I tried Patapon and did not like it. Sorry guys, but it was too repetitive and slow for me. (You can get a demo online for yourself though.) So between the two handheld games, I'd have to recommend TWEWY which I have not tried but has been getting some great reviews.

If you really want to save money, maybe you should look into renting games instead of buying them. Either that or borrowing them from friends. :)

Patapon is a very neat, quirky game from the guys who did LocoRoco. You're playing it now, what do you think of it?

The World Ends With You is interesting. Firstly, it's $40 (double Patapon). I just got it, and it is pretty fun. The combat is pretty cool, and I do think this will be pretty short if they don't add in some quests for the sole purpose to elongate the game. If you can, rent this one. Blockbuster is now renting out DS games. It's where I got my copy.

The World Ends With You is under $30? Where?
I'm pretty sure it is $40.

Really? Damn, I'll have to find one. PSP games too?

The World Ends With You. I have it. I love it.

Pon-Pon-Pata-Pon!

Buy Patapon!

Don't give SE any more money than necessary.

The world ends with you, look better and sound better.

Either of the first two choices

They are quite unique games, World ends with you would be my pick, but they are both great games as it is.

Gameplay:
- TWEWY: basically you control 2 screens and two characters, top screen you use either the d-pad or face buttons (depending on whether your a righty or a lefty) and bottom screen you use the touch screen to move the character and initiate attacks. It's quite tricky, but ultimately satisfying when you get used to it, until then AI can take over the top screen when you drop the ball, which is definitely welcome.

It's less RPG and more action than most SE games, but it's refreshing.

- Patapon: It's rhythm game at it's heart, using the face buttons, you play certain rhythms (like OOT with the Ocarina tunes) and depending on type of song you play, the patapon's will act differently (be more agressive etc). It's quite addictive and I've only played it for a few minutes (I don't own a PSP), so I can't comment about length.

Professor Layton on the DS is also worth a look, it's quite addictive (but you only get about 7-8 hours of play depending on how good you are at puzzle solving).

FFXIII is necessary

TWEWY... not so much...

PATAPON

play the demo... downlaod it of the PC PS Store