Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

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Exhuminator
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Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

Post by Exhuminator »

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I was wondering what you fine folks thought about the many adventure games which graced the very popular Nintendo DS. The most iconic ones being the Ace Attorney, Professor Layton, and CiNG entries... but there were many others of course. Which have you played? Which have you beaten? What are your favorites? Are there some which you thought weren't so great?

To get the ball rolling, I'll list notable DS adventure games which were released in English. If I missed any you think are worth mentioning, give them a mention. I tried to avoid listing hidden object games in general, but some are worth noting:
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
Ace Attorney Investigations : Miles Edgeworth: Prosecutor's Path*
Again: Interactive Crime Novel
Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Art of Murder: FBI Top Secret
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars
Cate West: The Vanishing Files
Chronicles of Mystery: Curse of the Ancient Temple
Crime Lab: Body of Evidence
Crime Scene
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Dark Motives
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Deadly Intent - The Hidden Cases
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Unsolved!
Detective Conan & Kindaichi Case Files: Chance Encounter of 2 Great Detectives*
Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth
Flower, Sun, and Rain
Ghost Trick
Grey's Anatomy: The Video Game
The Hardy Boys: Treasure on the Tracks
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Jake Hunter: Memories of the Past
Last King of Africa
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West
LifeSigns: Surgical Unit
Lone Wolf I: Flight From The Dark**
Lone Wolf II: Fire On The Water**
Lone Wolf III: The Caverns Of Kalte**
Lone Wolf IV: The Chasm Of Doom**
Lone Wolf V: Shadow Of The Sand**
Lost Identities
Love Plus*
Lux-Pain
May's Mystery: Forbidden Memories
Miami Law
Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir
Nancy Drew: The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park
Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society
Nancy Drew: The Hidden Staircase
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Professor Layton and the Last Specter
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Rosario + Vampire: Tanabata's Miss Youkai Academy*
Runaway: A Twist of Fate
Safecracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure
Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena
Secret Files: Tunguska
Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis
Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House
Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy
So Blonde : Back to the Island
Syberia
Theresia
Time Hollow
Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side - 1st Love Plus*
Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side: 2nd Season*
Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side 3rd Story*
Touch Detective
Touch Detective 2 1/2
Trace Memory
Undercover: Dual Motives
Unsolved Crimes
Witch's Wish

*Available in full English via fan translation.
**These are high quality homebrew releases.
I'll add my own experiences a bit later.

Edit 1: fixed duplicate entry
Edit 2: added a few more entries
Last edited by Exhuminator on Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Tanooki
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Re: Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

Post by Tanooki »

These types of game are not my thing and I don't get along well with most of them. I don't get game developer scripted logic (or lack of?) well so I tend to ignore them.

But that said, at least by your list I've enjoyed three of them.

The original Ace Attorney release, and then both of dead CING's games Trace Memory and the follow up Hotel Dusk. AA was tricky for me with lots of fails as the whole sleuthing and whacked out questions just confused me so it was more trial and error than prosecuting a trial trying to use common sense but the humor was solid so I finished it, but ignored the sequels.

The other two though, masterpieces. They ideas they make you do to progress the story are well thought out, genius really and very intuitive in using the physical designs of the system even in imaginative ways (like screen reflection on the other panel to make an image) to get your answers. Great stories that drive you to keep reading and poking away, exploring, trying your best to get to the end and see what falls through on the story for better or worse. The ghost in the first, and the what the hell is going on moment with mr trenchcoat there in the hotel are just fantastic. I'd read those if the company had gone with a competent writer and made a novel/novella out of those for Kindle, etc.
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Re: Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

Post by ElkinFencer10 »

How does the DS version of Syberia compare to the PC and PS3 versions?
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Re: Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

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Tanooki wrote:The other two though, masterpieces.
To say that about CiNG's work shows great taste. Consider playing these CiNG developed adventure games as well, they are also fantastic:
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ElkinFencer10 wrote:How does the DS version of Syberia compare to the PC and PS3 versions?
Many sacrifices were made in the port, overall it fairs very poorly. Stick with the GOG PC version for the best experience.
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Re: Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

Post by laurenhiya21 »

Out of those I've played Ghost Trick, Lux-Pain, the first Phoenix Wright (and a bit of the second I think?), and a bit of Trace Memory.

The only one I can say that I really liked overall would be Ghost Trick. I was really awful at the puzzles, but the story, characters, and art style were pretty neat.

I almost really liked Phoenix Wright, but man I do not like a lot of the trials. I tried to play them without a guide but I thought it was a bit odd when presenting certain items. Like I would think that I should present one thing, but really I needed to present it much later. Thinking about it, maybe I should of just used a guide right from the start. Would of been less frustrating that way.

Lux-Pain could have been good (I remember liking the plot somewhat), but it has such an awful localization that I couldn't finish it. Maybe other people could finish it, but the fact that the written speech will say one thing, but the voice actors will say something slightly different was really distracting. As an example, the writing would say something like "The sushi I had was really yummy!" but the voice actor would say "The burger I had was really tasty!". Really irritating. Plus there was a bunch of spelling and grammar things, plus possibly other things that I can't remember right now since I haven't played it in a while. Oh and also you have it listed twice in your list :P

Trace Memory is the only one that I've played that I can't really say anything about. I tried to emulate it once but it didn't really work I think.
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Re: Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

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laurenhiya21 wrote:Lux-Pain could have been good (I remember liking the plot somewhat), but it has such an awful localization that I couldn't finish it. Maybe other people could finish it, but the fact that the written speech will say one thing, but the voice actors will say something slightly different was really distracting. As an example, the writing would say something like "The sushi I had was really yummy!" but the voice actor would say "The burger I had was really tasty!". Really irritating. Plus there was a bunch of spelling and grammar things, plus possibly other things that I can't remember right now since I haven't played it in a while. Oh and also you have it listed twice in your list :P
Something tells me this may be on a "games I regret having bought" list soon Xp
I bought it last year but haven't tried it yet. That localization shit sounds like it's gonna drive me crazy though Xp

I'm not sure if it's ever been released in English, but Irodzuki No Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love is definitely one of my favorite point and clicks on the system! I haven't beaten it all the way, but definitely enjoyed what I played of it. A very strange Zelda/Wizard of Oz parody that is so delightfully Japanese X3
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Re: Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

Post by Tanooki »

Exhuminator wrote:
Tanooki wrote:The other two though, masterpieces.
To say that about CiNG's work shows great taste. Consider playing these CiNG developed adventure games as well, they are also fantastic:
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The first one I keep forgetting exists as we got hosed out of it, but I'd like to. The other, I don't have a Wii I'd have to go the warez route and I have enough paid for stuff that needs being dealt with so it's not likely.
laurenhiya21 wrote: I almost really liked Phoenix Wright, but man I do not like a lot of the trials. I tried to play them without a guide but I thought it was a bit odd when presenting certain items. Like I would think that I should present one thing, but really I needed to present it much later. Thinking about it, maybe I should of just used a guide right from the start. Would of been less frustrating that way.
My problem with the franchise 100% which is why I backed off it after the first. I didn't want to deal with the irrationally stupid ways evidence worked as it makes no sense and I didn't feel like rewarding the company with a $30 purchase to run and use a guide to just see it played out.
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Re: Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

Post by Exhuminator »

laurenhiya21 wrote:Lux-Pain
I've only ever heard bad things about Lux-Pain, primarily as you said the localization being trash.
laurenhiya21 wrote:Trace Memory is the only one that I've played that I can't really say anything about. I tried to emulate it once but it didn't really work I think.
Trace Memory is very good, you oughta give it a try on your 3DS if you don't have a DS.
PartridgeSenpai wrote:Irodzuki No Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love is definitely one of my favorite point and clicks on the system!
I've never heard of that one, but it's not too surprising. There are a ton of Japanese DS adventure games which never released here. For example, I've always been interested in:
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99 no Namida (Released Jun 05, 2008)

A Japan-only DS game that asks players about themselves, then attempts to make them cry by showing a sad story that fits with their responses. The title translates to "99 Tears".
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Re: Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

Post by PartridgeSenpai »

I will definitely have to keep a lookout online for 99 No Namida. That sounds far too interesting to be boring, especially if it's developed/published by Namco! Reminds me of how they tried to personalize the monsters to the player in Silent Hill Shattered Memories with that questionnaire you fill out at the beginning.
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Re: Let us reflect upon DS adventure games.

Post by Stark »

I'm just now starting to get into these games. I've recently finished Hotel Dusk and thought it was great. I started Jake Hunter and found it to be terrible, so I stopped, but I might pick it up again.

A notable one missing from your list is The Silver Case, not that I've played it, so maybe it doesn't meet the criteria you have?
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