If you could only buy three of these 3DS games, which ones would you get?

Now that we've all (mostly) got the excitement surrounding "Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017" out of our systems, let's chat about something else.

Today, the "something else" consists of helping me figure out which of the following six North American 3DS games I should buy this week.

What can I say? I have a few "free" bucks to blow, and I want to blow them on a few more titles for my favorite handheld.

I really only have enough to pick up three of the 3DS games mentioned below, though, so keep that in mind while coming up with your suggestions.

Corpse Party--I actually pre-ordered the North American 3DS port of Corpse Party well in advance of its just-in-time-for-Halloween release date. I canceled it before the game hit the streets, though, as I knew I wouldn't be able to play it by the end of the year. I also wasn't a huge fan of its $49.99 asking price. I'm still not a fan of it, to be honest. Still, I'd really like to play this iteration of Team GrisGris' iconic survival-horror title, so I'm including it here as a possibility.

Kid Icarus: Uprising--I know it's bizarre that I've yet to play this long-time-coming sequel to one of my all-time favorite NES games. At first, my disinterest was due to all of the online whining about Uprising's quirky controls. Later, it was due to there being too many new 3DS titles coming out that I wanted more than this "old" one. Now that the system's time as a "relevant" system is nearing its end, though, I'm itching to pick up a few of the gems that were released early on in its existence.

Kirby: Planet Robobot--Although I used to turn up my nose at the Kirby series, that all changed after I finally played my first real entry. (That would be Epic Yarn for the Wii, by the way. Previously, I'd played--and loved--Canvas Curse for the DS, but that's hardly a traditional Kirby game.) I've read only positive reactions to Planet Robobot, so I figure I should consider giving it a go, too.

Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World--I've got to be honest here: I'm pretty sure I'll buy this 3DS port of Woolly World whether or not any of you suggest I do so. Yoshi games have long had a hold on me, even when they've ended up being stinkers. That said, if some of you really hated the Wii U version of this title, let me know. After all, the portable iteration surely is going to look worse than the original, and I doubt it's going to play better, so I probably should pass on it if the consensus is it's a turd.

River City: Tokyo Rumble--I've been on the fence about Tokyo Rumble since it was first announced for North American release. As for why I've failed to buy it until now, that would be because I'm just not sure I'll enjoy its gameplay over the long haul. In the past, brawlers have bored me to tears, and even though this new River City title is priced well enough, that won't mean much to me if I tuck it away after putting just a few hours into it.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers--The last thing I need right now is another JRPG in my backlog. None of the ones currently residing there are set in modern times, though, and only a few are dungeon-crawlers. So, Soul Hackers is as deserving of consideration as any other 3DS game discussed in this post. The question is: does it deserve to be bought?

So, what do you think? Which of these 3DS games should I get?

UPDATE: I've made my decision, and the games I'll be ordering are Kid Icarus: Uprising, Kirby: Planet Robobot and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers.

Although I initially thought I would choose Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World over Kirby, I went with the latter in the end because it's currently cheaper than the former ($33 compared to $40), and I have a feeling Yoshi will see a similar price cut (even if unofficial) in the coming months. Also, based on what many of you said here, on Facebook and on Twitter, it sounds like Planet Robobot is a better, more enjoyable platformer than Woolly World.

Anyway, thank you helping me with this dilemma. Hopefully I'll be able to share impressions of all of these titles soon!

Shin Megami Tensei IV Final looks so good in this new trailer I'm going to get off my butt and finally start playing the first SMT IV in early 2016

So, one of my great gaming regrets of the last few years is buying Shin Megami Tensei IV as soon as I was able and then failing to even pull it out of its packaging until now.

Mark my words, though: I'm going to do my best to change that shortly after I return from vacation.

What prompted this turnaround? To be honest, I've been thinking about finally starting the game for a while now, but the thing that pushed me over the edge was watching the new Shin Megami Tensei IV Final trailer that can be seen below.



Hopefully I'll be able to finish, or at least put a good dent in, the original Shin Megami Tensei IV before Final is released in my neck of the woods--assuming it's actually released outside of Japan, of course.

How about all of you? Are you excited about the possibility of experiencing this Shin Megami Tensei IV follow-up at some point in 2016?

Also, have any of you played the first version of Shin Megami Tensei IV? If so, what did you think about it?

Which version of Persona 3 should this Persona 3 noob purchase?

I nearly pulled the trigger on the PSP port of Persona 3 this past weekend.

What stopped me from following through with the purchase? Online commentary about the portable version's "streamlined" overworld. (From its Wikipedia page: "instead of navigating the game world by directly controlling the protagonist, the player guides an on-screen cursor around an area, allowing interaction with characters and objects.")

On the other hand, I really like the idea of being able to choose a female protagonist at the beginning of Persona 3 Portable and I also like that this version allows players to directly control all party member during battles.

So, my question to all of you who are experienced in at least one or more iterations of Persona 3: which one would you suggest buying--the original PS2 release (Persona 3), that version's "director's cut" (Persona 3 FES) or Persona 3 Portable?

From the Dept. of Duh: the Shin Megami Tensei PlayStation ports have beautiful box art

While reading through the NeoGAF discussion thread devoted to the announcement of Shin Megami Tensei IV's impending North American release, I came across this post--which featured the box art that was created for the PlayStation ports of Shin Megami Tensei I, II and If.

Although I knew before encountering the aforementioned post that these games had been released for the PlayStation, I don't believe I'd previously seen the gorgeous pieces of cover art that Atlus created for them.

Here, for instance, is the Shin Megami Tensei port's box art:

Beautiful, no? And here is the art that graced covers of the Shin Megami Tensei II PlayStation re-release:

Last, but far from least, here's Shin Megami Tensei If's wondrous box art:

Is it wrong that I now want to learn enough Japanese to justify the purchase of all three of these never-officially-released-in-English PlayStation games?

See also: previous blog posts about awesome box art

Am I a bad person if I buy Shin Megami Tensei IV and not Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers?

The thing is, I originally planned to buy both of these Atlus-made RPGs.

That was before the Great 3DS Game Flood of 2013 occurred, though--a rather long-lasting flood that's already swept Etrian Odyssey IV, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Touch Detective: Funghi's Big Breed into my path and will soon add Animal Crossing: New Leaf to the growing pile of rubble at my feet.

Because I've only sunk a few hours into Fire Emblem: Awakening and Touch Detective: Funghi's Big Breed and I've yet to even stick Etrian Odyssey IV or Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon into my 3DS, I've decided to pass on Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, which will be released throughout North America on April 16, for the time being.

I won't be passing on the just-announced-for-North-American-release Shin Megami Tensei IV, though--despite the fact that publisher Atlus USA will be shipping it sometime this summer (apparently with a premium-sized price tag attached to it).

Full disclosure: I've never played a mainline Shin Megami Tensei title (as opposed to spin-offs like the Persona games), so I'm a bit nervous that I'll be thrown into the deep end with this release, but I'm going to give it the old college try anyway.

Are any of you similarly stoked by this announcement? If so, have you played any of the previous entries in the series, or will this be your first time at the Shin Megami Tensei rodeo, too?

(Via tinycartridge.com)

A few thoughts on this morning's Nintendo Direct

As any long-suffering Nintendo fan knows, the company's "Nintendo Direct" broadcasts tend to be hit-or-miss affairs. Although some of them have produced bonafide megatons (like when Bayonetta 2 was announced), just as many others have been utter snoozefests.

Given that, I wasn't at all sure what to expect from this morning's trio of Wii U-focused Nintendo Directs (one for Europe, one for Japan and one for North America). I had a feeling at least a few bombs would be dropped thanks to the rather ho-hum launch of company's latest console, but would they be "we're working on a sequel to Wii Party" bombs or would they be "Bayonetta 2 will hit store shelves in May" bombs?

Interestingly enough, Nintendo is working on a sequel (of sorts) to Wii Party. That was about the least interesting of all of the announcements that were part of this Nintendo Direct, though, so I think it's safe to say that this particular broadcast was far more "hit" than "miss."

Specifically, here are what I considered to be the high points of this morning's address:

* The look inside Platinum Games' office, where the company's staffers seem to be hard at work on Bayonetta 2, was all sorts of awesome. Sure, we didn't get to see any actual gameplay footage, but we were given enough glimpses of in-the-works enemies and environments to know the final product probably is going to rock our respective worlds.

* OK, so it wasn't all that surprising to hear that new 3D Mario and Mario Kart games are being prepped for Wii U. To hear that both games will be shown in playable form at E3 2013, though, was pretty shocking--as was Satoru Iwata's utterance that we'll finally get to see some screens of the next Smash Bros. title at the same event.

* Considering it's been rumored for a while now, I doubt many people fainted or felt heart palpitations after Iwata revealed that the Wii U will receive a Yoshi-focused platformer in the near future. My own heart certainly starting racing, though, when I heard that it's being developed by the geniuses at Good-Feel and saw that it's going to look more than a bit like that group's Kirby's Epic Yarn.

* So, let me make sure I'm understanding this correctly: Atlus is working with Nintendo to produce a Wii U game that brings together the characters and settings of the Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem series? If so, uh, I'm not sure what to think, to tell you the truth. I mean, it certainly sounds interesting, and I'm sure the resulting game will be stellar, but I can't quite picture it yet, you know?

* What I can picture: making my way through Monolith Soft's next game--which looks a lot like their last one (that being Xenoblade Chronicles), actually, but about a million times better--with a humungous grin on my face. You know, because of the gorgeous visuals. And the huge environments. Oh, and the transforming mechas.