So I got:
Izuna 2
Etrian Oddyssey 2
Rondo of Swords
I haven’t really commited to any of them in particular, but they look like they’ll be great time killers. What’s your thoughts on them.
I think I’m enjoying Etrian more than I thought I would.
—Sin—
I honestly haven’t touched any of those games. Etrian Odyssey was well received. Rondo of Swords was not. See for yourself! I hope you like them. Try The World Ends With You as soon as you can, one of the best games I’ve played in years. FF4 DS I found quite enjoyable and I’m liking DQ4 DS quite a bit as well. The Castlevanias are good. If you like tactics games, Front Mission 1 isn’t bad and neither is Luminous Arc. Try to find a copy of Puzzle Quest, it is EXCELLENT. If you’ve never played Disgaea, it was also recently released for the DS.
I actually got a DS recently myself, although I’ll have no time to play it until the semester is over.
I didn’t know Front Mission was released on it, that is a must buy for sure!!
I’m personally looking to pick up FF3 and FFTA2, despite the harsh reception here. I liked the first FFTA, and I guess in regards to FF3 I don’t mind some mind-numbing punishment.
What on earth is The World Ends With You??
—Sin—
TWEWY is the most original, best game to come from SE in years. Just get it. You’ll thank me. You can’t accurately describe how it works by writing because its very very different. IF you liked FFTA, get the 2nd. The 2nd is kind of a non game. The majority of the game consists of performing repetitive sidequests. Its slow. There are things I’d get first if I were you, like FF4 DS. Also, there are Gila Monsters in DQ4 DS.
—Gila-Monster—
Weird I edited my post the same time as you. Anyways, yeah maybe I should ditch FFTA2 for now and replace it with FF4. I was thinking of getting DQ4, and that pretty much seals the deal (half serious). Looks like I have a lot of games to pick up!
Let’s see: I know Izuna and EO are pretty difficult games (the former being rogue-like and brutal as a result). Rondo of Swords wasn’t well-received, but has a interesting battle system where you “hit-and-run” people.
But like Sin and Gila have said, there’s a good number of RPGs for the DS now, so look around and you’ll probably find some good stuff.
Gila:TWEWY is one of S-E’s more original RPGs to come out in a while. Very good game and there’s a topic or two on the boards about it. Check it out sometime.
I only played the first Etrian, which is great in a nostalgic kind of way. There’s an actual plot in there despite what you innitially might think, it just takes a long while to kick in. It’ll also rape you brutally if you are used to the laughably auto-played walk-you-by-the-hand full-heal-save-point-every-three-steps rpgs that have been coming out the last five years.
They’re all fucking hard. I think the “easiest” is Etrian. But yeah, I found myself in deep shit when all my guys died 'cept for one, and I didn’t have enough money to heal them all. And this is within the first floor. Wow.
Rondo of Swords is a SRPG, the hit and run thing is dumb as hell, lol. The storyline is pretty cliche, as is the dialogue and character designs. That one’s hard as hell too (I got my ass kicked in the first fucking fight, straight off the bat several times), but at least it forces you to actually strategize instead of just lining up behind the enemy and hack away at them until they die.
I’m avoiding FF4 on my principle of “I already have a copy of this game, I don’t need another one.” I never double dip. And I’m avoiding World End’s With You on my principle of “Tetsuya Nomura can fuck himself in all holes with a rusty fishook.” DQ IV looks cute. DQVIII was a chore for me though. How much different is the gameplay from that one?
Tetsuya Nomura had nothing to do with the development of WEWY besides character designs. And even then, thank fucking god, they look different than usual. You’re only hurting yourself if you dodge WEWY in favor of fucking Izuna. 
I just can’t stand him or his character designs. It doesn’t matter if they’re different, they’re garish and just disgusting.
Yeah, I loathe Nomura with passion too, but it’s no reason to skip on TWEWY.
I was severely disappointed in Luminous Arc. I was so excited when I heard the backstory involved A war between dragons and witches. That God himself put an end to. But then, it seemed like it was going to make the most cliched turns possible. I never beat it, I only got about… halfway tthrough, I guess. But could someone tell me PLEASE tell me God/The Church doesn’t turn out to be evil like every other version of judeochristian religions in games.
FFIV is good, look forward to DQIV eventually, and that’s about the extent of my RPG knowledge.
–Sin–
Luminous Arc fills every stereotype known to God. Its fun enough though. Its simple. Nomura or no Nomura, TWEWY is one of the best game on DS hands down. If you didn’t like DQ8 you will not like DQ4, so that addresses that. FF4 DS is sufficiently different from FF4 non-DS to warrant giving it another run through. The game play is totally different as is the presentation. They really recreated it and it felt fresh to play. I couldn’t play through FF4 GBA because it was too old and worn, so I know what you mean by double dipping.
^ This. WEWY covers a lot of bases, so it’s incredibly hard NOT to enjoy. Me and Sinistral both enjoyed it immensely, but the things we liked about it were completely_different. I think it’s safe to say that for whatever things you might dislike about it, there’ll be plenty more things you’ll like about it to compensate.
If you didn’t like DQ8 you will not like DQ4, so that addresses that.
Also, I don’t know if I agree with this entirely…I didn’t like what I played of DQ8 (the demo; I can’t remember why though, I think it was cos battles felt too slow), but I’m really enjoying DW4DS so far (in the middle of Alena’s chapter, would be farther but I’m busy playing Legend of Mana :DDDDDDDDD
Sadly I’m a bit behind in the RPG department with my DS, and I haven’t gotten any of the afore mentioned DS games (except for FM, even though I need to revisit and beat it someday). Though I seem to have a least some reason why I haven’t gotten them yet.
RoS sounded interesting prior to it’s release but it got slammed for things like unbalanced gameplay, now I’m just waiting for the price to fall.
Izunas 1 and 2 are both rogue-likes but sadly I’ve yet to even play a good rogue-like so I’m not really motivated to get. Plus there’s Shiren which supposedly makes Izuna look like a warm up.
DQ IV and FF IV are both in the been there done that category. Though I’m actually planing on getting CT DS despite already having the PSX version (maybe it’s due to the fact that I don’t have to struggle with a shitty PSX or PSX Memory Card, plus portability ftw).
LA’s chronic stereotypes, lack of difficulty, and high price have been the forces that’s kept me away thus far, and I doubt that the situation will change any time soon.
EOs 1 and 2 and TWEWT would be in my hands now if I had the money, but right now I’m S.O.L. (and not by any F.O.E. either ;_; ).
Yes, get TWEWY! It’s money well spent.
My DQIV was wrecked in a domestic accident, but I’m getting it again. It was quite addictive as far as I got.
Oh fine, I’ll check it out. As long as he didnt write/direct it, I’ll deal with it.
You won’t regret it.
Although, on the subject of who did write it, I looked up the directors:
There were three main people who planned out the entire game: Tatsuya Kando, Tomohiro Hasegawa, and Takeshi Arakawa. They generally do art direction and design jobs; this is each their first gig as directors. I guess it also would explain why the game is so stylish.
(Also, random tidbit: Tetsuya Nomura didn’t do all the character designs.)
I’m sure I’d be able to tell which were and weren’t his designs.
—Sinistral—
Doesn’t matter since you won’t know until you try. Discussing this further is useless unless you have something of substance that isn’t completely stupid like “I don’t like Nomura” to discuss. This is like arguing with DG about why 3D games are stupid. Get over it.
I maintain that DQ8 is an excellent game. If you liked DQ4, you will like DQ8, SG. Its everything about DQ but in cel shading, voice acting and an orchestrated soundtrack. The soundtrack IS on the ambient side though, but for once, I liked that.
I just loaded LoM on my PSP earlier this week! WOO!!! God that game is good.
Rhapsody is one of the more fun RPGs I’ve played on the DS and it’s worth a buy.
Front Mission, also, for sure.