Opinion
The 20 best DS games for 20 years of Nintendo DS
by Cassie Mammone
Our 20 picks from all Game Fest streams
13.6.2024
Translation: Megan Cornish
Co-author: Domagoj Belancic
Now that the developers have used up all their ammunition and the smoke has gradually cleared, we’ve selected our 20 highlights from all the games that were presented during Summer Game Fest.
Who has time to look at 200 or so new game trailers? We do! Well actually, we don’t, but we’re making time. My colleague Domagoj Belancic and I have totally selflessly fought our way through mountains of new games so you don’t have to. And here are the 20 titles we’d love to play right now.
Philipp’s picks
Mixtape – for all the 80s nostalgia
80s music, skating teens, a coming-of-age story, all wrapped up in an unusual stop-motion-like graphics style. Mixtape really ticks all the boxes for me. It’s developed by Beethoven & Dinosaur – a great studio name. They released a fascinating and visually stunning music game in 2022 in The Artful Escape. The fact that Annapurna is the publisher is the icing on the cake.
Release date: 2025
Available for: Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC
DOOM: The Dark Ages – loud and bloody
DOOM is just so incredibly metal – and not just because of its soundtrack. It’s brutal, bloody and fast-paced. And now, after two parts in a sci-fi setting, it’s heading into the dark fantasy Middle Ages. Futuristic weapons are still used to slaughter monstrous demons. But now you can also hit heads with a chainsaw shield and a morning star. And you’ll even throw yourself into battle with a dragon. Hell yeah!
Release date: 2025
Available for: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Fable – an RPG with heart and humour
No other role-playing series manages to create this unique mixture of imaginative world, humour, charm and unusual quests. 15 years after the last instalment, the reboot is finally set to be released. The trailer impresses with an incredibly detailed world and lets a bit of typical British humour shine through.
Release date: 2025
Available for: Xbox Series X/S, PC
Perfect Dark – the ultimate surprise
I can hardly remember Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64, but nostalgia isn’t the point of this remake. I’m fascinated by the dystopian, futuristic world where Joanna Dark hunts the world’s most wanted criminal. It looks like a gripping spy thriller, complete with high-tech gadgets and gripping action. It reminds me a bit of Deus Ex, just without the bionic joints. The turbulent development period isn’t noticeable in the game or in the trailer. I’m all the more surprised at how good it all looks. Hopefully the same will be true of the finished game.
Release date: unclear
Available for: Xbox Series X/S, PC
Wanderstop – a farming game with a twist
A sweet farming game where a former fighter has to serve the right tea blend to strange characters? All with a charming narrator. I’d be happy to try that out. The first half of the trailer features a typical cute farm simulator. But then it suddenly takes on a dark tone. There seems to be more to Wanderstop than what I thought at first glance. And because the studio is behind the sensational Stanley’s Parable, the game is right at the top of my wish list.
Release date: 2024
Available for: PS5, PC
Fumes – Car ship ahoy
I’m a bit particular about graphics in games: I either want them to be razor sharp with every possible graphical extra or pixelated and muddy, where you can’t see any details at all. Fumes is an example of the latter. It looks really wonderfully retro. You race through a wasteland in modified carts in search of new resources for your vehicle. It promises a lot of chaos and shooting action. You even fight against a huge fire-breathing container ship on wheels. How cool is that?
Release date: 2024 in Early Access
Available for: PC
Star Birds – like The Little Prince but with astronaut birds
I love minimalist games that are limited to a small playing field. Whether it’s Into the Breach, Monument Valley or Star Birds. It’s a construction and resource management game set on asteroids. The 360° base building is likely to require a lot of tactics. This is no coincidence, because German development studio Toskana Interactive has already released a game with a similar principle called «Dorfromantik» (village romance). Simple but pretty design combined with supposedly simple game mechanics should deliver countless hours of play.
Release date: 2025 in Early Access
Available for: PC
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 – for history lovers and graphics fans
Everything in Kingdom Come Deliverance is slow: running, travelling, fighting and completing quests. But that fits perfectly into the realistically staged 15th-century Bohemia. Part 2 promises an even bigger game world that looks even more beautiful and will react to all your actions and crimes. It’s a game that allows you to slow down and really lose yourself. I did that with part 1 and I’ll do the same with the sequel.
Release date: 2024
Available for: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Skopje 83 – the end is colourful
For once, the post-apocalypse doesn’t look gloomy and grey. Skopje 83 is brightly coloured and visually reminiscent of Borderlands. You explore a city overrun with mutants, collect new weapons and upgrade your trusty bus. Monsters, shooting and pimping vehicles – I’m always up for that. Plus, thanks to the co-op mode, I can play it with friends.
Release date: 2024 Available for: PC
Killer Bean – the Matrix Bean
Undoubtedly the weirdest game on my list is Killer Bean. It’s a roguelike where you play a murderous coffee bean. You take on your former employer, the Shadow Agency and shoot your way through hordes of enemies in spectacular slow-motion moves. But just shooting would be boring, so you also hand out slaps and kicks. Now and then, you also impress evil henchmen with crazy breakdance moves. I love crazy things like that. This can only be good.
Release date: summer 2024 in Early Access
Available for: PC
Domi’s picks
Astro Bot – a Nintendo feel on the PlayStation
Finally, PlayStation’s cute robot mascot is getting a «real» game again. Most recently, I was thrilled by the tin cans in the free game Astro’s Playroom when the PS5 was launched. Despite the ultra-short playing time, the game was one of the best things I played in 2020. The VR excursion Astro Bot Rescue Mission in 2018 was just as phenomenal. These Nintendo-typical platformers by Japanese developer studio Team Asobi are bursting with loving details and creative ideas. It’s a hot contender for my game of the year.
Release date: 2025
Available for: PS5
Life is Strange: Double Exposure – teen drama, all grown up
I love the Life is Strange series. The games create an uncomfortable atmosphere reminiscent of mystery classics such as Twin Peaks. And they regularly make me cry with emotional gut punches. The latest instalment sees the return of the first game’s protagonist. She’s now an adult and has developed new superpowers. I can hardly wait for the game to turn me into an emotional wreck again.
Release date: 29 October
Available for: Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Switch, PC
LEGO Horizon Adventures – beautiful block world
I don’t really think much of LEGO games. Most of them are colourful and cute, but, ultimately, they’re boring and irrelevant in terms of gameplay. But the trailer for LEGO Horizon Adventures still impressed me. Definitely because I love the Horizon games. But also because the game looks phenomenal and the beautiful lighting makes it almost photorealistic. And as the Horizon studio Guerilla Games is involved in the development, I’m confident that the gameplay will be good too.
Release date: late 2024
Available for: PS5, Switch, PC
Star Wars Outlaws – my way back to the galaxy far, far away
I actually jumped off the Star Wars bandwagon a long time ago. I’m not interested in loads of mediocre series and films that bore me more than entertain me (sorry, Luca). But Star Wars Outlaws looks damn good, even for a rebel like me. Kind of like Uncharted in space and with an open world instead of narrow levels. I also like that the scope of the story seems a bit more personal – I don't have to save the world, I have to earn money as a villain. And the little alien creature’s also super cute.
Release date: 30 August
Available for: Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC
Atomfall – huh?!
I’ll be honest – I have no idea what happens in the trailer for Atomfall. And that’s exactly why the game fascinates me. It takes place in a post-nuclear quarantine zone in England. It’s full of murderous robots, bloodthirsty zombies and occult sects. Somehow the whole thing seems like Fallout, only with a very British touch. Bloody amazing!
Release date: 2025
Available for: Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC
Assassin’s Creed Shadows – an impressive setting
I love games that are set in historical Japan. To bridge the time until the next Ghost of Tsushima, Shadows is just right. OK, I’m not convinced by the two protagonists (yet) and I’m already dreading the Ubisoft open-world formula. But the material shown so far looks damn promising. I also find the new season system particularly exciting, which supposedly drastically changes the open world as the game progresses.
Release date: 15 November
Available for: Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC
Starfield: Shattered Space – back into space
I enjoyed my time playing Starfield, even though the game never came close to my favourite Bethesda games (Fallout 3, Skyrim). The trailer for the first DLC makes me want to get back in my ship and explore space. I particularly like the new planet, home to the religious faction House of Va'Run. The colours. The monsters. The music! There also seems to be a bit of space horror. Just cool. The guys from Bethesda know how to make trailers.
Release date: 2024
Available for: Xbox Series X/S, PC
Deer & Boy – :(
I can already see it in front of me – when I play Deer & Boy, I’ll be lying in the foetal position sobbing in front of the TV. In the game, I meet a little fawn that accompanies me on my journey through dark forests and abandoned ruins. Over time, the little baby deer grows into a huge animal and protects me from all kinds of supernatural enemies. I’ll protect you with my life, little deer. No matter what happens.
Release date: unclear
Available for: PC
South of Midnight – stop-motion hype
South of Midnight is one of those games that at first glance just looks…different. The characters are animated in a stop-motion aesthetic that’s also a bit reminiscent of the Spiderverse films. The wonderfully weird designs of the characters and creatures are also special. I don’t care what kind of gameplay awaits me. I just want to immerse myself in this wonderfully weird world. Right now!
Release date: 2025
Available for: Xbox Series X/S, PC
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – a classic RPG with a modern look
A turn-based RPG that has stunning 3D graphics instead of a retro pixel look? In 2024? Shut up and take my money. The role-playing game from French studio Sandfall Interactive looks like a modern Final Fantasy game with classic RPG mechanics from the «good old days».
Release date: unclear
Available for: Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.
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