Best Nintendo 3DS RPGs

That list is a bit better than the trash list you gave us last time...

Just a single Mario RPG?

The one thing I love about the 3ds is that if you own a JPN system, you can play all of the DQ games on one system.

Don’t think that will happen again for some time.

Much love for Ever Oasis.

(Just noticed that between 3ds and Switch I own everything on this list. )

Soul Hackers and SMT IV are so good

Chrono Trigger?

Lots of good games here. Reminds me that I need to dedicate more time to finishing them. Need to return to SMT IV: Apocalypse and Etrian Odyssey (whole series, but ideally Untold as only started that recently).

Now ik some came to switch and all but can we get more 3DS games on switch?

FE Awakening, SMT Soul Hackers would be real nice on NS

Shhhh... Some of us are still trying to collect these games for reasonable prices. The less we talk about them, the easier that will be.

So happy to see Soul Hackers on there, great game and peak megaten! Highly recommend it, but there’s also a lot of other great jrpgs on here. 3DS surely has tons of hidden gems across all genres and jrpgs is definitely one of the larger categories.

A few of these can burn in hell for never getting PAL releases.

@contractcooker Chrono Trigger is a DS game.

Ever Oasis was FANTASTIC. Grezzo has Zelda style adventure in their DNA with some fantastic ports of classic games. They knocked it out of the park on the dungeon/exploration side with this game. The city management was a blast, too. And the entire package was adorable to boot.

My only MODEST gripe is that the city management and adventuring didn't always gel perfectly. I'm sure this could be fixed in a sequel. Hence why I'm hoping for a Switch port to generate interest in the game. It was released at a very inopportune time in the 3DS life cycle and was not marketed especially well.

What about M&L: Superstar Saga and Bowser's Inside Story? I know that those games are only ports/remaster/remakes whatever, but so are ORAS, DQ and Tales of the Abyss

But I understand why Paper Jam isn't on the list, that game was sadly not great

Here's to the great company that was AlphaDream and their excellent Mario and Luigi RPG series!

DQ VIII stands out for me. Only a small handful I haven't played there. So many good RPGs that it is hard to choose one stand out fav.

May actually look up Radiant Historia now as well.

sigh The Switch is an amazing system... but I am going to miss the 3DS. So many GREAT games with interesting mechanics as a result of the dual touch screen. I also really liked the 3D "gimmick". Bravely Default looks amazing in 3D.

I'd like to add one more game that goes under the radar.

Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure. It's a VERY cute action RPG made my Nihon Falcom, who are famous for the Ys and Trails of series. (Unfortunately no physical release on the 3DS).

Good list. Etrian Odyssey IV and SMT IV: Apocalypse are easily two of my favorite games on the system. The 3DS benefitted immensely from Atlus' muscular support for the system.

Glad to see Tales of the Abyss make the cut. Probably my favorite JRPG on the system... until DQVIII released.

@contractcooker that’s DS

Never played Soul Hackers, but I do have it on my 2DS, must have gotten it in a sale at some point. Might give it a go, but I not big into JRPGs tbh.

Maybe I'll be surprised?

Currently playing Dragon Quest XI on the Switch, and have a few more massive RPG's in my "backlog", but it's always nice to look back on just how great the 3DS was (and obviously its library of great games, many of which exclusives). I would almost say I miss it...

but I don't.

Because I have several 3DS systems still, and a lot of games for them.

Still need to finish the last Etrian Odyssey, but I was playing Persona Q2 at that time, right after playing the previous EO, right after REplaying PQ1, right after EOU2, right after... Well, you get it. Let's say the concept had me hooked.

Wow fantastic list xD

Ever Oasis, Bravely Default, Stella Glow, Fire Emblem Awakening/Echoes, Fantasy Life..

I love 3DS so much

@TossedLlama You're not alone.. I still haven't finish it yet lol

I'm am not an RPG guy

Pretty solid list, only thing I'd add is the other Mario And Luigi games and Legend Of Legacy.

You guys forgot the Inazuma Eleven games

The timing of this list is great. I recently dug out my N3DS and have been playing Bravely Default. Got me to thinking I should pick up some of the other RPGs on the great little system. I have a list to go through now to get some of these before they become hard to find.

@TheLightSpirit 'Top comment' is something I wish this site would do. That one is only top comment because he happened to post first.

So many. So, so many.

Good list, I'm especially fond of the FE Gaiden remake. I've played most of the games on here and they're all solid. I just recently started Q2 and it's a fine jrpg as well. I have no idea what'll happen to the Etrian games now that we've moved on to Switch.

@Beatrice ya V and Nexus are the best in the series

I’d say Yo-Kai Watch doesn’t belong on this list since it is just for children, but I suppose all the games on this list are for children since they are video games. Some adults just happen to like them too, and that’s great

I was really annoyed until I got to the end and saw MH stories was there afterall. It's one of my FAVORITE turn based RPGs ever and one of my favorite 3ds games. It's also visually unbelievable, it's in that rare category of 3ds games that are a cut above the rest and look more like Wii-u games, RE: revelations, SMTIV: apocalypse are other examples in that category.

Have all of these hacked into my 3ds. And i always get a giddy feeling seeing all those icons lined up on my homescreen when I boot it up

Now if i could actually play all of them within my lifetime, that'd be great

@Beatrice How is Tales of the Abyss a "bad take"?

@TheLightSpirit To be fair, they said it was better than trash.

Sweet write-up!

Just a bit of advice to my fellow games. Don't wait too long to get the titles you want. In a few years, these games' prices are likely to jump. Best to get them while they're mostly still reasonable priced physically, or before they eventually get delisted from the online shop.

@ALinkttPresent Video games aren't for children. Video games in the US were heavily marketed toward children in the 80s and early 90s, but it has been literally close to 30 years since the marketing shifted to an all ages sort of thing.

Recent statistics as of January this year show that the largest percentage of gamers is age range 21-35, with the second largest percentage being 36-50 and those numbers are moving towards older all the time.

As for Yokai Watch.. being a game aimed at children is a ludicrous reason to exclude it from a list. Children use the internet and read sites like this and get to have opinions too. And many adults still enjoy games with an age rating of E, otherwise Pokemon wouldn't be here either, or Mario & Luigi or a few others.

SMTIV ftw! Oh, and I still need to get myself together and do the final boss of Strange Journey! Does anyone have a tip for that? Doing a neutral run and the final boss is all I have left.

Dragon Quest VII is my personal favorite. I'm playing through Bravely Second right now. Just started, really.

This list serves as a perfect reminder for why I should beat old games I already own before buying new ones.

SmT4:Apocalypse, Bravely Second, and Ever Oasis are all sitting just a few feet away from me, and yet here I am looking at my Switch thinking "oOoOoh, tRiAngLe sTrAteGy LoOkS fUn"

I'd add Brave Dungeon, Fairune 2, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam to the list as well. These games are underrated and are much better than what they're credited for, in my opinion.

This list shows how the 3DS is arguably one of the best consoles ever for RPGs, behind only SNES and PS1 (even if remakes and ports are excluded).
Of the games mentioned I have all the Pokémon and Fire Emblem, as well as Stella Glow and Radiant Historia.

SMTIV is better than every single JRPG on Switch, including DQXI. I'm not even exaggerating.

Radiant Historia was a great game. Easily would have been comparable to some of the best from the PSOne era of JRPGs.

Yo-kai Watch was incredible, and to this day I think it's better than Pokemon

Some good MegaTen representation, but I'm disappointed that you didn't include Devil Survivor Overclocked, which is fantastic.

I've played all 3 mainline Yo-Kai Watch games and YKW 2 is the best one in my opinion. Def give it a try, it's very fun and charming!

Are all the Etryian Odyssey's unrelated? Can I pickup whatever I can find and start there?

Same for Bravely Second. Do I need to really play the first?

I wish MH Stories would go on sale. Atlus and Capcom regularly put games on sale on the 3DS, but because Stories was published by Nintendo, and Nintendo has basically forgotten about the 3DS the game is not likely to go on sale, even though right now is a great time for the sale with MH Stories 2 coming out this summer.

Why is something completely subjective being marked as a 'guide'?

Stella Glow and Shin Megami Tensei 4 were the best on this system.

Strange Journey Redux is great too but I prefer the original DS release for that one.

Where's Miitopia? I'd even argue that Find Mii II in the StreetPass Mii Plaza was excellent in its own right.

@Exciter89
For the most part, the Etrian Oyssey games are standalone games. There will be a few references and stuff, but nothing you need to enjoy the games or understand the story. Nexus is more of a "best of" game with returning dungeons and characters, and I personally enjoy how it plays with expectations when you've played the games its dungeons are based on, but again there's nothing that doesn't work without prior knowledge as far as I can tell.

Bravely Second is a direct sequel to Bravely Default.

Almost all of those Atlus games are expensive as fuuuuu...dge.

There are sooooo many great rpgs for the 3ds, including ones that didn't even make this list (I agree with this list though). Add to it all of the great DS rpgs you can play as well and this system truly is an rpg juggernaut.

@Muddy_4_Ever I really feel they (Grezzo) are the perfect developer for an ActRaiser revival if ever given a chance by Square Enix. They really proved you can merge city building with adventuring/RPG without having to compromise the other! Loved Ever Oasis!

@Deltath It was a purposeful choice by Nintendo to market video games to children in the late-80s because of the video game crash and it was a key reason why the gaming scene was revived in the US. That perception is hard to let go for older people and I feel that idea that games are just for children in the US has really become an older generation thing (50-80-year-olds) as video games have really become a mainstream art form and are getting academic attention. It will be only time before we get Game study classes as we have Film study classes in Universities. But it is only the older generation holding onto this idea that games are for children because of memories of Atari and 80s era Nintendo.

@Quarth Atlus is known to do very short print runs of games that are not SMT or Persona-related. Mostly because those games are really only made for a niche market and luckily they are all available on the eShop for pennies on the dime if you are interested. This makes sense for Atlus as some of those games really do not have a size-able enough market to justify the expense of a third or even second print run (which we criticize Limited Run Games of but Atlus gets a free pass). This is WHY digital gaming has been such a revolution for budget gamers because games with low print runs can still find audiences (while those servers are still online) at ESRP ($30-60) if not cheaper compared to spending hundreds of dollars for a game they may not even enjoy.

@TheLightSpirit

Yeah I beat DQVII but it was a slog. Over 100 hours of gameplay that could have been condensed into 30.

@Quarth I bought most of them at Bestbuy for 20% off on release day.

It's great that you guys included Etrian Odyssey IV, but Nexus, V, Untold, and Untold 2 are all worthy of this list.

Dragon Quest VIII is the greatest turn-based RPG of all time, and the 3DS version even contains extra content.

@Renart Huh?

@Wexter Sadly, the European eshop is closed down, so can't buy any of the games digitally anymore. And even the physical copies of the SMT games are ridiculously expensive over here, and that's on the second hand market, can't find any new copies. The only Atlus games I still can find new in retail are some of the Etrian Odyssey games and Persona Q and Q2.

@GameCollector84 Wish I had a time machine.

@noswitchbutidc just check their top 10 SNES RPG list...

@Quarth Really? I've not read the 3DS European eShop being shutdown. I know the DSi store is still up so it would be very strange for the European eShop to be offline for a console that is still in stores.

I think Nintendo even commented they had no interest to take it down https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/09/nintendo_currently_has_no_plans_to_end_online_services_for_the_3ds

Try connecting and see what happens.

@TheWingedAvenger I completely agree. Nothing even comes close for me.

While props for listing Yokai Watch 1 (#Saveyokaiwatch) To be honest, YW2 is the better game over all. (I haven't played YW3, but Considering that all Pokemon games from Gen 6 and 7 are listed, maybe you could scooch over one of them to make space?)

To steal @bloodninja's catchphrase...

YOKAI (mostly) APPROVED

@Wexter The 3DS is no longer in store, at least not the console. And the games are harder to get as well. You need to go to specialised online retailers to find titles that aren't Mario or Pokémon. Now I'm talking about Sweden, might be different in countries like Germany or the UK.

But hey, you gave me hope about the eshop! I tried to connect some months ago and it didn't work. Googled "3ds eshop europe closed" and found articles saying that Nintendo were closing the eshop in 42 countries. But reading more closely, it seems those countries were Latin American and Carribean. Will try again!

Edit: It effin worked! Thanks! I feel stupid that I didn't research it closer... Oh well...

For UK readers Argos is selling Ever Oasis for only 16.99 through eBay. A rare bargain as most of these are sadly going for ever increasing prices.

@Beatrice personally Etrian Odyssey IV is one of my favorite RPGs of all time, I feel with the airship it's exploration is so much better than the others. V is very good but Nexus was just recycled from other games and very lazy in my opinion. But that's the beauty of gaming, we all have our favorites I suppose.

Can we please get some of these on Switch-especially the Dragon Quest games..?

@Wexter Oh, absolutely. I was there in the 80s, playing those video games. My father was the only parent at the time who (among my friends) who played them and my mother used to always say that he played video games "today" because his parents denied him toys and games as a child (he grew up very poor in Cuba and was forced to work from a very young age until my family fled Castro's regime).

35 years later and he's 70 and still plays games, especially on his phone now but still PC and PlayStation too. And now my mother, who is 68, also plays video games. Not just stuff like Candy Crush, either. She enjoys adventure games like what Telltale makes, stuff like Myst, as well as any kind of puzzle game, card games and a variety of other stuff. Times have changed and anyone can be a gamer and the market is producing games for people from all walks of life.

I'm not particularly hot on RPGs, though I do love Pokémon and Fire Emblem (especially from Awakening onward with their many QoL improvements and accessibility options).

I would also love to see a new Advance Wars game that includes more accessible difficulty options (while still allowing the traditional settings for the diehard masochists). I enjoyed the short time that I had spent on Dark Conflict/Days of Ruin, but it became so ridiculously difficult so quickly that I had given up on it very early on, and wasn't willing to invest hours into a single map that I would most likely fail.

I was frankly surprised that Fire Emblem Echoes wasn't a simultaneous release on Switch. I have the collector's edition, but I wasn't yet done with Fates at the time, so I hadn't had a chance to play it, and now I wonder if I should even bother if a Switch port is in the pipeline. Considering that a port of Miitopia is just around the corner, it wouldn't surprise me to see other underrated/late-life 3DS games follow.

Ever Oasis is an absolute gem, one of my favorite games on the system.

Awakening and even Echoes are both LEAGUES better than Fates. Especially Revelation.

@NatiaAdamo Steal away!

NINJA APPROVED LMAO

Also, Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold and Silver for GameBoy and Crystal for GameBoy Color.

Eight of the best things ever made right there.

My personal favorites (in order):
1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D
(I haven't actually played the 3DS version, but as a high-quality port of my all-time favorite RPG, it deserves the top spot on my list.)
2. Fire Emblem Awakening
3. Pokémon Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon
4. Pokémon X/Y
5. Stella Glow
6. Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire
7. Fire Emblem Fates
8. 7th Dragon III - Code VFD
9. Project X Zone 2
10. Project X Zone
11. Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven
12. Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
(I've only played the demo, but I would like to pick up the full version someday.)

Honorable Mention:
Unchained Blades - While it's technically not a retail title and therefore ineligible, it's one of the best $20 (at full price) RPGs you'll ever find.

@Deltath Well, there is a difference between entertainment that has children as the primary demographic but can still be enjoyed by many adults, as opposed to something that is specifically designed for younger children that most adults would find bland, overly simple, and/or dumbed down. It's like the difference between watching a typical Disney or Pixar animated movie versus watching "Sesame Street," or playing "Sorry" versus "Candy Land."

Now I don't know which category "Yokai Watch" more closely falls under, but it is something to consider if it falls towards the more childish end of the spectrum.

@iLikeUrAttitude Aside from strategy guides and how-to guides, most guides are pretty subjective. It's usually the guide's personal opinion as to what is worth showing and/or mentioning to someone else. If it were objective, it would probably be a list of facts and/or charts rather than a guide.

I own 25 of these, I may have a problem.

I came here for at least 1 new rpg I've never played. Sadly not only have I played all these. I've BEATEN them too.

All fantastic choices. I was actually hoping to nab Alliance Alive for 3DS recently, but was bummed to see it had been removed from the eShop . Plenty others to get though!

Came here to say thank you for including Stella Glow. Such an underrated gem.

I know this list does not cover Virtual Console games, but if anyone wants a good quality old-school RPG, check out Defenders of Oasis.

It's a 1992 Game Gear JRPG that is very good.

@BulbasaurusRex It doesn't matter which of those categories it falls in (though it's much more like a Pixar film than Sesame Street in terms of the broadness of the appeal) for the purposes of being on a list of games Nintendo Life employees like or think are among the best, though.

@Deltath Sure, it does. If it's a childish game, then it deserves to get knocked off the list for its relative simplicity and lack of depth compared to the others. Games like that are only mediocre at best when considering overall quality. It's the same reason "Miitopia" doesn't deserve a spot.

@BulbasaurusRex That's an absurd argument. To quote the preeminent C.S. Lewis:

"Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

Childishness as an insult to its quality is meaningless, particularly when it comes to an opinion by others. This isn't the definitive list as determined by the ruling council of Nintendo Elders, this is a list of what games employees of Nintendo Life personally think are the best. Being simplistic is also not an insult.

Tetris is simplistic compared to thousands of other games and yet it's one of the most beloved video games of all time. Meanwhile, something like Kerbal Space Program is a complex game that many people don't like (often times because of the complexity). Video games are entertainment. They're meant to entertain. What an individual finds entertaining differs from other individuals. Some gamers want to be challenged, some want their brains melted with complexity, others want intriguing plot, some want blood pumping action, others want something calm and simple. There is no right or wrong.

Using Miitopia as an example only further buries your point because that's a game beloved by a diehard niche of gamers. It might not be my cup of tea, but it's one of my fiancée's favorite games. The value of the entertainment for her isn't about the complexity, but rather the fun it affords her with all the silly scenes with the ridiculous characters she made.

I wouldn't include either on my own list, but I certainly wouldn't tell someone else they're not allowed to have it on their list.

Something not being "adult" is much different than things that mostly only appeal to young children. As I said, there are many child-like activities that also appeal to adults, including many fairy tales. Those things aren't "childish" by definition. However, when something has been dumbed down in quality so as only to appeal to younger children, those are the exceptions and what deserve to be insulted as "childish" for anyone else. Those things still have value for those younger children, but they pretty much suck in overall entertainment value to most people over a certain age.

Yes, Tetris is simplistic, but it's not childish for being so. RPGs that are too simplistic, however, are childish. It somewhat depends on the genre. "Miitopia" has value in appealing to younger children or those just getting used to RPGs, but any veteran RPG fan recognizes that its lack of depth makes it a very mediocre game for most gamers.

I'm not saying someone isn't allowed to include such games on their own list. I'm just explaining why I agree with NL's opinion of not including them. If someone posted a list that included "Miitopia," then I'd disagree in the comments for the same reason. Arguing for or against opinions is partially why we have these comments sections in the first place, as long as we remain good natured about it.

that list is awesome, thankfully Stella Glow is mentioned. One of the best JRPG for me in 3DS.

For me top 10 JRPG i love on my N3DS are:
1, Fire Emblem Awakening
2, Stella Glow
3, Radiant Historica: Perfect Chronology
4, Pokemon X
5, Persona Q
6, Fire Emblem Echoes
7, Pokemon Omega Ruby
8, Bravely Default
9, Fire Emblem Fates
10, Monster Hunter Stories

@TossedLlama
Apparently you gave it an 8/10 so you must somewhat like it
I would say it feels 'diluted'...
It's very polished and refined and I think the gameplay is great but there is too much of it and too many characters. I could swear there were about 5-6 characters whose main personality trait was 'dedicated to training'.
Still a very good game but my least favourite of the last 4 FE games.

@Big_Fudge I'm higher on "Fates" than most, but even I'll admit that the story isn't that great, the My Castle system is kind of a sluggish mess, and the weapon upgrade mechanic is too overpowered.

I still much prefer it over the lame experimental mechanics used in "Echoes," though.

What a console for JRPGs! One of my all time favourites. Pair it with being backwards compatible with the DS library and it's an incredible heavy-hitter.
My top 5 3DS JRPGs would be:
Dragon Quest VIII
Radiant Historia
Fantasy Life
Stella Glow
Monster Hunter Stories

@Big_Fudge Stories are not a bonus but pretty important in strategy games, My Castle is necessary to use for various reasons even if you ignore the multiplayer aspects, and ignoring a game mechanic just to make the game more challenging is a lame excuse and likely makes the game too difficult (relative to the chosen difficulty level) if you don't use it.

@Big_Fudge Then you're missing a whole lot of what makes Fire Emblem games (or most SRPGs) great! You need to pay attention to the story and characters to get the most out of those games, or you're simply not qualified to rank them. In this genre and especially this series, stories are not just shoehorned in! The "Civilization" series not having a real story just makes it inferior to series like "Fire Emblem" for that very reason. Go replay your Fire Emblem games and don't skip any cut scenes or support mechanics this time, and you'll find that the games are so much better than they were before!

Entire game mechanics are not included just to make the games easier for newbies. That's what the difficulty levels and the option to turn off permadeath are for. Mechanics like weapon upgrades are there to add depth to the combat, and as such it should be balanced properly. Just ignoring it simplifies the weapon system over what it is otherwise. Plus, like I said, if you don't use it, then the game is probably becomes too difficult for the chosen difficulty level, such as the lowest difficulty (even without permadeath) no longer being easy enough for most players who want less of a challenge yet using the weapons upgrades makes it too much of a cakewalk even for their tastes.

Dragon Quest VIII is better on the PS2, for anyone interested. The 3ds version has good new content but the orchestral soundtrack is gone

Much better than the list you gave us last time. I really appreciate you guys putting the FE games(Yes, even Fates), SMT games, Persona Q and Q2, Monster Hunter Stories, and especially, ESPECIALLY Yo-kai Watch.

I included FE Fates, because despite the weird story and plot. Gameplay was seriously really fun. Also you guys really should try out Yo-kai Watch 2 and 3, they expand so much on the original. And with 3, the battle mechanic changes so much and adds so much new modes that its unrecognizeable. A shame that Level-5's team in NA shut down. Because despite the problems of Yo-kai Watch 4 on the Switch, it is still really charming and fun. Warning to others that you can only truly enjoy it if you know and understand Japanese.

FANTASY LIFE!!
Had such a great time and the multiplayer is solid too!