Top Nintendo 3DS & 2DS Games 2023

It’s no easy task, but Ever Oasis has managed to make me care as much about preserving my town as I do about saving the world. Despite the few odd design choices, there’s a wonderful blend of adventure and town-building where every task you tackle finds multiple ways to reward you.

Story of Seasons’ kept me occupied for well over 30 hours, and even then I could have kept playing until the cows came home. It took awhile for the interesting options for running my farm and business to open up, but the mix of strategy and good old-fashioned simulation made it all worthwhile. It may not have the prestigious Harvest Moon name, but Story of Seasons is definitely the bees’ knees.

After a decade-long hiatus, ‘Metroid’ is back in 2D

Monster Hunter Generations hits the core tenets of what makes this series great. Great gear drives the lust for the hunt even on the small scale, but the big, spectacular fights ultimately matter the most. Generations’ tweaked combat adds just the right tools to make slaying epic boss monsters a fun activity that’s just as fun online or off. Playable companions help shake up the gathering game without taking away resources, and its fun to play as a wackier character. Generations only falters during slower moments spent on fetch quests and in wrangling through menus before the hunt.

Pokémon Art Academy is a light-hearted art game that gives players a fun and non-judgmental means to learn and practice their drawing and painting techniques. The lack of scoring or critical input is disappointing, but committed players will finds a wealth of great lessons and tips.

Layton's brain-teasing puzzles and Ace Attorney's rigorous courtroom circus make for a surprisingly good match despite some pacing and plot issues.

Scribblenauts Unmasked is a great sandbox for playing with DC characters, but as a conventional game it's weakened like it was exposed to red Kryptonite.

Brain Age: Concentration Training puts a difficult new twist on the series by giving you activities to allegedly improve your working memory and concentration, not just keeping your mind active.

On the battlefield, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a delightful look into the simpler combat of Fire Emblem’s past. Elsewhere, it carefully guides the series forward into new territory. There’s not as much depth as I expect from this series, but whether I was exploring 3D forests, shrines, and caves in a series first, or learning first hand why Fire Emblem’s early entries are considered a formidable challenge, it was usually good old-fashioned fun.

Fire Emblem Heroes is simplified, but certainly a good start when it comes to bringing the series beloved combat to phones and tablets. The flimsy story doesn’t bring any new ideas to the table and the blind-item system can get frustrating when it refuses to give you a competent hero, but the fantastically fun battles and ability to reunite with old Fire Emblem friends from anywhere makes it worth the free download.