The Best Tactical JRPGs On The Nintendo DS, Ranked

The DS was a good home for RPGs for those who missed the days of the SNES. When contemporary consoles like the Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 were focusing on modern graphics, the DS could get nostalgic and release smaller, but still high-quality titles. There were plenty of classics like Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Sky which was turn-based.

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By  Tristan Jurkovich

There was also the more involved action RPG, The World Ends With You which utilized both screens on the DS well. What were the good tactical RPGs on the system though? There was no short supply of them, but these rank among the top.

8 Super Robot Wars L

Bringing Gundams And Eva Units Together At Last

• Platform: DS
• Released: November 25, 2010 (Japan)
• Publisher: Banpresto
• Metacritic Score: N/A

Super Robot Wars L is one of three major releases in the franchise on the DS. The others include Super Robot Wars K and Super Robot Wars W which do have some menu patches in English but this game is pretty much all in Japanese.

It’s a significant release in this crossover anime mech series as it debuted Rebuild of Evangelion characters along with Linebarrels of Iron, a critically underrated mech anime. Plenty of other staples are in the game too like various Gundam anime and gameplay is as solid as ever as players traverse huge grid-based maps.

7 Fire Emblem: New Mystery Of The Emblem

The Beginning Of Casual Mode

• Platform: DS
• Released: July 15, 2010
• Developer: Intelligent Systems
• Metacritic Score: N/A

In 2013, Fire Emblem Awakening changed everything for the Fire Emblem series in North America as it added character customization and a Casual Mode, negating permadeath if players wanted. It was not the first game to do this though as Japan had an exclusive a few years earlier.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem is a remake of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem which originally debuted on the SNES in Japan in 1994. It too had a Casual Mode and character customization and while it is not available officially, there is a significant fan patch out there for English readers.

6 Front Mission

Building Mechs For Strategical Battles

• Platforms: SNES, WonderSwan Color, PS1, DS
• Released: October 23, 2007 (NA DS Version)
• Developer: Tose
• Metacritic Score: 72

It was a long while until Western players got their hands on the first Front Mission game. It debuted on the SNES in 1995 and then North America got to check it in 2007 via this DS remake. Graphically, it’s on par with the SNES although tweaked enough to make it feel contemporary back then.

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There were two new campaigns so that players could experience two sides of the war. Said war was fought with giant mechs called Wanzers which players could customize with parts and weapons to then take to the grid-based battles.

5 Pokemon Conquest

Feudal Lords Conquer Japan With Monsters

• Metacritic Score: 80

Pokemon Conquest is one of the most unsung Pokemon spinoffs of all time. It brought together the Pokemon franchise with Nobunaga’s Ambition which was mostly a series of strategy games on PC akin to Civilization.

That may sound wild, but it worked surprisingly well. Instead of Pokemon trainers, Japanese warlords tried to rule Japan with Pokemon. Battles were small-scale, but the larger goal was to take over territories like a Pokemon version of Risk and there were branching paths in the narrative.

4 Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire Of The Rift

Getting Back To Basics

• Metacritic Score: 80

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance may have let some fans down, hoping for another mature RPG like the PS1 original. Instead, it was more lighthearted and an Isekai as well which some players may not have connected with. Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift was also a fun romp, but it was not an Isekai nor was it a direct sequel.

It dialed back the strict rules Judges made during matches which was also a point of contention in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. It was like a return to basics with players allowed to focus on creating a giant army of characters with a diverse set of Jobs within the world of Ivalice.

3 Dragon Quest Wars

A Lost Spinoffs

• Metacritic Score: 83

Dragon Quest Wars is easily one of the hardest games to acquire nowadays because it is locked behind the DSiWare shop. This was an experiment to take Dragon Quest monsters and put them into tactical battles on smaller-scale maps. There’s not much of a story as gameplay puts its best foot forward.

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It’s a good tactical RPG and Dragon Quest spinoff and it’s a shame no one may ever play it again beyond specific emulation. Square Enix has been good lately with ports and remakes, so it’s best to stay positive.

2 Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

To Save Japan, You Must Sell Your Soul

• Metacritic Score: 84

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor follows in the Persona footsteps by focusing this RPG on a group of teens. One day in Japan, natural disasters keep happening followed by a mystery app appearing on some phones. Players can tap into this app to summon demons who are the real ones causing damage around the city.

There’s also a cult involved, worshipping said demons and it’s basically what fans would expect from a Shin Megami Tensei game. Players can move around tiled maps and once they engage enemies, combat will revert to the traditional first-person style, creating a cool mashup of genres.

1 Advance Wars: Dual Strike

A Cuter Side Of War

• Platform: DS
• Released: August 22, 2005 (NA)
• Developer: Intelligent Systems
• Metacritic Score: 90

Advance Wars: Dual Strike is one of the highest-rated DS games on Metacritic. It’s the first game in the series to hit the portable and while it didn’t advance the graphics forward much, it boosted the technology. The wealth of modes from the campaign to multiplayer made this a staple in any DS player’s backpack for years.

It’s a hard game too and more of an RTS than a tactical RPG thanks to all of the base and unit management. This RPG was not for the weak of heart which may be why so many still hold it so dearly.