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Wait, what's different about the camera? I haven't noticed anything change, unless it's something that happened for the game's release on Steam. Additionally, there's a few gamepad options in the menus, those might be what you need. I'm not playing on a pad though, so i can't confirm what they do. "Aim radius" sounds like the kind of thing you're looking for though. I also haven't had any issue with the lighting system obscuring secrets to any significant degree, that might come down to monitor settings though.

I'd like to suggest the ambient soundtrack for the first Quake as the perfect accompaniment for the spooky new lighting system in the game. I quite enjoy the changes the developer has made, especially the more flexible level generation, but even the balance tweaks. It gives you a chance to build up a bit of momentum and feel like you're accomplishing something before it just totally descends upon you and kicks your ass. I've only replayed the first few levels so far, but the idea that the end game is now actually harder than before is kind of an uncomfortable thought, i just barely scraped through to the end of the game as it was when i first played it.

I feel like it's probably worth throwing out a heads-up that Teleglitch has been updated with a bunch of different things over the last little while, like a dynamic lighting model and more flexible level generation, as well as the start of the game being a bit easier and the end-game being a bit harder.

It sucks, but i have a hard time singling Nintendo out for it when it's been industry standard for so long. Yes, you can point out other examples where region locking hasn't been implemented, but it simply isn't as common as when it is. If you play console games, you definitely already own a lot of systems that are region locked. It's certainly possible, triggers tend to be the first thing to go on DS's. Though I'd say it's probably more likely that you're finding the timing of the press troublesome, i had trouble with it at first too.

You just have to tap it really quickly while moving in a direction, if you hold the trigger for a split-second too long, it won't do anything. They've got it mapped to two different functions, and the tap is different than the hold. A lot of the special attacks need to be executed during that dodge.

The boss you were talking about is still very early in the game. (I haven't finished the game myself, but i've been told it is an extremely lengthy game.) The dungeons start ramping up pretty quickly difficulty-wise, especially on the second overworld map. It seems like they might have expected you to hang around the town for a while before setting out exploring, but either way, it's not a big deal. If you're finding the difficulty curve tough, there's certainly loads of other stuff to do in the game while you prepare your character for more adventures. (I got to where you are pretty early on too, but i definitely didn't beat my head against that boss twenty times before finally killing it. Knowing about the dodge probably helped, but i can't remember if it was explained in a tutorial dialogue or if i just intuited that it would be there.) It is fair to have gone into a farming RPG not expecting a nuanced combat system, but there it is. Heh. The special attacks and the dodge will help you out a lot.

You have to just quickly tap it, it can be a bit finicky. Definitely start rolling with a party, the townsfolk will help out a lot, and get some animals with you early on so you have a chance to level them up. The game starts ramping up the difficulty past where you are.

Pay attention to your character stats, little things like getting an early night's sleep gradually increase your HP. It helps to have a party too, you can befriend animals to help you out both with the farm and in a fight, and you can even bring townsfolk along to dungeons to fight for you. Also, yeah, definitely start buying and crafting better gear. You know, and have healing items too and all that, and then even beyond all that, it still takes some finesse. Get used to the special attacks you can learn, and get used to dodging by tapping the trigger. As for the characters, there are a lot of time-sensitive story events that are pretty easy to miss. (I haven't played in a few weeks, but i think the game alerts you to any events such as that when you try to go save in your home. Some of them play out over a few days.)

I simply had Idle Thumbs recommended to me by a friend during a time when i was looking for new listening material because a lot of my favorite podcasts were winding down and coming to an end. (It's been kind of weird seeing the Idle Thumbs and Whiskey Media podcasts gradually encroach on eachother, having started listening to both line-ups completely independent of eachother.)

ACNL's combination of gating through in-game activity and real-world time progression pretty much ensures that new things continue to happen in that game for upwards of a year. Just remember to put it down every now and then, i've seen people become frustrated and burn out on the game through the expectation of being able to wring content out of it over the course of a few weeks. It is instead built to be played in small chunks over a long period of time. It is a very wonderful, distinctive thing though, it's the kind of game only Nintendo would make. (Anybody else would cram it full of gross social media hooks and microtransactions.) There's a thread for the game in multiplayer networking, but it doesn't appear to be very active right now. Still, if you need to trade items or want to tour other towns, you can look in there.

I have always found Monster Hunter as a solo game to be a lonely, empty grind. Everything about it - the slow recoveries on your melee attacks for one and the purely support nature of the ranged weapons for another - screams to me that it's a game meant to be played with friends watching your back. I don't know though, even if i'm wrong about the single-player stuff, i still think it makes sense to wait for Monster Hunter 4. I don't think anybody would argue that the multiplayer isn't the best part of Monster Hunter, right? Definitely stick with it, i think it turns into quite a great game when it finds its stride. I've definitely seen people who follow the series say it's the best one, and it's probably one of my favorite 3DS games at this point. (The only thing i really don't like is that there's no grid for placing furniture, fuck that.) It's a huge shame that the european localization was just cancelled. (Seemingly over complications with the Japanese developer having shut down only a few weeks ago.)

I loved the first Metro, but Last Light is just one that i haven't gotten around to playing, despite absolutely meaning to. I suspect it's been such a game for a lot of people.

The 3DS is doing extremely well by most measures, it is not the source of Nintendo's woes, but it's also not a market that is growing exponentially like the smart device space is. A more powerful handheld is certainly not the answer, as evidenced by Sony's struggles.

It does sound pretty bad, it also sounds like they had some pretty ludicrous expectations of how well the Wii U would do over the holidays. (My understanding is that it actually sold comparably to the PS4 and the XBO over the holidays.) Nintendo talking about looking at the smart phone market is pretty unprecedented though, they've previously been completely insistent that it wasn't necessary and would in fact be bad for them. (I'd be inclined to agree.) I certainly don't believe smart phones will be the magical fix-all for Nintendo though, considering they've had a lot of frustrating blind spots that pose much bigger questions about who they'll be going forward.

It's still a work in progress, right? It's been said that this still isn't the final version of the pad. I mean, there's certainly still room on that thing for a touch LCD. I'm optimistic to see them going in the direction of having proper face buttons/d-pads on it, it seems like a tacit acknowledgement that their haptic touch surfaces were not going to be able to provide the tactile responsiveness required for games built around firmly digital inputs.

I'm happy to see them give FEA an honorable mention nod at least, that was my personal favorite game out of last year. I bought it during the Steam winter sale and it surprised the hell out of me, it's a tremendous game.

In Kid Icarus Uprising, it does nothing to change the control scheme some people take issue with, it simply makes the game ambidextrous, i believe. (I honestly haven't bothered to try it out myself.)

RE: Rev definitely tries to evoke aspects of the earlier RE games, and a lot of RE4 too as well. (Whereas RE5 and RE6 are more or less straight-up action games.) Unless you have other people around locally to play Monster Hunter with, do not buy Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. Yes, it has a solo mode, but Monster Hunter is best as a cooperative multiplayer experience, and 3 Ultimate's 3DS version has no online play. Monster Hunter 4, which is on the way probably for this year, will supposedly have online play. That's the one to dive into. Ghost Trick! I love Ghost Trick. I also love the Phoenix Wright/Ace Attorney series. (Edit: Full disclosure, i have not played the 3DS game yet.) The latter is not like the former, the Ace Attorney/Phoenix Wright games are visual novels, simple text-focused adventure games. They are, however, from the same designer that is responsible for Ghost Trick, so you can definitely expect a lot of the same narrative sensibility. So there's a good chance that, if you like Ghost Trick, you'll be into Ace Attorney/Phoenix Wright as well. Should note, the 3DS game is the fifth game in the main series and the eighth overall. I've heard it's not impossible for new players to get into, but it will almost definitely spoil earlier games. (The earlier Phoenix Wright/Ace Attorney games, i believe, are also available on iOS though. Maybe start there if you're curious, you'd probably be into it if you like Ghost Trick's characters and overall tone.) Not a lot of games even support it, and among those that do, only a few really need it. RE:Rev and Monster Hunter are the big ones, probably. Those are probably two of the only ones that really, really need it.

Yes, there was.

Just a crazy wealth of JRPG's on the 3DS in general, lots of stuff from Atlus and others. Etrian Odyssey, Shin Megami Tensei, Rune Factory, Bravely Default, etc. Also Monster Hunter, if that's your thing. (It'd probably be worth holding out for 4 since it will have online play.) Aside from the RPG's, Resident Evil: Revelations is an RE game that i think is better than the last couple numbered entries in the series. (Definitely needs the Circle Pad Pro accessory to be played properly though.) There's also Kid Icarus Uprising, though it tends to be fairly love-or-hate based on how much tolerance the player has for its odd and marginally cramp-inducing control scheme. It's a great game if you can get past that caveat. Mario Kart 7's a pretty great Mario Kart game. And yeah, so much stuff on the eShop. (Which also has playable demos for a lot of the aformentioned games, so get on there and try stuff out.)

Looking back on it, some of my comments concerning FEA's permadeath mode might not have been super clear. I do think it's worth playing FEA with permadeath on simply because it enforces the cautious playstyle the series is designed around. There is no expendable fodder in Fire Emblem, you're supposed to be constantly checking ranges and mitigating risks. The issue i have with how FEA approaches it is simply that it brings nothing to the game beyond that, whereas previous games would have campaigns that shift course depending on who and how many characters you have alive. In FEA, it's simply closing doors; the game wants you to keep everybody alive. (So if you play with permadeath, get ready to replay missions if you screw up. FEA's permadeath mode autosaves after every move, so no quicksave abuse.) The other thing is just that FEA is actually quite a bit more difficult than the initial few missions let on, and playing with permadeath on any difficulty above normal is not really advisable for a first playthrough. The choice is absolutely yours though, there's arguments for both.

Just know that Fire Emblem tends more towards strategy than something like Final Fantasy Tactics would, there's a much stronger emphasis on troop composition and such things, though there's also a very sophisticated job system that will play out over the course of many hours. If you're interested in playing FEA, I've previously written a fair amount on these boards trying to sum up some of the not-quite-adequately explained aspects of FEA. It might be a valuable starting point. Here in this post, and the posts linked to from this post.

A better option might be, particularly if you like the 2d Zelda games, to check out the versions of the GBC Zeldas available on the 3DS eshop. (Link's Awakening and the two Oracle games.) As for actual 3DS games, let me throw out some strong recommendations for Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Super Mario 3D Land, and Fire Emblem: Awakening. Along with the two games you're actually already playing, i think that makes up probably the five best new games on the 3DS. (Speaking personally, i think FEA's the best game available for the system.)

From what i've been reading, if the game seems to play perfectly online, you're probably host. It sounds like it's pretty consistently awful on the other end of things.

Whether it's Episode 3 or Half-Life 3, i think the story is pretty much set in stone considering the corner they write themselves into with Episode 2. (Pretty much all of which is setup for a big narrative arc that, thus far, has not happened.) If Half-Life 3 comes out and it's just some random crazy other story that is only loosely connected to the prior events, like what happened in the jump between Half-Life and Half-Life 2, i think people would be pretty rightly upset. Episode 2 doesn't leave a lot of room for alternatives, it sets up a lot of promises and leaves a lot of threads hanging.