Etrian Odyssey. (AKA, weeboo Wizardry)

[Tigranes]

Yeah, EO isn't perfect and the mechanics could be improved, but these are really strange things to complain about. FOEs on map works perfectly fine from a gameplay perspective, and you usually naturally gather all the monster ingredients you'll ever need - unless you're grinding for 800 nectars or something - while exploring, if you don't know the map yet.

I agree the conditional kills are a bit silly, an artifact of old JRPGs that hide easter eggs that are impossible to know.

 

[Lutte]

EO4 is really good if you're the type who nerds into party building and experimenting with various class/subclass combinations in search of what you feel is bestest. So much is viable in that game and the synergy between the different classes moves or in-class synergies when using multiple of the same is just.. they achieved a striking amount of good balance overall in how the skills are designed and distributed across.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Playing EO5 now and it's great fun.

Voice acting is... ok I guess. Certainly have played games with worse voice acting.

Also... the art style has always confused me. The game LOOKs childish, but then ya see stuff like this:

Spoiler

Pretty sure the bartender/hostess breasts have gotten bigger in each game or something...

 

[duanth123]

I ain't seen no topics on this recently. This series has 5 games plus two remakes and later in August of 2018 Etrian Odyssey X is coming out.

Anyone play this?

I've played every game, including remakes, aside from EO IV (beyond the first few dungeons) which was shit.

IMO, they are games that should not be compared to Wizardry types, as the goal from what I could tell was to approximate the atmosphere of a Wiz game but not the mechanics.

EO III is arguably the best.

EOU I and II are great, though a bit more awesome button in design, which can be mitigated by certain self imposed rules.

EO 1 and 2 were great but I can't imagine most people nowadays would have the time or patience to handle their design, so more like good.

EO V was okay, the setting was lacking and a bit overworked and the monster compositions not particularly interesting.

EO IV was embarrassing.

Either way, they're far above some of their shit tier Japanese brethren.

In a void created by the pullout of US devs from the market.

 

[DragoFireheart]

EO IV was embarrassing.
.

Wait what? It's not the best EO game (mostly due to its lack of difficulty) but you make it sound like it's Oblivion tier of bad.

I really should get my hands on EO3. Sounds like it's a better version of EO4.

 

[duanth123]

EO IV was embarrassing.
.

Wait what? It's not the best EO game (mostly due to its lack of difficulty) but you make it sound like it's Oblivion tier of bad.

I really should get my hands on EO3. Sounds like it's a better version of EO4.

Embarrassing to the series.

No central labyrinth.

Tedious, slow battle flow. Which can't be fixed by any emulator I've used.

EASY to the point of intolerability.

Shounen tier story.

Uninteresting classes, imo.

And technically speaking, an obvious prototype of what would become the U series, with ugly dungeon and monster art coming off EO III

To be fair some of the music was decent.

 

[DragoFireheart]

No central labyrinth.

This bothered me the most. I missed the central labyrinth from the first EO game. The whole airship thing was pretty meh.

 

[Ysaye]

I've played EO1, EO1U, EO4 and EO5. Based on this:

Pros:
(1) Games always present something that requires a bit of thought, and delivers to a degree on the bungee "risk-reward" feeling that you get from Wizardry games;
(2) Graphics, interface are all fairly polished, although as DragoFireheart points out, it sometimes gets a bit confused as to what it is trying to appeal to;
(3) The first game gave a good mix of classes and there has been generally a reasonable set of choices across the other games; the range and mix of classes are important to these kinds of games. Also important (which the developers have noted) is that you don't want to give players characters that can be made to do everything, and you also want to make it feel like you also want that class-type that you left behind;
(4) The Untold games gave you a good mix of pre-made characters with mildly interesting additional talking / "story" to provide a different spin on it;
(5) There are always a lot of outdoor dungeons (Etrian Odyssey is for me "Garden Wizardry") which sets it apart from other Wizardry clones; and
(6) The music is generally pleasant.

Cons:
(1) Dungeons across all the games are a little too linear and simple; it's fine to have some linearity; after all Wizardry games are about getting from one floor to the next - but compare to say Elminage where there are always a lot of rooms to explore on a floor;
(2) From Elminage or particularly Dark Spire (Which was also made by Atlas), I came away feeling I wish they spent less on coming up with pretty character graphics, voice acting etc. and spend more time on dungeon layouts;
(3) IA Wizardry spell casting system or a Vancian system would better suit the bungee-jumping nature of these kinds of games than the Mana-meter used;
(4) I didn't see the point of adding races in EO5;
(5) There is too much dotting from NPCs, and not enough humor in-game (There are some short manga comics which are a little funny); given it is generally not a dark setting it could really use some more jokes;
(6) The games tries to steer away from Wizardry classes, but when the classes are clearly linked to old-school classes, I just don't get why they don't call them what they are normally called; and
(7) Mid-game often feels a chore rather than challenging - I think this is due to the point that Aweigh made around everything coming from farming and crafting, rather than random loot and random enemies.

I liked EO1U but I wasn't impressed by EO5 and I am not sure whether I will get EO6. But then again, what other blobbers are here and/or coming? The Lost Child is out for Vita and.....????

I have ordered Phantasy Star Generation 1 and am also looking forward to the Bard's Tale 1-3 remakes as part of backing Bard's Tale 4. Would like to get another Elminage game, but I am not getting the impression that Elminage 3 is being looked at by Ghostlight.

 

[Doktor Best]

Playing EO5 now and it's great fun.

Voice acting is... ok I guess. Certainly have played games with worse voice acting.

Also... the art style has always confused me. The game LOOKs childish, but then ya see stuff like this:

Spoiler

Pretty sure the bartender/hostess breasts have gotten bigger in each game or something...

Sadly, degenerates make up a large part of the j-rpg genre playerbase. They dont play those games for the gameplay but for the "story" in which kids larp as adults.

Game publishers are aware of that and they cater to it.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

EO2 does have this, the best song in the series:

 

[Vorark]

I liked EO1U but I wasn't impressed by EO5 and I am not sure whether I will get EO6. But then again, what other blobbers are here and/or coming? The Lost Child is out for Vita and.....????

Speaking of Vita, I keep hearing Dungeon Travelers 2 is a good crawler. Is that so? At first glance I thought it was one of those horrible fanservice games and wrote it off. Should I brave the waves?

Wish more games followed Stranger of Sword City classic artwork.

 

[Dorarnae]

I liked EO1U but I wasn't impressed by EO5 and I am not sure whether I will get EO6. But then again, what other blobbers are here and/or coming? The Lost Child is out for Vita and.....????

Speaking of Vita, I keep hearing Dungeon Travelers 2 is a good crawler. Is that so? At first glance I thought it was one of those horrible fanservice games and wrote it off. Should I brave the waves?

Wish more games followed Stranger of Sword City classic artwork.

I personally prefer dungeon travelers than Etrian odyssey because the dungeon are more interesting and the loot is more interesting too.
it's not perfect but it's a nice crawler.

 

[Emmanuel2]

I liked EO1U but I wasn't impressed by EO5 and I am not sure whether I will get EO6. But then again, what other blobbers are here and/or coming? The Lost Child is out for Vita and.....????

Speaking of Vita, I keep hearing Dungeon Travelers 2 is a good crawler. Is that so? At first glance I thought it was one of those horrible fanservice games and wrote it off. Should I brave the waves?

Wish more games followed Stranger of Sword City classic artwork.

The one I played, DT2, was surprisingly awesome. I'd ranked it above EO and SoSC in terms of combat and and alot higher in map design. The loot is very interesting too.

The Postgame dungeons are nothing to scoff at either, they are more or less what you would expect from a classic dungeon crawler. Large multi-screen, multi-floored labyrinths full of traps, hidden one-ways, one-way doors, teleporters, alot of ladder/stairs fuckery, etc. etc. There are also doors that restrict your party making it even more interesting like "only 4 members may pass", "no member of this class may pass", etc.

It was well worth the time I've spent and then some. I recommend it to anyone who really likes dungeon crawlers.

 

[duanth123]

EO2 does have this, the best song in the series:

EO III has the comfiest.

 

[Eggs is eggs]

EO4 was my favourite. I loved the overworld and the smaller dungeons.

 

[LESS T_T]

New teaser trailer from Atlus, likely the next, non-3DS EO game after EOX (SQ is the abbreviation of Japanese title of the series):

 

[Hobo Elf]

New teaser trailer from Atlus, likely the next, non-3DS EO game after EOX (SQ is the abbreviation of Japanese title of the series):

Sekaiju no Meikyuu = SQ??

 

[LESS T_T]

Sekaiju no Meikyuu = SQ??

Sekaiju no MeiQ, so SQ.

Domain name for the Japanese official site for example: http://sq-atlus.jp

 

[Hobo Elf]

Sekaiju no Meikyuu = SQ??

Sekaiju no MeiQ, so SQ.

Domain name for the Japanese official site for example: http://sq-atlus.jp

Yeah that makes sense. It looks like EO anyway, even without the abbreviation. And the 5 tombstones for EO1-5 and a new cast of characters looking out into the distance. Without going full gay-Vaati, I'd say that this teaser picture is attempting to be symbolic with the series moving away from handheld consoles and going on to new uncharted territories, i.e a "real" console. Although we all knew that this was happening anyway. Wonder what kind of graphical level they are going to shoot for.

 

[Eggs is eggs]

I guess the series is going to move to the switch?

 

[Vorark]

Considering it's always been on Nintendo portables and the only thing on the market is the Switch... Probably?

 

[Vorark]

Sorry for the double post, but....

Etrian Odyssey Nexus coming west on February 5, 2019
https://gematsu.com/2018/08/etrian-odyssey-nexus-coming-west-on-february-5-2019

The series' final installment on 3DS.

Etrian Odyssey X, which launched for 3DS in Japan on August 2, is coming to the Americas and Europe as Etrian Odyssey Nexus on February 5, 2019 for $39.99, publisher Atlus announced.

Here is an overview of the game, via Atlus:

About

A royal decree from Princess Persephone has prompted the gathering of the realm’s greatest explorers to the floating city of Maginia. Their goal-uncovering the mysteries of the archipelago of Lemuria, home to a great Yggdrasil Tree. Recruit explorers from 19 classes spanning the entire Etrian series, including the brand new “Hero” class, before setting out to Lemuria in search of treasure and glory!

The longtime trio of Yuji Himukai (Character Designer), Shin Nagasawa (Monster Designer), and Yuzo Koshiro (Composer) return to bring life to Etrian Odyssey Nexus‘ world. With iconic representatives and locations from past Etrian games, over a hundred story-rich quests, variable difficulty settings, the return of accessibility features like auto-mapping (optional!), and much more, Etrian Odyssey Nexus is the definitive Etrian experience for both longtime fans and series newcomers. Gather your party, stock up on FOE repellant, and start brushing up on your mapping skills for the launch of Etrian Odyssey Nexus on February 5, 2019!

Key Features

• The Definitive Etrian Odyssey Experience – With more classes, characters, gameplay systems, and labyrinths than any other game in the series, Etrian Odyssey Nexus is the ultimate dungeon-crawling adventure.
• Customize Your Perfect Exploration Party – Create and customize characters from 19 playable classes, then take on the dangerous creatures of Lemuria’s labyrinths with your perfect party!
• Both Newcomers and Veterans Welcome! – With the ability to swap between four distinct difficulty settings, auto-mapping settings, and a grand standalone story, there’s something for everyone from series newcomers to experienced veterans.
• A Love Letter to Etrian – Longtime series mainstays Yuji Himukai (Character Designer), Shin Nagasawa (Monster Designer), and Yuzo Koshiro (Composer) have come together to create the preeminent Etrian experience for the series’ final installment on the Nintendo 3DS.

Wonder if Atlus will localize that Etrian-esque Persona game too.

 

[aweigh]

Dorar, how does the game compare to the earlier entries? Is it easier or hader?

 

[Dorarnae]

Dorar, how does the game compare to the earlier entries? Is it easier or hader?

seems to be easier so far, even though I am playing on Heroic, my party isn't really big on dmg, I think I went a bit too much on ailment and bind..., so it takes a long time to kill some boss, like one boss I killed yesterday probably took me like 80 turns. I don't think in previous EO you would be able to survive that long against a boss, you'd run out of tp for healing much faster.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Atlus always seems to develop/publish the niche games I like. Lets look:

Etrian Odyssey series
Demon's Souls
Dokapon Kingdom (wife actually likes this game, can easily make people ragequit)
Dragon's Crown
Ogre Battle games (shame the series is mostly dead)
The Dark Spire

Off the top of my head.