Gaming 3DS Essential Games - Must Play and suggestions

[MHKN]

So I saw a similar thread in the GBA section of the forum.

Treat this thread as a center for suggestion on which 3DS games are Must-Play for every user at least once. I will start with my library suggestion as someone who uses 3DS since around 2015-16:

• Super Smash Bros. - Staple fighting/party game, it has an exclusive Smash Run mode compared to the Wii U counterpart. Worth trying, sadly the online lobbies are currently empty.
• Pokémon X/Y - Personally I am a fan of the Kalos region, it is also the first mainline Pokémon game to have 3D and introduces features like PSS, Wonder Trade and Pokémon-Amie. (Personally it is not that bad as people often say)
• Pokémon Sun/Moon - Alola was a great summary of the Pokémon series, I think you should give it a try. PSS here has been replaced with Festival Plaza, but it still feels great with its online features. If you are a series veteran, you will like the references (Also first and probably only game to the date where YOU are the Champion the proper way)
• Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D - A remake of a classic Zelda game, but also a must play if you never played the original. I enjoyed the controls way more than the Nintendo64 version. The graphics are very nice too.
• Tomodachi Life - Known for various quirky events, it is a fun life simulator game where everyone lives in one apartment complex on an isolated island. It is funny when you add some celebrity Miis along with your friends or fictional characters
• nintendogs+ Cats - Continuation of the DS pet simulator. It has cats too, this is enough of a reason to play it.
• Kid Icarus Uprising - Widely praised by many people, especially for its multiplayer features. Latest Kid Icarus entry to date.
• Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Most popular Animal Crossing entry, keeping its shine even after New Horizons' release. I personally find the series too slow, but if you enjoy peaceful life and slow games, it is good for you
• Hyrule Warriors Legends - While not a definitive version like Switch, it is still an enjoyable Zelda-themed musou game. (Best to play on New 3DS, as on old model the game slows down a lot)

Let me know if you have other suggestions - you can also put your own essential suggestions (I look for titles to play every day but lose my mind when I have to choose)

Reason I did not put Miitopia: The Switch version is much more definitive, so it is better to play this one instead of 3DS version.

 

[anotherthing]

Fantasy Life: Pick between 12 jobs(classes), swap between them, develop the skills of those jobs and build yourself up until you save the world.

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon: It's a rogue-lite, with Pokemon.

Super Mario Cart 7: It's not the most current, that's on the Wii-U and Switch, but it's still Mario Kart and you can do the Download Play with friends that don't have it which you can't do on the Switch.

Kirby: Planet Robobot: It's a great little platformer for casual players. Plus you get a mecha for Kirby to stomp around in.

Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire: They're the only two Pokemon games with both Mega Evolution and a DexNav. Why on Earth Game Freak only did a Dex Nav in this one game is beyond me. It's one of the "must have" features I look for in ROM Hacks.

 

[xMusicax]

tales of abyss

 

[MHKN]

Fantasy Life: Pick between 12 jobs(classes), swap between them, develop the skills of those jobs and build yourself up until you save the world.

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon: It's a rogue-lite, with Pokemon.

Super Mario Cart 7: It's not the most current, that's on the Wii-U and Switch, but it's still Mario Kart and you can do the Download Play with friends that don't have it which you can't do on the Switch.

Kirby: Planet Robobot: It's a great little platformer for casual players. Plus you get a mecha for Kirby to stomp around in.

Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire: They're the only two Pokemon games with both Mega Evolution and a DexNav. Why on Earth Game Freak only did a Dex Nav in this one game is beyond me. It's one of the "must have" features I look for in ROM Hacks.

I liked Mario Kart 7 a lot, the Download Play feature is cool too. I did not personally put it on the list because I think Wii U/Switch version is more expanded and has the anti-gravity feature.

OR/AS are good games too, but I am personally not too fond of Pokémon remakes. I do love the Primal forms and Mega Rayquaza (one of my favorite Pokémon of all time)

 

[H1B1Esquire]

Shin mega tensies (with the soul hack)
3-D versions of older games (better with the new 3DS)
Monster Hunters
DQ’s
Radiant historia

Prob turn on my 3DS while I await my Nyxi controller…..but my switch backlog is hurting me.

 

[MHKN]

3-D versions of older games (better with the new 3DS)

by that you mean 3D Classics series or 3D remakes like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Xenoblade etc.?

 

[anotherthing]

by that you mean 3D Classics series or 3D remakes like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Xenoblade etc.?

The "3D Classics" are basically games like Streets of Rage and Xevious that were re-released for the 3DS to use the stereoscopic 3D. Basically 8bit and 16bit era games with stereoscopic 3D.

https://www.nintendolife.com/games/browse?title=3D+Classics&system[]=3ds-eshop&system[]=3ds

 

[MHKN]

The "3D Classics" are basically games like Streets of Rage and Xevious that were re-released for the 3DS to use the stereoscopic 3D. Basically 8bit and 16bit era games with stereoscopic 3D.

https://www.nintendolife.com/games/browse?title=3D+Classics&system[]=3ds-eshop&system[]=3ds

I know, I was just wondering which one did they mean because I do not think you need a New 3DS to play the Classics games.

 

[bonkabun]

Etrian Odyssey has diverse classes with diverse skills that can be really satisfying to find the synergies between. The exploration is satisfying too. Filling out your map, unlocking shortcuts, finding all the rest spots, getting more and more familiar with the dungeon floor as you go through it multiple times

Shin Megami Tensei IV and IV Apocalypse. Personally I had more fun with these than with V. The combat is snappy and the move animations are fun to watch and aren't too long

Devil Survivor. Visual novel + strategy RPG. Which character you choose to spend your limited time on actually impacts who lives and who dies, and also impacts which ending you can get. A major let-down is that it really doesn't tell you which interactions impacts what. You could be sacrificing the chance to watch an important event in favor of a filler event

Fire Emblem. Any of them, really. My favorite is Fates. The story sucks but the gameplay is good. I've been having a lot of fun replaying it with UnassumingVenusaur's same sex romance mod, which adds not only same-sex S supports, but a lot of straight and platonic supports too

Rune Factory 4 is probably my favorite game of all time. It's on a lot of other systems too, but if you only have a 3DS, you're not really missing much. Heck, I'd say the 3DS version is more comfy to play because it dedicates the whole bottom screen to the map, meaning it doesn't have that awkward minimap that the Switch and PC versions have. Also the character icons that shows you where they are at all times are more easily readable since they dedicate an entire screen to the map

 

[Kwyjor]

So I saw a similar thread in the GBA section of the forum.

Did it not occur to you that someone at some point over the history of this forum might have started a similar thread before..?
https://gbatemp.net/threads/essentials-3ds-retail-games.317711/

 

[M7L7NK7]

I've still never seen a 3ds game that interested me apart from the n64 remakes

 

[MHKN]

Did it not occur to you that someone at some point over the history of this forum might have started a similar thread before..?
https://gbatemp.net/threads/essentials-3ds-retail-games.317711/

First of all, the forum did not show this thread.

Second, be kinder to others, this will help you a lot.

 

[Maeson]

I am sure the bigger first/second parties will get mentioned regardless, but I will mention some smaller games first:

Pushmo/Pullblox is an amazing little game. Charming puzzle/platformer that has lots of levels, starts easy but gets pretty challenging, and has a great Level Editor and you can share and get custom made stages through QR codes, so no need for online functions and there's hundreds of stages floating on the net!

And the best part, it's just the first game in a trilogy on 3DS! Stretchmo/Fallblox and Crashmo/Fullblox are also awesome, and play differently so they don'tmake the previous game unimportant. It should be a crime to not have made a physical compilation before the eshop closure.

And I'll second the Monster Hunters, specially Monster Hunter Double Cross. An absurd amount of equipment, monsters, has the largest number of areas, you can play as cats (the most fun I had with MH period, they're so wacky) and with the translations the game runs at surprising 60 frames, it's wild to have on a n3ds/n2ds.

3U and 4U are also fantastic of course. I would play Stories but it's expeeensive...

In any case, what one thinks is essentia might not be for another...

 

[Kwyjor]

Second, be kinder to others, this will help you a lot.

Try doing a search for subjects before you start a thread. That will help you even more.

 

[MHKN]

Please stop being rude to people and acting like a second thread killed your family. Uncalled behavior, you can always block me if you are irritated! Bye!

Try doing a search for subjects before you start a thread. That will help you even more.

 

[H1B1Esquire]

by that you mean 3D Classics series or 3D remakes like Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Xenoblade etc.?

because I do not think you need a New 3DS to play the Classics games.

I mean anything that got remade with 3-D; also improved with NN3DS—it’s a total upgrade for folks who went from O3DS to Xl to NN3DS.

As a guy who got lucky to play the originals, originally, it was cool to try something new.

I got double lucky with dual IPS, so my experience could be different than someone else….tastes and buttholes.


Some other recommendations:
Super Mario
Luigi’s Mansion
Tetris
Mario Kart
Street Fighter 4

More but still haven’t gotten to my 3DS