Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan [3DS]

[briareos_kerensky]

Weekly report: fourth labyrinth and relative boss conquered, began the fifth labyrinth and changed my party, just a bit.

Killing the fourth boss unlocks

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the last class, the Imperial. They use a two-hand sword called gunblade (...uhm...) that doesn't allow for any other hand-held equipment (second weapon, shield); most special skills involve in dealing massive amount of damage, overheat the gunblade in doing so and managing other special skills to cool the weapon down. Their skillset is very similar to a Landsketch, but focused on immediate single attacks, rather than building up strenght and wearing down opponents: they both have strong physical and elemental strikes and they can increase their base strenght thorugh a passive skill. Imperials however have incredibly low defenses, and most drives further lower it until they are triggered, so my Fortress has been busy spamming Ally Shield to protect the new Imperial. I miss my previous Landsketch's sturdiness but even after feeding her permanent stat boosts, her damage output doesn't really match the Imperial; the Imperial has been subbed to Runemaster, to use TP Boost, Runic Guidance (enhaced damage when exploiting an enemy weakness with any kind of attack) and Free Energy (chance of special skills not consuming TPs).
Plus the first female portrait for Imperials is a blond, twin-tailed girl with a bat-shaped hairpin...that's Casper from DeathSmiles!

Easiest name so far.

Anyway, the party is working quite nicely,

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the Medic is now able to auto heal and auto revive allies, the Arcanist is extremely useful with her Dismiss Blow/Blast and various circles, the Fortress is vital for the Imperial and the Runemaster...mhmm, she's great when dealing with enemies vulnerable to ice (the only attack rune she knows), but maybe I was too focused in gettin Origin Run, that while powerful, doesn't exploit enemy weaknesses. I'll switch to a full elemental mage after retirement, with will be kinda soon:

the party is around level 60 and I'm very near the end of the game; the level cap is 70, and retiring at 70 means permanent stat boots, extra skill points and higher level cap (80).

Anyway, I EOIV has become better than the third, which was my favourite: there are things I would have kept from the previous games (deeper dungeons first and foremost, then the different storylines from the third, though EOIV better defines the NPCs), but all in all, Legend of the Titan is Etrian Odyssey at its best.

[briareos_kerensky]

Just completed the game, more in-depth thoughts will follow.

Anyway, the final boss battle went: "one-hit kills on a single row?" - "oh, it has its pattern" - "it's not that hard" - "1k damage to the whole party (the Fortress at level 65 at max HP boost had less than 600)? F**k you" -

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"oh, this is the real end boss"

.

Opened the

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sixth labyrinth, the Hall of Darkness; the first floor is called "the morgue of" something and the wall are dark grey with deep red accents...I feel completely at home. Especially when normal enemies can one-shot level 60+ characters. And that FOE is labelled as above my level. And it's the only way forward. Where are the dragons? They look less intimidating

.

I will explore a bit and level up to 70 all characters, retire them and restart the game with improved stats, and maybe kill the endgame boss. I'm very curious on what it looks like.

[briareos_kerensky]

The Etrian Odyssey series has gone a long way from its first two installments. The focus is still exploration and combat, but developers weren't shy to expand existing concepts and introduce new ones: the changes introduced in Legends of the Titan are mostly for good, with some downsides.

What first strikes about the game is the new look and sound: EOIV moves away from static sprites and chip tune sounds for animated polygonal models and an orchestrated soundtrack. Seeing the enemies move and react to your blows is satisfying and greatly increases the overall presentation of the game, though labyrinths still use repetitive textures to detail their rooms and corridors. It does, however, look better than other dungeon crawlers like Legend of Grimrock, Unchain Blades or Wizardry Labyrinth of Lost Souls.
The new soundtrack does the graphics justice and it's beatiful from the start to the end of the game, with many different tunes for normal, FOEs, unique monsters and bosses. The lack of voices doesn't impact at all on the game, and, in fact, it gives the player more freedom of imagining things. The writing is good, and coupled with the soundtrack, completely makes up for the lack of spoken lines.

Etrian Odyssey IV moves part of the experience outside the dungeon, providing four lands with three different elevation levels to explore; this overworld holds different threats and rewards from the various labyrinths, and it's an integral part of the exploration, rather than being almost an afternote as it was in EOIII. Quests can be entirely based on the overworld, or linked to the dungeons, that must be discovered before being able to explore them.
EOIII was the first to shave off a floor from the mazes, EOIV now features only three floors for each main maze; the lack of two floors is compensated by caves, smaller, one-level dungeons that first look incredibly basic, but then evolve in more complicated mazes, though they never quite reach the attention of the main labyrinths.
What's good is that the overworld, caves and labyrinths are well connected between themselves and everything forms cohesive world, rather than many different aspects separated by soulless menu entries.
The lack of two floors in each dungeon means less graphical repetition and for a somewhat leaner experience, though, unlike EOIII, it seems that there's little point for this.
When I'm writing this I've completed the main game and tackling the various endgame tasks, and haven't started a NG+ yet. EOIII had different storylines, restarting the game to complete them was encouraged by the smaller dungeons, but there is no such thing in EOIV, and right now I'm wondering why I should restart the game instead of power-levelling my way to level 99 and complete the game in just one sitting. But maybe this doubt will be cleared when I start a NG+...maybe Atlus went the Dark/Demon's way and each playthrough is more difficult than the previous.

Anyway, despite the shallower labyrinths, the amount of content in EOIV is as much as any previous game, if not even superior. The possibility to expand the game with QR quests is welcome, though I wonder how much Atlus will support this feature in the coming months...or if they even can. The available quests span the entire game, and probably QR codes are more unlocking codes than entirely new quests. The number of these quests is not low, so there isn't much to complain; the only problem is that only one QR quest can be undertaken at a time and if unlocked before being able to complete, the game simply refuses to remember it for later.

As usual, a lot of thought has gone into creating classes. There are EO staples like the dancer, medic and sniper, with new entries mixing abilities from "forgotten" classes (samurai, hexer, gunner) and only two introduce new mechanics to the table. But this is not exactly bad, all EO after the first did this, and combat has always been the series' highlight.
The normal game can be completed with any kind of party formation, though EOIV places great emphasis on elemental weaknesses, so the endgame battles almost require two classes able to exploit them; subclassing, introduced in EOIII, return in EOIV but it's somewhat shallower than before.
Now almost every class skill tree has points to spare for subclass skills even with unretired adventurers, a great thing. However, as offense is focused on weaknesses, the Runemaster class seems to be the best choice for, well, any other class: with the chance of not using TPs, the ability of increasing weakness damage, being able to increase magic damage and boost TPs, the Runemaster is the subclass to go for all offensive classes (well, sniper aside) and most support classes.
I kinda miss the class/subclass system from EOIII, as there was more freedom in chosing subclasses...but EOIII made mages almost useless, finding the correct balance between everything is very hard. At the very least combat and classes do not feel as simple rehashes of previous classes (OK, maybe the Medic and the Runemaster) and it's still freaking good; with multiple classes able to provide elemental offense and defense, there is no real class that must be in the party, and there are multiple ways to customise classes based on the other classes you have in the party.
This is what elevates Etrian Odyssey over almost all recent dungeon crawlers (and a good amount of strategy games, that end up being a levelling fest), there is no correct way to play it and you can experiment with multiple party formations without feeling too much frustrated for a wrong composition (someday I'll try a full Medic party if that works out), and no party member feels isolated from the other, which incidentally is what the word "party" evokes. Way too many times dungeon crawlers let you create classes too encased in their stereotypical jobs, with little to no link between the rest.

On the difficulty side, EOIV is a tad harder than EOIII, just a tad, mostly thanks to the last two/three labyrinth bosses. The endgame feels more brutal than EOIII and on par with the first EO, with dragons being worthy adversaries even when abusing elemental weaknesses. I wonder if the "real" final boss will still follow the old tradition of party-killer patterns, and what exactly is...the other Etrian Odyssey games were quite clear about the eldritch abomination waiting for you, in EOIV the story seems centered around the main game, with no direct link to the final labyrinth; but then again, I still have to reach it.

To conclude, Etrian Odyssey IV is once again able to improve what its predecessors started; it's not perfect and maybe a somewhat harder standard game would have been better, but currently I cannot think of a better, recent dungeon crawler available on any system (maybe Legend of Grimrock expansion, still have to play it, but if they didn't made ranged weapons less deadly, it might not be).

[briareos_kerensky]

It doesn't mean much, but...



There's a long series of QR quests involving a

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wannabe explorer, Raht, that always crashes somewhere on the overworld. First it's his brother to ask you to search for it, then his mom, then his father, then his fiancee...and he's always there, among skyship wreckages smiling. I wanted to punch him, hard. After this series, a new quest uncovers that he has a deadly disease that noone knows about and you are not able to find him. Punch him hard, twice, I would. After that you are asked to recover materials for a sick person that has been rescued somewhere. The the wharf master asks you to locate a downed skyship...and Rath is here, smiling, he has been cured of his disease by "someone" and he wanted a last trip before giving up being an (unsuccessful) explorer.
Punch him, thirce, very hard.
And during the last dialogue of this series of quests,

the above decision comes up. Had a good laugh, punched him, collected my reward and moved on.

[briareos_kerensky]

Whole party up to level 70 and retired. A bit of grinding, Heaven's Gifts, and lucky rare FOEs later, and they are already back to level 50. Spent some time in killing enemies, FOEs, and bosses to gather conditional drops.
Tonight I was able to kill the third and fourth bosses for their conditionals (after misjudging my Imperial's strenght and killing the third boss with one Freeze Strike) and discovered that their conditional drops lead to beautiful armours...for classes I'm not using.
I haven't even created a Dancer and I have the best armour in the game for that class.

[briareos_kerensky]

Got to the last floor of the 6th Labyrinth

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and got a glimpse of the final boss. Several documents scattered across the labyrinth mentioned failed experiments with one instect, and there is is, behind iron bars, a huge larva. Seems that the battle won't be as straightforward as the other EOs, but rather based on weakening (I think) the boss via a mix of chemicals that can be injected prior to the battle. I think. I left the labyrinth after entering a room full of poisonous tiles and FOEs...I still have to defeat the FOEs on the first floor of this labyrinth, I'm not attempting to battle anything aside beside normal enemies, which can be still quite tough (and able to decimate the party with one attack)

.

I have enjoyed the second floor of the 6th Labyrinth.

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The first was a rather straightforward maze with "few" teleports (20, IIRC) here and there, the second floor uses teleports in a more creative way. The second room of this floor is full with poisonous tiles, that form corridors of sorts to the next door. The third room is pitch black, and it's possible to barely see only the tile directly in front of the party. Stepping outside a predetermined path with teleport back the party to the last door passed.
After completing the room, the correct path was the same as the path described by the harmful tiles in the previous room, and the floor makes a great use of this mechanic to create two large rooms, one with two trios of pumpkin FOEs

(I call them Helloween, Gamma Ray and Unisonic)

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and poisonous tiles, and the other devoid of dangers (random encounters aside) but vital in getting to the third floor

.

And so I'm getting there. I still have to defeat the three dragons and some other bosses, but I'm almost done with EOIV.
Sigh. Right now, I fully reiterate what I've written before.

[The Mole]

Impulse bought a 3ds and this when i was in Miami last week, i am finding it extremely hard, any tips?

[briareos_kerensky]

First EO you play? IV can be pretty brutal, the first labyrinth is based on luring FOEs to open paths and you can't really face those FOEs until level 10 or so.
A help could come from QR codes for items (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rv8nlf4cl...item_codes.jpg), if you can be more specific in what stops you I can try to direct you in your first steps.

[The Mole]

Don't laugh but i am stuck right at the begining. This is my first EO game...

Every time i get the first objective i get trapped by 2 of the big apes on either side of a narrow path. I can't run and i can't beat them in a battle

[briareos_kerensky]

Mhmm, so you're in the Old Mine, right? There are two hidden shortcuts, indicated by pink flowers, they are kinda easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for, but you're probably talking about the two afro apes on the top-right end of the map, IIRC they don't turn hostile (red circle, actively chasing you) unless you get very close to them and/or face them directly. The trick is to move back and forth and have some tiles between you and the apes, then proceed as normal...hoping that you won't face too many random encounters. Going there during the day should help, monsters pop up more frequently during the night.

[briareos_kerensky]

Checked the afro monkeys in the Old Mine. They never turn hostile even when you're standing directly in front of them, and there are two passageways that can be used to gain some space if you're unlucky with random encounters (which seem a lot less frequent in that area).

[The Mole]

Thanks for the tips will be sure to use them when i return to the game after Luigis Mansion

[briareos_kerensky]

And so the three elemental dragons went down.
Rather easy fights, only slightly harder than those in EOIII.

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Dragon (its name, it's the thunder dragon) was the hardest because it has a party attack that inflicts various status ailments and can insta-kill. My Runemaster only had basic fire spells as well, so the offense was almost entirely on the Imperial's shoulders.
Killing each dragon increases the level cap by 10 levels,

and now my character are dungeoneering in the third floor of the sixth labyrinth around level 75...and the FOEs are still shown as above that level. I faced one of those flaming balls of hate earlier, even before level 70,

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and was ultimately killed because I wasn't able to output enough damage before a second FOE would join the fight

.
Killing all dragons

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also unlocks the Fallen One, a black, non-elemental dragon. Still have to face him, I wanted to open all paths in the last floor and figure out the sequence of chemicals to inject to face the local boss; unfortunately I probably wrote down the wrong notes and I have conflicting informations one when using a certain compound,

but more walking means more battles, which in turn mean more game overs...no wait, more experience. Though

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Sleeping Lions still kick my ass if I don't bind their head

.

[briareos_kerensky]

6th Labyrinth boss down!
And it was pretty uneventful. Oh well, now only one more boss to kill and I'm done with EOIV...unless I retire my party at lvl 99 and bring them back up to lvl 99 just for fun.
I was hoping to get these two last bosses down earlier, but I'm focusing on Shinovi Versus and I'm taking my time with EOIV to grind down the three dragons for their conditional drops. I really hope that the 6th Labyrinth boss respawns as everything else:

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it has no conditional drops, but its single drop unlocks one special weapon for each type, each weapon with eight forge slots! Bought the drive blade for my Imperial, but it will be at least four more fights against the 6th Labyrinth boss before I swap her current weapon, which is fully forged with Elemental Attack + slots

.

Anyway, the 6th boss has

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two stages, and if the first stage isn't killed fast enough, it kills the entire party. The second for starts off with four destructible tentacles, which must go down before the main body opens its eye,and it's when the boss becomes vulnerable to attacks. Timing to get the largest amount of damaging attacks during those three turns is paramount, and I was able to kill it in 20 or so turns. As with previous "final" Etrian Odyssey bosses, this one follows a pattern, the real difference is that most of its attacks are not extremely crippling, my party was around level 90 (out of 99) and though some characters died, it was mostly the Fortress that acted as a sponge for all attacks thanks to party Shield. Its most damaging attacks are three elemental party attacks when the eye is open, performed in a random order, so it's imperative to have Elemental Guard active, or be absolutely lucky with Elemental Runes...the right food helps as well.

Compared to EOIII, this final boss is harder and more fun to fight, as it does have exploitable points, but not to the point they are broken (in EOIII a party

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of two at level 40

could defeat the final boss) and not as cheap as in EOI and II.

When the last boss is down, I'm going to add my guild card here.

[briareos_kerensky]

I've started a thread for exchanging Guild Cards:

http://www.bordersdown.net/threads/117604-Etrian-Odyssey-IV-Guilc-Cards

And yes, last boss defeated, final post to come.