So, I caved yesterday and bought EO3. I'm very early in the game, just a few hours, but wanted to write about it anyway because I already know I'm going to love this, just like the first game...
I played a lot of the first game after getting it shortly after its release in 2007, but for some stupid reason never got EO2. I really, really should have, I love this series and definitely regret not playing the second one
Ill have to get it sometime, but its price is going nowhere but up.
I was a little unsure if I wanted to get EO3 now or wait a little while before getting it, but remembering that I said that about EO2 and then never bought it helped push me towards getting it. Then when I saw a copy in a local store new, with the artbook (which was a preorder bonus from participating retailers bonus; evidently this local chain is a participating retailer.
), I knew I had to get it.
It took all of two minutes into the game when I knew Id made a good decision, and made me really wonder again why I ever didnt get the second game
I love the EO games, and now that Im back into it I realized Id been missing it. This ones classic EO, but with some new features as well. Im still quite early in the game so I cant say too much, but I like some of the new stuff the sailing portion is cool, for instance. Evidently the stratums are longer this time, and there are only 25 floors, which is a little disappointing; EO1 had six stratums, each 5 floors long (30 total). The last was a bonus, postgame-content stratum, so it also had 25 main floors, but I havent heard of a bonus stratum this time. They did add the sea part to add some stuff, but thats different, you dont play that like a dungeon. I like the sea part the movement range system, exploration of the oceans, etc. is quite fun but its not a replacement for a bonus stratum, if indeed there isnt one. Well, well see, I know there is bonus postgame content for sure at least (read: really hard optional bosses). I know that either way the game will have a ridiculous amount of content, and that like the first one Ill probably never finish most of it, as too much of it requires a lot of grinding. I like the game as long as I can keep going, but in EO1 for instance the postgame part really was ridiculous grinding-wise if you didnt have exactly the right party (respecing your entire party/replacing party members with new people you now have to level up to max to exactly the party needed for the insanely difficult special bosses, specifically). EO2 was even worse, from what Ive heard, if you wanted to optionally get above level 70 (the first games max). EO3 sounds like its sort of in between, getting to level 99 isnt quite as insane, but it still does require getting through the postgame bosses.
Anyway, the EO games are just so much fun. Party creation is great, with all-new classes and artwork this time to mix things up; EO2 brought back all the old classes with a few new additions, but this time its all new. 12 classes total, 2 hidden. EO1 had 9 classes at the start, 2 more hidden; EO2 had 14 total, 3 new, but Im not sure if they were hidden. There is also an alternate color sets for all the portraits this time, too, which is pretty cool, more options. You then explore the dungeon, map it out as you go, fight FOE bosses, farm resources, do quests, figure out the mystery of the dungeon (will it be another surprise somewhat bad ending like the first two games had? At this point though it wouldnt really be a surprise anymore would it
), and more. Its great classic dungeon crawling fun. Theres lots of challenge, some grinding (some optional, some not as much), hard bosses, normal enemies that you will have to think to fight, so theres no autopilot here, and more.
This time though as Ive said you also can go to sea, so you travel the seas, explore, find islands, fish, and do other stuff. You can only travel as far as the food you purchased before setting off will let you go, so you have a movement range. Its an interesting system, putting a little realism into the sea exploration while also making it so that you cant just go anywhere right from the start. Each voyage costs money too, so youd better make it in the dungeon, or use some voyages for fishing to make back the cash. There's no combat at sea, evidently, which is interesting. I don't mind, exploration is a lot of fun, but it does make me wonder how important it is. I mean, there's only the one dungeon, right? The sea part seems sort of peripheral... eh, whatever. It's fun, and there seems to be plenty to do. The dungeon is obviously the central feature of the game and not this, though.
Overall, Im very early in the game, but Im definitely loving it so far. Anyone who likes EO should pick it up, preferably with the artbook if you can find a copy with it (Amazons copies still come with the artbook for instance, I believe). The artbook has full-sized pages, so its not some tiny little DS case sized thing. It is only 60 pages long so it definitely isnt comprehensive, and I do find it disappointing that there isnt more in it Id love to have seen more of the prelim sketches of characters and their equipment, art for all of the stratums in EOs 1 and 2 and not just some of them, the EO2 art for the EO1 classes (while all 11 original classes returned in EO2, and their costumes are the same, they were redrawn in new poses for the second game. None of this art is in the book, only the art for the new classes.), and more, for a short-ish artbook its pretty cool, and it was definitely worth getting.
http://sq3.atlusnet.jp/special/sp_blogparts.html
The above link is to a neat little image creator, probably mentioned here somewhere (and not on the US EO3 site). Too bad you can't post them here.
My starting party is a Gladiator, Monk, and Princess in the front row, and a Zodiac and Wilding in the back row. I created a bunch more characters though, so when I have to switch to some others and in an EO game thats an inevitability theyre ready. The function to give non party members XP sounds great, I'll definitely have to use that... in the first game that was a constant problem, and my second party never got above the mid 30s levelwise because it just got too tiresome to keep leveling everyone up separately. This feature would be fantastic for that.
Oh yeah, and it is too bad that evidently you can't carry over anything from the previous games to this one. I know it's all new classes and stuff, but still, too bad...
