Etrian Odyssey, no spoilers

[Aadria]

Does anyone else have/play this game? I just got it today (along with DQIX) and have been playing it. Just wondering what other people's takes on it were. It seems to be a pretty unknown game, maybe that's just my people, though. So yeah, just wanted to know if anyone else out there had an opinion on this game. Personally, I don't know how I feel about it yet... It's... interesting, for sure.

[T.G. Oskar]

Dang, it's hard to save some spoilers for it. All I can say is, once you reach the final stages (the final Stratum), you'll be taken aback.

...and you don't know how much I'm trying to hold the juicy spoilers the game has, but I respect your opinion.

If it weren't because my DS is getting a bit problematic, I would be close to finish EO. It's certainly different from most of the inheritors of Wizardry-style gaming, since you can customize your builds to do mostly anything and the game is quite easy with some of the choices. Most people won't appreciate the game, though, but Atlus has apparently realized the game is great and it's going to bring the 3rd installment (which completely changes the game, though not the battle system).

The first is that it's first-person type combat (a la Dragon Quest), but there's no main character or whatnot. Instead, you lead a guild and you undertake missions for the people of the town, while exploring one big, big, BIG dungeon. You can take from several classes, each with its own unique quirk:

The Landsknecht, which is basically your warrior type: decent defense, high offense, no magic, etc.

The Protector, which is your tank and basically a Paladin: huge defense, pathetic offense except for Smite which is really good, and some minor healing.

The Survivalist, which is somewhat like a Ranger: back-row special attacks, some minor speed-related buffs and abilities to use in the map.

The Dark Hunter, which is some sort of S&M thievish/roguish type: deals status effects and debuffs, and depending on the line you can either drain your enemies dry out of HP or bind them completely for massive damage.

The Medic, which is basically your healer type: loads of healing spells and one or two buffs, but one of those buffs is better than any other buff in the game. Oh, and much like the Protector, one single offensive ability that it's basically a build in itself.

The Troubadour, which is your bard-like buffer type: loads of songs that provide bonuses to attack, defense, speed, hit points, HP regen, TP (think MP) regen, defense against the elements, imbue elements with weapons (think what the Mystic Knight/Sorcerer does in FFV, but not limited to itself)...

The Alchemist is your blaster guy, somewhat like a mage: elemental attacks ranging from your basic fire, ice and thunder, to poison attacks.

There's also two "secret" classes which you get during the game, but that might count as a spoiler so I won't tell you.

The big points are the luscious backgrounds of the game (load of power on a flash cart), the amazing soundtrack job from Yuzo Koshiro, and the character creation and class system. The low points...well, it has a learning curve, and while it's easier than most Wizardry-likes, it gets to be hard enough. The ugly points (the ones that will make you insult your DS without mercy) are the F.O.E's; basically mid-bosses that tend to follow you or move with you, and that are tougher than anything else in the map (usually tough enough to defeat you mercilessly in around 5 rounds when you first meet them, but manageable later on), and the difficulty curve that jumps sharply as you progress.

That should be enough to cover most of the aspects of Etrian Odyssey. If you want, play the first game until you finish it, and then get the second game and use the first game's info for it; gets you minor benefits, and you can transfer a specific item if you do well on the first game.

[Unknown Entity]

Dang, it's hard to save some spoilers for it. All I can say is, once you reach the final stages (the final Stratum), you'll be taken aback.

THIS just made me want to pick it up and play again.

I actually found it quite a challenging game to play at first, which increased the appeal for me. I think the challenge had something to do with my party; I have two Landsknecht, a Survivalist, a Medic, and an Alchemist. Then again, my methods for selecting the party were a little... umm... silly (I pretty much asked my friends what they wanted to be, and I made my team based on that... x3;; ). Not too many problems to date though. The method works. WORKS! =D

Anyway. I haven't got very far due to hours on grinding. I got to the third level, where I believe is where you first come into contact with

Non-story enemy, but JUST in case:

boss like creatures known as stalkers.

It's a game which I've found you do need to do a lot of grinding in, and a lot of exploring. There are a few hidden pathways on each level, but you can only come through from one side for most - this is where making a correct map and marking it out properly comes in handy.

My tip: carry a few Warp Wires for good measure. They've saved me a few times with some tough enemies past the first area.

[T.G. Oskar]

My tip: carry a few Warp Wires for good measure. They've saved me a few times with some tough enemies past the first area.

Not much a tip than a friendly reminder. I mean, the game itself tells you that! It also tells you about the F.O.E.s, as well...

I actually found it quite a challenging game to play at first, which increased the appeal for me. I think the challenge had something to do with my party; I have two Landsknecht, a Survivalist, a Medic, and an Alchemist. Then again, my methods for selecting the party were a little... umm... silly (I pretty much asked my friends what they wanted to be, and I made my team based on that... x3;; ). Not too many problems to date though. The method works. WORKS! =D

The team isn't that bad. Medics are a must, and a well-built Alchemist does wonders. It will cause a bit of headaches later on, but depending on how much you grind and which abilities you get, it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

I, personally, started with a Protector (since it called to me and said to me "look, I'm a Paladin!" and I obeyed), a Landsknecht, an Alchemist, a Medic and a Troubadour (because, let's face it, Troubadours are awesome!). That is basically my main team, except I made one late-game replacement.

For later:

Medics should get Immunize, stat. It lowers the difficulty of the game in at least one degree, maybe two. Afterwards, mostly focus on getting Healer up, and reach Salve and Refresh. Refresh should never get beyond 8, and Cure III should never exceed 1, or 3 if you're seeking Revive.

Protectors are truly required in late-game. There are a few secret bosses that make elemental attacks against your entire party, and the Protector has three elemental resistance moves (Antifire, Anticold, Antivolt) that are crucial. However, you shouldn't ever get all three Anti-abilities beyond level 5; at level 6, you get to absorb those attacks, but in the end you can suffer from brutal status effects if you're not careful.

Troubadours are cheaters. You just need to get the TP-restoring chant, one level of Erasure and one level each of Blaze, Frost and Shock. That will allow your frontliners to deal massive elemental damage, destroy enemy buffs, and allow your casters to use as little TP as possible.

Later on, Ronin simply shadow the Landsknecht. The vanilla Ronin build is Atk UP, Critical Up, Sight, Overhead and Midareba. Then, spam Midareba as much as possible.

For Survivalists, Multishot is a must, as well as raising Bows to max. Apollon is also a really powerful attack, which can be used while your party needs to Defend or something.

By the way, I already took three of my characters to level 70 and retired them. There's a bonus that you get if you do so, but it's better not to reveal it. If you must:

What happens if you Retire at level 70?:

Retire erases your old character, but it allows you to make a new character immediately. The character will gain a bonus on their stats based on the class of the old character (+2~+5, mostly), and it'll get seven extra points for skills. The latter is crucial, since it'll allow you to get more abilities for those later levels.

BTW, the ones that retired were the Protector, the Medic and the Troubadour.

One final thing: noticed that one of the female Medic portraits has an uncanny resemblance to Ellen Page (aka, Meredith Gray from Gray's Anatomy)?

[Aadria]

Ah, wow, quite in-depth. From what I gather, you recommend playing it? Haha. I've played a couple more hours as of now and have gotten slightly more hooked. The difficulty spikes with each floor are ridiculous, though. I got too frustrated with it last night and turned it off. But that was at around 2am, so my frustration could've been partially exhaustion... And I understand what you mean about the FOEs. It raped me. Screw 5 turns, I think it took half of one to completely destroy me.

On a separate note:
Are there any benefits to having less than 5 party members?

[T.G. Oskar]

On a separate note:
Are there any benefits to having less than 5 party members?

Nope, not really. You should always have 5 party members in tow. However, there are three quests that require you to have one party member; usually, a Protector or Troubadour can handle that, but it's pretty difficult to finish those quests.

[Aadria]

Okay, thanks! : )