Nintendo 3DS

[Ucantalas]

Starship Damrey.

I'm only about an hour and a half into it so far, but i think it's pretty rad. It will seem very familiar if you played any first-person point-and-click adventure games in the 90's, because it's very much that kind of game. I'm particularly reminded of the earlier Journeyman Project games, but Myst is the easiest and most familiar touchstone to grab for. As it happens, i love those kinds of games, so this is proving to be super, super appealing to me.

Woah. I'm sorry for pulling a bit off topic here, but I just got a major nostalgia kick. The first computer my family got when I was a kid had Myst and The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time as part of a huge bundle of other games that came with it.  Myst I hear about all the time, but The Journeyman Project... I loved that game. I was blown away by the graphics (previously only having played Reader Rabbit or Solitaire), and the idea of games with VOICES was astounding to me. I spent hours and hours playing that game, trying to find my way through it. It was, I believe, the first adventure game I had ever really played.

Thanks to this post, I am now looking at stuff about Starship Damrey, and so far it looks really cool. So thanks for that.

[Sno]

And i'm done.

It's fairly short, and very easy.

It definitely had my attention though, it's a likable, fun little thing.

It comes across maaaybe a little thin, but i enjoyed my time with it,

[Tanukitsune]

Has anybody checked the video channel? They have a new episode of Kirby Right Back at ya in 3D and it seems to be promoting an upcoming Kirby 3D game?

 

I still won't forgive Nintendo for NOT releasing the Kirby collection in Europe... T_T

[Roderick]

Yep, The Starship Damrey was a pretty sweet experience. Not for everyone, I would say. It has a specific appeal, sort of a blend between System Shock 2 and The Journeyman Project. Short as it was, and idiosyncratic in its gameplay choices, I enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I would have wanted it to be longer... it was fun while it lasted and had a few wonderful moments.

 

Notably when you were attacked, and the poetic zero gravity sequence!

 

Padding that out might've loaded too much upon relatively fragile shoulders... though I wouldn't have minded a few extra puzzles or systems to layer the experience.

[Squid Division]

How long did it end up taking you? I find myself increasingly less tolerant of longer, non purely system based games, and I really like the idea of these shorter more concept driven ones.

[Sno]

It's about 3-4 hours, tiny little game with a clever, twisty story.

You know what it actually feels like? It feels like the sci-fi episode of a genre anthology show, like an Outer Limits or a Twilight Zone. That's what the story in Starship Damrey reminds me of.

[Roderick]

Yes, I agree about the Outer Limits feeling. Pretty neat.

 

I think it took me 3 hours to finish, and that seems like the right length for what it is. Next up: Liberation Maiden, and then I'm probably moving to Fire Emblem Awakening, the demo of which completely sold it to me.

[Sno]

About the Outer Limits comparison, it really, really does. It's a small little contained story that ends on a twist that plants an open-ended idea and metaphor. It just feels so much like an episode of a genre anthology series. Really such a cool little game. The more i ruminate on it, the more i like it.

I'll also still insist that FEA is the best thing i've played this year, people should play it.

I'd recommend poking around this site for some systems information. Knowing when, where, and which skills can be unlocked, and how promotions and class changes function, is very valuable for enjoying the game to its fullest. (Among other things, like how the dual and pairing systems work, or what is passed down during inheritence.)

You don't neeeeed to know any of that to play it, you can certainly get by on the normal difficulty just winging it, but it's a very deep game and i got so much more out of it by trying to understand its systems. It really rewards having long-term plans for your characters. (Though don't feel oppressed by that, you don't even really get any opportunity to start passing out promotions or class changes until chapter ten or so, you definitely have time to figure the game out first.)

[dibs]

So I'm this close to getting a 3DS xl due to this thread and I need some cheering up.

What games do I aim?

Il'l be getting for sure fire emblem and zelda. I tend to veer towards jrps and turn based tactics/strategy in handheld. They aren't where I go for too much action (though mario kart and mario 3D were great).

Is there any cool experiences you can't get anywhere else I should be looking at? (Like for e.g. Big Bang mini on the DS).

Also, I'm in Europe. Are they region free like the original DS was?

[Sno]

The 3DS is not region free, sadly.

Probably the main thing to talk about with regards to the 3DS right now is the massive glut of amazing JRPG's that are out and on the way, so if you're into JRPG's at all, you'll be very happy. Shin Megami Tensei IV is out in a few weeks and is apparently pretty amazing, and there's things like Bravely Default or Mario and Luigi 4 a little further down the road. Soul Hackers, a remake of an earlier SMT game that never came out in the west, was also released just a couple weeks ago.

 

Etrian Odyssey IV is out right now and i found it to be a pretty good entry point for that series, i've ended up feeling like it's one of the 3DS's best games right now. The story is very thin though, it's very much a systems RPG, so it's a specific appeal. (It also looks like EOIV is on sale in the eShop right now. There's also a demo for EOIV that has a huge chunk of the game and lets you import your save into the full game.)

FEA is definitely a game you want to play, absolutely.

Tales of the Abyss, maybe? That port came out last year, but was a pretty good port.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf is out in a couple weeks, while things that are already available include: Super Mario 3D Land, Kid Icarus Uprising, Resident Evil: Revelations, Mario Kart 7, or Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, those are all easy recommendations.  (There's also a demo for Revelations on the eShop.)

For eShop stuff, the Guild 01 and Guild 02 games are easy to recommend. Aeroporter can probably be skipped, but Crimson Shroud and Liberation Maiden are both pretty awesome. Starship Damrey, the first released Guild 02 game, is pretty cool too.

Pushmo/Crashmo, Mighty Switch Force, Mutant Mudds, Gunman Clive, Tokyo Crash Mobs, and Nano Assault EX are maybe some other things to look at. There's a lot of good things on the eShop right now, it's a pretty healthy store front.

[tegan]

Don't forget Devil Survivor Overclocked on the JRPS  front.

[Sno]

Doesn't the european localization of that have massive, massive problems? Like, they introduced a ton of crash bugs into it.

Oh, oh! Also:

Virtue's Last Reward, but play 999 on the DS first, and then in VLR, don't save during the puzzle rooms! (It'll corrupt your save! It's a huge bug, but completely avoidable.)

Avoid spoilers for both.

[dibs]

Is that 9 doors, 9 something, 9 something else?

Also, thanks!

[Sno]

Yeah, that's it.

I don't believe 999 was ever released in europe, but since DS games aren't region locked, it's not a huge problem. (VLR, on the other hand, was released in Europe. As a 3DS game, it is region-locked.)

There's also an iOS port of 999 on the way, so if you're willing to wait, that's also an option.

You definitely don't want to play VLR without playing 999 first though, and they're both worth playing anyways, they're two awesome visual novels. (Speaking of visual novels, the fifth Phoenix Wright game was confirmed to be getting a localization, but no retail release, it'll be exclusive to the eShop.)

[toblix]

Also you should only play VLR knowing that it is pretty buggy, and one of those bugs is permanently corrupting your save game. There are some tips on where not to save, but even following those, know that you might lose tens of hours and progress like that.

[Sno]

I already mentioned that, yeah.

If you want to be completely safe in VLR, don't mess around with trying to figure out which puzzle rooms are affected by the bug and just completely avoid saving in the puzzle rooms, only save during the visual novel sequences. (There's a story timeline thing that lets you jump between different branches of the narrative, which also has the effect of giving you a way to back out of puzzle rooms so you can save safely.)

999 doesn't have any such technical issues, to be clear.

[toblix]

I just wanted to add that you'll not be completely safe since there's a bug that can corrupt your save even if you never save in a puzzle room.

[Sno]

Is that so? I haven't heard that one.

Any other details?

Man, that being the case, maybe it might just be worth waiting for an iOS port of VLR. If 999 is on iOS now, they'll probably port VLR too at some point.

It's such a shame, i really want VLR to be an easier recommendation. I think it's one of the best things on the 3DS.

[Tanukitsune]

I just heard some terrible things about the iOS port, but I can't find it right now, something about it not having puzzles or something like that?

[dibs]

So I had to pay my jerk car tax so no DS for me this month:(

[Sno]

Project X Zone's NA version has a demo up on the eShop, if anybody's interested.

I don't know about europe.

[colinp]

I'm thinking of getting a 3DXL, mainly on the strength of Animal Crossing and perhaps Fire Emblem. Hmmmmmm, still a bit unsure about it but does seem like it could be a fun pickup.

[mikemariano]

I succumbed to the flimsy dollar-off offer and bought The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Seasons. It's fun so far, and I love hearing the original Link's Awakening tracks. The videos of Game Boy Color games on the 3DS always looked dodgy to me, but the actual games look wonderful and play well.

Did these games really come out closer to Wind Waker than to Ocarina of Time? The feel of handheld Zelda games is so much better to me than the console games. I haven't enjoyed a console Zelda since A Link to the Past.

[tegan]

I know everyone says it's the best Zelda ever and all, but I've never been able to really get into Link's Awakening. It's charming and all, but it just doesn't click for me for some reason. At the moment I'm passing on the Oracles.

 

I'm thinking of getting a 3DXL, mainly on the strength of Animal Crossing and perhaps Fire Emblem. Hmmmmmm, still a bit unsure about it but does seem like it could be a fun pickup.

 

do it do it do it

It's so totally worth it. Like 99% of my gaming is on the 3DS these days.

[Roderick]

The 3DS has been the root of great gaming experiences all year for me. At this point, it's a fantastic purchase with tons of legitimately excellent games.

 

As the E3 draws nearer - and I know I've said that I don't expect Nintendo to come with a new 3DS unit this year - I am getting more anxious for this to happen anyway. It's gotten to the point that it's my sole desire out of this E3. If there's no serious 3DS love, I'll be disappointed, to hell with anything anyone else is doing.