e ShOP diSCuSSioN (Fixed the title for ye mas)

But to many games and most likely cheaper to buy them all on DS.

It depends whether you value the improvements and the lack of clutter over the price differential and the boxes, I guess.  And whether you use eBay (I don't).

Buy 'em in some form, anyway.

I'm not sure what the improvements are but I would sooner have a boxed product as you can't fondle a digital download.

All three new on amazon come to £37.

I'd lean towards picking them up on DS: I just can't trust Capcom to do a good port of these games after they failed (twice!) to do that on iOS. Having them as cards isn't too big a deal either: you're unlikely to dip in and out of each game unless you've played them all already.

The 3DS Christmas Offers on the eShop don't look too amazing - just the usual blend of Circle Entertainment mince and JRPG PISH.

That said, there is a reduced game that's got me quite interested, and it's purely on the recommendation of fronkhead: something called Sayonara UmiharaKawase. The name and anime look should determine that it's the worst game of all time, but I was really surprised to hear that it's a platformer.

I've looked into it further. Nintendo Life call it "a joy" and compare it to Mischief Makers, Canvas Curse and even Klonoa. That's another really really, strong recommendation, and at half price I'm quite tempted. Has anyone else played this game?

Heh, I read your first paragraph and readied my keyboard to claim you were wrong because Sayonara Umihara Kawase happened to be on there.

Thanks for being interested, I was afraid my tweets would fall on deaf ears.

I wouldn't take away anything from the anime look. It's really a love letter to fans of the 1994 SNES original, so the artwork just happens to be done in that style but there's nothing about it which reflects modern anime.

I'm certain everyone here will enjoy it, though. You get around by using an elastic fishing hook which can be extended/reclined, and this opens plenty of possibilities to master the gameplay and pull off ridiculously useful moves to navigate the environment or build up enough speed to jump further etc. So it has the depth of the best Mario games in terms of actually playing and controlling your character. There's a level of mastery to be achieved here.

Well worth it at £9. I paid £30-40 for the Japanese version last year and don't regret it. My only real complaint is the visuals: they are serviceable if slightly amateurish, but it feels like the developers know 2D visuals more than 3D: I'd have preferred something in the same style as the SNES or DS versions of the game.

I'm disappointed that Code of Princess was highlighted in NoE's press release as being on sale, but not this, tsk.

Here's an interview about the series and its SNES origins: http://gosokkyu.com/post/79416970057/odd-odyssey-the-story-of-umihara-kawase-in-this

Just looking there's a few games that look all right

Sayonara UmiharaKawase, I've read you bit on it Fronk but I'm still not even at £9.80

Conception 2 which is is still £17.99 even the sale. I swear I've seen it cheaper in a VITA sale, I liked it from the demo I played on VITA but remember it get some bad reviews. So has anyone played it

AeternoBlade which is £5.40, I've got weird this was going to be really good and wasn't as it's main page highlights a 7/10 review but can anyone played it

Demon King Box which is only £2.19 and it does the some same as AeternoBlade it highlights some reviews from sites I've never heard of but watched the trailer looks okay.

Code of Princess which is down to £17.25, I've played it briefly and was fun but not sure worth the £17.25

There's a demo for AeternoBlade - I remember it boring the arse off me to an offensive extent.

~

I see Level 5 are reducing all of their Guild games again - the likes of Crimson Shroud, Tokyo Monsters and Liberation Maiden are going to be £2.69 each as of Christmas Day.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/12/level_5_confirms_some_handsome_3ds_eshop_festive_discounts

I might try Weapon Shop De Omasse for something different. Bugs Vs. Tanks is one of those games that's so rubbish it's good.

Now thinking about it I think I played the demo and was rather boring.

Weapon Shop De Omasse I'll be on that.

Crimson Shroud gets a recommendation from li'l ol' me. Once you get into it, it's very fun and somewhat dark.

Just put the Wii U's eShop week coming up and it's decent some VC games, some stuff in the sale.

The 3DS has nothing really this week, I would of liked something.

Thanks to my £5 voucher just download Weapon Shop de Omasse,

Still nothing for the 3DS eShop, I note.

Yeah the 3DS has had a bad year on all front's.

I'm still waiting for someone to pick up Sayonara Umihara Kawase

---

Agreed on 3DS having a bad year, it's also the year where indie support for the platform dried up. Retro City Rampage DX and Shovel Knight are the only ones I can think of from this year, otherwise most eShop releases have been shovelware.

There have been a fair few good big releases for the 3DS, though, but they were either not top drawer material or Nintendo chose not to bring them to peoples' attention (Rune Factory 4, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Sayonara Umihara Kawase, Etrian Odyssey Untold, Persona Q).

Another narrative I like using is that 3DS (and Vita) had a great year...if you like RPGs. Most of the high profile releases have been RPGs, even my list in the previous paragraph consists almost entirely of RPGs.

In Japan, 3DS has had a great year. Of course. The library of games for the system is ridiculously diverse by comparison to what we receive, and the region even receives the best of indie from the west (Gunman Clive, Steamworld Dig among others).

Next year should be better -- I can list a good dozen of great software that will grace the west -- but again a lack of communication from Nintendo isn't exactly getting me hyped about it. So far they've only bothered to let us know that Codename Steam, Majora's Mask and (at a push) Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate exist.

I do like RPGs, but have somehow managed to avoid picking all of the above up! I think that part of my problem is not liking dungeon-crawlers, or not as much. I should probably pick up SMTIV and... wait, did RF4 come out in the west?

Balladeer wrote:

wait, did RF4 come out in the west?

Yup, it's been out since early December. And that's the issue, Nintendo couldn't be bothered to communicate its release in that Direct we had. And the eShop's "coming soon to Nintendo 3DS" rack has been a joke since it existed, only featuring about three or so titles (for some reason Citizens of Earth is one of them) like Pokemon and Smash, but nothing else. Not even marquee third party games that they should be proud to have, like Persona Q.

I couldn't possibly blame you at all for not knowing RF4 is out over here.

On a related note, the EU eShop Team's favourite games of 2014 rack paints a slightly sad picture when they resort to including 2048 in there, an inferior clone of Threes.

fronkhead wrote:

I'm still waiting for someone to pick up Sayonara Umihara Kawase

I downloaded it pished after the pub one night! It's on my ever-growing 'To Play' pile, alongside Mario Golf, Fantasy Life, Link Between Worlds, CastleVania, Azran Legacy, Rayman Family Pack...(and so on!)

Excellent, thanks! Looking forward to hearing what you make of it once you eventually play it.

I'd have skipped it - nay, probably ridiculed it - if I didn't learn from you that it's a platformer. I'll make time for it someday!

~

On another note, I can't agree that it's been a bad year for 3DS. Granted, it wasn't 1998 or 2007 (real years of Nintendo greatness), but I got a ton out of it. Lots of older releases endured - New Leaf was my most played game of the year again, and MK7 got a lot of love. Super Smash Bros. 3DS is better than it has any right to be, it's genuinely great and doesn't feel like a compromise at all. Tomadachi Life was great fun over the summer, at times hilarious. Kirby Triple Deluxe might be the best in the series - a 3DS essential in my opinion. I've not heard a bad word about Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright. Omega Ruby is a massive improvement on the original. I've not mentioned the likes of Mario Golf World Tour or Fantasy Life either.

On eShop, I liked Tapingo a lot. Pokémon Link Battle was a good effort too. Steel Diver was a pleasant surprise. Nintendo Pocket Football Club was an obsession for me over the spring. The Phoenix Wright trilogy is a welcome re-release. Bike Rider DX (if that was 2014) is ace. I'm sure there's others to be considering at a time that's not 115am.

It's all down to personal taste, of course.  

I found Layton v. Wright and Mario Golf World Tour to be major disappointments (some bad words for you), and Fantasy Life a minor one.  Meanwhile, eShop games like BRDX, Pokémon Link Battle, and even Shovel Knight came and went without setting my world alight (didn't get on with Steel Diver).  

Bravely Default was a fine carry-over from last year.  SSB3DS was a great game that's now been completely superseded.  K3D was probably the positive surprise of the year, 3DS-wise, in that it was more than just unoffensive.  And Alpha Sapphire's great so far.  

So what is probably the best 3DS game of the year is a remake, and it looks like the same may be true for next year.  I'm sorry that I can't be more positive, but looking back on how my 3DS year has been, I'm in Fronkhead's boat.  

But if you had a good year, then fair enough! Good to hear some positivity.

I totally agree with Balla & Fronk on the 3DS this year but I think the major problem is that 2013 was such a good year for the system that 2014 was going to be meh in comparison. I do hope 2015 is better even if it seems to be all remakes.

2013 was mind-blowing.  LM2, ACNL, Layton 6, AA5, X/Y, Bravely Default, ALBW.  Perhaps we're all just comparing it to that.

eShop has never really blown my mind, though, in either year.  The Wii U shop had CoL and Guacamelee, among others, this year, and I'd say it's the best year for either of the two shops.

Balladeer wrote:

2013 was mind-blowing.  LM2, ACNL, Layton 6, AA5, X/Y, Bravely Default, ALBW.  Perhaps we're all just comparing it to that.

eShop has never really blown my mind, though, in either year (beyond).  The Wii U shop had CoL and Guacamelee, among others, this year, and I'd say it's the best year for either of the two shops.  

This. I'm glad Phillips got a lot out of this year, though. Like I said, there actually have been a lot of releases, they just aren't all top drawer like last year, and the platform as a whole felt like it had gone a bit quiet. Especially when last year Nintendo had so many goodies for us over summer, like the StreetPass games, and 2013 also had the last big 3DS game from the west (Castlevania Mirror of Fate by my memory).

Also funny how we dare not mention Yoshi's New Island yet, haha.

As for eShop, I think I may be mixing up with late 2012, but late 2012-2013 had Fallblox, the bulk of the best Level-5 games, Steamworld Dig, Mario & Donkey Kong, Gunman Clive, Kokuga and more.

Again, we come to personal taste. I didn't get on with the "-blox" series, and I found Steamworld Dig barely above average. Gunman Clive was quality, though, and if GC2 comes out next year, that'll better all of 2014's offerings combined.