ioev

Huge fan of the original game, not as big of a fan of most of the 3DS version (graphics/localization are the worst offenders) and have played about an hour of the demo. My thoughts:

Like:

• Font and most of the UI changes look great
• Consistently better looking than the 2D-HD remakes
• Japanese voice work sounds great, but can also turn it all off
• New music also sounds great, but some of the key melodies are a little muted
• Running with R2 is the best. All games should do this (and most are it seems)
• Battle flow is really nice, though kind of doesn’t feel like dragon quest.

Technically bugs:

• Turning off objective markers still displays them on screen, which is infuriatingly bad (go search for 3 missing tablets, 3 objective markers show up??? how did my characters suddenly know where to look???)
• Should have the option of disabling only the mini-map and keep the rest of the hud (or a smaller version of it, for hp/status info)
• Advancing text with the analog or dpad causes text to be frequently skipped by accident, allow this to be disabled or just remove it entirely
• Shop interface feels broken and hard to navigate? Definitely prefer the "conversational" style of previous dragon quest shop menus.

Don’t like:

• Intro is too streamlined, similar to the 3DS version
• Menus in general are kind of a miss, I dislike full screen menus, especially in a dragon quest, overlays would be less immersion breaking
• Text speed options would be nice, default is a little slow
• Looks like we are getting the 3DS localization again, and I am not a fan. Not only do real-world dialects break immersion, but I also just plain don't like having to read them. Dialogue also could be much more concise. Many games I don't mind so much reading but in DQ I just wat to get out and play.
• In the "Info" tab, ditch everything but the journal, or integrate these other screens better. I don’t want to know how many tablets there are right away. Have some guy I can talk to at the end that will tell me how many I’m missing or give hints to find them. These kind of completionist lists break immersion.

They're going to make Vi-O-La talk, aren't they...

Was really hoping for a New 3DS release date, or even just some new colors for the XL.

Given that I'm still buying and playing older DS games, I'm fine with Nintendo milking the 3DS for a few more years. DQ7 and 8 and EO5 should keep me busy, along with my backlog of unplayed and unpurchased games.

Just give us more variety in consoles already. I hate my 3DS XL, and would love to pick up a white new 3DS and some faceplates.

Decent list! If anything, I would remove the ports (Super Mario Advance and Chu-chu Rocket) and add Boktai 2 and Mother 3 (even though it never received an official translation).

Seriously though, Boktai on GBA was groundbreaking to me in a way no other game has been since. If you can track down Boktai 2 and an old non-backlit GBA, spend some time in the sun and play this great action-rpg.

Maybe this will motivate Nintendo to make the collectors edition (complete) available as a stand-alone purchase. I'm kind of on the fence, but being able to get them all on one cart would push me to pick it up.

@Sakura: Thanks for the info/warnings!

Being in Canada, I haven't seen in be available for pre-order yet. Like everyone else has mentioned, those faceplates are butt. I wouldn't hesitate to track one down if a plain white one was included though.

Also, does anyone know how pre-installed games work? If I transfer my account over to this 3DS from my XL, will it overwrite the games that are already on it? Will it "claim" them for my account, so I can transfer them onto something else later, or are they just stuck to the console?

I don't think that any localization travesties could ever come close to the Dragon Quest mess that was Dragon Quest 8, and then the DS DQ4 and DQ5. Thankfully, things have improved since then, and I'm curious to see what will happen to DQ7/8 on 3DS.

For those who wanted a bit of background, Dragon Quest 8 was heavily modified for the North American audience, including overhauling the entire interface, changing the audio to a live symphony (which involved cutting a few tracks), adding full voice acting, and followed in Chrono Cross's footsteps by adding swaths of different dialects. It was also decided to abandon many of the traditional item, enemy and spell names. People were pretty divided on the changes, but I was on the side that wanted the game to be more like the Japanese version, and keep the names more like the have been traditionally. I also despised the dialects, forced humour, puns and alliterations.

Dragon Quest 4 was more of the same, but it almost seemed like dialects became worse, and all of the party chat dialogue was cut for the NA release.

Dragon Quest 5 has a very important final NPC speaking in a Ned Flanders from the Simpsons dialect. Which sucks because other than that, it seems they really reigned-in the dialects for that one, and the localization is otherwise pretty good. By this point I was getting used to the spell names, even though the names are still very ambiguous at times.

I remember when Nintendo said this about the Gameboy Advance when the DS was first released...

Once I noticed shadows popping in and fading away as you approach other characters... cannot unsee

Love everything about this game, but I'm still not sold that this is really the HD version I want. It's a higher resolution with some Amiibo features :

I'm still convinced that the Winter Chateau dungeon from this game was the best from any Zelda to date.

Am tempted on the New 3DS, but the games are preinstalled... I would have picked it up, sold the download codes and cover plates, and tried really hard to get plain white ones from Japan. Really running out of options here to get the New 3DS without paying an arm and a leg for stuff I don't want.

No White New 3DS for North America = NOT A GOOD YEAR.

(The Animal Crossing bundle doesn't count, because you can't buy plain white faceplates separately.)

This is a pretty common troll tactic... list copies on ebay, kijiji, wherever, at rock bottom prices with weird explanations to piss off the collectors/hoarders.

I've wanted a regular sized 3DS ever since they were announced, but only got the XL because current regular sized 3DS had a host of problems. Top screen scratched by the edges on the bottom screen, button issues, bad 3D. If the regular sized white New 3DS were available, I would buy one today and sell off my XL.

I keep around a nice 27" Toshiba CRT for this very reason. Currently have my NES/SNES and a Wii with lots of classic games hooked up along with some large stereo speakers. Because, well, the 80's were all about huge speakers.

All I need now is a good reliable controller adapter for the Wii, so I can use authentic controllers on it.