So after careful consideration, I decided to roll with DQ8 on iOS instead of the 3DS version. Although I will post why shortly, I first wanted to thank whoever that was who shared the comparison link.
Convenience - I understand that in this day of age, having less things on you at one time can actually be a good thing. As a proud owner of the iPhone 5s (the iPhone 6 doesn’t appeal to me), putting DQ8 on my phone seemed advantageous over having my pockets filled with both the iPhone AND the 3DS. This was not factoring all the other shit I will more than likely have on me, including my wallet, money, and etc. Most of my clothes aren’t baggy enough upon holding multiple items at once, and as a kid this wouldn’t bother me as much, but now it’s certainly an inconvenience to me.
Port vs. Port - Though a touchy subject, the iOS version is essentially the Japanese version of the game with all the textures and colors. The Hero does not remove the bandanna at super high tension, and yada yada yada. But, looking at the comparison video, I could definitely tell that visually the PS2 port is better than 3DS. The PS2 port and Japanese port have slight differences, but visually they are somewhat similar if we are just talking about the perspectives (there HAVE been some noticeable complaints like lesser frames, but nothing too extreme)
The 3DS port has very colorful textures, but IMO not enough visualization to challenge or rival the PS2/iOS port, at least from what I have observed. If the 3DS port maintains the character voices, then it may have a “leg up” over the iOS. However, you would almost have to double the contents size for that to happen which was a big reason why the iOS port didn’t utilize this feature. Although it is not a distracting experience to me by any means, the 3DS is constantly praised for maintaining stellar visualizations and customization. In this battle, though, I think it falls short, but not by a mile. In the 3DS defense, the iOS port is stuck running on up-to-date firmware, and taking a chunk outta free GBs. Even with the right supported devices, users still experienced crashes which led up to frustration breakdown. Thank god iOS has an auto save feature or this would truly be of an annoyance.
Price - Potentially a deal breaker here. The iOS port is currently $20 dollars on the app store, compared to the more than likely price of $40-50 dollars for the 3DS version whenever it hits the market. It’s still the same game same story no matter how you look at it, however the $20 dollar price tag seems more than appealing.