KH games. Seriously Roxas and Xion have the most soul crushing storyline from an SE game and this game just rubs it into your face. The gameplay is surprisingly better than you would think it would be though still not as good as other entries but the game did seem to finally figure out how to make magic work in a 3D action game which served them well when BbS came around.

1. The World Ends With You - Go play this, it's like the best RPG on the DS. I shouldn't have to sell this to you. :colbert:

Holy crap! I totally forgot about TWEWY! It IS one of the most brilliant things in existence. Though I've personally only experienced the iOS port, which is probably why I forgot to put it here.

[Skyblade]

Final Fantasy Tactics A2
Rune Factory 3 (I usually see this series counted as RPG, but I don't know what you guys will declare)
The World Ends With You (it has some design decisions I hate, but it's still a fantastic game)
Pokémon Platinum
Radiant Historia

[Del Murder]

I agree that the DS was a great platform for RPGs. There are a lot to choose from. My list:

1. Radiant Historia - You are wrong Wolf, this is better than TWEWY
2. The World Ends With You
3. Final Fantasy Tactics A2
4. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
5. Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days

Honorable mention: Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon, Golden Sun Dark Dawn, Mario & Luigi Partners in Time, Pokemon Black & White, FF Four Heroes of Light.

[Vyk]

Outside of the PS2, this is the other main console I keep going back and grabbing games I missed. I got the system pretty early in its life, but never really made a whole lot of use of it, sadly. I really want to try Radiant Historia and The Wold Ends With You, among a few other lesser regarded ones. Like Devil Survivor

[Wolf Kanno]

1. Radiant Historia - You are wrong Wolf, this is better than TWEWY


Hey, I never got around to playing it but it's on my list of games to pick up. So with that said, as far as I am aware TWEWY is the greatest RPG on the DS .:colbert:

[metagloria]

Is TWEWY really so good? Maybe I should check it out.

I'm not particularly proud of this, but a DS RPG holds the distinction of being the game I sunk the most hours into in a single playthrough: Dragon Quest IX. Those grottoes, man. 190+ hours.

[Skyblade]

Is TWEWY really so good? Maybe I should check it out.

I kind of hate the combat system, and I really don't like the way the multi-act structure gates content and equipment.

But the important things: characters, setting, premise, writing, etcetera... Those are all really strong.

[Del Murder]

TWEWY is one of the most innovative games to come out in years. It's excellent.

I'll concede, Radiant Historia is not as innovative. But the way it expertly captures the 16-bit era of RPGs while also adding a few new twists in both combat and storytelling brought a tear to this old man's eye (not really but it is good).

[Skyblade]

TWEWY is one of the most innovative games to come out in years. It's excellent.

I'll concede, Radiant Historia is not as innovative. But the way it expertly captures the 16-bit era of RPGs while also adding a few new twists in both combat and storytelling brought a tear to this old man's eye (not really but it is good).

You are going to be bawling when you finally play Bravely Default.

[metagloria]

Is TWEWY really so good? Maybe I should check it out.

I kind of hate the combat system, and I really don't like the way the multi-act structure gates content and equipment.

But the important things: characters, setting, premise, writing, etcetera... Those are all really strong.
Actually, to me, combat system and non-gated content are kiiiiiind of the important things.

[Skyblade]

Is TWEWY really so good? Maybe I should check it out.

I kind of hate the combat system, and I really don't like the way the multi-act structure gates content and equipment.

But the important things: characters, setting, premise, writing, etcetera... Those are all really strong.
Actually, to me, combat system and non-gated content are kiiiiiind of the important things.

I love non-gated content. The problem was that everything was incredibly gated in that game. It was simply impossible to get the items required to obtain 95% of the shop items at any one time. To make things worse, there was absolutely no way of planning, because you had no foreknowledge of what shops would be available, or what they would require.


The combat overall was great, but there was absolutely no reason to force you to use the touch screen for it, and I just got sick of the amount of swiping and tapping it made you do. Button controls work fine, we know this because the game uses them for controlling the top screen. There is no reason they couldn't work for the bottom screen too.

[maybee]

1 Final Fantasy IV DS

2 Final Fantasy Tactics A2

3 Radiant Historia- Agree that it's better than TWEWY

4 Dragon Quest IX

5 Kingdom Hearts -DDD

[Del Murder]

That last one is 3DS! You should replace it with TWEWY.

[Yellow_Magic]

Oh God these questions are getting tougher and tougher :<

IN NO ORDER this time:

- TWEWY
- SMT: Devil Survivor
- SMT: Devil Survivor 2
- FFTA2
- Pokemon Black

I'm currently playing Radiant Historia and am finding it fascinating. It's gonna knock FFTA2 off that list at this rate..

[Skyblade]

That last one is 3DS! You should replace it with TWEWY.

It's not her fault there isn't a "Top Five RPGs on the 3DS" thread yet. Although I'm not sure anyone would want one, the Top Five are probably going to be really predictable.

Besides, we'd probably get Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days there instead.

[proseprincess]

I know the thread is a bit old, but I still wanted to share

1. Virtues Last Reward. This game was a sequel to 999, but I personally enjoyed VLR's story more, and what
a story it was! 999 & VLR have a fantastic plot. I'd definitely say that this series has the best storytelling on the 3DS. It's a tad unknown, but if you get the chance, check it out!

2. Bravely Default. I know many people get frustrated about the very repetitive second half, but I'm fairy tolerant, so the positive aspects really stand out. This has to be the prettiest game on the 3DS. The pop up style art looks amazing with the 3D and really exudes a "classic" feel. The plot is solid and I managed to form an attachment to our main characters

3. Persona Q. This is a very fan service-y game with a huge cast, that being so, some characters suffer from "one note" syndrome. Despite this, the design of the labyrinths and overall charm managed to win me over

4. Fire Emblem: Awakening. The cut scenes and sprites are gorgeous, the cast of characters very funny and have depth, plus the turn based combat is involving. The dating sim elements are really fun to play around with, too!

5. Leaving this slot open for Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate (though not sure if this is actually considered a RPG..)

[Fynn]

I know the thread is a bit old, but I still wanted to share

1. Virtues Last Reward. This game was a sequel to 999, but I personally enjoyed VLR's story more, and what
a story it was! 999 & VLR have a fantastic plot. I'd definitely say that this series has the best storytelling on the 3DS. It's a tad unknown, but if you get the chance, check it out!

2. Bravely Default. I know many people get frustrated about the very repetitive second half, but I'm fairy tolerant, so the positive aspects really stand out. This has to be the prettiest game on the 3DS. The pop up style art looks amazing with the 3D and really exudes a "classic" feel. The plot is solid and I managed to form an attachment to our main characters

3. Persona Q. This is a very fan service-y game with a huge cast, that being so, some characters suffer from "one note" syndrome. Despite this, the design of the labyrinths and overall charm managed to win me over

4. Fire Emblem: Awakening. The cut scenes and sprites are gorgeous, the cast of characters very funny and have depth, plus the turn based combat is involving. The dating sim elements are really fun to play around with, too!

5. Leaving this slot open for Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate (though not sure if this is actually considered a RPG..)
Those are all 3DS games, though.

[Vyk]

Maybe we should have a 3DS version. Though it'd probably still be fairly predictable. It's got a good handful of great RPGs, but still not a really huge variety yet

[krissy]

Radiant historia

[Spuuky]

The lack of Etrian Odyssey in this thread is profoundly disturbing to me.

[Vyk]

I've always been leary of those games due to their dungeon crawler nature. Is the encounter rate in there really not that bad? Is the combat system really fun? Is it really that interesting exploring an underground labyrinth?

(Legitimate questions. I'm not intending to call the game out on anything. I literally know nothing other than it is a dungeon crawler series, and those generally are not my cup of tea. But it seems everyone whose played that series has a real fondness for it. I'm not sure if it's the game's design itself, or if only fans of that genre are playing it, and it is just simply representing well a genre they already enjoyed)

[Skyblade]

I've always been leary of those games due to their dungeon crawler nature. Is the encounter rate in there really not that bad? Is the combat system really fun? Is it really that interesting exploring an underground labyrinth?

(Legitimate questions. I'm not intending to call the game out on anything. I literally know nothing other than it is a dungeon crawler series, and those generally are not my cup of tea. But it seems everyone whose played that series has a real fondness for it. I'm not sure if it's the game's design itself, or if only fans of that genre are playing it, and it is just simply representing well a genre they already enjoyed)

If you've played Persona Q, then you have a pretty dang good idea what Etrian Oddyssey is like. Very dungeon driven, but in a fun way, with good characters and strong writing.

[Vyk]

I thought the newest Etrian was the first one to add characters. Or do you mean they've always had good NPCs? I haven't played Persona Q since I haven't completed 4 yet, and my girlfriend is playing through P3P on the VitaTV and I'm getting that game's story through her (though she's completed both stories previously). I tried watching a review of PQ and was immediately hit with a huge P4 spoiler. But I get what's going on at least and it looks like a game I will eventually enjoys

I haven't had a lot of good experiences with first-person dungeon crawlers. Shining in the Darkness is a fond memory, but probably doesn't hold up by today's standards. I tried the PSP Persona, and even that seemed sadly too primitive. I tried Strange Journey on the DS, and it was surprisingly good, but the slog eventually got to me. I've heard some massively good things about the writing in Soul Hackers and I've been interested in that. But I've really had very little exposure, and the mechanics of the game seem to revolve around lots of random encounters. And I know the Japanese used to be VERY fond of ridiculously frequent encounter rates. So it scares me to dip my toes too deeply into the genre on the Japanese front

[Skyblade]

That might be so. I hadn't heard much of the series until the latest one, so you might be right. It has kind of flown under the radar.

[Pumpkin]

Not counting 3DS right? Also I'm counting games I've played on the DS, including games that were originally made on different systems

1. Dragon Quest V
2. Chrono Trigger
3. Rune Factory 3 (hi Skyblade!)
4. Luminous Arc 2
5. The Pokemans

We need more of these threads :hyper:

[Polnareff]

In no real order (sensing a trend here)

-Saga 3: Shadow or Light (I like the redone aspects in the battle system, like being able to shift time back and forth, and that they made it that you level up like in the other Saga games. Also the soundtrack. Can't forget that.)

-Nostalgia (Basically 3 parts FF and one part Skies of Arcadia. The SoA part comes in because of the airship battles. You can actually customize them before going into battle, too. The battle system is turn-based but actually quite fun. Only weak part is the story)

-FFTA2 (I loved the variety in battles, and it was so much fun to break the game in half lol)

-Bowser's Inside Story (cute story, funny dialogue, amazing involved gameplay. I still think this is the best of the entire series. Dream Team was a longer game, but I don't think it could ever beat this one.)

-FF: 4HoL (I thought the game looked amazing, and the BP thing was clever. The story I didn't really notice much, but I liked all the different classes characters could take on, and, like FFTA2, I enjoyed breaking the game in half xD )