Congrats on the 3DS. It’s one of my favorite systems, and since I work in a major metro area, I actually got a lot out of the StreetPass stuff when it was popular.
Anyways, here are a couple of titles I’d recommend:
-Both Dragon Quests. VII lasts 100+ hours and it’s also pretty good, and VIII is one of the better entries in the series even without the full orchestral score.
-Fire Emblem: Awakening. Despite being the tipping point for “weird Japanese crap” taking over, the strategy part of Fire Emblem is quite fun, and it’s possible to break the game in half if you plan your character pairings and offspring appropriately. The story is also a lot better than Fates (think Fantasy Terminator), where the inclusion of offspring makes no sense.
-Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. The original Luigi’s Mansion was forgettable, but Next Level Games is as good as Retro Studios at making better Nintendo games than Nintendo itself does (I blame Sakamoto for Metroid Prime: Federation Force) and I enjoyed this one. Think of it as a kiddie version of Resident Evil.
-All three (soon to be four) Mario & Luigi games. They’re each about ten hours longer than they should be, but are consistently enjoyable.
-Steel Diver. This game was rightfully savaged for costing $40 at launch, but I got it for 10 out of a bargain bin and had a surprisingly good time with it. You control your sub using sliders and buttons on the touch screen, which seems counter-intuitive. However, MechWarrior 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and the complicated controls, different sub types (light, medium, heavy), and frequent sub combat reminds me of a tiny, underwater version of that game. If you can find it cheap, give it a try. I think there might even be a F2P version on the 3DS eShop.And here are a couple to definitely avoid:
-Bravely Default. I REALLY wanted to love this game. In the first ten hours, it totally sucks you in with its classic Final Fantasy plot, beautiful production values, and charming “FF Tactics in 3D” character models. It also has great quality-of-life features that should be in every RPG, like sliders for random encounter difficulty, frequency, and payouts, as well as the ability to automate character commands and control the battle speed on-the-fly. All that said, it totally squanders that initial goodwill by becoming the laziest, most insulting game that I have ever played. Remember the “surprise” ending in Ghosts ‘n Goblins, where you have to beat the entire game again to finish it for real? Imagine if you had to do that 5+ times, and it was an RPG. Square Enix either had a great 10-hour game that was mandated to be stretched to 50 hours, or they ran out of money and didn’t want to put out something so short. Either way, it’s a massive disappointment and I didn’t even bother with the sequel because of how pissed off I was at this one.
-Kid Icarus: Uprising. This game would be great if it didn’t literally hurt to play. It’s funny and is full of the usual tons of unlockables and stuff to do that Sakurai puts in all of his games. The control scheme totally sinks it though. They were clearly going for something similar to Sin & Punishment on the Wii, where you can control your character and reticle independently, but it just doesn’t work at all on a portable. Yeah, I know the game came with the stand, but so did the Virtual Boy. Holding your system with one hand while pressing on it with another is as good for your wrist as the Virtual Boy stand is for your neck.
-Pilotwings Resort. Also known as “Wii Sports Resort 2: Fly Mii Away.” Everyone loved that game so much that they shoehorned Pilotwings stuff into it and sold it to you again! The 3D sucked until I got the New 3DS with head-tracking, the scoring system is ridiculously picky in ways that the SNES game never was, and there are no helicopter missions. More annoying than fun.
God, I hate that ‘Sin and Punishment’ type game. You still see those Sin and Punishment 2 copies for the Wii in retail? I blame NOA and, especially Reggie, for bringing in this crap. Seriously, why is it that these guys in the Game Industry don’t have the feel for games and have to come to sites like this to figure it out? Sin and Punishment 2? Really?
Nintendo doesn’t realize how stupid they’ve been… only until after a boondoggle like the Wii U or Virtual Boy hits.
What about 2d Mario? “Fuck that shit!” Miyamoto says. NSMB games come out and sell gazillions. Does that wake up Nintendo? No. They don’t like being wrong and are extremely bitter about realizing how stupid they are (which they project their stupidity onto the customers by declaring WE are stupid for not buying their 3d Marios and keep dumbing them down for us).
What about Open World Zelda? “Fuck that shit!” Aonuma says. “Here are trains and Wind Waker sequels and Wind Waker remasters! Bahahaha! I am genius!!!!” Breath of the Wild comes out, finally confronting complaints I’ve made here about Zelda since… a decade?… and BoW “Wow!” sells a gazillion, sells hardware, and wins every game award ever. I’m sure Aonuma is probably thinking, “They don’t really like that shit. I know what they like. They want more Majora’s Mask and games like Marvelous!”
We should make a new golden rule for entertainment producers: If the customers are ‘stupid’ for not buying your product, it is YOU who is PROJECTING YOUR OWN STUPIDITY onto the customers.
Anyway, I will probably not buy any of the 3DS games you have listed above. My next few 3DS games will be ones no one has mentioned…. They’re already getting more and more crazy expensive, so I can’t mention them yet. And they are all third party games.