Play Original Story From Fairy Tail - Gekitotsu! Kardia Daiseidou (J) Online

Game Overview

If you're into Fairy Tail, this DS game is basically a side story set in the Kardia Cathedral arc—except with way more punching. You get to control Natsu, Lucy, and the gang in these little chibi sprites that somehow still pack a ton of personality. The combat's simple but satisfying, with each character having their signature moves (Natsu's fire fists feel weirdly weighty for pixel art).

What surprised me was how much dialogue there is—it's fully in Japanese, so unless you're fluent, you'll be mashing through text boxes between fights. But the sprite animations during key scenes are legit charming, especially when Happy does his thing. It's definitely a fanservice game, but the kind where you don't mind because Erza just wrecked three dudes with a single sword swipe.

Fair warning: the dungeon crawling bits can drag if you're not into random encounters. Still, hearing the tinny DS version of the Fairy Tail theme makes up for it.