For me personally, perhaps the greatest thing about the Nintendo DS is the fact that it has led to the resurrection of the adventure game. This genre died a humilitating death back in the nineties on the PC with an over-abundance of bad FMV acting and super obscure non-logical puzzles. Thanks to the DS I can once again play story driven games that don't involve boss battles.
Now, I'm not talking about "console style" adventure games (that trace their lineage back to The Legend of Zelda and Adventure for the Atari 2600.) Console adventure games always include a component of action whereas the pure adventure games I'm talking about have their roots in text adventures, like Zork, from the early days of the computer. With the standardization of the mouse, the point and click adventure game was born. Console adventure games share the common link with this genre of a non-linear game world and the lack of a dedicated jump button (or motion to be Politically correct.)
Looking at my small DS library, over half of my titles are pure adventure games, and this is an awesome fact. Here they are in chronological order:
Sprung
Now I now some of you are already squwaking that Sprung is a dating SIM and not an adventure game, but if you play the game it's obvious that it has the classic structure of a text adventure: go a direction, interact, solve the puzzle. I was a bit apprehensive about picking this game up, but I found for $10 at Fred Meyer and really got a kick out of it. The writing is surprisingly funny in a cheesy way and the character art, while static, is decent. The plot stays tasteful for the most part, so you have nothing to fear if you're creeped out by Japanese virtual pervert games.
Trace Memory
CING mades its debut for most of us with this early DS adventure title. To be honest it's a little bland in presentation and dialog. Despite that their is fun to be had and you can feel the potential the developer has in store. Their next DS game totally delivered.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Who new a game about being a lawyer could be so much fun? Like many of the games on this list the mechanics of the gameplay are super simple, but where Phoenix Wright shines is in the writing. Funny, touching and giving the player a real sense of sympathy for the characters, Phoenix Wright has not only some of the best writing of any DS game, but of any game period. If you don't have an adventure game in your DS library this is the one to get.
Touch Detective
A great little game by Atlus that can be hard to find but definitely worth picking up. A great art style and of all these titles it has game play that is most akin to the point and click Sierra games from the days of PC past.
Phoenix Wright: Justice for All
Phoenix and his cast are back for round two! The game play is near identical to the first title, but that's not a bad thing. I'm not finished playing this game yet, but I am enjoying it quite a bit so far. The writing really picks up on the third case.
Hotel Dusk Room 215
What a great game, it really feels like an interactive novel. The game has a unique art style that people often compare to the Aha "Take on Me" video and the writing and characters are much more developed in this second offering from CING. The protagonist Kyle Hyde is a memorable character that grounds the story.
So there we are. Did I miss any DS adventure games in my list? In the near future we have the third Phoenix Wright game coming down the pipe as well as Professor Layton. Although I'm not quite sure if Prof. Layton is an adventure game, RPG, or puzzle game.
I may add to this mega thread as future DS adventure games come along.
Topic: Strap yourself in... FOR ADVENTURE! (Read 5314 times)
