Nominees for Destructoid’s Best 3DS Game of 2016

The platform for RPGs this year

Big budget console role-playing games can take forever to release and be huge events; take Final Fantasy XV‘s ten-year development as an example. But on the humble 3DS, great RPGs show up every few months. Of our nine favorite 3DS games this year, no less than five are epic tales about making numbers pop out of monsters’ heads.

That’s not all the 3DS had to offer in 2016. We’ve got a hack and slash, a platformer, an adventure game, and a rhythm game thrown into the mix as well. Though it might be winding down soon with the Nintendo Switch incoming, the 3DS had a heck of a year.

Here are Destructoid’s nominees for Best 3DS Game of 2016…

• Bravely Second: End Layer
• Fire Emblem Fates
• Hyrule Warriors Legends
• Kirby: Planet Robobot
• Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice
• Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon
• Rhythm Heaven Megamix
• Yo-Kai Watch 2

_{[Incomplete products like Steam Early Access titles, and episodic titles that are not fair to assess as standalone experiences, without a full episode count, were not eligible for this year’s awards. The cutoff for entry into Destructoid’s 2016’s Game of the Year awards is December 6, 2016.]}