Nintendo 3DS

[Exhuminator]

I will agree though, that the original 3DS was a fairly cruddy piece of hardware. The face buttons would crack, the shoulder buttons would just die.

It was also hideous.

[Tanooki]

I'll agree that 3DS XL has been an outlier, I went back to it after that bitchin garage sale pick up a couple months back and in turn sold the waste of space New3DS XL for it. As I said, more or less they're letting part quality and QC slip and I wouldn't be surprised if it had to do with their troubles on both fronts. Things tend to slip when money hurts.

[strangenova]

Ok so I'm the proud owner of a "new" 3ds xl. I got it for my birthday from my wife, along with ocarina of time and majoras mask 3d. I know I'm gonna get the other zelda's for this thing, but outside of that what's really good stuff for this console.

I know all about mario kart and 3d land, and I'm not interested in standard pokemon. But I'm curious about super mystery dungeon? Like is it good, how does it stack up to the last round of mystery dungeon games?

[Tanooki]

I can speak for some third party stuff that's worthwhile. Ace Combat, Castlevania, Cave Story 3D(card not download), Code of Princess, Pinball Hall of Fame (the real 3D gives it a nice feel), Tales of the Abyss and Theaterhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call (or the original.)

Shovel Knight if you're a fan is a given as would be the Mega Man Legacy package.

[PartridgeSenpai]

I can't speak for ALL games, but I can speak to what I own. As you seem to be familiar with them, I will leave out any Zelda or Mario games I gots.

Tales of the Abyss. I'm a big fan of the Tales games, and this is the first game in the series I really loved. Symphonia didn't really click with me, but I had a blast with Abyss, and having it portable made it much more convenient to play (also, if you're a fan of Symphonia, this uses basically the same engine, so the combat is very similar). Highly recommended.

Paper Mario Sticker Star. Sarge and I are of a split mind about how good this game really is, but considering it's only 20 bucks now, I'd say it's worth a shot at least. It's a fun game with a neat theme. It just had trouble gripping my attention to the point where I was in it enough to finish it. Somewhat recommended.

Project X Zone. If you like lighter strategy games like Fire Emblem, I think you'll really dig this. It's a touch easy, but I found the combat very fun, and the getting the timings of when you activate which attacks in which order to maximize damage is very addicting. It's gobs more fun if you know which games the characters come from (if you've played basically any SEGA, Capcom, or Namco Bandai game from the past 10 years, you'll know at least 1). The story isn't exactly brilliant, but I thought it was entertaining in a campy way. I enjoyed it to bits (and all the games the guys are from pointed me towards their games, most of which I've enjoyed, just sayin'). Recommended.

Fire Emblem Awakening. Probably one of my favorite Fire Emblem games I've ever played. The story is really cool, the characters are interesting, the relationship/support system is a genius feature. Only positive things to say about this game, with basically no caveats. Highly recommended.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. (Not REALLY a Mario game, per-se). A fantastic update to the original which I highly recommend. They went for a more stage-based system this time around, but it makes getting around to places a lot faster because you're not holed up in one big mansion the entire time. I really enjoyed it, and it's a great successor to the original. Highly recommended.

Professor Layton VS Ace Attorney. This is more or less Ace Attorney meets Layton, in story and in gameplay, with all the flaws that come from each. I'm not the biggest fan of the mass-testimony system they introduced in this game for the Ace Attorney bits, but they're well enough done. If you like Ace Attorney like I do, I think you'll like those bits. The biggest problem I had with this was just the problem I've had with Level 5's writing of the Layton games since the 4th DS one: It's total crud. I really didn't care for the story at all, but the puzzles are pretty good, so if you ignore the story, this game is worth a shot, especially if you like Ace Attorney. Somewhat recommended.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. Mentioning it because, even though it's a Mario game, I've heard divided opinions on it, and it's a little old. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I really like the way it uses 3D, and it spices up the enemy dodging with the use of the 3rd dimension very cleverly. If you enjoyed the other Mario & Luigi games, I think you'll dig this. Recommended.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf. The best Animal Crossing (of the "tube world" style). Even if you only liked the "Acre" system the original games had and hated when they got rid of it, I think this might just persuade you otherwise. For an Animal Crossing game, this is a fantastic update on the level of house, character, and town customizability. Highly recommended.

Yoshi's New Island. Not the quality of Woolly World on the Wii U, but I still think it's a good game. It's not the quality of the original, but it's Yoshi's Island. I'd say it's at least as good as the DS one, and it's a solid entry in the series. Recommended.

I hope that helps! It was actually pretty fun to write up

[TSTR]

I know PxZ kinda dragged after a while, but I still had fun with it. Anybody play PxZ 2 yet?

[PartridgeSenpai]

I know PxZ kinda dragged after a while, but I still had fun with it. Anybody play PxZ 2 yet?

I've owned it for a month and a half, but have yet to crack it open. Is it supposed to move faster/be more difficult? There was one plot point in particular in the first game that felt like they were deliberately just trying to draw out the story, which I didn't appreciate. I could totally understand someone getting bored and stopping halfway through PXZ, because that game could really stand to shave like 10 hours off of its 30+ hour playtime.

[Tanooki]

If you're into old old school RPG style games, I'm talking while visual it's a better use a pen/graph paper type stuff the 3DS got you covered on that end and with digital paper too. Etrian Odyssey. The original 2 on DS they modernized the script and crusty handling of the games up to the 3DS level of the 2 games made for 3DS calling them 'Untold' and they're long, solid, many hours RPGs if you are into that. I keep thinking I should try one out someday with all the ravings they get, but well...time. I've got too much stuff and not enough time which is why I keep selling off things.

[ejamer]

Big fan of Resident Evil Revelations here, and it benefits from the second analog and improved 3D viewing of a New 3DS console.

Also really like the Etrian Odyssey games (two Untold games, plus EO4 and Persona Q). They don't really benefit from the New 3DS features, as far as I can tell, but are solid RPGs.

Xenoblade Chronicles is worth tracking down if you haven't already played it. Better on Wii/Wii U, but still very good on the portable.

Animal Crossing, Metal Gear Solid, Star Fox, Rhythm Thief (if you can find it), Luigi's Mansion, Ghost Recon Shadow Wars (if you can find it cheap), and the Theatrhythm games round out the list of retail titles I'd put forth.

For 3DS digital downloads, I'm a big fan of: Colors! 3D, Smile Basic, Attack of the Friday Monsters, and Crimson Shroud.

[strangenova]

I'm gonna check out these Etrian odyssey games and a few others listed. Thanks for the suggestions.