Gaming Nintendo DS

[Satangel]

Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
Metal Slug 7

 

[dice]

updated the list and made necessary changes

 

[Satangel]

Fifa 09

 

[Dark]

I vote for ragnarok online(i think thats how I spell it).

 

[Jiyik]

Lol funny system that's quite a dedication to maintain the list, I'm amazed, thanks dice for the sweat.

I don't really qualify as a DS player because I haven't yet play many DS games but I played many games in my life so in a way I have some reference comparison to know when I play a very good game.

As it is based on votes, it's a sort of most popular list, fine like this it's just a comment.

So despite my little experience in DS games I'd like add one (vote for one):
Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer

I couldn't resist explain a little why. Ok I know it's a port, in fact I don't know much as I have yet to see someone who played both versions. Anyway, I don't care it's a port. The gameplay is a little rude and not many people will qualify for it. It is based on the traditional Roguelike genre which is:

• No save back, if you die you restart from the beginning with nothing but your own gaming experience from your previous plays.
• Some RPG elements like class and character improvements and detailed inventory.
• High random generation system to make the game enough diversified through the multiple replay.
• Some bit of story bit limited to not involve heavy repetition of same elements through multiple replay.
• Turn based to not generate frustrating lost because of a little wrong reflex here you can take all your time to not make the bad choice.
• Very strategic approach to compensate the random generation and let the player lost by his own fault and not by bad luck.
• Complex tool system that often involve a long gaming to learn that allows player to be in a constant learning curve despite the multiple replay.

Shiren took those basics and made many shift to the genre in order to generate a more friendly gameplay. Despite you restart from the beginning when you die you have many persistent elements that totally change the face of Roguelike:

• There's many little stories involving many NPC and they aren't reset why you die but even need you die to progress.
• Many of those story progression will bring you more tools like new shop, new storehouse, new NPC to adventure with you. Once triggered all those elements are persistent and still here even after dying.
• There's a complex weapon and armor improvement system plus few tool to allow you not lost them. You can increase weapons and armors efficiency but can also merge special features of different weapons into one.
• There's one item that allows teleport few important items at the price of few game turns so if you see a desperate situation coming you can save few major items you are carrying and not lost it if you die.
• At some points of the game you'll open some fast travels that will could be useful in some special way.

Another tradition from Roguelike is that in order to increase the player learning curve they include many unclear elements, most hints are often tough to understand, many tricks are so strange that they are hard to remember. Shiren used a reverse strategy to make the gameplay more friendly. In Shiren there's ton of in game information, plenty hints easy to understand, most rules and item names have a natural logic easy to remember.

But I think there's one important feature missing that you'll find in most Roguelike but not in in Shiren it's a good autowalk system where you stop at sight or before any crossing unlike like in Shiren to make you stop at contact, something that can lead you quite quickly to death.

All of this bring a very interesting shift to the Roguelike genre, even if few tricks has been seen in some more modern Roguelike. All this persistence is building a strong feeling of progressing and not only progress in mastering the game tricks/tactics/strategies. Also the game took best elements of the genre and implement them at a good level, good enough even if not the best. The random generation is good but some other Roguelike have made a much better job. The tooling is complex and borrow many traditional tricks from Roguelike and add some new one. Some Roguelike has a much better diversity/complexity but Shiren is doing a suite good job in this area.

The shift to the traditional genre and solid implementation of some more traditional genre generate a captivating game, quite unique (as far I know of those games) and an excellent gameplay. You get benefit of the "die is real" mood that totally change the gaming experience and a persistent and more firendly aspect that deeply change the gameplay in comparison to more standard Roguelike games.

Few advices to enter more easily in such gaming system:

• Yeah it's rude to lost all character levels money and items but play with that in mind organize your strategy to manage it, you'll get used to it quite fast and lost your best weapon won't be such a nightmare.
• Woo another death and plenty great items lost. Ok but then see all persistent stuff you already triggered and won't lost. Moreover this death could allow you make progress some of the mini stories and perhaps even get from it new good persistent stuff.
• If you see any monster around never move without think at any step, think your tactic, your strategy.
• Be aware of noticing when things are going bad and then never forget that if you die you'll lost everything so before any action in a desperate situation or one that you see coming is look at all your inventory and of all usage you can do of any item. Better lost some important one than all of them.
• Once you died think back a bit of stuff you had and what you could have tried, most often you'll realized you forget use some important possibilities.

Cough cough explanations of the selection if out of topic? I hope not and apologize if it is.

 

[er_mouloud]

plus one for chrono trigger and dragon quest iv
minus one for the world ends with you

 

[ZeroEXE93]

plus one for chrono trigger and dragon quest iv
minus one for the world ends with you

I don't think you can subtract and TWEWY is an amazing game imo.
@Jiyik: Holy crap, Shiren should get +3 just for that long wall of text

Anyways, +1 to Custom Battler Bomberman, Suikoden Tierkreis, and Tales of Hearts.

 

[dice]

plus one for chrono trigger and dragon quest iv
minus one for the world ends with you

I don't think you can subtract

You can, it's said in the first post.

 

[Satangel]

Minus TWEWY then, I don't really see the fun in it.
And minus Megaman ZX / Advent series

 

[Just Joe]

+1 for;
Chrono Trigger DS
TrackMania DS

-1 for Jackass DS

BTW just a query but isn't Subarashiki Kono Sekai: It's a Wonderful World(

 

[iPikachu]

-1 for TWEWY, and plus one for PW:TaT

 

[vinnick]

-1 TWEWY

+1 Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

 

[SpaceJump]

Chrono Trigger DS!

 

[aznvienna]

+1 Phantasy Star Zero
+1 Tales of Hearts
-1 Twewy

 

[brissmas]

1+ Tony Hawk's American Sk8land
1+ Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
1+ Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare

 

[iPikachu]

-1 twewy
+1 phantasy star 0/zero

 

[ojsinnerz.]

Geez. Twewy is getting a lot of hate....

+Twewy
+Soma Bringer
+Fire Emblem: Shadow dragon

 

[Martiin]

- 1 TWEWY
+ 1 Soma Bringer

 

[Zenith94]

+1 To:

TWEWY
Geometry Wars: Galaxies
Rune Factory 2

 

[Deleted User]

+1:
Korg DS-10
Trackmania DS