Nintendo 3DS (XL)

[sjewkestheloon]

As someone who played MHFU on the PSP solo for about 160 hours, it is doable. I will be getting MH3U on release day and playing it solo too, due to the severe lack of gamers in my real life friendship group.

cMoon, the Monster Hunter series basically faces you off against an absolute ton of giant monsters, usually one per map plus the random guppies that like to run around the areas. You have to item manage and farm (literally run a little farm) so that you can take in potions and meat to restore stamina, and then when you have supplies you accept a mission. Usually these take the form of: a gathering quest where you have to collect 10 of something and take them back to the supply box while shit is going off around you; a hunt where you have to kill one or more big monsters before the time runs out; a hunt where you have to capture a monster in a trap after you have weakened it up.

The joy of the series comes from polishing up your skill and taking down the big fellas. There are a range of weapons types and each has a particular playstyle to which it is suited. When fighting a monster you can cut off parts of them or break areas on their bodies, and this increases the likelyhood that you will get a drop associated with that part of the body. You use these drops to then make new equipment, such as new weapons with elemental properties, or new pieces of armour. Each piece of armour comes with skills attached. You have to build a suit by combining pieces that bring a skill number to 10, which then activates that skill. For example, having Sharpness +3 on your legs, +4 on a hat and +4 on some gloves you activate a skill that makes your equiped weapon move up one level of sharpness and therefore do more damage.

It is seriously grindy. If you want a weapon and a full armour suit from that new boss monster expect to farm him for a considerable amount of time. If you get into it, however, it becomes a massive but fun time sink.

I would recommend against waiting for MH4 as not every game gets localised, and those that do are ofthen 1.5-2 years behind the Japanese release.

[Jonathan Ingram]

As someone who played MHFU on the PSP solo for about 160 hours, it is doable.

Yeah, but if you are farming for a full White Fatalis Z set, you would want to be doing that as a group. ;)

[mesh control]

A SMT: Devil Survivor 2 re-boot, similar to the first one, is supposed to be announced in the next Famitsu.

[CMoon]

A SMT: Devil Survivor 2 re-boot, similar to the first one, is supposed to be announced in the next Famitsu.

jeSUS!

[Friendly]

Nintendo was found guilty of violating a Sony patent for glasses-free 3D with 3DS and was sentenced to pay 30 Million USD to Sony (=$1 per unit).
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013- ... es-free-3d

So I guess Sony will now be able to get a license fee for every 3DS sold.

[Moniker]

Nintendo was found guilty of violating a Sony patent for glasses-free 3D with 3DS and was sentenced to pay 30 Million USD to Sony (=$1 per unit).
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013- ... es-free-3d

So I guess Sony will now be able to get a license fee for every 3DS sold.

Sorry, budday. Money's going to the ex-Sony employee, not Sony. Contain thy glee.

[Drum]

They'll win on appeal anyway. It's not even Nintendo's patent anyway so it's all a bit strange.

[Skykid]

So Luigi's Mansion : Dark Moon shifted almost 300,000 copies on release in Japan. Wtf. I didn't realise the original was even that popular?

Is this meant to be good then? Haven't checked for feedback but I always got time for more 1st party treats.

[dcharlieJP]

Playing Luigi's Mansion 2 now - it's a bit wordy unnecessarily but the game is solid and has a ton of charm. Luigi is packed with character and the game has the best use of 3d to date on the 3ds - the whole game is like looking into a diorama - it's a really nice effect

As for MH3G - I'd strongly suggest people try it - for me personally I need a break from -3- after plowing through MHTri, MH3rd , a short drop in on Mh3rd HD - I've bought Mh3g and Mh3U Jpn versions but as my wife and friend are part of our usual team and they have both flatly refused to play Mh3g instead waiting for MH4 then I'm basically leaving it on the shelf :/ maybe I'll solo grind. But having some hard MH fatigue - played every single edition

In terms of grinding - some of the late stage grinding is flat out coded in buuuuullshit. I needed a rare drop from one of the late stage Zinogres - we fought it 68 times before I got the drop - wife and friend got it every second battle

And yeah - new SmT: devil survivor 2 was in Famitsu

[BPzeBanshee]

Got one of these to replace my nearly completely fucked original model DS.

I'm liking the big screen and the fact that playing DS games doesn't drain the battery in 2 hours anymore, which the former does nowadays.

Other than that I've not been keeping track of what's really around other than Pokemon X/Y later this year. Some Resident Evil game came with it which frankly I'm not enjoying all that much. I suppose there's a few shmups for this I don't know about?

[Skykid]

Some Resident Evil game came with it which frankly I'm not enjoying all that much. I suppose there's a few shmups for this I don't know about?

Bar Nano Assault, sequel to Nanostray series, only other stuff is Kokuga from Hiroshi Iuchi, region locked for Japan, and some bullet hell shmup on the Japanese 3DS store. Roll on that region hack.

[Jonathan Ingram]

As for MH3G - I'd strongly suggest people try it - for me personally I need a break from -3- after plowing through MHTri, MH3rd , a short drop in on Mh3rd HD - I've bought Mh3g and Mh3U Jpn versions but as my wife and friend are part of our usual team and they have both flatly refused to play Mh3g instead waiting for MH4 then I'm basically leaving it on the shelf :/ maybe I'll solo grind. But having some hard MH fatigue - played every single edition

I have similar feelings. I`d been looking forward to MH3G since its announcement, bought the PAL 3DS version on release day(and was even contemplating buying the WiiU for the HD version), spent 10 hours on it and then it dawned on me that I wasn`t having anywhere near as much fun as I thought I would. The Monster Hunter fatigue has finally set in. MH3G is basically the same game that I`ve already played across three other systems. I thought that maybe the G-rank quests would be enough to keep me interested, but apparently not. Guess it`s time for me to take a long break from all things Monster Hunter.

That said, everyone in this thread who`s never experienced Monster Hunter but owns a 3DS has no excuse not to buy MH3G.

[dcharlieJP]

Haha - exactly the same thoughts I had - got to about 10 hours and though "I'm actively hating this..."

I even sold my physical 3ds copy then rebought it digitally thinking maybe if I had it on mem card always there I'd drop in and play it more. Played it once

One game I would recommend as a diversion (if it goes over to the west) is Fantasy Life. Basically sort of like a dungeon crawler meets Animal crossing. Hoping the expansion adds a couple of much needed tweaks but game is a lot of grindy fun

[BrianC]

Some Resident Evil game came with it which frankly I'm not enjoying all that much. I suppose there's a few shmups for this I don't know about?

Bar Nano Assault, sequel to Nanostray series, only other stuff is Kokuga from Hiroshi Iuchi, region locked for Japan, and some bullet hell shmup on the Japanese 3DS store. Roll on that region hack.

There's also 3D Classics Twinbee. It's based on the Famicom version, but scoring is a bit different and it has a faster firing and movement at start. 3D Classics Xevious is another remake, which, unlike other 3D classics, is based off the arcade version. What is the name of that bullet hell shmup on the JP 3DS store? We got Metal Torrent here, which is a DSiWare game that is downloadable for 3DS.

[CMoon]

Finally piced up the 3DS (yes, XL!) and have to say the 3D screen bugs the shit out of me. I feel locked into this console because all the Atlus love is going there (already enjoying Etrian Odyssey 4), but I feel the 3D is a misstep. Imagining the next system will be the DS2D (because 2D is better!)

Need to pick up that monster hunter game. Never played one.

[BulletMagnet]

Finally piced up the 3DS (yes, XL!) and have to say the 3D screen bugs the shit out of me.

Thankfully, turning down the slider is easily done, heh.

In seriousness, I pretty much never play with the 3D on; on the bright side, I recall reading a statement by one of the higher-ups at Nintendo who said that the company's (current, at least) standpoint is that the 3D aspect doesn't have to be the part developers emphasize. Heck, certain games that require some manner of tilt function or whatnot will automatically disable the 3D for those segments. I think it's a possibility that Nintendo will eventually be okay allowing certain 3DS releases to not contain any 3D at all, though obviously that's just speculation on my part.

[CMoon]

New console owners syndrome...I didn't realize the slider could be pushed down another notch and turn the whole effect off. Score! Screen looks beautiful with that effect gone. On the other hand, when it does work well (mario 3d land), it looks pretty damn cool.

[Ganelon]

I don't even notice the 3D effect 5 minutes into most games. Most of the time I do notice it is when I'm playing an intense action game where I might swivel an inch from side to side and see the screen flashing with any horizontal movement.

I don't find myself regarding the 3D or bottom screen as major benefits; if a game were released on both PSP and 3DS, I'd likely value the PSP's extra resolution above both if the game took advantage of that space. For some reason, modern 3D still isn't anywhere near as pop-put as Disney World's 3D from a decade ago. Now that's something I'd pay extra for.

[Skykid]

New console owners syndrome...I didn't realize the slider could be pushed down another notch and turn the whole effect off. Score! Screen looks beautiful with that effect gone. On the other hand, when it does work well (mario 3d land), it looks pretty damn cool.

I wouldn't write off the 3D, it's pretty snazzy on the XL. On full it's too much and reduces the resolution a touch, I play with the slider about 80% on. Mario Kart is probably the best use of 3D I've seen on the system so far, and Ocarina was just absorbing as hell.

As Ganelon mentioned though, you really stop noticing it pretty quickly after you settle into the game.

[AweOfShe]

I didn't like 3D at first, but it grew on me really quickly. I usually end up playing with it all the way up if I'm at home, but almost never use it if I'm commuting, just to save some battery. Fire Emblem, Spirit Camera, and Style Savvy were all pretty nifty with it on. It was pretty cool with Ikachan too, with the parallax scrolling and all.

I really want to upgrade to an XL, but I'm still waiting for a black model (or a special model that interests me even) before I do.

[ZellSF]

Thread revival as I just got my 3DS XL. So pretty... until I discovered there was a small bit of dust stuck under the screen

I really like the 3D effect for simple games, but the more complex 3D scenes makes my eyes start protesting, a lot. Had sort of hoped this device could replace my DSi XL, but then I tried playing some DS games on it. Looked so bad.

What sold my on the system, most important first:

VVVVVV
Fire Emblem Awakening
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars
Crimson Shroud

Of course I knew from release day that I would eventually get one, but those were the ones that convinced me to get one now.

[BulletMagnet]

Had sort of hoped this device could replace my DSi XL, but then I tried playing some DS games on it. Looked so bad.

I seem to recall reading that there's a way to get "regular" DS games to play at their original size/aspect ratio/something like that if you hold a certain button or two down when you first boot the game up...I'd hafta look around for it though.

[ZellSF]

Yeah you can do this:

But I also hate black bars.

[CMoon]

I think DS games look pretty decent on the 3DS. Everything is just slightly fuzzy.

[MX7]

Yeah you can do this:

Cool, how?

[dannnnn]

Hold start + select when you load the game.

[BrianC]

Hold start + select when you load the game.

I found just holding start or select works. No need to hold both down.

[BPzeBanshee]

Yeah, the manual (if at first you don't succeed, RTFM) says either START or SELECT will do the trick. Tried it myself with Pokemon White yesterday.

[RNGmaster]

Yes! Just got mine (thanks based mesh control) with Ocarina of Time 3D and Etrian Odyssey 4! I'm looking forward to getting MH3U, FE:A, Umihara Kawase, BIT.TRIP SAGA, SM3D Land, SMT4, and a bunch of other crap. Basically this console looks fucking amazing.

[ZellSF]

Two bits of dust under the screen now. Starting to get worried the screen on this isn't properly sealed. Anyone knows if Nintendo repairs imported consoles?

Played about 6 hours of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, it's looking really great so far and no one who likes turn based strategy should ignore this title because of its low presentation values.