Best Nintendo DS RPGs That Never Came To America

The DS is widely regarded as one of the best-selling portables of all time. Next to the PS2, it is up there across all of its editions, not including the 3DS. So, it only made sense for publishers and developers to jump on the bandwagon and make titles for the DS.

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Of the many genres on the portable, there were a lot of great RPGs including The World Ends With You, Radiant Historia, Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Sky, and so on. Those are all great, but a lot of RPGs are still trapped on the DS in Japan as they were never localized into English regions. Then there were some that got English translations, but only for Europe. Let’s go through some top choices.

6

Bomberman 2

Not The Second Game In The Slightest

• Developer: Hudson Soft
• Publisher: Hudson Soft Producer
• EU: February 13, 2009
• Platform: DS

The Bomberman series has had RPG elements and spinoffs off and on including a tactical game called Bomberman Wars. The name might be confusing as Bomberman 2 isn’t a remake but it is a title that Europe got over North America after leaving Japan. Players will go through quick top-down missions, completing objectives in the hopes of getting loot. Bomberman can be equipped with new gear and his skills can be leveled up in-between missions too. It’s kind of like a more explosive dungeon crawler that is perfect for quick on-the-go sessions.

5

Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland

A Dusty Dungeon Crawler

• Developer: Vanpool
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Released: September 14, 2007 (EU)
• Platform: DS

Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland is a mouthful and it does indeed star Tingle from The Legend of Zelda series. This is another game that Europe got after Japan but it was never sent to North America. In this dungeon crawler, Tingle is tasked with getting rupees as quickly as possible to appease a deity.

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Running into enemies will create a dust cloud and players can tap with the DS’ stylus to help Tingle win. Players can also hire party members to escort Tingle through dungeons, thus upping his defenses. To call this game weird would be an understatement but it is well worth a look for any curious Zelda fan.

4

Inazuma Eleven

Missing The Goal

Inazuma Eleven is a soccer RPG from Level-5. It makes sense that Japan and Europe would get favored treatment of this series above North America as they aren’t one for soccer. There are some weird dates involved with this one though as the game was originally released in Japan in 2008 and 2011 in Europe which was a huge gap in-between releases. Technically, North America did get the game via a remake on the 3DS in 2014. North America did not, however, get Inazuma Eleven 2 or Inazuma Eleven 3 which is a loss as these are all good RPGs/sports games.

Fallout On The Go

• Developers: Crea-Tech, Data East
• Publisher: Kadokawa Games
• Released: December 8, 2011
• Platform: DS

Metal Max 2 Reloaded is a remake of the original SNES game. Both versions were never released outside of Japan. However, fans have translated the DS remake to make it more playable for English readers. The same is true for Metal Max 3 which was an original game on the DS. These RPGs are turn-based and take place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Players can fight as humans or they can get inside various tanks and other vehicles for bigger battles. They’re less aggressive than the Fallout games in terms of tone, but they are still great additions to the dystopian genre.

2

Tales Of The Tempest

The DS’ First Mainline Entry

• Developers: Dimps, Namco Tales Studio
• Publisher: Namco Bandai Games
• Released: October 26, 2006
• Platform: DS

Tales of the Tempest is the first Tales of game in the series to hit the DS. It was released in 2006 only in Japan which was followed by two more mainline DS games. Tales of Innocence was released on the DS and it was later remade for the PS Vita, but both versions were exclusive to Japan. Tales of Hearts was released in two versions on the DS, similar to how Pokemon games come out as two games, and they never left Japan.

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However, the PS Vita remake of Tales of Hearts was released in North America and Europe, so there is a good ending to this plethora of Tales of games. Also, those interested in Tales of the Tempest and Tales of Innocence can check out the DS versions as they have unofficial fan patches.

1

Xenosaga 1 + 2

Condensing An Epic

• Developers: Monolith Soft, Tom Create
• Publisher: Namco
• Released: March 30, 2006
• Platform: DS

Xenosaga 1 + 2 is a demake of the PS2 games, reimagined as turn-based RPGs for the DS. They still feature the same story albeit more condensed and less cinematic since the DS cannot support literal forty-minute cutscenes, unlike the PS2. This reimagining was an exclusive in Japan and it has never left the system or country despite the entire Xenosaga trilogy released elsewhere.

There has been work on the menus by fans, but the story translation into English is still a long way off. There are other exclusive games in this series in Japan too, so maybe one day Bandai Namco and Monolith Soft can come to an agreement and release a massive collection for the diehard fans.

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