In my youth i was only able to briefly play a few Nintendo games, N64 and GameCube and game boy color specifically. Since then i have been ignoring nintendo, however i was just given a 3ds XL as a gift from a friend of mine, so can anybody who frequents this forum name the best games to play on the 3DS XL? As far as i know it can play original DS games as well as 3DS games, i haven't played anything since the GameCube was around. So i'm sure there is plenty of titles to choose from, what the best rpgs for example? (Any genre is fine though)

I tend to play rpgs so I recommend Bravely Default.

For dungeon crawlers there's Etrian Odyssey and Persona Q. There's also puzzle and mystery games like Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright. In terms of platformers, I recommend Super Mario 3D Land.

And don't forget the new generation of Pokemon!

Fire Emblem: Awakening is a pretty great strategy game, so I'd recommend that one without hesitation.

Kid Icarus Uprising is a fun game with lots of stuff to do in it, but the controls are awkward to get used to.

Mario Kart 7 is very nice if you liked the previous Mario Kart games.

Super Mario 3D Land, as mentioned above, is a great platformer.

Fantasy Life can be pretty fun if you can really get into it, as it's a really long RPG with plenty to do. It can be a grindfest at times, but there's still a lot of content nonetheless.

I agree for Bravely Default.
I also recommend The Legend of Zelda: A Link between worlds, which is one of the best Zelda imo.

And if you're a Final Fantasy fan, Theathrythm FF: Curtain Call is a very good rythm game.

For tactical RPGs I would recommend SMT: Devil Survivor Overclocked, especially with the sequel coming up to be released shortly. There's also Project X-Zone which is a crossover game with tons of Capcom characters.

If you like side-scrolling beat em ups (and fanservice) there's Senran Kagura. The story is actually surprisingly good for what you would normally expect out of a game with that much fanservice, and gets pretty dark at times. Code of Princess though, while it looks fun, I would recommend avoiding. Unfortunately it suffers from a lot of lag when there are even moderate amounts of enemies onscreen.

I've heard Resident Evil: Revelations is good although I never actually played the copy I bought which makes me feel stupid for doing so.

If you like Harvest Moon-esque games there's always... Harvest Moon: A New Beginning which I believe is heralded as one of the best entries in the series. Plus, there's also Rune Factory 4, the Harvest Moon/RPG Hybrid, of which I can definitely say IS the best entry in the series and is hugely fun and addicting.

If you like platformers then I'd recommend Shantae: Risky's Revenge, and Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. Both have excellent controls and a delightful cast of quirky characters with that good ol' Wayforward charm.

I'm actually surprised nobody mentioned Smash Bros yet. It's available for 3DS and is a pretty fantastic entry to the series.

As for straight out RPGs I've heard Mario & Luigi is really good, though I would stay away from SMT IV (in my opinion).

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Though seriously. Like Pom said. Etrian Odyssey is amazing, and so is Persona Q. If you like dungeon crawler RPGs you're doing yourself a disservice by not playing them.

Seconded.

There went my suggestion.

I know that Cave Story is on the 3DS's online market.

I'm kind of drawing a blank after those two though D:

+1 for Bravely Default. It's a really good RPG, by the makers of Final Fantasy.

Also Mario 3D Land, which is kind of similar to Mario Galaxy.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 is also an obvious choice if you liked the Mario series.

Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is great, especially if you played A Link To The Past on the SNES. If you did, it's an awesome throwback.
Also Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask 3d (when the latter comes out). The originals for the N64 were regarded as the best ever Zelda games.

The Shantae games are great platformers, and they feature belly dancing as a game mechanic. Can't go wrong with that.

And speaking of great platformers, Cave Story on the eShop. It's an indie game and it's quite difficullt, but it's a really good Metroidvania-style platformer.

I must recommend Kid Icarus: Uprising, if it has not been done already. It has an awesome story, replayability through the roof, and jokes to make even the most stoic gamer chuckle. You will enjoy it if you like third person shooters. Oh, and the new Pokémon game, and Smash Bros 4. I have a feeling that they'll be fun. Anyway, I have an Ember Prime waiting in the wings of my foundry, so I must be off to the land of the Tenno. Good morrow, and happy holidays to you, gentlemen!

Thanks to everybody who replied to my query, i appreciate it. I've decided to write all the suggested games down for now, and I'll start with the latest Pokemon game Alpha Sapphire and.. ill also grab Legend of Zelda Between two Worlds. Once again, thank you to each of you that replied.

Shovel knight and Resident Evil Revelations

Is Shovel Knight on the 3DS? If it is then I would recommend it as the steam version is amazing.

Can't wait for the New 3Ds XL release in Europe, time that I get my first Nintendo handheld since the GBA SP and finally get the chance to play all the Pokemon games I missed since 2005 ^_^.


A real shame that the Vita that now sells for €150 has such a lackluster offering as far as games are concerned, it does have more power than the 3Ds and has a great feel to it. But when all you can play are Danganronpa (even if it is great, I wouldn't buy a console just for what seems to be a visual novel), Persona 4G (I'm playing Vanilla on PCSX2 right now, I can live with that), PS3 games and PS2 HD remasters... the latter two being available on my PS3 as well. And as far as publishers are concerned it is unlikely that the current situation will change. I also bought a cheap 3004 PSP on ebay a year ago... which has a great selections of games... which you can all get for free with a minor "update" of your firmware... which is super easy to do. So I don't really care about the backward compatibility of the Vita either.

Compare that with what the 3Ds offers... Pokemon, Shantae (all of them!), Advance Wars, Phoenix Wright, hidden gems like The World ends with you and Ghost Trick... a ton of great JRPG exlusives like Bravely Default and Persona Q ... and of course the Ocarina of Times and Majora's Mask (which I didn't get to play so far) remasters. Insane value if you, like me, never owned a DS.
Ooooh, I sure will enjoy myself once I get my hands on the N3DS ^_^...

The Vita should be getting Skullgirls though. And I can assure you that Skullgirls is awesome :D

Hardly a reason to buy a Vita when you can get that game on steam as well ^^. It's not like you need great hardware on your PC to run that game with max settings ;).