{"id":5853,"date":"2011-03-18T00:01:19","date_gmt":"2011-03-18T06:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamesanityblog.com\/?p=5853"},"modified":"2011-03-18T00:01:19","modified_gmt":"2011-03-18T06:01:19","slug":"carys-best-of-ds-part-3-rpgs-and-quest-adventures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/18\/carys-best-of-ds-part-3-rpgs-and-quest-adventures\/","title":{"rendered":"Cary’s Best of DS, Part 3: RPGs and Quest Adventures"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>With the upcoming launch of the 3DS in the US, I wanted to take a look back at my favorite games on the DS now that the handheld is in its twilight years. Last time on this blog series, we took at look at my favorite platformers and DSiWare games<\/a><\/strong>. This time we\u2019ll look at the best DS RPGs and quest adventures.<\/p>\n

First I should clarify a few things. I combined both RPGs and more Zelda like adventures into one category since those kinds of games all have some type of RPG element to them. Also, there are TONS of great RPGs not on this list, simply because I haven\u2019t had the time or money to play them all (but mostly not enough time). I wish I could try stuff like the Dragon Quest DS games, Nostalgia, Radiant Historia, etc. Also, you\u2019ll notice that RPGs like the FF remakes of 3 and 4, as well as Chrono Trigger, are not on this list. That\u2019s because they\u2019re going to be in another category I\u2019ll talk about later, involving classic remakes on the DS. So anyway, with all that out of the way, let\u2019s take a look at my favorite RPG and adventure DS games!<\/p>\n

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime<\/strong><\/p>\n

There was one Dragon Quest game I made time for, and it\u2019s also my all time favorite Dragon Quest in the series, too! It\u2019s not an RPG, but more like a cross between an overhead Zelda game, Mario 2, and some awesome tank battles. You play as a happy little blue slime, the minor enemies in Dragon Quest games. It\u2019s actually a sequel to another game on the GBA. But the DS version adds something totally cool. Tank battles! During boss fights, you run around in a giant mech tank, loading ammo you\u2019ve collected throughout your adventures to defeat the enemy tank. Once you\u2019ve whittled down their defenses, you can infiltrate their tank to knock out their core. I loved playing four player linked tank battles with my friends, there\u2019s so much strategy and techniques you can use! Even better, I just read they\u2019re making a Rocket Slime sequel on the 3DS! I hear it has boat battles, so that\u2019s probably what they\u2019re doing now instead of tanks! I hope it comes to the US!<\/p>\n

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of my complaints about KH sequels is how some rehash older worlds. Re:coded is no exception, but I was still impressed how they basically got the first Kingdom Hearts game on the DS. Plus they added some of my favorite gameplay hooks from Birth By Sleep, and it\u2019s still a pretty neat hack and slash adventure. I never did get the first KH DS game, 365\/2 Days, mainly because it was all about Organization XIII, and I hated that part of the KH storyline. Now I\u2019d better brace myself for the flood of angry KH fans for saying that!<\/p>\n

Zelda: Spirit Tracks & Phantom Hourglass<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was really impressed how they got the look of Wind Waker onto the DS. I think I like Spirit Tracks a little more, though. Mainly because you don\u2019t have that dumb timed dungeon you had to go in over and over in Phantom Hourglass. But also because driving a train was more fun than a boat. Granted, it cut down on the fun exploration parts of Zelda, but conducting that locomotive was like having your own virtual toy train set! Plus, in Spirit Tracks you get to team up with Zelda to solve puzzles (granted it\u2019s only her spirit possessing things, but still). I\u2019ve always wanted a Zelda game where you can play as the Princess, and this\u2019ll probably be the closest thing we get to do that.<\/p>\n

Mario & Luigi games<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first Mario & Luigi RPG was on the GBA, but its sequels were on the DS. Partners in Time had the brothers going back in time to team up with their younger baby selves. The Mario babies were freaking adorable. I almost got sad at the end when baby Luigi didn\u2019t want to say good-bye to big Luigi.<\/p>\n

One of the complaints of Partners in Time was it was a little complicated controlling Mario, Luigi, and the two babies with each of the face buttons. So they simplified things a bit in the next game: Bowser\u2019s Inside Story. Most main Mario side characters have gotten their own games. Luigi had Luigi\u2019s Mansion, Peach had Super Princess Peach, and even Toad had the puzzler Wario\u2019s Woods. So you can count Bowser\u2019s Inside Story as Bowser\u2019s own game, really. The humor and writing in this was funny and clever, and it was neat fighting as Bowser. Mario and Luigi were inside Bowser most of the trip, and the big guy was unaware they were helping him the whole time! Neat thing about being inside Bowser was that part of the game played like a 2-D platformer. Highly recommended game if you like silly and whimsical action RPGs.<\/p>\n

My World, My Way<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this game you play as a spoiled princess, who goes on an adventure to prove to her dream man that she\u2019s not a wimpy brat. Yeah, it\u2019s pretty girly, but I still liked it anyway. The gimmick in this game is you have the power to pout to get what you want. Yes, you even get pout points. Pout to make enemies drop more gold or items, make bad guys easier or tougher, or change the scenery entirely! The game forces you to use your pout ability, too, or you\u2019ll never get anywhere. It\u2019s a pretty original take on an otherwise simple tried and true RPG.<\/p>\n

Pokemon games<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s Diamond and Pearl, the Gold and Silver remakes, or the newly released Black and White, they\u2019re all good. I only wish they weren\u2019t all \u2018same-y.\u2019 Of course, it\u2019s not entirely the game series\u2019 fault. If it\u2019s not broke don\u2019t fix it, as the saying goes. Plus, I probably OD\u2019ed too much on Pokemon back when I was writing about it all the time for The Dallas Morning News anyway. I really liked the PokeWalker in the Gold\/Silver remakes. I just wish that, in the next main games, they do something a little different with the gameplay. Maybe make the way you catch Pokemon be a little different, or have the battles be more action-oriented.<\/p>\n

Rune Factory series<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Harvest Moon games are kind of fun, but I got bored with most pretty quickly. Rune Factory adds something those games were missing: action packed battles! When you\u2019re done farming in Rune Factory, you can go fight monsters in dungeons, Zelda style. You can still do most everything you can in the Harvest Moon games, including marrying one of the town\u2019s eligible bachelors or bachelorettes. But since you do more stuff, they give you more time and streamline some of the more tedious activities. Plus, the Rune Factory games have some of the best 2-D graphics on the DS. Fans of Harvest Moon should really try one of these out. There\u2019s 3 of them on the DS.<\/p>\n

Okamiden<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

And finally, what will probably be the DS\u2019 final swan song. I just got finished reviewing this game, so please click on the link to read my full review. Just as Okami, my Game of the Year for 2006 surpassed Zelda: Twilight Princess, I feel that Okamiden is just as good as the handheld Zeldas. Plus that puppy is so darn cute! If you haven\u2019t already, do be sure to check out the Okamiden Art Contest<\/a><\/strong>, too!<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all my favorite DS RPGs and adventures! I know I left out a lot, so now\u2019s your chance to let them shine! In the comments section, let me know YOUR favorite DS RPGs and quests. Also, let me know what you\u2019d rather read about next time: my favorite arcade classic remakes on DS, or my favorite causal and puzzlers on DS? I\u2019ll write about both eventually, but I just was wondering what you\u2019d all rather read about first. So until next time, later! –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the upcoming launch of the 3DS in the US, I wanted to take a look back at my favorite games on the DS now that the handheld is in its twilight years. Last time on this blog series, we took at look at my favorite platformers and DSiWare games. This time we\u2019ll look at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5853\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}