New 3DS XL, but what games to play?

[Foolyz]

I just managed to snag a practically brand new 3DS XL from this guy off of CL and I'll be picking it up tomorrow, but I honestly don't know what games to get for it. I've been poring over "Top 3DS games" lists for like two weeks now, and lurking on forums, but now I'm asking you guys for your opinions.

I will list some of the DS (and GBA) games and series that I liked, and continue to play:
Final Fantasy Tactics A2
Advance Wars
Luminous Arc
Golden Sun
Mario & Luigi
The Legend of Zelda
Pokémon
Castlevania
The World Ends With You
Kirby
Guilty Gear
Contact

I recently started playing Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, and at about the one hour mark, I'm finding myself to be not very entertained with the gameplay, but the story is compelling. Does the gameplay pick up later? Also, is the new Fire Emblem: Awakening more engaging? If so, I might give it a shot.

I guess... I like RPGs the most. Or anything with RPG elements, really. If you guys could give me any suggestions, I would REALLY appreciate it!

[Curtiss]

Obligatory Tales of the Abyss comment goes here. What I love about the game is that the plot is actually deep and something worth contemplating long after you've finished playing it, pretty much every main character gets a good amount of development and the villains mostly get a satisfactory ending, there's lots of short segments known as skits that touch either on plot details, expand on a particular scene or exist simply to provide some extra amusement, the battles can actually get pretty challenging if you don't know what you're doing, there's a fairly high amount of sub-quests to do and last but not least:

It has Jade Curtiss. I would spend a few more paragraphs telling you about the awesome that is Jade Curtiss but I'm not terribly fond of explaining things either so I'll let you decide it by showing you this video:

[Lozmaster]

I recently started playing Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, and at about the one hour mark, I'm finding myself to be not very entertained with the gameplay, but the story is compelling. Does the gameplay pick up later? Also, is the new Fire Emblem: Awakening more engaging? If so, I might give it a shot.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is by far the worst (English translated) fire emblem game in the series, period. It's a port of the original NES game, and it really, really shows. When you get your 3DS, there is a demo of awakening on the eShop, so you'll be able to give it a try before you buy, but I feel fairly confident to say it's miles better than Shadow Dragon.

I guess... I like RPGs the most. Or anything with RPG elements, really. If you guys could give me any suggestions, I would REALLY appreciate it!

RPGs aren't too common...yet. Tales of The Abyss, Fire Emblem, and the 3DS Shin Megami Tensei games seem a good place to start though.

Then there are a few on the eShop: Denpa Men is a decent RPG and I hear good things about Crimson Shroud too.

[Piggy 2.0]

Loadsagaems

eShop has the Mighty series from WayForward, with a sequel to Mighty Switch Force on the way.

Devil Survivor: Overclocked and SMT: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers are bretty neat RPGs, and SMT IV is on its way to 'murrica this summer. A remake of Devil Survivor 2 is apparently in the works, but its all in Japan atm. Go ahead and get Strange Journey for the DS as well. Fatlus has never disappointed me thus far.

Etrian Odyssey IV is a neat dungeon crawler with plenty of content and class customization. The music (with the exception of one really pineappleed boss up loop) is phenomenal.

KH3D is a good game, but the camera can be a little disorienting at points. Not to mention the PLOT.

Kid Icarus: Uprising is amazingly good and has tons of re-playability. Best part is the constant banter between characters.

Resident Evil: Revelations is apparently very good as well, though I haven't played it yet.

Pokemon X and Y come out this October, so there's that to look forward to.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is the best timesink ever, though I'm not sure about how the 3DS version plays. Might need a CCP to enjoy it properly.