Gonna snag a 3dsXL for boxing day, questions about 4 games please

[Ghaleon]

I already have some games in mind for what I want to get (Etrian odyssey, Kid icarus (if and when I can AFFORD it), smash bros, link between worlds, etc). But there are some I'm on the fence about if anyone can be so kind as to advise if they sound good for me or not. Also, if these games have a reasonably good demo in terms of letting you know if the game is good for you or not, lemmie know please, I can't check for myself at this point seeing as I don't have my own 3ds yet. By good sized demo, I mean more than just the tutorial and just the super early game that you can probably beat in 10 minutes and/or blindfolded (10 minutes is acceptable length for a game like gradius or whatever, but a definite no in pretty much any game that involves saving)

1: Fantasy life/rune factory 4. I keep hearing people ask about these games, about which they should try. I'm wondering if I should try either. Based on what I've heard they sound fine to me, but doing some research tells me they are kinda based off harvest moon? I've played harvest moon DS, and frankly I would feel ripped off spending 5 bucks on that game, let alone 30+. So I'm a bit hesitant to try these...

2: Persona Q... I LIKE Etrian odyssey, and I'm NOT a persona fan... I hear people who are the opposite complain about this game, well...Etrian odyssey gameplay is what I want, the persona art style notsomuch. However I can look past that, and enjoy the gameplay on its own. However I don't want to get it if etrian odyssey fans think that the gameplay is similar to, but less than etrian odyssey (I dunno, less floors, easier, less classes.. that kinda thing). Also, how is the music? I tried looking on youtube but I'm pretty sure all I'm finding are remixes rather than in-game music. Do note I generally do NOT like game music that kinda sounds modern and poppy like I'm afraid this game might do. Like TWEWY music for example, it's unique, rare style in a game, I can understand people adore it, and it suits the setting, however it's not at all what I like in my games.

3: SMT Devil survivor overclocked... I played the DS version, and actually liked it. Beat it only once using amane's route I think her name was... The religious girl. I wanted to play again and again to try out all the spiffy post-game features like metatron and such but never got around to it. So maybe I should just get overclocked since I didn't commit TOO much to the first game. However I don't want to get it if it really doesn't have much to add other than voice acting and an extra day. I mean those are nice and all, but I don't really wanna cough up 30+ on a game I already have just for an extra day =P.

4: Code of Princess... I haven't heard anybody say squat about this game, but amazon suggested it when I was searching for other games I wanted like etrian odyssey, I looked at a video and it looks kinda like a single-player dragon's crown with better character design (not counting wizard and elf who look good, but everyone else, dear god). However the fact that beatemups of any quality whatsoever often get praises galore, and this game I haven't even HEARD of... leads me to believe there must be something awful about it... I heard the voice acting is a catastrophe but gameplay is my primary concern.

thanks in advance for any advice.

[Bio]

Fantasy Life is combat/crafting orientated. It's kind of a grindy game, and I would compare it more to Animal Crossing than HM (it even has house decorating). It's also better with friends and definitely having a conscious multiplayer effort.. I don't know anything about the other games since I haven't played them myself.

[Zengar Zombolt]

I got Code of Princess, and... Didn't quite like it? It's got several nifty stuff, like the ability to play literally as any character in the game, but I feel like most of them are more like challenge modes and whatnot, rather than actually viable player characters. There's also the fact that the later free play stages, that are pretty much all you've got left after story mode is done with, are very spammy and hard to do without specific pieces of equipment. And for a last point, you have to level up your characters and increase their stats, which I personally found to discourage you from ever choosing a character other than your highest level char unless you don't mind grinding them from the bottom.
Sure, this is all my personal experience, so maybe someone else may have a better opinion of the game?

[Ghaleon]

I've NEVER heard that fantasy life was combat oriented (crafting yes, not combat)...hearing such most certainly pushed me over the fence...to the point I'll get it unless I hear more than one story otherwise before I find/afford it. I've interpreted that rune factory 4 is more combat oriented than fantasy life too, but under the impression that FL may not be combat oriented at ALL...So that kinda makes me wanting to try that too, thanks.

As for zommy. I suspected that most, if not all the extra characters were really kind of just stuffed in without any real effort being made to making them as deep as the default character. But that alone wasn't really enough to turn me off, I was wanting to play this game even if there was only the default pretty much, and I suspect there are probably a COUPLE that are comparable.

As for the grind thing, that semi-contradicts your previous con in my perspective (not saying you said anything wrong, just saying it leaves open a possibility of interest for my taste). I'm an alt-o-holic for many many games, and the prospect of a game featuring many characters that I have to level individually, that are weaker when you get them but actually balanced in the long run...it actually is something I enjoy. I LIKE playing a new character that is way weaker but is compareable at level 1 as your "main" was at level 1, and as you level up, you keep comparing them, and as you do so try to predict how things will be in the long run, etc. The whole process is entertaining to me, provided it isn't super obvious the other will be weaker or stronger all the way from start to finish. Do note that if the leveling process itself is the same regardless of class, I hate it. For example, in pretty much any disgaea game after the first. If you wanted to level up a character, regardless of class, regardless of character, etc... you made em wear a glove, you skilled up your glove to cast big bang (or any other weapon with a 3x3 square attack), you wear equipment strong enough to 1-shot the enemies in a stage with such a pattern (there's always at least one), and you just repeat that over and over and over... for every character...NOT fun. I like level grinding in a CHALLENGING way, provided I know I'm not shooting myself in the foot for doing it instead of something completely not challenging, but gajillions of times more efficient.

In any case, thank you for the info regarding code princess... it doesn't really push me in either direction, but your advice is appreciated, and may influence me when combined with further advice saying different things.

[Ghaleon]

Troll sport playalong response backfire... Someone rescue me with serious responses please *runs away crying*

Edit: ok wtf... I posted that... ON GAMEFAQS... Iphones are shit. Cant even pist on the right tab/site.

[Garlyle]

PQ: while the game definitely is structured and designed as an EO game in 90% of its mechanics, it's still very much a full-fledged Persona coat of paint overtop.  As for the music, some of it is straight up remixes of the tracks from P3/4; while others are brand new.  The boss track is amazing, by the way - but it's very in keeping with the Persona 3/4 style in general (Although the dungeon tracks themselves are instrumental and fantastic)

SMTDS Overclocked: hell yeah get this.  The most obvious changes are the extra day and voice acting, but there's actually some overhauling of the demons themselves and general progression to give not only a much smoother feeling, but to add a lot of new moves to the list - which makes it actually reasonable to run a physical main character/have more than one physical human on your team, as well as enabling a number of other builds and combos and synergies.  It also overhauled NG+ to the Devil Survivor 2 system (something akin to grade based on achievements ala Tales games)  It's just an all around better version.

Code of Princess: I enjoyed it.  It's not super amazing, but it's charming and fun while it lasts and fairly lengthy if you aim to do everything.  If you haven't heard anything about it previous, it's mostly because it was released entirely under the radar of everyone.

[MewMewHeart]

If you loved the other Rune Factory series then I suggest you get Rune Factory 4, also Bravely Default, Mario and Luigi: Dream Team if you beaten the other Mario and Luigi game. Regards of Persona Q WHY DIDN'T YOU GET THE GAME YET GET IT GET IT!!!!

[commandercool]

2: Persona Q... I LIKE Etrian odyssey, and I'm NOT a persona fan... I hear people who are the opposite complain about this game, well...Etrian odyssey gameplay is what I want, the persona art style notsomuch. However I can look past that, and enjoy the gameplay on its own. However I don't want to get it if etrian odyssey fans think that the gameplay is similar to, but less than etrian odyssey (I dunno, less floors, easier, less classes.. that kinda thing). Also, how is the music? I tried looking on youtube but I'm pretty sure all I'm finding are remixes rather than in-game music. Do note I generally do NOT like game music that kinda sounds modern and poppy like I'm afraid this game might do. Like TWEWY music for example, it's unique, rare style in a game, I can understand people adore it, and it suits the setting, however it's not at all what I like in my games.

I'm the opposite (I don't particularly care for EO, although I can play it I guess, and I LOVE Persona) and I love PQ. That said, it sounds like you won't like this game based just on what you're saying here. Persona Q is not a balanced game, and it's not terribly difficult. The music is contemporary, but I think it's exceptional. I usually get bored of Persona music and start playing on mute long before the game ends, but I actually wear headphones while playing PQ, which I almost never do for handhelds of any kind.

And while Persona Q can probably accurately be described as a watered-down Etrian Odyssey, it's so pleasant and likable that I recommend you give it a chance even if it sounds like it might not be your bag. It's deeply flawed, and yet I have never not enjoyed playing it for a minute. Obviously I'm inclined to say that because I like Persona anyway, but regardless, it's worth looking into. Maaaybe don't pay full price for it if you have reservations, but don't skip it entirely.

If you don't like Persona now, maybe you'll like it a little more after this. It does away with some of the more obnoxious mechanics (tedious requests, mediocre dungeon-crawling and combat systems-the PQ systems are imbalanced but they are more mechanically sound-, and fiddly Persona fusing), although it unfortunately loses some of the finer points of the series (social links). The character stuff assumes that you already know who the characters all are, but you should be able to clue in pretty quickly and it should be just as enjoyable once you figure everyone out.

[Serela]

Especially if you're not too hot on persona q I would highly recommend not buying it for full price (so, not right now); it may be fun to play despite being deeply flawed, but it's deeply flawed, and if you're a fan of EO games and not Persona games then I imagine the combat will be somewhat disappointing as it becomes clearer how the system ends up playing out. It's closer to EO combat complexity than Persona but the game is so unbalanced that you can break it in half easier and easier as you get further, and "closer to EO than Persona" honestly means "less than EO, with added gimmicks". The added complexity that notably adds to the experience is just the realm of persona fusion, but it's not that hard to make good personas... just somewhat mindbending to deal with needing specialized ones for 7 different people at once.

And yeah if you're concerned the music is too modern and poppy for you, well, a good chunk of the music is like that (namely, the ones you'll be hearing the most- the random battle and some of the town musics). You said you think you're only finding remixes but I have a feeling you're hearing those engrish vocals and dubaba-baba-bas and being wary, when it's the actual game music.

It does have higher production values than EO, for example the different floors of each labyrinth actually look different, heavy amounts of voice acting, etc. But given what you said about gameplay and music I imagine you'd find the game falling short of your expectations. (Like myself! I'm having an alright enough time though.)

[Esper]

Especially if you're not too hot on persona q I would highly recommend not buying it for full price (so, not right now); it may be fun to play despite being deeply flawed, but it's deeply flawed, and if you're a fan of EO games and not Persona games then I imagine the combat will be somewhat disappointing as it becomes clearer how the system ends up playing out. It's closer to EO combat complexity than Persona but the game is so unbalanced that you can break it in half easier and easier as you get further, and "closer to EO than Persona" honestly means "less than EO, with added gimmicks". The added complexity that notably adds to the experience is just the realm of persona fusion, but it's not that hard to make good personas... just somewhat mindbending to deal with needing specialized ones for 7 different people at once.

And yeah if you're concerned the music is too modern and poppy for you, well, a good chunk of the music is like that (namely, the ones you'll be hearing the most- the random battle and some of the town musics). You said you think you're only finding remixes but I have a feeling you're hearing those engrish vocals and dubaba-baba-bas and being wary, when it's the actual game music.

It does have higher production values than EO, for example the different floors of each labyrinth actually look different, heavy amounts of voice acting, etc. But given what you said about gameplay and music I imagine you'd find the game falling short of your expectations. (Like myself! I'm having an alright enough time though.)

How to win at Persona Q:

1. Choose P3MC so that your mandatory party member has a high magic stat
2. Put Naoto in your party when the two groups meet.
3. Step in every possible fucking spot if you don't want to spend playcoins on the chests with decent items
4. Grind.
5. Find an obnoxious setup in which all magic users have hama and/or mudo because most-to-all of the mooks in the game are weak to one of those two spells and they can still get hit if they're not weak to it
6. Make everyone have as many elements as possible and then a high-cost/high-power attack to take advantage of the lack of a cost when you exploit an enemy weakness
7. Patra gems are your friend in the second dungeon.
8. FOE fights are boring as shit. You're sooner to die of boredom than to die of an actually-distressing issue.
9. Almighty attacks (for the most part) are shit in this game. There are like one or two that are actually worth it. As a person who's familiar with the persona series, this is surprising to me. If you have the opportunity to give up a weak move to take one, do it. If you have a set of good attacks, don't do it.
10. Don't use P4MC. As much as everyone likes him (from what I see), he's got the most balanced set of stats in the game. Does that sound good? Wrong. You're rarely in danger in the game, so defense stats are not quite as valuable as they would be in other installments of the franchise.
11. Don't use Zen/Rei because while they're really useful early on, they can't equip a sub-persona and their usefulness is short-lived as a result of not having free SP/HP to use for moves in fights.

[commandercool]

Kind of off topic, but I take some exception to that.

4. Grind.

Well yeah, that's true of every game. And most games more so than this one, where grinding isn't necessary.

9. Almighty attacks (for the most part) are shit in this game. There are like one or two that are actually worth it. As a person who's familiar with the persona series, this is surprising to me. If you have the opportunity to give up a weak move to take one, do it. If you have a set of good attacks, don't do it.

Almighty attacks are awful in every Persona game barring certain late-game setups, but in this game at least you can cast them for free off of the game's weakness system. But yeah, they do terrible damage.

11. Don't use Zen/Rei because while they're really useful early on, they can't equip a sub-persona and their usefulness is short-lived as a result of not having free SP/HP to use for moves in fights.

I use them and while the inability to use Impure Reach/Binding Grasp (or whatever it's called) is unfortunate, their MP isn't usually an issue. They have a huge default MP pool and regenerate MP while walking, so they basically have the same nearly-unlimited spellcasting ability as everyone else.

[Esper]

Kind of off topic, but I take some exception to that.

Well yeah, that's true of every game. And most games more so than this one, where grinding isn't necessary.

Almighty attacks are awful in every Persona game barring certain late-game setups, but in this game at least you can cast them for free off of the game's weakness system. But yeah, they do terrible damage.

I use them and while the inability to use Impure Reach/Binding Grasp (or whatever it's called) is unfortunate, their MP isn't usually an issue. They have a huge default MP pool and regenerate MP while walking, so they basically have the same nearly-unlimited spellcasting ability as everyone else.

Wait, really? Huh. Sorry about the misconception~

[Ghaleon]

Thanks guys. So I got devil survivor overclocked since I saw it in the store for just 20 bucks. I ordered EO4 on amazon, says it'll arrive by the 5th, got EOMG on nintendo's eshop since it's 62% off.
I'll prob get personaQ if I ever see it for 20 bucks or less, which may take awhile but I'm patient, no biggie. As for Fantasylife/RF4, Same thing, prob wait for sale to grab for 20bucks or less...maybe 25-30 if it takes really really long and I play my other 3ds games to death, which is very unlikely.

I have to say the 3d thing on EO is actually pretty cool. I've seen 3d things before and they normally look like pop-up books on a screen, but on EO it just looks like it has finally been done right after all this time. Unfortunately it takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust to '3d mode', and if I ever turn a corner or go from looking ahead to looking at text, I have to re-adjust again. Not sure if it's like that for everyone or just me. I suspect I'm worse off than most people because my eyes aren't naturally straight, they kinda have a slight '<" shape to their 'trajectory' rather than a '='. So I kinda think the delay is my eyes actually going to '=', which they've pretty much never needed to do for my entire life =P.

[Garlyle]

Getting the 3D effect to work right is really tricky.  It tends to be really finicky on the best of days, although when a game can pull it off it's really neat (Kid Icarus Uprising I remember playing with 3D on the entire time because it was really, really gorgeous).

[theshirn]

How to win at Persona Q:

1. Choose P3MC so that your mandatory party member has a high magic stat
2. Put Naoto in your party when the two groups meet.
3. Step in every possible fucking spot if you don't want to spend playcoins on the chests with decent items
4. Grind.
5. Find an obnoxious setup in which all magic users have hama and/or mudo because most-to-all of the mooks in the game are weak to one of those two spells and they can still get hit if they're not weak to it
6. Make everyone have as many elements as possible and then a high-cost/high-power attack to take advantage of the lack of a cost when you exploit an enemy weakness
7. Patra gems are your friend in the second dungeon.
8. FOE fights are boring as shit. You're sooner to die of boredom than to die of an actually-distressing issue.
9. Almighty attacks (for the most part) are shit in this game. There are like one or two that are actually worth it. As a person who's familiar with the persona series, this is surprising to me. If you have the opportunity to give up a weak move to take one, do it. If you have a set of good attacks, don't do it.
10. Don't use P4MC. As much as everyone likes him (from what I see), he's got the most balanced set of stats in the game. Does that sound good? Wrong. You're rarely in danger in the game, so defense stats are not quite as valuable as they would be in other installments of the franchise.
11. Don't use Zen/Rei because while they're really useful early on, they can't equip a sub-persona and their usefulness is short-lived as a result of not having free SP/HP to use for moves in fights.

This is an awful lot of words for "use Naoto, mahamaon/mamudoon trash fights, tentarafoo/panic circle bosses".

Also p4mc has not just balanced stats but very high balanced stats so he can do literally anything, and once he gets his lategame upgrade he's virtually invincible while the p3mc keeps his weakness to dark, which a lot of FOEs like to use.