this comment got too long

... so I split it into a post, even though it's really a reply to a comment. :)

It's hard to say exactly what I'm looking for, there's too many variables. I don't have a Wii, though. DS only. :) Or PS2, we do own a US PS2 and can import for it, but I don't like modern console controllers (too big, too many buttons) or most console designs (too much 3d camera nonsense).

Generally, I don't want a game that's considered super-hard or super-easy. I don't want a heavy focus on wargaming. I have a ton of games to play already, so I want something different. A cool, innovative and exciting gameplay feature or a really appealing plot is probably needed to get my interest. Classic series, like Ys, Suikoden, and DQ are on my radar but of low appeal to me. I don't really need the established standard. (For that matter, I still haven't purchased Chrono Trigger.)

I've heard of Steal Princess but I'm uncertain. I generally don't feel that 3d and platformer should ever go together! It's something I'd really like to demo before buying, but that's not possible, so it falls into the range of games I might pick up if I saw it available used.

I'd forgotten about A Witch's Tale! That is one I had a vague eye on, iirc, but I haven't heard any update news in a long time. Even looking now, details about the game seem awfully scanty and the publisher page still says 'Coming Soon Winter 2008'. That's not a very good sign. EDIT: Yeah, looks like massive rewrites afoot. Considering what happened to Gauntlet...

Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times is a game I'm more interested in from a game design perspective than a player one. I might end up getting it exactly for that reason (I have a 'magic school' game idea in the dev queue) but I might also want to AVOID it for that reason, so my plans don't get tainted by it.

Knights in the Nightmare doesn't sound like it's to my taste. Something about the description just says "endless wargaming" to me.