Top 10 Nintendo DS RPGs (No Ports or Remakes) 

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Like this page and what I do here? Consider supporting me on patreon! www.patreon.com/davidvinc [​0:37] - 10) Final Fantasy: The Four Heroes of Light [​1:44] - 9) Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled [2:56] - 8) Etrian Odyssey 3: The Drowned City [4:11] - 7) Rune Factory 3 [5:24] - 6) Nostalgia [​6:23​] - 5) The World Ends with You [7:16] - 4) Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker [8:30] - 3) Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story [​9:24​] - 2) Dragon Quest IX [10:29] - 1) Radiant Historia

10) the four heroes of light 0:36 9) black sigil blade of the exiled 1:43 8) etrian odyssey 3 the drowned city 2:56 7) rune factory 3 a fantasy harvest moon 4:10 6) nostalgia 5:24 5) the world ends with you 6:23 4) dragon quest monsters - joker 7:16 3) mario and luigi bowser's inside story 8:31 2) dragon quest IX 9:24 1) radiant historia 10:29

Nintendo DS might honestly be one of the best consoles ever made. Surely the most underrated game library. It allowed for so many niche games to come to fruition before the age of indie games truly took hold.

I fell in love with Radiant Historia almost immediately. It's one of my favorite RPGs that I've played this millennium.

Never heard about Nostalgia so that's definitely something to check out. As usual, your Top 10 lists are easily the best in the JRPG community because you seemingly really *have* played everything under the sun and you speak from extensive experience as a result. Much appreciated.

Glad to see a Rune Factory game make the list!

This video is on point as I was redoing some of my all time favorite games.

Now you gotta make a top 10 3ds, Wii, Wii u and switch RPGs. I'll be waiting on your future videos

To anyone who has never heard of Etrian Odyssey before, I strongly recommend giving some of the soundtracks a listen. They're all made by a great composer, and just make the series as a whole much more enjoyable.

Got through Radiant Historia and I have to agree with you there, what a great game. The OST in this one is amazing. Still holds up today.

Great list David, you are my go-to guy for the relaxing chill Jrpgs!

I absolutely love valkyrie profile covenant of the plume. The story and combat are so good to me. Being able to combo and being required to get an overkill in certain places really appealed to me.

It's great to watch a video like this in present days, makes me feel nostalgic!! Btw, great video!!

You're recommending a game I've never heard of as a spiritual successor to Skies of Arcadia?! I must play!!

This randomly was just recommended to me, and I really enjoyed the video! Subbed!

You know, I never really liked Dragon Quest 9 very much, but it did get me into the series, which is now one of my favorite game series of all time.

This is basically the best kind of top 10 list idea anyone can have. AWESOME

Yeah, we definitely need a Radiant Historia 2, same timetraveling concept, but a new world. This game is one of the better RPG's I have ever played.

Dragon quest 9 is my all time favorite game on the DS, I absolutely adore that game

Suikoden Tierkreis is far my favorite NDS RPG game.

You have great taste in games, glad to have found your channel.

I’ve got another that may be missed. 7th Dragon. Sure, it has an Etrian Odyssey-ish or old DQ battle system where you can’t see your units bobbling while taking turns but this game balances fun and challenge because the random encounters are so drastically different compared to the bosses. That and certain class synergies across the board and (this is a personal one) tickles the inner weeb because it has _cat girls_ well, not exactly but they’re half-breeds. Also, Sands of Destruction. It’s fun, the combo system is super satisfying and provides decent hours of gameplay because you’d want to complete the game 100%.

Wow! You have a real talent, I wanna play all these RPGs now haha. Another excellent video!

most of the DS RPGs I've played are in fact ports and remakes :D Dragon Quest IX however is one of my favorite games of all time. It introduced me to Dragon Quest and turn-based JRPGs in general and I dearly love it for that.

4 Heroes of Light! Absolutely loved that game and I never see anyone talk about it either... best experience I had with it was playing through the whole game in co-op mode with my brother!

ayyy, dragon quest monsters joker. i never see this game on any lists, and its one of my favorites of all time. its a shame the 3rd one never came out in north america dragon quest 9 too, amazing game

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is amazing

Thank you!! I fell in love with DQ11 on the switch, and when I discovered that there were other DQ games on the DS I went and blew the ancient dust off mine! I then heard that it was a console with loads of really great RPGs, but somehow I never played any of them as a kid (except Pokemon, of course)?? Thanks for the help in finding new great stuff to play!

Since the 3DS is pretty much done Why not make a top 10 3DS RPGs

Great list! The only one I would begrudge is Black Sigil. I am definitely among those that give it a bad rap haha. As a DS collector, I loved watching this. Your top 10 videos are great, David, even when I don’t always agree. Some other games I would recommend, if you haven’t played them yet, are: Summon Night Twin Age, the Crystal Chronicles games, Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow, Custom Robo Arena and especially Soma Bringer. I really enjoyed those. It’s a testament to how great the DS’s RPG library is!

"I had that kind of time when I was 15, but now I'm 37!" Literally to the age the situation I find myself in, which has lead to a shelf full of RPG's that is growing at an exponentially faster rate than I can keep up with.

Amazing video ty so much, I just got a DSi XL (had 2 DS Lites ages ago) so this list is just what I need :)

The best part of this video for me is that I was literally just looking for this. I completely overlooked black sigil.

Man I love your videos, keep up!

Must play games:Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey,Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor 1&2.Radiant Historia is one the best jrpgs ever for me and with Strange Journey,DQIX,Devil Survivor 1&2,The World End With You the main reason to own a ds(or 3ds).Also both Zelda games are great too.

Loved hearing the Lufia 2 overworld at the beginning!

Soma Bringer is a hidden gem which I recommend, unfortunately the game never released outside of Japan but there are a 99% completed fan translation.

Glad I held out for Radiant Historia on 3DS. Incidentally, my favorite RPG for DS was Knights in the Nightmare, a strategy / shooter hybrid. Definitely not a game for everyone (it's REALLY hard) but once you get the hang of the combat system it can be extremely addicting.

Similar taste in games to me.

My favorite of all times: Master of the Monster Lair or Dungeon Maker Is a simpke game, simple rpg and has a good twist: you play a rpg dungeon, yes, but YOU build that dungeon as a trap for the monsters. Has a good system for upgrade the characters, good and sarcastic humor, and you can either farm items or just keep going the story

So glad RF 3 appeared in the top, but The World End With You deserves first place.

A good amount of stuff here that I definitely gotta check out now

I think your list lacks the smt games, Strange journey is one of the best rpgs I've ever played

Love your channel, same age here, (37) and i felt identified with your taste. I don't like dungeon crawlers or harvest RPG either, well, maybe because something you said. Time. I rather play some RPGs that have great battle system combined with a great story. I'm looking for some retro games that i missed back in the day and there's a lot to dig in. Subscribed!

Thanks a lot for the video, i want to play games i maybe didnt get to play when i was a kid. Your vid made my search easier

The real best part of radiant historia is how competent stock is so everything that happens isn’t progressed by bullshit.

Dragon quest 9 is still my favorite game to this day, and that will never change

What about Solatorobo: Red the Hunter? Its the spiritual sucessor of Tail Concerto.

I'm currently playing Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology and can't seem to put it down!

Radiant Historia is such an amazing game, definitely in my top 5 rpgs list if I’m being honest. I really recommend checking out Infinite Space for the DS. It’s definitely not for everyone but it’s very ambitious and takes some risks and I love the hell out of it.

I love “The World Ends With You”. So good!! It’s my favorite RPG that I’ve played recently. It’s so unique and an interesting story that has much better theme work than a lot of JRPG’s.

I remember being hyped for Nostalgia in 2008/9, then just never hearing about it again. I'll consider tracking down a North American copy, as it was never released here in the UK. I generally agree with this list, but there are a few surprising omissions. I personally consider Pokemon Black/White 2 the series' peak, so I expected to see them here. SMT Strange Journey is brutal, but also a must have RPG for the DS, so would appear on my list. I've also never got round to playing my copy, but I expected Suikoden Tierkreis to feature on this list too. Not to mention the DS' original SRPGs (SMT Devil Survivor, FFT A2, etc).

Excellent list !

The World Ends With You was amazing. The music, the gameplay, the bond and difference of gameplay with your partner on the top screen, it was just so good. Did I mention the music was awesome too?

Gratifying to see the 4 Heroes of light on the list, been jonesing for that a lot recently

I loved 4 Heroes of Light, despite it's flaws

Love the Black Sigil....nice!

I just Completed Rune Factory 3 yesterday and it's my 1st Rune factory game I really liked it's marriage system and Married to Raven I was really so Happy

Nostalgia is very interesting! It makes me think of the Skies of Arcadia on the Dreamcast!

First dragon quest I ever played was the 4th on I can't believe how it's evolved over the years

(Heavy sigh of nostalgic happiness) _Bowser's Inside Story... Where do I even begin man?_ This was my second favorite DS game I ever had the joy of playing & I can't even begin to count how many times I reset my 2nd save file just to play it again. I'm certain I've played at least a couple hundred hours on it alone. With fantastic music that you *_KNOW_* the very second you hear it, that it's gonna be one of those songs you hear & just remember your childhood. The battle system is very nice & I liked how the music changed depending on if you were playing as Bowser, The Mario Bros., or the Mario Bros. while inside of Bowser. It has a very memorable cast of characters like Starlow, the Bloque guy (can't remember his exact name), his dog Broggy, the Sage on the Mountain, & the various Globin inside of Bowser. But of course, you can't have a hero without a villain, & Fawful's return was phenomenal. Every moment he was on-screen & *_THAT THEME OF HIS NbHNdkMMzkJamj_* was playing left me with the stupidest grin on my face. But then we get the _true_ antagonist of this game... _The Dark Star_ &, one of the best things to ever happen in the Mario & Luigi series... the subsequent *_Dark Bowser._* I couldn't even try & count how many times I replayed that _Grand Finale_ of a Final Boss Battle, _just to listen to that _*_GLORIOUS SOUNDTRACK._* But despite how much I loved _Bowser's Inside Story,_ it would only ever be my #2. "So what was #1?" *_BUUUUUH BUDDA BUBA BAAAAA! (DA-NA-NA-NA! DA-NA-NA-NA!) BUH BUM BUH BUUUUH BUM BUM BUH BAA NAAAAA!_* _Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies._ (Will finish later, battery is low & I have shit to do)

Can't wait to play these!!

Lost Magic is really nice, one of my most played RPG's on the DS.

No shin megami tensei strange journey or devil survivor. Damn

So happy you mentioned skies of arcadia. Its my favorite jrpg ever. This nostalgia game looks great too. Maybe ill have to get a dsi to play it. Lol

Knew your #1 choice as soon as I read the video title. It's just that good!

Rune Factory 3 was the one I managed to play the most, before I played Tides of Destiny, but I managed to miss the mission board or bulletin board missions from the game until like winter or the second year hahhahahaha the worst is that I remember being able to advance a lot in the game, but then I needed to have finished something related to the mission board to be able to do something related to Mid or End Game content. Anyway, I still remember having a good time with that game.

Another awesome top 10 video 😍 Gaahhh I can never, ever play The World Ends With You...it brought back a tick I have when I am uber concentrated on a task.

THIS VIDEO ISS NECESSARY THANK YOU RU-vidR PERSON!

That black sigil game reminds me of chrono trigger. I wanna play it now

I ADORED skies of Arcadia and i wish they made a sequel! I'm gonna have to check out Nostalgia

“Etrian Odyssey III” was my first game in the EO series and I loved it! I don’t mind first-person dungeon crawlers and this is one of my favorites. (Along with Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey”).

Great list!!!

Its good to see people do nds games in 2019

Imo final fantasy echoes of time is really underrated. It's one of those games that's more fun playing online, plus it was one of the first online final fantasy games and you can play on the go. I was a kid when I played it but I remember enjoying the story at the time too

Thanks for your list! I might suggest trying Stardew Valley as the latest Harvest Moon style game, I've been playing it recently and really taken with it. Black Sigil looks really cool. I have Radiant Historia but haven't played it through yet; I think I'll have to pick it up again!

When I saw this video on my recomendations and just decided to click on it I wasn't expecting to hear Lufia Rise of the Sinistrals' OST. 10/10

This is the coolest top i've seen

Dragon quest monster joker brings back so many memories for me. It's one of the first dragon quest moster games I got. I had one for the game boy color but can barely remember it.

Radiant historia was very surprising, amazing game.

great list, definitely agree with the top 2. i might give black sigil a chance, i always liked the graphics.

I don't know if you have played it but... magical starsign is a hidden gem, nice characters, a fun battle system and in my opinion great animations for a ds

I’m a simple man: I see a new RPG Best of List from David, I watch, I buy the top three.

Years ago after watching HCBailly's LP, I was humming Radiant Historia music to myself while downtown waiting. Still haven't played it, but I've had it, and I gotta play it TODAY. Also Black Sigil (though beware the softlocks).

I really like The World Ends With You. I have yet to find a game that utilizes the DS touchscreen in as unique a way as TWEWY. Plus, its story is really good and has very interesting themes. Also, its soundtrack is AMAZING. Devil Survivor beats it by just a tad for me, but it’s still a great game.

Gracias por el vídeo me sirvio mucho

The world ends with you is probably my favourite game ever, i also love the Mario and Luigi games. Devil Survivor games are pretty good too! Need to replay Radiant Historia...

Another great video.

So glad to find someone else who likes Black Sigil. Just for that I'll subscribe. XD It is one of my favorites on the DS. :)

Nostalgia! I played that game for hours but never got to finish it. I really liked it but other games came out. Dragon Quest IX was so good. Onw of Mt favorite DQ games. I was hoping for a remake/port for the 3ds. One hidden gem I liked was Sands of Destruction. I had fun with that found the story interesting. I was surprised there was an anime but it was only 12 episodes and didn't seem to cover the whole game.

Great parameters to examine the quality titles made firstly with the DS in mind.

I got into RPGs on the DS. Especially from DQIX, Bowsers Inside Story, and Pokemon. I love the system, so I'd be interested in Radiant Historia, Nostalgia, and Black Sigil.

Need Etrian Odyssey 3. Recently bought a DSi and that's next on my list.

Have you tried super robot taisen og saga endless frontier ?

God, Lufia Curse of the Sinistrals hit me with some nostalgia and feels.

One of the best top 10 lists as it seemed you have played and formed a concise opinion on each of these games. Also really felt 4:36 as a 37-year-old.

Nostalgia is one one the most criminally underrated JRPGs ever made.

If you’re going to do a follow up (or just need a good portable game), you should definitely play SMT: Strange Journey. It’s a first person dungeon crawler like Etrian Odyssey, but it has amazing writing, a good story, and incredible gameplay.

"Nostalgia"is A.Tarkowsky 1983-film.