There have been lots of different peak eras in JRPG gaming. The Super Nintendo was one of the biggest players in the game, so it’s only natural that its handheld little sibling would in those footsteps. The Nintendo 3DS was the home to some of the most incredible and unique experiences for lovers of the genre.
While Nintendo released some of the most iconic titles from some of their series, like Fire Emblem Awakening, Atlus focused a ton of their resources on getting some of their lesser-known games into players’ hands.
10 Shin Megami Tensei 4
Let’s start with the best of the best. This JRPG right here is one of the tightest stories ever written for the console. It is quite a difficult first few hours, but once you get the hang of it, every twist and turn in the story will keep you grinding.
People will always disagree on which of the mainline Shin Megami Tensei games is the best one, but after such a long gap between the third one and this, the leaps and bounds that this exemplary game covered will not be matched any time soon.
9 Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker
Even though it’s marketed as a sequel, Devil Survivor 2 is a standalone story. While you should play the first installment, starting with the second one is not a dealbreaker, especially since this version fixed a ton of issues found in the first.
While the game carries the Shin Megami Tensei name, it is quite different. The game plays in a tactical style of JRPG, similar to stuff like Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, while still retaining an SMT style of combat.
8 Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux
Alright, alright… last Shin Megami Tensei game, I promise. It’s just that the 3DS was a great host to some of the best entries in the series. Strange Journey Redux is a mixed bag for most fans of the original game, but with a ton of quality of life improvements and the same excellent story, Redux is still a close to perfect game.
You can still play the original on the Nintendo DS, but that version doesn’t hold up as well as Redux, plus this version has some excellent voice acting that will be hilariously compressed by the poor speakers on the 3DS.
7 Stella Glow
The grip that Atlus had on the Nintendo 3DS JRPG market was unreal. They were churning out some of the best and most unique experiences on the system. Stella Glow was and still is an underrated gem that you should look into if you’re aching to play a fun JRPG with a cool tactical battle system.
Even though a lot of the JRPGs from this era were seen as bargain bin slop, Stella Glow has a fun aesthetic that really shows that a ton of love went into making this game. It’s a bit tropey at times, but it’s wonderful world and high-caliber voice acting will keep you hooked.
6 7th Dragon III Code: VFD
Ridiculous naming aside, 7th Dragon is one of the most stylish JRPGs on this list. As soon as you begin this adventure, you can choose how your character looks based on what class you plan on playing. Although it is not as vast as some of the newer character creation systems, the stylish splash art of the characters available are extremely well designed.
While most games let you create a character that will meet tons of pre-designed characters, 7th Dragon lets you customize your entire party, making this journey all of your own.
5 Fire Emblem Awakening
Fire Emblem is an incredible series, and you can pick just about any on the 3DS to recommend first, but Awakening’s impact and baseline of what modern Fire Emblem was to become make it an easy pick.
Before this game came out, Fire Emblem was a bit of a niche franchise that was mostly stuck in smaller fandoms, but with Awakening’s accessibility options and romancing paths, this game hit a note with the masses. Some purists might say that this was the downfall of the series, but those people would be wrong. Awakening is truly one of the best games in the series.
4 Pokemon Alpha Sapphire & Omega Ruby
It would be wrong to talk about Nintendo exclusives without mentioning Pokemon. There are plenty of excellent Pokemon titles on the Nintendo 3DS, but Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby are some of the best.
Sure, they are technically remakes of the iconic Gameboy Advance classics, but the amount of extra content, plus seeing all of your favorite Pokemon in 3D, was truly an incredible experience. Sadly, the market has made some of these explode in price. Let’s hope you held on to your copy.
3 Etrian Odyssey 4
The first few iterations of Etrian Odyssey have now been remastered in HD for modern consoles, but the fourth installment is still stuck on the Nintendo handheld. If you’re not familiar with the series, then Etrian Odyssey 4 is an excellent place to start.
The fourth entry is generally known to be the easiest out of the dungeon-crawling bunch, so if you’re looking to start the series and you have a lovely 3DS sitting in a drawer, this version is a great way to play the game as it was intended: with a touch screen to map out your dungeons.
2 Persona Q: Shadow Of The Labyrinth
Okay, I lied. This is technically another Shin Megami Tensei game, but the series has gone so far the opposite way from its origins that it has become its own thing. This Persona game is not like the ones on other consoles; rather, it’s more akin to an Etrian Odyssey game.
You’ll crawl tons of random dungeons in which you’ll have to draw out your maps to not get lost in the sprawling paths you’ll take, accompanied by some of your favorite Persona 3 and 4 characters.
1 Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
A lot of JRPGs from this era focused on very anime-like plotlines and worlds, straying away from the medieval and high fantasy style of their predecessors. Radiant History returns to the JRPG roots, while adding its own flair with a bit of time travel.
Just like Strange Journey, this game was originally released on the Nintendo DS, but this 3DS version is the definitive way to play this incredible turn-based JRPG with an interesting grid combat system. Even its logo and art style scream old-school JRPG.
