Nintendo 3DS (XL)

[CMoon]

OK, the circle pad pro showed up and I figured I'd post a sort of general review about it--for the XL. Obviously it makes the XL bigger...it reminds me of the Game Gear (though it feels like another lifetime when I last held that console in my hands), or a paperback book. Certainly bigger than any recent hand held. Ergonomics wise I like it. It adds a couple grips on the bottom and some larger triggers on the back. In fact, there are now three, and Resident Evil actually takes advantage of this. MH3U...not so much.

As far as gameplay changes. RE:R takes on the character of a console action game with...you guessed it...the second analog controlling the camera. The first analog switches to an automatic forward/strafe/backwards configuration which works well for this game and actually streamlines the controls. The original set up actually works pretty well, but being able to turn faster is a huge thing in RE, so yes, it is nice.

What I'm most impressed by is how well these games worked without the CPP and that until now, it doesn't seem like any of the games that really could use it (Kid Icarus???) really support it. I did try Galaxy Force II with it, but couldn't find a set up that worked much better than th standard one without the CPP. Go figure.

[Obiwanshinobi]

4 is my favorite in the series, and I know people will say it is just an action game, but a damn fine action game it is. As a 3D handheld game, this has some of that, but minus the openness, which is kind of a plus in the horror department if you know what I'm talking about.

The most spacious bits of 4 made the least sense. The only reason I found for killing the villagers (other than looting) was to trigger the cutscene.

[BrianC]

What I'm most impressed by is how well these games worked without the CPP and that until now, it doesn't seem like any of the games that really could use it (Kid Icarus???) really support it. I did try Galaxy Force II with it, but couldn't find a set up that worked much better than th standard one without the CPP. Go figure.

I found setting fire to ZL and missile to ZR to work well for CPP, though I agree controls work well without CPP.

[replayme]

Does anyone know if / when the e-shop will be having a sale? I want Kokuga...

[Skykid]

Does anyone know if / when the e-shop will be having a sale? I want Kokuga...

Save your money. Honestly, the novelty wore off quickly with Kokuga for me, it's a bit limited and frustrating. It really needed a few more control options (dash and dodge) and the touchscreen special move assignations are awkward and oddly laid out.

[CMoon]

Does anyone know if / when the e-shop will be having a sale? I want Kokuga...

Save your money. Honestly, the novelty wore off quickly with Kokuga for me, it's a bit limited and frustrating. It really needed a few more control options (dash and dodge) and the touchscreen special move assignations are awkward and oddly laid out.

Yup, just picked it up with this pile of free credit I had (don't ask), and well, it is OK. Slow tanks with slow bullets. Haven't played much, but it feels like a very small idea for a company like G-Rev.

[CMoon]

Couple more things.

Yeah, I did pick up animal crossing It is even more addictive than I remember the game cube version being. Paid off the down payment on my house in a day. Maybe this game is for children and old people since I'm digging the whole idyllic town filled with its superficial residents who all love me. Can't figure out how to visit other towns since I don't have any friends with this game...I'm sure a little google-fu will fix that.

Also, the 3DS store has been down for the 24th and 25th. Good job nintendo! Way to manage the deluge of new 3DS owners.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yep, get the dreaded error code 005-4240 when trying to access the USA region Nintendo eShop right now. Thanks to the damn Ninty servers down for the count...in the meantime, the Nintendo Video app portion works like a charm on the 3DS/3DS-XL.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[professor ganson]

Yeah, I haven't been able to get on to the eStore all day. Some of the bundles with games like Zelda just include a download coupon. (Fire Emblem included the game already loaded.) I feel bad for kids who wanted to play their shiny new 3DS but had no game to play.

[BrianC]

Can't figure out how to visit other towns since I don't have any friends with this game...I'm sure a little google-fu will fix that.

I also have Animal Crossing New Leaf. It's not just the 3DS eShop. I couldn't get into the one on Wii U either. The store for Wii is down too.

[CMoon]

Mostly wanted to see if the Bravely Default demo was up since I saw a video for it on youtube. Too much other gameplay to really care much.

BrianC...cool you have Animal Crossing, knew it wasn't just me. Maybe sometime we can check out each other's towns like a couple of teen girls.

[BulletMagnet]

Mostly wanted to see if the Bravely Default demo was up since I saw a video for it on youtube.

IIRC that one's coming after the new year...January 2nd, I think it was, something like that.

[Moniker]

Can't figure out how to visit other towns since I don't have any friends with this game...I'm sure a little google-fu will fix that.

I also have Animal Crossing New Leaf. It's not just the 3DS eShop. I couldn't get into the one on Wii U either. The store for Wii is down too.

Yeah, I think the Nintendo online service is pretty overloaded right now. Been trying to transfer my WW/VC to my Wii U from my old Wii and am getting connection problems in random places along the way. I'd wait a day or two for things to calm down and for Nintendo to catch up.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/1 ... s_patience

[replayme]

So I did a "Top 10" the other day. Have only played Mario Kart for 5 hours 24 minutes, and 3D Land for about 20 minutes. Project Rub (DS) has gotten 52 minutes of playtime.

Compare this with FF:Crisis Core (PSP), which has gotten 18 hours and 10 minutes.

That's nearly 7 hours on my 3DS for £130. Not sure if that is good £ to playtime ratio, given that I can get the following for about £120.

The Last of Us
Tearaway
Rayman Legends
Zelda ALBW
Ys 7
Trails in the sky
Lunar silver star harmony
Grandia

Really thinking of selling my 3DS, given that all I want on the 3DS is Zelda.

Also looking forward to the following games - whach are for Vita and PS360 only.

Ys Celceta
Tales of Symphonia
Castlevania :LoS2
Final Fantasy X/X-2

Think it's safe to say that I've probably fallen out of love with Nintendo, and that the Vita is where the party is at (for me). Not least because of PSN and PSN+.

[Drum]

k

[Skykid]

So I did a "Top 10" the other day. Have only played Mario Kart for 5 hours 24 minutes, and 3D Land for about 20 minutes. Project Rub (DS) has gotten 52 minutes of playtime.

Compare this with FF:Crisis Core (PSP), which has gotten 18 hours and 10 minutes.

Incredible you can play that regurgitated Final Fantasy crap for that long when you have 3D Land right there! It's an undignified atrocity, I tell you. Gaming weeps.

Do yourself a favour and at least play Ys I & II instead.

[replayme]

Which as you know is on the Vita/PSP...

I'll give 3D Land another spin in a day or two, and make my mind up by NY day.

[NTSC-J]

I've been playing Bravely Default: For the Sequel all week and if it's not the best RPG I've ever played, it's definitely up there. It's so goddamn perfect in every aspect of game that matters to me. Someone must have loosened the shackles of whoever used to make good games at Square during the Playstation days because they had just enough time to escape from their tiger cages and produce a stunner.

[replayme]

I've been playing Bravely Default: For the Sequel all week and if it's not the best RPG I've ever played, it's definitely up there. It's so goddamn perfect in every aspect of game that matters to me. Someone must have loosened the shackles of whoever used to make good games at Square during the Playstation days because they had just enough time to escape from their tiger cages and produce a stunner.

Bravely Default is a game that interests me hugely. But it's still about £30 in UK (and unlikely to drop in price). There are also a number of games that I want on PSN that are (arguably) just as good, and cheaper.

I can definitely see Bravely Default going up in value as the years go by...

[soprano1]

I've been playing Bravely Default: For the Sequel all week and if it's not the best RPG I've ever played, it's definitely up there. It's so goddamn perfect in every aspect of game that matters to me. Someone must have loosened the shackles of whoever used to make good games at Square during the Playstation days because they had just enough time to escape from their tiger cages and produce a stunner.

Bravely Default is a game that interests me hugely. But it's still about £30 in UK (and unlikely to drop in price). There are also a number of games that I want on PSN that are (arguably) just as good, and cheaper.

I can definitely see Bravely Default going up in value as the years go by...

I can't even find a copy to buy anywhere.

[Skykid]

Hold on... isn't Bravely Default a sequel to 4 Heroes of Light?

How much better are we talking, because it needs to be a lot. 4HoL was really boring, and once I got past the appealing aesthetic there was very little left I found entertaining. Quite an irritating game iirc.

[soprano1]

Hold on... isn't Bravely Default a sequel to 4 Heroes of Light?

How much better are we talking, because it needs to be a lot. 4HoL was really boring, and once I got past the appealing aesthetic there was very little left I found entertaining. Quite an irritating game iirc.

The soundtrack is by Revo of Sound Horizon/Linked Horizon, for one

[replayme]

It's done by the same people who did 3D Dot Heroes on PS3, so it isn't a game made by Square per se... From what I can gather.

A number of reviewers have lavished high praise, including Edge (who I couldn't give a shit about), but I still remain unconvinced of the game's true greatness. The game getting high scores could just be the result of it being released as a high profile Nintendo title, irrespective of whether it's a truly great RPG or not.

I will however concede that there are a number of Youtube reviewers (who I follow) who argue that it is one of the very best games to be released this year.

Edit: it could also become the "Persona 4" killer that the 3DS needs.

[BulletMagnet]

Hold on... isn't Bravely Default a sequel to 4 Heroes of Light?

It comes from the same bunch of people, but from what I know of the two games they play pretty differently; the only "direct" link I know of between the two is that the developers added some free downloadable optional boss fights from 4HoL to the eShop, so your BD characters could take them on in the latter game. I haven't played either game myself, though (I do have BD on pre-order), so I'm just going on what I've read.

[MX7]

Edit: it could also become the "Persona 4" killer that the 3DS needs.

I don't think the 3DS needs to 'kill' an aging PS2 port... or any Vita game currently given the current uninspiring nature of the console. Also, the new Persona x Etrian Odyssey game for 3DS would be a much more interesting comparison!

Bravely Default has never registered on my radar before now, but it seems pretty interesting now! The 3DS is so exciting at the moment. SMT4 was the best RPG I've played in years and I'm pretty excited about LTTP2. When's that Korg3DS synth getting released in the US?

[replayme]

Sorry, I meant no offence. It's just that there isn't an RPG on the 3DS that rivals the same level of cult fanboyism as Persona 4 on the Vita. In the UK at least.

I can't speak for SMT as it isn't out here in the UK.

[CMoon]

So I did a "Top 10" the other day. Have only played Mario Kart for 5 hours 24 minutes, and 3D Land for about 20 minutes. Project Rub (DS) has gotten 52 minutes of playtime.

Next time buy a console that has games on it you want to play. For me, one or two killer games can make a console worth it--for instance, the demon's/dark souls games made the ps3 worth it for me because I invested hundreds of hours into those two titles alone. It doesn't make the last gen better or worse than anything else. I picked up a 3DS for games you don't care about (SMT4, Monster Hunter, Etrian Odyssey); I don't even know why you bought a 3DS other than to continuously post how much you hate it.

[replayme]

Actually, that's not true. I bought it on the recommendation of a few gamers (Skykid etc) whose opinions I respect. Despite not liking Nintendo's recent form. And also because the handheld was cheap, with 2 games (Mario Kart and Mario 3D Land - as part of the Nintendo promotion). I don't hate Mario Kart. I positively adore that game. But maybe not enough to keep my 3DS.

I still need to spend time with 3D Land...

[EmperorIng]

4 Heroes of Light was really good up until the halfway mark (Roland fight). Afterward, you were always stronger than everything in the entire game. I liked it, but there was definitely room for improvement. Hoping that Bravely Default is that game. It has a terrible title though. I would not mind a 90s-era retitling of a game named Bravely Default!

[CMoon]

Hold on... isn't Bravely Default a sequel to 4 Heroes of Light?

How much better are we talking, because it needs to be a lot. 4HoL was really boring, and once I got past the appealing aesthetic there was very little left I found entertaining. Quite an irritating game iirc.

I'm kinda glad to hear this because 4HoL was on my radar, but I never got around to it. As much as it is great to find games you missed, sometimes it is better to keep that backlog in check.