The inevitable closing of the Nintendo 3DS eShop has been a long time coming, and as such it's not a surprise that it is going down in March 2023. Along with its closure, a large selection of titles are going to be disappearing into the void, unable to be purchased digitally from then on.
Fortunately, many games also have ports to other systems even if they aren't making the leap to the Switch. It's not all of them, however, and some games are just going to be lost to old systems that happened to have them saved on an SD card.
Updated on April 12, 2022 by Michael Colwander: The clock is ticking toward the closure of the 3DS eShop along with the Wii U eShop. With so many great games in the 3DS store, a list such as this couldn't be limited to just ten entries. Five more entries were added.
15 There Are Many Picross Games On The 3DS
The history of Nonogram puzzles dates as far back as the late-1980s, and has been engaging puzzle-goers ever since. Nonograms center around forming pictures by leaving squares blank or filling them in. There have been numerous variations of Nonograms in video game form, but none more recgonizable as Nintendo's Picross series.
The Picross series, which itself dates back to the mid-1990s follows the same rule set and laws as traditional Nonograms. The 3DS saw numerous Picross releases including spinoffs centered around Pokémon and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. All Picross games on the 3DS are digital-only and will disappear forever once the 3DS eShop closes.
14 Weapon Shop De Omasse Puts A Fun Spin On RPG Tropes
With a genre that has persisted as long as the RPG genre, it's tough to create new takes on the genre that haven't already been done. Sometimes, the most creative of avenues are simplest.
Weapon Shop de Omasse is a Rhythm RPG title that focuses on the underappreciated weapon shop owner. Players assume the role of a weapon shop owner and his son as they make weapons using rhythmic gameplay. Weapon Shop de Omasse was written by actor and comedian Yoshiyuki Hirai, which makes Weapon Shope de Omasse a must-buy for any 3DS owner in need of a laugh.
13 Sega 3D Classics Adds 3D To Classic Sega Titles
The central gimmick for the 3DS is its glasses-less 3D visuals. With just a swipe of the 3D slider, players can experience their game in 3D. Many 3DS games were developed with this feature in mind. However, Sega took this to a new level by implementing 3D into their classic titles.
Sega's released a vast compilation of their classic hits for the 3DS ranging from Sonic the Hedgehog to Streets of Rage. While all of these titles saw a physical release, through three compilations, in Japan, only one of these compilations was released in North America. That means a title like 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 will no longer be accessible after the 3DS eShop closure.
12 Pocket Card Jockey Is Another Great Game Freak 3DS Title
Something that often gets overlooked is the fact that Game Freak makes games beyond Pokémon. Game Freak has occasionally deviated creating games such as Tembo the Badass Elephant on systems even outside of Nintendo.
One of their hit 3DS titles was Pocket Card Jockey. Pocket Card Jockey simulates a horse race through a card game similar to Golf where the player must clear out their cards as fast as possible. The slower they clear out their cards, the slower the horse will race. For now, Pocket Card Jockey was a one-off game for Game Freak with no follow-up or Switch port to be seen.
11 Shin Megami Tensei IV Was A Digital-Only Title In Europe
Just becase a game saw a physical release in one region does not mean that's the case for eveyr region. That's the case for Shin Megami Tensei IV. The often delayed SMT4 was finally released in Europe in October 2014 as a digital-only title, over a year after it's release in North America and Japan.
SMT4 is disconnected from previous Shin Megami Tensei titles, and spinoffs such as the Persona sub-series, but stays true to SMT's themes and gameplay. SMT4's midieval setting of the Kingdom of Mikado is the site of a battle against demonic creatures. Flynn is tasked with recruiting fellow Samurais to stop this demon invasion at the source.
10 Castlevania Is Knocking Out A Few Titles
Lords of Shadow and Mirror of Fate are being excluded from the Switch's eShop, which is a bit frustrating for some fans of the franchise. Despite being a cult classic, Castlevania tends to get the short end of the stick often with things like this.
There is hope though that this means that there are more Castlevania games being ported over or games in the same vein making their way to the Switch's library. Castlevania: Bloodlines being included with Nintendo Switch Online's Expansion Pass breathes new hope that more Castlevania titles are on the way.
9 Crimson Shroud Is Rolling Away
Crimson Shroud is very nearly a tabletop RPG on a digital format. There are dice and figures, and the best part is that it was the first game that Yasumi Matsuno had worked on since Final Fantasy XII. It was half video game, half interactive adventure, and all enjoyable. It took the best parts of a tabletop and put it with a video game engine and then coupled that with Matsuno's amazing art to great success.
However, it has not been ported forward to the Switch yet, and unless something changes, it's just going to disappear once the shop goes down in January.
8 Harvest Moon Is Going To Bed One Last Time
A New Beginning, Skytree Village, Lost Valley, and Tale of Two Towns are all tucking into bed one final time before the shop closes. A New Beginning in particular was an amazing addition to the franchise with customization down to where the buildings in the village were going to be placed, something that few other farming sims dare to try.
There are plenty of farming simulators making their way to the Switch if they haven't gotten there already to fill in that void, however, these nostalgic titles are not going to be a part of them.
7 Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance Is Dropping Out
Kingdom Hearts is a franchise that spreads its lore throughout every incarnation, including the games outside of the main trinity. Something that likely won't chance with the upcoming Kingdom Hearts IV. Kingdom Hearts III even had to remind players about everything that had happened during its absence, explaining in optional videos about the other games. That includes Dream Drop Distance which is only going to be available for players on the 3DS eShop for a little while longer. While Dream Drop Distance is now available elsewhere, including the Switch, that doesn't mean the price of physcial versions won't skyrocket in price after the 3DS eShop closure.
It was definitely a strange addition to the series, but it gave players a little more time with Roxas than he gets in the main series and sheds some more light on the world he had to live with.
6 Legend Of Zelda Is Only Keeping The Newest Additions
The 3D remakes of fan-favorite games within the Legend of Zelda franchise including Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are not going to be moving up. Instead, the only games available start with Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild.
Which, makes a bit of sense considering Breath of the Wild is by far the best in the series and has ushered in some serious changes to the Open World genre. It is just a bit disheartening to fans of some of the older titles like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask to know that they are going to disappear from the 3DS eShop in March 2023. The Nintendo Switch Online versions will miss the quality of life improvements made in these 3DS remakes.
5 Pokémon Is Taking A Massive Hit
The ports for the first two generations of Pokémon are going to once again fade away once the shop closes. Back on the 3DS, those digital ports could also be used to bring up old moves from the first and second-generation games of Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal.
Additionally, Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, X, Y, Sun, Moon, and their Ultra counterparts are other main versions that are not moving up. There is also a list of spinoffs and extra games that aren't going to make the cut, including two separate Mystery Dungeon games, Shuffle, Picross, and Rumble World. Pokémon Bank will also cease service sometime after the 3DS eShop closure, but how long players will have to transfer their Pokémon to Pokémon Home is unclear.
4 Sadame Is Getting Left Behind
A fun little action-adventure with a little RPG thrown in is Sadame. It takes place in Feudal Era Japan and has some extremely engaging boss battles. It can be a little difficult to understand in translation, and doesn't do a lot of handholding to help players understand the mechanics. Even so, it's a fun little game that makes up for the simpler battle mechanics outside of the bosses.
Unfortunately, it isn't going forward to the Switch. At least the game isn't going to be taken from the 3DS's SD card though, so it can still be played on an old system that happens to have it.
3 Sakura Samurai: Art Of The Sword Is Gracefully Staying Where It Started
Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword is an action-adventure game that was developed by Nintendo exclusively for the 3DS eShop and that is where it's going to stay. It follows a nameless protagonist who was trained by an old Kappa throughout their charming game full of charming imagery and interesting storylines.
It is also released in the PAL regions as Hana Samurai: Art of the Sword. Neither title is to be making it outside of the 3DS where it started, much to the disappointment of fans everywhere.
2 The Sims 3 Will Just Have To Stay On PC
As one of the most popular of the The Sims franchise, the third installment did have a port on the 3DS. However, it is not being added to the library for updated consoles. Anyone who wants to play it is just going to have to either use their old system or get it off of Origin in the future.
The game actually lent itself rather well for handheld play, unlike The Sims 2, which tried and failed miserably to make ports to consoles numerous times. It's a shame all things considered, as now The Sims is going to end up without much towards its console base once the 3DS eShop closes down and The Sims 3 bites the dust.
1 Story Of Seasons Is Leaving It To The Newbies
When the copyright for the title of Harvest Moon ended up being lost for a bit, Story of Seasons came around to fill in the gap by Natsume. It ended up splitting off entirely to make its own little series once Harvest Moon ended up being reclaimed. Unfortunately, the original incarnation of the title isn't moving up, and neither is Trio of Towns.
Instead, the only Story of Seasons games that are going to be available on the Switch are already there. Any new ones that might come out will obviously also be available, but these older two are going to be left on the older system.