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What are the best adventure games for the Nintendo DS/2DS/3DS?

7

Options
Considered

8

User
Recs.

Aug 3, 2018

Last
Updated

7 Games Considered

Best adventure games for the Nintendo DS/2DS/3DS	Price	Platforms	Genre
-- Terraria	$19.99	Windows, Mac, Xbox 360/One, PS3, PS4, Nintendo 3DS, Switch, iOS, Android	2D platformer / Minecraft-like
-- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney	$32.45	Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Wii, Game Boy Advance, Android, iOS, Windows	Visual Novel, Adventure
-- SteamWorld Dig	$8.99	-	-
-- LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens	$29.99	Windows, PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS	Action-Adventure
-- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy	$29.99	Nintendo 3DS, iOS	Visual Novel, Adventure

Terraria

Top Pro

Fun combat

It starts out simple, with you whacking away at slow moving zombies and flying eyes, gradually shifting to more fierce and fearsome enemies such as flying demons, agile lizardmen, and many more. To survive you'll have to be always on the move, dodge enemy attacks, and be accurate when you retaliate. There are also plenty of weapons to choose from. Melee weapons such as swords, hammers, lances, and flails. Ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows, rifles, and miniguns. And various items that allow you to cast spells. Whatever you choose, it feels great to destroy hordes of enemies. See More

Top Con

Low replay value for those who play it as an adventure game

Terraria is a sandbox platform-adventure game, so it partly hinges on beating various bosses. If you play it purely for the sake of defeating all the bosses, you might have little else to do afterwards. Restarting the game won't be as enjoyable either because you'll already know what to expect, causing continued play without a new goal feel mundane or boring. See More

Specs

Genre:2D platformer / Minecraft-like

Co-Op:8 Player Online / 8 Player LAN

Controller Support:Android (MOGA / HID), Steam (Full)

Top Pro

Intriguing world

Terraria uses a bright color palette and an upbeat chiptune soundtrack to ease you into its world. However, once you start exploring and spend time in it you'll notice it's not as cozy as it first seemed to be. Blood Moons that rouse the dead from their graves. Goblin armies trying to destroy everything in their wake. Vast and dark cave systems, filled with odd creatures and various dangers. Ancient ruins, teeming with the restless dead and evil spirits. Pockets of decaying land, thriving with misshapen monstrosities. It's really fun to explore and discover something new about the world of Terraria. See More

Top Con

Progress can feel slow

Quite often you'll have to collect tons of materials to craft the necessary tools, equipment, and boss summoning items to advance. This can take a really long time, especially if you're unlucky with the items dropped by mobs. See More

Top Pro

Lots of community servers, tutorials, and streams

Terraria has a large community of players on every platform including mobile, desktop, and console. Because of this, there are many servers to play on, as well as tutorials and Let's Plays. Finding content or help getting started is quite easy. See More

Top Pro

Allows for freedom of expression for all ages, all at your own pace

Terraria has all kinds of tools and materials you can use to build whatever you can imagine. From housing, to furniture, to weapons, to types of structure, the possibilities are almost endless. This is great for children who enjoy building and problem solving, and for adults who enjoy the same. It also makes for a great objective-less game, where you can do just about anything you want at your own pace. See More

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Top Pro

Engaging choice-based gameplay

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is all about choosing your own adventure through living the life of a defense attorney. It's up to you to do a good job for your clients, meaning you have to make the best choices when going through the case. When you interview witnesses and suspects, there's a dialogue tree where you choose what you want to ask them, and then during the trial, you carefully choose the best evidence to support your argument. You get to the bottom of each investigation and trial on your own terms, either by following your instincts or listening to helpful suggestions from other characters. See More

Top Con

Not for players who want more involved gameplay

Since this is a visual novel without much voice acting, that means there's a lot of reading. You won't find typical gameplay here with responsive controls and freedom of movement. The gameplay is all about being an attorney and an investigator, through gathering evidence and presenting evidence to defend your client. If you're not used to these types of games, this may not be for you unless you're willing to try something new. See More

Specs

Genre:Visual Novel, Adventure

Top Pro

Polished character designs

As this is a character-heavy visual novel game, it helps a lot that the art for the characters are all really well-done. Full of expressive personality, they look just like the ones in the series' anime. Their exaggerated humor shows through their designs and animations, helping the game to stand on its art and writing without more complicated animations or even much voice acting. Experiencing the story through the character art doesn't get tiring, since it does such a good job of carrying the whole legal drama. See More

Top Con

Puzzles are not always balanced

Puzzles in the game are not evenly balanced in difficulty, which can be frustrating when one of the more difficult to solve puzzles come up. It would be one thing if the more difficult puzzles were found at the end of the game, but more often than not they are found in the middle and scattered around. See More

Top Pro

Charming music

Since this is a port of an older game for the Game Boy Advance, the music still has a rather old school sound to it, but this only adds to the charm. It's great at setting the tone in any given scene, sounding more serious with lower instruments for when you're collecting evidence, and then again when presenting that evidence to the court, while it's of course much lighter during funny conversations with silly characters. There's always a computerized sound throughout that makes it charming to listen to, like going back in time before the more modern orchestral music in gaming today. See More

Top Pro

Accessible learning curve

Even if you don't know anything about legal cases and courtrooms, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is easy to grasp and learn. The first case is more of a tutorial for how the game works, and it does a great job at getting you used to the mechanics with collecting evidence, questioning witnesses, and going through the motions of presenting your argument before the judge. You don't need to know any special legal language or anything like that; you can still have fun with this game while getting to feel like a defense attorney in an entertaining way. See More

SteamWorld Dig

Top Pro

Unlimited replayability with a procedurally generated world

Through the use of random generation the game is able to create a different experience not only for each person that plays it but for each time one restarts the game. Which lends to a bunch of replayability. See More

Top Con

Combat mechanics are basic

Combat consists of hitting an enemy with ones pick or drill, which is time consuming and not really satisfying. It is much easier to just go around opponents, even if it takes more time. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Top Pro

World is permanently altered as you play through it

To navigate through the world of SteamWorld Dig, you need to dig through the earth, shaping out the tunnels and paths you need to pass through, requiring you to think twice about how to dig so you can get through the tunnel efficiently, and escape when you need to before you run out of power. See More

Top Con

Beginning of the game is somewhat tedious

Until a few upgrades are acquired and teleporters placed around the map for faster travel, it requires a bit of monotonous mining. See More

Top Con

Nice digger, but not really metroidvania

It has stuff to unlock - but you buy most of those options, unlike a metroidvania game. Also, down is always correct, unlike metroidvania. See More

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Top Pro

Solid voice work from cast of the movie

The voice acting in Lego Star Wars: Force Awakens is really good, especially if you're familiar with the film. The game features both voice clips from the actual film as well as new voice lines recorded by many of the actors from the film reprising their roles. It's great to hear the actual voices from characters like Rey and Han Solo, giving you the feeling of actually playing through the movie itself with the real actors. The new voice work is generally well done and adds authenticity to the experience. See More

Top Con

Doesn't change up the LEGO game formula

As the LEGO games are meant for younger audiences, it's great that they're easy to pick up and learn, but LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens doesn't offer anything new to the franchise. It's the same setup of adapting the original material with the same type of humor, and the same type of combat. If you've played other LEGO games, you'll pretty much find a similar experience here. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:Action-Adventure

Co-Op:2 Player Local (except on Nintendo 3DS)

Top Pro

Side levels provide backstory for characters and events from the movie

You can unlock additional bonus levels that delve into extra events not shown in the movie, showing what some characters were doing before the movie takes place. These levels are "canon", though with the typical LEGO humor added on top, making them fun to experience if you're a big Star Wars fan. See More

Top Con

Simple and repetitive gameplay

The combat is basically a mindless button-mashing experience that requires no skill and offers no forms of character progression. There isn't anything with depth or intricacy here, as it's meant for a younger audience. The most you'll see to change things up are puzzles that you have to figure out from time to time. If you're looking for something more involved and complex, you're probably better off looking elsewhere. See More

Top Pro

Light-hearted story

With well-written characters who quip and deliver memorable lines, the story in LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens is wonderful for anyone interested in a lighter, kid-friendly interpretation of the Star Wars universe. The villains are competent without needing to be overtly evil, and the main protagonists are charming in their heroism and banter with other characters. There are some genuinely funny moments that even adults will probably get some laughs out of, making this an ideal game for Star Wars fans of all ages to enjoy. See More

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Top Pro

Engaging choice-based gameplay

The Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: games are all about choosing your own adventure through living the life of a defense attorney. It's up to you to do a good job for your clients, meaning you have to make the best choices when going through the case. When you interview witnesses and suspects, there's a dialogue tree where you choose what you want to ask them, and then during the trial, you carefully choose the best evidence to support your argument. The stakes are high during court cases, since if you pick the wrong evidence during a cross-examination, for example, the prosecution's side will hammer you on it and you'll suffer a loss. There's more incentive this time to get everything right and do your best, otherwise you may lose the case outright for your client. You get to the bottom of each investigation and trial on your own terms, either by following your instincts or listening to helpful suggestions from other characters. See More

Top Con

Trials and Tribulations doesn't offer enough new changes over the first two games

During the third game in the trilogy, you get to play as different characters from time to time, like Phoenix's rivals Edgeworth and Mia, but that's about it. The rest of the gameplay is fundamentally the same as the other two games in the series. If you play all three games, you may find that things are pretty samey by this point. The Ace Attorney games do have a good formula, though it would have been nice to have more innovation throughout the trilogy. See More

Specs

Genre:Visual Novel, Adventure

Top Pro

Great collection of three games in one

This trilogy is a bundle of three games in one package -- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations. While each game is still available to buy individually, you can usually find the whole trilogy for about the same cost as a single game. This is perfect for playing the games in order as well, so you don't miss out on the emotional impact of the story in the third game, Trials and Tribulations. See More

Top Con

Not for players who want more involved gameplay

Since these are visual novels without much voice acting, that means there's a lot of reading. You won't find typical gameplay here with responsive controls and freedom of movement. The gameplay is all about being an attorney and an investigator, through gathering evidence and presenting evidence to defend your client. If you're not used to these types of games, this trilogy may not be for you unless you're willing to try something new. See More

Top Pro

Polished character designs

As these are character-heavy visual novel games, it helps a lot that the art for the characters are all really well-done. Full of expressive personality, they look just like the ones in the series' anime. Their exaggerated humor shows through their designs and animations, helping the games to stand on their art and writing without more complicated animations or even much voice acting. Experiencing the stories through the character art doesn't get tiring, since it does such a good job of carrying the whole legal drama. See More

Top Pro

Charming music

Since this is a collection of ports of older games for the Game Boy Advance, the music still has a rather old school sound to it, but this only adds to the charm. It's great at setting the tone in any given scene, sounding more serious with lower instruments for when you're collecting evidence, and then again when presenting that evidence to the court, while it's of course much lighter during funny conversations with silly characters. There's always a computerized sound throughout that makes it charming to listen to, like going back in time before the more modern orchestral music in gaming today. See More

Top Pro

Accessible learning curve

Even if you don't know anything about legal cases and courtrooms, the Ace Attorney games are easy to grasp and learn. The first case is usually more of a tutorial for how each game works, and it does a great job at getting you used to the mechanics with collecting evidence, questioning witnesses, and going through the motions of presenting your argument before the judge. You don't need to know any special legal language or anything like that; you can still have fun with this trilogy while getting to feel like a defense attorney in an entertaining way. See More

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

Top Pro

Engaging choice-based gameplay

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations is all about choosing your own adventure through living the life of a defense attorney. It's up to you to do a good job for your clients, meaning you have to make the best choices when going through the case. When you interview witnesses and suspects, there's a dialogue tree where you choose what you want to ask them, and then during the trial, you carefully choose the best evidence to support your argument. The stakes are high during court cases, since if you pick the wrong evidence during a cross-examination, for example, the prosecution's side will hammer you on it and you'll suffer a loss. There's more incentive this time to get everything right and do your best, otherwise you may lose the case outright for your client. You get to the bottom of each investigation and trial on your own terms, either by following your instincts or listening to helpful suggestions from other characters. See More

Top Con

You may need to play the first two games to appreciate the story

As this is the third game in the Ace Attorney trilogy, the story does rely on you having a connection to the protagonist Phoenix, especially for the first case. Being invested in other characters like Mia and Edgeworth from the other games also adds to the novelty of getting to play as them. Without that context, the new points of view here doesn't hold much weight. You can jump into the trilogy with this game if you really want to, but if you want more of an emotional impact, it's better to play the other games first. See More

Specs

Genre:Visual Novel, Adventure

Top Pro

Intriguing story where you get to play as characters other than Phoenix Wright

The story in Trials and Tribulations wraps up the Ace Attorney trilogy in a great way, while offering a new gameplay mechanic. The first case starts off in the past, where you play as another lawyer from the series, Mia, who tries to find out whether a young Phoenix Wright committed murder or not. You also get to later play as Edgeworth, another lawyer and one of Phoenix's rivals, to see the story from his point of view. All of the (spoiler-sensitive) cases tie in together as a nice way to give closure to the trilogy, with a slightly stronger focus on the overall narrative this time compared to the first two games. Having these new perspectives adds more layers to the cases and overarching narrative. See More

Top Con

Doesn't offer enough new changes over the first two games

You get to play as different characters from time to time, like Phoenix's rivals Edgeworth and Mia, but that's about it. The rest of the gameplay is fundamentally the same as the other two games in the series. If you play all three games, you may find that things are pretty samey by this point. The Ace Attorney games do have a good formula, though it would have been nice to have more innovation throughout the trilogy. See More

Top Pro

Polished character designs

As this is a character-heavy visual novel game, it helps a lot that the art for the characters are all really well-done. Full of expressive personality, they look just like the ones in the series' anime. Their exaggerated humor shows through their designs and animations, helping the game to stand on its art and writing without more complicated animations or even much voice acting. Experiencing the story through the character art doesn't get tiring, since it does such a good job of carrying the whole legal drama. See More

Top Con

Not for players who want more involved gameplay

Since this is a visual novel without much voice acting, that means there's a lot of reading. You won't find typical gameplay here with responsive controls and freedom of movement. The gameplay is all about being an attorney and an investigator, through gathering evidence and presenting evidence to defend your client. If you're not used to these types of games, this may not be for you unless you're willing to try something new. See More

Top Pro

Charming music

Since this is a port of an older game for the Game Boy Advance, the music still has a rather old school sound to it, but this only adds to the charm. It's great at setting the tone in any given scene, sounding more serious with lower instruments for when you're collecting evidence, and then again when presenting that evidence to the court, while it's of course much lighter during funny conversations with silly characters. There's always a computerized sound throughout that makes it charming to listen to, like going back in time before the more modern orchestral music in gaming today. See More

Top Pro

Accessible learning curve

Even if you don't know anything about legal cases and courtrooms, Trials and Tribulations is easy to grasp and learn. The first case is more of a tutorial for how the game works, and it does a great job at getting you used to the mechanics with collecting evidence, questioning witnesses, and going through the motions of presenting your argument before the judge. You don't need to know any special legal language or anything like that; you can still have fun with this game while getting to feel like a defense attorney in an entertaining way. See More

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All

Top Pro

Engaging choice-based gameplay

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All is all about choosing your own adventure through living the life of a defense attorney. It's up to you to do a good job for your clients, meaning you have to make the best choices when going through the case. When you interview witnesses and suspects, there's a dialogue tree where you choose what you want to ask them, and then during the trial, you carefully choose the best evidence to support your argument. The stakes are upped in Justice for All from the first game in the trilogy, since if you pick the wrong evidence during a cross-examination, for example, the prosecution's side will hammer you on it and you'll suffer a loss. There's more incentive this time to get everything right and do your best, otherwise you may lose the case outright for your client. You get to the bottom of each investigation and trial on your own terms, either by following your instincts or listening to helpful suggestions from other characters. See More

Top Con

Not for players who want more involved gameplay

Since this is a visual novel without much voice acting, that means there's a lot of reading. You won't find typical gameplay here with responsive controls and freedom of movement. The gameplay is all about being an attorney and an investigator, through gathering evidence and presenting evidence to defend your client. If you're not used to these types of games, this may not be for you unless you're willing to try something new. See More

Specs

Genre:Visual Novel, Adventure

Top Pro

Polished character designs

As this is a character-heavy visual novel game, it helps a lot that the art for the characters are all really well-done. Full of expressive personality, they look just like the ones in the series' anime. Their exaggerated humor shows through their designs and animations, helping the game to stand on its art and writing without more complicated animations or even much voice acting. Experiencing the story through the character art doesn't get tiring, since it does such a good job of carrying the whole legal drama. See More

Top Pro

Charming music

Since this is a port of an older game for the Game Boy Advance, the music still has a rather old school sound to it, but this only adds to the charm. It's great at setting the tone in any given scene, sounding more serious with lower instruments for when you're collecting evidence, and then again when presenting that evidence to the court, while it's of course much lighter during funny conversations with silly characters. There's always a computerized sound throughout that makes it charming to listen to, like going back in time before the more modern orchestral music in gaming today. See More

Top Pro

Accessible learning curve

Even if you don't know anything about legal cases and courtrooms, Justice for All is easy to grasp and learn. The first case is more of a tutorial for how the game works, and it does a great job at getting you used to the mechanics with collecting evidence, questioning witnesses, and going through the motions of presenting your argument before the judge. You don't need to know any special legal language or anything like that; you can still have fun with this game while getting to feel like a defense attorney in an entertaining way. See More

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