Eshop recommendations

I don't know about Olliolli (never played it) but I can recommend Crimson Shroud. Here's a nice review of the game and a list by me:

  • It's a JRPG (turn based combat) with visual novel elements (how the narrative is built) that looks like a tabletop RPG (or Heroquest/similar RPG board games)
  • It was directed by Yasumi Matsuno (Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story) and has all the usual tropes that can be found in these games (nice pseudo-archaic english translation, adult protagonists, you don't just drop into save the world mode, interesting art direction, great soundtrack)
  • Here's a link to the soundtrack (warning: youtube auto-plays)
  • If I remember correctly it costs 8,99€ but it's also a short game (about 8 hours but has a New Game+ mode that works quite ingeniously with the story, it's quite nifty)
  • You don't get much grinding to do, there is one moment in Chapter 2 where they designed something (don't want to spoil stuff) a bit strange and you just need to grind for an specific item which drops totally randomly (and rare).
  • No shops, it's a dungeon crawler where you get your loot directly from enemies. If you have played Vagrant Story (action RPG dungeon crawler) then Crimson Shroud could be described as a simplified JRPG version of this. Your weapons have many stats but they don't change stats by fighting and there is only a very simple crafting system.
  • Penny Arcade made a comic about it here.
  • The combat is intense/involved, even normal enemies can be hard if you don't pay attention and you will need to select your equipment carefully, also your equipment is the only thing affecting your stats. There is a simple behind the scenes EXP system but that gives you only skills and no stats.
  • You get to actually roll virtual dice and they tie into other mechanics of the game.
  • I really like the art direction but other people did't like it too much and you get a minimum of animation as your characters are displayed as gaming pieces on a little base/stand so when they act they just wiggle around a bit to indicate who is doing what (and they topple over when they lose all their HP).
  • You start each battle with full HP (no need to use curative items outside of it) but you also lose MP for each step outside of battle while gaining MP for actions in battle and taking damage. There is also an element based combo system where you have to chain together different element based attack to get bonus dice (it all gets explained in the game).
  • Bonus dice: you can add these to hit% and damage or, at the end of a fight, trade some of them for more Barter Points. BP are used for loot selection after a battle. Better stuff costs more points but you also get more of them if you fight better (finish the battle faster and with little damage take, …).

Overall it's my favourtive 3DS game (but I'm also a big fan of Matsuno's games so take this recommendation with a pinch of salt).

/r/3DS Thread