Advice on getting a 3DS.

[Megalodon]

Apologies if what I'm asking in this thread is pretty basic, but I haven't payed any attention to handhelds since the Game Boy Colour/Early GBA, so I'm pretty behind the times.

Recently I've been getting the urge to check out pokemon again, last time this happened a few years ago I picked up FireRed and had a good little nostaligic time. Now that feeling has returned with a vengeance, so I've been looking at the recent games and the 3DS XL.

While the amazon page did answer some important questions, like price and backwards compatibility, I'm still left with some (potentially basic and stupid) questions. Primarily, how big are save files and junk? The XL I found comes with a 4gb SD card, which sounds like a lot, but I thought the same about my 360's hard drive when I got it, turned out in that case 20gb filled up a lot quicker than I'd like. Is that space there intended for the pictures/music/other random stuff they advertise, all of which I can happily ignore as I'd want the machine to play games, or will it be a repeat of the 360, where additional game data ends up eating most of the hard drive space?

The next query is very bloody basic, but the amazon page says the console doesn't come with an AC adapter, does this mean I have to buy an adapter to be able to charge the bloody thing, or will it come with a way of charging it?

Finally, though I've primarliy got my eye on pokemon games, any recommendations for "must have" titles?

 

[Baldr]

The 3DS is backwards compatible with any DS game(as far as I know). Games that rely on cartridges do not take up SD card space, well at least for the DS games, I don't own any cartridge games for the 3DS. I have a 2GB card that is full with 4 full 3DS retail games I have download from the Nintendo shop, and a bunch of other apps.

Luckily the SD cards are generic, so you can buy more pretty cheap if needed. I believe Toshiba supplies the cards for Nintendo.

It should come with an adapter if it is brand new.

Heartgold/Soulsilver are the best of the DS IV Generation, but they are replay of Gold/Silver.

Black and White I enjoyed, a bit different from previous games, but still sticking to the same formula.

Black and White 2 are continuations of story, but not much is added to really merit a play at this point if you've played the first games.

 

[Corven]

For game recommendations, I've heard that the new shin megami tensei and fire emblem games are the systems "must own" if your into JRPG's and tactical turn based strategy games respectively, also I don't know if it is still going on but if you buy and register both of these games they'll give you $30 shop credit, so you could potentially pick up some other games on the e-shop.

Also the new Ace Attorney game is coming out soon and that is definitely something to look forward to.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

My SD card is nowhere near full and I have a ton of eShop games and demos; 4GB seems like plenty for now.

I can't remember if my charger came with the system or if I'm using my DS one, so I can't answer that :[ I'd invest in one just in case. Kinda bullshit that you'd have to, though.

Shin Megami Tensei IV is out soon! If you've never played a Shin Megami Tensei game before, they're basically turn-based RPGs where you can recruit demons by talking to them instead of beating the shit out of them (though that can work, too!). Once you've recruited the demons, you can fuse them to make better demons. The combat is usually fantastic and pretty tactical; hitting elemental weaknesses gives you extra turns and stat-altering skills can be the difference between curb stomping your enemy or being completely wiped out. The storylines are usually pretty great, too. Dark, demonic apocalypses with multiple routes.

Some people describe the series as a grimdark Pokemon, but SMT came first ;D

There's also Fire Emblem Awakening, RE: Revelations (I hear the home console/PC version isn't great) and Ocarina of Time (if you don't have the original; it's almost exactly the same, but prettier). There's also the entire library for the DS which has some real gems.

 

[MisterShine]

Primarily, how big are save files and junk? ..Is that space there intended for the pictures/music/other random stuff they advertise, all of which I can happily ignore as I'd want the machine to play games....

the 4 gig card is perfectly fine unless you intend to buy a lot of games off their digital store, and by that I mean full-fledged 3ds titles, if you want to buy GBA/NES whatever Virtual Console games or the little games like Pushmo, the 4gb will be more than enough unless you get literally hundreds of them. If you want to put a lot of music or pictures on there that might require a bigger card (they are ridiculously cheap, I got a 32gig one for about 25 bucks), but as you said you weren't going to use it for anything than games you should be fine.

The next query is very bloody basic, but the amazon page says the console doesn't come with an AC adapter, does this mean I have to buy an adapter to be able to charge the bloody thing, or will it come with a way of charging it?

It does indeed. You'll have to buy an AC adapter separately. However this leads me to believe you're in Europe somewhere, yes? I believe Europe is the only place that does that. You might want to consider importing a North American 3ds as I hear Europe takes fucking forever to get games into their region (and the system is region locked. Mother fuckers)

Finally, though I've primarliy got my eye on pokemon games, any recommendations for "must have" titles?

This year has been fantastic for 3ds, especially if you dig RPG's.


What I'd recommend:

Super Mario 3d Land
Etrian Odyssey 4
Fire Emblem Awakening
Devil Survivor Overclocked
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Ocarina of Time 3ds
Luigi's Mansion 2

plus Shin Megami Tensei 4 comes out next week..... Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh

edit: As for pokemon, Heartgold or Soulsilver. Those are the absolute shit.

 

[Able Seacat]

As far as I can find out you do have to buy an adapter.

I recommend you take a quick look at Asda as they have some pretty good 3DS XL deals at the mo such as a console and a Professor Layton game for £146

Asda

Argos AC Adaptor is going for £6.99

 

[Snograt]

It's the virtual console that makes the 3DS for me. Oracle of Ages/Seasons? Metroids aplenty? Sold!

Mind you, that's pretty much all I use the WiiU for, too

 

[Megalodon]

Heartgold/Soulsilver are the best of the DS IV Generation, but they are replay of Gold/Silver.

edit: As for pokemon, Heartgold or Soulsilver. Those are the absolute shit.

Yeah, one of those is pretty much my first port of call, never played Gen II to the same extent as Gen I was I was a kid, but I remember good things about the originals.

the 4 gig card is perfectly fine unless you intend to buy a lot of games off their digital store, and by that I mean full-fledged 3ds titles, if you want to buy GBA/NES whatever Virtual Console games or the little games like Pushmo, the 4gb will be more than enough unless you get literally hundreds of them. If you want to put a lot of music or pictures on there that might require a bigger card (they are ridiculously cheap, I got a 32gig one for about 25 bucks), but as you said you weren't going to use it for anything than games you should be fine.

Excellent, just what I wanted to hear.

It does indeed. You'll have to buy an AC adapter separately. However this leads me to believe you're in Europe somewhere, yes? I believe Europe is the only place that does that. You might want to consider importing a North American 3ds as I hear Europe takes fucking forever to get games into their region (and the system is region locked. Mother fuckers)

Indeed, British to be specific. That's kinda scummy of Nintendo if they ship chargers with the console to everyone else. Eh, not in much of a hurry for most games (and as far as I know pokemon X and Y have the same release date worldwide, which is the only game I currently know of for imminent release)

This year has been fantastic for 3ds, especially if you dig RPG's.


What I'd recommend:

Super Mario 3d Land
Etrian Odyssey 4
Fire Emblem Awakening
Devil Survivor Overclocked
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Ocarina of Time 3ds
Luigi's Mansion 2

plus Shin Megami Tensei 4 comes out next week..... Yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh

Definitely need to keep a copy of this list for when more funds become availalbe.

I recommend you take a quick look at Asda as they have some pretty good 3DS XL deals at the mo such a console and Professor Layton game for £146

Asda

Argos AC Adaptor is going for £6.99

Interesting, never played a Professor Layton game before, now to determine if it's worth £6...

 

[Able Seacat]

Interesting, never played a Professor Layton game before, now to determine if it's worth £6...

If you like puzzles then I highly recommend them. I haven't played the 3DS one but I enjoyed the others and they have a nice story to boot.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I don't want to sound like a broken record considering half of my forum responses are about how great I think Pokemon Black and White are the some of best things evar! I absolutely recommend Black version, to me it's the shake up the series needed without changing the fundamentals. I would recommend Black and White 2, HeartGold/SoulSilver, and Platinum too since they are on the DS.

Besides Pokemon the 3DS is a great buy anyway, if you like Zelda you can get the great 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time, you can download several of the older handheld games on the eshop, and there's the new one coming out in November.

Plus you will find great Mario games on the system like Mario 3D land, and Mario Kart 7, and the new Mario and Luigi RPG is looking pretty good. Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon is one of my favorite games of the year so far, so I recommend it.

I would recommend Kid Icarus Uprising, HOWEVER! the controls are terrible especially if you're left-handed like me. That being said, if you can master the bad controls you get an otherwise great game.

Even though I haven't played them yet Fire Emblem: Awakening, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Resident Evil: Revelations are all said to be some of the best games on the system.

Edit: Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance is also well regarded so I would look into it.

 

[roushutsu]

I bought a 3DS a few weeks ago myself, and so far I've got Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Project X Zone, Kingdom Hearts 3D, and a used copy of Kid Icarus. I'm looking forward to the new Pokemon myself, in fact that's why I buckled down and got around to finally getting the damn thing. I play Animal Crossing with my friends practically every night, KH3D was a disappointment (for me anyway), I'm loving Kid Icarus, and Project X Zone is pretty interesting too. All of those are cartridges, so I don't know much about the digital downloads and space. I bought my 3DS brand new, so it came with the charger. Perhaps you were looking at a used 3DS on Amazon? Either way, if you need an adapter, they should be relatively cheap.

 

[AliasBot]

For Pokemon games I would suggest Platinum (the last of the Pokemon "third games," and in my opinion the best), Black or White (which are just great games, apart from the didn't-I-just-talk-to-you-five-seconds-ago rivals), and maybe Black 2 if you like B/W (it really is just a simpler sequel, but it has its own quirks, and Black 2 unlocks Challenge Mode when you beat the Elite 4, which basically makes boss fights notably tougher the next time you play through the game - White 2 unlocks Easy Mode, for some reason). And X/Y seem very promising from what has been shown of the newest title, so if you're not off of your urge to play Pokemon by the time they come out I'd recommend them, too.

As a matter of fact, X/Y is the main reason I'm finally getting a 3DS as well. But I've heard good things about other games on the 3DS, particularly FE: Awakening and Mario Kart 7 (apparently it's pretty good on handheld?).

...*starts jotting down titles people have suggested to add to own list of games to get*

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Animal Crossing New Leaf
Kid Icarus Uprising
Etrian Odyssey 4
Kingdom Hearts 3D
Star Fox 64 3D
Ocarina of Time 3D

Best I can recommend. And the save files are small with a 4GB card (in my experience) and other games on the eShop are also decently small for most. You'll do fine with a card that size

 

[lunavixen]

Well mine came with an AC adaptor, as the connector for the 3DSXL isn't the same as the one for my DS lite, if you're getting it new it will come with an AC adaptor (well it should), 4GB is plenty of space as a lot of games (particularly original DS) store their save files on the cartridge. I believe many games on the 3DS do as well, besides, it's an ordinary SD card, which you can get for a song just about everywhere.

I've got Pokemon white version 2 (sticking to the same formula that has served since pokemon blue and red pretty much), Soulsilver and heartgold (remakes of the GBC versions) are worth a look, seeing as the cartridges for those games have had massive save battery issues, my pokemon silver won't hold a save file.

As for other 3DS games, I can recommend Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, it's pretty good (not as good as the original two games and BBS, but still a major-ish entry in the series) but it's more a game for someone who is up to date with the series. Luigi's Mansion is worth a look as well, if you like Zelda, OoT has been rereleased and it's good, they've fixed some of the issues from the initial release and given it a slight graphical alteration. Kid Icarus isn't bad, but it's a bit of a headache after a while and the controls need work, but it's not bad.

 

[The_Lost_King]

You absolutely have to get Fire Emblem. It is non-optional. It is a great game with a lot of content.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

Only carts I have for my XL are Miracle Mask and Etrian Odyssey 4.

But I also have Mega Man 2,3
Mighty Switch Force 1,2
VVVVVV
Shantae: Risky's Revenge
Blaster Master: Enemy Below

What I wish WAS in the eshop

Super Metroid
Soulblazer
Act Raiser
Miracle Warriors
Whomp em
Crystalis
Shadowgate
Mega Man 9,10
Mega Man X 1,2,3
Kickle Cubicle

 

[TheEvilCheese]

The next query is very bloody basic, but the amazon page says the console doesn't come with an AC adapter, does this mean I have to buy an adapter to be able to charge the bloody thing, or will it come with a way of charging it?

It should come with an adapter if it is brand new.

I bought my 3DS brand new, so it came with the charger. Perhaps you were looking at a used 3DS on Amazon? Either way, if you need an adapter, they should be relatively cheap.

Well mine came with an AC adaptor, as the connector for the 3DSXL isn't the same as the one for my DS lite, if you're getting it new it will come with an AC adaptor (well it should)

There are many countries in the world where new XL's do not come with a charger (including where OP lives). It's clearly advertised on the box and they're dirt cheap. Nintendo say it keeps costs down and removes duplicates and the chargers are easy to get hold of anyway.

As for recommendations op?

DS games:

-So many pokémon games. HG/SS are great and I would suggest getting a 5th generation one as well.

-The World Ends With you. Unique JRPG from squeenix a few years ago. Definitely look it up and see if you're interested. Not for everyone but a damn excellent game.

-The Layton series if you want straight puzzles with a charming story / world.

-The Phoenix Wright games if you want... concentrated awesome (I can't describe them very well- look em up)

-Chrono Trigger (assuming you never played it on PS1 or SNES being a brit and all). One of the best JRPGs of the SNES era, and I would argue one of the best games ever made.

REMEMBER, DS games are region free (unlike 3ds games) and American copies are often a lot cheaper, especially for games that are rare over here.

3DS games:

-Fire Emblem Awakening: I can't say this enough. It has almost universal acclaim for a reason. Turn based strategy RPG done right. If you get it, I would suggest playing the game through before connecting to the internet with it, the DLC (free and otherwise) breaks the balancing of the levels and scaling pretty badly.

-Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate: Kill big monsters, cut them up, make bigger swords out of them, kill bigger monsters. Repeat ad infinitum. Great fun (better still with the circle pad pro, but I personally don't use one).

-Luigi's mansion 2. Because Luigi + ghosts = great fun. Simple as that really. Worth a look.

-Animal crossing: New leaf. The most chilled out and relaxing game around. Charming life-sim(ish) where you basically do whatever you like with no true obligations or goals. Somehow turns out amazing. (Note: very slow paced)

-Super Street Fighter 4 3ds: Excellent version of SF4, if you have even a passing interest in fighting games get this. It's dirt cheap (<£10 new) and is just plain good.

I've heard excellent things about resident evil: revelations and devil survivor overclocked, but can't comment personally.

The included memory card will be PLENTY for save games and small downloadable titles. I have a 32gb in mine because I listen to music but only 2gb-3gb is taken up with actual game content, and I have a lot of Eshop downloads.

 

[Lilani]

Finally, though I've primarliy got my eye on pokemon games, any recommendations for "must have" titles?

The Professory Layton series. Seriously, you will not regret it. And Unwound Future will make you cry.

EDIT: you know, Professory was a typo...but I think I'm going to keep it. I like it.