The Best of the Nintendo DS – Staff Opinions!

Brian says… Radiant Historia!

Something about the Radiant Historia soundtrack really stands out to me. It probably helps that I played it somewhat recently as well! You can’t really go wrong when you have someone like Yoko Shimomura composing a soundtrack. For those unaware, she’s been involved with Super Mario RPG, Kingdom Hearts, and a whole lot more. Radiant Historia has many memorable pieces like Mechanical Kingdom and Where the Wind and Feathers Return. The epic soundtrack certainly fits the game!

Patrick says… Etrian Odyssey!

Yuzo Koshiro is one of my favourite chiptune composers, and not just because he keeps tweeting about his Love Live figures. His work on the Ys, Streets of Rage and ActRaiser games resulted in some of the best game music of all time and the Etrian Odyssey series is right up there too. The music for exploring dungeons is surprisingly relaxing, but get thrust into a battle and you’re treated to some of the most well-composed and chaotic tracks in RPG history. There’s a certain charm to the FM synth style of music that lends itself to the retro feel of the game itself, something that was lost when the series made the jump to the 3DS (but those soundtracks are great too!).

Austin says… Chrono Trigger!

A firm believer in the “I don’t care if it’s a remake or a port or whatever— if it’s good, it’s getting credit” philosophy of game criticism, I can’t help but shout out to the SNES masterpiece Chrono Trigger for its stellar soundtrack. It’s not as immediately listen-able as something like Ace Attorney or Mario Kart DS, but the way it works with the game’s tone is to be given kudos. They set an atmosphere, and the music works in and around that atmosphere, waxing and waning in catchiness as the situation calls for it.

Kirara says… Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Maybe there is a little bias in this selection as I am a huge fan of the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise, but the soundtrack of this particular game is absolutely breathtaking. Composer Yoko Shimomura is able to capture the amazing struggle of Roxas, as he deals with trying to find the purpose in his life and his ties with Organization XIII.

Every song in this soundtrack perfectly embodies what I believe is a slightly darker story within the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Although it is quite difficult for me to pick one track that I enjoy the most, there is one song that wraps up the entire game in one beautifully composed melody – “Vector to the Heavans” which happens to be playing during Xion’s final battle, which is one of the most poignant moments in the game. To this day I still absolutely love listening to it.

I was almost going to go with Okamiden as my choice, but Ghost Trick probably deserves top honors – especially considering how disappointing the game’s sales were. Man, Ghost Trick is seriously fantastic. Just thinking about the game as I write this puts a smile to my face. If you like Ace Attorney, you need to give Ghost Trick a shot – especially since Shu Takumi was responsible for both IPs!

Okay. What exactly is Ghost Trick? It’s an adventure game at its core, though there’s so much more to the title than that. You play as Sissel, who is actually dead and has lost his memory. That means you’re a ghost throughout the entire game. Sissel has an ability that allows him to move between objects, and he uses this power to save people. Perhaps the best element of Ghost Trick is the game’s story. That’s what kept me going more than anything else since I was incredibly invested in the plot and wanted to see how things would end. Speaking of the ending, it surprised the heck out of me. You owe it to yourself to play Ghost Trick. Go do that now if you haven’t already!

Patrick says… Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

Neither Advance Wars entry on the DS received a single vote in the best first party game category, with only their soundtracks getting a brief mention. That’s a shame, since in my opinion they’re the two best strategy games on the console. Of the duo, Days of Ruin is more overlooked with a new art style and darker storyline that turned off a lot of players and might’ve even ended the series for good (let’s hope not). But the addictive turn-based gameplay is still intact with a few tweaks like your chosen commander actually getting directly involved in battles by boarding units to build up meter for a table-turning CO Power. It’s not as crazy as Dual Strike, but it’s far more balanced, which is good because it actually has online multiplayer this time. Not that it’s actually usable anymore – R.I.P. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Kirara says… Okamiden

Okamiden is actually one of my favorite DS titles and I believe it ended up being quite under-appreciated. This game was a direct sequel to Okami but Okamiden was released at basically the end of the DS lifespan and I don’t think it was ever truly given the credit it deserves, at least not in North America.

For starters the artwork for Okamiden was absolutely beautiful, having been inspired by ancient Japanese lore and mythology. Even when playing the game you feel like a part of the artwork, as it makes you use your stylus to control the “Celestial Brush” and help Chibiterasu (son of the sun goddess Amaterasu) defeat the forces of evil. The story was also pretty cool because you are introduced to quite an assortment of great characters as you progress in the story that have deep ties to Japanese mythology. I think the other reason that I loved it so much is the fact that another layer of the game was puzzle solving; to be able to progress through the story you had to solve various puzzles to be better able to fight enemies. The soundtrack of the game was also quite good and I could have placed this title in a number of spots.

Brian says… The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

I can’t remember being incredibly disappointed with any DS game. Since I have to choose, I’d probably go with Phantom Hourglass. I hate to say it, but I feel as though Phantom Hourglass is one of the least memorable Zelda games – aside from Linebeck’s inclusion in the story. I also was not a fan of the Temple of the Ocean King. Having to return to that dungeon on a regular basis just wasn’t enjoyable for me. It ultimately became a slog to play through. Aside from that, exploring the different islands and going through the dungeons just felt like a standard experience and nothing special. That’s not to say I hate Phantom Hourglass, and there were certainly portions of the game that I was happy to play through. It just wasn’t the Zelda game I had in mind for the DS!

Patrick says… 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

People on the Internet told me that 999 was one of the best written games of all time, with a well-crafted narrative, nuanced characters and meaningful interaction. Never listen to people on the Internet. It’s partially my fault for not keeping my expectations in check, but 999 is less “work of literary genius” and more “bad airport fiction”. There are a few moments where I thought the puzzles and interplay between the characters worked, but it quickly devolves into an endless slew of pseudo-scientific garbage. Maybe their garish designs should have given it away, but no-one in this game acts anything like a human being – certainly not when they’re lecturing me on Ice-9 when they should be trying not to freeze to death. For all it’s flaws, I still pushed myself to finish 999 several times in search of a satisfactory “true” ending; quite a tedious task without a guide since it relies on making several completely arbitrary decisions. I ended up turning the game off so I guess I found the correct ending eventually. I know 999 has plenty of fans and I’m not bemoaning those who actually like this visual novel, I’m just baffled by their existence.

Austin says… Scribblenauts!

I don’t really want to say too much about Scribblenauts, but I will make mention of the fact that it was the first time I can remember of having been swept up in marketing hype to such a height that literally nothing the game did could have possibly made it not-disappointing.

Still, the game is worse than disappointing in a lot of ways. It’s a fun toy to show people for a few minutes, but in terms of actual game content it’s pretty much empty. The puzzles, from what I recall, did almost nothing to take advantage of the technically-impressive systems that they had built, and after a few sequels it became clear that the base wasn’t as fertile a ground for great gameplay as one might think. It’s fun, but not deep.