Any Adventure Games for the DS, Anybody?

[Marduk]

It's as if the console was MADE for this type of game. (I fervently hope TTG will eventually make a couple of games for it. Particularly Sam & Max).

I've noticed a surprisingly large number of games which I have suspected to be Adventure games (far more than I would have expected for a console so new in such a short time and in this day and age) come out for it. (Also, have you ever noticed that no adventures have a message on the back of the box saying "This is an Adventure Game"?

Far more than I can actually afford to buy, since the recession. I've been making a list, mentally, of the games to look out for and buy when I have some cash together, but its hard. (For one thing the games on the shelves are never in the same place twice, especially if some have been purchased).

So I thought I'd look up a list of DS adventure titles online and go through it for the ones I'm most interested in. Sadly most of the lists aren't just for adventure games, but various different types of action games. Soon it becomes hard to tell which is which.

If anybody knows of an adventure game fan site that has a DS section or even a DS fansite that has a [proper] adventure game section then PLEASElet me know. Until then, here's a list of games collated from this thread

Original DS Titles;
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Touch Detective 1 & 2 (For some reason called 'Mystery Detective', here in the UK. The bundled games are referred to as 'Touch Detective' but I've only seen these available online).
The 'Ace Attorney' series (Not entirely certain this is an adventure game but most adventure players recommend it).
Secret Files: Tunguska (At first I thought the dialogue in this game was terrible. Then, when I accounted for the language barrier (I discovered that the game was made in germany), I realised that some of the weird lines were actually jokes).
Another Code (I'm told that the Wii and DS versions were originally intended for release on both systems so I'm not going to regard this as a ported title).
CSI: Dark Motives
Miami Law (Haven't seen this anywhere online or in shops. I assume it's real as it was mentioned by TTG's own Emily and that it's probably just not yet available in the UK).
Flower, Sun, and Rain (Something of an 'interactive novel', from what I gather).
Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery Of The Mummy

Probably Adventure Games (if there's anybody who can verify any of these that would be great );
Mystery Mansion
Cate West: The Vanishing Files (Not yet released)
Mystery Stories
Mystery Case Files: Millionheir
Unsolved Crimes
Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew: The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park
Nancy Drew: The Hidden Staircase (All 3 of these Nancy Drew titles appear to be from differant publishers).

Ported Titles
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director's Cut (also on Wii)
Syberia (just the first one),
Myst
Ankh
Jake Hunter
Undercover : Dual Motives

Thanks in advance

[MusicallyInspired]

All I'm aware of are the rereleases of certain PC titles: Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director's Cut (also on Wii), Syberia (just the first one), and Myst. There were talks of interest in porting Riven as well but I doubt that'll ever happen considering the harsh criticism the Myst port got. I still plan to buy all of these, though. I know of no other original adventures on the DS.

[LuigiHann]

I think you listed most of the ones I know of. The Ace Attorney series is the best there is on DS.

If you like Hotel Dusk you might also like Trace Memories/Another Code, which was made by the same people.

Myst on DS was a huge insult to everyone.

I played a game called "Time Hollow" which was kind of like an adventure game with almost no puzzles at all. It had very little gameplay of any kind, it was a Japanese-style visual novel. It had a good story, and mostly plays similar to the "investigation" parts of Phoenix Wright.

The DS port of Runaway 2 was handled notably well. You hold down the stylus and the whole screen zooms in for double resolution. It makes it a lot more playable than most PC-to-DS adventure game ports.

[MusicallyInspired]

You know what I would like to see on the DS are those old Dynamix comic book-style adventures: Rise of the Dragon, Heart of China, The Adventures of Willy Beamish. That'd work very well. No moving around, all first person, mostly dialogue tree puzzles. I should actually play those sometime...never attempted to beat them yet.

[Marduk]

Originally Posted by LuigiHann

The DS port of Runaway 2 was handled notably well. You hold down the stylus and the whole screen zooms in for double resolution. It makes it a lot more playable than most PC-to-DS adventure game ports.

I played the first half of the runaway 1 before uninstalling it and writing an angry review.

[Tea]

There's the Broken Sword Director's Cut, it's unfulfilling though.

And of course if you have one of "dem cards" you can run classics like Monkey Island through ScummVM DS.

[Marduk]

does the director's cut still have voices or is it subs only?

[Rather Dashing]

I suppose Professor Layton doesn't count enough for a mention?

[LuigiHann]

Originally Posted by Marduk

I played the first half of the runaway 1 before uninstalling it and writing an angry review.

Funny, I sat through the intro of Runaway 1, then completely lost any interest in playing it at all. Seriously, the game starts with the main character chilling in the chair and telling us the back story as a bland monologue? Kudos to you for forging onward, that's some serious will power.

Originally Posted by Marduk

does the director's cut still have voices or is it subs only?

Subs only in the DS version.

[LuigiHann]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

I suppose Professor Layton doesn't count enough for a mention?

You know, it's not much of an adventure game, but it is worth discussion. It has a ton of adventure game-style character and environment charm, and the puzzles are fun enough, it's just the complete and utter segregation of story and puzzles that make it feel like not-an-adventure-game-at-all.

It is the sort of game that many adventure game fans would enjoy, though, so I would encourage people to play it. Just don't expect any story-puzzle integration, because there is virtually none.

[natlinxz]

Myst on DS completely destroyed any hope I had in Adventure gaming on that system.

[Marduk]

I haven't played it on the DS, myself. I got it for the PSP and didn't see the point in getting it for another handheld. Those adventures I have played on the DS have had brilliant interfaces, though (though the puzzles on Touch Detective required for to large leaps of intuition).

What was wrong with Myst?

Also, what are the puzzles like in 'Prof. Layton's...'? I got the impression that they're more the kind of puzzles you'd generally expect to find outside the adventure games (like on IQ tests or pub bets. By pub bets i mean like "remove 2 of these matches to leave 10" or "pick up 5 bricks with 1 hand" or "how can you make a bridge with 3 planks that are too short without nails, ropes or any adhesive substances?")

[MusicallyInspired]

I don't think anybody's saying there's a problem with Myst, just it's god-awful DS port. There's apparently one section where a button you have to press is only one pixel big. Also, it's been said everywhere that it has an alternate (inferior) soundtrack, but from what I've heard it's the exact same one.....so I don't get why everyone's saying it's different. Is it only certain songs that are changed? Anybody know who has it? What's the deal there?

[corruptbiggins]

I would love to see more adventure games on the DS but I would prefer developers to create games designed for the consoles, not just ported because they were successful on another platform. I do think, however, that Revolution did a good job in porting Broken Sword to the DS but I believe that's mainly down to them doing it themselves instead of a third party creating the port (like Myst).

[LuigiHann]

Originally Posted by natlinxz

Myst on DS completely destroyed any hope I had in Adventure gaming on that system.

Don't let it. That was a shameful and effortless port (ported by Midway, not Cyan or anyone with a soul), one of the worst ports I've ever seen. I stand by my insistence that Myst could have been done well on DS if it had been handled by a competent team, or a team that cared about Myst. The people who developed the port were clearly neither.

I wrote up some of the specific problems I had here: http://mystonline.com/forums/viewtop...307c526#227976

Man, I can't get over how angry that makes me. The idea that some people who had never played Myst bought that, and got their first impression of the series from that garbage port... it's just wrong.

There are plenty of decent and several great adventure games on DS. Don't give up on it because of one bad apple.

Marduk, the puzzles in Professor Layton are exactly as you describe, little mind-teasers. Several of them involve matchsticks, even.

[natlinxz]

Originally Posted by Marduk

What was wrong with Myst?

This is an older review of mine, so it's pretty crappy, but it gets the point across: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkBGu4KMZCw

But it's still the best Myst DS review on Youtube! It's the only Myst DS review on Youtube

[MusicallyInspired]

Just think. Whenever ScummVM gets around to supporting Myst and Riven you may be able to play them on the DS someday...

[freakazoid]

Originally Posted by Marduk

Also, what are the puzzles like in 'Prof. Layton's...'? I got the impression that they're more the kind of puzzles you'd generally expect to find outside the adventure games (like on IQ tests or pub bets. By pub bets i mean like "remove 2 of these matches to leave 10" or "pick up 5 bricks with 1 hand" or "how can you make a bridge with 3 planks that are too short without nails, ropes or any adhesive substances?")

That's exactly what it's like. I played it for a few hours and then it got very boring and tedious very fast. There's a game called Lux-Pain you might want to check out. Here's a video review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW7nFqAg9do

[Tea]

Originally Posted by Marduk

I haven't played it on the DS, myself. I got it for the PSP and didn't see the point in getting it for another handheld. Those adventures I have played on the DS have had brilliant interfaces, though (though the puzzles on Touch Detective required for to large leaps of intuition).

What was wrong with Myst?

Also, what are the puzzles like in 'Prof. Layton's...'? I got the impression that they're more the kind of puzzles you'd generally expect to find outside the adventure games (like on IQ tests or pub bets. By pub bets i mean like "remove 2 of these matches to leave 10" or "pick up 5 bricks with 1 hand" or "how can you make a bridge with 3 planks that are too short without nails, ropes or any adhesive substances?")

I broke my first DS because of the harder puzzles in Layton.

[natlinxz]

Originally Posted by MusicallyInspired

Just think. Whenever ScummVM gets around to supporting Myst and Riven you may be able to play them on the DS someday...

I don't think that SCUMMVM will be supporting Myst anytime soon. Part of getting SCUMMVM to work was having the source code from a few SCUMM games, and I don't think that Myst is open source.

I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just saying that it's hard.