My Current Top 5 Nintendo DS Games!

I posted my daughter’s Top 5 Nintendo DS games yesterday. Today, I’m going to post my current Top 5 favorite DS games!

Top 5 Nintendo DS games

1. Dragon Quest IX
I grew up playing Dragon Warrior on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). I saved up my money and bought Dragon Warrior II, Dragon Warrior III, and Dragon Warrior IV for the NES. My love for this series is stronger than ever. I adore all the customization available to players, although I always gear my characters for stats. I'm a severe completionist and have logged well over 100 wonderful hours trying to fill out the alchemy and monster lists. The treasure map feature is highly entertaining (as well as frustrating) and make the game playable well after you defeat the final boss.

2. The Dark Spire
What a game! The Dark Spire is a classic first-person, dungeon-crawling RPG that crawled into my heart. Strategy, one of my weaknesses, is a major part of this game, but I don't care! This game has a rather high difficulty rating and graphics that remind me of old NES games like Swords and Serpents, only upgraded in quality. A lot of the armor and weapon stats are hidden, so there is a lot of trial and error involved with creating and improving your party; even if you use all the walkthroughs and guides online. I highly recommend this game to anyone who's interested.

3. Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City
What do you know, another dungeon-crawling RPG by Atlus makes it onto my Top 5. I love the entire Etrian series. Nice graphics, decent quests, interesting story, and intuitive game-play. I'm also actually quite fond of the mapping system. Unfortunately, I haven't had time to sit down and beat the game, but I plan to put schedule it in.

4. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
Can you tell yet that I love RPG games for the DS? I think my favorite part of this game is collecting all the djinn and trying out all the different pairing combinations. I honestly don't know what else to say about this story-driven game.

5. Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter
I really love the designing/drawing aspect of this game. It's a cute story and I enjoy adding color to the world, but the biggest appeal is the designing! I have yet to try Scribblenauts, but I heard quite a few prefer Scribblenauts to Drawn to Life. What do you think? Which game do you prefer?

Bonus! It’s not out yet and technically not for the DS, but I cannot wait for Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon to come out for the 3DS! I played the demo at San Diego Comic Con this year and it’s a wonderful game! After it comes out I will make a Top 5 list for 3DS games, though I don’t think there is much competition.