The consensus seems to be that Dawn of Sorrow is DS's killer app. But I'm not the biggest CV fan. How do Trauma Center, Pheonix Wright and Lost in Blue compare to it, and to each other? Are any of them shallow? I hear Trauma Center is hard, but it seems like it could still be shallow. I'm really interested in all of these games, but I won't be able to play them all because of time and money, let alone all of the upcoming DS games.
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Best recent release for DS?
- Thread starter Dragmire
- Start date
GitarooMan
Member
I love Trauma Center so far, but I'm not sure about the overall lasting value of the game as I haven't finished it. But so far it's a good pick up and play game, which takes advantage of the stylus.
Cerebral Palsy
Banned
No clue about the other games, but I did play my friends copy of Castlevania the other day. It was good. I don't know if I can hold out for Mario Kart before I buy one now.
I have been playing Trauma Center like a man possessed recently. I have Lost in Blue, but I kinda put it on hold when I got Trauma Center, which is just more addicting. I have been getting really into the surgeries, and thats always a good sign of immersion in the game. I also enjoyed Lost in Blue but it's more of a play a few days at a time game. I have been holding off Castlevania simply because I know it would take up all of my time.
Dawn of Sorrow: Just played a TINY TINY bit of it last night because Trauma Center was bugging me, and it was pretty good. As fun as SotN was. Nice graphics too. The stylus thing threw me, and I had to sorta beat the first boss twice because I did a sloppy job the first time.
Trauma Center Under the Knife: Lots fun, kinda short (about 5 hours in, 3.5 of them clocked, and nearing the end). It provides a good challenge on many of the surgeries you must perform. The things I don't like are the forceps not working and suturing in general fucking SUCKS.
Lost in Blue: A pleasant surprise for me. If you're into Harvest Moon or other types of "chore" games, you'll like this. The fact that everything you did was to keep your characters alive, rather than make a successful farm really gives a sense of meaning to adding comfort, hunting, catching, and building. There are times where you must leave the girl alone while you explore for days at a time, and you have to gather enough food and water for her and yourself. The exploration part of this game is good. I really enjoyed finding another part of the island I'd missed before, leading to new foods or items for creating new things.
The downfall of this game are the beginning and end. In the beginning, you're struggling to find anything to stay alive. Coconuts, mushrooms (which could poison you, induce sleep, or other side effects), clams, and other things on the ground become the main source of food until you build a spear, catch fish, find wood to make better beds, more furniture, etc... The end of the game has this fucking retarded dungeon that will whisk you away to the beginning of last gen with block puzzles that grow in difficulty.
Just because I forgot to mention this elsewhere, you have 4 things to watch out for for both the boy and the girl: strength, hunger, thirst, and overall health. Once strength is depleted (by running, walking great distances, hopping over things, pushing things, climbing), your character will not be able to run anymore, and the overall health will begin to drop. You can rest and you will basically digest the food you ate earlier to replenish your strength. If you go thirsty, you won't be able to eat anything, and if your hunger level and thirst level hit 0 (out of 100), your overall health (also at 100) will start to go down. Once either character's overall health hits zero (for depletion of strength or thirst/hunger), it's game over.
Which do I recommend? Probably Dawn of Sorrow, just because I loved SOTN and all signs point to it being pretty damn good. Lost in Blue is something of an acquired taste. I'm guessing it's also the longest (about 12-15 hours long). I think LiB and TC:UtK are both good rentals.
As far as Phoenix Wright goes, gimme a week! There's already a thread on each of these games if you want more information.
Trauma Center Under the Knife: Lots fun, kinda short (about 5 hours in, 3.5 of them clocked, and nearing the end). It provides a good challenge on many of the surgeries you must perform. The things I don't like are the forceps not working and suturing in general fucking SUCKS.
Lost in Blue: A pleasant surprise for me. If you're into Harvest Moon or other types of "chore" games, you'll like this. The fact that everything you did was to keep your characters alive, rather than make a successful farm really gives a sense of meaning to adding comfort, hunting, catching, and building. There are times where you must leave the girl alone while you explore for days at a time, and you have to gather enough food and water for her and yourself. The exploration part of this game is good. I really enjoyed finding another part of the island I'd missed before, leading to new foods or items for creating new things.
The downfall of this game are the beginning and end. In the beginning, you're struggling to find anything to stay alive. Coconuts, mushrooms (which could poison you, induce sleep, or other side effects), clams, and other things on the ground become the main source of food until you build a spear, catch fish, find wood to make better beds, more furniture, etc... The end of the game has this fucking retarded dungeon that will whisk you away to the beginning of last gen with block puzzles that grow in difficulty.
Just because I forgot to mention this elsewhere, you have 4 things to watch out for for both the boy and the girl: strength, hunger, thirst, and overall health. Once strength is depleted (by running, walking great distances, hopping over things, pushing things, climbing), your character will not be able to run anymore, and the overall health will begin to drop. You can rest and you will basically digest the food you ate earlier to replenish your strength. If you go thirsty, you won't be able to eat anything, and if your hunger level and thirst level hit 0 (out of 100), your overall health (also at 100) will start to go down. Once either character's overall health hits zero (for depletion of strength or thirst/hunger), it's game over.
Which do I recommend? Probably Dawn of Sorrow, just because I loved SOTN and all signs point to it being pretty damn good. Lost in Blue is something of an acquired taste. I'm guessing it's also the longest (about 12-15 hours long). I think LiB and TC:UtK are both good rentals.
As far as Phoenix Wright goes, gimme a week! There's already a thread on each of these games if you want more information.
Good impressions, thanks. I've read lots of impressions, but not much about how the new games compare to each other and what the best ones are besides Dawn of Sorrow. As much as I find the Castlevania series a bit overblown, I'm just swallowed up by the hype for DoS. I tend to prefer more original games as long as I know I'm getting something that'll last, but I could use a good adventure game.
junkwaffle
In Front and Drawing Away
Idioteque said:
Wha, wha?! ...by far better than AW?
The majority of the DS library is proving more and more, for me at least, to be better suited for renting rather than owning. Aside from Meteos (the only title I own) and Advance Wars (though my 7 day rental was plenty enough, so only hardcore fans need buy it I think), every single major DS release I have played, enjoyed and subsequently grown tired of all in the standard 3 day rental period.
I haven't tried Castlevania (nor will I, not a fan of the series), but Nintendogs, Trauma Center, Lost in Blue, and Phoenix Wright are all much better off as rentals IMHO, along with most of the system's current lineup from earlier this year/at launch. This isn't to say the games are bad -- far from it -- but they really lack the depth and longevity necessary to warrant a purchase.
Do stay away from Another Code and Lunar though, as they're both quite poor. I say just rent a whole bunch, save a ton of cash, and enjoy the shortlived but enjoyable titles listed above.
I haven't tried Castlevania (nor will I, not a fan of the series), but Nintendogs, Trauma Center, Lost in Blue, and Phoenix Wright are all much better off as rentals IMHO, along with most of the system's current lineup from earlier this year/at launch. This isn't to say the games are bad -- far from it -- but they really lack the depth and longevity necessary to warrant a purchase.
Do stay away from Another Code and Lunar though, as they're both quite poor. I say just rent a whole bunch, save a ton of cash, and enjoy the shortlived but enjoyable titles listed above.
bobbyconover
Member
methodman said:
But Dawn of Sorrow isn't a "whole different game" like RE4 was. If he disliked SOTN, COTM, HoD, or AoS I seriously doubt he'd like Castlevania DS.
Nintendogs is far from a rental for me, I still keep playing on small doses I just keep coming back. Trauma Centar is you read the thread discussing the game actualy has replay value sure it comes down to how to get better ranking at the levels but from what I read the game drives you to do better. I gotta agree with Phoenix Wright though game is great but once you finished theres is nothing to go back and play it. Advance Wars a rental? now you are pushing it. game is must buy for me, has a shitload of things to unlock plus medals to get.Heian-kyo said:
It's not that I dislike the series persay (I loved SOTN way back when), it's just that -- and I know many here will understand where I'm coming from -- some series you still enjoy even when it's the same ol', same ol', while some others you don't. Castlevania is the latter for me. It's just too similar to the previous titles to provide much enjoyment for me personally.
If this was, say, the summer, I might've done just that. But I've got a shitton of PSP and PS2 games to buy over the next 2 months, and while I could probably still afford, I'm still not made of money. Hell, I even have a couple of UMD movies I'd rather pick up.sonarrat said:
And yes, I do actually buy those. I don't buy from the studios who think they can get away with pricing the UMDs on par with DVDs though, and I always look everywhere for used discs first, as UMDs are virtually scratch proof (I love that!). Surprisingly, a lot of new UMDs are actually priced really well up here, ranging from as little as $15-18 CDN. I just picked up Ghost in the Shell at Future Shop for $16.99 brand new this weekend.
Spazbiohaz
Member
Advance Wars - for your money and time. This game will take for ever and has alot of replay value.
Castlevainia - Just over all cool, and good amount of stuff to do if you like getting a 100%. Otherwise it's about 8 hours.
Castlevainia - Just over all cool, and good amount of stuff to do if you like getting a 100%. Otherwise it's about 8 hours.
SonicMegaDrive
Member
Castlevania.
I'm diggin' it.
I'm diggin' it.
DieNgamers
Member
Nintendogs and Castlevania!