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[omlet]

7 years later and I still can't get passed

Spoiler

the sixth stratum

in the original Etrian Odyssey. My characters are already max leveled and yet it's still incredibly difficult.

Well, you made it farther than me.

However, I did tooth-and-claw my way through there on Expert mode in Untold. That place is hell. Toughest final stratum in the series IMO (well, III's is really nasty, too).

In short: your Mega Drive-style music.

In "long":

Thanks for the details. Didn't have room to go over music in OP.

Personally I like both styles and think the music in IV and Untold is really great but it is still certainly different from what the series had before.

 

[tuffy]

The little (and not so little) changes they've made from entry to entry make a pretty big difference in how they play.

EO II's FOEs don't give any experience points, but stratum bosses give a lot more. So since force powers are wildly overpowered, I remember spending a lot of time building up gauges in order to demolish bosses in order to bring new or rested characters up to speed.

EO III's branching endings actually gave its New Game+ some use. One could power through the maze exploration with an experienced party and eventually wind up against the "true" ending boss which was more of a challenge than the other two.

EO IV's guest characters (who don't get any share of experience points) along with overworld FOEs, a low cost to reset skills and limited number of "trainers" make it incredibly simple to bring in new characters or try out different party setups. Its New Game+ also lets one get multiples of otherwise unique items that you'd normally only get once per playthrough. I think it has the best balance of the bunch with a lot of different viable builds to tackle the postgame bosses.

 

[omlet]

I feel like Persona Q should get an honorable mention in the first post, though

As I mentioned a few replies down from OP, I planned to include PQ but ran out of room! The OP is 23991 characters long as of right now and gaf only allows 24000 characters in a post lol. I didn't even have room to talk about other EO-specific things like the music and other game features like grimoire system and streetpass and we had to move some info like retire bonuses into images just to fit it in. Not sure what I could cut out to make room for PQ but I think it's fine to discuss PQ here since it's so closely related to EO. Might need to move more stuff into images to save on character count.

 

[jadjei]

Should I play the remake or grab the DS version. I think I want to get into this series.

 

[Linkark07]

Should I play the remake or grab the DS version. I think I want to get into this series.

My take is to play the remake.

 

[ToastyFrog]

As I mentioned a few replies down from OP, I planned to include PQ but ran out of room! The OP is 23991 characters long as of right now and gaf only allows 24000 characters in a post lol.

Ha, OK, fair enough. I will make a small contribution to this thread: My old interview with Yuzo Koshiro, which touches heavily on the methodology behind the music for this series, is no longer available on 1UP. So, until IGN gets 1UP's database working again, I've mirrored it on my personal site:

http://www.telebunny.net/toastywiki/index.php/Games/YuzoKoshiro

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Should I play the remake or grab the DS version. I think I want to get into this series.

You can play any game if you want to get into it series, I personally recommend EO4 but if you want to play the first game no matter what then get the remake.

If you do get the remake, play Classic Mode.

 

[Rutger]

I've been a big fan of this series ever since I picked up EOIII on a whim. I've since played all but the first game, I don't see much of a point when I have EOU.

EOIII is easily still my favorite, though EOIV improved the combat in a lot of ways that I like. EOU was fun, but but the dungeons were not that great outside of the sixth, and the classes and combat took a noticeable step back. Unfortunately, that's a problem of it being a remake of the first game when there's been so many improvements since then. Grimoires just make me want subclassing back.

EOII was good. The dungeons were pretty interesting, but not quite as good as EOIII's. The fourth and fifth dungeon music is outstanding. Unfortunately, Hexers are such and overpowered class that this is without a doubt the easiest game in the series. I'm looking forward to EOIIU offering a challenge, because there's no way the Hexers will be left alone...
I hope.

Should I play the remake or grab the DS version. I think I want to get into this series.

The remake.
Thought the fourth game is a better game to start with imo.

 

[Soulhouf]

Thanks omlet for the OT.

You can count me among those who love the original series but hate the Shin (Untold) versions.

 

[omlet]

Should I play the remake or grab the DS version. I think I want to get into this series.

I think IV is probably the best place to start. My dark secret as author of this CT is that I never even finished EO1. I tried it but traded it away (RIP goozex) and didn't get hooked on the series until EOII.

If you want to start with the original story and play them in order that's cool, too; I'd say go with Untold first, in that case, and play Classic Mode on Expert difficulty for the closest thing to the original game that Untold can give you. The game will try to recommend Story Mode to you but I do not recommend Story Mode to anyone who has never tried the series before for a number of reasons, so pick Classic mode.

Ha, OK, fair enough. I will make a small contribution to this thread: My old interview with Yuzo Koshiro, which touches heavily on the methodology behind the music for this series, is no longer available on 1UP. So, until IGN gets 1UP's database working again, I've mirrored it on my personal site:

http://www.telebunny.net/toastywiki/index.php/Games/YuzoKoshiro

Oh neat, thanks, I will try to work that link into the OP!

Edit: Worked it in at the bottom, good interview!

 

[KdylanR92]

Yes!! thank you for this OP, I love this series.

I've beaten the first one, almost beat the second one(last dungeon), i didn't like the third one at all, currently on my second playthrough of the 4th one, and beat the remake a couple weeks ago

 

[spiritfox]

So Persona Q is coming out this month. I hope it still keeps the EO charm, as much as I like Persona, I like EO more.

 

[omlet]

Yes!! thank you for this OP, I love this series.

I've beaten the first one, almost beat the second one(last dungeon), i didn't like the third one at all, currently on my second playthrough of the 4th one, and beat the remake a couple weeks ago

Now that's an unusual opinion, at least from what I see said around GAF, but in all honesty 3 is probably my least favorite in terms of gameplay as well. I enjoyed EO3 and I really like some things about the game (presentation is great all around considering DS hardware, some of the classes are really neat) but I haven't beaten it 100% and am not very motivated to, either. Subclassing is a mess in EO3, sea quests are annoying, and the postgame grind is staggering.

 

[Parakeetman]

Nice work with the community thread!

stil must say that EO3 is the best truthfully. Reason being is that the subclass system if you know what you are doing you can seriously break the game good which was hilarious fun. Not to mention that the classes were the most interesting. Didnt care for 4 too much as it went far too orthodox class wise which wound up being seriously boring.

I still have to finish the J-DRPG community thread stuff, but when I do get around to doing that will be sure to put a link to this specific community thread as seems to be a fantastic all in one stop for the series.

 

[ToastyFrog]

Now that's an unusual opinion, at least from what I see said around GAF, but in all honesty 3 is probably my least favorite in terms of gameplay as well. I enjoyed EO3 and I really like some things about the game (presentation is great all around considering DS hardware, some of the classes are really neat) but I haven't beaten it 100% and am not very motivated to, either. Subclassing is a mess in EO3, sea quests are annoying, and the postgame grind is staggering.

Same here... I couldn't motivate myself to get past the second stratum in EOIII, which makes it the entry I've played the least of (I'd say the only entry I haven't beaten, but I botched my EOII party right before the Colossus fight and never finished that one, either). I'm hoping the inevitable EOIII Untold changes that.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Same here... I couldn't motivate myself to get past the second stratum in EOIII, which makes it the entry I've played the least of (I'd say the only entry I haven't beaten, but I botched my EOII party right before the Colossus fight and never finished that one, either). I'm hoping the inevitable EOIII Untold changes that.

The story doesn't get interesting till the end of the 2nd stratum, and also you didn't get to the awesome and broken as hell subclassing of EO3.

Give it another try to wait for EO3 Untold.

Nice work with the community thread!

stil must say that EO3 is the best truthfully. Reason being is that the subclass system if you know what you are doing you can seriously break the game good which was hilarious fun. Not to mention that the classes were the most interesting. Didnt care for 4 too much as it went far too orthodox class wise which wound up being seriously boring.

I still have to finish the J-DRPG community thread stuff, but when I do get around to doing that will be sure to put a link to this specific community thread as seems to be a fantastic all in one stop for the series.

I agree thatn EO3 had a way more interesting classes(Pirate, Ninja, Princess, Farmer were awesome) but EO4 still has a pretty interesting list of classes if you add the 3 secret classes you get later on(Arcanist is sooo good), the game also feels way more balanced than the rest of the series.

EO 3 Untold better have a buffed as hell Wildling and make the Princess/Monk class not crap compared to Monk/Princess.

 

[ohlawd]

*subbed for eternity*

 

[Man God]

Ummm, retiring is TOTALLY worth it in EO 1 and 2 because of the bonuses.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Ummm, retiring is TOTALLY worth it in EO 1 and 2 because of the bonuses.

I agree, it was almost mandatory for EO1's final Stratum.

*subbed for eternity*

I was wondering when you'd appear.

 

[crabhammer]

A couple friends of mine recommended the series to me last year. I bought the first one, got off to a slightly rocky start, then near the end of the first stratum everything clicked and oh my god did this series ever become one of my favorites.

I was so hooked I ended up playing through all four games over the course of a month. Pretty much every moment of free time was spent in those goddamn games. I love pretty much everything about them. The music, the atmosphere, even the mapping mechanic, which I was extremely skeptical of at first, was wonderful and quickly became one of my favorite things in any game ever.

There are a lot of games about going on an adventure, but rarely does a game actually make you feel like you're in uncharted territory. Putting the map drawing in my hands really added to the games immersion, as much as I hate to use that buzzword. I feel bad for anyone who uses the auto walling option in untold. I feel like they're really missing out.

So when is Untold 2 out in Japan anyway? My ears are dying to hear Cherry Tree Bridge's orchestral arrangement.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

A couple friends of mine recommended the series to me last year. I bought the first one, got off to a slightly rocky start, then near the end of the first stratum everything clicked and oh my god did this series ever become one of my favorites.

I was so hooked I ended up playing through all four games over the course of a month. Pretty much every moment of free time was spent in those goddamn games. I love pretty much everything about them. The music, the atmosphere, even the mapping mechanic, which I was extremely skeptical of at first, was wonderful and quickly became one of my favorite things in any game ever.

There are a lot of games about going on an adventure, but rarely does a game actually make you feel like you're in uncharted territory. Putting the map drawing in my hands really added to the games immersion, as much as I hate to use that buzzword. I feel bad for anyone who uses the auto walling option in untold. I feel like they're really missing out.

A month? Did you also do the post game stuff in the games? because that's insane.

Anyways, I agree with everything you said, EO truly makes you feel like you're in an amazing adventure.

EO Untold 2 comes out November 27 btw.

 

[crabhammer]

I didn't do the post game, no, just the main games. I intend to go back an try the post games at some point.

 

[Lumpy Onion]

For some reason EO IV is the one that really clicked with me after being somewhat lukewarm to the series with I-III. I think a lot of it had to do with the production values. Call me superficial, but having animated monsters in combat over still images was a dealbreaker for me. Having them react somewhat to being hit added to it as well. The areas themselves were also scrumptiously detailed and full of artistic flair. And while I like FM synth the music in EO IV was just a whole lot lusher. EO IV made me a fan pretty fast.

 

[omlet]

Ummm, retiring is TOTALLY worth it in EO 1 and 2 because of the bonuses.

I don't think they're necessary or worth it at all in EO2 (easily beat Ur Child with a non-retired party) but I will defer to you on EO1 since I didn't get to postgame in OG EO; Will modify that section to be less opinionated,

 

[Man God]

Well, you're going to need to retire if you want to use that new level cap in EO2 but even doing one retire at 70 will get you...

L30-L39: +4 Stat, +4 Skill Points
L40-L49: +3 Stat, +5 Skill Points
L50-L59: +4 Stat, +6 Skill Points
L60-L69: +5 Stat, +7 Skill Points
L70-L98: +5 Stat, +8 Skill Points
L99: +10 Stat, +10 Skill Points

8 skill points is very nice and power leveling in EO 2 is simple. Some people swear by the big boost you get from retiring at 30 considering you'd only need to get back 15 levels but I'm a retire at level cap kind of guy.

 

[Matt Attack]

I own IV and Untold, but I can never find the time to actually go through them. I adore the music and the mapping but I always get intimidated that I might build my characters wrong. Hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to actually sit down and focus on IV.

I'm looking forward to Persona Q so that might help me get a better feel for how the games work. I also want to try III at some point because the sea theme is very appealing.

 

[omlet]

Retiring in EO2 at 70 cap gives a nice boost but only raises your level cap by 1 (lol), so you have to grind insane amounts to really push to 99, it's just not worth it to go past 1 retire.

Yeah, in 3, 4, and Untold I am also a "wait for 99 then retire" guy. I'm assuming EO2U will use that same formula rather than the retire system from the original EO2.

 

[Escalario]

Subscribing!

I'm doing some sidequests in EOU1 before exploring B9F. Thank the Yggdrasil for autowalk, or else the "Survive 5 days on B8F" would be soul-crushing.

 

[KdylanR92]

After beating the remake and going back to 4 i really miss that run feature.

Ever so often i find myself holding down b and expecting to run and being disappointed

 

[Aaronrules380]

I own IV and Untold, but I can never find the time to actually go through them. I adore the music and the mapping but I always get intimidated that I might build my characters wrong. Hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to actually sit down and focus on IV.

I'm looking forward to Persona Q so that might help me get a better feel for how the games work. I also want to try III at some point because the sea theme is very appealing.

Few comments and pieces of advice:
1, While some of the older EO games had really unbalanced skills, with some being OP and some being kind of useless, EO IV is pretty balanced so it's not too hard to create a good party
2. When building a party, think about the roles each character has and try to specialize rather than be good at everything. Focus on a few skill trees with synergy rather than trying to dole points out to everything
3. Subclass, but don't be too afraid to focus more on main class skills if you think it works better. I had some characters in IV who pretty much never used their subclass skills, but you do get extra skill points for subclassing
4. Don't be afraid to rest to refresh a character's skill points if you think they've been built badly. it costs a few levels, but it can still be worth it
5. Later on in EO IV when you unlock new classes you're given items which allow you to create a character at a higher level than usual (though it's limited use). The level will be around where you're expected to be when you first get the item, so if you want to try out new classes or builds this is a good option
6. Don't neglect status skills or binds. Especially not binds, since they're super useful

 

[Kirlia]

I'm currently playing EO3 and really enjoying it, although I'm still on the first stratum. My characters are all in the level 10-11 range (my party is Monk, Gladiator, Hoplite, Ninja, and Zodiac). Largebills can go fucking die. What teams have any of you guys used in EO3?

After beating the remake and going back to 4 i really miss that run feature.

Ever so often i find myself holding down b and expecting to run and being disappointed

...wow, I played Untold Classic Mode COMPLETELY unaware of being able to do that. I guess that's for the best, since I've been going through the series backwards ever since (EO4 and EO3, but will play EOU2 rather than EO2).

 

[tuffy]

What teams have any of you guys used in EO3?

By the end of the game, I was using three Shogun/Buccaneers that were dual-wielding and using the Swashbuckling skill in order to generate a ton of attacks. I then had a Gladiator/Shogun with the Warrior Might skill chasing each of those attacks for lots of damage, along with a Monk/Princess for healing duty. Just about everything in the game would evaporate after a few turns.

 

[omlet]

I'm currently playing EO3 and really enjoying it, although I'm still on the first stratum. My characters are all in the level 10-11 range (my party is Monk, Gladiator, Hoplite, Ninja, and Zodiac). Largebills can go fucking die. What teams have any of you guys used in EO3?

You're supposed to avoid Largebills for now lol, they're there to teach you to pay attention to day/night cycle.

My initial EO3 party was... I can barely remember. I think it was Hoplite, Monk, Zodiac, Ninja, and maybe a Princess? In no other game in the series have I shuffled my party around as much as in EO3. I've tried a lot of the classes. Party I'm using right now is a Warrior's Might party (Hoplite/Princess, Gladiator/Shogun, 2x Shogun/Buccaneer, Monk/Princess) for postgame stuff.

Edit: on the EO3 note... make extra characters early in the game, give them combat study skill, and leave them in town to soak exp, you will be happy you followed this advice later lol

 

[Rutger]

Ummm, retiring is TOTALLY worth it in EO 1 and 2 because of the bonuses.

I can't speak for EO1, but it's not worth it in EO2. Your Hexers get more than enough skill points for maxing Revenge and HP Up, just make sure you have a Gunner and Dark Hunter with their force skills ready and you'll kill the post game final boss before it can attack you. You don't even need everyone at level 70.

Maybe it's worth going through if you really want to use all the awful classes.

I never really bother with retiring, the bonuses never felt worth the time to grind back up to level when my party is already capable of defeating anything the game throws at me.

 

[Mozendo]

You forgot to say that Etrian Odyssey II Untold not only adds multiple save slots and a new grimoire system, but also DLC.
;_;

 

[Anustart]

I'm currently in the third land of IV and have no quests going. Switched some party members out and subbed in an arcanist and put my dancer back in. Healing during fights is problematic for my back row.

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

You forgot to say that Etrian Odyssey II Untold not only multiple save slots and a new grimoire system, but also DLC.
;_;

There's literally no more room for that until more edits happen.

 

[KdylanR92]

I'm excited to see what the story mode in the next remake has to offer, because I really did enjoy the story mode in the last one even though I thought I was gonna hate it.

 

[Anustart]

Since I'm new to the community, what's the deal with fight and heal?

 

[Man God]

Since I'm new to the community, what's the deal with fight and heal?

Game Informer review of EO 1.

 

[Kirlia]

You're supposed to avoid Largebills for now lol, they're there to teach you to pay attention to day/night cycle.

My initial EO3 party was... I can barely remember. I think it was Hoplite, Monk, Zodiac, Ninja, and maybe a Princess? In no other game in the series have I shuffled my party around as much as in EO3. I've tried a lot of the classes. Party I'm using right now is a Warrior's Might party (Hoplite/Princess, Gladiator/Shogun, 2x Shogun/Buccaneer, Monk/Princess) for postgame stuff.

Edit: on the EO3 note... make extra characters early in the game, give them combat study skill, and leave them in town to soak exp, you will be happy you followed this advice later lol

Ah, I'm not surprised about the Largebill day/night cycle thing! Now I'm kind of surprised that I managed to kill them.

My final team is going to probably be Monk/Princess, Gladiator/Shogun (I know which story path I'm taking), Hoplite/Ninja, Ninja/Zodiac, Zodiac/Gladiator (is there a better subclass for Zodiac?). However, I've created a bunch of Farmers for...well, farming, and I've made other class representatives as well. All of them have at least one point in Combat Study and will be getting more.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

My EO3 team was:

Hoplite/Ninja Arbalist/Gladiator Shogun/Gladiator
Princess/Monk Zodiac/Ninja

I refused to use a Warrior Might party or use a Monk/Princess, but I could still defeat everything even if the Final Boss(and some other optional ones) was crazy difficult.

My EO4 team was:

Landsknecht/Bushi Nightseeker/Arcanist Dancer/Nightseeker
Runemaster/Imperial Arcanist/Medic

I could easily defeat everything with this party, the final boss was difficult but I don't think I ever hit a wall with this team.

It's been a while but my EO2 team was:

Ronin Troubadour Gunner
War Magus Hexer

I wonder what the hell I'm going to do with Untold 2 as we're getting so much classes for Classic Mode, and I'm definitly going to want a Princess and Highlander.

 

[Shizuka]

If you guys could suggest a good party for a newbie to play and complete IV, how would it be?

 

[Kirlia]

My EO3 team was:
I wonder what the hell I'm going to do with Untold 2 as we're getting so much classes for Classic Mode, and I'm definitly going to want a Princess and Highlander.

Have any new classes (to Etrian Odyssey 2) been discovered yet, or is it just Princess and Highlander?

If you guys could suggest a good party for a newbie to play and complete IV, how would it be?

Have a Protector and a Medic. Binds are VERY important in this game, so having an Arcanist (you get them around the second stratum) or Sniper would also be helpful. Using a Runemaster really helped me a lot, but I've heard great things about Nightseekers.

 

[Aaronrules380]

If you guys could suggest a good party for a newbie to play and complete IV, how would it be?

Honestly I'd just recommend trying out what seems cool to you. IV is pretty balanced in that regard. That said, I'd definitely recommend a fortress and a medic. Fortress can help reduce damage your team takes a lot, and medic healing is super useful. Other classes have some healing skills, and healing items aren't bad per se, but Medic is easily the best healer and a great choice for new players. Plus with items you have to keep in mind you have limited bag space and that if you fill it with healing stuff you'll have less room for materials and other important items. Also, make sure you have a means of using all 3 binds. They're super useful. A lot of classes have access to at least one binding skill, but I think only Sniper and Arcanist allow you to use all three types

 

[omlet]

If you guys could suggest a good party for a newbie to play and complete IV, how would it be?

I used F/N/D || R/M to clear the entire game and it's a solid party that's really only missing one thing (binds) but you can do without until you have access to Arcanist. I had no major trouble doing without binds, mainly because Nightseeker is so insanely powerful. I mean binds are great, and I have Arcanist subbed on my Medic and used binds that way when I could, but I wasn't relying on them.

And I'm not kidding about Nightseekers. Once you hit level 40 you can max their poison throw and you can do 700 poison damage to every enemy at once. Just so you know, 700 poison damage is enough to kill probably 75% of the enemies in EOIV in a single hit. And for bosses, I've had my Nightseeker do over 45,000 damage in one turn (Follow Trace Swift Edge).

You really can't go wrong in EOIV because it's well balanced. You really don't even need a tank in your party in EOIV, but you'll want to make sure you have a good healer (or two decent ones, like an arcanist+dancer) to compensate.

 

[jdkluv]

If you guys could suggest a good party for a newbie to play and complete IV, how would it be?

Same question for EO1 as well. I might probably play it once I'm done with Brandish SNES (dunno what possessed me to play this version, but it was good fun).

 

[Man God]

Same question for EO1 as well. I might probably play it once I'm done with Brandish SNES (dunno what possessed me to play this version, but it was good fun).

EO1 or Untold? Makes a difference.

For EO 1 You really can't go wrong with Protector/Landshark/Medic/Alchemist/Survivalist.

For Untold you can do with practically any party.

 

[RangerBAD]

My one question is why they localized Yggdrasil's Labyrinth to Etrian's Odyssey. What was wrong with that translation?

 

[Aaronrules380]

Same question for EO1 as well. I might probably play it once I'm done with Brandish SNES (dunno what possessed me to play this version, but it was good fun).

I'd honestly recommend getting untold or IV if you want to get into the series. EO1 is by all accounts very imbalanced, with a few (from what I've heard) really OP strategies and a lot of really useless skills and classes. That said I started on II (which was also kind of unbalanced). I wouldn't stress about playing the games in order if that's why you want to start with 1. Plus, untold is an improved remake of 1 in the first place