SV is interesting to me because, i feel like at times it's the best pokemon game (story, music) but at other tims it's the worst (glitches, lag). I personally have it decently high in my rankings, but it's weird how inconsistent it is lol
Ah, i always forget that legends arceus is technically gen 8. Yeah I liked it a lot too, it's pretty fresh compared to most of the games
i played the first one and really liked it, but then i stopped halfway through the lost age for some reason. the music was cool though
XENOBLADE! love this series, i'll also recommend it. there's this video i liked that's like a fanmade ad for the game, here. pretty sure it's not too spoilery (or the spoilers are just out of context).
since you already mentioned it though, i'll recommend earthbound. the entire series is really good, but for play order, i'd recommend earthbound -> mother 3 -> mother 1. (any order is fine, since the games are only loosely connected though). such good jrpgs with an upbeat feel to them.
every mention of ghost trick i've seen is overwhelmingly positive...i gotta try it someday.
does it rely on the DS' dual screen much? idk if the rerelease would affect things
crosscode is so good! one of my favorite indies for sure, it's crazy that it's not more popular
please have a headphone jack. idk if this is something we need to actually worry about...but i really dislike that newer phones keep omitting the headphone jack. bluetooth just isn't the same!