Nintendo 3DS

[BoneSnapDeez]

Super Mario 3D Land is the only 3DS game where I really felt as if I wanted/needed the 3D.

[Stark]

Super Mario 3D Land is the only 3DS game where I really felt as if I wanted/needed the 3D.

As a fan of the 3D in that game, I'd say that Link Between Worlds trumps it.

[marlowe221]

3D is not required for any game on the system. I never use it personally - gives me a headache.

Edit: Gotta snag that Bravely Default demo....

[Retrozoa]

Is there a list of 3DS games where the 3D is absolutely necessary? Or strongly preferred? I know the new Zelda supposedly needs the 3D for certain sections. Others?

Some games that benefit greatly from 3d are the 3d rail shooters for the system, namely:

-Star Fox 64 3D
-3D Space Harrier
-3D Galaxy Force II

The 3d added to these games makes it easier to determine your position/dodge enemy attacks.

[Stark]

Bravely Default demo is up.

Seems all right so far.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

I'm downloading the demo too. The artwork and music seem interesting, and I have to check it out thanks to the comparisons to Final Fantasy V. I probably won't like too much though, turn based jRPGs haven't been doing for me much lately.

It's not that I dislike the idea, the battle systems are usually just too basic, too easy, or too boring. Pick two of the three. Even if there's something complex - take FFVII's materia system - the games rarely ask you to use your brain.

But. I will play this demo.

[Flake]

^Agreed

Fire Emblem Awakening is the only RPG out of Japan in a long while that could hold my attention.

[marlowe221]

Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with JRPGs. We'll see which category this game falls into.

[MrPopo]

I've played some of the demo. Character development is essentially FFV's, but instead of having a Freelancer/Mime class that picks up all the highest bonuses and passives that you build to you instead get a set of up to four passives you can equip. Otherwise it's effectively the same; you get the job skills and can equip another job's set of skills, so you're encouraged to mix and match to get the right setup for your party.

The battle system is an evolution of what was available in Four Heroes of Light, but with more focus on risk/reward. At the start of the turn everyone gets 1 BP. If a character has at least 0 BP (you can go negative) then you can take an action. Basic actions will take just 1 BP (attacking, magic, etc), while others will cost extra BP on top of that. You can defend for the turn to build up BP, and you can spend BP to take an extra action (this is the big place you would see yourself going negative). So for example, at the onset of the demo you get into a battle. Since the monsters in the demo start off a bit overleveled compared to you probably want to go all out and kill them in the first turn. So you activate three extra turns (the max) for each of your characters and attack 16 times (4 attacks per character). This will probably kill all the monsters, so you get a big reward (including an exp bonus for winning in a single turn). But if you get unlucky and one of the monsters survives then you'll be sitting at -4 BP and have to wait several turns (+1 BP per turn) until you're back at 0 BP to take another action. So you have this risk/reward balance on how you handle your BP. Do you defend for a few turns (which might allow monsters to hurt you bad with magic or statuses), do you just do some basic moves, or do you go all out?

[Valkyrie-Favor]

I like the structure of the JRPG, I just wish they were generally faster and harder - and if they have a story, that they either do it right or don't waste time with them.

Basically my ideal JRPG is more like Dept. Heaven than Dragon Quest.