Garreg Mach

Fire Emblem: Awakening was good. Epic story with fun gameplay. I never played Fire Emblem before, and this game was separate from the others so it was easy to get into.

pmd explorers of sky

play it or i will eat your lower intestines. at least play it for the music.

the music is so awesome in it

The similarities between Bravely Default and Final Fantasy are very apparent, I'm sure, but Final Fantasy V in particular shares a lot of strengths with BD, and is available on GBA (so a DS can play it). It's extremely comical in tone, but still has its fair share of epic and heartbreaking moments, and it has plenty of lovable characters to bond with. Also Jobs. Lots and lots of Jobs.

 

There's also The World Ends With You (DS), which is a very unique RPG that pushes the hardware to its limits. It has a rather steep learning curve, but once you get over that it's one heck of a ride. I can't say too much without spoiling anything, but basically, you've got an angsty teenager with amnesia waking up in Shibuya, Japan who finds himself playing "the Reaper's Game", fighting off animals with tattoo body parts with help from a girl who fights by sending a plush cat to claw apart her foes. It only gets better from there.

 

I'm obligated to mention Kingdom Hearts too, of course. The games for DS (Re:coded and 358/2 Days) are...not the best in the series, as most players would attest to. As for Dream Drop Distance (3DS), I find it to be an excellent part of the series, and it does provide summaries of the other titles for your reading as you progress, but the nonsense of "plot" that the series is known for is at its strongest here. Your mileage may vary.

 

While it is a bit different, the Disgaea series can be pretty fun, and there is a title on DS (simply called Disgaea DS). It's a strategy RPG, so you can amass quite the army to give orders to on the battlefield. It's also ridiculously over-the-top, best symbolized by its level cap of 9999. Your main character is a demon trying to assert his rule over the Netherworld, and it very quickly becomes intertwined with plots in the human and angel worlds, leading to quite the journey.

 

Seeing that link to "Mega Man Profile" at the side of the page compels me to bring up Mega Man Star Force. A lot of fans of older MM games don't like the series, but personally I love it. The first one's worth a try. If you like it, skip 2 and go right to 3. The battle system is hit or miss, but I find it enjoyable, and there's a fair bit a character development to go around, which helps to draw you in.

 

...Sorry for the long post, JRPGs are my niche.

Ah, I forgot to mention Shin Megami Tensei IV. Like Fire Emblem I hadn't played any previous games, but the story and gameplay is very engaging. It also has multiple endings with one true ending. I highly recommend this one in particular.

 

I have been playing another game in the series called Demon Clock which is a pretty different battle format. The story is engaging, though and so far so good.

Hmmm... Not sure if Fire Emblem: Awakening counts as an Rpg but i suggest it if you like a challenge. Many say that Lunatic difficulty is near impossible, even more so if you are playing it on classic where if your character is defeated in combat you can no longer play it in the rest of the story. Also as a non-rpg game I suggest Resident Evil: Revelations

There's also The World Ends With You (DS), which is a very unique RPG that pushes the hardware to its limits. It has a rather steep learning curve, but once you get over that it's one heck of a ride. I can't say too much without spoiling anything, but basically, you've got an angsty teenager with amnesia waking up in Shibuya, Japan who finds himself playing "the Reaper's Game", fighting off animals with tattoo body parts with help from a girl who fights by sending a plush cat to claw apart her foes. It only gets better from there.

 

Cannot second this statement enough. TWEWY is one of my favorite games ever.

 

That is all.

Not even going to suggest Pokémon, not because the games aren't good (they are, even if the stories are less intense than Final Fantasy and the like), but because there's no way you weren't already aware of them as an owner of a 3DS.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn (for DS) is not nearly as bad as I've seen people allege. Certainly it's less outstanding than the first two Golden Sun games, but it still delivers good gameplay, solid characters, and fantastic visuals. I just wish a sequel would finally arrive to tie up some of the many loose ends the game left (and show what's become of the rest of the characters and locations from the first two games).

As many have suggested, Fire Emblem: Awakening (for 3DS) is fantastic. I really need to get back to playing that... Animal Crossing took over my life when I was about midway through the game, and the difficulty level makes it hard to jump back into.

Finally, I cannot recommend the Mario & Luigi series enough. While my first impression upon the first game's release was that it was too weird and not enough like Paper Mario, upon getting it for myself I found it to be wholly satisfying. Two sequels are available for DS, and are similarly great (even though the second game, Partners in Time, is frustratingly linear). I haven't played the fourth one for 3DS yet, but I've heard good things.

Finally, 3DS eShop title The Denpa Men is decent enough and scratched my RPG itch until Fire Emblem arrived. Not much in the way of story, but it's cute and has fairly interesting gameplay.

Not sure if you're still accepting suggestions, but I just remembered something that I feel like I should bring up, and that is Steins;Gate. It has the same writer as Bravely Default, and the English translation was literally just released. It's a visual novel, so make of that what you will, but the anime based on its True Ending is quite good. It shares a lot of traits with Bravely Default, primarily in regards to the spoilers, so I'll have to stay quiet. But, if you liked the story and characters of Bravely Default, you'll like the story and characters of Steins;Gate.