Etrian Odyssey
by Atlus
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List Price: Category: Video Games See more product details |
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Video Game Reviews of Etrian Odyssey
Customer Review: Not as good as II, A lot harder, but still decent
Summary: 4 Stars
First of all, this game is NOT for the weak at heart. It is TOUGH. Expect to be on the first stratum (5 floors) for a long time (I'm still not able to beat the boss). Still, it has a lot of what made II good, with a good amount of customization and the nice party system with the two enemy types, both FOEs and normal enemies.
In a nutshell, if you liked Etrian Odyssey II (one of the best DS games ever!), give this game a shot if you don't mind the harsh difficulty. If you haven't tried out EOII, try it first as it is better than the original.
Customer Review: Sometimes I like my hand held...
Summary: 3 Stars
Who has time in this day and age to try to figure things out for themselves? I'd much rather have someone just tell me where to go and what to do so I can be done with it and move onto the next game.
Ok, so all sarcasm aside, I really hated to give an Atlus game 3 stars being that I am a devout fan for many, many years and owner of all of their titles from the original Playstation going forward. Etrian Odyssey had so much potential. I love the idea of an open-ended RPG that doesn't guide you through every step. I love the map-making! I love that you can make your own party right down to every last detail. I even love grinding out the levels to get that next skill point you need for that awesome new skill that will make your FOE shudder in fear!
But.. I don't love that this game puts me to sleep. You go through level after level after level in this "underground forest" and all you see is the same 3-4 monsters, over and over and over. Once you go through several levels, you'll be rewarded with a new monster or 3, but seeing as how long it takes to traverse the depths of the dungeon, you will be seeing those same familiar monster faces for way too long before any new ones come along. I know, it seems minor, right? Well top that with absolutely ZERO variation in the environments, just the same green scape for hours upon hours upon hours, and you may as well just be staring at the wall (or the back of your eyelids) while you hold down the buttons to auto attack.
Yes, the game has that thrill of impending doom pretty much mastered and I greatly enjoyed that aspect of it as well as all the different levels of customization, but even though these aspects are fantastic, the repetitiveness of the scenery and monsters you face just bores me to tears. I don't need flashy graphics, and this game is anything BUT flashy (they are nice graphics in their own way, but by no means are they pushing any envelopes here) but I need something to make me want to keep playing. For a couple weeks, that drive was fueled by leveling up my characters and learning new skills and the desire to explore new places and discover new monsters. Then, when I realized how infrequently new monsters come along and that the scenery NEVER changes, I seriously could not keep my eyes open for more than 15 minutes of playing this game once my little one was in bed for the night.
If you can forgive its total lack of variety, there is much to enjoy in the gameplay. I've heard the sequel is better in this respect and I'll be trying that out promptly on Christmas Day as it sits beneath my tree right now.
Customer Review: For old-school RPG masochists. Others need not apply.
Summary: 4 Stars
Etrian Odyssey is not for everyone. In fact, Etrian Odyssey is probably for very few people. It's a decidedly niche title, and if you have either outgrown "old-school" role-playing mechanics or are expecting a cinematic experience on the level of today's Japanese role-playing adventures, this game will disappoint you.
That said, Etrian Odyssey will very likely greatly satisfy anyone in its target market. The mapmaking tools are there for anyone who fondly recalls drawing their own maps for their adventures (Metroid comes to mind), and the character customization system is surprisingly robust, with each character class boasting anywhere from ten to twenty different upgradeable skills. It's incredibly difficult, too, which should satisfy anyone who's waded knee-deep into dungeon crawlers and roguelike and lived to tell about it.
Further, there's a host of different enemies to battle, pickups to collect, items to craft, and sidequests to take. The artwork is splendid too, and though most of it consists of static drawings, the overall visual experience is quite nice. The dungeons are rendered in 3D with polygons, and of course the Nintendo DS can't boast the graphical prowess of today's higher-end systems or even the PSP, but the 3D still runs smoothly with enough detail to not make it look like a mess.
The gameplay largely consists of going into the dungeon, exploring it, fighting enemies in a turn-based battle system reminiscent of older Dragon Quests, with a variety of weapons and magic spells. You will hop back to town frequently to heal up and replenish used items, sometimes supplying the weaponsmith with items needed for new weapons, and then delve right back in to venture deeper into the dungeon.
With regards to its intentions, then, Etrian Odyssey succeeds on every level. The only issue is the limited market appeal this game will have; not that it's a knock on the game itself, but unless you -- dear player -- fit the criteria, you should likely avoid this game. Etrian Odyssey is great at what it sets out to do, and what it sets out to do is admirable and entertaining, but it's also only for a select few people.
Customer Review: The definition of "Hardcore"
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't think I have played a DS game longer than this one! It's been almost a year since I bought it on its release date, and I'm still playing it... The only other game that will make me stop playing it will be its sequel, Etrian Odyssey II : Heroes of Lagaard.
Just so you are warned, this game won't score high for its animation or use of the DS graphics engine. The art design had mainly two different artists, one for the characters and town, and one for the monsters you fight. All are presented in still 2D images, and while the characters drawings and backgrounds are gorgeus, the monsters' art design seems to be all over the place. The labyrinth scrolls in 3D in a first-person view, which is nice, but it is repetitive.
But the selling points of the game really are a) The character leveling which you do from scratch, and b) the map plotting, which you also do from scratch.
The story is light and very generic, and it doesn't affect the gameplay much despite a couple of twists. But that is the point: because you build the characters from scratch, they don't have any background, so you make them yours. This makes the whole game feel more personal, like you know the characters.
This is the game that I've enjoyed the most on the DS, but like most reviewers mentioned, it is not going to be everyone's cup of tea...
Customer Review: Only one flaw
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall, Etrian Odyssey is a great game worth your time. This game has very beautiful scenery which changes dramatically every five floors. Exploring through the dungeon is fun and rarely repetitive. Every so often it may be annoying to go through the same floors over and over again.
There is only one real flaw that you probably won't notice until the end of the game draws near. You are limited as to how many skill points to assign your characters, which requires you to be very careful in appointing them. Once you reach your characters last level, you can't gain more skill points. If you want to reassign your skill points, you have to lose 10 levels, which take a good deal of time to earn. I really don't see any good in limiting the maximum level and skills your characters can reach. Until you reach that point in the game, however, the game has no real flaws.