Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice about Nintendo's handheld gaming options.

I'm about to turn 40, and I don't game nearly as much as I used to. When I do it's usually pretty mainstream stuff like Civ, or Titanfall (My favorite games of the past few years were Phantom Pain and XCOM).

I'm now going through some serious health issues that are leaving me with a lot of time spent laying down in need of distractions, which seems like something a 3DS would work well for.

While I've bought plenty of them for my kids, I've never actually played a Nintendo handheld, so I'm not really familiar with the differences. The 2DS seems really affordable, but that screen looks pretty small... Is it worth the extra $100 to go with a 3DSXL?

Also, and I'm sure this question is a minefield, but what games would you all recommend?

I'd really like something with a world I can escape into to not think about stuff, so I'm thinking RPG. I looked up the popular RPGs for 3DS, and they all seemed to be JRPGs. I'm not against the idea of JRPGs, but I think the only one I've ever played was Final Fantasy VII. Are the popular ones pretty accessible?

Thanks in advance for any answers, and for taking the time to read this long-ass post.

You should start with Fire Emblem Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and Super Mario 3D Land.

EDIT: On the topic of different 3DS versions - they're coming out with a New 2DS XL that uses the old-fashioned 3DS clamshell design, has the power of a New 3DS, but doesn't have the 3D functionality. And, of course, there's the current New 3DS and New 3DS XL, which have the 3D slider on them.

The New 3DS - that's capitalized because that's actually what Nintendo called them, by the way - have a more powerful processor, an extra analog stick, and two extra shoulder buttons so that's the one you want to get. Especially if you want to play Monster Hunter.

The 3ds and 2ds can play original ds games as well, which have some my favouritegames. The mario rpg, mario and luigi: Bowser's inside story is funny, but also has cool mechanics and a really cool story. Another one is a tactics game that used to consume me for hours - advance wars. Especially the skirmish mode.

I would also consider zelda: a link between worlds. I played it last month and it was a refreshing yet familiar zelda.

This series goes back to the DS, but I'd recommend playing through the Zero Escape series. Just finished 999 and even though it showed it's age, I still really enjoyed it. Great puzzles and a really interesting story. You can relax and work through it at your own pace.

If you don't already own the launch game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, I'd recommend that, considering it's an simplified X-COM style game by Julian Gollop who also created the original X-COM.

Can't go wrong with this suggestion. Add Ocarina and Majoras Mask and that covers the cream of the crop.

If you want something that is a chill free-good game to cheer you up while you're recovering than I would recommend Attack of the Friday Monsters. If you want a strategy game then I second the Fire Emblem Awakening recommendation and it might be worth looking into the Devil Survivor games on the 3DS (2 might be the best one but they are both good).

Also some people will try to tell you that Bravely Default is worth checking out if you want to play a JRPG on the 3DS. You should ignore these people. Instead you should play either Dragon Quest VII or VIII, the later might be the best pick for your first Dragon Quest.

Came in here looking for the Pushmo series and am very disappointed. This man OBVIOUSLY needs some Pushmo in his life. Cheap, tons of content, extremely accessible (some of the puzzles are hard but you can look up answers if you get super stuck) mega charming and fun.

The guy is CRYING out for Pushmo! Also the Boxboy series. The Boxboy series is GREAT and cheap and tons of fun.

I would also recommend Super Mario 3D Land (it's pretty easy until the last level) and ANIMAL CROSSING. If someone is lying in bed and wants a world to escape into for long stretches of time Animal Crossing is ideal. I don't want to get too heavy, but I seem to remember that Jeff said that after Ryan passed he played a bunch of Animal Crossing just as a way to forget his troubles for a little bit. Now obviously (hopefully) our dude isn't dealing with anything quite so difficult (Hope your serious health issues are just temporary, duder) but Animal Crossing is still a great time. It's super relaxing, accessible, and fun.

In terms of RPGs, I haven't played a ton of them on 3DS but there are lots of older RPGs playable on the system. Have you played ChronoTrigger? There's a DS version. You should play ChronoTrigger. Did you LIKE FF VII? There are lots of mainline Final Fantasy games with good DS remakes, and all mainline Final Fantasy games are pretty accessible.

I would say that 3DS RPGs, to the extent I've played them, are pretty accessible in general. Much moreso on the whole than, say, Vita RPGs. Just read a review from a mainstream gaming site. If Gamespot or IGN aren't saying "This is a bunch of impenetrable hyper Japanese stuff" you're prolly ok.

Good luck duder!

And play some Pushmo. And Boxboy. And Animal Crossing.

Picross 3d or any other picross games are great puzzle games. Zelda: a Link Between Worlds is a fantastic top.down Zelda that Rival's A Link to the Past.

I'm seconding (or thirding or whatever) the suggestions of Picross 3D: Round 2 and BOXBOY!.

I'm 40.

If your eyes are fine I don't see any benefit of the New 3DS XL over the regular New 3DS (we have one XL and two regular ones in our household). While the 3D effect is a silly gimmick and I mostly play with it off, I do even now think it's a pretty cool gimmick, so I also wouldn't get a 2DS.

First some anti recommendations:

I did not enjoy the Zero Escape series that much, I finished 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors and but didn't finish Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward , the story just got too convoluted and anime to keep my interest. I also did not enjoy Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth , there isn't much story to it and what there is seems to just be the characters bullying eachother, so I gave up on that one somewhere in the second dungeon. Finally Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate sounded pretty cool, but I found it impossible to get into, I had no clue how to continue the game after the first tutorial missions.

Recommendations:

Some of the obvious ones I did like a lot: Super Mario 3D Land, Picross 3D: Round 2, BOXBOY!, Pushmo, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

Do your kids play Animal Crossing: New Leaf?, I found Animal Crossing: Wild World to be very boring back when I first got a DS... but now that I'm older living with a family where two other people are playing New Leaf, it is a lot more fun.

I also quite enjoyed Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D , I love the Metal Gear series but haven't had a chance to play MGS4 or MGS5 -- so it was nice going back to a Metal Gear when I first got my 3DS, also because it was basically the first game I played on it I really enjoyed playing with 3D on... before the novelty of that wore off :)

Finally I like the Layton games, but I also get tired of them quickly so I typically wait a few years before playing the next one. So I enjoyed playing Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask , but haven't played any of the ones after that yet.

As I've gotten older I find I've lost my patience for grinding in RPGs, so I haven't tried many of those. If I had more time I would probably enjoy the Bravely Default games, Xenoblade Chronicles or some of the Dragon Quest re-releases. Similarly a lot of DS games are hard to go back to I find, because they lack the quality of life improvements modern games have.

If you can wait a month, get a New 2DS XL. Picross 3D is great, Animal Crossing is great, Pokemons are usually pretty chill.

If you don't have child-like hands, I'd also recommend getting some sort of comfort grip even if you go for the XL variants. I've been using this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UJ9LB6Y (the top half is entirely useless to me, I never put it on).

Allows you to hold the handheld more like a traditional controller, and my hands get a lot less cramped over time.

Holy cow, I wasn't expecting so many great responses so quickly. Thanks a ton, everyone.

I picked up a 2DS bundled with Mario Kart for $75, and grabbed New Super Mario 3D World and Fire Emblem Awakening to go with it. I'm also going to order Link Between Worlds.

The puzzle games people recommended are a great idea, but I'm a little leery of the fuzzy brain my medications can give me making things more frustrating than fun.

Pokemon was also a great suggestion. I'm pretty sure my kids have all of those laying around somewhere, so I'll give one of those a shot, too.

Thanks again for all the suggestions, duders, I really appreciate it.

Dude, you're set with those. Have fun. ( I assume you meant Mario 3D Land)

@popeshabooda: If you are worried about a temporary fuzzy brain and want somewhere to disappear into I want to stump again for Animal Crossing New Leaf.

It is a great chill game, unchallenging, upbeat, and you can just spend hours fishing and catching bugs on the island. If I were to pick a game to play while under the weather that would be it.

Hope you feel better soon, duder!

If you like XCom, then defintely get SteamWorld Heist.

I haven't played it myself, but I am constantly hearing lately that Infinite Space is one of the most criminally overlooked jrpg hidden gems on the ds. Seems to really speak to those into sci-fi.