Etrian Odyssey

[.Radiant]

Thought this deserves its own thread.

Etrian Odyssey 3


Metacritic: EO1, EO2, EO3

Very cool set of games if you like the old dungeon crawling and the turnbased combat. Ridiculously hard(cheap) as well. I'm currently playing the 3rd game, and finally beat the prelude mission, which only took me 5 deaths and remaking my party a couple times.

If you're looking to give your (3)ds some loving, i'd definitely recommend getting into this series.

[xsive]

I started playing through EO1 a few months ago. I picked it up for a song ($10 from JB; new!) and on a whim. Wasn't sure what to expect but I was stoked to discover it's a total throwback to classic RPGs like Wizardry and Shining In The Darkness. The cartography system is my favourite bit I think -- I still love making my own maps

It's definitely not a game for everyone though; EO1 kicks your ass within seconds of entering the first floor of the dungeon and does it again every time you go down a level. You also can't mess about too much with creating your characters. If you try for a balanced build for instance you end up with very weak characters.

[xsive]

Oh! Forgot to mention: EO4 is coming out soon in Japan! Hopefully we'll see a European release not long afterwards.



Also, F.O.E.!

[.Radiant]

Game is currently kicking my ass

2nd stratum, its quite easy to walk into a train of FOE's in a path that overlaps with another set of FOE's. 6 at a time isn't fun to deal with.

[xsive]

So I went back to EO a few weeks ago. I spent 2-3 weeks obsessing over it when I first bought earlier this year but eventually set it aside. I remember being frustrated with the amount of grinding necessary to deal with the enemies on the second stratum but I decided to revisit it anyway since I love the map making and I have these really fond memories of oldschool RPGs.

Turns out the mid-game is pretty easy. At least it is once I maxed out my Protector's Defender skill and my Medic's Immunize ability. They're game-breakingly effective defence buffs; bosses that could kill anyone in my party with a single attack are barely doing any damage at all. The fifth stratum (officially the final one but not really) is much harder but mostly because I keep running out of magic points and have to warp out to refresh (plus I'm always broke again; just like when you first start out).

Pretty determined to finish this. Not sure if I'd buy any of the sequels though. I'm a bit OCD and not really having enough fun to merit the insane number of hours needed to get through another one of these.

[xsive]

Some news:
Etrian Odyssey I, II and III are being reprinted. They're on sale at play-asia right now for ~$24ea.