Summary

• Square Enix excelled on the DS with RPGs like Front Mission and Final Fantasy titles, offering engaging gameplay and strategic customization.
• Unique titles like Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime showcased lighthearted adventures with clever writing, appealing to a wider audience.
• With innovative gameplay and excellent music, The World Ends With You stands out as one of Square Enix's best original works on the DS.

Square Enix absolutely killed it on the DS. The system was full of RPGs, both turn-based and action, with many of the best coming from Square Enix. A lot of them were never released overseas unfortunately such as two remakes in the SaGa series or an interesting RTS game called Blood of Bahamut.

Then there were the oddball games like Mario Hoops 3-on-3 which was a basketball game starring Mario and pals. Some Final Fantasy icons appeared in it as well like Moogles. These are all worth noting in Square Enix’s history but none of them crack the top eight. Let’s instead look at the DS games from Square Enix that everyone should play if they haven’t already.

8 Front Mission

Metacritic Score: 72

Front Mission was a DS port of the original game that was released only in Japan for the SNES. It’s not a remake as not a lot of the graphics were redone, but it does look good on a DS screen. The DS was seemingly built to support great tactical RPGs and RPGs in general for players who like to multitask things. Being able to customize mechs is one of the better aspects of the gameplay although the intense strategy maps are engaging too. It was a relief to get this over a decade later and now there is a full-on remake for modern consoles too.

7 Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates

Metacritic Score: 77

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates was the first sequel to the GameCube game that started it all. It’s arguably on a better platform too because the multiplayer for this did not require a lot of hoops to jump through. On GameCube, all four players needed a Game Boy Advance and a link cable to play whereas the DS’ internal features made multiplayer a synch. The gameplay was more of the same wherein players could wander around dungeons and fight enemies with action combat. The Miasma breaking bucket was not a problem anymore which made gameplay flow better.

6 Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

Metacritic Score: 80

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift was another great Final Fantasy game for the DS. It, like the two previous Ivalice games, was not a straight sequel. The story followed a new cast of characters although the art style was definitely closer to the GBA game rather than the PS1 original which was darker.

One of the more problematic features that irked some players in that GBA game was the Judges and their strict rules. Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift had that same addictive tactical gameplay without the need for strict rules which made some enjoy it more.

5 Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

Metacritic Score: 83

• Developer: Tose
• Released: September 19, 2006 (NA)
• Platforms: DS

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is one of the wilder spinoffs in this series. It’s the second in a trilogy with the other two remaining exclusive to the Japan region. Players controlled the iconic Slime monster and traversed dungeons to help rebuild his town. The movement was mostly controlled using the stylus to make the Slime hero stretch and bounce into enemies. It’s a lighthearted adventure with some clever writing from the puns to the actual story and it is a shame Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime was the only one that crossed over.

4 Final Fantasy 4 (Remake)

Metacritic Score: 85

Final Fantasy 4 was one of two Final Fantasy remakes on the DS. The other was Final Fantasy 3 which was also a first for the West. While that’s another fine remake, Final Fantasy 4 stands above it as a classic. The remake redid the graphics, making everything look like a low-polygonal PS1 game. It added voices for iconic characters like Cecil and also helped balance some of the difficulty. It’s still one of the more challenging entries though.

3 Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels Of The Starry Skies

Metacritic Score: 87

Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Skies was a big first for the series on two fronts. It was the first mainline game in the franchise to launch exclusively on a portable system. It was also the first game to feature true co-op.

Up to four players could connect their DS systems together to run around or fight turn-based battles. The online connectivity predated the 3DS’ SpotPass system, which worked virtually the same. Probably the most addictive thing about the game though was the class system, which was referred to as Vocations.

2 The World Ends With You

Metacritic Score: 88

The World Ends With You was an experimental game and on that front, it’s probably Square Enix’s best original work on the DS. Players controlled the hero, Neku, on the bottom screen using the stylus. On the top screen, they controlled his partner, which changed from mission to mission, using the D-Pad. It was hard to master at first but thankfully there were options to lessen the strain of the top screen. The music was also a standout as the soundtrack was composed mostly of original Japanese pop and hip-hop.

1 Chrono Trigger

Metacritic Score: 92

Chrono Trigger on the DS was a redemption for Square Enix. While fans enjoyed the PS1 port as part of the Final Fantasy Chronicles collection on PS1, which included new anime cutscenes, they didn’t like the load times. The loads were fixed on DS, mirroring the lightning-fast speeds from the SNES original. Chrono Trigger was a miracle project in the 90s and it was even more miraculous that Square Enix listened to fans and re-released it in its best form. Unfortunately, this was the last modern port of it to consoles or portables but that does not lessen the game proper in any way.