Old School Gamer Writer David Lloyd shares his thoughts on The Five Most Essential RPGs for Your Nintendo DS Catalogue.
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
The Megami Tensei franchise started way back in 1987 with Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei on the Famicom, but was mostly unknown to the West until it began to be localized in the late 90s. Strange Journey is a terrific jumping-in point for folks who were introduced to demon negotiating in one of the Persona titles and are now looking to experience a deeper dungeon-crawling experience. The game successfully blends the first-person tile-based exploration that early SMT games became famous for with a modern combat system with multiple layers of customization.
The development team mirrored the old school meets modern RPG mechanics theme as it was composed of SMT veterans such as Kazuma Kaneko and Eiji Ishida (SMT III Designer), along with a team from Lancarse, the folks who had recently released a game that would start its own franchise, Etrian Odyssey. Add in musical arrangements by composer Shoji Meguro, and you can look back and say that Atlus put their best and brightest into the development of Strange Journey.
The only thing Strange Journey didn’t have going for it was timing. The game didn’t make it to the West until March of 2010, very much at the end of the life cycle of the Nintendo DS. Despite the low sales and a second poorly timed port at the end of the life of the Nintendo 3DS life cycle, Strange Journey still remains one of the better titles in one of the greatest RPG franchises.
The World Ends With You
Most of the titles that would be considered the best RPGs have typically been iterations of a successful formula. While games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest built upon systems established in Dungeons & Dragons and Wizardry, The World Ends With You is a wholly original concept born from a unique platform and modern Japanese fashion culture.
Set in a modern-day Shibuya, the game introduces Neku, an introverted Japanese youth who quickly discovers that he no longer walks in the land of the living and is now forced to play a game in order to regain his life. Along with a riveting story, The World Ends With You also features an incredibly diverse combat system that utilizes dual screens and touch controls. The satisfyingly chaotic combat is uniquely suited for the DS hardware, as failed ports to the Nintendo Switch will attest.
Every inch of this game feels fresh and new, even when compared to RPGs made decades later. The music is so good, you’ll find yourself searching for a playlist on YouTube to enjoy it every day. A few hundred words don’t do this game justice; you just gotta play it to know how wonderful it is.
Radiant Historia
Atlus is arguably the most prolific developer of the Nintendo dual-screen era, so it comes as no surprise that they would have multiple games on this list. Perhaps the most unknown of which is Radiant Historia. The origins of this game come from Satoshi Takayashiki, the original concept designer for the Square Enix game, Radiata Stories. As a fan of SMT, Persona, and Etrian Odyssey, Takayashiki made a pitch to Atlus in the hopes of making a very niche yet familiar RPG. Takayashiki succeeded in the niche part of that dream, creating a very unique title, both in terms of combat systems and story.
Set in a dying world, the main protagonist, Stocke, finds himself in the possession of a chronicle that allows him to travel back in time to rewrite the course of history. The story very much plays out similar to a graphic novel. Stocke very often comes face to face with oblivion, requiring him to go back to a certain point on the timeline and make a different decision with the hope of leading his civilization away from certain doom. The combat system is just as unique, featuring a 3×3 grid in which the heroes will move enemies around on a grid and attack based on rows and columns. In practice, it provides a combat system that can be played very differently depending on how you approach it.
Radiant Historia has everything you’d want in an RPG, including a soundtrack from perhaps the greatest video game composer of all time, Yoko Shimomura. Much like its Atlus counterpart, sales of the game do not reflect the quality of this fantastic game.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Speaking of long-running Japanese franchises finally arriving in the West, Nintendo was kind enough to remake the first Fire Emblem title for the Nintendo DS. Capitalizing on the popularity of Super Smash Bros, Nintendo reintroduced the story of Marth, the main protagonist of the Famicom strategy RPG, Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Taking the core concepts and stories, Shadow Dragon on the Nintendo DS expands on the 8-bit title to become one of the most enjoyable games in the franchise.
Before Fire Emblem introduced the relationship mechanics that the modern titles have become known for, Shadow Dragon gave us a clean and pure version of strategy RPG splendor. Each chapter features a grid-based battleground where your assembled team will take battle using the series staple, the weapons triangle. Units have different classes and weapons to equip, and each battle is a methodical exercise, as death to one of the units is permanent for the remainder of the game.
Shadow Dragon is a terrific starting point for newcomers to the series as it boils down Fire Emblem to its purest form. One criticism is the lack of innovation, but often in an RPG, less can be more.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
Yes, in a list of the five most essential RPGs on the Nintendo DS, two are from the same franchise. But it doesn’t take long to discover that even though Strange Journey and Devil Survivor may share similar demon catalogues, the two games are very different experiences. Devil Survivor plays much more like a tactical RPG than a traditional one, which makes sense given that it was developed by the same team that brought us the Growlanser series.
Set in modern-day Tokyo, a group of youths finds themselves in peril as demons have begun invading the city. Armed only with COMPs (very clearly a Nintendo DS), the group uses their technology to recruit demons in order to defend the city and prevent the destruction of Tokyo. Devil Survivor is a refreshing spin-off from the old SMT dungeon-crawling formula in that battles take place on a grid-based battlefield, allowing the player to come up with fun and unique strategies.
Unlike the other titles on this list, the soundtrack is the weakest link when it comes to Devil Survivor. The songs are not necessarily bad; they just get repeated much too often to the point of fatigue. Also, unlike other titles on this list, Devil Survivor’s difficulty curve meant it’s not necessarily a great recommendation for someone new to RPGs.
Once you get past the five most essential RPGs on the Nintendo DS, you quickly realize that the platform contains a treasure trove of interesting and unique titles. A top 25 list would barely scratch the surface when you count the number of titles from the Dragon Quest series, Pokémon, Final Fantasy, Etrian Odyssey, and more. So long as you have a Nintendo DS, you have access to a catalogue of RPGs that can match up against any other platform.
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