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I need a recommendation for a present, and I've not really been impressed with any of the 'best game' lists I've read so far, so I'll put it to everyone here instead.

The present is for my younger brother. He's 9 now, my other brother is 8. They each have a DS and share a Wii between them. The games they already have are FFIV, Pokemon Pearl/Diamond both, and several Wii games that I can't remember the name of. I think one was Pirates of the Caribbean and the others were similar.

Please just remember that he's only 9. He can play any game he wants, and was playing StarCraft when he was 5 (and I was completely stupid!), but I'd rather not buy him a game that has too much fighting or swearing or whatever.

Also just to say, I'd really prefer to buy him a DS game because I bought my other brother FFIV for his birthday so we have to kind of balance the presents, if you see what I mean.

I'd also rather get him a game that has some depth and complexity to it. He is only young, but he'll get easily bored by most of the offering out there. Games like Final Fantasy and Pokemon are perfect.

The games I've seen so far that might be right are Final Fantasy Tactics A2, The World Ends With You and Hotel Dusk: Room 215. Would any of those work?

This post has been edited by sweetdude on 25th July 2009 21:29

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

I haven't played the FFTA2, but I can say that while the TWEWY is a great game, it is also very complicated, long, and can be tedious at times. ALOT of story line, followed by some running around trying to figure out what to do.

Other games I'd highly recommend for the DS would be Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Dragon Quest V, Dragon Quest IV (I liked V alot better, but both are good), Dragon Quest Joker (Pokemon type DQ game), Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time (Mario RPG type game, very straightforward, but very entertaining), Animal Crossing Wild World (Sandbox game, build your own town, can have up to 4 players in your house). I would personally recommend every game on that list to my friends.

As for the Wii, there are some good games. I don't know what games you have, but Super Paper Mario is good, as is Zelda Twilight Princess. Zak and Wiki is a fun point and click adventure for a value price ($20ish), and a point card would be a good idea too, plenty of old games to download and play on the Wii Shop Channel.

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"And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped” -Sir Bedevere the Wise

I've *heard* great things about Professor Layton. Lots of puzzle solving and generally fun stuff. Seems to probably fit your criteria, though as I say I've not played it myself to be sure.

Of course, all I ask is that your purchase come from AmaCoN UK.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

This is actually the first thing I'll be buying from Amazon for three years, so yeah I'll be sure to go via the link.

It's a real shame that Prof. Layton isn't out here until September. I would've bought that without question. It looks really good.

TWEWY being complicated, long and tedious is not a problem. I'm just worried that I might buy him something which is too easy or short.

Thanks for the tips Fadien. I'll look into Dragon Quest V but I'm almost sure to go for the Wii Zelda now. I completely forgot about it and I've been meaning to buy it for him since he first bought the Wii.

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Twilight Princess is a good, very solid game. I think I put 30+ hours into that game, just doing the main story and any little side quests that struck my fancy.

Edit: Also, Prof. Layton had a game released over a year ago. Prof Layton and the Curious Village

Looks like a new one comes out in Sept though.

This post has been edited by Fadien on 25th July 2009 23:00

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"And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped” -Sir Bedevere the Wise

Oh yeah you're right. I didn't realise there were two. I think I'm still set on TP now, but I'll look out for it in the future.

And it's worth mentioning that apparently Europeans had to wait nine months for the first Professor Layton game!

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

On the off chance that your brother has a DSi, there are some really decent download games available if you wanted to charge up the DSi's account with some points.

On an aside, however, FFTA2 is a reason to buy a DS in a of itself. I love that game! And the best part is: you can follow story and roll your way through it, or you can go for a more completionist stance and play the crap out of it til everything is easy by comparison to the levels of your characters. The other thing that makes the game great is that you can set it down for months, turn it on, and pick up right where you left off. Easily return-able to between other games.

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If internal struggles were as enjoyable and glamorous as the self conflicted wars within video game characters, we would all be statues, reveling in perpetual self war. -Me

Play me on Rock Band 2, GH-WT, or any other Xbox GH!
Xbox Gamertag-MeanJerry

Eh, a bit OT;
Is Dragon Quest Joker like Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC)? It is it better than DQM? I just played the games for totally 200-400hours, and it was simple great - Much better than those Pokemon-stuff.

I can not emphasise how good TWEWY is. By far my favourite DS game, and I have put a ridiculous number of hours into it. The main story isn't extremely long, but with a New Game + feature, four difficulty settings, and a huge number of sidequests, it's hard to put this game down.

The music is awesome, too.

the no more heroes series and re spinoffs is the only thing thats making me keep the wii
the ds is good but alot of the games are clich'e like sonic chronicles is just a ff ripoff to me
all round id go with the wii cause well i just said no more heroes is like awesome sauce with just sayin the title lol

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I remember... That night, we talked for the first time. I
didn't know it then, but after that night, everything changed. For everyone...
For me...
~Tidus

I bought TP in the end. I hardly ever visit anymore, living so many miles apart, so it'll probably be a long time until I can play it with him. Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to send them gifts every now and then, so I'll probably buy all of these games over time. Oh, and I didn't mean to ignore the downloadable game idea, it's just that they live in a really remote part of the world with little to no internet connectivity.

This is mostly just a summary for myself in the future when I inevitably forget the names:
Dragon Quest V
The World End With You (okay footbigmike you've persuaded me!)
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (okay leilong you've persuaded me!)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village

If anyone has anything extra to add please do, even if it means digging up the thread again. Like I said before, I'll be buying them games periodically so any ideas are welcome. If you just want to rant about a good game that's not necessarily recommended, I'll be happy to read that as well!

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Well, those are good games, but for a 9 year old kid? Would they have the patience for a slow grind like DQ V?

My favorite DS games are New Super Mario Bros., Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Elite Beat Agents, Chrono Trigger, and Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride. They're worth looking up, but again I'm 23 years old and not 9. I guess I was playing FF games when I was 9, but eh. I'd sooner give him Mario Kart DS (awesome) or Pokemon than I would Dragon Quest or FFTA.

This post has been edited by laszlow on 27th July 2009 23:05

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

That's true, but I don't expect him to play it to death anyway. He's been playing FFIX for over a year now but still hasn't made it past the third disc; he still loves it, however. If you're interested, he learns at a music school rather than a comprehensive school, so he plays his cello, piano, guitar and practises singing a lot more than playing games. He is 9, but he seems to prefer long and rewarding challenges like learning a new instrument or making a music grade rather than something to distract him for a little while (like I do).

Having said that, I'll bet Elite Beat Agents would go down well!

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Kirby Canvas Curse is the perfect DS game for all ages. Professor Layton was a really great and charming game but unless your brother is junior mensa he probably won't be able to beat all the puzzles without some help, but then again helping him might be fun for you too. I had to go online for most of the sliding puzzles.

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"We're not tools of the government or anyone else. Fighting... fighting was the only thing I was ever good at, but at least I always fought for what I believed in." - Frank Yeager (a.k.a. Grey Fox)

re4 for wii has smooth controlls,in fact alot of people go for it instead of the ps2 version,plus added stuff.


ssbb is a enjoyable game too and has lots of stuff to use.

Hmm i disagree wii has some good games,its just that the controlls can ruin the experience if you do not have the fluidity thing and depending on the platform itself and if you plan to play alone or in groups you will enjoy it more in groups.

Wii is a console for multiplayers.


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We are stardust.Our bodies are made from the guts of exploding stars.

Neil Degrasse Tyson.