3DS/Wii U eShop pick-ups

[RedRooster]

The 3DS and Wii U eShops close on Monday 27 March, and given the high price you have to stump up for the physical versions of games on both systems - and some of the hidden gems available - I thought it was worth creating a thread. 

Not everything I'm going to highlight here is on sale - but I'll compare the price on the store to what you'd be paying for a physical version, if indeed a physical version of the game exists. 

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor: Overclocked 
eShop price: £29.00 / Physical version: around £145

Most of the 3DS Shin Megami Tensei games - with a few exceptions (including the brilliant sequel to this game, which tends to be cheaper physically) - have skyrocketed in price recently, so it's generally cheaper to buy them on the eShop. Soul Hackers is cheapest right now at £8.99 digitally, but I've decided to highlight this game as I actually think it's good (Soul Hackers - the example I gave - is a dungeon crawler...not for me). The two Devil Survivor games are tactical RPGs with solid stories, and being a big TRPG fan, this was always going to interest me. Outside of the Fire Emblem games, Overclocked and Devil Survivor 2 are, for me, the best TRPGs on the system. It's well worth picking them up while you can, particularly since they're not available on other systems. 

 

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
eShop price: £26.99 / Physical version: £130-£200

A word of caution with this one, as far as the physical version goes - it's incredibly hard to find, and I suspect the price will rise even further. £130 is how much CEX sells it for, but I've never seen it in stock on their website. On eBay, the cheapest PAL version I could find was over £200. If you enjoy JRPGs, I can't recommend this enough; particularly since it's unavailable elsewhere at the moment (there's an inferior DS version, but it's also expensive). It has a very strong storyline, and an interesting mechanic where you are able to switch timelines, to play through the impact of different decisions you make throughout the game. It's a really interesting way to tell a story, and leads to some interesting plot reveals and consequences. This is an underrated game, yet well known enough for the price to be steep. 

 

Rhythm Paradise Megamix
eShop price: £24.99 / Physical version: £60-£70

I LOVE this game. It's so much fun - think Warioware, mixed with a rhythm action game, and you kind of get the idea. But it's so much more than that - it's absolutely packed with things to do; and the general bizarreness and cheeriness of the game makes it the perfect game to play if you're having a bad day. It's utterly brimming with joy, and the kind of game that (I think) works better on the 3DS/DS than it ever could on a different system. 

 

Attack of the Friday Monsters
eShop price: £7.19 / Physical version not available

A relatively short game (around 4/5-hours) that could be categorised as an interactive story more than anything else. The gameplay mainly consists of a very simple card game; but the whole point of this game is the narrative, and it's an excellent narrative to watch unfold. I don't want to say too much more - it's worth experiencing with as little prior knowledge as possible. You can't - at the moment - purchase this game on any other system, so once the store closes, your opportunity to play it is gone.

 

The BoxBoy series
eShop price: from £4.49 / Physical version not available

There is a BoxBoy game on Switch, it's excellent, but the three original games in the series are only available as downloads on 3DS. They're a Nintendo published puzzle game, by the people behind Kirby, and they're really fun. Your character can produce a linked chain of boxes, which you use to overcome obstacles and solve puzzles in each level. They're wholesome fun, and good games to play in short bursts, if you're ever looking to fill some time. 

I'll leave it there for now - but there are loads of other worthwhile purchases, including Pullblox, Pocket Jockey and HarmoKnight - many of which are only available to as 3DS downloads, or prohibitively expensive if you were to buy the physical versions. I know I've not included any Wii U games, but if I have time, I might add a few recommendations - the main gems are on the 3DS store, though. 

[FLips]

I have Attack of the Friday Monsters on my 3DS and remember loving it!

[RedRooster]

9 hours ago, FelatioLips said:

I have Attack of the Friday Monsters on my 3DS and remember loving it!

Although it's very different gameplay wise, it reminded me very much of A Short Hike - both in terms of length, and the effective use of narrative. It's one of my favourite games on the system. 

[Merzbow]

A great idea for a thread, will give me ideas of .cia files to download..

Nintendo Pocket Football Club - £13.49

A very simple looking little footy management game without any kind of real teams or players but it's super fun in short bursts, tactics can get deceptively deep but there's definitely much luck involved in training players as it's a card based system and then you also get card combos which you have no idea about until you experiment (or check a guide).

I'd love to see a sequel on Switch.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Merzbow

[Guest]

Maybe there'd be one if more people had bought the first instead of pirating it.

[Merzbow]

I did buy it on release. I only hacked my console more recently to pretty much use it as a synthesizer.

Are the download servers being shut down at the same time as the store? That's going to be a pain in the arse if so.

Speaking of synthesizers, the awesome Korg DSN-12 is half price and a meaty bit of kit. It's how I first started making noise on the console.

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-3DS-download-software/KORG-DSN-12-920702.html

Edited March 14, 2023 by Merzbow

[RedRooster]

Some nice recommendations (and obvious choices) from Metro's Gamecentral here. 

[Guest]

Just had my final browse of the 3DS eShop. Annoyingly, some of the discounts I've seen mentioned elsewhere have either expired (surely defeating the point of a last-minute fire sale) or perhaps never applied to this region (again why?).

Anyway, turns out I already had Attack of the Friday Monsters, but I picked up a game called Tappingo 2 for 99p. Like its predecessor, it's along the lines of Minesweeper and Picross but in a form I've never seen elsewhere, and I'm a sucker for unique concepts so the price combined with FOMO cinched it.