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Recommendations on 2DS games for my daughter.

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ReaperXL7

Member
So my daughter will be getting a 2DS for her birthday on Sunday. I'm currently looking into what games I should pick up to compliment it for her but my knowledge of the 3DS library is a bit more limited than I'd like it to be.I know there are some games that are exclusive to the new 3DS like Xenoblade, but I can't seem to find any real information on if there are many more that are or not.

She is 7 so some of the more complicated RPGs are probably a no go for now, but she's a big fan of Minecraft, LittleBigPlanet, Stardew valley, games that allow her to build things, or make up her own ways to play.

Here are some that I've considered

Animal Crossing
Fantasy Life
Pokémon Y
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
Kirby: Planet Robobot
And I thought I remembered a Disney princess RPG that was on 3DS but I can't remember what it was called.

Theatrhythm i'm considering because she's really interested in Final fantasy but i'm holding off letting her play a mainline title until I have real time to sit down and help her when she asks or wants it.

Any Suggestions would be much appreciated, we have pretty much been a Playstation house in terms of console between PS3/Vita/PS4 so i'm sure there are a lot of games i'm not aware of.
 
Project Mirai DX is probably simple enough and has basic rhythm game gameplay like Theatrhythm with several difficulties, I'd recommend it because you can play with buttons or stylus and touchscreen.
 
upandaway said:
Fantasy Life is a great choice judging by her tastes
Click to expand...

She's interested in other types of games, games like Minecraft are just what she's gotten the most time with since a lot of our library for Playstation is out of her age range. The 2DS comes with Mario Kart which I think she will like because she liked the LittleBigPlanet kart racer that was on PS3.

Can you play as Peach in the 3DS Mario games?
 
Fantasy Life
Animal Crossing New Leaf
Rune Factory 4

Theatrhythm is fantastic but maybe try the demo on the eShop first.
 
ReaperXL7 said:
So my daughter will be getting a 2DS for her birthday on Sunday. I'm currently looking into what games I should pick up to compliment it for her but my knowledge of the 3DS library is a bit more limited than I'd like it to be.I know there are some games that are exclusive to the new 3DS like Xenoblade, but I can't seem to find any real information on if there are many more that are or not.

She is 7 so some of the more complicated RPGs are probably a no go for now, but she's a big fan of Minecraft, LittleBigPlanet, Stardew valley, games that allow her to build things, or make up her own ways to play.

Here are some that I've considered

Animal Crossing
Fantasy Life
Pokémon Y
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
Kirby: Planet Robobot
And I thought I remembered a Disney princess RPG that was on 3DS but I can't remember what it was called.

Theatrhythm i'm considering because she's really interested in Final fantasy but i'm holding off letting her play a mainline title until I have real time to sit down and help her when she asks or wants it.

Any Suggestions would be much appreciated, we have pretty much been a Playstation house in terms of console between PS3/Vita/PS4 so i'm sure there are a lot of games i'm not aware of.
Click to expand...

You are an amazing parent.
 
I think Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire are better games than X and Y, which have way too many THINGS going on in them, while ORAS are nice and pared down. Very CLEAN games from a design sense, much easier to pick up. Plus XP share means they're not as irritating as the originals.
 
OP, you've got a solid range of games there, but I'd maybe try a more traditional platformer too. If Mario puts you off because of a lack of female characters, how about Yoshi's New Island? It's a bit simple for adults, and the music is the worst in any game I've ever played, but it should be absolutely fine for a 9-year old. Also, Yoshi is genderless and asexual, so it's all good!

Crimsonclaw111 said:
Terraria far and away.
Click to expand...

Not age appropriate. The devs have a bit of a crude sense of humour...
 
Animal Crossing (there are two games), Fantasy Life and Kirby should do really well, yeah. I'd consider them a must somehow.

Story of Seasons might work if she liked Stardew Valley, or Harvest Moon 3D: A New Beginning.

Disney Princess: My FairyTale Adventure is maybe the game you were wondering about? But I don't know how it is so I'd be sure to search on that.

I'd also recomend the Layton series but because I find it emotionally formative (as, in, empathy) for a kid.

I wouldn't really recommend the 2DS instead of a New 3DS but if you care about this difference in price obviously I understand.
 
My son 7 loves:
Tomodachi life
Zelda link between worlds
Both Kirby games: triple deluxe and robobot
Yokai watch
Kid Icarus
Luigi Mansion
 
Roberto Larcos said:
OP, you've got a solid range of games there, but I'd maybe try a more traditional platformer too. If Mario puts you off because of a lack of female characters, how about Yoshi's New Island? It's a bit simple for adults, and the music is the worst in any game I've ever played, but it should be absolutely fine for a 9-year old. Also, Yoshi is genderless and asexual, so it's all good!
Click to expand...

Yoshis ok. If you want a good kid friendly platformer, I'd say Kirby is the way to go. There are two great kirby games on the 3DS (Triple Deluxe and Robotobo) that I would recommend over the yoshi game.
 
Zelda ALBW, Zelda OOT, 3D Land and Mario Kart.

Luigi's mansion is a decent game but she might find it a bit scary so I don't know if I could recommend that.
 
Zelda oot and zelda lbtw. Every younger cousin I have loves zelda. Majora might be an issue with how vague it is but the other two are worth trying.
 
I'll put another vote in for Yokai Watch. It is the current generations Pokemon, with multiple games and a kids cartoon going on right now. Doesn't hurt it's a pretty good game either.
 
As soon as she opens her 2DS, download Rhythm Heaven Megamix off the eShop. Varied, yet very simplistic gameplay. (It has a demo so she can try it out).

Disney Magical World 2 is coming in October so you might wait for that instead of buying the first (which I heard is not as good as the sequel).

AVOID Hometown Story. It may look like something your daughter might like, but it's one of the most shallow, emptiest games I've ever played.
 
Terraria was a huge hit with my son who was 7 when I got him his 2ds. Also he played a TON of Super Mario 3d land. It has some handholding that allows them to progress even if they are not playing super well. He got all the way through it and unlocked Luigi. He still talks about it being one of his favorite games even though he is more into building type games.
 
Story of seasons, or the popolocrois one, or rune factory games (any), or harvest moon a new beginning. Fantasy life too

Also check out style savvy. So frickin good. I only played the older one (trendsetters) but a new one is on its way!

Also why are you holding off on final fantasy? I played and beat ff1 when I was 4. She can handle it, kids are smart.

Get her one. Ff4 maybe
 
Pokemon and Animal Crossing are both great choices. The latter even more so.

There was a disney game on the last direct that looked perfect if she's into it. Dunno when that is coming out tho.
 
My little sister's only a bit older than your daughter and she loves her 2DS.

Games she's been into:

- Pokemon Y (needs help occasionally figuring out where to go next, but mostly handles it great)

- Animal Crossing

- Tomodachi Life (she loves making Miis and seeing what they do, it's like The Sims with no fail states)

- Terraria (isn't 'good' at the game but likes to explore and build)

- Mario Kart

And she's been asking for Yokai Watch after seeing the series on Netflix. Both that and Pokemon can give her a cross-media thing where she can be into more than just the games themselves if you find she likes that stuff.

The only games exclusive to New 3DS are Xenoblade, the SNES Virtual Console games, and the download-only Binding of Isaac port. Nothing else of note. So you won't have to worry about that.
 
Animal Crossing is great for kids. Absolutely get New Leaf. It's fun enough for you to buy a copy as well and the two of you can visit each other's towns and trade items.
 
Has your daughter played lots of games?

One game that I used for a nice of mine back in 2004-ish and that I recently tried for my 1yo daughter was Sonic 2.

I also used it for my two sons (7 and 5) that still play the game as of today.

Fun factor 100% success, even more than Mario.

The green jungle with bright color always succeed in attracting them and then, Chemical Zone with its legendary BGM seals the deal.
 
Zalman said:
Mario Kart 7 and New Super Mario Bros. 2 are both simple games that I imagine she could enjoy.
Click to expand...

Seconding this, they are both absolutely excellent.

Super Mario 3D Land is great too, but it might be just a tad more rage-inducing depending on her temper.
 
Oli said:
Animal Crossing is great for kids. Absolutely get New Leaf. It's fun enough for you to buy a copy as well and the two of you can visit each other's towns and trade items.
Click to expand...

Just to add to this. You can have more than one person using a single card. Animal crossing allows up to 4 villagers in a town on a single card. You'll probably want to let your daughter make the first character though; the first player to move in to any AC town gets to be the mayor of the town which allows you to make decisions about town design that no other player does (for instance, you can decide to put various decorations like benches or streetlamps in the town)
 
Mario Kart 7 is fantastic. For RPGs Pokémon X/Y or ORAS are great, and Sun/Moon are coming soon too.

The fire emblem games are some of the best games in existence but probably not age appropriate.
 
Animal Crossing New Leaf is perfect for the (extremely good) tastes of your daughter. Pokemon X/Y, Super Mario Bros 2 and Mario Kart 7 are always great games for everyone. Yokai Watch is very good too.

And if she likes to create things in her games, she'll fall in love with Super Mario Maker 3DS next december.

P.S. 2DS is compatible with any DS and 3DS game (mainly except for Xenoblade, The binding of Isaac and SNES titles on eshop). Consider buying old DS games too. They're cheap and there are a lot of great titles.
 
Does she like puzzle games? The Mario vs. Donkey Kong games are excellent as are the Professor Layton titles.

Animal Crossing is definitely a must for her though. It's one of the best games the 3DS has to offer.
 
A little update, my daughter loves the 2DS so far. It came with Mario Kart and we picked up Animal Crossing, Fantasy Life and Style Savvy as per recommendations.

The only one she's played so far is Animal Crossing and she loves it, it can be a little slow going since she's still learning to read but I help her whenever she needs it.

The one thing I will say so far is that I'm not a fan of this Tom Nook character.....guy saddled us with a huge mortgage and seems to ask for more money every time we talk to him.

It is fun though, we got nets and shovels for both of our characters but can't seem to find fishing rods just yet, I also think it's pretty cool that they have special events for holidays. I'll most likely post a LTTP thread once I have had more time with it.

Thanks for all the feedback Everyone.
 
This thread has been surprisingly on point

I remember a similar thread recommending shit like Persona and Xenosaga
 
From the ones you list, I'd say Animal Crossing and Fantasy Life are great options. Fantasy Life is a very simple action RPG with tons of freedom, cute mini games, a very kids friendly approach to writing and overall is pretty much a "build your own adventure" sort of experience.

I'd add Yokai Watch and perhaps Mario Kart 7 too. I'd have loved to play something like YW growing up, it's fun for all ages but it has a very obvious focus on kids.

Edit: oh nevermind yoy already bought them. Still great choices. Good to hear she's having a good time!
 
- Get games like Fantasy Life (get!), Yokai Watch, and Pokémon when she has more patience to read.
- Tomodachi Life
- Style Savvy: Trendsetters or Fashion Forward (FF just came out but is very heavy on the British English) - I see you got this one already, SuperDad!
- Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer - I think this is $20 right now? If she's very creative based, this might be even better than New Leaf because of the Pattern system and the fact play isn't tied to real time.
- Return to Popolocrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale
- Story of Seasons
- Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns when that comes out sometime in 2017
- Skip Disney Magical World and get Disney Magical World 2 when it comes out in October. These are like Animal Crossing, but with Disney stuff. Severely overlooked and very fun.
- Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley (lowball the price if you're gonna get this one, not worth more than $10)
- Gardening Mama 2: Forest Friends (again, look for a bargain price)
- Any of the Cooking Mama games, just read reviews and pick the best one, you only need one of these games, because of the "been there, done that" factor.
- Disney Art Academy or Pokémon Art Academy depending on which franchise she likes better.

If you & mom happen to have 3DS family systems and/or live in a highly populated area, the StreetPass Mii Plaza games can be an awesome investment. Just make sure to set it up so kiddo can't see custom greetings.
 
Disney Magical World is a lot of fun, though DMW2 will be out October and features Frozen characters, so I'd probably wait it out for that.

disney_magical_world_2_box_art.jpg


Edit: Also curious, what color 2DS did you get her? :P
 
For a 7 year old? Rune factory 4 would be perfect. Farming, freindship building, and hack n' slash in one.
 
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