I've been using my 3DS as my primary game console for the past year or so. I've picked up some new games and revisited old ones that I haven't in a while, and it's been great! I don't feel compelled to buy the latest shiny new game on Switch, and I like having minigames that aren't covered in ads like most mobile games are. (The amount of Picross I've completed is a sign that I need help super cool and impressive.)

I like the DS because I can play it comfortably in bed or on the couch underneath a warm blanket, and it's portable. It can be thrown in my pocket or bag somewhat carelessly, and I can play it on the bus. The Switch isn't portable in the same way for two reasons. First, I have too much fear to play the Switch anywhere outside of the house or a similarly safe indoor environment. Second, I have a really hard time reading or parsing basically any Switch game except Animal Crossing because everything on the screen is so small. I almost always have to play the Switch docked, which means no submerging my entire being under blankets or playing on the bus.

I also feel really tired whenever I think about playing a Switch game these days. It feels like a commitment. It feels like I'm going to clock in at a job.

I don't know anything about making (or really even playing) games so I'm just making things up here, but DS games are different. You can play a game without worrying about losing your progress if you're interrupted! The scope is smaller! Everything feels more manageable! This isn't pure nostalgia speaking because I'm playing these games right now and having a great time.

Switch games aren't designed the same way. There are minigame-type games out there (especially if you look through the treasure trove of shovelware in the store), but all the marquee games are just console games. They're large-scale with lots of cool graphics and features, and they demand your full attention for extended periods of time if you want to make any progress. The Switch does a great job at running console games in a cheaper, smaller, theoretically-handheld package, but it's not a handheld in the same way the DS is.

I think mobile games are closer to being the true successors to handheld/DS games, but most of them suck because they're covered in ads or [inclusive] microtransactions. The few that don't suck are basically-just-console-games, live service games, or puzzle minigames. Not counting the puzzles, full-featured mobile games don't play like DS games despite many of them being built for the same use case in theory.

It sucks that nothing filled the DS-shaped hole in the world. My DS/3DS backlog will probably take more than a lifetime for me to complete at the rate that I play games, but it's still a bummer that handheld game development has been funneled into Switch or mobile.

Anyway, here are some cool games I've played or replayed recently and enjoyed. Maybe I'll talk more about them later, or I'll forget about that in 2 days.

• Ghost Trick - A friend lent me the cartridge in college and I Just Now played it in January (I have not been in college for a long time). One of the games of all time, the story was so clean
• Zero Escape: 999 and Virtue's Last Reward - Incredible story writing and fun puzzles. I liked all the random trivia that may or may not be plot-relevant. I'm trying to get through Zero Time Dilemma but don't enjoy it nearly as much
• All the Professor Layton games - I couldn't remember which ones I have or haven't played so I just did all of them in order of release. My favorite game story is Unwound Future. Layton is probably my favorite game series but I'm slightly worried about the Switch game (although I am also a professional novelty hater)
• Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney - A great addition to both series in terms of story and gameplay
• Art Academy - I never bought into Art Academy when I was younger because I rejected any and all art instruction. Being an adult now, I like being told what to do so I don't have to expend brain power on decisions. I've been really impressed by the quality of the lessons and the art-making interface itself

Footnotes

1. The 3DS also had its own issues with microtransactions, mostly on Nintendo-developed free-to-play games. Those were definitely the blueprint for Nintendo's horrific mobile game monetization practices... ↩