Nintendo 3DS (XL)

[Skykid]

It's finally happening: Majora's Mask officially announced for 3DS.

One of the greatest pieces of software ever written, I've waited fifteen years for an excuse to start mask collecting all over again. Can't wait.

[BPzeBanshee]

How long do these things last? My G/S battery died only two years ago.

They are supposed to last five years, but most of my games with batteries still have it working. However, G/S has a built in clock, that also uses the battery, so the battery doesn't last as long.

Easy enough to replace with a little bit of brute force. I did the same a while back with my Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald cartridges.

The trouble with RSE is the game save has a saved value of what the RTC is supposed to be at and if it's higher than what the RTC has stored (which it'll lose when the battery goes flat) stuff like berries etc STILL won't grow until you alter the save, which for me meant getting out my DS, my cousin's Action Replay DSi, a microSD card, an app I found to dump ROMs/saves from GBA slot, and I think PokeSav or some other PC utility to edit the save file to reset that value. Annoying, but it worked, and while I was there I realised my copy of SimCity 2000 GBA was an undumped version and got that preserved.

[Squire Grooktook]

One of the greatest pieces of software ever written.

Hell yes. This word is law.

[CMoon]

It's finally happening: Majora's Mask officially announced for 3DS.

One of the greatest pieces of software ever written, I've waited fifteen years for an excuse to start mask collecting all over again. Can't wait.

Actually one of the Zelda games I never got around to. Glad they decided to bring it back for the 3DS. Hope they don't cock it up by saying it is only for the 'NEW' 3ds.

[antares]

It's finally happening: Majora's Mask officially announced for 3DS.

One of the greatest pieces of software ever written, I've waited fifteen years for an excuse to start mask collecting all over again. Can't wait.

Wow, I think I need to get a 3DS at some point in the future!

[ZellSF]

The amount of dislike Code Name: S.T.E.A.M gets is really starting to get at me. It's Advance Wars: Days of Ruin all over.

Many Nintendo fans seem to value presentation values over gameplay.

[soprano1]

The amount of dislike Code Name: S.T.E.A.M gets is really starting to get at me. It's Advance Wars: Days of Ruin all over.

Many Nintendo fans seem to value presentation values over gameplay.

Presentation values (at least from the new trailer) look pretty damn good to me. Gameplay looks ok, i guess.

[Moniker]

Codename: Steam looks exactly like Valkryia Chronicles, but with Honest Abe and Tom Sawyer as PCs. Intelligent Systems has demonstrated their gameplay acumen 10x over. Can't wait for this shit.

Also: Majora's Mask 3D. Sploosh.

This is shaping up to be the era of rapture for Nintendo lovers.

[Skykid]

The amount of dislike Code Name: S.T.E.A.M gets is really starting to get at me. It's Advance Wars: Days of Ruin all over.

Many Nintendo fans seem to value presentation values over gameplay.

I assumed it was the exact opposite when considering dedicated Nintendo fans - they've stayed attracted to the company precisely because game play is so paramount.

[Udderdude]

The amount of dislike Code Name: S.T.E.A.M gets is really starting to get at me. It's Advance Wars: Days of Ruin all over.

Many Nintendo fans seem to value presentation values over gameplay.

I don't think Nintendo realizes how tainted the "Licensed US cartoon" art style is .. it's pretty much synonymous with low quality shovelware pushed out the door to make a quick buck on a TV show's popularity.

I'm sure the game will still be great, though.

[Drum]

Yeah, both Splatoon and STEAM are tainted with it. I don't know why Splatoon is getting let off the hook.

[ZellSF]

The amount of dislike Code Name: S.T.E.A.M gets is really starting to get at me. It's Advance Wars: Days of Ruin all over.

Many Nintendo fans seem to value presentation values over gameplay.

I don't think Nintendo realizes how tainted the "Licensed US cartoon" art style is .. it's pretty much synonymous with low quality shovelware pushed out the door to make a quick buck on a TV show's popularity.

I hate how people associate stuff like that rather than judge things on their own merit. It's why we're still going with 24fps cinema and 30fps games (I'm sure mentioning both those things will not derail this thread)

[Pretas]

Brace yourselves, the floodgates to 3DS homebrew and piracy have been thrown wide open, thanks to the discovery of a backdoor exploit in the custom stage editor of AQ Interactive's Cubic Ninja. If you want to take advantage of this before the inevitable firmware update that fixes it (at least until the next jailbreaking method is found), copies of the game are already getting scarce. There's no method to pirate commercial games at the moment, but the region lock can now easily be defeated.

[Skykid]

^ Isn't there already a dedicated Gateway flash cart that runs commercial games and defeats region lock?

This exploit sounds like the sort of thing Nintendo will destroy with a forced fw update in a matter of hours, locking you out of the e-shop.

[BryanM]

Etrian Odyssey 5 announced. I'm really glad they found commercial viability with these games, though there are aspects of them I wish were different. A battle system that encourages you to take more than one attack skill on the skill tree for one thing. At the very least.

The music in these games is too good for me. Too good for the game. Too good for everything really. The only way it could be better is if it were slightly more metal.

[jonny5]

What's a good entry level RPG with an engaging story and not too kiddy for me to try? Bear in mind I think the last RPG I played was probably chronotrigger on snes, and that was mostly just watching my buddy play through it. And that was probably like 20 years ago

I was eying chronotrigger ds but figured there might be something more recent that utilizes the extra power of the 3ds.

[Udderdude]

http://www.metacritic.com/game/3ds/bravely-default

[CMoon]

Etrian Odyssey 5 announced.

Curious is anyone was lukewarm about EO4? I really liked 1-3, with 3 being my favorite of the lot. Then 4 comes around and the whole thing just feels like a major step back. Maybe it was because so many other great games were coming out on the 3ds at the same time, but whatever the reason, I never got too far with it. Curious what others think?

What's a good entry level RPG with an engaging story and not too kiddy for me to try? Bear in mind I think the last RPG I played was probably chronotrigger on snes, and that was mostly just watching my buddy play through it. And that was probably like 20 years ago

I was eying chronotrigger ds but figured there might be something more recent that utilizes the extra power of the 3ds.

This is a tough question because although the 3DS has a lot of great rpgs, I'm not sure how many I'd describe as 'entry level'...hell, I don't even know what that means. I do think the Dragon Quest games qualify, and the DS (fully playable on your 3DS) has 4 of those titles (I really liked 4 & 5). The 3DS also has Bravely Default, which many are calling a more traditional throwback to older Final Fantasies. People are still talking about Fire Emblem being the best (s)rpg on the system, but I haven't checked it out.

[BulletMagnet]

@johnny - A quick rundown of the RPGs I own on the system, though I haven't gotten too far in some of them:

- Bravely Default: Pretty traditional class-based RPG (switch between knight, wizard, thief, etc.), though with a neat mechanic that lets you save and spend extra turns when needed.

- Etrian Odyssey IV and Untold: First-person dungeon crawlers, the latter is a remake of the original DS game with an optional "story" mode featuring a fixed party; otherwise you build your own group from a mix of available classes. The series is known for its challenge, though you can crank it up or down as needed.

- Mario and Luigi: Dream Team: Latest in that series, where the main gimmick is occasionally entering a dream world where Luigi can do all sorts of crazy stuff. Combat is based on timed button presses, story is lots of silly humor.

- Persona Q: Basically Etrian Odyssey with some Persona stuff (characters from III and IV, fusion, etc.) in it. Haven't spent enough time yet to discuss in much more detail.

- Project X Zone: More of a strategy RPG (move characters around on a grid), but with timing-based battles featuring characters from Capcom, Namco, and elsewhere tossed into a blender. Lots of crossover fan service, obviously.

- Shin Megami Tensei IV: Probably about as close to a sequel to Nocturne that we're likely to get.

- SMT Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers: Remake of a Saturn game that never made it to the US previously; more first-person dungeon crawling and demon fusion.

- Tales of the Abyss: Port of the PS2 game, not aware of any major differences between them.

Off to the side there are the "Theatrhythm" games, rhythm titles with a bunch of Final Fantasy music; the second one, "Curtain Call", is better-structured and tighter-packed than the first, so I'd recommend skipping the original entirely if you're interested.

Those are the ones I own, someone else will have to fill in the gaps I missed, heh.

[jonny5]

Etrian Odyssey 5 announced.

Curious is anyone was lukewarm about EO4? I really liked 1-3, with 3 being my favorite of the lot. Then 4 comes around and the whole thing just feels like a major step back. Maybe it was because so many other great games were coming out on the 3ds at the same time, but whatever the reason, I never got too far with it. Curious what others think?

What's a good entry level RPG with an engaging story and not too kiddy for me to try? Bear in mind I think the last RPG I played was probably chronotrigger on snes, and that was mostly just watching my buddy play through it. And that was probably like 20 years ago

I was eying chronotrigger ds but figured there might be something more recent that utilizes the extra power of the 3ds.

This is a tough question because although the 3DS has a lot of great rpgs, I'm not sure how many I'd describe as 'entry level'...hell, I don't even know what that means. I do think the Dragon Quest games qualify, and the DS (fully playable on your 3DS) has 4 of those titles (I really liked 4 & 5). The 3DS also has Bravely Default, which many are calling a more traditional throwback to older Final Fantasies. People are still talking about Fire Emblem being the best (s)rpg on the system, but I haven't checked it out.

By entry level I mean something with a fairly straight forward system, I find all the menu systems and upgrades stuff rather daunting. I've never really played an RPG since I was a kid, and that was a loooooong time ago. I'm pretty much looking for something dead easy so I can walk through it and get a feel on how to actually play these kinds of games.

[CMoon]

By entry level I mean something with a fairly straight forward system, I find all the menu systems and upgrades stuff rather daunting. I've never really played an RPG since I was a kid, and that was a loooooong time ago. I'm pretty much looking for something dead easy so I can walk through it and get a feel on how to actually play these kinds of games.

Yeah, that's why I mentioned the DQ games. Bravely Default I'm sure is a good choice.

BM's list is really good, but some of those, like SMT4 (my favorite on the list), are much more advanced.

[CMoon]

- Persona Q: Basically Etrian Odyssey with some Persona stuff (characters from III and IV, fusion, etc.) in it. Haven't spent enough time yet to discuss in much more detail.

Anyone played this yet? From reviews it almost sounds like a dream title--pure dungeon exploration but with the more advanced game mechanics of an SMT title. Strange Journey 2? Actually it is sounding like it is quite a bit more lush than that with the ability to have each character using 2 personas and the ability to pass persona skills on to your character (IE right out of smt4.) I'll undoubtedly pick this one up unless bad reviews start rolling but, but goddamnit it aesthetically the game is gonna be like masturbating with sand paper. Good luck guys!

[sjewkestheloon]

Just finished up SMT4 Neutral route tonight, first time through, and had a grand old time with it. Few issues though. The map was terrible, and everything was totally indistinguishable which left me cluelessly meandering about for hours on end. Also, making side quests essential for progress on the Neutral route sucked. It made me completely overpowered and I smacked the last couple of dungeons down without a game over, or even a slight bit of panty wetting.

I'm also pretty interested in Persona Q, but I think I might go back to EO4 and make more progress in that first. Seems stupid to buy what is essentially an EO game when I am only in the second land of EO4.

[CMoon]

I'm also pretty interested in Persona Q, but I think I might go back to EO4 and make more progress in that first. Seems stupid to buy what is essentially an EO game when I am only in the second land of EO4.

Same boat, thinking the same exact thing.

[BrianC]

I'm also pretty interested in Persona Q, but I think I might go back to EO4 and make more progress in that first. Seems stupid to buy what is essentially an EO game when I am only in the second land of EO4.

Same boat, thinking the same exact thing.

I need to play EO4 too. It's also the reason I don't have the remake of the first one yet.

[JBC]

I'm waiting on that new one since my original 3DS got stolen & it's supposed to be more powerful. My first purchase will be that Kid Icarus I missed & then of course, Majora's. Hell, I never even got to play Order Of Ecclesia all the way through

[BryanM]

Curious is anyone was lukewarm about EO4?

Burnout maybe? You can only play the same game so many times until you're tired of it.

Though I agree getting rid of pet master classes was lousy. The best aspects of the series is when it gets away from being a cookie cutter Dragon Quest clone. A tank class that isn't useless (aside from Hoplites. I think the Hoplite was poorly designed. Not as bad as the Droid class, but, real step back from Protectors), lots of potent buffs and debuffs that are always effective... but then something like Poison damage doesn't work on bosses because :reasons:

What's a good entry level RPG with an engaging story and not too kiddy for me to try?

Final Fantasy 6 for the SNES?

But srsl, I just play these games to watch the numbers go up and the gambling aspects. Visual Novels make a lot more sense if story is more than a garnish to ye

Mainline Persona games 3+ come to mind; they're super popular. But none of those are available on the 3DS. Persona Q (a dungeon crawler like Wizardry, but more gentle) lacks the skill trees that Etrian Odyssey has, so you wouldn't have to memorize an encyclopedia if you give it a try.

Strange Journey 2?

A lot more gentle than all that, I'm sure.

Strange Journey man, that is not the kind of thing OCD people like me should be exposed to.

[CMoon]

Mainline Persona games 3+ come to mind; they're super popular. But none of those are available on the 3DS. Persona Q (a dungeon crawler like Wizardry, but more gentle) lacks the skill trees that Etrian Odyssey has, so you wouldn't have to memorize an encyclopedia if you give it a try.

I don't think the lack of skill trees is going to simplify it in the way you think it will. All the reviews I have seen mostly talk about persona character fan service, and very little about game play, so let's at least consider this:

There are something like 10+ characters, plus two more special characters which don't have personas (from the reviews I saw) and we don't know anything about.
Each character can learn skills from personas (up to 4...or maybe that can be expanded later?)
Each character has a set persona that apparently can't be customized
Each character can have a second persona which obviously you can customize to your heart's content through the fusion mechanic. Unfortunately I've heard you can't switch personas in battle.

Ultimately you are customizing both the 10+ characters AND fusing sub personas or personas to sacrifice to give skills to your character. Because skills are synergistic in the same way that they are in EO, I think this could lead toward quite a bit more in the gameplay department than what is currently in EO, but I haven't played the game and am just guessing from reviews.

[BryanM]

It's basically a combination of the two systems used since 3. Everyone that can use persona has the wild card ability, while the main characters now also have a fixed base. Minus wild card letting you change to something else mid-battle.

Each character has four fixed skills. Four slots for spell cards. The sub persona is identical to the wild card personas - fusing, inheritance from fusing, probably can buy them back later without having to hunt them down, 6 skills. A total of 14 skills.

It isn't (and shouldn't be, since it's a different game) full of opportunity costs like skill trees have. Skill trees offer people the chance to make wrong choices with a cost to fix them. Persona's system lets you make lots of fun choices that don't terribly matter with practically no cost to fix mistakes. Two different philosophies.

[NTSC-J]

The demo for Bravely Second, the true sequel to Bravely Default, will be downloadable on 12/10 (Japan only?).