Etrian Odyssey

[Hitoshura]

I looked around and was sad that I didn't see a topic for this. Anyone else play this? It's for DS by the way, a first person dungeon crawler RPG by Atlus.

Here's a trailer:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gZ5KGg6Bk5A

Basically you start off and build your own guild and fill it with classes. All of which have very unique names. To break it down there is a Paladin type class, Warrior, White Mage, Black Mage, Ranger, Dancer, Samurai, a sort of Dark Knight/Castlevania whip class, and a Hexer. With each level you get job points to distribute and build your class up.

Outside of the town of Etria is a forest.. or a labyrinth I would say; the Yggdrasil Labyrinth. It's very deep, composed of many stratums. Monsters lurk which you can kill and sell the loot or use it to turn in quests which you get from the pub. I know most of you probably won't care to read this all but do yourselves a favor and pick this up if you find it. It's one of the best RPG's on DS you can get. I really hope that Atlus brings over the sequel which received a 9/9/8/8 score from Famitsu, filled with new classes and customization.

[Exoduso]

I've never tried this type of game before, but it's not that bad really..

[Spoony Bob]

It's hardcore oldschool, which is great if that's what people are looking for. From what I played, there's not much more than grinding, continuing, and grinding again. I picked it up having fond memories of Arcana back on the SNES, but I just ended up dropping it before the boss before getting to the 'post game' dungeon.

That said... F. O. E.

[Hitoshura]

The F.O.E on B2F one shotted everyone.

Sure there is grindan involved but in which game isn't there? I seriously never though I would love a game like this too, but everything about it is just so unique. The Sega Genesis sounding music, the interface, art style, (hai2u Dr. Hoffman Trauma Center cameo) job names. The sequel looks even more amazing, I really hope Atlus decides to bring that over. It would be a crime not to.

I love how they threw in Derek Styles as the new medic/healer type.

http://img.gkblogger.com/blog/imgdb/.../167/851_2.jpg

http://img.gkblogger.com/blog/imgdb/.../167/852_2.jpg

[Viq]

I picked this up last summer. It was a blast in a retro kind of way, but I'm not sure I could really recommend it. Classes are horribly balanced, tons and tons of backtracking and slow-paced grinding (me complaining about slow grinding means it must be bad... after all, I play Lineage 2.) The map making part of the game isn't around consistently, especially when you get to floors 20+. The story is more or less non-existent.

All that said, I dumped nearly 40 hours into it before polishing off the game and post-game >_<

[Kenai]

You have to know what you are getting into, but it's hella fun...you better believe I got my revenge on that mutant deer/moose that whooped my ass on Floor 2.

You basically have to have a guide explaining what the different skills do and if they are worth your time, there are a few classes that you absolutely must take with you (Medic and Protector), money is hard to come by unless you know a few "tricks", and some of the quests are pretty freaking hard. There's this one I'm on now where I have to stay in BF8 for 5 days...that isn't too bad, there's a healing pool, I was gonna grind anyway, I'm getting loot, right? Well, time passes so slow in the game that 2 hours went by last night and I wasn't even half done. I had to close the game and leave it running last night (hooked up to my adapter) and get some sleep.

But it pretty much defines hardcore, and the sense of accomplishment after beating a retardedly strong FOE is great. If you mess up a character, you can rest to rework the skills, retire to get a better starting character, or just dump them and make a new character altogether. It's definiely not for everyone, but I'm enjoying myself quite a bit. It's a REALLY hard game, know what you are getting into...

Oh and this video is win: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM5MMqNgUzM

[Viq]

The quests to stay in certain areas for set lengths of time are jokes. Time is measured by the number of steps you take.

Step 1: Find something good on TV
Step 2: Find a room (like the room with the healing fountain) where you won't get random encounters.
Step 3: Begin tapping Left, Right, Left, Right, etc. on your d-pad.
Step 4: Watch TV while repeating Step 3.
Step 5: Port back to town and turn in quest.

[MisterBob]

The quests to stay in certain areas for set lengths of time are jokes. Time is measured by the number of steps you take.

Step 1: Find something good on TV
Step 2: Find a room (like the room with the healing fountain) where you won't get random encounters.
Step 3: Begin tapping Left, Right, Left, Right, etc. on your d-pad.
Step 4: Watch TV while repeating Step 3.
Step 5: Port back to town and turn in quest.

That only happens once, thankfully. Never did that quest until the end of the game anyways, since the reward sucks and it doesnt unlock more quests.

Etrian is a very cool game overall, I loved it. The secret area of the game that you unlock after beating it is incredibly tough though, have fun

[LD]

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=WM5MMqNgUzM

[Hitoshura]

Guy posted that amazing video a few posts above.

[LD]

Well, obviously this one will be more noticeable. >;O

[Khamsin]

I was browsing for games on amazon so I could check out the reviews, and saw this one had great reviews with the caveat that you have to be into this kind of game. So I picked it up, but was a little skeptical at first since I'm used to overhead view story-based RPGs, not first person exploration/grind-based RPGs. Nonetheless, it turns out it's very addicting and I've been playing it every chance I get. So much for my free time. lol

I just hit post-game, but it's kept me challenged and occupied the whole way. Only downside is that now my party is all 70, I have to figure out how I want to handle retiring or resting and re-levelling them.

And yeah, FOEs are like the Gary Oak of Etria. The best part of all the backtracking that kept it from getting stale was being able to mow down those guys for the pain they gave me the first time through.

One thing I don't understand, for those that have reached post-game (SPOILER):
So, we apparently tell Subaltern Quinn the whole story, and he's just like "That sucks, oh well. You ruined our economy, killed our Chieftain, interfered with the purification of the planet, and now we're all gonna rot and die. Congratulations! Here, take this medal." Maybe he was just excited that he gets to be Chieftain now.

[Kenai]

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=bB9lhfJeu2U

[Hitoshura]

Yeah I love that video lol.

Currently @ 2nd Stratum.. beautiful design.

[MisterBob]

Stratum 5 is my favorite. I'd describe it, except massive spoilers etc

[Khamsin]

Stratum 5 is my favorite. I'd describe it, except massive spoilers etc

Stratum 6 is nice, just for the drastic change of music/scenery including battle music.

I liked Stratum 5, but the graphical detail when up close to things bothered me a little. Maybe it was just the mess of colors when viewed like that. But some views are pretty neat.