I'll download this on Tuesday, need to pick up another cash card. I wasn't the biggest fan of the demo, but I know there is much more variety in the game.

The presentation in this game is quite good. I really get the point of it too. Information overload is a real thing, and I do feel myself distracted by things and unable to concentrate at times.

The first Devlish training was the one-back two-back thing, and I really struggled at 2-back. I settle in at slow 2-back after a 5 minute session.
The first Brain Training game I tried was Block-Head, where you play against Dr. Kawashima jumping on blocks to get the highest number. Good game, makes you think.
The first relaxation game I unlocked is a cute little Wario's Woods/Dr. Mario mashup, it even has hints of Wario's Woods in the music.

Can't wait to dig in some more later.

@anon_mastermind
Ooo, does it have hidden puzzle games, like the earlier version? That would be an extra incentive to pick it up.

Nintendo has so many properties and classic games to utilize. They should sprinkle them all over these kinds of titles to make them more attractive. It sure worked for Animal Crossing.

@Anand

There is a lot of content to unlock. By playing the game for a few consecutive days now, I've unlocked all sorts of games outside of the main Devilish Training games. The "Relaxation Mode" has three items, the first being a fun little puzzle game called "Blob Blast", but I'm not sure how to unlock the other ones.

I'm really enjoying my time with this game. I'm really into the self-paced style of the difficulty, and it gets difficult quickly! The "3-Back" levels for Devilish Calculations require a good amount of concentration. I got up to "Fast 3-Back" today, but I failed my last attempt, which brought me back down to regular 3-Back for tomorrow. 4-back seems like it would be a true test of one's mental might.

The rest of the Devilish Training games are pretty fun too. There's one where you follow the movements of mice as cats "chase" them around, and a game where you have to read story passages while remembering underlined words. Even outside of the Devilish content, there's tons of neat stuff to do. Well, there's this card game called Klondike that I just can't seem to take a win from. I'm pretty bad at these kinds of games.

And like Anon said, the presentation is good. Dr. Kawashima's presence lightens the mood of the game and he is just really entertaining to listen to. The Backgrounds and other 3D visuals look quite good too. The 3D is modest, but pleasant.

I highly recommend owning this game. At the very least, there's a demo on the eshop that is worth checking out.

P.S. I did own the original Brain Age when I was much younger, but I was also much less interested in this sort of game back then. That said, I did like it, despite the fact that it rarely understood me when I said blue. Concentration Training has a hard time deciphering my Ks. I keep getting Hs and stuff!

I can barely hang at slow 3 back. Its so hard!!! I'm much better at the other devilish games.

Exclusive puzzle game(s), eh? Sounds pretty cool. It is now on my radar.

Thanks to my neutral midwestern accent, speech recognition rarely gives me any problems.

Anand said:

neutral midwestern accent

Everyone says we hooold our O's too long, but I don't buy it.

As far as I can tell there are no more speech recognition games, although there is one that asks you to read sentences aloud, while remembering specific words. The software keeps track of your voice in order to know when you're done reading, but isn't looking for anything specific.

@anon_mastermind

Anon is right. I was referring to games where you have to write in answers. My Fs and Ks are sometimes lost in translation, which can throw me off. That aside even, I think Devilish Reading is one of the hardest games. Memorizing more than two specific words from three reading passages is tricky.

So today I made it to "4-back" in Devilish Calculations! To be more specific, I passed my fifth strait attempt at "Fast 3-Back" within 5 minutes, which means I will get a shot at 4-Back tomorrow. I don't think my body is ready.

Something else surprised me while I was playing this game today. In the original Brain Age, you could tease Dr. Kawashima on the title screen by saying "Glasses, Glasses" into the mic. I accidentally discovered that you can give the good doctor a hard time on Concentration Training's title screen as well. It's great! (Spoiler: Aim for his nostrils! )

Been playing this and really enjoying it. Still on 3-back, although I think I'm doing better. What's your guys' technique? Do you try to remember the whole chain of numbers, or just take them all in and try to subconsciously recall them when the time comes?

And have either of you tried changing your Streetpass greeting? There doesn't seem to be a way to change it after Kawashima initially prompts you. I want that achievement!

@Secret_Tunnel
Maybe you can only change it after getting a Streetpass?

As for Devilish Calculations...I just try to repeat the numbers aloud, softly. I think it helps me remember. But most importantly it's all about concentration (who'd have thought?lol). One tiny distraction can screw you up big time. I'm still struggling with 3-back. I prefer some of the other devilish games, actually. I'm at level 9 in devilish pairs, and I'm pretty good at devilish blocks. Devilish mice is giving me a bit of a hard time, only made it to 4-mice once, but I should be much better at this game (I was a pro at the birdcage game in Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree).

@Octorockin
Nice job getting to 4-back! I think in the Iwata asks, they say that one of the developers made it to 20-back. Insane!

I noticed there was an option in the settings to remove Dr. Kawashima and leave only his glasses. Seems weird. I'll try poking at him tonight, lol.

@anon_mastermind

20-back?! That's amazing. I guess there's a lot of room for improvement in this game!

Invisible Dr. Kawashima is indeed strange. It's a funny option to have.

I played 4-back for 5 minutes and managed to stay on that level. It's not as scary as I thought it would be, but one mistake can make it difficult to maintain a minimum score of 85%.

@Secret_Tunnel

I couldn't find a way to change my greeting either. Like Anon said, we may have to exchange Streetpass data with someone to unlock that option.

My strategy for Devilish Calculations is to recite a line of answers my head, knocking the bottom answer out as a new one comes up.

I found a strategy for devlish blocks: where on dr. kawashima's head (in the background) did the block appear? Haha. Otherwise it's like "far left, middle right, top, etc...." I got to level 5 on that one. Got back to level 4 in devlish mice, and made some progress in devilish reading. I'm almost at B level overall. It's actually pretty time-consuming to do these devilish training of 5 minutes each (with intervals, more like 6 or 7 real time minutes). I like it though, keeps the game fresh. You can do two or three a day, and keep them all in rotation.

I understand why they charged $30 for this, it's a significant step up from the DS games (did you guys see the Brain News thing where Dr. Kawashima pimped his research on the DS games? Heh.) in terms of content and presentation. Unlike CrossworDS Plus which is just a carbon copy of the DS game.

So in a month you guys will report back whether you think your concentration has improved?

I'm not sure if I should just replay the original, or if I want to go down the Devilish road....

I'm actually a bit better at Devilish Listening than Devilish Calculations. Huh. Made it to B-rank!

@heliumsky
Devilish Kawashima compels you!

lmao, that just make me want to run the other way, he looks like a molester!

I'll get it eventually since my math skills have deteriorated again now. Are there any 2-digit math games? That's one thing I didn't like about Brain Age, it was all single digit math, except for the Triangle or Battle ones. Was thinking to get Personal Training Math at one point because of that, except it just sounded boring to fill out tables.

Have you guys been sticking with this? I played for about ten days and then fell out of it...

I've been playing every other day, but I don't always have time for Devilish Training since it requires more concentration and i'm on the go these days. My goal is to reach A ranking and last 3 minutes on the Concentration Challenge.

I've reached A ranking! I haven't been playing as regularly as beore, but I've found the devilish exercises help me concentrate while writing my thesis. Seriously. I recommend this game for anyone who needs help with focus/concentration. It's great stimulus for the brain.
Here is where I'm maxed out currently:
- devilish calculations - fast 3-back.
- devilish pairs - level 13
- devilish mice - fast 4-mice
- devilish reading - level 5
- devilish shapes - fast 3-back
- devilish blocks - level 7
- devilish cups - fast 6-cup
- devilish listening - 3 back

As you can see, I'm not too good on the "back" games. Those are the toughest IMO. But I'm steadily increasing my short term brain capacity. On the concentration challenge, I haven't reached 3 minutes yet. That's my next goal.

@anon_mastermind

Congrats!

That's great to hear you feel it really does improve your concentration, it's working as intended!

I played the demo and liked it, but that 3-back stuff is pretty hard. I'm sure once I get the game I can improve.