The 3DS Thread

Huh, I'm surprised that we didn't have a 3DS thread before.

I'm a big fan of Pushmo, so I in fact just bought Crashmo myself yesterday due to the sale. I haven't had a chance to play it too much yet, but as a first impression, the seemingly minor mechanics change (gravity) affects the gameplay way more than I thought it would. In Pushmo, each block was "stuck" to invisible slots in the background, so you mostly only needed to worry about each block independently. But in Crashmo, the blocks now rest on top of each other and yet, somewhat unintuitively, have no weight or friction. This means that if Block A is sitting on top of Block B, you can slide Block B around under it all day without effecting any movement whatsoever in Block A so long as Block B continues to support Block A by even a single point of contact. Pull Block B completely free however, and Block A will immediately plummet to the ground.

In addition, whereas previously you could only move blocks a maximum of three spaces and only back/forward, you can now freely move them around the grid as you please, both back/forward and left/right. On top of that, you can now rotate your perspective to approach the blocks from behind or from either side.

What this all adds up to is that you have a lot more choices and variables to consider in approaching each level, and must think a few more steps ahead. As a result, the game is somewhat more complex and consequently more difficult than its predecessor. Whether you find this to be an improvement depends on your tastes, though personally, I thought much of the charm of the original was how devilishly difficult it could be despite being built on such an exceedingly simple concept.

There's at least one other deceptively significant change for Pushmo players to get used to (Mallo can now move a block without walking along with it, meaning you no longer have to keep at least one space open for Mallo to walk into as he moves a block), but bottom line: Prepare for a somewhat more different experience than you might be expecting. This isn't just a level pack -- there's an obvious through-line to its predecessor, yes, but it seems nearly like a whole new game.
Edited by ThisOneKidMongo - 2/27/13 at 7:37am

Added to the Sticky List

Crashmo is the best!

I just jumped on the 3DS train last fall (2012) with an XL and gotta say I love it. Started with the staples (Zelda OOT, Mario 3D Land, etc.) but have been face and eyes into Fire Emblem Awakening for the last two weeks steady. If you own a 3DS, Fire Emblem is a must own in my opinion. It's a lot more forgiving (if you want it to be, the options are there) than previous entries in the series.

We did, but no-one's posted in it for so long it's probably a few pages back now.

That's good, because I'm terrible at strategy games. Three of my characters died on the first level of Fire Emblem for SNES.

The demo seemed nice and the cutscenes were beautiful. I just have way too many games already.

I'm really enjoying paper mario sticker star.. i have a lot of 3ds games.. it's been a fantastic portable and the I love the XL due to it's size..

wish they made a 3ds lite - too bulky in my pocket

The "vanilla" 3DS is approximately the same dimensions as the old DS Lite (3DS is thinner actually, but only by fractions of a millimeter).

I don't think they could go much smaller and have appropriate screen space with comfortable button layouts.

then it should have room where i can insert cash and cards

or make phone calls and use gps

Finally gave in and walked into Target to pick up Fire Emblem Awakening yesterday, ignoring my usual "no 3DS games for full price" rule. From what I've read it sounds like later-game mechanics become a bit too complex for my tastes, but for now I'm loving it, marathoned about 5 hours yesterday.

I did feel like a bit of a wimp turning "Casual" mode on, but honestly I never get invested in the characters enough to care when they die, and yet I'm a completionist, so all permadeath ever meant to me was an immediate reset. I do find myself playing a bit sloppier as a result, and some of the tension is gone, but on the other hand it actually brings some new dimensions to battle strategy, since sacrifice plays are more viable. Besides, losing a character can still lead to catastrophe -- such as when I lost a tank blocking a bridge, and thus the enemy units poured in and slaughtered my trainee, mage, and healer in short order -- so there's still plenty of motivation to keep everyone alive. It's just that, say, a cheap critical or an accidental button press no longer means having to start an hour-plus map all over again.

Is Fire Emblem widely available in stores yet, or should I order it off Amazon( has a 2-3 week shipping date)? I'm not in the US but will be traveling there in April...

it's in stores

Hm, I did actually get the last copy at my Target, but it's currently in stock at most Gamestops by me.

I'm getting ready to import a Japanese 3DS, and I am really kicking myself for loving the XL so much. It is much more expensive to import than a regular 3DS...

Anyway, that is still a few months off as I still have a fairly decent backlog to work through. (currently working on Fire Emblem)

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/997614-nintendo-3ds/65826623

It seems the latest update unlocked some added power in the system. Framerates in many games have been greatly improved. The thread above has a lengthy discussion about it.

What exclusives led you to want to import a Japanese system?

It isn't a delusion, areas with obvious slowdown just don't chug like they used to. (we are talking 5fps to 25fps obvious in some cases, it isn't a small difference.) Did you even read the thread? Everyone in it was more sceptical than you going in, myself included, which is why I chose Tales of the Abyss, it had an easy to replicate slowdown (enter a forest patch on the overworld, framerate was cut by a good 75% every time) Now the framerate barely changes at all. It isn't a minor change, which is why people are noticing the difference and talking about it.

Dragon Quest 7
Bravely Default
EX Troopers
Monster Hunter 4

Several Eshop releases (US credit cards work on the JPN Eshop from what I have read)

3DS capture hardware is limited, and dev kits probably wouldn't work.

Like I said, the difference isn't minor, so all you will have is people using their eyes to spot the difference, and it is very easy to spot.

Neogaf and Beyond3D will probably pick up on it soon if they haven't already, but that also won't be good enough for you either. Don't count on Digital Foundry checking it.

Anyway, I'm happy with the update, my only complaint with Tales of the Abyss 3D is now gone, making it the difinitive version of the game instead of the one with less annoying problems.

I can try it with bit trip saga, but I don't remember which level had a problem now

I wish I had more time to play all my 3DS games
So many games, so little time...

Yeah I feel like that too, binici but I still have plenty of time to look at avsforum
It is mesmerizing

Yeah, between Fire Emblem and Crashmo alone, my DS will be well occupied until Animal Crossing in May. I think I've sunk 90+ hours into FE in a few weeks, easy.

I still have to finish Pokemon White 2, Fire Emblem, Kingdom Hearts DDD, Paper Mario, Tales of the Abyss, And Etrian Odyssey IV on my 3DS, with several more to buy.

My Wii U backlog is also growing, it is the price I pay for thinning out my PS3 backlog and studying Japanese at the same time.

Dark Arisen and Xillia are my last two PS3 games to buy (have Xillia in Japanese, but I want to support the series in the US) after that I will be gaming almost exclusively on Nintendo hardware for quite some time.