Hi all- it's been a while since I've posted- hope everyone is doing well with their Japanese studies

I'm in Japan visiting the wife's family, and thought I'd pick up the New Nintendo 3DS LL while I'm out here as well as a bunch of used games. I'm looking for games with heavy voice acting- I enjoyed Tales of Rebirth on the PSP, but I didn't really get into Tales of Xillia on the PS3, even though I've tried a few times.

From what I understand there are also some good, educational games for the 3DS, and I believe the New Nintendo 3DS will play any 3DS title. So my question is, what should I be looking for (especially games that are bit older and I can pick up for cheap)? I had a search on the forum and didn't find a whole lot, but I'll keep looking.

I don't know about "educational", but I'd suggest these games. Surprisingly, there's also a lot of furigana (which is helpful because on the LL's bigger screen the kanji get stretched and blurred)

Bravely Default For the Sequel - played the English version. If you like Turn based RPGs and job systems (a la FFV), check this one out. The story had potential, but was not executed well, especially considering the scenario writer had also worked on Steins; Gate. Great soundtrack.
Danball Senki series - I'm playing Baku Boost (first one). Story is pretty mediocre, but there's a huge array of different parts to customize your LBX (mech) with, and the characters designs are pretty cool.
Fantasy Life Link - Played a few hours, but put it down when I got overwhelmed by all the stuff to do.
Youkai Watch - Haven't played this, but it's suuuper popular apparently.
SMT IV - Played the English version, decent game if you love the SMT formula. I'd recommend starting with older games in the series though.
Devil Survivor Overclocked (full voice acting!) - Sort of like pokemon vs final fantasy tactics. Great game, can be difficult at times.
Devil Survivor 2: Break Record - spiritual sequel, uses the same game system as above with a few improvements. Not out yet.
Tales of the Abyss. Great game, but the graphics look sharper on the PS2.

I'm pretty sure you can play DS games as well. Check out Ni no Kuni, Radiant Historia, etc.

Dragon quest VII is pretty fun. The text is pretty easy to read imo, especially with the furigana.

This neogaf thread might interest you, they also have a list of games they recommend. I love checking this thread, even if I don't plan on buying a new 3ds. ( unless of course, a special edition comes out..)


http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=888731

I'm lurking that thread, too.

Is Dragon Quest VII dubbed? A game with voice acting would be pretty cool.

I'm also considering Shin Megami Tensei IV and the new Final Fantasy Explorers.

For now I'm just playing Pokémon Omega.

Thanks guys- very helpful. The 3DS LL blurs kanji? Would I be better off going with a Vita? Someone mentioned that the screen is beautiful. I've been reluctant to do so because I have a PSP, and I know it's missing a lot of the fun titles that the Nintendo handhelds have.

The blurring depends on the game but it's often bearable.
Nintendo games are an inch better, I know, but PSVita has got some serious stuff for japanese learners, especially on the RPG side.

Three titles I'm trying to find the time to play this days are Super Robot Taisen Z3, Final Fantasy X HD and Persona 4. All of them have superb graphics and voice acting.

I know that used games in Japan are nicely kept and convenient maybe you can grab some there.

I haven't got a regular 3DS and have never used on in Japanese, but I don't find kanji on the LL that bad. Though I haven't played a lot on it (I have Devil Survivor Overclock to play at some point which I should get around to).

Compared to the Vita, it's not as nice. Kanji looks a lot nicer on the Vita, but I don't think the 3DS LL's are too bad.

sunehiro Wrote:I'm lurking that thread, too.

Is Dragon Quest VII dubbed? A game with voice acting would be pretty cool.

I'm also considering Shin Megami Tensei IV and the new Final Fantasy Explorers.

For now I'm just playing Pokémon Omega.

It's not dubbed, no, but it's really fun and I would recommend it to anyone.

I tried the final fantasy explorers demo; It wasn't to my taste but I don't think it had voice acting in the tiny portion I played. I don't think it had furigana either, so there's that.

albion Wrote:I haven't got a regular 3DS and have never used on in Japanese, but I don't find kanji on the LL that bad. Though I haven't played a lot on it (I have Devil Survivor Overclock to play at some point which I should get around to).

Compared to the Vita, it's not as nice. Kanji looks a lot nicer on the Vita, but I don't think the 3DS LL's are too bad.

Voice acting is high on the list of wants in a game, either that, or it has to be fantastic For example, it'd be nice to play some of the old Zelda games on the 3DS.

I'm tempted by Persona 4 and FF10 on the Vita. Though I feel like I always end up going the Sega route and regretting it - I've had the Genesis+Sega CD, Game Gear, PSP, and PS3 - never owned a Nintendo system after Nintendo/Super Nintendo.

I'll be buying as many used games as I can find while I'm here- that's one of the goals.

I'm leaning towards the N3DS either normal or LL- I'll try them both. Here's my short list of games I'm considering:
Bravery Default - ブレイブリーデフォルト
Zelda - A Link Between Worlds - ゼルダの伝説 神々のトライフォース2
Persona Q - Shadow of the Labyrinth - ペルソナQ シャドウ オブ ザ ラビリンス
Shin Megami Tensei IV - 真・女神転生IV
Fire Emblem Awakening - ファイアーエムブレム 覚醒
Devil Survivor Overclocked-Shin Megami Tensei
Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl - 新・世界樹の迷宮 ミレニアムの少女

What I pick up will depend upon what I can find, with cheap and used being the preference. What am I missing that are must haves (Smash Brothers isn't my thing for solo play).

About Bravely Default I heard very bad reviews on the second part of the game.
Luckily you can download the first part part for free on the eshop and try it.
For the second part (and for some other things, like voice acting IIRC) you have to pay 2000 yen, so for that particular game maybe eshop version is convenient.
The sequel Bravely Second is going out this Winter.

I don't see any particular 'must have' missing, but I owned Kid Icarus and I think it's a masterpiece.
Animal Crossing and Fantasy Life are also valid titles but may not suit you.
On a more serious side the Gyakuten Saiban series is very popular and also text heavy which is always a plus.
Not sure on the dubbing but there should be a nice 1+2+3 package out there at a pretty low price (it's called naruhodo selection). Otherwise you could consider the spinoff with Layton.

Devil Survivor 2 is out next January, too.

I don't know about educational games for the 3DS, but there are a lot of great kanji games for the DS if you can find them:
http://rtkwiki.koohii.com/wiki/Kanji_Gam...intendo_DS

I'm gonna throw in 牧場物語 (Harvest Moon) games for a fun farm sim with lots of everyday small talk, house-related and food-related vocab practice. I think modern day sims are useful to play if you're planning to go to Japan anytime soon, because you get a lot of the dialogue you'll be needing! No furgiana or voice acting.

とびだせ・動物の森 (Animal Crossing: New Leaf) is fun, but those kinds of games can't hold my attention for too long. Has furigana but no voice acting.

Lastly, Tales of the Abyss (katakana-ized for Japanese) is a very good RPG (originally for the PS2, remade for 3DS) with no furigana and some voice acting. It's actually been too complicated for me to understand most of it, but I've played it before in English and can vouch for the story. The character development is great.

Backwards compatibility on the 3DS for DS games too~ 3DS games are region locked, but DS games aren't. [/PSA]

Thanks all- I ended up with the N3DS LL and the top 5 games on my list + Tales of Hearts all used and under 3k yen (<$25) from a couple used game/book places. I went with the LL version, but it feels a bit too big. However, the standard version is too small for my crappy eyes - I would prefer something in between.

Devil Survivor Overclocked and Etrian Odyssey Untold were both a bit pricey (5.2k and 4.2k). If I find them for cheaper, I may pick them up. I'm keeping an eye out for Tales of Abyss and Zelda- Ocarina of Time as well, but I didn't see Abyss and Zelda was 3.5k, which seemed a bit much for an old game (though the top rated game, according to Metacritic).

First thoughts: I've been playing Bravely Default for about 30m and I'm really impressed with the 3D - it feels like you're looking into a different world. There's a short cut scene where they make it look like there is someone in the room with you using the front cameras and then displaying it on screen- very, very cool. The larger screen seems great for this game- kanji is no problem and it looks great, though I'm sure the smaller screen would be sharper. Holding the system feels awkward compared to a PSP - I can't get my hands in a position where I feel comfortable. Looking forward to playing this game for a while- I probably won't touch the other titles for now.

I just finished Tales of the World: Reve Unitia and all the dialogues are voiced (and there are 441 skits to unlock, skits that you can watch again whenever you want so it's great to practice). The game is not that great though IMHO.

This thread is too full of temptation and needs to be closed. Seriously I keep trying to justify buying one with logic like "if don't have to come home to play games I can happily stay late at college", as if it's more educational to do my not studying in a place of learning.

Does anyone know if Black Friday / Cyber Monday offers will be up also for importing Japanese games?
For example on Nippon-Yasan or Nin Nin Game...

I'll probably make an order one of those days.

captal Wrote:Devil Survivor Overclocked and Etrian Odyssey Untold were both a bit pricey (5.2k and 4.2k)

Devil Survivor 1 has reached crazy prices (1万) on online shops, maybe they're running out of copies because everyone want to play it before the sequel is released.