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[Unicorn]

3DS is an interesting case. I have more fond memories of DS, perhaps because touch gaming and official online mario kart were new at that time. That said, when I compare them individually, 3DS is a giant. So many games still to play.

I put in WORK for Animal Crossing Wild World, playing with people across US and Europe, but at the end of the day I return and it's like 15fps, has no holidays, and next to no features for MP besides really simple self-imposed games.

Pokemon SoulSilver is timeless, but the competitive planning aspect has been exceeded by later entries. But, it is still the best singleplayer Pokemon.

3DS is objectively improved and better - not even including the fact that it is itself a DS. The smaller models obviously lend themselves better to the DS "upscalling," but the 3DS has had some solid and still active communities of its own. Monster Hunter 4U, for example is reason enough for this to be top-of-the-line.

 

[Tohsaka]

In general, I prefer Nintendo's output on 3DS, but the DS had more third party games I liked.

 

[Firemind]

I love all those games, but I can see that if someone doesn't particularly like JRPGs and their various sub-genres, then the far wider genre variety available on DS/PSP/GBA/GB may have been more appealing. On 3DS a far smaller number of third party developers (notably Atlus pumping games out) picked up the slack, and so a heavy bias towards certain genres has set in.

I can honestly say, without a shadow of doubt, as a fan of rpgs and roguelikes, Etrian Odyssey is trash. From the shallow gameplay to the production values. It's so not worth full price.

 

[James Scott]

The 3DS Monster Hunter games have pretty much filled my interest in 3D action games for thousands of hours. It's only one series and so sure, I don't disagree with your point, but MH4 is one of the best games on the system (and probably the best in the series), and that was 2015.

I found it barely playable as a left-hander even with the stand or the controller accessory or the alternative control scheme, but to each their own with that one. Presentation is nice, I can see what people like about it.

That might have helped. Don't think MH is particularly good, personally

 

[Malyse]

I wish that 3DS to Switch ports would hurry up and become a fucking thing already.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

I can honestly say, without a shadow of doubt, as a fan of rpgs and roguelikes, Etrian Odyssey is trash. From the shallow gameplay to the production values. It's so not worth full price.

You've gotta be kidding me. First off, not sure why you mention roguelikes as Etrian Odyssey is not one, nor is it at all trying to be one. Second of all, Etrian Odyssey is the gold standard for the modern DRPG, in which you delve into dungeons with a party of custom characters in first person view. Obviously this is a niche genre and it's not for everyone, but the 'low' production values are intentional, that's how the genre is presented. Outside of being in first person and having relatively simple battle animations, the presentation is top notch. Each entry has great music, beautiful artwork, and the latest entry even has voice acting. As for the gameplay being shallow...what? Team composition, strategy and planning both in the heat of battle and character progression, maintaining your map and hunting for secrets while monitoring the position of powerful monsters as you delve deeper and deeper into the dungeon...there is so much depth to the gameplay in EO. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about if you are calling Etrian Odyssey trash. It's fine if you don't like DRPGs, but EO is probably the best DRPG series out there, certainly the best modern one.

If you are interested in a take on EO with more flashy production values and a bigger emphasis on narrative and traditional JRPG aspects, try 7th Dragon Code VFD.

 

[Firemind]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike

Roguelike is a term used to describe a subgenre of role-playing video games that are characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated game levels, turn-based gameplay, tile-based graphics, and permanent death of the player-character. Most roguelikes are based on a high fantasy narrative, reflecting their influence from tabletop role playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.

 

[James Scott]

In general, I prefer Nintendo's output on 3DS, but the DS had more third party games I liked.

I think this is probably the general consensus for the system.
Your preference on which of the two is better likely comes down to which of those two you care more about.

Layton and AA were at their prime on DS but Mario and Zelda were loads better on 3DS, for example.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike

Your passive aggressive posting of the definition of a roguelike is completely unnecessary. I know what a roguelike is, and Etrian Odyssey is not one. There are no randomly generated maps, they are all static and designed by level designers. Also there is no perma-death in Etrian Odyssey. There is a difference between a dungeon crawler and a roguelike.

 

[v0yce]

For every 2 or 3 3D remakes of an old SNES game on the PSP, there is one Kid Icarus. For every 2 unimpressive looking and playing Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plumes or Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, there is a Luigi's Mansion 2 or Monster Hunter 4U.

What are these bizarro comparisons?

What about for every Crisis Core or Birth by Sleep or Ghost Trick or Dawn of Sorrow the 3DS got Mario Hoops and Steel Diver.

This is silly

I really like the DS and it's library (PSP not so much), but I'd take the 3DS over it any day (I'd even take Capcom's "nothing but Monster Hunter and Ace Attorney"-support of the 3DS over what the PSP got).

Wait. Are you seriously using Monster Hunter as a feather in the cap of the 3DS while dismissing Capcom's PSP offerings?

 

[Astral Dog]

These are all just sequels to games on the DS, which had more variety on top of those.

First party though

 

[Megatron]

In the past Nintendo had to split their resources between two systems, now they can focus all of their efforts on a single one. Not only that but they have historically put their finest teams to develop games for the home console, which already puts Switch at a significant advantage.

Thus if everything goes as planned, the Switch should be better than every Nintendo handheld before it considering it has the attention of every single development studio associated with the company. That's like, the minimum expectation.

The more relevant question is (imo) whether Switch will be able match the combined libraries of for example Wii+DS or GBA+GC. I know it's not the best solution either because the handheld/console gens don't overlap perfectly (like how some teams are still working on 3DS) but it's the comparison I will be going by as I think it's the most fair one to make.

Eh, there will always be factors why two gens aren't even. The rising costs of game development, rising competition from cell phones. Whatever the reasons are, the Switch stands to hopefully have the greatest portable library ever. No reason to try to minimilize it.

 

[poodaddy]

It absolutely is, and now we get the best Metroid game in years to top it off. There are plenty of 3DS detractors, and to a degree I can understand that, but it's library is great beyond debate. Fuck I wish all my digitally owned 3DS games could be played on Switch.

 

[Man God]

In general, I prefer Nintendo's output on 3DS, but the DS had more third party games I liked.

This is largely my opinion on it. Atlus is more or less the only company that improved on its DS efforts with even better 3DS ones. The rest of Sega/Square Enix/Namco Bandai/Konami were all much worse, and western development simply wasn't there.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

In the past Nintendo had to split their resources between two systems, now they can focus all of their efforts on a single one. Not only that but they have historically put their finest teams to develop games for the home console, which already puts Switch at a significant advantage.

Thus if everything goes as planned, the Switch should be better than every Nintendo handheld before it considering it has the attention of every single development studio associated with the company. That's like, the minimum expectation.

The more relevant question is (imo) whether Switch will be able match the combined libraries of for example Wii+DS or GBA+GC. I know it's not the best solution either because the handheld/console gens don't overlap perfectly (like how some teams are still working on 3DS) but it's the comparison I will be going by as I think it's the most fair one to make.

It's not really a matter of making a comparison "fair". They only have one platform now (after 3DS finishes dying anyway), but we don't hold other companies to similar standards. I don't say "Well PS4 library isn't as good as PS2 + PSP library even though they're only focusing on it now!"

It's enough to evaluate how well the Switch is doing simply based on whether the library is good on its own merits, not worrying about the exact circumstances of the divisional organization in Nintendo as of 2017 and beyond.

If you want to think about fiscal matters, then it does makes sense to compare 3DS+WiiU to Switch to see whether it's improving their situation. Consolidating into a single revenue stream (starting in maybe 2019 when the 3ds sales have dropped to basically 0 and new games are a tiny trickle of third party stuff) carries risks as well as potential rewards.

 

[SScorpio]

The DS has the 3DS beat in quantity, sure. But all that content on the PSP and DS never really compared favourably to the high highs 3DS' software had.

For every 2 or 3 3D remakes of an old SNES game on the PSP, there is one Kid Icarus. For every 2 unimpressive looking and playing Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plumes or Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, there is a Luigi's Mansion 2 or Monster Hunter 4U.

I really like the DS and it's library (PSP not so much), but I'd take the 3DS over it any day (I'd even take Capcom's "nothing but Monster Hunter and Ace Attorney"-support of the 3DS over what the PSP got).

The high highs of the PSP compete nicely against the high highs of the 3DS considering it's up against a newer handheld generation and came out seven years later.

Now throw the same gen Vita into the mix and the 3DS' best-looking games become an embarrassment

Sony was a little weird with their handheld releases. PSP came out almost two years before the PS3 and could play PS2 style games while not being as powerful as the PS2. The Vita was almost two years before the PS4 and did the same with PS3 games.

With the release of the Switch, it might end up being the same PS5. Which is awesome for a handheld. Not sure how I feel about it being a console though.

It will be interesting to see what Nintendo devs end creating since they have more modern hardware to work with. They did a great job with the 3DS limited abilities and gamewise made it feel like the successor to the SNES.

 

[Crankshaft]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike

Etrian Odyssey is a Dungeon Rpg, not a roguelike. EO doesn't have random floors and permadeath which are the two biggest traits of a roguelike.

 

[Man God]

The high highs of the PSP compete nicely against the high highs of the 3DS considering it's up against a newer handheld generation and came out seven years later.

Now throw the same gen Vita into the mix and the 3DS' best-looking games become an embarrassment

Sony was a little weird with their handheld releases. PSP came out almost two years before the PS3 and could play PS2 style games while not being as powerful as the PS2. The Vita was almost two years before the PS4 and did the same with PS3 games.

With the release of the Switch, it might end up being the same PS5. Which is awesome for a handheld. Not sure how I feel about it being a console though.

It will be interesting to see what Nintendo devs end creating since they have more modern hardware to work with. They did a great job with the 3DS limited abilities and gamewise made it feel like the successor to the SNES.

The 3DS and Vita are honestly closer in power than most people realize. The 3DS "wastes" a ton of it on Stereoscopic 3D and of course the second screen. PSP is completely and utterly out of the 3DS's league graphically, there's nothing on the system remotely close to Resident Evil Revelations which is a launch year game.

 

[spelen]

I personally would put the Ds above the 3ds although I must say KID ICARUS FTW,

 

[zMiiChy-]

Even though I'm not a Nintendo fan, I'd actually say it has one of the best software libraries out of any console ever.
Especially if you take into consideration the backwards compatibility.

Unfortunately, the hardware itself is terrible.

 

[jon bones]

this made me take out my 3ds and boot it up

10 minutes in i put it away.... i forgot how bad its designed, and how uncomfortable it is for my hands

 

[SScorpio]

The 3DS and Vita are honestly closer in power than most people realize. The 3DS "wastes" a ton of it on Stereoscopic 3D and of course the second screen. PSP is completely and utterly out of the 3DS's league graphically, there's nothing on the system remotely close to Resident Evil Revelations which is a launch year game.

Even when looking at both screen's total resolution the 3DS is just over half the resolution of the Vita. The 3DS is has a dual-core ARM11 and single core ARM9 while the Vita is a quad-core ARM9. The 3DS is 128MB of RAM, Vita is 512MB.

Revelations was a great looking game on the 3DS but are careful when looking for footage and screenshots of it, many things you'll find are PS3/360/PC. The 3DS version does retain a lot of the look but no the 3DS wasn't pulling off those lighting and water effects.

For comparable PSP games look at GoW: Ghost of Sparta, Silent Hill Shattered Memories, and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. Do they pull off every trick from RE:R? No, but they'd look right at home on the 3DS.

 

[MetalliCabombination]

Didn't do much for me tbh.And the hardware didn't help

 

[YBdisk]

Whenever people list their favourite 3ds titles I can't help but be a bit disappointed by the lack of variety.

I'm not complaining but I really wish 3ds was less of a multiple franchise entries machine.

?x SMT.
6x (6.5x) (8.5x) Phoenix.
4x (7x) (15x) Pokemon.
4x (5x) EO.
4x (5x) Zelda.
3x (7x) Kirby.
3x (4x) (6x) Monhun.
3x (4x) DQ.
3x (4x) FE.
3x (3.5x) Layton.
3x Mario & Luigi.
2x Bravely.
2x Zero Escape.

3x Pushmo/Pullblox.
3x BoxBoy.
3x Dillon.
Etc...

Only 1 meh Castlevania though. Fukonami.

 

[ghibli99]

Yep, Metroid further adds to it. The M2 Sega 3D Remasters of their arcade games alone are enough for me to be thankful for the hardware's existence.

 

[dreamlongdead]

3DS has amazing first party games, but it really seemed like Atlus was the only third party that consistently delivered quality output.

There were some good games from Square, Sega, Capcom, and other Japanese publishers, but not enough to really make 3DS comparable to DS.

It's good, but DS (and arguably GBA) has it beat for sure.

 

[ZeroX03]

Slowly, extremely slowly, making my way through my backlog. Have two plastic cases full of games. I think I still haven't finished half of them

Pretty good for a system that sat completely unused for the first year.

 

[Zaventem]

I love the 3DS because it gives me my RPG fix. I don't care mario kart or most platformers in general but in terms of RPGs it has surpassed the DS for me. Also it's great it can play DS games if you missed out on it's library of gems. Currently playing monster hunter stories and it's a beautiful spin off and graphically one of the best games iv'e ever seen on the system. I know people are desperate for it to die so switch could get some games but it's the little machine that could.

 

[kidnemo]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike

If you are going to smarmily post like this, at least be correct in your smarminess.

 

[Lorcain]

I've put more hours into my 3DS library than my PS4, PC and Switch libraries combined. That was never my intent when I bought my OG 3DS XL 4 years ago. I bought it to get closer to one of my kids who's on the spectrum and loved his 3DS.

We've played through all of the 3DS Pokémon titles, went on hunts together in MH4U, and played Fantasy Life. All great memories.

Along the way I've played so many other great games from the 3DS library, most have already been mentioned in this thread. I've just now started dabbling in the DS library playing The World Ends with You (amazing game) and Chrono Trigger.

The 3DS+DS library combined has so many great games.

 

[esmith08734]

I plan on getting a 3DS system by year's end.

There's a ton of games I want to pick-up:

Hey! Pikmin
Yoshi's Woolly World
Samus Returns
Mario Maker
Ultra Sun/Moon
All Fire Emblems
Majora's Mask 3D

and so many others

 

[Terrible_Majesty]

It does. However, I would give the GOAT library to SFC/SNES.

Earthbound,
Chrono Trigger,
Super Metroid,
A Link to the Past,
Super Mario World,
Demon's Crest,
Final Fantasy VI
Secret of Mana
Super Mario Kart
Super Castlevania IV
Contra III
Super Mario RPG
Super Punch Out!
Starfox
F-Zero
Mega Man X
Act Raiser
Shadowrun
Super Ghouls N Ghosts
Zombies Ate My Neighbours
BattleClash 1 & 2
Pilotwings
Donkey Kong Country
Harvest Moon
Breath of Fire
Bust A Move
Ogre Battle: MOTBQ
TMNT: Turtles in Time
Mario Paint
SF2 Turbo
Ganbare Goemon
Cybernator
Metal Warriors
Tales of Phantasia
Terranigma
Soul Blazer
Rock n Roll Racing
Illusion of Gaia
Uniracers

there's too many games that are all time classics.

 

[forrest]

A really solid library unfortunately coupled with some of the worst ergonomics. Even with a circle pad pro attached, my fingers literally go numb and my hands cramp. Love the stereoscopic 3d effect and it's a shame Nintendo seems to be abandoning it altogether.

I would no doubt drop money incredibly fast on a less portable, more ergonomic option for 3ds titles.

 

[Forward]

I swear to god, if Square-Enix would pull their head out of the black hole whence it got pulled chasing after shoving it up its ass, and just release a 3DS version of FF6 stateside, that would pretty well shore up its legacy as GOAT.

 

[Sinople]

I can honestly say, without a shadow of doubt, as a fan of rpgs and roguelikes, Etrian Odyssey is trash. From the shallow gameplay to the production values. It's so not worth full price.

You may not like it and that's okay but don't state your opinion as if it were truth; it's not. EO is, overall, a remarkably well-crafted DRPG series, from level design to combat balance.
If you want a roguelike, give the Chunsoft's Mystery Dungeon games a try if you haven't yet.

 

[Wanderer5]

Currently the only gaming system that I ever gotten day 1, and midnight launch on top of that. It was a rocky start, especially with the huge price drop not long after launch (but least gotten GBA games out from it that never came onto the system otherwise), but it definitely had grown to be quite a wonderful system. Although I wasn't really too fond of the original 3DS, the 3DS XL came around and I had loved it since.

First party is top notch, and there are quite a few that I really like, but I am probably particularly fond of Kid Icarus Uprising, Super Mario 3D Land, and Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds.

Along with that, third party also came out with pretty great stuff, with Resident Evil Revelations, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai standing out to me the most.

Right now I am currently enjoying Metroid: Samus Returns, which I don't know if it be my swan song for the system, but if it does, then it is a great one to bow out with.

 

[Titania]

Since obtaining it in 2013, my 3DS has been my go to console for everything. There's never not been a game out or announced that I've had some level of interest in, and my 3DS library has always surpassed the library of my PS3, which was obtained in 2012. I still return to the 3DS classics every couple weeks, like Animal Crossing or the Fire Emblem releases.

 

[i-Jest]

OP says Nintendo libraries. No GBA. No N64. No GC. A small selection of SNES.

Besides, can you tell me with a straight face a 3DS game would land in anyone's top 10 list? The barebones online functionality should disclose most already.

Competitive Pokemon is still going strong online. I do not presume to know how many would include any Pokemon game in their top ten. The series has been consistently strong on the whole though.

 

[redcrayon]

I can honestly say, without a shadow of doubt, as a fan of rpgs and roguelikes, Etrian Odyssey is trash. From the shallow gameplay to the production values. It's so not worth full price.

Shallow gameplay? It's one of the best turn-based systems going, the battles, class and party setup options are so much better than RPGs where random battles are completely inconsequential. Even class design as great as they put new spins on character archetypes rather than 'warrior, healer, mage' and make fielding parties than don't have either dedicated mages or healers possible. You might find the raw focus on combat and exploration over story and the relatively low budget of dungeon crawlers poor compared to true RPGs, but what EO doesn't have is shallow gameplay- its entirely gameplay focused.

Edit: Sounds like you've confused Etrian Odyssey with Etrian Mystery Dungeon to me, which is actually a roguelike (sort of, to me roguelikes mean starting from level 1 on death instead) rather than a dungeon crawl rpg.

 

[redcrayon]

That might have helped. Don't think MH is particularly good, personally

To each their own, MH (and the genre it created) are an acquired taste. I could probably list off several dozen Gaf favourites or relatively niche genres that I don't find that enjoyable either.

 

[SciencePilot]

I'm not sure if I agree that 3DS has one of Nintendo's best libraries ever.

It has a really great library in that it has a ton of ports, and it can play DS games. For that reason, it is definitely a good system to own. There is a ton of good stuff you can play on the 3DS.

However, there aren't a lot of games that are unique to the 3DS and really good. Bravely Default/Second and Kid Icarus Uprising are, for me, the few unique and really special games on 3DS.

 

[LegendofLex]

It's the first system since GBA to have 2D Mario, top-down Zelda, and side-scrolling Metroid.

And it completely wastes the opportunity by making them all reimaginings of older games.

3DS in a nutshell.

 

[Blackpuppy]

It's the first system since GBA to have 2D Mario, top-down Zelda, and side-scrolling Metroid.

And it completely wastes the opportunity by making them all reimaginings of older games.

3DS in a nutshell.

DS had 2 top down Zeldas. DS, Wii and WiiU had 2d marios.

 

[TheDinoman]

DS had 2 top down Zeldas. DS, Wii and WiiU had 2d marios.

He's saying the 3DS is the first console to have all three 2D Mario, Zelda and Metroid games together in the same library since the GBA. DS didn't have a 2D Metroid, Wii didn't have a 2D Zelda or Metroid, and neither did the Wii U for that matter.

 

[sixteen-bit]

It does. However, I would give the GOAT library to SFC/SNES.

Earthbound,
Chrono Trigger,
Super Metroid,
A Link to the Past,
Super Mario World,
Demon's Crest,
Final Fantasy VI
Secret of Mana
Super Mario Kart
Super Castlevania IV
Contra III
Super Mario RPG
Super Punch Out!
Starfox
F-Zero
Mega Man X
Act Raiser
Shadowrun
Super Ghouls N Ghosts
Zombies Ate My Neighbours
BattleClash 1 & 2
Pilotwings
Donkey Kong Country
Harvest Moon
Breath of Fire
Bust A Move
Ogre Battle: MOTBQ
TMNT: Turtles in Time
Mario Paint
SF2 Turbo
Ganbare Goemon
Cybernator
Metal Warriors
Tales of Phantasia
Terranigma
Soul Blazer
Rock n Roll Racing
Illusion of Gaia
Uniracers

there's too many games that are all time classics.

Really drives home how so much of SNES's best games are actually 3rd party. Interesting shift to Nintendo's reliance on 1st party in more recent years.

 

[Peltz]

That screen though... man, that screen was just awful.

It's certainly aging fast. But I can still appreciate the visuals.

Really drives home how so much of SNES's best games are actually 3rd party. Interesting shift to Nintendo's reliance on 1st party in more recent years.

It wasn't a deliberate choice. It just sort of happened due to the way they designed hardware. DS and 3DS still had some great 3rd party support despite their idiosyncrasies.

 

[LegendofLex]

DS had 2 top down Zeldas. DS, Wii and WiiU had 2d marios.

And no 2D Metroids.

 

[Coinspinner]

It's odd, every so often I'll think "Man, the 3DS had hardly any good games." Then I'll start thinking and come up with a longish list of games I liked on it. Not as many games that I liked as the DS, but still good.

I guess it mostly comes down to having owned one longer than I did the DS, and the releases being spread out more. I got spoiled on Ace Attorney games with them coming out so quickly after I purchased my DS. (2006, I think. A week before black/pink lites came out.)

 

[Lord of Ostia]

It's the first system since GBA to have 2D Mario, top-down Zelda, and side-scrolling Metroid.

And it completely wastes the opportunity by making them all reimaginings of older games.

3DS in a nutshell.

Eh, New Super Mario Bros 2 isn't a reimagining, and honestly neither is Link Between Worlds. Both are direct sequels, and while LBW uses the overworld map from LttP, the dungeons and content are all new, along with additions to the overworld. NSMB2 is all entirely new courses.

Samus Returns, while it is a remake, is so different from the original it might as well be a new game. I don't think any of these games can really be considered a 'waste of opportunity'.

 

[TheDinoman]

NSMB2 is definitely a wasted opportunity for sure. Just such a mediocre game. As samey and bland looking NSMBWii and U are, at least they have good level design to back them up. NSMB2, though? Yeeesh. T'was bored the whole way through it.

2D Mario deserves better than this.