NINTENDO 3DS

i;m thinkin bout thos Games

so I have a copy of Project X Zone 2 coming in the mail in the next few days; it sounds like a batshit Smash Bros-y take on the SRPG that integrates action elements and all kinds of crazy stuff. it's turn-based, but the phases play out like an action game. v excited for this one, suffice it to say. I still haven't ordered either Fire Emblem: Lots Of Crap To Buy or the new Bravely Default (still slogging away at the original whenever I get the chance) yet either. there are a lot of good games to play.

i saw on twitter that theres a new fire emblem game and went looking for my ds but i cant find it :/

so many games i'm looking forward to this year: three new Fire Emblem games, Zero Escape 3, Dragon Quests 7 & 8, Bravely Second, plus others if they get localized.

zappi have you played Steamworld Heist?

No not yet, heard its v good though. Don't fully understand how it works, is it like a 2D Valkyria Chronicles?

yes that is an excellent way to think of it. I am that fool who bought Codename S.T.E.A.M.; Steamworld Heist is everything that that game should have been in every possible way. more fluid, more fun, just better. if you like SRPGs you will like it.

actually as long as you're in the market for a SRPG, I will go ahead and seize the mic to urge you to consider Project X Zone 2. it is basically the SRPG version of Smash Bros, except for considerably less fun (although not as much as you might think - most games are less fun than Smash Bros, but this game is considerably more fun than most games due to SXZ2's hybrid action/turn-based combat scheme). the writers also get a lot of genuinely funny humor out of all the crossover enterprise. it's not a perfect game by any means but it's worth a look if you like the genre and feel like playing a finely-honed version of a very specific idea for a game. EG's review does a pretty good job of describing it, although obviously I endorse the game a little more urgently than they do:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-02-22-project-x-zone-2-review

but yes, get Steamworld Heist

I just bought a 3DS last night on impulse! I am excited to go back through this thread to find out what I should buy. I got the new Fire Emblem (non-baby mode) to start.

echoing steamworld heist. great game, interesting take on the SRPG with really good atmosphere and a challenge to boot.

Hmm need to get on that then. I was also really disappointed by Codename Steam, such a mess of a game :(

Why are 3DS games so expensive? I have a 3DS but I just buy cellphone games instead.

did you have a ds? there are at least a dozen worthwhile games for that system and your 3ds is backwards compatible and they can be obtained for less

For the last dozen posts I kept thinking "wait, that isn't a strategy game..." until i just now realized you were NOT talking about Steamworld Dig

Why are 3DS games so expensive? I have a 3DS but I just buy cellphone games instead.

I could buy / download for free phone games I never play, or I could buy a few 3DS/console games per year that I know I will spend a lot of time with. Something about the structure of android/ios store and wide availability of all kinds of crap makes me not spend any time with the games I get. Partly because I sit down and make the decision to spend 10s of dollars on a 3DS game I will explore the game for what its worth. I spent 100s of hours on some of my 3DS games, don't see why they should be cheaper.

have to say i also hate the lack of actual "controls" on an iphone...swipe/drag/touch doesn't really do it for me, i need tactile old school controls in my life!!

so yes, just bought a 3ds too. i'm thinking i should grab chrono trigger and replay legend of zelda, plus maybe new fire emblem?

What are you into? You should replay Ocarina of Time 3ds version, yes, but also get the new Zelda A Link Between Worlds.

so much zelda to get through. i've not actually owned a nintendo console for ages so there's a big backlog of stuff, will definitely end up grabbing some of the virtual console stuff. i hear 999 which was originally a DS release is great too?

Yes 999 is excellent, one of the few games i've replayed to get every ending (you can fast forward through dialog to get to the branching paths)
Just got Bravely Second, loved the first game so really looking forward to this.

Mario 3D Land is one of the 3DS essentials you should get to early. It's a different kind of 3D Mario with focus on pure, glorious platforming.

oh man bravely second is out already?? i loved the game play of the first, less hot on the story, can't imagine missing it though

ok phew it's not available in the states until April this is good news for someone who won't have time for it until then

What else goes into the "new 3DS owner" care package, if you were to build it? I've got a couple of Zeldas, SMB 3D Land, Pokemon, Kart, Fire Emblem, Shin Megami Tensei 4 on my list... what else?

Also, holy shit the used games market for this is a joke. 5 dollars off $50 for 3 year old games! I guess nobody's selling their 3DS games? Or am I looknig in the wrong places?

Nintendo's own games tend to hold their value no matter what platform they are released on. Having said that I've picked up most of my retail games for £5-10 each, you just need to keep an eye out for sales (e.g. thegamecollection.net in UK regularly put up good 3DS games for sub £10)

xp
Depends. Lots of rpg, tactical, rogue stuff I don't know well. Monster Hunter 4 U is an amazing, huge package and the easiest to get into of the series. Type of game you won't find on any other system (unless you buy older, inferior Monster Hunters).

If you didn't play it on the Wii, Donkey Kong Country Returns is one of the all time great 2d platformers.

my vote for 3DS Starter Pack:

- all of the StreetPass games (some are bullshit but who cares; just spend $20 or whatever to get them all and find out which ones you like and which ones you don't. and the good ones are insidiously excellent.)
- Smash 3DS (duh)
- Mario Land 3D (also duh; I liked NSMB2 a bunch but this is the 3DS Mario game everyone ought to own)
- all the Zeldas - Link Between Worlds and the 3D remakes of Ocarina and LTTP (and Hyrule Warriors if you have 2 friends with 3DSeseseses to play with)
- Mario Kart (although the 3DS will feel palpably slight if you've played the world-conquering Wii U version)
- Mario Golf (best sports game on the system? PERHAPS)
- Final Fantasy: Theaterhythm Curtain Call (best rhythm game I've played since the saintly and unfuckwithable Elite Beat Agents)
- Bravely Default although you are completely allowed to abandon ship when (not if) it gets tedious
- DKCR if you want a hard-as-balls traditional platformer or Kirby Triple Deluxe if you want a platformer that grants anyone who plays it the satisfaction of beating it
- Kid Icarus: Uprising (although if you didn't have carpal tunnel before, here's the game that will give it to you)
- Fantasy Life (best single-player MMO that I've ever played, although if I'd sunk more time into MH4 I might feel differently)
- Fire Emblem: Awakening (I haven't played the new one yet but this was exactly the right FE for me; I hear the new one's even more refined though)
- Steamworld Heist (probably the closest SRPG to XCOM on the system)

and perhaps most importantly: get a whole bunch of pen-sized DSi XL styli; if you must interact with the touchscreen, this is the only way to do it comfortably for any significant duration of time. it baffles me that they took these out of production after the DSi got cycled out because they are perfect in every way. don't cheap out and go for a third-party pen stylus off Amazon, either; they feel chintzy and flimsy in every possible way, like the kind of shitty pen you accidentally steal from a hotel. the official ones are as close to Mont Blanc as we're likely going to get. spend the money, you'll be glad you did.

there are plenty of other lesser-but-still-excellent games I could wax rhapsodic all night about (Paper Jam! Xenoblade! Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars!), but the games listed above (AND THOSE STYLI) are the essentials IMO.

^ thank you so much for this!! once i need something else to play aside from this balls-hard fire emblem (why did i try to be a hardman and buy th tough version whyyyy~) and the pokemon picross i found for free on the store?, i will dip into that list frequently and with reckless abandon

That definitely covers most of it but also, if you've got any affection at all for pokemon or animal crossing, X/Y and New Leaf are both near perfect renditions of their respective series.

Picross 3D 2 came out in Japan late last year so there's a decent chance that'll get a western release at some point too, if you're tempted to actually spend money on pokemon picross it's probably worth waiting for that instead.

pokemon x|y definitely near the top of my list as well, gonna pass on the remakes tho bc i have played them (altho i guess if you've played one you've played em all)

Yeah I've got a similar no remakes rule with pokemon.

the 3D Picross games didn't seem to me as good as the 2D ones

I love them (or at least, the one I've been able to play so far), the logic's maybe a little simpler but they're really pleasingly tactile, I just really enjoy rotating the block and chipping away at it until you've got a recognisable little object left. Picross 3D is to sculpture as Rock Band is to music. Think I placed the original first in my P+C ballot the year it came out.

BTW if anyone's thinking about picking up Fire Emblem Fates, I gotta repeat what I've been hearing around since I bought it: pick up Birthright. You can buy the other paths as DLC, and Birthright is the easiest/most straightforward path. I'm playing Conquest now, it's tough, and I know I'll get pretty bored when I go back and do Birthright second because it's more remedial.

instead of throwing my N3DS out the window, i just bit the bullet and got some of these for my thumb http://i.imgur.com/UzddGs7.jpg

nub no longer slips but my girlfriend makes fun of me so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

like your thumb doesn't stay in plae on the analog stick? have u tried gluing a lil sand on there? (i haven't, but i reckon it would work)

my hands get a little sweaty when im playing and the nub doesn't grip at all.. didn't think of the sand thing, was thinking about sandpaper and some others, but i decided on the baby condoms, might try one of those rubber thimbles for a less disposable solution

Four words: RHYTHM HEAVEN MEGAMIX 3DS

(also: Monster Hunter Generations - good localized title for the new 3DS MH. My MH friends playing the JP version say it's possibly the freshest MH yet)

super excited about MHX, thought that there was no way it was coming over. Also Dragon Quest 7 in the summer! That Metroid game still looks shitty tho.

I bought a 3DS grip and while I feel somewhat silly playing what appears to be a batarang in public it's worth it simply because of how much more comfortable the system is to hold & use with a grip in the mix. make sure you get one that will fit your system; not all grips are created equal

+1 for Rhythm Heaven Compilation; people on SA who imported it said there's a story you have to slog through, but I have faith that they'll do the localization proud. also stoked for SNES VC games to be released, particularly Earthbound and LTTP which I believe I get for cheaper since I had already bought both on Wii U? who knows. the idea of having to continue to buy these old ROMs is infuriating and insulting but I will keep doing it if only to signal to Nintendo that they should definitely keep cranking out ports like this; we might even get Mario RPG.

in other news, HNNNNNG: http://www.polygon.com/2016/3/3/11158320/super-famicom-nintendo-3ds-limited-edition

I'm perfectly happy with my New XL, but every time I see those colored XYBA buttons I get a burning urge to get one of those. that's a piece of consumer electronics with hellacious visual appeal. apparently the non-XL is only available as part of bundles so I'd have to get ANOTHER 3DS and go through the whole system transfer rigamarole. but damn some of these faceplates look nice as fuck; I really like the one made of wood (even if it costs $50 - although at least that's not as bad as the glow-in-the-dark Boo one which goes for $200ish).

Yeah part of the reason I went for the n3ds non-xl was those colored buttons. It's just too good a look.

More hardware-locked virtual console is a bit eeeh, but also yes, I will buy those SNES games for my n3DS. I hope / think the NX will be a shift in terms of logical account sharing across systems and also cross-buy handheld/console.

requiring the New 3DS for those SNES roms is suuuuuuuch bullshit.

Yeah I've seen a bunch of people trying to convince themselves that it's justified because the emulation needs the extra CPU, but when the first gen 3DS was handling GBA emulation just fine that's clearly bollocks.

i had a 3dsxl but downsized to a new 3ds when they came out pretty much solely for the snes-style buttons like a total fuckin' dork

never regretted it tho

To be fair the first gen was running the GBA games natively the same way they run DS games natively, they boot up in a different mode. Emulation is a lot more CPU intensive. The lack of crossbuy is however utterly laughable in 2016, and the pricing of these games is crazy. £8.99 for a 20+ year old ROM?!?

nintendo's cross-buy policy is insane

You'd probably pay more for the carts on ebay to be fair... after a few shitty years i wouldn't blame them for not glutting the market
with ultra cheap fantastic older games that will fill up peoples consoles in place of newer premium ones that they have more reason to sell

To be fair the first gen was running the GBA games natively the same way they run DS games natively, they boot up in a different mode.

Couldn't they just do that for the SNES games too though? I mean even if that locks out your streetpasses while you're playing or whatever. I'm sure people with older hardware would rather put up with that than feel they're being encouraged to buy a whole new machine just to play pilotwings in 2016.

No, the 3DS contains a DS chipset which incorporates a GBA chipset, so when GBA games are played they are run natively using a GBA hardware chip. There is no SNES hardware chip in the 3DS so they can't be run natively, they would need to be emulated by the 3DS CPU. Presumably the OG 3DS CPU is not powerful enough to run SNES emulation.

Pocket Card Jockey is legit, one of those perfect "just one more" portable games.
It's a solitaire horse racing hybrid, where you race horses around a track by playing games of simplified solitaire to a time limit. Yes really.
If you lose too many races your horse gets sent to the farm and you try again with a different horse. Horses at the farm can be paired off to breed the next generation of horses, inheriting characteristics of their parents.
The presentation is simple but cute, reminds me of the Rhythm Heaven games in its flat cartooniness.
Oh yeh and it's made by the Pokemon people, there's a lengthy free demo available. Try it!