3DS vs Vita...sort of

[Frankie]

So I am a causal gamer at best. I bought a 3DS a while ago purely so I could play Hakuouki and Devil Survivor 2 (still haven’t started DS2, plan for the weekend I think!) and lately I’ve had this question floating around my head.



Should I buy a Vita or just stick with my 3DS?



I don’t know if it’s just the info that filters through to me (which is mainly twitter and SnapThirty guys), but there seems to be a lot more games on Vita now than when I last looked – and by games I mean Japanese games, that’s really all I care about with these consoles.



So what are your thoughts on game availability between the 3DS and Vita? And thoughts on the consoles themselves, which do you prefer?

[Franky]

Well, Frankie, take it from your male counterpart...Franky: I have both the 3DS and the Vita, in recent months I've not gone a day without touching my Vita. It's not just that there has been one good game that has occupied my time, it's been several games that have kept me going and there's more on the horizon. There isn't as much as other consoles but, honestly, I've been using my Vita more than my PlayStation 4.

Fact is, the Japanese market is what occupies most of the Vita's catalog. Here's what I've been playing recently: Disgaea 3, Disgaea 4, Persona 4 Golden, Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed, One Piece: Unlimited World Red, Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment. All of which are Japanese titles, all of which I enjoyed greatly.

Right now I'm in the middle of Danganronpa 2, I'm a little late to the party but that doesn't mean much. If you're a fan of visual novel-type stuff than the Danganronpa series is perfect for you. I've seen the Anime of the first Danganronpa so it'll be a little hard to go back to it especially knowing all the mysteries but if you haven't than that's just another game you can add to your collection.

There's other good games on the horizon too. One I'm looking forward to comes out in about a week, it's called 'Freedom Wars' and it's this crazy action game about prisoners who have to fight giant monsters. It's made by Sony themselves and is supposed to be a huge title for the Vita. Also, if you like more fantasy, there's Fairy Fencer F coming out.

There's a bunch of games still only available in Japan but there are chances we'll be getting them too, though not high. Even if the Vita doesn't have constant releases in the west, there's still so many other games you can go back to and most are available on the PlayStation Network.

I'm a huge Vita fan but it is mostly for Japanese gamers like you and I so that's most likely why. I think you'de enjoy it, if only for Danganronpa which you've shown interest in. Oooohhhh nagito.

[Frankie]

I was expecting a response like this from you Franky! I knew you'd been playing the Vita a fair bit from the podcasts and figured you'd be able to give me a good overview. And yes, the discovery of Danganronpa yesterday given a huge boost to my interest

I know the Vita is huge in Japan - just the number of otome games alone...if I could understand Japanese to play them, I'd have no money left at all! - so hopefully we will get a lot more titles in the future (even if my hope is as fragile as for waiting for Australia to be included in the 'world' tours jrock bands have)

You may have tipped me over the edge, I'm seriously considering stopping by EB after work today...

[Franky]

I would if I were you. You can pick up a pre-owned console for about 200 bucks, give or take. I bought the Vita JUST for Persona 4 Golden which is basically a mix between RPG, Visual Novel and Social Simulator. It has these awesome characters and some awesome story elements. After that, I was buying or given a review copy of games every month or so. PLUS if you get into more action games like Freedom Wars, we can play it together!

[Franky]

Also, Frankie...the main antagonist of Freedom Wars has grey haaaaaiiiiiiir:

[Luke]

I'm a 3DS man myself. But the Vita does have some pretty sweet looking J-games.

Sometimes the best of both worlds is the best option?

[Frankie]

Oct 24, 2014 14:47:30 GMT 10 Franky said:

I would if I were you. You can pick up a pre-owned console for about 200 bucks, give or take. I bought the Vita JUST for Persona 4 Golden which is basically a mix between RPG, Visual Novel and Social Simulator. It has these awesome characters and some awesome story elements. After that, I was buying or given a review copy of games every month or so. PLUS if you get into more action games like Freedom Wars, we can play it together!

Annnnnd I did

I saw a bit about Freedom Wars on an NHK World show a while back, it does look pretty interesting. 

Oct 24, 2014 14:51:26 GMT 10 Franky said:

Also, Frankie...the main antagonist of Freedom Wars has grey haaaaaiiiiiiir:

And this trailer makes it look more interesting! Haha you know me so well already, I instantly love that guy. I hope they keep the Japanese audio too as he sounds awesome as well.

Oct 24, 2014 17:33:35 GMT 10 Luke said:

Sometimes the best of both worlds is the best option?

This is my plan. I'm not giving up on my 3DS, I'm just adding another console to the family ^^