The Odd Year of 2016: 3DS

Not my image, but it fits way too well with the subject material. Yes, this is a real game.

Note: I wanted to write this whole thing in an evening. That didn't happen. I'm posting what I've got anyway. (MY HANDS!)

I remember back in 2013, that things looked pretty great for the 3ds. The system had finally thrown off the plague of its mediocre launch and was becoming a veritable hit factory. 2013 brought games like Fire Emblem: Awakening, Pokemon X & Y, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and Shin Megami Tensei IV. I did, and still do believe it to be the best year for the 3DS, bar none. 2014 was also a good year for the 3DS, but the exclusives were drizzling out and there were 1st party failures like Yoshi's New Island. 2014 still had blockbusters, but the number was dropping. I took this as a lean year- perhaps certain developers need time to create big games for 2015.

Oh, how wrong I was. 2015 was an awful year for the 3ds. BIg games like Codename: STEAM, Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes and Chibi Robo: Zip Lash were seen as disappointments by many. Aside from ports, which were numerous, the biggest games were probably Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and Yokai Watch. While both of these games may have been good, they couldn’t bear the task of lifting 2015 to the quality of years prior. I personally became less and less enthused about the 3DS, and focused on catching up on the Vita games I had missed. Compared to the DS, whose library was still spectacular at this point in its life, the 3DS was lifeless.

And here we are now, in the last bit of 2016. I fully expected in january that this year would be equally as bad as 2015, especially as NX (now Switch) hype was spreading. As a recap, I will go through 2016 month by month, giving a quick summary of the major events.

JANUARY: January had no major games in its first half. On the 22nd  Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam was released, to mostly positive reviews. The only other major release was FInal Fantasy Explorers on the 26th which got mixed reviews. This month really seemed like filler to me.

FEBRUARY: Again, the first half is devoid of notable games. Project X ZOne 2 came on the 16th, starting a week of notable games after it. The 2 Fire Emblem Fates games came out on the 19th and were genuinely the biggest things for the 3ds in months. Finally, at this point I was paying attention to 3DS games again. Mega Man Legacy Collection was released on the 23rd and is exactly what it sounds like. It got positive reviews, but it IS just a compilation of the first 6 mega man games, not much of interest here. February was a relatively good month for the 3ds, all things considered. It definitely had me more optimistic for 2016.

MARCH: Off the bat, Return to PoPoLoCrois was released on the 1st to positive-ish reviews. On the 18th, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games came out to mixed reviews. Finally, Hyrule Warrior Legends came out on 25th to positive, if slightly disappointed reviews. Hyrule warriors Legends is a port of a Wii U game, and combined with a sports game and an obscure farming game… march was pretty mediocre. Still, 3 month in and we’ve yet to see a real big disappointment.

APRIL: Bravely Second: End Layer was released on the 15th. This is legitimately a big original game for the 3DS. Langrisser RE:Incarnation: TENSEI was released on the 19th to abysmal reviews…. Which was easily predicted by anyone who even just SAW it beforehand. On the 26th, Sega 3D CLassics Collection came out, which I reviewed on this very blog! April is an odd month for the 3DS. Bravely Second does kind of carry it. Oh, also Pokemon RUmble WOrld came out on the 29th. That game had no hype, and no impact on anything.

MAY: Pocket Card JOckey, an original game for the 3DS, was released on the 5th to positive reviews. There was also Disney Art Academy, but that’s not really a notable game in my mind, mainly as it seems to be art software first, game second. May’s a real dead month for the 3DS. Summer game drought is common but yeesh.

JUNE: Kirby: Planet Robobot may be my favorite 3DS game of the year and it redeems the month alone. Oh yeah, it came out on the 10th and got positive reviews. Rhythm Heaven Megamix was an Eshop exclusive in the US (GRRRRR) and came out on the 15th to positive reviews. Zero Escape: Zero TIme Dilemma came out on the 28th to positive reviews. June was a good month for the 3DS in my mind. Kirby would’ve carried the month, but the other 2 really sweeten the deal. Aaaaaaalso there was BoxBoxBoy, but it isn’t THAT notable, and my synopsis is the same regardless.

JULY: 7th Dragon III Code: VFD came out on the 12th to positive reviews- and a general shock that it actually got localized. Monster Hunter Generations came out on the 15th to positive reviews. Only 2 this month, but they are both solid titles, so I give this month a pass.

AUGUST: Style Savvy: Fashion Forward (That alliteration tho) came out on the 19th to positive reviews. Metroid Prime: Federation Force came out also on the 19th to mixed reviews. I can’t call it a disappointment, as hype was nonexistent to begin with.Style savvy isn’t enought o carry a whole month, leading to another bland filler month.

SEPTEMBER: September is usually when things pick up and it is no different here. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit Of Justice came out on the 8th to positive reviews. Dragon Quest VII came out on the 16th also to positive reviews. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse Came out on the 20th to again, positive reviews. River CIty, Tokyo Rumble came out on the 27th to mixed reviews. Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice came out also on the 27th to nearly identically mixed reviews. I am going to skip Azure striker Gunvolt 2 in preference to the pack variant that comes in october. Yokai Watch 2 came out on the 30th to mixed/positive reviews. This month is big and with a fair few good games in it. Certainly, we have an improvement on the drought at around the same time in 2015.

OCTOBER: Azure Striker Gunvolt Pack came out on the 4th to positive reviews. The rest of the month is tricky, as there are a lot of somewhat notable releases. I will leave this unfinished for now.

NOVEMBER: Eh, it’ll get a pass because pokemon anyway, so who cares.

In all, the 3DS had a bit better of a year than in 2015, but still nowhere near as good as 2013 or even 2014. Whoo boy did this take forever to write. Yes, this is 1000 words. This will not be a series. I hope.