Nintendo 3/DS Favorites?

[malyzar]

I never had a 3DS, but I've been following all the recent news and my interest in the console is at an all time high. I'm looking into getting one, but barely know where to start when it comes to the games. Do any of you have any favorites or "hidden gems" that you'd recommend? Especially stuff that takes advantage of the unique features of the console. (Right now, I'm most interested in Resident Evil Deadly Silence. Seems like a good way to play RE1 again and those goofy minigames seem very charming.)

[Fruitality]

As far as lesser-known or celebrated games goes, I really enjoyed Fantasy Life for like 10 hours on a plane once and then never played it again.

It was fun and interesting as a 'single player MMO-like' experience.

[andrewelmore]

Oh man, where to even begin . . .

Okay here's my list of "essentials" on the DS and 3DS.

DS:

• Korg DS10 Synthesizer
  Korg M01 Music Workstation
  Front Mission 2089
  MOON
  Aliens: Infestation
  Bangai-O Spirits
  Cookie & Cream
  Mario Kart DS
  Contact
  Flower, Sun & Rain
  Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (& sequels)
  Electroplankton
  Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents
  WarioWare: Touched
  the Etrian Odyssey games
  Feel the Magic XYXX/Rub Rabbits
  Final Fantasy III & IV remakes
  FF XII: Revenant Wings
  FF: The Four Warriors of Light
  Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
  Gunpey DS
  Hotel Dusk Room 215
  Ivy the Kiwi
  Lost In Blue games
  Meteos
  Metroid Prime Hunters
  Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits
  Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
  the Phoenix Wright/Ace Attorney games
  Picross 3d
  Clubhouse Games
  Point Blank DS
  Polarium
  Radiant Historia
  Resident Evil: Deadly Silence (I know some folks HATE this game, though)
  Rhythm Heaven/Tengoku
  Ridge Racer DS
  Sega Superstars Tennis
  Space Invaders Extreme games (with the rotary controller if you can find one)
  Suikoden Tierkris
  Tetris DS
  Trauma Center: Under the Knife 1 & 2
  Xenosaga One And Two
  Solatorobo: The Red Hunter
  Style Savvy
  The Dark Spire
  Tokyo Beatdown
  Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Ploom
  Bleach: Dark Souls (Only because it's a Treasure game)
  Heavy Armor Brigade
  MechAssault: Phantom War
  River King: Mystic Valley
  Tenchu: Dark Secret
  Nostalgia

Formatting broke, but whatever, here's 3DS:

• Shin Megami Tensei IV
  Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
  then get the rest of the megaten games on here if you want to be cool
  Etrian Odyssey games, particularly IV and V
  Ridge Racer 3D
  Alliance Alive
  Bravely Default/Second
  Crash City Mayhem
  Dragon Quest VII
  Fantasy Life
  Legend of Legacy (best title in the history of the medium lol)
  Final Fantasy Explorers
  Mario Kart 7
  Return to Popolocrois
  More Phoenix Wright/Ace Attorney games
  Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask 3D
  Star Fox 64 3D
  All of the Sega Ages 3D releases by M2 are incredible
  Stella Glow
  Style Savvy Trendsetter & Fashion Forward
  Tales of the Abyss
  Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy+ (Has nothing to do with Assault Horizon, it's actually a remake of AC2 set in the Strangereal)
  Spirit Camera (spiritual successor to Fatal Frame that uses the 3D camera)
  Shinobi 3D
  Fragrant Story
  Metroid: Samus Returns (not as good as the original Metroid II, but what is?)
  Zelda: Link Between Worlds
  Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (strategy game by the creator of XCOM)
  Liberation Maiden
  Crimson Shroud
  Attack of the Friday Monsters
  Aeroporter
  Rusty's Real Deal Baseball
  Dillon's Dead Heat Breakers
  Bugs vs. Tanks
  Karous - The Beast of Re:Eden
  Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
  Harold's Walk and Harold Reborn
  Automaton Lung
  The Starship Damrey
  Dementium I & II Remastered
  Steel Empire
  Vector Racing
  Resident Evil: Revelations (Originally designed explicitly for the 3DS hardware)
  Gurumin 3D
  Weapon Shop de Omasse
  Horseshoe Crab Rescue
  Crush3D
  Galaga Dimensions
  Dream Trigger 3D
  Cave Story 3D
  Project X-Zone 1 & 2
  Theatrhythm games
  Rhythm Heaven Megamix
  Super Mario 3D Land
  WarioWare Gold
  Steel Diver (forget y'all, i like this one)
  Sayonara Umihara Kawase
  Parascientific Escape series
  Legend of Dark Witch series
  Gotta Protectors
  Pocket Card Jockey
  Pushmo/Crashmo/Stretchmo
  Korg M01D & DSN-12
  Tokyo Crash Mobs
  Fairune
  3D Classics series (especially Xevious and TwinBee!)

[malyzar]

Daaaaang, a hell of a list! Thank you both.

Also, any advice on which model to get and where would be the most cost effective? (Prices are increasing, lol, bad timing.) I have a friend who will hopefully be selling or trading me his old one, but I might need a plan B.

Also, why do people hate RE: Deadly Silence? I've heard mostly good things. Seems real cool to me!

[andrewelmore]

As far as model goes, they've all gotten stupid expensive so your best bet is to get one on Yahoo Auctions Japan through a proxy service like Buyee, then just jailbreak it when it arrives, which is quite easy to do thankfully. By default the 3DS is Nintendo's first (and I believe only) region-locked console, which is annoying. And with the eshop having been shut down, jailbreaking and piracy are a must, otherwise you'll be cut off from most of the catalogue. Anyway, if you want best compatibility, get a New 3DS XL (or LL in Japan). They have a slightly faster processor and a second little analogue nub, like you used to see on IBM ThinkPads. There are certain games that require a New model. Though I've heard original 3DS models apparently have sharper screens (as they're smaller, so the pixel density is higher), and are perhaps built a bit more sturdily. I'm a big fan of the 3D effect (which was significantly improved on the New model with IR eye tracking), so I'm not personally too terribly interested in the 2DS variants. I got one for my daughter, that's about it.

As for RE:DS, well, it's the only time I've ever seen Kimimi mad lol.
https://kimimithegameeatingshemonster.c ... wasp-nest/

[malyzar]

Thanks for the advice! And lol, that is a wonderful article.

[phearhead]

JFC Andrew crushed that list. Everything on it is golden, and highly recommended. As far as models go, if you're looking to get into the DS, I'm INCREDIBLY partial to the DSi. It feels amazing, and is honestly one of the best pieces of hardware Nintendo has ever created.

[malyzar]

This is the second time I've asked Andrew for some recs and he responds with enough games for a lifetime, lmao.

I just found a light blue DSi for $50 on eBay and am very tempted. But I think I want to go with the extra functionality of a 3DS. We'll see!

[breakfastcowl]

^ Gonna throw my hat in the ring for the XL, too. Ez gave me his older 3DS and kept his XL, and that bigger one definitely feels better to navigate and play around in, for me at least.

Will also second Bravely Default-- I think the first more modern JRPG I played, and a kinder one at that. Really appreciated the "automation" it allowed and also the level of player control over the classic grind.

Fire Emblem: Awakening also was pretty engaging for the tactical JRPG, if you're interested in that side of things.

And on a comfort level, Animal Crossing: New Leaf doesn't do anything drastic and provides the standard low-level cozy, slow-paced gameplay once again, just on a smaller form factor.

[HPRshredder]

The 3DS is probably my favorite portable system. I love the 3DS to death.

Looks like a lot of great games have already been mentioned lol. I'll try and mention a few that I'm not seeing that I think are good:

• Mutant Mudds -- really took advantage of the 3D effect. I love cranking the 3D on mine. Nice soundtrack, too

• Box Boy Series -- still need to play the rest of these myself... wish they hadn't closed the eshop

• Senran Kagura: Burst -- this is the 2.5D Senran, the 3D one was bad IMO. I had a lot of fun with the combos reaching into the hundreds. Wild game and worth playing if you're not put-off by the concept.

• Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer -- I watched this one get played by my GF rather than play it myself, but it's definitely not a throwaway title and worth checking out. Also has about the biggest banger of a track on the system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQtOHIAlFY8

• Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion -- short and sweet; but mostly memorable for its GORGEOUS visuals (especially in 3D)

I also have a great love for the StreetPass games and still play them to this day. It's part of what made the system so much fun to take on the go, on campus, to cons, to midnight releases, just everything. I own all the extra ones too. They're all worth owning IMO if you still have a few people you can pass.

I wish I had my 3DS on me today so I could double-check. I know it's already been mentioned, but Attack of the Friday Monsters was a special experience for me. Fire Emblem: Awakening is one of my all-time favorite games. Tales of the Abyss I experienced for the first time on the 3DS and it also left a big impression on me. New Leaf was my first real AC experience. I played Ocarina of Time for the first time myself on the 3DS. Majora's Mask, too. It was such a beautiful platform to me. Games were priced well, paced well, and there were some great picks for just about every genre you could think of. I was a late bloomer when it comes to having games as a deeper hobby of mine. The 3DS was really the perfect companion as I was getting more into gaming as a whole. Games like Dillon's Rolling Western and Pushmo early on I have fond memories of playing in my dorm room.

I love you, 3DS. I love you very much. If only it had been you that received a Wind Waker port rather than the Wii U.

(p.s. I feel it's a bit tragic the missed opportunity I think Zelda had on the system. I loved ALBW, but I think there was potential for an OoT style Zelda in 3D and I always pined for something like that. We never got it... We may never get a Zelda like that again)

[summers]

The 3DS/NDS combo is probably my favorite overall system. There's just so much creative output, and the DS era was really the golden age for localizations of Japanese adventure games.
I'm repeating a bunch games, but here's a few favorites I want to emphasize:

NDS

• Kirby Canvas Curse
  This is the game that justifies the touch screen for me.
• Picross 3D
• Hotel Dusk
• Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
  There are ports of this, but it's worth playing on the DS for one extremely specific spoiler reason.
• Flower, Sun and Rain
  This game absolutely hates you and has no respect for your time whatsoever. Please play it.
• Ace Attorney
  These are (mostly) all good.
• Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime
• Elite Beat Agents

3DS

• Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hackers
  If you like 90s cyberpunk in any amount, this is for you.
• Kid Icarus: Uprising
  My favorite wrist strain generator.
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
• Rhythm Heaven Megamix
• Kirby: Planet Robobot
  Arguably the best 2D Kirby game.
• Crimson Shroud
  Cool little downloadable RPG designed by the FFT director. You get to roll dice with the stylus.
• Pocket Card Jockey
  This is on Apple Arcade now, but christ is it addictive.

Reminder that it's actually really easy to hack your 3DS and anyone can do it.

[malyzar]

Thanks, all! I'm getting a 2DS XL sent to me and am stoked. Really looking forward to poking through all these lists.

[malyzar]

ACQUIRED

[breakfastcowl]

Hell yeeeeaaahhhh +++

[Fruitality]

Ohhhhh that look so nice.

I really need to get my New 3DS out again and do stuff to it.