Ragnarok DS

I can sum up Ragnarok DS in one word: mediocre.

Ragnarok DS feels long for the sake of being long. With so few areas to visit, the game artificially lengthens itself by forcing you to visit each area far more times than is actually fun.

To be frank, even if I hadn’t played this game as a kid, I would have bought it; my man crush on XSeed is enough for me, but I can’t recommend this game for anyone who hasn’t played the MMO beforehand.

This game is great for fans of the online title who are looking for a more focused story adventure set in a familiar world. Everyone else can easily find a more interesting alternative.

It has no pop, nothing that stands out. Every character, except Sierra, speaks the same way and more often than not comes across as completely clueless, even when talking about something they claim to know about.

Clumsy controls, a boring story full of cliches, continuous loading times make Ragnarok DS sink in the ocean of quality JRPGs available for Nintendo DS.

It tends to feel more like running in place - as the man says, there's not much point to it. [Mar 2010, p.91]

Strip away the camaraderie, competition, and character interaction of the online experience, and Ragnarok DS simply sticks you with all the hardcore monster-slaying and loot grinding of an MMO without the payoff of being able to crush other human opponents under your mighty battle-hardened boot.

The single-player campaign is a long, text-filled, boring grind, and the multiplayer is even worse.

Be prepared for many yawns and questions of, “What better is there to do with my time?”

Ultimately, if the job system had been integrated along with a memorable story and exciting battle mechanics, then Ragnarok DS could have been a very compelling game. That isn't the case, though, and instead we're left with a clearly sub-par RPG that manages to do little more than waste time and take up shelf space that should be reserved for better games.

In the end, Ragnarok DS is a forgettable title, for which only die hard fans of the franchise or RPGs need apply. All others would be better off ignoring the title, and picking up one of DS's other-- and much better-- RPG offerings instead.

Only the basic building blocks of an average RPG are to be found here - and nothing else. Move along. [Apr 2010, p.65]

Ragnarok DS could have been a happy marriage between the addictive combat of an MMORPG and the enjoyable stories found in the best offline games.

Ragnarok DS is a huge disappointment, whether you're a casual RPG fan or a tried-and-true follower of the MMORPG series. The gameplay holds little to no interest, the presentation has serious flaws and the multiplayer is nothing more than gimmicky.

Ragnarok DS's problem is that decisions that are forgivable in a free MMO are really grating in a single-player game that costs money.

Loyal subscribers to the online game might find this side story charming, but a gamer coming to this world without any prior knowledge of the online world it stems from will likely miss the point.