So... were there any GOOD games on the 3DS?

[Drathnoxis]

I've just realized that everything I've played on the system has been middling to awful, and I don't have a single game I really like on it at all.

Here's what I've played:

Yokai Watch - Pokemon knockoff. Tedious. A plot so dull I can't remember a single thing about it anymore even though I finished the game.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star - Okay, but easily the dullest installment of the franchise I've played.

Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - I seem to remember having a decent time with it and it's probably the closest thing to a good game I have for the system.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - It was okay, but the original Luigi's Mansion had far more charm and character and the sequel seems very shallow in comparison.

Hyrule Warriors: Legends - I never got very far, but it seemed pretty repetitive, and I feel like it's going to be a pretty big grind when I get around to finishing it.

Fire Emblem: Awakening - Cliche plot, one note characters, mediocre story on the whole. Obtuse game systems that require either a crap ton of grind or a wiki to play around with. Tedious to play. I can't believe people play this game with permadeath. You would either have the perfect party that wrecks everything with no challenge or be constantly resetting every time an important member

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D - They had the chance of fixing the abysmal Wii version's control scheme, but screwed it up again. Inferior to DKC2. I finished it on the Wii but haven't had the desire to go all the way through again.

Ocarina of Time 3D - I was looking forward to this game at one time, but I really can't remember why. I've hardly played it at all and these days I would really rather go back and play the original than some remake anyway.

Bravely Default - This gets a new and special spot on my hate list for being uninspired, repetitive, padded out garbage that was a complete chore to play. The characters were dull, the idle game was retarded, the microtransactions were skeevy, and the plot was so dumb every character was required to be an idiot for it to happen at all. I'd go on and on but I doubt many people here would be interested in reading a 10 000 word hit piece on a 5 year old game.

Nothing standout at all. Is there anything really good that I just never heard of or forgot to play or is the system just forgettable on the whole?

 

[BrawlMan]

I've just realized that everything I've played on the system has been middling to awful, and I don't have a single game I really like on it at all.

Here's what I've played:


Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - It was okay, but the original Luigi's Mansion had far more charm and character and the sequel seems very shallow in comparison.

Hyrule Warriors: Legends - I never got very far, but it seemed pretty repetitive, and I feel like it's going to be a pretty big grind when I get around to finishing it.


Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D - They had the chance of fixing the abysmal Wii version's control scheme, but screwed it up again. Inferior to DKC2. I finished it on the Wii but haven't had the desire to go all the way through again.

Dark Moon I played halfway and never finished. Returns I found better on the 3ds than Wii, because of no forced motion controls. Tropical Freeze is still the best DKC game ever. Hyrule Warriors you're better playing on the Switch. The 3DS has good games. The main problems is alot of its good stuff has either gotten better versions on the Switch or HD consoles in general, making a good amount of them (semi-)obsolete. Or has gotten better sequels on the consoles.

I am not sure if these games will suit you, but they were worth the fun, or were entertaining for a while.

Code of Princess - This a game ported to the Switch with completely rebalanced gameplay. The only problems is they did bring over the excellent English dub. It's why I still have my 3DS copy.

Star Fox 64

Gunvolt 1 & 2 (both are on Switch)

Nano Assault 3D

Shinobi 3DS - Average. The 3d effects gave me a hedache.

Mighty Switch Force 1 & 2 - Both have Wii U & Switch ports.

Liberation Maiden (digital only)

Senran Kagura 1 & 2.

 

[Marik2]

I just got the new 3ds and I am having a lot of fun with it. I never had a DS console and had to rely on emulators for NDS games. It is fun having everything on one console and actually using the controls. I am playing through the 3ds ace attorney games. What I have seen is that people talk about how the original DS had way more fun games than the 3DS. So maybe that might be your problem. Also, is there any actual good use for the 3D feature?

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

The World Ends With You.

It was worth the entire console generation.

 

[BrawlMan]

The World Ends With You.

It was worth the entire console generation.

That's regular DS, even though it can be played on a 3DS. Drathnoxis probably meant games exclusive (or were in a lot of cases) to the 3DS.

 

[Drathnoxis]

The World Ends With You.

It was worth the entire console generation.

That was on the original DS and was fantastic.

Also, is there any actual good use for the 3D feature?

Not really that I've seen. Most of the time I just have the slider set to off. Really the resolution just isn't high enough to do it justice.

The bonus sequel bait movie at the end of Bravely Default might be one of the best uses of the 3D + gyroscope I've seen though. You watch the movie from a fixed point but you can control the camera to look all around you with the gyroscope in real time. It's actually really cool to look back and forth with the 3ds watching the action move around. Was probably the best part of the game. You only get it after the true ending though, so not really worth the 60 hours of stupid and tedium that are required to unlock it.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

The World Ends With You.

It was worth the entire console generation.

That's regular DS, even though it can be played on a 3DS. Drathnoxis probably meant games exclusive (or were in a lot of cases) to the 3DS.

I know. But like I said, it's worth an entire generation. I will sing its praises any time I can get.

 

[Marik2]

Just hack the 3ds, it makes things so much better.

Did the sequel for bravely default actually improved?

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Alliance Alive, WAAAAAYYY better than its predecessor The Legend of Legacy. Rune Factory 4, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Rhythm Heaven Megamix, the Boxboy series, Mighty Switch Force series, Etrian Odyssey 5, 7th Dragon III, Kirby Planet Robobot, I liked Hey Pikmin even if it didn't scratch the itch that the normal Pikmin games give me, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and I also loved Pokemon Sun and Moon since they got rid of the freaking HM's.

I think there were plenty of good games on the 3DS. I also second CoCage on the Gunvolt series, I'm already a fan of Inti Creates and I think they're good games, even if they don't have as much depth as the Megaman Zero series.

 

[Hawki]

-Xenoblade Chronicles (yes, it's a port, but if Ocarina of Time gets to be listed, so does this)

-A Link Between Worlds (easily the best 2D Zelda I've played)

 

[Hades]

Kid Icarus uprising

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

*Grins, opens 3DS*

Kid Icarus Uprising: Yeah, the controls are wonky and uncomfortable (especially for a lefty like me), but the game is SUPER fun nonetheless and has an absolutely hilarious script. I want a sequel on that merit alone. I want more of these characters!

Star Fox 64 Remake: ...It's a remake of a classic, what more do you want?

Yoshi's Wooly World: The closest thing we've had to a new Yoshi's island, now portable.

Rune Factory 4: If it weren't for the fact all the bachlorettes were dull (and the one fun one came attached to the most annoying character), this would be in the top 3 best harvest moon type games and probably tied for second place.

Kirby Triple Deluxe: It's an absolutely fantastic kirby game, what more do you want?

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate: ...It's Monster Hunter. The Boss-rush-huntathon game about always trying to make bigger and cooler weapons to kill bigger monsters with. With a nifty little plot that actually kind of extends into the lategame this time.

Codename Steam: Imagine Valkyria chronicles, but with an overwatch system and action system that actually makes sense. Also, the wacky plot is excellent. Any game where I can take the Lion from the Wizard of Oz into battle alongside Tiger Lily to kill Ice-based monsters right out of HP Lovecraft's worst nightmares is going to put a smile on my face.

Etrian Odyssey 4 and 5: My favourite dungeon crawler series. It has the near-perfect balance of brutally hard with deep and clever. Exploring a massive labyrinth and making my own map on the bottom screen has remained incredibly fun all these years in.

Metroid Samus Returns: Alright, so we ALL know that AM2R is more in line with the classic metroid experience and is awesome, no doubt. But Samus Returns is also totally worth experiencing and makes the metroid fights actually fun for once, by making them all have secondary weaknesses to some other ability you have, which makes beating them kind of a puzzle.

Not to mention it can run the original DS's IMMENSE library of gems, and had a pretty solid Virtual Console by the end of the system's main support.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Shin Megami Tensei 4 is a masterpiece actually. Pokemon games were good too. Fire Emblem Awakening was also pretty great. Finally we have Project x Zone 1-2 which are incredible for the fans of all those series (having Azure Kite, Dante, Kos-Mos, Zero and Bruce Willis all in one party is insanely fun)

 

[Silvanus]

This is a mad question. 3DS was excellent.

- Zelda: ALBW was excellent.
- Zelda: MM & OOT remakes were solid.
- Metroid: Samus Returns.
- Pokemon OR/AS (and I really liked Sun & Moon)
- Super Mario 3D World
- Star Fox 64 & Luigi's Mansion remasters were good, though overpriced for what they were.
- Pullblox/ Pushmo
- The general strength of the eshop for old title ports.

 

[09philj]

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate was a pretty great port for what it was. The 3DS was probably not the best place to put the main Monster Hunter series but Monster Hunter 4 was a really good implementation of the series on the limited hardware.

Fire Emblem: Awakening's plot was assembled by a drunk person with no idea what he was doing, but I liked everything else about it.

The Zelda remakes were well done, and the Etrian Odyssey Untold games were superb remakes.

Bravely Default - This gets a new and special spot on my hate list for being uninspired, repetitive, padded out garbage that was a complete chore to play. The characters were dull, the idle game was retarded, the microtransactions were skeevy, and the plot was so dumb every character was required to be an idiot for it to happen at all. I'd go on and on but I doubt many people here would be interested in reading a 10 000 word hit piece on a 5 year old game.

I thought Bravely Default was great, actually. The plot was very much a standard JRPG plot but I found the characters and voice acting to be pretty charming, on the whole. (The sleazy humour can get in the sea though.) It's also a very pretty game considering the hardware. Also the Brave and Default system keep combat interesting and the sheer amount of options in the job system made me erect. The sequel is slightly better in my book. Plot's about on par with the original, but levelling the jobs is easier and there's more of them, giving even more delicious system exploiting options.

 

[CaitSeith]

So, not a Pokemon games fan?

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is also a pretty good game.

Xenoblade Chronicles is a pretty good port (but it only works with the "New" 3DS)

Metroid: Samus Returns is a pretty good remake of the original Metroid II

Super Mario Land 3D is great.

All the Ace Attorney games are worth it if you are into the genre:
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
- Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice

 

[Yoshi178]

Here's what I've played:

Yokai Watch - Pokemon knockoff. Tedious. A plot so dull I can't remember a single thing about it anymore even though I finished the game.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star - Okay, but easily the dullest installment of the franchise I've played.

the fact that you start off your list with these 2 games makes me feel so so sooooo sad.

 

[Yoshi178]

Xenoblade Chronicles is a pretty good port (but it only works with the "New" 3DS)

Xenoblade is an amazing game but the game is definitely designed to be played on a home console than a handheld and plays much better on the Wii and Wii U virtual console than it does on 3DS.

also at this point it's probably best to wait for the definitive edition of Xenoblade to come out on the Switch next year instead of playing the older version. the graphics of the original while amazing to see what they could do with the original wii hardware, are still pretty dated looking.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

This is a mad question. 3DS was excellent.

- Zelda: ALBW was excellent.
- Zelda: MM & OOT remakes were solid.
- Metroid: Samus Returns.
- Pokemon OR/AS (and I really liked Sun & Moon)
- Super Mario 3D World
- Star Fox 64 & Luigi's Mansion remasters were good, though overpriced for what they were.
- Pullblox/ Pushmo
- The general strength of the eshop for old title ports.

Need to get Metroid Samus Returns.

It did something that I am sad that AM2R never thought of:

Spoiler

Ridley appears as a surprise new boss in the 3DS game. AM2R had this secret exclusive boss that was just some little creature that pukes acid.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Plenty in fact.

Rune Factory 4
Kid Icarus Uprising
Etrian Odyssey 4 and Untold
Codename STEAM
Persona Q and Q2 (Q2 more-so)
Metroid Samus Returns
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and Generations
Kirby Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot
LBX

Just to name a few. I'm avoiding mentioning ports, but the ports they have are also really good. I'm also probably forgetting some, but the system has some major hitters.

Rune Factory 4: If it weren't for the fact all the bachlorettes were dull (and the one fun one came attached to the most annoying character), this would be in the top 3 best harvest moon type games and probably tied for second place.

Which bachelorette is that? I can think of a few that stand out a bit more, but... I found myself loving nearly every character in this game (And it's probably in my top 3 games in general), so I can't think of any I'd find strongly above the rest