I finally managed to get my hands on a N3DSXL. I haven't played anything on the 3DS or DS so I'm looking for recommendations. I'm open to pretty much anything genre-wise.
What are your faves 
I know the zelda ports were contentious but there's something about those graphics and 3d that hits me just right.
Also hack the 3ds and play mario 64 on it
Yeah I was kind of thinking about giving the OoT and MM ports a go. I haven't played OoT since launch and never played MM.
There’s a patch for the MM port that fixes the issues it has, highly recommended.
https://restoration.zora.re/
The MM port on 3DS changes some things for the worse, but Majora's Mask is fantastic and should be tried by any fan of Zelda or action-adventure games.
The OoT port didn't goof anything up if I remember right.
Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright
Metroid: Samus Returns
Warioware Gold
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
pokemon oras
rhythm heaven megamix
Also if you're doing this The Cool Way, you can just put any DS or Gameboy/GBC/GBA game on there
The Cool Way
"Never pay more than 20 bucks for a game." I'm sailing the seas for all of this. Thank you for the recommendations. If you have any on DS/GBA, I'll take those as well. I have no DS experience and only marginal GBA experience.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Shin Megami Tensei Apocalypse
Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Luigis Mansion 2
Bravely Default
Pokemon Sun/Moon
Kirby: Robobot
Also: Bravely Second, Pokemon Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon, and Luigi's Mansion 1 (it got a remake)
Very interested in Zelda ALBW. ALttP is my favorite Zelda game still and about the only game I come back to every now and then. I'm also a newcomer to the MonHun series with World and Rise so I'd like to give MH4U a go. That's actually the kind of N3DSXL I ended up getting.
Mario and Luigi: bowser's inside story (also the prequel Partners in time and sequel Dream Team)
Pokemon Mystery dungeon explorers of the sky
Fire Emblem Awakening
Kirby: Planet Robobot
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Pokemon Rangers Shadows of Almia
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Kid Icarus Uprising
Pokemon Black and White and the sequel B/W 2
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Best 3DS Fire Emblem!
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
I'd also recommend the GBA Castlevanias, especially Aria of Sorrow.
Pokemon Mystery dungeon explorers of the sky
I've been really interested in these games.
the mystery dungeon series is very good, explorers of the sky is the best one, but super md and the original md are also pretty good
All of the Ace Attorneys are great if you like VNs, the Professor Layton series is good if you like puzzle games (don't feel bad about using hint coins and it'll make your life so much easier).
I also sank a lot of hours into FFT: Grimoire of the Rift. It adds a few more classes on top of FFTA, though the story isn't as strong. The Fire Emblems and Advance Wars on DS are worth playing too if turn based tactics are your thing..
For adventure I enjoyed the Zeldas - Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Both had charming cel-shaded graphics a la Windwaker. I don't remember much about A Link Between Worlds. I assume it was decent.
For touch screen games, the Elite Beat Agents (Osu Tatake Ouendan) and Rhythm Heaven series are evergreen. The Kirby power brush is fun too.
My brother really enjoyed The World Ends With You (JRPG) and the Pokemon Mystery Dungeons (dungeon crawler) and Korg DS-10 (virtual synthesiser).
Finally if you haven't played Chrono Trigger, there's a DS remake. I hadn't played Chrono Trigger before so DS was my first time playing. Absolutely must if you even think it might be worthwhile. Tl;dr R4 was great for roms, and DS is a goated console.
I'll have to give FFT another go. I was a huge PS1 FFT fan and bounced off of FFTA back on the GBA. Those Zelda recs are good too. I haven't played a portable Zelda yet and the current BotW/TotK just didn't jive with me and made me want to play older Zeldas.
I haven't played a portable Zelda yet
You mentioned liking ALttP, so you should definitely play Minish Cap (GBA) and Link's Awakening DX (GBC).
If you end up liking Link's Awakening DX a lot, then try Oracle of Ages/Seasons (GBC) and Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru
Very interesting, thank you. I've been around for a minute and I've never heard of Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru before.
It's a bit of a deep cut despite being the prototype of a popular Zelda game. I only first heard of it from Abnormal Mapping, which is a pretty great podcast about games if you're into that kind of thing.
if you're into that kind of thing.
I absolutely am. I've added it to my app and I'll definitely give it a listen.
I highly recommend you play the first 3 Yokai Watch games (btw Psychic Specters is the definitive version of YW2). Also, Animal Crossing New Leaf is better than the one on switch.
If you like to read, then you can't miss out on the Zero Escape trilogy (9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors, Virtue's Last Reward, Zero Time Dilemma (ok you can skip ZTD since it really sucks)). They're my favorite visual novels and no spoilers, but the physical hardware of the DS is relevant to the story so the steam port is a huge downgrade.
Ghost Trick and Hotel Dusk: Room 215 also have phenomenal stories.
Pokemon B2/W2, Meteos, Bowser's Inside Story, all 3 DS Castlevanias, Jump Superstars if you can read japanese or get a translation patch
I haven't heard of this one before, but it looks really neat. Seems related to Boku no Natsuyasumi which I am curious about after the Action Button review.
Same development team if I remember right. If you have any interest in Boku no Natsuyasumi, the general vibes of 70s Japan, and Kaiju/tokusatsu media you should definitely give it a shot. It's also really short, which is always pleasant for a game!
Attack of the Friday Monsters is probably my personal favorite, but all of the Guild series of 3DS games will give you a pretty unique experience.
Pokemon platinum is a must if you like Pokemon at all. Significantly better than xy or sun moon.
I haven't played a Pokemon since the original Red/Blue so I'm all for giving it a go!
Kid Icarus Uprising is really good, and I like Etrian Odyssey 4&5 a lot as well. Kid Icarus is several genres in one, all of them good, from Platinum games. (also it's been recommended several times here)
Etrian Odyssey is a series of really fun Dungeon Crawlers. There are also remakes on 1&2 which are good, and X, which is really more a love letter to longetime fans, and amazing for that, but not a good entrypoint.
Thanks for the recs! I never really got into blobbers before, but I've heard a lot about Etrian Odyssey so it's worth a shot!
Gotta say Xenoblade Chronicles hands down. If you can't play it on switch or emulate it, it's definitely a good port, I first played on N3DS
I haven't played XBC (or Xeno- anything yet) so that's definitely on my list.
can't remember whether the DS or 3DS had The World Ends With You, but i remember that being cool
Damn, if the shop were still open you could have gotten Horseshoe Crab Flipper.
