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Etrian Odyssey Community Thread: The Ongoing Adventures of Fight and Heal

Nachos

Member
EOIV's my jam

I'm interested in EOI3 though. Should I just wait for the inevitable remake?

At this point, I'd just recommend playing them in release order starting with IV onwards. Each game adds enough usability enhancements that make playing much more convenient. Even just going from IV to Untold, the game speeds up so much more, making IV seem really, really slow.

There are enough subjective differences between the originals and the remakes to warrant going back (the most obvious being that the dungeon designs are completely different), but as a first exposure, I'd just go with the remakes at this point.

Did you ever get the first Untold?
 

MLH

Member
I was going to pick up PQ digitally but I saved more buying at retail; £35 eshop versus £29 retail, even with all the discounts I could find the digital version was still £31 o(-`д´- 。)

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It's been one hell of a good day for EO fans, I'm really loving the look of the EO x Mystery Dungeon crossover. I played roguelikes as a kid, love that these niche genres (dungeon crawlers and roguelikes) made a return on the DS and now a crossover!

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EOIV's my jam

I'm interested in EOI3 though. Should I just wait for the inevitable remake?

EO3 holds up well IMO, interface & design would feel familiar if you were coming from EO4, also the music was without a doubt my overall favourite. I would have liked to hear FM versions of EO4 music - could have tipped it in its favour. The only really noticeable difference would be the graphics and if that bothers you enough wait for the remake.

The first game really benefited from the remake - the original was poor; no strafing, clunky menu system and laggy map drawing made the game more of a chore.

EO2 is an odd one, the game was difficult but fair: Map making was not as quick as EO3, certain designs are different (no FOE exp, no dual classes, no secondary 'quest') and leveling a new party is slower than in new games (no quick EXP like new games) but it didn't need a remake IMO, but I can see how some would appreciate a remake.
 

omlet

Member
Yep no problem. Im a bit busy at the moment, so all of those were just ones I had subscribed to outside of the Wizardry one, that one popped up when was looking for the western dungeon crawler community thread.

Know there are other OTs, but dont have the time to search atm.

Cool, I asked DandyCroc to make a banner image for FAQ and once that's done I'll edit that section into OP along with link to your post if you want to just update it as you find/remember things.
 

Rutger

Banned
EOIII is also my favorite in the series. That one having the best music and most interesting classes helps, but it's the dungeons that really make that game. Even the first dungeon is throwing interesting obstacles at you, while every other game just has some FOEs that will never catch you, EOIII adds tiles that slow your movement.

EOU really showed how much the dungeons improved since the first game, the worst that happens to you before the post game is that you find a dead end.
 
Plus 3 introduced the subclasses and all that fun jazz. The classes were just terrific (although the Dark Hunter is still my all-time favorite).

As someone who hasn't had played EO since the third game and who still has yet to get a 3ds, these announcements were very exciting and EOV looks like it could be incredible.

The Dark Spire for DS is also very much in the vein of Etrian Odyssey, to get back onto that subject.
 

Zweizer

Banned
On the subject of games similar to Etrian Odyssey, 7th Dragon is pretty much EO with a more traditional JRPG gameplay. They even copied got inspired by the FOEs.
 

Shizuka

Member
On the subject of games similar to Etrian Odyssey, 7th Dragon is pretty much EO with a more traditional JRPG gameplay. They even copied got inspired by the FOEs.

Although it was just the DS game, right? The PSP sequels changed the gameplay completely.
 

omlet

Member
Although it was just the DS game, right? The PSP sequels changed the gameplay completely.

I haven't played any of them, but from what I saw of the PSP gameplay in videos it looks like an EO-ish battle system but it's 3rd person 3D while running around different areas.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Although it was just the DS game, right? The PSP sequels changed the gameplay completely.

Yes it was just the DS game.

The only thing similar is the battles, but the problem with the game was the classes skills didnt jive too well with each other. 2020 does a slightly better job at that. Oh yeah also all of the 7th dragon games have the point allocation system for the skills.

7th Dragon 2020 you were stuck with 3 party memebers, made it feel like you always needed at least one more if you really wanted combos to be pulled off better. Not a bad game, but not a great game either. Had some good music though, data carried over to the 2nd game also.
 

Zweizer

Banned
Although it was just the DS game, right? The PSP sequels changed the gameplay completely.
I haven't played any of them, but from what I saw of the PSP gameplay in videos it looks like an EO-ish battle system but it's 3rd person 3D while running around different areas.

Yeah I think it's just the DS game.
From what I heard the PSP game (7th Dragon 2020) is pretty much your standard JRPG.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Yeah I think it's just the DS game.
From what I heard the PSP game (7th Dragon 2020) is pretty much your standard JRPG.

Ive played through both.

Its actually a more animated version as you see the characters doing their full attack animations and such. But in the most simple terms the design hasnt changed much. Cept with the party being restricted to 3 characters. Though yeah the maps are not first person and its a 3d levels that you go through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXCi3p9fDIQ

first boss fight from 2020-II
 
My Persona Q SE just arrived, someone stop me from opening it ahhhhh.


Also, Subclassing is awesome but I loved the feeling in EO1 and 2 that you could never have every single role in your team, that was something awesome and it pretty much died when subclassing happened.
 

Zweizer

Banned
Ive played through both.

Its actually a more animated version as you see the characters doing their full attack animations and such. But in the most simple terms the design hasnt changed much. Cept with the party being restricted to 3 characters. Though yeah the maps are not first person and its a 3d levels that you go through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXCi3p9fDIQ

first boss fight from 2020-II

I see. The fights being more animated doesn't surprised me since even on the DS they showed the characters doing actions and such, even if it was fairly minimalistic. Kind of disappointing that that downsized the party size though. Would you consider the game an improvement compared to the DS installment?

I wish a translation patch would be available.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
I see. The fights being more animated doesn't surprised me since even on the DS they showed the characters doing actions and such, even if it was fairly minimalistic. Kind of disappointing that that downsized the party size though. Would you consider the game an improvement compared to the DS installment?

I wish a translation patch would be available.

Not really, the two are kinda different now. They did botch it by making 3 characters though, since with how some of the skills work you really need someone else around to get things up to speed. You can make do and such, but it never feels right. So to speak.

The party balance felt more familiar in 7D DS, even if some skills were fubar or they didnt really work well together. Which is why I had preferred EO to 7D. Even though 7Ds character artist was モタ one of my favorite Japanese artists.

Boss fights in 2020 are challenging enough though. The caster class in the game is pretty broken near end game though. The best thing about 2020 is no goddamned flowers to step on. Seriously that system really held back the DS one since it was an irritation more than anything.
 

Rutger

Banned
Also, Subclassing is awesome but I loved the feeling in EO1 and 2 that you could never have every single role in your team, that was something awesome and it pretty much died when subclassing happened.

That feeling could easily return, they just need to make more than ten worthwhile classes.

Besides, that's not really subclassing's fault. Every important role was filled on my team in EOII, there was more than enough spots for my Hexers and my meatshields.
 
That feeling could easily return, they just need to make more than ten worthwhile classes.

Besides, that's not really subclassing's fault. Every important role was filled on my team in EOII, there was more than enough spots for my Hexers and my meatshields.

Hexer is too good in EO2, can't live without one.
 

Zweizer

Banned
Not really, the two are kinda different now. They did botch it by making 3 characters though, since with how some of the skills work you really need someone else around to get things up to speed. You can make do and such, but it never feels right. So to speak.

The party balance felt more familiar in 7D DS, even if some skills were fubar or they didnt really work well together. Which is why I had preferred EO to 7D. Even though 7Ds character artist was モタ one of my favorite Japanese artists.

Boss fights in 2020 are challenging enough though. The caster class in the game is pretty broken near end game though. The best thing about 2020 is no goddamned flowers to step on. Seriously that system really held back the DS one since it was an irritation more than anything.

I loved the character designs as well, even though I'm unfamiliar with the artist. It was just so cutesy and having every character with their own little animation during fights made them so endearing~

Sad to hear that the gameplay mechanics were clunky. Do the DS installement's pseudo-FOEs make a return? Yeah the flowers were a big annoyance. Not sure why they thought it was a good idea to have you suffer them for the entirety of the game.
 
In EOIII I did like the certain thrill I had in walking around a dungeon with a Hoplite and four Farmers and praying I ran into nothing while gathering.
 
In EOIII I did like the certain thrill I had in walking around a dungeon with a Hoplite and four Farmers and praying I ran into nothing while gathering.

I used 5 Farmers even if it was pointless to have that many and didn't give a crap.


It caused some Game Overs of course, haha.
 
I tried that a few times but it always ended with all five of them being ripped to shreds so I gave them a body guard and everything worked out fine after that.
 

Puru

Member
I used a skill that made them unable to trigger fights and they rushed to gathering points safely.
At the start of the game i think i actually leveled a farmer alongside my team to gather some stuff.
 

Zweizer

Banned
I used a skill that made them unable to trigger fights and they rushed to gathering points safely.

The random encounters on the way weren't the problem (thanks to said skill). It's just that every time you're gathering rare materials there is a chance for enemies to jump you.
 
I used a skill that made them unable to trigger fights and they rushed to gathering points safely.
At the start of the game i think i actually leveled a farmer alongside my team to gather some stuff.

as Zweizer said, the problem was gathering rare stuff.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
I loved the character designs as well, even though I'm unfamiliar with the artist. It was just so cutesy and having every character with their own little animation during fights made them so endearing~

Sad to hear that the gameplay mechanics were clunky. Do the DS installement's pseudo-FOEs make a return? Yeah the flowers were a big annoyance. Not sure why they thought it was a good idea to have you suffer them for the entirety of the game.

with the ds version the idea of the visible enemies which were dragons still is in the 2 2020 games. and to progress you need to kill them and lower the overall number of dragons in the story.
 

Puru

Member
The random encounters on the way weren't the problem (thanks to said skill). It's just that every time you're gathering rare materials there is a chance for enemies to jump you.

Oh yeah you're right, i forgot about that stuff.
Looked at my save on DS and saw i had a decently leveled Ninja farmer alongside an army low leveled newbies.
Guess i just went on suicide missions hoping they would make it alive, sounds like something i'd do.

Didn't managed to finish that game anyway since i somewhat got bored in the last stratum and never picked it back up. Now i'm wondering if i should just wait for a remake or try to finish the thing.
 
I'm only on floor 12 of Untold (fuck that bug queen) but i'll preorder 5 as soon as I can. Best JRPG combat i've played in a long time. Fuck that real time bullshit, turn based for life!
 

Nachos

Member
So now that I'm not getting on my phone at odd times and have time to watch the trailer, I really think that space travel is going to work its way into the story in some way.

Trailer:
tKkdzgT.jpg
Presumed inspiration:
Here's the Wikipedia page on the Voyager Golden Record.

Watch the twist be that one of the moons is actually the Earth after being being destroyed by pollution, and that the game takes place on an artificial moon called Yggdrasil. It could actually continue the backstory introduced in EO2.
 

Laconic

Banned
I kind of disagree, with most people in this thread, regarding which game is best.

I think that 3 and 4 are tied for first, for different reasons.

The ship and class diversity were great in 3.

4 is better balanced, with a better skill tree setup, and forging is awesome.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
Two most recent games use Arabic, not Roman numerals so EO V is obviously a Vita game.

Am I doing this right?
 

tuffy

Member
I kind of disagree, with most people in this thread, regarding which game is best.

I think that 3 and 4 are tied for first, for different reasons.

The ship and class diversity were great in 3.

4 is better balanced, with a better skill tree setup, and forging is awesome.
I also liked 3's branching story paths. It gave a good reason to use New Game+ and each path led to a different story boss for some extra variety.

But 4 has a lot more different ways to put together parties with great synergies. The core gameplay feels better because there's hardly a bad way to put a team together.
Two most recent games use Arabic, not Roman numerals so EO V is obviously a Vita game.

Am I doing this right?
I'm pretty sure Untold 2 is the only one with Arabic numerals, actually.
 
So now that I'm not getting on my phone at odd times and have time to watch the trailer, I really think that space travel is going to work its way into the story in some way.

Trailer:

Presumed inspiration:

Here's the Wikipedia page on the Voyager Golden Record.

Watch the twist be that one of the moons is actually the Earth after being being destroyed by pollution, and that the game takes place on an artificial moon called Yggdrasil. It could actually continue the backstory introduced in EO2.

Wrong, one of them will be a super weapon that will overheat the planet.
 
I see you clicked the link I posted. :p

It would be nice to have you around, we're not many but we sure are passionate about this silly series. You can always do your math and make me feel like I'm awful at EO like usual.
 
Just wanted to drop by and thank you for this thread. It's very informative and good to have a community discussion. I'm new to the series (started and still working on EOIV), so I'll keep up with this thread and post my thoughts, for what they're worth, as I move along!
 
I really want to play EO3, it sounds pretty great and the classes look cool. I'm pretty sold on it but I'm unsure if I should get it. I've only played IV and Untold (barely played Untold).

I'm waiting for my copy of Persona Q to get dispatched, it probably won't even arrive until Saturday
which is good, I have essays dammit
, I'll probably try and play more Untold. Story mode just straight out sucked, I managed to beat the first stratum but I couldn't bring myself to carry on. I restarted in classic recently and I've been having much more fun and I've got to a bit after where I got to in story. I've been playing it on expert both times and the difficulty feels just right, though I'm relying on paladin and I don't like paladins.
 

tuffy

Member
More portraits are a great idea.

On the other hand, I'm not quite so sure what to make of the bath episode. I wonder if it'll be a mappable location.
 

omlet

Member
OP updated with a few minor things for the two newest games and FAQ section added. Also included length in edit message to show how much (little) room there is to work with right now with regards to adding more stuff. Maybe time to move some of the text into more images.

Additional portraits (free):
Those who have the artbooks are probably familiar with them.
Awesome. Haven't seen those. I only have the artbooks for 3 and 4. Wasn't able to find the 1&2 ones when I got the two I have but maybe I should take another look.

Bath episode (350¥):
An additional quest, with additional portraits for Arianna and Chloe.

...really...
 
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