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Bored: Reccomend me a niche/hidden gem DS title
- Thread starter Bomblord
- Start date
Listen to these people, OP!!
Also my personal favorite Picross 3D, but I think that's not really a niche/hidden gem title.
I would also recommend Radiant Historia, but I don't know if I would call that game "hidden". I feel like most JRPG fans are aware of its presence, but there you go OP.
OP
OP
Fantastic steampunk JRPG made by the people who did the 3d remakes of Final Fantasy 3 and 4.
That one was on my radar along with Infinite Space. This thread has actually produced somewhat of a list at this point.
I don't have many JRPG recs to add and you probably have enough on your plate already, but what I do have is some puzzles for your enjoyment, among other things. Apologies is some of these happen to be on the expensive side, I haven't checked the status of the DS market since forever:
- Bookworm: an old puzzle hit, what you see is what you get. A vocab game in which you have to make words using adjacent letters on the board. Very addictive.
- Chronos Twin: An action-platformer in which you move a character on both screens simultaneously. Physical copies are EU only.
- Ketsui: Death Label: One of the few bullet-hell games on the DS, this is a boss-rush kind of affair. It's a Japan import, so it could be pricey.
- Nanostray 2: horizontal and vertical shmup by Shin'en, the people that made the Iridion, FAST Racing, and Nano Assault games.
- Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords: Pretty well known game, but it hasn't been mentioned yet in the thread. RPG combat through match-3 mechanics. This version isn't as strong presentation-wise as other versions, but it does the job just fine. From what I understand, the other games in the series aren't as good.
- Super Dogeball Brawlers: It's a Kunio sports game, if that helps you picture what you'd be getting into. I prefer Super Dodge Ball Advance overall, but it's worth having nonetheless. This one might be on the pricey side as well.
- Zoo Keeper: A chill match-3 puzzle game with cool aesthetics and a charminly bad English translation. The DS version is easier than the GBA one (maybe too easy), but it's still worth it if you can find it cheap.
Bookworm:
Chronos Twin:
Ketsui: Death Label:
Nanostray 2:
Puzzle Quest:
Super Dodge Ball Brawlers:
Zoo Keeper:
Chou Soujuu Mecha MG (Japan-only). A 3D mech combat game by the EDF/RAD people, you control the mech with the touchscreen controls on the bottom and they can get pretty tricky with some machines.
Isn't that DSiWare? I thought that shop was shut down? If you can get to that then get Alpha Bounce. A Breakout game with a world to explore.
Mario + Rabbids also lets you run through enemies to deal damage to them, it's not your main attack but some characters can cause a lot of chaos with it
It got a physical release in NA, though based on ebay listings it must be pretty rare!
Are these Dragon Ball games actually pretty good? Saw they were developed by Game Republic which caught my eye but Dragon Ball games can be hit or miss.They added some new story stuff, but like other Atlus re-releases it's not worth it. If want complete experience, DS version is suffice.
On topic:
Haven't played 2, but Dragon Ball Origins is pretty good. Not Advanced Adventure levels of quality and uses the touchscreen almost exclusively, so if you are not up for stylus controls, don't even try.
But if you are a DB fan it's worth it because of how much is recreated from that era, decent cartoony visuals, Goku has two "stances" (bare hands and staff), learns the kamehameha and zanzoken as story progress, first game ends with the climatic first tournament while second goes through the Red Ribbon arc.
But if you are a DB fan it's worth it because of how much is recreated from that era, decent cartoony visuals, Goku has two "stances" (bare hands and staff), learns the kamehameha and zanzoken as story progress, first game ends with the climatic first tournament while second goes through the Red Ribbon arc.
Legend of Kage 2- mix of Shinobi/Ninja Gaiden
I still really love the Contra 4 game by Wayforward also
I still really love the Contra 4 game by Wayforward also
Luminous Arc 1 and 2. Two nice SRPG's
Played and reviewed the first one, it was way too easy. :(
OP
OP
Anyone know any 2D RPG's?
Do the stories need to be played in order? Which is better 1 or 2?
Luminous Arc 1 and 2. Two nice SRPG's
Do the stories need to be played in order? Which is better 1 or 2?
OP
OP
Avalon Code. It's a JRPG where you can essentially rewrite how NPCs and items work by lifting and applying unique attributes to them. I'd never heard of it until this year but it's really cool so far.
And another: I"m watching a video where a guy is talking about that game literally right now.
They are really good jrpg. Though I do admit my enjoyment of it comes more from reliving the story.
What? Are you sure that's a legit version and not just a counterfeit cart with the fan translation? EDIT: Oh wait, I don't think you were talking about Chou Soujuu Mecha MG.
That's OK, that's the appeal of this kind of game anyway. If the mechanics are solid then that's what you want
2D RPGs (excluding what I think you already know about)
Atelier Annie
the already mentioned Black Sigil
the Digimon World games (though I find them pretty bad)
Dragon Ball Z Attack of Saiyans (highly recommended)
Front Mission
Hero's Saga: Laevatein Tactics
Magical Starsign
the Mystery Dungeon games
Super Robot Taisen OG Saga Endless Frontier
Luminous Arc:
Each entry is independent (there's a 3rd one, Japan only)
OP
OP
Black Sigil looks awesome but it's going for $200(!) on ebay with carts only selling for around $60
Super Robot Taisen looks cool thanks also how many games is Kos-mos in? Really surprised by how many crossovers she ends up in
Cool will look at Luminous Arc 2 since it seems to be the better of the2.
I never see the DS Digimon World games get talked about so I'm going to throw those in the ring. Turn-based RPGs, basically a Digimon version of Pokemon (and if I remember correctly, the battles were a bit reminiscent of Dragon Quest Monsters on GBC).
I didn't play Digimon World DS but I did have Digimon World Dawn (there's also Dusk, I think there's slight plot differences but otherwise it's a matter of monster preference) and remember it being really good. I think Dawn/Dusk are a bit divisive depending on your nostalgia and whether you played DW:DS so your milage may vary but they're on eBay for $20 or less if they seem like something you're looking for.
I didn't play Digimon World DS but I did have Digimon World Dawn (there's also Dusk, I think there's slight plot differences but otherwise it's a matter of monster preference) and remember it being really good. I think Dawn/Dusk are a bit divisive depending on your nostalgia and whether you played DW:DS so your milage may vary but they're on eBay for $20 or less if they seem like something you're looking for.
This game has such a great zen vibe with awesome traversal mechanics and tricky levels. Really loved my time with it.
Drone Tactics
Fun little SRPG where you control robo beetles. Success always made low budget titles but they were surprisingly deep.
My World My Way
Weird little RPG where you are trying to win affection of a young man.
Summon Knight Twin Age
Interesting spinoff for the famous series, a real time strategy dungeon crawler, similar to PC Baldur's Gate series.
Fun little SRPG where you control robo beetles. Success always made low budget titles but they were surprisingly deep.
My World My Way
Weird little RPG where you are trying to win affection of a young man.
Summon Knight Twin Age
Interesting spinoff for the famous series, a real time strategy dungeon crawler, similar to PC Baldur's Gate series.
A few games that never made it to North America but did come out in Europe.
Bomberman 2
Released in Japan as "Custom Battler Bomberman", in addition to the typical Bomberman action you'd expect, this has a genuinely solid single-player mode where you get to customize your Bomberman with various permanent powerups and stuff. It's really cool.
Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits
This technically came out in North America, but that release is trash, with missing features and game modes compared to the Japanese and European versions. It was presumably rushed out to meet the North American DS launch. The European release is essentially the best English-language game in the entire series. If you don't want to import, you can pick up the DSiWare release, Mr. Driller: Drill Till You Drop, on the 3DS eShop, but it's really just a scaled-back version of Drill Spirits.
Pang: Magical Michael
Ignore that box art, it sucks. You might remember the Pang games by their North American title, "Buster Bros." They were a pretty popular series of arcade games where you shoot bubbles which split in half. Magical Michael was the last game in the series before Mitchell Corp. went out of business, and the double screen height might just make it the definitive version of the game.
Honorable mentions:
Bomberman 2
Released in Japan as "Custom Battler Bomberman", in addition to the typical Bomberman action you'd expect, this has a genuinely solid single-player mode where you get to customize your Bomberman with various permanent powerups and stuff. It's really cool.
Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits
This technically came out in North America, but that release is trash, with missing features and game modes compared to the Japanese and European versions. It was presumably rushed out to meet the North American DS launch. The European release is essentially the best English-language game in the entire series. If you don't want to import, you can pick up the DSiWare release, Mr. Driller: Drill Till You Drop, on the 3DS eShop, but it's really just a scaled-back version of Drill Spirits.
Pang: Magical Michael
Ignore that box art, it sucks. You might remember the Pang games by their North American title, "Buster Bros." They were a pretty popular series of arcade games where you shoot bubbles which split in half. Magical Michael was the last game in the series before Mitchell Corp. went out of business, and the double screen height might just make it the definitive version of the game.
Honorable mentions:
- Zoo Keeper is bugged in its US release, if you close the DS it will just keep running, the sleep mode is completely broken. The European version is perfectly functional.
- Disney released several games with a weird pointless social network thing called DGamer. The server is long-dead, but every time you boot up one of these games it'll ask if you want to use DGamer or play the game. It's only a minor hassle, but it gets annoying if you play many Disney games. The European releases never had DGamer at all, so they're pretty nice.
I'm still waiting on that 3DS remaster. Apparently the DreamRift CEO ghosted all the employees and they were never paid for their work, so that sucks plenty. My avatar is from their only other game, the 3DS Epic Mickey. They were a really talented group of people, breaking off from EA after the Henry Hatsworth game that's been recommended several times in this thread. It's unfortunate that we never got to see what they'd do next.
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What's up with this game and being released at the end of a console's lifecycle?
Nude Maker and PG ;)
It flopped so yeah ! :P
They fucked up the art in the 3DS version... And proceeded to offer the OG art as DLC I think.
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OP asks for "niche/hidden gem" and people post all the popular shit
How about something actually lesser known and secretly one of the most charming games on the DS: Ninjatown! It's the cutest and most fun tower defense I have ever played. And it's all about a town of ninjas trying to protect their shuriken cookies.
How about something actually lesser known and secretly one of the most charming games on the DS: Ninjatown! It's the cutest and most fun tower defense I have ever played. And it's all about a town of ninjas trying to protect their shuriken cookies.
OP
OP
I know, that's how I got Radiant Historia... But Nostalgia didn't get more than the initial run.
Flower Sun and Rain
You'll appreciate it a good deal more if you've played The Silver Case first though. I also strongly recommend playing the DS version of Radiant Historia. The 3DS version is a bit shit.
Came here to say this.
OP
OP
I'm seeing it in the 20 USD range on ebay (cart only) no clue what shipping would look like to where you are.
