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It may seem like a fruitless effort now to highlight the games the West never received. However, in light of recent localizations like Trials of Mana, one must never lose hope. Plus, there are always the fan communities of fan translators out there. So, in celebration of the 3DS’ near ten-year reign, let’s see what has remained hidden across the seas.
Updated March 19, 2022 by Mark Sammut: The Nintendo 3DS produced hundreds of fantastic games, and that is before taking into account all the titles that never found their way to North American stores. Nowadays, publishers seem to have grown more willing to release niche projects to international audiences, but that is very much a recent development. In fact, the 3DS is absolutely stacked with Japan-only exclusives, some of which are pretty great in their own right. This article has been expanded to include a few more of the best Japan-only 3DS games.
12 Beyond The Labyrinth
Developed by tri-Ace, the same studio behind Star Ocean and the Valkyrie Profile games, Beyond the Labyrinth is an original JRPG with dungeon crawler elements. Four in-game players are summoned by a girl who needs help making her way out of a labyrinth packed with cool environments and deadly creatures.
Boasting a complex and unique combat system along with a storyline that does not bog itself down with dialogue, Beyond the Labyrinth was arguably one of the better early RPGs released on the Nintendo 3DS. It is a shame the game never made its way to Western countries.
11 Super Robot Wars UX/BX
Debuting all the way back in 1991, Super Robot Wars has not stopped producing new games for the best part of three decades, although only the franchise’s 30th anniversary title made it to North America. Arguably at its best on portable consoles, Super Robot Wars is a tactical RPG series that incorporates mechas from popular Japanese properties such as Gundam, Macross Frontier, Full Metal Panic!, and Gurren Lagann.
Super Robot Wars UX and its sequel, BX, do a fine job of modernizing the franchise’s gameplay and visuals. Although the scenarios are a bit too easy for veterans of the genre, these releases tell fun fan-service heavy stories while still being fun to play.
10 Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3
There are too many Dragon Quest games to go through that did not venture out of Japan. The 3DS was filled with everything a Dragon Quest fan could want, permitting they live in Japan; for everyone else, the franchise basically stopped existing for roughly a decade.
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Along with Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3, games such as Dragon Quest 10, Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D, Theatrhythm Dragon Quest, and even a 3DS version of Dragon Quest 11 were all released exclusively in Japan. In fact, that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Square Enix’s series. The 3DS really was built for RPGs.
9 E.X. Troopers
Mega Man Legends 3 is a legendary cancelation for the 3DS. Capcom, however, apparently took some of those ideas for this game. E.X. Troopers released on both the 3DS and PS3, which is a weird combo of platforms.
While it may or may not borrow from the scrapped demo, E.X. Troopers is also supposed to be a part of another Capcom series, Lost Planet. A third-person shooter with a great anime aesthetic, this release combined single-player and multiplayer, delivering a fun experience that set it apart from the main Lost Planet games.
8 Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2: Naruhodou Ryuunosuke no Kakugo
That name may be long, complicated, and unrecognizable, but this is a Phoenix Wright game. It takes place during the roaring age of steam wherein a lawyer teams up with Sherlock Holmes in order to solve a series of mysteries.
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It plays like most of the other entries in the series, with a few added gimmicks which incorporate Mr. Holmes. Why the crossover never came over may have something to do with the Sherlock license, though that isn’t confirmed.
7 Sekaiju to Fushigi no Dungeon 2
This name may also look unfamiliar but this is Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2. The first game did come in the West, but as to why this sequel never did is easy to deduce. It was released in August 2017, and since the Switch was out in March of that year, Nintendo may not have seen the value in releasing a niche title on a dying platform outside of Japan. That is as good a guess as any, at the very least.
A crossover between Etrian Odyssey and Mystery Dungeon, Etrian Mystery Dungeon is a charming dungeon crawler that comes with quite a bit of replay value. Outside the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon spin-offs, none of these franchises are huge outside of Japan, so this sequel is unlikely to ever see the light of day in Western regions.
6 Little Battlers eXperience Wars
This is a long-running collaboration project with Level-5 involving toys, anime, and games, and this was the last game in the franchise to release, launching back in 2013.
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However, North America did get an earlier game in this series which released in 2015. They were probably dipping their toes in the water to see if it sold well enough to bring more over, but, since none did, the results are clear.
5 Disk Wars: Avengers Ultimate Heroes
This was also an anime project which did get translated for North America. It’s basically about kids using DISKs to summon Marvel heroes almost like the Marvel version of Pokemon. The Bandai Namco brawler for the 3DS stayed looked in Japan, though, and that may have been because it reviewed quite poorly in that country. Still, a Japanese exclusive Marvel game is odd, for sure.
4 Metal Max 4: Gekko no Diva
As is the case with most of these, Metal Max 4 released in 2013. Very few of these games ever left Japan, and the franchise has been around since the NES. There was a recent game on PS4, and, prior to that, one came out on PS3 — that’s it for North America, though.
For those unfamiliar with the license, imagine a Fallout game that plays more like Final Fantasy, and you’ve got a rough idea of how the series feels to play. Two new Metal Max are currently in development, including a sequel to 2020’s Reborn.
3 Lost Heroes 2
Lost Heroes 2 is one of many RPGs that crosses over the Gundam, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider properties. This plays like a turn-based dungeon crawler, and the big hook is being able to befriend legendary heroes in these long-running Japanese phenomenons.
It should surprise no one that Lost Heroes 2 never left Japan since the licensing rights would be nightmarish. This sequel also underperformed compared to its predecessor, which probably did little to incentive a Western port.
2 Yo-kai Sangokushi
Yo-kai Watch is basically Pokemon plus ghosts. It took a while for that series to come to North America, but, even when it did, that didn’t guarantee every release would follow. For example, Yo-kai Sangokushi is a crossover title with Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
In this way, it’s sort of like Pokemon Conquest, which was also a tactical feudal era RPG, but instead mixed with another Koei Tecmo franchise: Nobunaga’s Ambition.
1 GameCenter CX: 3-Choume no Arino
Before YouTube, Twitch, and all other streaming related platforms, there was GameCenter CX. This show has been on the air in Japan for over two decades with a comedian poorly playing through games from start to finish.
It finally got a game of its own for the DS, which was renamed to Retro Game Challenge in North America. The DS sequel did not come over, nor did this third attempt. That said, there is a fan translation of the second game for those who are interested.
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