Thinking of buying a 3DS.

[Shuster]

I bought one to play at work and I got 3 games so far I got Zelda 2 worlds which i am really enjoying it reminds me of zelda on the Super Nintendo. I got MH4 and I'm still trying to figure that one out, there is a lot going on and I'm not entirely sure whats going on. I also got an RPG that I haven't played yet. Right now I'm waiting on Pokemon Sun and Moon to come out then I will play them.

There are more Pokemon games coming out? Maybe I should wait for those instead.

Think I'd still get Monster Hunter though, it looked interesting.

[poser765]

Honestly, OP, my 3DS is probably the best purchase I've made in the last two years. I wanted a handheld and was leery of the vita so I went with the 3DS only expecting to find it meh. So far it's amazing. So far the games are...fun. Just pure fun. A lot of bright colors, perky soundtracks, lighthearted themes, etc. It's a far cry from the over abundance of grim dark stuff that's out recently on other systems.

Lot of good recommendations for games in this thread already, so I'll just give you a couple more.

Fantasy Life
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Shin Megami Tensai IV

Also, if you are into Pokemon at all, I would probably hold off a bit. Pokemon Sun/Moon is coming out soon. November I think?

[Shuster]

Honestly, OP, my 3DS is probably the best purchase I've made in the last two years. I wanted a handheld and was leery of the vita so I went with the 3DS only expecting to find it meh. So far it's amazing. So far the games are...fun. Just pure fun. A lot of bright colors, perky soundtracks, lighthearted themes, etc. It's a far cry from the over abundance of grim dark stuff that's out recently on other systems.

Lot of good recommendations for games in this thread already, so I'll just give you a couple more.

Fantasy Life
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Shin Megami Tensai IV

Also, if you are into Pokemon at all, I would probably hold off a bit. Pokemon Sun/Moon is coming out soon. November I think?

That's really good to hear, now I think I'll buy it. Maybe this week.

Yeah, I love Pokemon. I do want to get the new one.

[zito]

Fire emblem is Def an rpg to keep on the list. Zelda too if you like zelda

[Shuster]

Fire emblem is Def an rpg to keep on the list. Zelda too if you like zelda

I'm not sure about Fire Emblem. Those "Grid strategy RPG's" (not sure how they're actually called ) were never my thing.

I do like Zelda, but it probably won't be my first purchase.

Thanks a lot for the help, people! I'm definitely going to buy a 3DS.

I'll do some more research on which game to buy first, because I'm not rich.

[zito]

It's not really deep strategy people have done chapters in 1 turn just by over powering the enemy. Playing birthright then conquest though made me cry

[poser765]

I bought one to play at work and I got 3 games so far I got Zelda 2 worlds which i am really enjoying it reminds me of zelda on the Super Nintendo. I got MH4 and I'm still trying to figure that one out, there is a lot going on and I'm not entirely sure whats going on. I also got an RPG that I haven't played yet. Right now I'm waiting on Pokemon Sun and Moon to come out then I will play them.

Monster hunter is hard to figure out. You really have to figure out what the game is about then go from there. At it's core it's really a game of farming and gear progression. Kill monster get look, craft better armor. Kill bigger monster get better look to craft better armor. Rinse and repeat. The story is really only there to progress you along to the bigger monsters and better loot.

Also, MH seems to be really dependent on outside resources. It's not really a game I think was designed to be played without 3rd party online support. Here are a couple of links for you.

http://kiranico.com/en/mh4u
http://monsterhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Monster_Hunter_4

[zito]

Monster hunter is garbage but I'm just part of the minority

[MrPaladinGuy]

Not sure if this is what you want summarized as well.

Pros

Library is incredibly better than the Vita's unless you're really into the perverted weeb stuff (the Vita excels at that)
3D is great when you can align your head and depending on the game.
Can play DS games, even in a 1:1 ratio (it's just like having a DS) just by holding a specific button when launching them, they won't be emulated either as the 3DS hardware is just a much more powerful DS.
Folds in half so you don't have to worry about the screens.
Mods might not like this comment, but you can get a flashcart to play all the DS games. (I don't condone 3DS flashcarts meant for playing 3DS games)
New 3DS will result in many games having a better framerate.

Cons

Max decibel level is quite low in my opinion, even with headphones, whereas the PSP/Vita could be very loud if you wanted them to be.
Nearly all the main Nintendo franchises were casualized (stupid easy).
Depressingly low resolution.
Must be a fan of the Nintendo franchises.
Hinged console.


Things to be aware of.

I think the first 'wave' of New 3DS XL's used IPS screens for the top screen, but recent ones have used TN screens (what you're used to)

Most of the great games have already been listed here, but google games for the 3DS, there are plenty of them.

[Hey There Guys its Metro]

Ya the new Pokemon games are totally worth playing.
I bought one just for those games and wasn't disappointed especially now that more titles are coming out this November.

Id love to try the Fire Emblem titles too, I used to LOVE the ones for GBA.
I just don't have time to play any other games right now.

[Jester Joe]

3D is great when you can align your head and depending on the game.

The New 3DS has face tracking, so you don't need to align your head. It works amazingly well.

[MisterBigglez]

Two of my most favourite game franchises are on the DS, that being Professor Layton and Ace Attorney. They both involve a lot of reading and puzzle solving so if you are fine with that I would highly suggest you check them out. If you are not familiar with the games, go buy yourself Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright. You get to play two types of games in one, its a great game for newbies to the franchises and its overall an interesting story.

[vindicatorx]

The New 3DS has face tracking, so you don't need to align your head. It works amazingly well.

yeah I was totally blown away by the 3D working as well as it does.

[Jack Hatchet]

When the "New" Nintendo thing came out last year I think. My ex was excited and she got one and convinced me to get one. I played with it for maybe all of 3 hours and now it just collects dust. It's a cool little gadget if you like those kinds of games, but I often find myself in situations where I have a better system (my PC) to game with, or I just read the news on my phone. Different strokes for different folks.

[Henako]

New Monster Hunter in a couple weeks. Reason enough, if that's your jam, imo.

[Baconeggcheese]

I bit the bullet a lil after monster hunter 4 ultimate came out since all my friends were on about it and really actively playing. I think the new 3ds had just come out as well around the time I was buying so I was like *perfect*, get the latest fancier version of the system and the new game. I'd do it again, as it was an absolutely fantastic game. Super pumped for the next one coming out in a couple weeks, really can't recommend the monster hunter series enough.

There's also a nice handful of JRPG's and zelda games to pick up so its definitely worth it if you're into rpg's.

A suggestion to consider as well, it saves data to a microsd which can be upgraded so that you don't have to buy physical copies of games. You have to look up which specific ones are compatible with the system but I went ahead and bought one of the larger ones and I already have something like 6 games stored in it without needing to carry or keep track of physical cartridges which is amazing. If you do decide to go that route I'd say to get it sooner than later as data is at least partially stored from physical games on the microsd so you'll lose certain data for games if you swap it after you've already played on an old one.

[Rennadrel]

The only thing Nintendo has been discussing for a new thing coming out is the NX, which is suppose to be a home console, but unless they pull a fast one, the 3DS should be around for a while longer. Can't swear by that though.

And yes, Monster Hunter I meant to include too, there's a new one coming out this month which would be the perfect time to start if anything!

The release list for 2016 isn't looking very promising aside from a small handful of bigger name games. A lot of games in North America don't have release dates, including some big name franchises. The 3DS has some RPG's slated for it though for this year, including two Dragon Quest games (the remake of 7 is out September 16th but the remake of 8 still doesn't have a release date). Aside from Pokemon Sun/Moon though, this year doesn't look great for the next 6 months.

I mean, Nintendo already fucked it up with Mario & Luigi Paper Jam and Metroid Prime Federation Force, two games that I don't see doing well (reviews in the former and sales in the latter).

[Lucetia]

When the "New" Nintendo thing came out last year I think. My ex was excited and she got one and convinced me to get one. I played with it for maybe all of 3 hours and now it just collects dust. It's a cool little gadget if you like those kinds of games, but I often find myself in situations where I have a better system (my PC) to game with, or I just read the news on my phone. Different strokes for different folks.

You should sell it to me for $20 :P

[Shaiandra]

I don't have many games for the 3DS myself (just Monster Hunter 4, Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, and Etrian Odyssey 4), so I don't have many game recommendations myself. Though you could look at the Etrian Odyssey games if you're into difficult old-school dungeon crawler RPGs. I believe there are a number of Shin Megami Tensei games too which I think usually get positive reception, but I've never played any myself.

I'd second what Baconeggcheese suggested; consider getting a larger microSDHC card and digital games. By default the New 3DS XL only has a 4gb microSDHC card. I got a 32gb one for barely $10 CDN, and you can probably get even larger sizes for cheap too. (For reference I think Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate took over 2gb, but that's likely one of the larger games on the system.) Not only so that you don't have to manage/carry games, but also you can take more advantage of Nintendo's eShop offers. A lot of games frequently go on sale (you can see them online at http://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals and following the link to view more games on sale), sometimes for huge discounts. Games that might be normally 39.99 may sometimes drop to 29.99 or 19.99 or possibly even less... Sales change each week.

[Rennadrel]

I don't have many games for the 3DS myself (just Monster Hunter 4, Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, and Etrian Odyssey 4), so I don't have many game recommendations myself. Though you could look at the Etrian Odyssey games if you're into difficult old-school dungeon crawler RPGs. I believe there are a number of Shin Megami Tensei games too which I think usually get positive reception, but I've never played any myself.

I'd second what Baconeggcheese suggested; consider getting a larger microSDHC card and digital games. By default the New 3DS XL only has a 4gb microSDHC card. I got a 32gb one for barely $10 CDN, and you can probably get even larger sizes for cheap too. (For reference I think Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate took over 2gb, but that's likely one of the larger games on the system.) Not only so that you don't have to manage/carry games, but also you can take more advantage of Nintendo's eShop offers. A lot of games frequently go on sale (you can see them online at http://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals and following the link to view more games on sale), sometimes for huge discounts. Games that might be normally 39.99 may sometimes drop to 29.99 or 19.99 or possibly even less... Sales change each week.

I have a 64 GB in mine and I think it is only 1/3rd full. And I have something like 20 3DS games installed on it. The internal memory is great, one of the things Nintendo actually did right with the system that Sony didn't learn with the PSP. Proprietary memory was such a bad business decision, and a bad design in general.