3DS General Discussion & Recommendations

[Jelly]

What's worth playing on the 3DS? Which upcoming games are there to look forward to?

I'm looking for YOUR recommendations of what you've played and enjoyed on the system.

[Jelly]

I just got myself a 2DS, I'm however not really sure which games to get for it.

I think I will mostly purchase eShop titles due to the high price tag on most retail 3DS games. Are there any gems on the eShop?
I'm currently quite interested in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, I never paid any attention to the gameboy Zelda games before, and perhaps it's worth to try them now with the nice backlit 3DS screen. Anyone who's played that game?

I have a long flight to Asia in the end of this month, and I thought Picross might be a good way to pass the time. There are 4 of them, which one should I get? Does it matter?

[Kong Wen]

The best game I've played on the system is Fire Emblem: Awakening. It's a well-designed tactical RPG, plus it really loosened up on the elements that made Fire Emblem interesting and difficult, so it should be generic enough that anyone can enjoy it. (You have a lot of flexibility in party make-up, leveling up, difficulty, options, etc.)

I played and enjoyed the Bravely Default demo, but I haven't played the full game. It has a Final Fantasy III-like job system, so if that's something you enjoy, it might be up your alley.

On the downloadable side, it has a ton of Picross games, which are excellent puzzlers, good for whiling away the time and keeping your brain active. The 3DS Virtual Console also features Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya, which is an excellent entry in the series and which I fully recommend.

[Kong Wen]

I have a long flight to Asia in the end of this month, and I thought Picross might be a good way to pass the time. There are 4 of them, which one should I get? Does it matter?

It doesn't fully matter. They do each have different modes & types of puzzles. The first one is kind of simple. The 2nd & 3rd ones have a bit more content. The 4th has a lot of content too, but it also has unlockable puzzles if you have save data from the previous ones, so maybe the 2nd or 3rd would be best for you if you don't intend to play them all.

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

I'm looking for YOUR recommendations of what you've played and enjoyed on the system.

Why should I write somebody elses?

Ok... here it goes.

Fire Emblem Awakening, not the best in the series but pretty darn good and with some neat replay value.
Etrian Odyssey 4, the best balanced game in the series with the best level design and quite a bit of content.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link between worlds, the best Zelda since Wind Waker and ALttP
Pokemon X/Y, because it is the first Pokemon I played AND actually enjoyed doing so.

There are several games that I am interested in, but haven't played yet.

In the download-only department... there are a few cute/short games but nothing I would recommend.
The VC area has a few nice ones, like the MM-series or Shining Force Gaiden 2, but again nothing vital.

[Jelly]

It was perhaps a bit unneccessary of me to specifiy that I wanted YOUR recommendations, but what I thought is that I could have googled and found thousands of different recommendations and opinions, that are relatively meaningless since I do not know the gaming preferences and history of those people on the internet.
I've done enough bad purchases based on what Nintendo-life says about games..

Do you think I will regret not playing the previous titles before trying Etrian Odyssey 4?

Pokemon X/Y and Zelda LBTW are probably the highest priority retail titles for me at the moment.

I did purchase The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX. I'm incredibly impressed so far. It looks really nice on the 3DS display, it really doesn't look like my memory of Gameboy games.

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

Do you think I will regret not playing the previous titles before trying Etrian Odyssey 4?

No.
There has never been much of a plot in those games to begin with and this is the best of the series so far.

[The Shoemaker]

Etrian Odyssey IV was my first entry in the series and I didn't feel left out, new story every time I think. Try the demo on the eShop, you can transfer your save data to the real game after.

Fire Emblem Awakening is a great game, I don't think I need to sell it anymore than that.
Kid Icarus Uprising is my favourite 3DS game, but it's devisive. For some people it hurts their hands to play, but I think it's fine. It's made by the Smash Bros. director so the controls play a lot like that, but the game is split between on rail shooting sections and fairly open 3D action sections. It's very replayable with a lot of content, plus online multiplayer.
Bravely Default is also pretty awesome, if you like old school SNES RPG's I'm sure you'll like this. I made a thread here a while ago detailing why I think the game is so accesable and fun. It takes a dip near the end, but still a worth while experience.

All of these games also have a great use of StreetPass.

On the eShop side, it depends what type of game you want, but here's a short list:

Shovel Knight - I'm sure you already know this is good
Gunman Clive - Good little platformer with a unique visual style for $2
Pushmo - Fun puzzle game based around climbing 3D blocks
SteamWorld Dig - Metroid-ish in nature, dig deeper and deeper using new tools you find underground.
Mutant Mudds - Good challenging platformer, they've updated the game twice - tripling the amount of content that was available since the game came out
Mighty Switch Force - Fun stylistic platformer, really good music, focuses on beating levels as fast as you can.
Rusty's Real Deal Baseball - Takes many activities you would do in baseball and puts them into bit sized acrade experiences. It's a free download, you then buy each mini game separately, $4 each, but in the game you haggle them down to $2 and below. I recommend downloading it then buying "Feel the Glove" for $2.

Those are the big ones I'll recommend, I'm playing Azure Striker Gunvolt right now which is apparently like Mega Man Zero. I'm liking it, it also comes with a free download of Mighty Gunvolt, which is a short game that plays like the original Mega Man.

[SkyPikachu]

The best game I've played on the system is Fire Emblem: Awakening. It's a well-designed tactical RPG, plus it really loosened up on the elements that made Fire Emblem interesting and difficult, so it should be generic enough that anyone can enjoy it. (You have a lot of flexibility in party make-up, leveling up, difficulty, options, etc.)

I played and enjoyed the Bravely Default demo, but I haven't played the full game. It has a Final Fantasy III-like job system, so if that's something you enjoy, it might be up your alley.

On the downloadable side, it has a ton of Picross games, which are excellent puzzlers, good for whiling away the time and keeping your brain active. The 3DS Virtual Console also features Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya, which is an excellent entry in the series and which I fully recommend.

FE a good starting point in the series?

[Kong Wen]

FE a good starting point in the series?

Yes, I think it's actually quite beginner-friendly. There are a number of difficulty options to let the player control just how hard the game is going to be, and there are also some gameplay features that don't exist in the older games.

The story is connected to some earlier FE games, but the plot stands on its own well enough that you won't need to have played them to understand. It's definitely not the best FE game, but it's good, and quite accessible.