PS Vita vs. N3DS - Which should I buy in 2016?

[Lucius]

So I got some cash from the government for voting in an election earlier this year, and now I could finally afford one of my two sought after consoles, the 3DS or PS Vita. The problem is: I could only afford one of them. Which should I get?

When it comes to both consoles, there are certain factors that made me want to acquire either of them, so I'll list down my likes and dislikes about both consoles, and I would appreciate it if you could correct me on any of these worries I have:

PS Vita
Pros

• Has Danganronpa 2, Virtue's Last Reward without the save glitch, and Digimon Cyber Sleuth.
• Visual novels have higher quality OP themes AFAIA. I was quite impressed with the Vita OPs of Fate/Stay Night.
• Some visual novels on Vita seem to have extra content the PC version doesn't have, such as the upcoming American release of Grisaia trilogy.

Cons

• Vita is dead. So people say. The word is that Sony has recently 'killed' Vita... or something. Whatever the actual news about that rumor is, it seems like Vita's future library won't be very promising... not that its prior history was that spectacular in the first place.
• No backwards compatibility (minus certain PSP games you could buy from PSN).
• No 999, but has VLR for some reason (and considering the third game's release on Steam, this franchise is really split all over the place across three consoles...).
• I didn't really enjoy the first Persona game due to its dungeon-crawling, so I'm on the fence about Persona 4: Golden.
• Unreasonably expensive proprietary memory card required to play games from PS+... wtf.

3DS XL
Pros

• POKEMON! Need I say more? And that franchise is certainly not dying any time soon, unlike Vita itself.
• Actual 3-D! I've been curious how cool the 3-D looks since I heard it does tricks with your eyes or something.
• Backwards compatibility. 'Nuff said.
• 999 and Corpse Party, among some other titles Vita lacks (not sure if Corpse Party is backward compatible with Vita).
• Animal Crossing actually looks kinda fun in a slice-of-life kind of way.

Cons

• VLR save glitch being the biggest problem. I don't want to have the hassle of copying all my saves throughout the entire game.
• The DS has a rather poor graphic and sound quality compared to PSP. Not sure if the 3DS could match up to Vita's graphics and sound. The Vita is known for its amazing visual novel OPs, after all. Don't think the 3DS can actually play movie-quality clips like that.
• Aside from the titles mentioned in Pros, I don't really like what I'm seeing for the 3DS library... I don't like Mario or most Nintendo games. Vita does have a slight edge in having more attractive special editions of visual novels like Grisaia and Fate/Stay Night.
   

Overall, I think my biggest concern is whether if I'll like the game library. I specially highlighted that part about Nintendo games because I'm not a Mario or Sonic fan, and most of the DS games are kinda... iffy, like they're for children or girls. Phoenix Wright has no hold over me because I've never played it before, and I'm not really sure it's really that fun from the looks of it, not being a mystery-buff.

On the other hand, Vita has its own share of terrible problems, with the potential demise of the Vita line being the biggest concern. What if a Vita 2 is released shortly after I bought it? Now that Sony's been said to focus its attention more on PS4 and has supposedly abandoned Vita, what will become of its future exclusives?

So, what should I do? Which should I buy? More importantly, which console has a better line of visual novels? Any constructive comments would be welcomed. 

[andzalot55]

I'd say go with 3DS if you want to hack it and get games for free plus you can play "If I were sealed in a room with a girl, I would xxx" (It is a legit game for the 3DS.)

[Lucius]

10 minutes ago, andzalot55 said:

I'd say go with 3DS if you want to hack it and get games for free

That does sound tempting, but only if I like most of those free games in the first place. If it's only a handful of games that I like, Vita is no worse for wear even without free games.

 

10 minutes ago, andzalot55 said:

plus you can play "If I were sealed in a room with a girl, I would xxx" (It is a legit game for the 3DS.)

I think the PC already has enough of those eroges... which I'm not terribly fond of in the first place.

[Kairix360]

I was in this position about a year and a half ago. I ended up choosing the PS Vita, and I don't regret it at all. I would recommend it to you as well. If possible, try to get one of the Vita's with the OLED screen. I haven't played the slim, but I know several people that have said the OLED screen is better than the one on the slim. The Vita also has a lot more VNs available on it too! There are some extremely good ones like the Danganronpa series, VLR, Steins;Gate and more. It is also worth noting that the Vita is region-free and the 3DS is not, so if there is a VN or another game that is only released in Japan, you can import it and play it very easily! If you want a 3DS game from another region, you would need a 3DS from that region.

For reference in case this helps at all, here is a list of VNs for Vita in English (either available or coming soon). Here is a list of the ones available for 3DS.

Also, FYI, Corpse Party and Corpse Party: Book of Shadows are compatible with the Vita. I have the whole series on mine.  I also heard a rumour this month about 999 possibly coming out to the Vita, so let's hope it's true!

Based on my experience making this same decision (I found myself making a lot of the same pros/cons as you) and what you are saying, I think the Vita would be a better choice for you, especially if you aren't too interested in the library besides Pokemon and Animal Crossing (Those were the exact same franchises I wanted it for too lol). Even though Sony might not be supporting the Vita too much, there are still a lot of games coming out for it! Depending on what your taste in games is, there might be a lot of great games for you! 

I hope I helped!

[Lucius]

13 minutes ago, Kairix360 said:

I hope I helped!

Thanks! That was really helpful indeed. Glad to know about the region-locked system of 3DS. The lack of 999 is honestly just a minor convenience since I could still play it as a ROM on my PC. The real problem is Pokemon because the rest of the franchise will be released on 3DS, which doesn't have a working emulator yet... lol

Anyway, thanks for those links. They'll help a lot.

[Eclipsed]

Depends on the types of games you wanna get.

Vita for JRPGs and VNs, 3DS for the big Nintendo titles (which you say you don't like... sooo the choice should be obvious )

999 is supposedly* gonna be ported (&remastered!) to Vita

Vita has all the Corpse Party titles (minus the 3DS remake of Blood Covered). Blood Drive, the last game in the Heavenly Host trilogy, is Vita exclusive.

Vita memory cards are expensive, but usually PSN game sales can be 50%+ off. You'll never see big name Nintendo 3DS games go on sale that much, more like only 20%-30% off.

Vita can't play PSP UMDs (the discs) but with firmware < 3.55 and a bit of techy knowhow you can get it to run all PSP ISOs

[Mugi]

Persona 4 Golden: The System, of course. You can play P4G on there, you can't play it on the 3DS, that's all that needs to be said. 

[Lucius]

4 minutes ago, Eclipsed said:

Vita can't play PSP UMDs (the discs) but with firmware < 3.55 and a bit of techy knowhow you can get it to run all PSP ISOs

Sounds complicated already, tbh.  Firmware < 3.55?

 

[Eclipsed]

Hrrrmmm

Just go with Mugi's advice, that sounds much nice and simple 

[WinterfuryZX]

I have both, PSVita is ine of the best console ever created, second only to the legendary PC-Engine, 3DS is utter trash.

[exaccuss]

Vita is not dead. Far from it. Plus, we get the next cold steel jrpg coming in september. There's plenty of decent rpg's on the vita and 3ds respectively. The vita isn't region locked, so there's that too. The 3ds also has great games like kingdom hearts, rune factory 4 etc etc, but it is region locked sadly.

[Lucius]

13 minutes ago, exaccuss said:

The 3ds also has great games like kingdom hearts, rune factory 4 etc etc, but it is region locked sadly.

Not to mention being in Japanese, probably. 

 

13 minutes ago, exaccuss said:

Plus, we get the next cold steel jrpg coming in september.

Just watched a review for the first Trails of Cold Steel. Looks pretty neat. I was kinda wary of that game because I'm not that big on JRPGs, but I do like the social link element as it allows variety and replayability. Hopefully the other JRPGs on Vita have similar dialogue/social elements as well.

[exaccuss]

1 minute ago, Lucius said:

Not to mention being in Japanese, probably. 

 

Just watched a review for the first Trails of Cold Steel. Looks pretty neat. I was kinda wary of that game because I'm not that big on JRPGs, but I do like the social link element as it allows variety and replayability. Hopefully the other JRPGs on Vita have similar dialogue/social elements as well.

Kingdom hearts DDD and rune factory 4 are both in english. Definitely give RF4 a chance, i loved it.

[Lucius]

2 minutes ago, exaccuss said:

Kingdom hearts DDD and rune factory 4 are both in english. Definitely give RF4 a chance, i loved it.

Yeah, RF4 does sound kinda fun, with the monster-taming... but I can only afford one console, so it's a bit of a pain choosing either one of these.  And besides, RF4 also sounds a bit like a cross between Fable and Pokemon.

[exaccuss]

1 minute ago, Lucius said:

Yeah, RF4 does sound kinda fun, with the monster-taming... but I can only afford one console, so it's a bit of a pain choosing either one of these.  And besides, RF4 also sounds a bit like a cross between Fable and Pokemon.

3ds also has bravely default and bravely second. Although bravely second is annoying due to a certain boss which i won't name, 3ds also has the pokemon games too. Decisions decisions lol

[Lucius]

14 minutes ago, exaccuss said:

3ds also has bravely default and bravely second. Although bravely second is annoying due to a certain boss which i won't name

Eh, it looks okay, Bravely Default. Like I said, not really a big fan of JRPGs. Pokemon is kinda an RPG on its own but I only like it because of the nostalgia factor. Don't really have as much attachment with the newer gens... I haven't even played Black and White yet, and both the Sun and Moon are about to come up.  And if you add on the fact that most Pokemon games are pretty much a rehash of each other with new creatures every game, then that's another strike against 3DS games.

So yeah, the decision is looking to be easier now... 

Edit:
Speaking of RPGs with a relationship/dialogue system, there's also Growlanser on the PSP, which is also available to Vita via PSN. Now that's a JRPG I might consider playing.

[Novel21]

Buy PS Vita it have many good RPG games than 3DS and It's much better to play on Vita than 3DS.

Buy PS Vita and wish for 3DS as christmast presant.

[ShinRaikdou]

Vita.

Exclude tons of JRPG, Vita is superior console for VN with new content and best technical part. But, you need to know how deal with japanese language.

 

In English part :
There is Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls,
VanillaWare games(Odin Sphere, Draron's Crown, Muramasa), SAO 1-3 games(if you fan of anime/ranobe), One Piece 1-3(again, if you fan of anime/manga), Senran Kagura SV and EV...

Many good rhythm games like Project diva 1-2-X, Persona 4 DAN, Senran Kagura Bon Appetit and more...

Also fighting games - MVC3U, dengeki-bunko, Dead or alive and Blazblue in better versions than 3ds.

And one of the main genre - hunting games like Monster Hunter from 3ds. Vita has - Freedom Wars, Soul Sacrafice, God Eater 1-2, Toukiden 1-2, Phantasy Star(JAP only), Ragnarok Odyssey...

 

Thats it. And there much more turn-based classic JRPG.

[Lucius]

19 minutes ago, ShinRaikdou said:

Vita.

Exclude tons of JRPG, Vita is superior console for VN with new content and best technical part. But, you need to know how deal with japanese language.

 

In English part :
There is Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls,
VanillaWare games(Odin Sphere, Draron's Crown, Muramasa), SAO 1-3 games(if you fan of anime/ranobe), One Piece 1-3(again, if you fan of anime/manga), Senran Kagura SV and EV...

Many good rhythm games like Project diva 1-2-X, Persona 4 DAN, Senran Kagura Bon Appetit and more...

Also fighting games - MVC3U, dengeki-bunko, Dead or alive and Blazblue in better versions than 3ds.

And one of the main genre - hunting games like Monster Hunter from 3ds. Vita has - Freedom Wars, Soul Sacrafice, God Eater 1-2, Toukiden 1-2, Phantasy Star(JAP only), Ragnarok Odyssey...

 

Thats it. And there much more turn-based classic JRPG.

I think ShinRaikdou pretty much sums up most of what I want out of my games. Those hunting games look good. And fighting games on the Vita seem quite fun too, particularly Mortal Kombat. I've always wanted to play MK but couldn't because my computer doesn't have a handheld controller... And yeah, playing MK using KBM? Doesn't work at all. 

Vita curb stomps 3DS in this match-up. 

[Okarin]

As far as I'm concerned, Vita *isn't* dead. It's a complete letdown if you look at it as a modern PSP or as a portable PS4 -very few blockbuster, Western games. But as a "weeaboo" console (pardon the term), focused on Japanese-animu games, it really shines, even more than the 3DS, possibly.

You have a pretty big catalogue already available for Vita, with the occasional new entry.

As for VLR, I completed it in 3DS without hassle.

Also consider the region lockdown for 3DS, especially if you're in Europe, in America you receive more but not by much, there's still some games that don't make it outside of Japan but the major titles are all finding their way into the West.

The 3D function for 3DS is just makeup, lots of games don't capitalize on it or haven't it implemented in the first place. Just a thing to appeal to kids, I guess? Nifty Nintendo technology and whatnot.

I think Vita is technologically superior to 3DS, but that doesn't make 3DS a "poor" console. Also first-party (Nintendo) games are a force to reckon with in 3DS, you can grab Fire Emblem and that's a really good game. But if you don't quite like it... points are substracted.

All in all, you can get a standard 3DS (not XL, plain model, I mean) pretty cheap nowadays, I got the plain black model that's just the less appealing of them all, maybe you'll have more luck. And shortly thereafter, you can grab a Vita with discount when it dies. You'll be getting "obsolete" (previous generation) equipment, but cheap. If a Vita 2 happens, which can be doubted, it will be 200+ dollars. If Vita is discontinued, it will go down to around 90-100 dollars, that's half of it.

[Khazit]

Pokemon >>> All

DS all the way.

[Lucius]

44 minutes ago, Okarin said:

As far as I'm concerned, Vita *isn't* dead. It's a complete letdown if you look at it as a modern PSP or as a portable PS4 -very few blockbuster, Western games. But as a "weeaboo" console (pardon the term), focused on Japanese-animu games, it really shines, even more than the 3DS, possibly.

That sounds fine to me, considering those 'weeb' games are the reason I considered picking up a new handheld console to begin with (Pokemon counts too because I only like it because of the animu). Unless 3DS starts having Mortal Kombat, GTA, or even the possibility of The Last of Us being ported onto it of course, which c'mon, isn't going to happen even on Vita any time soon. So yeah, the 'western' portion of the library isn't a biggie since there aren't that many attractive titles for me on the 3DS to begin with.
 

49 minutes ago, Okarin said:

Also consider the region lockdown for 3DS, especially if you're in Europe, in America you receive more but not by much, there's still some games that don't make it outside of Japan but the major titles are all finding their way into the West.

A lot of people here seems to associate my location of "South-East Asia" with Europe for some reason...  That being said, most of the English games here probably got shipped over from America to begin with, so there's that... I don't think I see a lot of non-English Japanese games here.
 

53 minutes ago, Okarin said:

I think Vita is technologically superior to 3DS, but that doesn't make 3DS a "poor" console. Also first-party (Nintendo) games are a force to reckon with in 3DS, you can grab Fire Emblem and that's a really good game. But if you don't quite like it... points are substracted.

Technological superiority can be brilliant when it comes to visual novels, considering the kind of gameplay or graphics that can be involved. Buuuut it's squandered because Sony doesn't bother utilizing that superior technology to its full potential like Nintendo does with their console, because Sony's made up of a bunch of money-grubbing morons who use a blockbuster reboot for a political campaign of all things (Ghostbusters 2016). Or at least on the American side of things anyway, not Sony Japan.

Fire Emblem actually doesn't look that bad. The large amount of companions plus the dialogue you can have with them does seem attractive. However, the perma-death system (even though you can turn it off in casual mode) makes it seem like it's one of those 'hardcore' games for Dark Soul-ish gamers. If so, I'm not sure how much focus it's going to have on the dialogue side of things to begin with. The battle elements of RPGs are kinda my least favorite of role-playing games. You know, games where you play 'roles'? Roleplay? A lot of RPGs is like, strategy here, battle bosses there. Not really my thing. I prefer RPGs with complex dialogues and relationships.
 

1 hour ago, Okarin said:

All in all, you can get a standard 3DS (not XL, plain model, I mean) pretty cheap nowadays, I got the plain black model that's just the less appealing of them all, maybe you'll have more luck. And shortly thereafter, you can grab a Vita with discount when it dies. You'll be getting "obsolete" (previous generation) equipment, but cheap. If a Vita 2 happens, which can be doubted, it will be 200+ dollars. If Vita is discontinued, it will go down to around 90-100 dollars, that's half of it.

An average 3DS goes for about $330 to $368 around here (with the XL model being of the latter pricing... and then some.  ). That's not too bad since it's around my budget (if we don't include any games...). Vita probably goes for a bit cheaper, with the most expensive one at around $300 to $320, so it's about 30 dollars lesser. I don't really want a second-hand model. Although they go for the really cheap price of $200, the potential for broken or buggy ones is also quite high...

You won't get a Vita for 100 bucks around here. Period. No matter the production line of Vita. You'd be luckier getting an NDS for $100.

All in all, it all comes down to the library of games, not the hardware. The hardware's technological superiority is secondary as far as I'm concerned, and the 3DS is lacking in both that and a library I might prefer. Pokemon is cool and all, and Animal Crossing does seem like all kinds of interesting... But whichever console I'm buying is going to stick with me for a long time since my budget is extremely limited, so I should only pick something with a large number of games I might want to play, not just Pokemon and Animal Crossing. Plus a glitched VLR.
 

1 hour ago, Okarin said:

The 3D function for 3DS is just makeup, lots of games don't capitalize on it or haven't it implemented in the first place. Just a thing to appeal to kids, I guess? Nifty Nintendo technology and whatnot.

I would buy the much cheaper 2DS were it not for its bulky exterior. That thing looks ugly af. It's as if Nintendo intentionally make it as user-unfriendly as possible so that they could cash in on the 3DS. They're no better than Sony.
 

1 hour ago, Khazit said:

Pokemon >>> All

DS all the way.

Yeah, no. Pokemon does not >>> All. I like Pokemon, but not nearly that much. Not even close. I'm more of a Digimon guy anyway. It's just a shame that Digimon games are so lackluster compared to Pokemon ones, even the so-called Cyber Sleuth.

[Lucius]

With all that being said, I'm still not considering buying the Vita immediately. I am on the fence about Pokemon, but I really wanted to see what the new Fairy Type Pokemon are like... and there's Animal Crossing. I wanna see what that weeb-obsession is about with that game, buying furniture and setting up shops. 

I think I'll give it another month before I make a decision. Maybe finish my replay of Ash Gray, Platinum, and then finally play Pokemon Black for the first time. Then I'll see if I'm obsessed enough over Pokemon by then to sacrifice all those Vita visual novels for it.  Maybe I could save enough for both 3DS and Vita by then too... (nah).

[Okarin]

23 minutes ago, Lucius said:

A lot of people here seems to associate my location of "South-East Asia" with Europe for some reason...  That being said, most of the English games here probably got shipped over from America to begin with, so there's that... I don't think I see a lot of non-English Japanese games here.

Fire Emblem actually doesn't look that bad. The large amount of companions plus the dialogue you can have with them does seem attractive. However, the perma-death system (even though you can turn it off in casual mode) makes it seem like it's one of those 'hardcore' games for Dark Soul-ish gamers. If so, I'm not sure how much focus it's going to have on the dialogue side of things to begin with. The battle elements of RPGs are kinda my least favorite of role-playing games. You know, games where you play 'roles'? Roleplay? A lot of RPGs is like, strategy here, battle bosses there. Not really my thing. I prefer RPGs with complex dialogues and relationships.

Sorry, I just didn't check your location, I just talked about Europe and America for completion's sake.

In Fire Emblem, you have to unlock the banters, by making the units (characters) support one another in battle. The banters are pretty funny and amusing, but they're just not the focus of the game. It's a strategic RPG that plays somewhat like chess, so if you're not into that gameplay, it lacks interest. You can select a "casual" mode where dying characters return to your lineup after battle. Also, as it has a large number of characters, most are only outlined and have basic personalities, though they aren't really bad. There's just nothing like character development.

The 2DS is criticised by some as very fragile (God forbid something lands on the unprotected screens), but I wouldn't know, since I went for the standard 3DS. Also it seems awkward to handle, much like the XL model. At least to me.

The Vita should be a good buy and keep your hands full for some time. It has a short library? Most last generation consoles do, even 3DS. Not really the top time to be into videogames.

[Lucius]

10 minutes ago, Okarin said:

It has a short library? Most last generation consoles do, even 3DS. Not really the top time to be into videogames.

Yeah, probably not. But now's the time I just happen to receive a load of cash, so... might as well cash-in on something. It just sucks that I couldn't receive a bit more cash so I could buy both consoles without worry. 

I think a last gen console suits me fine though since most current gen consoles cost tons anyway. Better to wait for the price to drop.

Unless it's the PC Master Race, of course. All games on one platform. Always backwards compatibility. No upgrade of hardware necessary no matter the 'gen' (or at least as often as Playstation and 3DS).

Hm? XBox Who?