Topic: What are your favorite 3DS hidden gems?

[ejamer]

As I'm working through my library of (retail) 3DS games, I noticed that most of them are mainstream, "big name" titles and that I've got far fewer quirky or original games for this system than I do for DS. Things get slightly better when you look at eShop titles that were downloaded, but it's still pretty heavy on first-party releases.

Can anyone suggest some awesome and unique games, preferable retail, that I should keep my eyes peeled for when trying to "finish up" my collection?

[pokepal148]

Rhythm Thief is a solid although flawed rhythm game.

[Order.RSS]

I mean, define hidden gems I guess, but here's a few that come to mind...

Retail
-Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars is often mentioned on lists of good strategy RPGs, since it's a top-down, turn based strategy game in the vein of Fire Emblem. Producer of X-Com worked on this. It's prone to crashing though.
-Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons Super Mario Bros. is hardly unknown, what with the Mario license attached, but I'm not sure many people actually played it. Supposed to be super addictive.
-LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 is interesting for two reasons: it looks to be fairly good conversion from the Wii version, and the previous game in this franchise (Years 1-4) was never released on 3DS. I played this on Wii, and while Years 1-4 is the better game, most of this is just down to the slapstick comedic tone of LEGO games meshing better with the lighter stories rather than the moodier later movies.
-Rayman Origins is a really good game, I'm sure it's fine on 3DS too. Hardly hidden, but I doubt many people played this on 3DS either.
-Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy+ is a contender for stupidest name on the console, but apparantly the game is all right.

These are just hidden, not sure about the gem part.
-The Farming Simulator games genuinely look pretty good in the graphics department. If this is your jam, there's like 6 different versions of it available at retail. Newcomers beware though, on 3DS these games don't come with tutorials (well maybe the 2015-2018 versions do, the ones before don't).
-Rodea The Sky Soldier has a version on 3DS, which was also up-ported to Wii U. To be honest though I think that's more of a curiosity; the Wii version is commonly referred to as the far superior game.
-Shifting World is one I've never seen in stores, but a retail version does exist. It's a really slow-paced platformer with dual-world mechanic. I really hated the demo and would absolutely not recommend it, but it sure seems hidden...?

Download
-Severed is one of my favourite games, well, ever? Playing with the map and touch screen closer together likely makes this the best version, too. Has crossbuy with the Wii U.
-MyNintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess is a freebie on MyNintendo. For a mere 1,000 platinum coins, you can get this Zelda themed version of digital crack cocaine. Kept me hooked for 16 hours and it's secretly my favourite 3DS game (sorry Metroid).
-SteamWorld Dig 2 is also on 3DS eShop, if you don't have a Switch yet! Got absolutely rave reviews.

EDIT: Oh there's quite a few fighting games on 3DS too. Dead or Alive Dimensions was rather well received I think, Tekken 3D Prime was more mixed. There's also some fighting games which look absolutely miserable. Tenkai Knights looks slow like molasses for example, and Ubisoft's Combat of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D looks like a strong contender for worst game on the platform. Did anyone play these? I feel sorry for them.

[pokepal148]

The 3DS Epic Mickey game is a pretty fun and well built 2d platformer. It certainly isn't worth the $40 price point (it's short and the painting mechanic can ruin the pace a bit.) but you can get it for $15 on Gamestop's website atm and for that it's well worth it.


And as Steef said, Dead or Alive Dimensions is excellent. There was a BlazBlue game as well.

[ejamer]

... And as Steef said, Dead or Alive Dimensions is excellent. ...

I always feel like I should have bought this game, but never really end up putting much time into fighting titles any longer. Without a local opponent interested in battling, they kind of lost their charm (and playing online is rarely better than playing against the computer for me - I can understand why others like it, but I'm not so much into those anonymous battles).

The only "recent" exception I can think of was Tatsunoko vs Capcom, which I played quite a bit. Soul Caliber 2 was also excellent, but terribly old now.

[Evan_B]

CRIM
SON
SHROUD

[ejamer]

CRIM
SON
SHROUD

One pretty notable moment in that game that is a disappointment, but otherwise I agree. It's fantastic and was my pick in the "what single 3DS game would like a sequel for". A full-scale RPG story told using this format would be incredible...

[Lemonade]

Heroes of Ruin. I loved it, but I don't think many other people even played it.
Project X Zone 2. It kind of goes for too long (took me a bit over 60 hours to finish), but its so fun and weird that I wanted to keep playing it.
Chibi Robo Zip Lash. It has some weird quirks, but I had a lot of fun with it overall. The overall gameplay really reminded me of a Yoshi game.

[UncleBob]

While I may be reaching the definition of Hidden Gems...

Adventure Time: Hey Ice King, Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?

It's short, has a lot of inside humor, and has a lot of questionable design choices - but it's a load of fun, as most reviews at the time noted, it's a Zelda II clone... which is an odd choice of a game to clone.

[pokepal148]

The original Steel Diver is a fun time you can get for cheap. I got my copy for $2

[ejamer]

The original Steel Diver is a fun time you can get for cheap. I got my copy for $2

Totally agree!  I get why people weren't impressed with the game when paying full price close to launch, but I think that Steel Diver is actually pretty great if you can get it cheap.

[Khushrenada]

No it isn't! Quit posting on-topic posts and just show us the freakin' spam already!!!! Jeepers! What kind of spambot doesn't actually post spam?! That's your whole reason for existing!!!

[ejamer]

Wow - I don't think this is a "hidden" game, but did my son ever fall head-over-heels for Fantasy Life. Despite getting a good amount of press at release, it feels like it's been kind of forgotten since. Definitely worth checking out.

[Fatty The Hutt]

Attack of the Friday Monsters
Not world-shattering but a charming little adventure. Captures the spirit of being a kid, even if you didn't grow up in 1970s Japan, as I didn't.