Dragon Quest IX is one of those DS RPGs that just sticks with you. You start as a fallen guardian angel—yeah, no pressure—and have to rebuild your wings by helping people across this massive, charming world. The job system is killer; you can switch between warrior, priest, mage, and weirder stuff like gladiators or armamentalists, which sounds made up but totally works.

What I love is how alive the towns feel—everyone’s got some little problem for you to solve, and the quests actually matter instead of just being fetch tasks. The combat’s classic turn-based stuff, but with this slick DS touchscreen menu that makes picking spells or items way smoother than you’d expect. Also, the alchemy system? Spent way too many hours tossing random junk into a pot to see what weapon popped out.

It’s got that classic Dragon Quest vibe—whimsical but with surprisingly deep mechanics under the hood. Just don’t blame me when you lose track of time grinding for rare drops.