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Etrian Odyssey: Reviews

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Game Score: 9/10

First, A little bit about the game.
The premises Etrian Odyssey is that there is a deep forest outside of the town of Etria that brings about many new questions and mysteries about the forest itself. Many explorers have entered the forest to find out and, simultaneously, aimed for fame and fortune that the forest might bring. After a large amount of explorers who ventured into the forest never returned, it was later named the "Yggdrasil Labyrinth". You begin in Etria where you are to build your own guild and recruit explorers to go into the Labyrinth where you also have your own shot of fame and fortune.

You start the game off naming your guild and then recruiting members. Each member has its distinct class that you can choose (reminiscent of Final Fantasy I) which have their own strengths and weaknesses. These classes include Landsnknechts (aka Fighter), Survivalist (aka Archer), Protectors (aka Paladin), Dark Hunters (I'm not sure what this is...), Medics (White Mages), Alchemists (Black Mages), and Troubadours (looks like a Bard/Dancer mix). Later on, you acquire the ability to recruit Ronin (Samurais) and Hexers (looks like a Necromancer). (NOTE: This particular point in the game is VERY important. If you screw up here, it will make your life a LOT harder.) You then choose your party of 5 (or less, but I wouldn't recommend it) and begin to tackle missions/quests ala Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics, to say the least, are a mixed bag. The art style in this game is stunning and it looks very clean, runs smoothly, and is crisp. I'm a fan of the anime-style art, so I may be biased here, but the character portraits are pretty nice. The backgrounds are pretty detailed, if a bit pixellated. The presentation is quite nice and it serves its purpose. Now, why is it a mixed bag? You might not notice much, but there is not much animation in this game AT ALL. First of all, you don't ever see any of your characters outside of their portraits. During battle, none of the enemies actually move and when they attack, they just blink a bit. When you get hit, you get a number that pops up on your character status boxes. When you attack, a slash goes down the monster's static portrait. When they die, they just fade away. There is quite obviously a lack of animation in this game. Whether or not that detracts from the gameplay, I'm quite sure it doesn't, but just pointing it out.

Sound: 9/10
I should say that I haven't completed it yet, but I will give credit where it's due. The music that I've heard up to now is quite awesome. It fits the mood perfectly, regardless of your location, whether you're in town or in the middle of a heated battle, the music fits very well. Sound effects are pretty decent as well. Since I haven't completed it yet, I can't say anything about the rest of the game, but if the first half is anything to base a comparison off of, then I should be pleasantly surprised.

Controls: 10/10
Controls are perfect. Drawing the map and making notes are very easy to do and are convenient to do at any time. Moving around doesn't take much, and selecting your commands in battle is very easy and responsive. Especially for a game that sells itself as an old-school RPG, the ease of making your own map is a must, and in this respect, Etrian Odyssey excels.

Gameplay: 7.5/10
I personally love the gameplay in this game, but I'll have to step back and look at it from an objective point of view. The game plays like an old fashioned RPG game, much like Final Fantasy I or Dragon Quest. You take your turn, input all of your commands for all of your characters, and watch your characters and the enemies trade hits. Outside of battle, you walk around in a First-Person view in the Yggdrasil Labyrinth and mark your map with your stylus on the bottom screen. It's simple and fun. What may not be immediately apparent is the sheer depth that this game allows. It's a rare blend that a game will offer you so much freedom, yet still keep it challenging. This brings me to the next, possibly only, downside of this game. If you grew up on RPGs such as Final Fantasy VII and later, you will, more than likely, not have the patience to go through with this game. A lot of RPG games nowadays make it REALLY easy for you to level up and kill EVERYTHING in your path by simply mashing the "Fight" button. Take this as a precaution: If you even try to "brute force" your way through this game, this game will chew you up and spit you back out before you can even figure out how to pronounce "Yggdrasil Labyrinth". (I took this line from somewhere, but I can't remember where, but nevertheless, it is very true.) What does this mean for you? If you choose to play through with 5x of any single class, all I can say is "good luck". Outside of that, the only other annoying thing is that it might take a while to save because you can only save inside the town's inn, which, depending on how far you are into the labyrinth, might take a LONG time to backtrack that far.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10