A quick bump and thread revival.

I started playing Dragon Quest IX last week, and I love it so far (about 12 hours clocked in). It is basically an old-school RPG, but streamlined to make it playable for modern gamers.
Combat is turn-based (a classic Attack/Magic/Defend/Item system), but you can customise your characters' AI (of course, manual selection of actions is still available and probably advised).
The characters are fully customisable which has its ups and downs. They don't have any background story and are silent throughout the game, but you can make them look any way you wish. You want to create a cute, petite blonde with ponytails, wielding a huge club? It's absolutely possible.
The story feels quite cliched (with a classic RPG feel to it), but there are tons of sidequests (around 150 in the game, plus some downloadable ones).
Downloadable stuff - now that's new. As I mentioned, there are downloadable sidequests, and there are also daily deals where you can buy some rare items. Also (which is a nice feature for the fans of the franchise), the characters from previous games visit the Inn in one of the cities. You can talk to them, and they give you some unique equipment.
Alchemy - you can combine items to get better gear. This was introduced in DQ8, I believe, but it is much bigger this time.
Vocations - this is where this game shines. There are 6 basic classes plus some (6, I believe) extras, unlocked by completing quests. You can switch to another class, retaining all stats, skills, levels in your original class. Since some classes share a skill tree, you can retain some bonuses when changing classes. My description might sound weird, but I think this feature makes the game much deeper and gives more replayability (of course, I am quite early in my first playthrough, so this is just my assumption).

Multiplayer - I know it's there, but it's probably not as important here in Europe, as it is in Japan. It's much more difficult to find people who own and play the game here.

I'm currently playing Fire emblem : shadow dragon. My first Fire emblem game. Pretty good so far (after 14 hours played). There is no exploration at all (narration, battle, narration, battle, etc...), which disappointed me at first, but the game is way more addicting than what I thought. It's a pleasant surprise so far.

yes, that's how Fire Emblem games tend to go, but all of the ones I have played are fun, and difficult, but mostly fun.

The game is quite challenging indeed. I forgot to mention that the weapon management also makes the game interesting.

Did you play any of the Advance Wars games? They're fairly similar in terms of gameplay (made by Intelligent Systems as well), but the management is more about the troops, as troops are producible and expendable.

Nope, I didn't know this series. I just checked a couple websites, and the games look interesting as well. Something to keep in mind for when I'm in the mood for a tactical game. Thx :)

I recommend Etrian Odyssey if you haven't played it.
This trilogy is purely aimed at people familiar with the old first person RPG style of Wizardry and Might & Magic. It has one of the few great uses for the touch screen IMO: you draw your own tile based map on it as you explore the dungeon.

I looove these games. Etrian Odyssey 3 is the DS game I'm playing most right now. I also have the Dark Spire soundtrack on my DS. There are some real nice tracks on there.

I'll try to get that, if it's still possible. Fingers crossed. :)

Holy cow ! I finally beat the final boss of Fire Emblem. He was a tough cookie. Actually the last 3 chapters were insane. Phew, what a game.

Not being a huge fan of these games, I won't play another tactical game anytime soon, but I'll keep Advance Wars in mind for the next time I'm in the mood for that kind of game.

Finally imported a copy of Etrian Odyssey III. Now all I have to do is finish II.

Me too man, me too.

I really want to try out the new classes, but if I move on to three, I'll never finish two. Same thing happened with one and two, picked two up some six months before I finished one.

I have finished Cooking mama (hack & slash) few days ago. I always wanted to try one. I must admit that I had fun with it. The game can be very challenging if you decide to hit the perfect scores. The game is long enough to have fun, but not long enough to get bored. I thought it was a perfect balance. I probably won't play another Cooking mama game, unless I find a very good deal.