Atlus is really trying hard to become the king of quirky games for hardcore and old-school gamers.
Etrian Odyssey is nothing but an other game on this long road, as it is essentially a revisited Eye of the Beholder with anime graphics. The game is gripping, fun but not without flaws, most noticeably in graphics (which should be one of its strong points).
Etrian Odyssey doesn't give too much background in the beginning. You approach the town of Etria to create a guild to explore the nearby Yggdrasil Labyrinth, a giant maze that swallowed treasures and alike.
After registering the guild name, you are asked to create at least one character from the available classes; as it's possible to bring a maximum of five characters in your party, it's better to create a character per class and assign their positions and then go fetch your first mission at the Radra Hall, which is to create a map of the first level of the Labyrinth.
Etrian Odyssey is played mostly with the buttons and d-pad, the touch screen is used to draw the map of the floor you're on: with the automap function on, the game draws floor tiles, then it's up to you draw walls, place icons to represent items, mining spots, doors, add notes for events and so on. It's not a groundbreaking use of the touch screen and in fact during battles and when in town the bottom screen could have been put to better use, but it's a nice addition.
Exploration of the labyrinth is done walking around with the d-pad in only four directions, as the whole thing is divided into tiles; each tile can contain a treasure chest, events or enemies.
Battles are very similar to Dragon Quest: you only see the sprites of your enemies in front of you and it's possible to issue classic commands: attack, defend, skill, item, boost (available when the boost gauge is full to increase attack for one turn) and escape. Turns are based on the characters agility and everyone who played any pen-and-paper RPG, JPRG, turn-based strategy game will immediately find himself at home.
There are various things to do in the game: you can only go into the Labyrinth to level up and reach the final floor or accept quests and missions available at the Radra Hall or at the pub. Each quest will require you to find a certain number of items, reach a certain place, kill some enemies to recieve money (called en), items or to let NPCs like the weapon shop girl to forge new accessories.
Character classes are inspired by old-school games too:
*the lander...landsk...landkerz...landsnkec...warrior (probably it's the translation of "lanzichenecco", a mercenary during middle age) as the usual tanker
* protectors boast great defense and HPs and can be used to lure enemy attacks away from the party, as well to perform small healing magic
* survivalists are rangers that excel using bows and can mine, chop wood and pick up herbs; great all around character that excel in nothing
* dark hunters use whips to alter enemy status but are average fornt-line fighters
* medics are strange people who like to heal their fellow party members. Go figure
* alchemists can use elemental magic and are support characters, mostly
* troubadours are bards; they can sing and dance to enhance the party; low attack but tactically useful.
* ronins are warriors that compeltely ignore their own defense for deadly attacks
* hexers are support mages specializing in curses to weaken the enemy and even make them suicide
It's possible to create up to 15 different characters and if you need someone else, you can delete or retire (this will give your next character 10 skill points at level 1) one of your existing fighters. Each character carries a single weapon and three different pieces of equipment (armor or accessories). Each character gains levels separate from the others, and each class has its own skills to master; for being able to use a skill, you first need to allocate a skill point (gained by passing level). Some skills may require two or more points (for example the alchemist fire magic requires at least one point in fire mastery and one point in fire) and some advanced skills have prerequisites (for example cure II is unavailable until you have a certain level in cure I and healing).
It's all classical stuff, experts in RPGs will find themselves at home just after starting the game.
Technically speaking the game is not much. The labyrinth is represented with a rather basic 3D engine with decent textures and low poly count, graphics on single floor are repetitive after the first ten minutes, though there are some good touches here and there. The town of Etria is represented through a small series of decent 2D backgrounds; enemies, are rather uninspiring non-animated sprites that range from bug to Monthy Python bunnies, from giant rats to giant spiders and so on.
NPCs and your characters are more artistically complex, though some of them are completely out of proportions and very, very, very, very poor, especially compared to some (for example protectors and landskwhatever have good portraits, hexers are incredibly ugly); and, the local apothecary is Trauma Center's head surgeon. And I doubt this will be the only easter egg, I bet I'll meet Izuna in later dungeon floors.
Other flaws are part of the game's very own system. For example, there's no quicksave when in the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, it's possible to save only at the inn and of course monster will respawn once you get out of the floor. It's possible to teleport directly out of the dungeon through a warp wire, but as money is hard to come by, it's better to leave the DS in standby (which is something I hate); a load-once quicksave option would have greatly appreciated.
The rhythm is slow; not a great deal for a game like this, but travelling back and forth on floors you already visited is a bit tedious when there's that half-second hicchup between floor tiles. Fortunately enough loading and saving times are non-existent and the game is challenging enough to make you come back.
Although definitively not a masterpiece or the newest game in town, Etrian Odyssey is fun. The idea of a giant labyrinth with random events, the ability to draw your own map, the various quests and the joy of levelling up your characters give this game a certain charm that will surely find home in the hearts of old gamers.
Etrian Odyssey is nothing but an other game on this long road, as it is essentially a revisited Eye of the Beholder with anime graphics. The game is gripping, fun but not without flaws, most noticeably in graphics (which should be one of its strong points).
Etrian Odyssey doesn't give too much background in the beginning. You approach the town of Etria to create a guild to explore the nearby Yggdrasil Labyrinth, a giant maze that swallowed treasures and alike.
After registering the guild name, you are asked to create at least one character from the available classes; as it's possible to bring a maximum of five characters in your party, it's better to create a character per class and assign their positions and then go fetch your first mission at the Radra Hall, which is to create a map of the first level of the Labyrinth.
Etrian Odyssey is played mostly with the buttons and d-pad, the touch screen is used to draw the map of the floor you're on: with the automap function on, the game draws floor tiles, then it's up to you draw walls, place icons to represent items, mining spots, doors, add notes for events and so on. It's not a groundbreaking use of the touch screen and in fact during battles and when in town the bottom screen could have been put to better use, but it's a nice addition.
Exploration of the labyrinth is done walking around with the d-pad in only four directions, as the whole thing is divided into tiles; each tile can contain a treasure chest, events or enemies.
Battles are very similar to Dragon Quest: you only see the sprites of your enemies in front of you and it's possible to issue classic commands: attack, defend, skill, item, boost (available when the boost gauge is full to increase attack for one turn) and escape. Turns are based on the characters agility and everyone who played any pen-and-paper RPG, JPRG, turn-based strategy game will immediately find himself at home.
There are various things to do in the game: you can only go into the Labyrinth to level up and reach the final floor or accept quests and missions available at the Radra Hall or at the pub. Each quest will require you to find a certain number of items, reach a certain place, kill some enemies to recieve money (called en), items or to let NPCs like the weapon shop girl to forge new accessories.
Character classes are inspired by old-school games too:
*the lander...landsk...landkerz...landsnkec...warrior (probably it's the translation of "lanzichenecco", a mercenary during middle age) as the usual tanker
* protectors boast great defense and HPs and can be used to lure enemy attacks away from the party, as well to perform small healing magic
* survivalists are rangers that excel using bows and can mine, chop wood and pick up herbs; great all around character that excel in nothing
* dark hunters use whips to alter enemy status but are average fornt-line fighters
* medics are strange people who like to heal their fellow party members. Go figure
* alchemists can use elemental magic and are support characters, mostly
* troubadours are bards; they can sing and dance to enhance the party; low attack but tactically useful.
* ronins are warriors that compeltely ignore their own defense for deadly attacks
* hexers are support mages specializing in curses to weaken the enemy and even make them suicide
It's possible to create up to 15 different characters and if you need someone else, you can delete or retire (this will give your next character 10 skill points at level 1) one of your existing fighters. Each character carries a single weapon and three different pieces of equipment (armor or accessories). Each character gains levels separate from the others, and each class has its own skills to master; for being able to use a skill, you first need to allocate a skill point (gained by passing level). Some skills may require two or more points (for example the alchemist fire magic requires at least one point in fire mastery and one point in fire) and some advanced skills have prerequisites (for example cure II is unavailable until you have a certain level in cure I and healing).
It's all classical stuff, experts in RPGs will find themselves at home just after starting the game.
Technically speaking the game is not much. The labyrinth is represented with a rather basic 3D engine with decent textures and low poly count, graphics on single floor are repetitive after the first ten minutes, though there are some good touches here and there. The town of Etria is represented through a small series of decent 2D backgrounds; enemies, are rather uninspiring non-animated sprites that range from bug to Monthy Python bunnies, from giant rats to giant spiders and so on.
NPCs and your characters are more artistically complex, though some of them are completely out of proportions and very, very, very, very poor, especially compared to some (for example protectors and landskwhatever have good portraits, hexers are incredibly ugly); and, the local apothecary is Trauma Center's head surgeon. And I doubt this will be the only easter egg, I bet I'll meet Izuna in later dungeon floors.
Other flaws are part of the game's very own system. For example, there's no quicksave when in the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, it's possible to save only at the inn and of course monster will respawn once you get out of the floor. It's possible to teleport directly out of the dungeon through a warp wire, but as money is hard to come by, it's better to leave the DS in standby (which is something I hate); a load-once quicksave option would have greatly appreciated.
The rhythm is slow; not a great deal for a game like this, but travelling back and forth on floors you already visited is a bit tedious when there's that half-second hicchup between floor tiles. Fortunately enough loading and saving times are non-existent and the game is challenging enough to make you come back.
Although definitively not a masterpiece or the newest game in town, Etrian Odyssey is fun. The idea of a giant labyrinth with random events, the ability to draw your own map, the various quests and the joy of levelling up your characters give this game a certain charm that will surely find home in the hearts of old gamers.
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