I bought it mostly to play Xenoblade Chronicles - I'm a big JRPG guy and people say its one of the better ones.

I have never owned any of the ds iterations so I'm just kinda wondering what are some of the other games I should look out for?

I've already ordered bravely default and fire emblem awakening (ill order the squeals if I like them I'm sure).

Does anyone remember a while back Drew talked on a Bombcast about some Mario game where you build teams and go through dungeons? That sounded up my ally.

So, yeah any other advice on what to do with this thing once it shows would be appreciated.

Now you play some SNES games...

Also, you're thinking of Puzzles and Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was awarded Giant Bomb's 2nd best game of the year for 2014!

It is a thoroughly wonderful game and should have reduced in price a bit by now too.

Here's like... a pretty thorough rundown of the JRPG titles available for 3DS:

If you end up enjoying Awakening, Fire Emblem Fates is pretty fun. Dependent on if you want something super challenging or something more grindy, there's different versions for different sensibilities. You'd have to invest about 80 dollars to get the whole story, but if you're just in it for gameplay, I'd say that the DLC only one, Revelations, is the most versatile.

Also, if you're a dungeon crawler guy, Etrian Odyssey 4, Etrian Odyssey Untold, and Etrian Odyssey Untold 2 are as classic as it gets. Make your own characters, choose your own skills, draw your own maps! (The untold versions are remakes of the first 2 games but with a story mode).There's also Persona Q, which is Etrian Odyssey with Persona characters (kinda fan servicey, so I suggest holding off on it unless you've played Persona 3 and/or 4)

Speaking of Persona! Shin Megami Tensei 4 is great if you're into something more hardcore. It's got a branching story path that facilitates playing the game 3 times, and the monster training element makes it almost like a more mature version of pokemon. It's the series that inspired the pacifist elements of Undertale. Highly recommended if you're up for a challenge.

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is great if you want something more action oriented. It's also about the only thing that's going to make use of that c-stick you just spent all that money on. Combats pretty similar to Dark Souls. Great with Co-op or solo, and tons of content. You can sink 100 hours into it easily. It's like the biggest thing in Japan, so there's a ton of free DLC. Super grindy and (intentionally) esoteric, but rewarding if you're willing to stick it out. (there's also a final fantasy game, Explorers, that attempts to emulate it, but it's not worth your time)

And if you're a super classic JRPG fan, then you'll have a lot of fun with Bravely Default. It's phenomenal. It's like somebody made a modern version of Final Fantasy 4. Great characters and voice acting, fun twists on turn based combat, and one of the most engaging job systems I've ever encountered. Also the sequel, Bravely Second, is set to drop in the US this Friday. (If you're EU, it should be available now).

I think thats about it in terms of JRPG. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. There's other more niche titles like Devil Survivor, Project X Zone, and of course Pokemon or the Mario and Luigi series if you want something light. OH and the Dragon Quest 7 remake should be coming out soon too!

Sorry, went a little overboard. This is my favorite genre and my favorite console to play it on! Have fun!

@beachthunder: Never had an SNES (we were a Mega Drive/Genesis house)are a lot of those games actually worth playing now or is it more of a nostalgia thing?

Yes that is totally the one i was thinking of. Thank you.

@paulmako: Is that a good jumping in point for Zelda i've played 3 or 4 of those games but have always bounced off after a few hours.

@pzuzu45: Man wow! I was starting to think maybe i was gonna end up playing a handful of games on this thing and shelving it. But damn! So this is where all the jrpgs went huh?

@lostoddity: I also never had a SNES. The games are absolutely worth playing. Super Mario World, Earthbound, and even Donkey Kong Country are all pretty sweet. I also got Super Metroid, but to be honest I didn't really get the appeal of it.

@pzuzu45: I just want to put out there that I thought SMT IV was garbage. Obviously there are different opinions out there but I wouldn't jump into that series with too much enthusiasm if you don't know what you're getting into with Atlus RPGs (as I did).

I would also add that the 3DS is backwards compatible with DS games, so you can play some awesome stuff like Ghost Trick and Phoenix Wright.

Well, I was going to recommend Etrian Odyssey, but someone beat me to it. That said, Etrian Odyssey is reeeeeeally good.

Fantasy Life is all you need.

@lostoddity It's such a great place for JRPGs. I love the genre, but I enjoy it so much more on the go. The Vita is amazing as well, but it's got less support. In all honesty, I actually found the N3DS version of Xenoblade to be a bit of a slog. The textures are super compressed and the combat system is a bit MMO-ey for my taste. But the story and world are pretty great and the music is stellar.

@veektarius I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the game. TBH, I actually put it down after the first few hours, but then I got back into it about a month later and played it like a maniac. It's definitely not everybody's cup of tea.

@mikachops this as well. It's a little checklisty, but in the best way possible.

@lilman1101: I've played the old Mario and DK games in other places over the years. Earthbound looks pretty cool though. Yeah Metroidvania games rarely do much for me.

@veektarius: I mostly like the persona games i've played does that mean i should give SMT a shot?

I've never really been an adventure game guy - when i do play a puzzle game i tend to prefer to just do puzzles. All the running around in adventure games has always been off putting to me. Stupid reason i know.

@babychoochoo: Etrian Odyssey does look like my thing. Do the old ones hold up? Are the stories connected or can i just jump in on the more modern ones without missing out?

@mikachops: What even is this? Is it like that Stardew Valley game that Dan has been going on about?

@pzuzu45: I know right. I thought jrpg's had just kinda died off. Never had much interest in the ds so i didnt kept up with what was coming out on it.

Yeah it seems like people are really split on that combat system, guess ill just have to try it for myself and see where i come down.

What they said, but you should be able to run some regular DS games like Radiant Historia, The World Ends With You, and the Phoenix Wright series. SMT IV is good, but be warned there's a much darker story and a steeper learning curve than most Personas and you can get wiped out by low-level guys at the start if you're unlucky. It is a really good game if you stick with it.

You should play Rusty's Real Deal Baseball of course. He'll give you a real deal if you get to know him.

@dochaus:"you can get wiped out by low-level guys at the start if you're unlucky" By that do you mean that its a hard game or do you mean that its gonna just bone you sometimes with bad dice rolls?

@lostoddity: The latter. As far as persona goes, think of the combat of Persona but none of the social elements. It's a bit more punishing than Persona, too. The setting is kind of interesting, though.

@lostoddity: As far as I know, there's no real reason to purchase any other Etrian Odyssey games except for Untold and/or Untold 2. Unlike the other EO games, they're the only two with an actual story mode, but they're also both they're own, self-contained thing so if you play one, you don't need to worry about playing the other. They also both contain a "Classic" mode which is just Untold without the story (that's what EO I-IV were) so you're kinda getting two games in one.

The Classic mode may not have a story, but it's a full-length campaign with much, much more freedom. You can make your own characters with whatever composition you want with classes that were not available in story mode. You also have more freedom to just simply explore as you see fit, but that also means its much easier to get yourself into trouble haha

@dochaus: As someone who just started playing Radiant Historia, I would also like to recommend Radiant Historia. That's one hell of a game right there. Also, as someone who is growing tired of Japan's never-ending obsession with "true" endings with the most bullshit, insane, obtuse requirements (I'm looking at you Idea factory, Compile Heart, and NIS...), I appreciate that this game pretty much tells you about an hour into the story:

@lostoddity SMTV isn't unfair, but it is punishing. Some enemies can come out of nowhere with a strong elemental spell or an annoying status effect that completely wipes you out. You need to be constantly adapting your strategy and fusing creatures to get the right skills to tackle specific boss fights. It's a classic "death means back to top menu" game but you can spend play coins to get continues, so it promotes a trial and error approach.

If you're into MMO gameplay, you'll enjoy Xenoblade. For me, I need things to either be turn-based or full action. Something about auto attacking and cool downs just feels super gross to me. I want my agency to be involved in every attack. If I want a thing to happen, I'll hit a button.

Also, late in the game you can luck into fusing some kind of super-powerful monster that has no weaknesses and blocks/repels four different elements with enough experimentation.

On a semi-related note, still waiting for that "FINAL" edition they supposedly released in Japan back in February.

@dochaus: Yeah, FINAL looks really cool. It's basically a whole new game, right? I just assumed it would be like P4 golden, but I'm really excited for that.

@lostoddity Etrian Odyssey has no connecting threads other than the name of the country it takes place in, Etria. There's also some connection to Norse Mythology via The World Tree, Yggdrasil (which is apparently in every fucking JRPG now). In the classic games, you make a team from scratch, choosing the characters classes, name, and even their portrait (the art in this series is phenomenal btw). The Untold editions are remakes of the DS versions with a story mode added to them. In those, you get a pre-made team with fixed classes, so it can really limit your freedom. The story isn't anything too spectacular either, at least in Untold 1, which I'm currently on. There's a time travel element and amnesia plays a big part in it (groundbreaking, I know). One of the characters is from Canada? Like straight up... you're in this fantasy-ass world and this lady says she comes from the far off land of Ontario... she says 'eh' and loves maple syrup... I can't decide if it's cool or stupid, but it sure is something.

@lostoddity: Firstly don't forget to get a bigger memory card and the wealth of DS games at your disposal too.

Some ideas include:

• Animal Crossing
• Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate / Monster Hunter 3
• Paper Mario
• Mario & Luigi Games
• Zelda - Ocarina / Majora / Link Between Worlds
• Project X Zone 1 and 2
• Pokemon
• Portable SNES
• The DS Library

Also check out this guys YouTube channel for lots of 3DS / DS recommendations:

For DS games I'd recommend tracking down the Dragon Quest remakes, especially V. Etrian Odyssey/Persona Q are really good, but pretty time-consuming. Haven't finished it but SMT IV is pretty cool.

I think Link Between Worlds is one of the best Zelda games around, and it's not as... tutorial-y as a lot of the modern Zelda games are. My memories of the first hour or so of the game are fuzzy, but I don't remember feeling that "ugh I wish the game would just start already" that I did with Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess. I think if there's one Zelda game someone wouldn't bounce off immediately, it would be this one? If Zelda isn't your thing, then it's not your thing, but this one is a pretty damn good one.

Pokemon might just not be your thing, but if you ever felt like trying it out, X/Y are really, really good entry points for the series. No guarantee you'll like them, though, they're certainly not for everyone.

I liked the earlier suggestion of picking up Ghost Trick and the Phoenix Wright games; I don't think Ghost Trick is available for download on the 3DS, but it's pretty cheap to pick up a used copy online. Phoenix Wright, however, does have the original trilogy available for download in the e-shop. I guess if you're into JRPGs, these games are about as far from that as you can get short of not being Japanese, but they're there if you wanted to get a feel for some of the things that made/make the DS platform so cool. Cult hits and some of my favorite games of all time. (My profile icon is the main character from Ghost Trick, if that says anything.)

Tales of the Abyss is available on the system; if you like Tales games, that's another one. I liked it a bunch. Quick tip though: don't worry about the fact that the protagonist sucks. It's kind of the point and it all comes together in the end. But anyways, it's a Tales game, so pretty standard JRPG fare, if you want something more innovative or interesting, Tales of the Abyss is not the way to go.

3DS:

A Link Between Worlds

Fire Emblem Awakening (haven't got the new ones yet)

Super Mario 3d Land

Puzzle and Dragons: SMB Edition

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

DS:

Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow

Contra 4

Mario Kart DS

@lostoddity: Fantasy Life is a life / job sim with JRPG trappings, Level5 writing and humour plus a VERY chill atmosphere and colourful visuals. If you want something that will make you smile and to just relax with I can't recommend this game enough. Picked it up on a whim and it's now one of my favourite games ever.

The 3ds has arrived! . . .The games i ordered wont be here until after the weekend! . . . Bummer!!

So its pretty much looking like this is going to be a jrpg machine for at least the first few months. Which i'm totally OK with!

For after that though are their any fun action or puzzle games?

SMTV sounds pretty grindy (not that i necessarily mind that, i can enjoy a game with a rewarding grind). How is the grind?

A lot of people recommending Monster Hunter 4. I haven't played any of these games and have always heard that they are kinda impenetrable. The last and only souls game i played was Demon's Souls, I'm more into character action combat. I do get the sense that that game would have a really satisfying grind. If im not into that kind of combat is there anything here for me?

So is Link between worlds the Zelda game to go for? I have never really gotten far into any of the Zelda games before bouncing off. People are so into them that i'd like to have a real crack at at least one of them.

@pzuzu45: Yep! Really gotten sick of the Norse Mythology stuff, anime is totally rotten with it too. If you're interested in something different an anime came out last year thats modelled on native americans. It's pretty cool. Rokka No Yuusha.

@mikachops: This sounds like a perfect saturday morning hungover in bed type of game.

@lostoddity: I only just checked out Earthbound with my N3DS. Honestly, I find it hard to believe a game like that actually came to a Nintendo console that long ago, with so many parts of it feeling so modern. The combat isn't necessarily fantastic, but the writing in it is really something else.

Also i was clicking around in the 3ds yesterday and found the street pass thing.

I kinda remember hearing the guys talk about street pass on the bombcast once or twice but i have no idea what it is or what its for.

Does it have anything to do with games or is it some kinda social app? Can i just ignore it?

@lostoddity: Keep your 3DS on sleep mode when you walk around, and if you happen to walk by other people with a 3DS they'll register one another. On the system side, you'll only get to see that persons mii, their name, and what state/country they're from, but if you happen to Street Pass with them again, like say you both take the same bus every morning, you'll get to see more info. There's 3 simple games built into the system that use it and you can pay for another 3, but they're kinda meh.

The main thing that makes Street Pass fun is how your other games will use the data. Games use Street Pass for different reasons, some are only useful if the person you passed is playing the same game as you. If you live in a city or go to school where gaming is popular, just walking around should net you a few. I go to an arts college and I get about 5 a day just by taking the bus to classes. It's really great at conventions. Bravely Default uses Street Pass for a few different things. Most games just give you a fun little bonus for it, so I wouldn't say it's worth going out of your way to find people. It was designed primarily with places like Tokyo and New York in mind, densely populated areas where people use public transportation. Still, you should definitely set it up whenever a game asks you to. It's surprisingly fascinating.

3DS:

Mario Kart 7

Super Mario 3D Land

Legend of Zelda : A Link Between Worlds

Ocarina of Time

Animal Crossing : New Leaf

shantae and the pirate's curse

The Etrian Odyssey games

Pokeymans

Shin Megami Tensei 4

Fire Emblem Fates if you really still want more fire emblem. Can't hold a candle to Awakening in my opinioin

3D Gunstar Heroes

@dochaus: Did anyone like the Devil Summoner games? I'm in the same spot as the OP and I really like SMT IV. Those artstyles look pretty rad but I wonder how different they are.

@pzuzu45: That's been a weird thing for me too. I'm streetpassing with 30-40 people a day but have no idea what that does! I'm too busy playing Pokemon.

@the_tribunal: most SMT games use the same portraits for the demons. I'm not sure about the character designs.

You can basically ignore the streetpass. If you're playing X and Y, there's a special place in Lumiose city where you can trade your streetpass points in for items (save them till you get to the GTS and you get lower prices). That same place is in Mauvile town in ORAS. That may only help if you register another person with the pokemon game registered to their Street Pass, but that's pretty common.

If you haven't played Chrono Trigger before I'd say give it a shot since it came out on DS.

If you're willing try something that isn't a JRPG, then I'd say 999 and Virtue's Last Reward. They're visual novels with interesting stories and pretty cool puzzles.

All of the Castlevanias.

@lostoddity said:

I found Monster Hunter 4 impenetrable, I did all the tutorials and then had I no idea what I should be doing next. Only go into that if you have a friend playing it who can help you along.

Link between worlds is extra special for those with a fondness for the original SNES Zelda, but still a good game even if you've never played that.

I really enjoyed Super Mario 3D Land, that's a good game.

Also there's some really interesting downloadable titles if you venture into the eShop, some of my highlights so far:

• Pushmo / Pullblox and the rest of that series
• Box Boy
• Out Run 3D is IMO a great remake of that classic
• SteamWorld Heist
• And there are 6 (six!) "Picross e" games -- Picross is my go to game if I'm not in the mood for anything else

I don't have many physical 3DS games so I'll just list some of my favorite downloadable and DS games.

In terms of downloadable titles:

Harmoknight is a really awesome rhythm action game by Gamefreak.

Pushmo is one of my top 3 puzzle games of all time and is perfect for bus rides.

Dillon's Rolling Western is a great action rpg with some tower defense elements.

Gunman Clive is the best megaman clone I have played in years.

Crimson Shroud is the best DND style game I have ever played.

In terms of DS games:

Any of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games are great beginner friendly rogue style dungeon crawlers.

Dragon Quest V is my personal favorite DQ and is one of the first rpg's where you can capture monsters to fight for you (this was before pokemon).

Dragon Quest Monster Joker is a great pokemon style game with a lot of depth and humor.

Okamiden is the sequel to Okami, one of the best zelda style jrpg's ever made.

Custom Robo Arena is an awesome top down mech fighting jrpg, if you ever liked virtual-on you will love this game.

Pokemon Ranger is a interesting spinoff I remember being pretty cool but have not played it in a long time.

I assume you mean the Devil Survivor games, as neither of the Devil Summoner games came out on 3DS (also worth checking out if you have a PS2). I enjoyed them quite a bit, but they are yet another different take on the SMT format. The Devil Survivor games are a strategy/turn based hybrid, where you set up groups of one human and two demons that you can then move on a grid-based map. Once you enter combat, it plays out like a single round of a more traditional turn-based game. I actually enjoyed the first game more than the sequel, but both are very good.

On a side note, if you generally like JRPGs for the anime aspects, check out some of the downloadable games by Level 5. I really enjoyed my time with Attack of the Friday Monsters and Weapon Shoppe de Omasse wasn't bad for being a smaller scale game.

Lots of good recommendations here. Unfortunately there aren't too many games that take advantage of the *New* 3DS. I don't expect that will change hugely either. I'm sure Nintendo don't wish to fragment the market any more than they already have.

My action game du jour is Hyrule Warriors Legends currently. Apparently it has massive performance problems on the old 3DS, but it's great on the New model as long as you don't try to use the 3D. Your enjoyment of it will depend largely on how much you like the Warriors franchise, but the Nintendification of it pleases me to no end. Fun, straightforward action, and hundreds of hours worth of content, if you get absorbed into the grind.

I would love to recommend Binding of Isaac: Rebirth too but alas, I cannot. Great game, but considering it's an New 3DS exclusive, it still has horrendous performance problems. In spite of how much I love that game, I still bitterly regret spending the money on it for 3DS, on principle.

Also, +1 for Monster Hunter. Dense, but very rewarding if you're so inclined to put the time in.

@pzuzu45:I live out in the country and work on a farm most days. Unless some of the sheep got 3ds's without telling me I'd say ill get very little use out of that streetpass stuff. The town building stuff in Bravely looks kinda important though, I might just get my brother to take it to school with him some day.

@streetninja:I played Chrono Trigger back in the day alright, wouldn't mind another go at it though.

Are the puzzles in those games like adventure game puzzles or are they straight up here is a screen with a puzzle to solve? I like puzzle games but adventure game style puzzles rub me the wrong way for some reason.

@warpr: Is Link between worlds the best one on the 3ds? I wana give a fair shake to a Zelda game but I wont have the steam for more than one I'd say.

SteamWorld Heist is a great shout. That game looks right up my ally, thanks.

@katpottz: Crimson Shroud looks pretty cool but no leveling up just equipment might be a deal breaker for me. Ill keep it in mind though, it does look cool, thanks

Is Okamiden still good without having played the first one? I'd be interested in giving this a try i remember a lot of good buzz around Okami.

There are some characters that carry over from Okami to Okamiden and a few references to the first game but nothing that has a major impact to the story. It does follow the children of the characters from the first game so if you don't want who hookups with each other to be spoiled then play Okami first.

Picross is probably the best game series available on the 3DS.

Pushmo/Crashmo!

Fire Emblem games all of them is what you want.

@lostoddity: here's a tip for the town building. If you play the demo for the game (which is entirely different content than the actual game), you get one (maybe more?) free helpers without having to streetpass. It doesn't sound like a lot, but if you'd only otherwise be working with one, it doubles your efficiency.

three of the best items in the game, the EXP, JP, and Gil doubling items, can only be bought there, so it is pretty useful to start it sooner than later.

@pzuzu45: Oh cool I didn't even know it had a demo. Thanks for letting me know.

@lostoddity: No problem! Of all the games I listed earlier, Bravely Default is my clear favorite. I hope you enjoy it.