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New DS game. Can't decide.

daemonic

Banned
It's between Animal Crossing, Castlevania or M&L:PiT. I've held off on all three for quite a while but I don't know which I want to play first. I'm equally interested in all three. Anyway, which would be the best purchase.. I don't plan to buy another game any time soon afterwards.
 
Animal Crossing has the most long term play value. Castlevania is more fun, but shorter. PiT is pretty weak.
 
Animal Crossing = long game without a point that you can pick up and stop anytime. There's a strong community behind it. It's basically a psudo MMO game.

Castlevania = good, but short single player game.

M&L PiT = good RPG, but i'm kinda tired of this franchise its more of the same stuff from Superstar saga, which isn't a bad thing, but yeah i wanted more.
 
castlevania was a lot of fun and it's well done technically, but i wasn't into collecting and powering up so once it was over, it was, um, over.

i'm curious about animal crossing--i didn't play the gamecube version so i'm a noob, but i'm curious because everyone's saying how addictive and fun it is. is there actual gameplay or is the gameplay just doing errands and stuff? is it like the sims? if so, i don't think i'd enjoy it because i don't even have enough time to manage my own life...
 
Depends on player's temperment. AC can be just like an MMO/RPG game and it could take lots of time away from real life if people spend all their time collecting items, questing etc, but the game is structured for short play unlike most MMO games.

I usually dont spend more than 10-20 minutes each day, more if I plan on connecting on-line to visit other people .
 
Don't get Partners in Time. At first, I thought it was going to be better than Superstar Saga, but the further you go, the more tedious it gets until you just don't want to play it anymore.
 
If you consider yourself to be a busy person, don't bother with Animal crossing.

Really? Why not?


Scheduling. AC almost makes you plan your playtime if you want the most out of it. Dates, birthdays, times. You either playing when it says or you miss out. Biggest reason I traded it in, I cant plan my busy schedule AROUND a videogame.
 
All three of them are solid titles worthwile.

AC: A great game and really worth the time and money you spend on it

Castlevania: One of the best Castlevania games I've played. Simply put a solid 2d title.

M&L PiT: It's IMO as good as Superstar saga but a little bit on the easy side.

But in the end I'd recommend AC or Castlevania. They are both great games but really different so just choose the one that you think will satisfy you the most or better yet, get both of them.
 
Helznicht said:
Scheduling. AC almost makes you plan your playtime if you want the most out of it. Dates, birthdays, times. You either playing when it says or you miss out. Biggest reason I traded it in, I cant plan my busy schedule AROUND a videogame.

exactly, I loved AC to death on the GC when i had less work to do and friends to keep it interesting. Trying to fit it into my current schedule turned into a chore quickly, and was making me hate the game. I felt like I was turning on a good friend (since I loved the game so much 2 years back), so i shut it down and put it away for easier times.

I think playing wihtout friends was also making feel in the way. AC used to be aprt of my social schedule since roomates and girlfriend played. They don't have DS so the new version was eating into my personnal time. Long story short, If you are busy with school or work Castlevania is a much better choice
 
I actually didn't think Castlevania was short at all. Once you go through everything you should, you've got a decent amount of time logged.
 
Helznicht said:
Scheduling. AC almost makes you plan your playtime if you want the most out of it. Dates, birthdays, times. You either playing when it says or you miss out. Biggest reason I traded it in, I cant plan my busy schedule AROUND a videogame.

damn, that sucks to hear but i'll still try it out though whenever i end up getting my new ds.

i'm in the market for something relaxing that isn't spelled x-a-n-a-x. :D i just hope i don't find it boring...
 
brandonh83 said:
I actually didn't think Castlevania was short at all. Once you go through everything you should, you've got a decent amount of time logged.

very true, this is the meatiest Castlevania yet. Not only is the game fairly long, but when you're done, collecting and leveling up all of the souls can be fun, you can try to fill in the map 100% and collect all of the items, you have a hard mode to take on (which is actually sort of disappointing), the Boss Rush mode is worth a day or to, and best of all the Julius Mode

I felt Julius Mode was better than the main game and a wonderful challange. Definitely worth a play through.

whatdidyousay said:
damn, that sucks to hear but i'll still try it out though whenever i end up getting my new ds.

i'm in the market for something relaxing that isn't spelled x-a-n-a-x. i just hope i don't find it boring....

ACDS is definitely relaxing and is probably the perfect game for you in that case. What I meant by "don't buy it if you are a busy person" is "don't buy it if you don't have time to relax". Animal crossing is fun but the lack of goals can make it feel like you've wasted an hour once you finish you play session, assuming you had things you should have been doing in that hour. It's all psychological, since basically playing any game would have constituted "wasting an hour", but I think you can see where I'm coming from. Anyway, Animal Crossing is a great way to wind down, it's just if you get too into it you make routines for yourself everytime you play.
 
whatdidyousay said:
damn, that sucks to hear but i'll still try it out though whenever i end up getting my new ds.

i'm in the market for something relaxing that isn't spelled x-a-n-a-x. :D i just hope i don't find it boring...

I find pinball games relaxing, myself.
 
PkunkFury said:
ACDS is definitely relaxing and is probably the perfect game for you in that case. What I meant by "don't buy it if you are a busy person" is "don't buy it if you don't have time to relax". Animal crossing is fun but the lack of goals can make it feel like you've wasted an hour once you finish you play session, assuming you had things you should have been doing in that hour. It's all psychological, since basically playing any game would have constituted "wasting an hour", but I think you can see where I'm coming from. Anyway, Animal Crossing is a great way to wind down, it's just if you get too into it you make routines for yourself everytime you play.

thanks a lot for clarifying, you've actually made me more excited to play it.
 
sonarrat said:
I find pinball games relaxing, myself.

i heard good things about metroid pinball for the ds, but since i don't have a ds at the moment, i was tempted to pick up the pinball game that just came out for the psp. what's really been relaxing for me is hotshots golf, it's absurb how much playing that game can make me feel relaxed (and i have absolutely zero interest in golf).
 
whatdidyousay said:
i heard good things about metroid pinball for the ds...
I got Metroid Prime Pinball for Christmas, and I love it.

Anyway, Animal Crossing's strength lies in the multiplayer aspect, IMO. So if you don't have friends to interact with and aren't going to connect to Nintendo Wi-Fi, then I'd say you're better off with Castlevania. I'm not commenting on Partners in Time, but I can tell you I played Superstar Saga and lost interest long before I finished it.
 
Animal Crossing sounds like it could be interesting, but I don't know anyone else who owns it, so I'd be playing it on my own. What exactly are the advantages of using the Wi-Fi Connection for it?
 
sonarrat said:
I find pinball games relaxing, myself.

So do I, and I highly recommend Metroid Pinball. I've put much more time into it then any other DS gam except AW. It's a really slick pinball game and I enjpy the adventure aspect. I hope more pinball games try to do this advanture pinball style on the DS in the future.
 
demonix69 said:
Animal Crossing sounds like it could be interesting, but I don't know anyone else who owns it, so I'd be playing it on my own. What exactly are the advantages of using the Wi-Fi Connection for it?
It's just cool because you can go visit your friend's towns, see their homes, go do stuff like fishing with them and such. It just takes the neighborhood aspect of the single player game and encompasses your friends. It's pretty darn addictive!

The only catch to the Nintendo Wi-Fi is compatibility... Check out nintendowifi.com for details on which routers work well. If your wireless router isn't listed or has low ratings, beware. It could be more trouble than it's worth; I personally spent about three hours on the phone with my router's manufacturer and Nintendo to get mine working properly.
 
+1 Castlevania DS. Great gameplay, graphics, sound, and unlockable extras.

PiT has some major gameplay flaws, but is still enjoyable for most of the game.
I don't have any opinions on AC though, not really my cup of tea at the moment.
 
whatdidyousay said:
i heard good things about metroid pinball for the ds, but since i don't have a ds at the moment, i was tempted to pick up the pinball game that just came out for the psp. what's really been relaxing for me is hotshots golf, it's absurb how much playing that game can make me feel relaxed (and i have absolutely zero interest in golf).

You must be me. I got the PSP for Ridge Racer, but all I ever played on it was Hot Shots Golf. It's funny to think that the killer apps for the two latest and greatest portables are pinball and golf. :D
 
i'm also pretty curious about the new ds golf game coming out. compared to hsg, it doesn't seem to have much of a personality and if it's too similar to tiger woods, i probably won't be interested...

glad to hear everyone has good things to say about metroid pinball. i was kind of ambivalent about it despite the good reviews i read, but i might add it to my (growing) list of gotta-get ds games once i finally get my freakin' ds. i swear, if there's no redesign announcement on monday or tuesday, i'll probably pick one up next weekend or the week after.
 
I got a DS a couple of weeks back. All in all, I have to say that Sonic Rush is probably my favorite DS game right now and the one I'm most addicted to. It actually has me wanting to go back through earlier levels to improve my grade, not something I've ever been able to say about any other game.

I also have Metroid Pinball (sweet, but I definitely need to put more time into it), Mario Kart (awesome), Retro Atari (surprisingly decent), and Trauma Center (haven't gotten around to it yet).
 
Bah, so PiT isn't really worth getting?
I was planning on grabbing it when it comes out in Europe but now I doubt I will.

Oh and go for Castlevania!
 
Animal Crossing lasts longer than Castlevania and is at least equally as fun, whether or not you can go online with it. That's my recommendation.



Oh, and Partners In Time is a fine B-range game. It's just nowhere near the league of the DS elite like Animal Crossing, Castlevania, Meteos, Advance Wars, Mario Kart, Sonic Rush, Mario 64, and others.
 
Aurora said:
Bah, so PiT isn't really worth getting?
I was planning on grabbing it when it comes out in Europe but now I doubt I will.

Oh and go for Castlevania!

I think it definitely is worth getting. It's a very good game, even if it's not the best entry in the Mario RPG series.

The story is a bit weaker and less original than in Superstar Saga, but the game still manages to be hilariously funny all throughout. The gameplay... well, almost everything that worked and was right with the gameplay in Superstar Saga returns, and PiT adds some new stuff that also works really well (the Bros. Items are really well done, I thought, and they make for some crazily hectic-fast paced battles). Very fun game to play.

It's not without its flaws, and it's not the best Mario RPG, but it's still a great game. It's just hard to top Superstar Saga -- and PiT is definitely weaker than its predecessor. But not being as good as the first game (or some of the other A+ games on the DS like Castlevania) doesn't make it bad.
 
jgkspsx said:
Castlevania.

P.S. Anything big coming for DS this spring? And I don't mean Princess Peach.

Princess Peach. :D

Also, Metroid Prime Hunters, Brain Training, Tetris DS, Pokemon Trozei, and Resident Evil. Those are the major currently announced games that I can think of off the top of my head. Speculation has it that New Super Mario Bros. will be in April, but Nintendo hasn't announced its Q2 06 release schedule yet, which will include more spring stuff.
 
I can only talk about my experience with AC on the GC. A friend of mine got it, and so did I, and it was a sweet time. We would share our experiences, what the villagers told us, what happened to us on the day before and that kind of stuff. We were like discovering a new world together (this is sounding a bit gay, but that´s exactly how things worked ). I could go to his town every time I wanted, and so he did. Having a "comunity" was great, even when that comunity was my friend alone. The moment he moved to another city, AC felt much more cold and less like a second home. I mean, the greatness of this game lies in the comunication it creates, the comunity aspect of it. Having someone to talk about this game and tell him/her what happened to you is the best part of the game.

The collectibles, gameplay and everything else pales in comparision to the comunity aspect. Wild World adds online, and that should be a big boost, but still if you are not using WiFi or knowing someone in real life with the game, I don´t think you´ll max out the AC experience.
 
demonix69 said:
It's between Animal Crossing, Castlevania or M&L:PiT. I've held off on all three for quite a while but I don't know which I want to play first. I'm equally interested in all three. Anyway, which would be the best purchase.. I don't plan to buy another game any time soon afterwards.
Don't forget to use the Best Buy coupon if you have that retail chain near you. $10 off any videogame $29.99 or over.
http://www.ddrmaniax.net/angeltk/cag/bb10vg.pdf
 
Animal Crossing - Never played.

Castlevania - A good game but its not the amazing experience people here are hyping it up to be. Lots and lots of exploration to be done and a lot of backtracking too. If you can swallow that, I recommend this game out of the three.

Mario and Luigi 2 - Superstar Saga 2 is the best way to describe it. A lot of the same puzzles are reused. The HP of the enemies on this game is ridiculous so be ready to master the Bros. Items. The Baby set works only on occasion for moments where you need to solve the puzzle in which you have to climb through a small hole or get tossed onto something higher. Its above average but I wouldn't buy it at full price.
 
Animal Crossing>Castlevania>M&L.

AC: WW is Crack on the go.
Castlevania was a fun 6 hours that everyone should see. M&L well it's Mario.
 
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