Etrian Odyssey Appreciation Thread

I found myself with a lot of time for my portable systems this holiday, on an almost two week vacation from home, and decided it was finally time to give this dungeon crawler a go.

Etrian Odyssey came out several months ago from Atlus (so good luck finding a copy now!), and it is an uber-hardcore dungeon raid type game with a turn-based RPG-like battle system a lot like that of a Dragon Quest game. The perspective is first-person as you navigate your party of five characters chosen from up to nine classes through the dungeon; it reminds me of this old game called Eye of the Beholder that I once played on PC and SNES.

You don't have a map, nor do you find one anywhere, in fact, you have to draw it yourself on the DS's lower screen as you explore all the floors of the dungeon. The space is laid out in a grid, and you use the stylus to fill in walls and add icons for treasure boxes and pits and such. This sounds pretty rote, but somehow it is actually a lot of fun, and the draw to complete your map ends up pulling you through the game as much as anything.

And you might need that pulling! Etria's labyrinth is a rough and unforgiving place, and you'll find that grinding is a must a lot of times. Fortunately, your character classes are pretty highly customizable, and you are able to boot out classes that aren't working out for your party and recruit new classes, or rework your skill point allocations on a character for a penalty of knocking said character down 10 levels.

This is the type of game that some people are going to go crazy over, and some people would probably die before playing. I'm the former.

Brutal game at the beginning. This isn't an RPG for the uninitiated. I really liked the map-drawing concept, and the monster artwork was interesting, but I'm really just not tough enough for Etrian Odyssey. The wandering uber-monsters were unrelenting.

I sold my copy to Kat and Sleipnir. I like to imagine Sleipnir showed the game what's what.

It has some interesting ideas, and I really wanted to like it, but the old-school repetitious random encounters killed this one for me eventually. The fact that you can't save in a dungeon and can't escape some boss encounters means I was regularly repeating 30 minute sections of the game as the price of failure. Not fun.

People who're down with a pre-XII Final Fantasy vibe should definitely give this one a shot, however.

Both your comments are absolutely true. You learn to be super-cautious in this game. I almost never take on a boss type monster without first carefully evaluating what total progress I've made on that run into the dungeon against what I'd lose in a horrible owning. I usually use a warp wire to get out of there, save, rest, and trek back to take the boss on. So far I haven't ever lost more than about 10 minutes or so of progress, and at least the game lets you carry over your map data into the next life.

It's kind of funny how against such odds this game remains so addictive.

I love this game too, and am anticipating the sequel even though I haven't finished the first installment yet! I've only delved to the fifth stratum, but I love the challenge and old-school (I try to avoid that term, but it's entirely apt here) feel. It's like a cross between Eye of the Beholder and Dragon Quest. That's a killer combo there!

I really enjoyed it. The game is indeed quite rough - it brought back many memories of Wizardry, both good and bad

I found the map drawing, while fun at first, to be more of a chore later on, although I did like being able to leave myself notes. Typically, they would be something like "Holy crap, need 5 levels to win" or somesuch. Also, I found that this is one of those games which requires a good understanding of the mechanics to advance, and I didn't really feel the manual or in-game instruction was satisfactory.

These issues aside, it's a ton of fun. I like the artwork, and I like the unapologetic gameplay. Patience is rewarded, if you enjoy this sort of thing

Arise ye thread!

Playing this now, as I need something portable for my upcoming hospital stay. The game is a portable Wizardry (not Eye of the Beholder-EotB had more real-time combat) with cute monsters and characters. There is no handholding, no tutorial, and no mercy shown to a new player, which almost killed this game for me. 12 hours later, and many more levels ground out (and many more to go) I am hooked. I'm currently on the 3rd floor, trying to avoid most of the wandering boss monsters, as they beat me badly last time I tried them. My mage focussed too much on fire magic, and the current bosses aren't phased much by fire.

There are a few flaws. In this day and age, it is fairly unforgivable to not have item comparison when shopping, especially when 95% of the equipable items (so far) are store bought. The manual, as DS said, is not sufficient for planning out a character though the long run, and to respec any misspent points costs 10 character levels.

Speaking of difficulty, I am surprised that Atlus did not go the route of Wizardry, and force corpse runs for lost party members should your current party wipe on a lower floor. That would have been icing on the cake.

This game is freaking incredible, and here's the good news: while the game sort of bottlenecks you towards the 4th & 5th floors in difficulty, once you pass the 5th floor it's much better constructed and balanced, at least as far as I've made it (I'm on the 11th & 12th floor now).

I love it. I already bought the sequel, knowing that I'll enjoy it just as much when I finish the original!

I've just mapped the 3rd floor, and am slowly exploring the 4th. I think that I have leveled enough for now, as the FOEs on the 4th level die in 2 rounds with minimal damage to my party. There are still FOEs on the 3rd floor that I can't take yet. Pure old school awesome here.

The lack of saving (for battery conservation if nothing else, even if it is a deleted quicksave) really hurts, and getting back to the 3rd floor and beyond is now starting to get old. I hope there are some quick exits that I haven't found yet (and I'm not searching gamefaqs to find out).

I'm currently on the 3rd floor,

Wait, wait...there's a THIRD floor

Seriously though, if anyone can offer any noob tips for getting started in this game t'would be appreciated. I've had this sitting around untouched for quite some time and I really should have another stab at it at some point (every time I try it though it ends up kicking my backside thoroughly).

I am running a defender, fighter (whatever the unpronouncable guy is that uses swords and axes), a bard, alchemist, and healer. I started with a survivalist instead of the bard, and I will admit the bard sucked at the beginning, but the bard's later skills more than make up for his crappy combat and armor skills at the start of the game. TP and HP regen > combat skills, as they allow you to stay out in the dungeon longer, and let your alchemist/healer nuke/hcure more.

This game is all about the grinding. If you don't like random encounters and/or complete map exploration, this game is not for you. Unless you are going to completely wipe, you should always fight out every encounter. You need every experience point you can get. Sell every piece of monster treasure you get, and keep your peeps up on their equipment.

Keep in mind I am only on the 4th floor (about 15th level), and things could change later.

When you hit the big bad evil dude on the 5th floor, it'll be a wake-up call of sorts Dez. You should be fine though, anywhere from level 17-20 should be appropriate for it.

A friendly Ferret's newbie tips for EO1:

1) Really, really be sure you don't need a Survivalist before you decide not to take one. Ambush (greatly GREATLY increased chance to get first strike in combat.. even effective on the last boss in the game), and 1st Turn (target party member's action will happen first in the round) are very important goodies. Having all three gathering skills on one guy is helpful too.. don't be afraid to have him buy a few ranks in all three, he'll be effective enough even with the 'wasted' points.

2) Status conditions (Poison, Paralysis, etc.) rarely work on FOEs/bosses, but the same is not true of the Binds. These can land regularly enough to come in handy, and even better, enemies aren't quite smart enough to realize they're bound, which means they (even bosses) will waste turns trying to use skills that their Binds prevent. (Notably, you don't need a Dark Hunter to use Bind skills; you can pick up all three Binds via other classes' attacks, though if you want all three without a DH, you're going to have to use those three classes specifically. I think it's Moonlander, Survivalist, and.. maybe Ronin for the third? Not sure who gets the arm-bind attack.)

3) The three main concerns for your group are: a) Dealing with normal encounters as cheaply (HP&TP wise) as possible, b) Having answers for the ugly bosses, c) Having access to every attack type so you can get all the conditional loot drops.

Things that help with concern A:
- Characters with strong normal attacks.
- Characters with high defense.
- Characters with helpful passives (like TP Regen, Patch Up, the almighty Ambush)

Things that help with concern B:
- Bind attacks.
- Statistic buffs/debuffs (especially strength debuffs and defense/resistance/maxHP buffs)
- Massive group heals.
- Stun attacks (which do work, even on the last boss, sometimes.)

Things that help with concern C:
- Elemental attacks (most of the conditional drops are based on landing the finishing blow with fire, ice, or lightning... though some are based on weapon damage types too.)
- Good mix of weapon types: Staves and Axes = Crush, Bows = Stab, Katanas, Swords and Whips = Cut. Notably, some weapon attacks change the damage type of the attack too.

edit: fixed something

I actually use a Troubador instead of a Survivalist in my party. It was a tough call, but I'm happy with it so far.

Suggestions on how it could be better:

*Window of opportunity shifts in dungeon levels and secret doors.

*Camping gear lets you save anywhere. (The game is mobile!)

*Chance of being robbed or attacked when saving at night.

*Units train for either a second class, or a profession that allows for gear development or skill bonuses. This forces you to develop a well balanced guild. Because...

* If your whole party dies, CORPSE RUN!

I picked up this game only now, remembering all the interesting stuff from this thread and I am hooked. Yes, it's difficult - after several hours I'm still only mapping out the 2nd floor, but man it's addictive.

I'm not sure if anyone's still playing, but I need to ask: is it a good idea to pick up skills that lower the frequency of encounters? On one hand I need them to grind levels, on the other hand they sap my party before I even reach new areas.

Arise, thread!

Honestly, that's (mostly) a waste of your skill points early on. Possibly in the later stages of the game that could be useful.

Here's the biggest tip I can give you, as I learned from my own mistake: make sure to balance out investing skill points between passive bonuses and active abilities. I spent too many points early on just trying to beef up my characters' stats and then when I reached the fifth floor, I just started getting plastered by enemies (especially the first main boss encounter) because there was so little I could do in battle other than just slug it out.

I got an email from Goozex letting me know this is in the mail. I can't wait, and will be watching the mailbox like a hawk.

I'm down on level 6 or so. Not getting my ass handed to me anymore, and definitely enjoying the game.

I'm running a Landsknecht, Survivalist, Protector, Medic and Alchemist.

Thanks for the help, keep it coming.

Azure Chicken wrote:

I'm running a Landsknecht, Survivalist, Protector, Medic and Alchemist.

That's exactly my line up, but as I understand you have the first three in the first row. I have my Survivalist in the back, is he tough enough to survive in the 1st row?

I got very very far in the game. Then hit a wall that just would not cooperate with my "having fun" mission so I sold it. Good while it lasted.

An update: I'm still playing the game, and am currently mapping out 12th floor. Considering that this game is pure grind and almost no story I'm having way more fun than I ever thought I would (I'm currently leveling up my new Ronin). I assume this is my most-played game this year except TF2. Even Disgaea doesn't come close. I guess it's because of the discovery element of the game: I'm constantly finding new items and enemies (and reporting them to the council and selling to find out what I unlocked with them), finding new places, quests and challenges. This is fun. OCD, but fun.

Wow, I forgot I had created this thread. I ended up playing all the way through the (main) game but giving up on the post-game bosses. F those guys. I must have spent 100 hours on Etrian Odyssey, and burned myself out such that I bought the sequel, but have yet to give it a go, and at this point don't know if I ever will.

Arise, old thread.

I picked this up about a month ago, and I've made a significant amount of progress. I'm now at B16F, and they've introduced additional environmental challenges that made obsessive mapping of each level rather difficult.

My guild is party well equipped and trained at this point, and I'm running Protector, Landsknecht, Alchemist, Survivalist, and Medic. In town, I also have a Troubadour, Ronin, and Dark Hunter for very specific situations.

Oh hello! I played the first EO for a while when it came out, got to the middle depths somewhere, and got frustrated by some optional(?) boss.

Anyway I really liked the game and have been thinking about either

1) digging it up, or
2) buying one of the sequels.

Snorlax I take it you are playing the original?

Does anyone have a view on which Etrian Odyssey is the best Etrian Odyssey? Are the later entries better or are they just harder and bigger?

I am hearing that 3rd EO is the way to go, less grindy and more user-friendly. You can e.g. autopilot your party - for example to reach that xth floor without manual input. Haven't played it yet, but here is what Bill Harris thought.

Awesome, thx.

http://www.amazon.com/Etrian-Odyssey...

Well, folks, you've got four months to get to the bottom of EO3.

How do I do the friendly toward GWJ amazon link?

Oh man! Looks like I'll be getting a 3DS after all.

Yeah, I'm already preordered. As much as I love the EO games, there's no way I'm risking missing out on this one.

Jeremy Parish loves these games. A lot. He wrote a blog entry for it here about how EOII became his "forever" game and did a preview vid for EOIV, which I've embedded below.