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Posted: Oct 14 2010 02:23 am

So, when I'm at work on break instead of talking to coworkers I dislike or staring into the void I play my DS, and ya know whats great for that? A nice DS rpg like Etrian Odyssey III. Its turn based and its got a quick autosave function for ease of laying down. Not that I need any of that, on account of the fact that my bloody party is torn limb from limb in about 10 to 15 minutes on a regular basis.

Okay, thats an exaggeration now, but for a while it wasn't on account of getting eaten alive by the Atlus "beginning levels will shit on you stage". I've finally got the hang of it, but its a very good very mean videogame, and the first RPG in a long while to challenge me. Not to say I'm good at them, but you get into a pattern, and this game makes you really chart out where your going next.

Its got beautiful art, it truly marries old school gameplay with forward thinking ideas, and the draw your own map thing is actually satisfying for some reason.
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Also, if you do get the game, here is a tip. There's a class there called the Farmer, who is good at nothing but gathering. You need two of them. Ones going to max out earth's bounty and other grinding friendly talents, and the other is going to focus on gathering and gathering alone, with both getting "to market" when convenient. You absolutely need the XP boost and harvested materials they bring to the table.

In addition, note that you can alter the characters portrait color in the character creation part by pressing Y at the portrait select. Many are much better than the default color scheme.

Posted: Oct 14 2010 05:20 am

So I just checked this out online, and from your recommendation and the fact that I've wanted to play a "Create your Team" RPG, I just bought it off Amazon. $29.99 with free shipping and an artbook.

Joined: Oct 12 2007 Posts: 821

I own Etrian Odyssey II and if this is half as good as that was, this is a must buy for me. Seriously, this series is awesome.

EDIT: Oh, btw, I'm not dead, school just eats up all my energy and will.

Posted: Oct 14 2010 10:58 am

Thunderhorse wrote:

I've wanted to play a "Create your Team" RPG

Dragon Quest IX is like this as well. And I'm aware that both games allow your abilities to carry over with class changes.

I might pick the game up at some point down the road. Seems like a nice LONG challenge. Lastly, it wouldn't be an EO thread without this:

Posted: Oct 14 2010 02:04 pm

...what the holy hell was that?

Posted: Oct 14 2010 05:13 pm

TheRoboSleuth wrote:

...what the holy hell was that?

The Etrian Odyssey series is also noteworthy for the infamous "FOEs" (Formido Oppugnatura Exsequens) — visible floating orange spheres that take one step for every one step the player takes, and have various patterns; some patrol in circles, others rush straight for the player, etc. If the player collides with an FOE, combat begins with a monster that is usually immensely more powerful than everything else on the level, and meant to be avoided until later, when the player is much stronger. When other RPGs display a message to the effect of "you suddenly sense the presence of a powerful monster that will eat your face, maybe you should run," it's code for "you might want to save first before killing it if you're under-leveled, otherwise, eh." Etrian Odyssey, on the other hand, means it. Also, it's worth noting that one round of combat counts as a step for FOE movement, so be careful not to take too long fighting when you're next to one, since they can and will walk up and join in. All this is on top of the already significant difficulty of the rest of the game.

Posted: Oct 14 2010 08:12 pm

lordsathien wrote:

Thunderhorse wrote:

I've wanted to play a "Create your Team" RPG

Dragon Quest IX is like this as well. And I'm aware that both games allow your abilities to carry over with class changes.

That's what I was hoping DQ V was but instead I'm stuck with some idiot merchant. DQ III is one of my favorite games. I feel that when an RPG doesn't have to worry about character development, it means they can spend more time focussing on the plot.

Joined: Oct 12 2007 Posts: 821

Thunderhorse wrote:

lordsathien wrote:

Thunderhorse wrote:

I've wanted to play a "Create your Team" RPG

Dragon Quest IX is like this as well. And I'm aware that both games allow your abilities to carry over with class changes.

That's what I was hoping DQ V was but instead I'm stuck with some idiot merchant. DQ III is one of my favorite games. I feel that when an RPG doesn't have to worry about character development, it means they can spend more time focussing on the plot.

I can't speak for this one, but Etrain Odyssey's plot was, "there is a dungeon, go as far down as you can," while Etrian Odyssey II's plot was, "there is a tower, go climb it." There isn't a whole lot of depth in the plot, but the level design is great, character balance surprisingly good, art down right beautiful, and the music is quite fitting.

Posted: Oct 15 2010 01:21 am

nihilisticglee wrote:

Thunderhorse wrote:

lordsathien wrote:

Thunderhorse wrote:

I've wanted to play a "Create your Team" RPG

Dragon Quest IX is like this as well. And I'm aware that both games allow your abilities to carry over with class changes.

That's what I was hoping DQ V was but instead I'm stuck with some idiot merchant. DQ III is one of my favorite games. I feel that when an RPG doesn't have to worry about character development, it means they can spend more time focussing on the plot.

I can't speak for this one, but Etrain Odyssey's plot was, "there is a dungeon, go as far down as you can," while Etrian Odyssey II's plot was, "there is a tower, go climb it." There isn't a whole lot of depth in the plot, but the level design is great, character balance surprisingly good, art down right beautiful, and the music is quite fitting.

There is in fact a plot at the end, and for the first two its pretty fucked up. Someone called it a criticism of the relentless desire for progress present in these games, complete with 6th level being a hell for all intents and purposes for your characters.

Also Lordsathien, I know what a FOE is, and I know how deadly they are, what I was WTFing at was the crazy bullshit japanese video I just watched, where the FOE turned into a bodybuilder and everyone was dancing to aggressive J-techno.

Posted: Oct 15 2010 05:01 am

nihilisticglee wrote:

Thunderhorse wrote:

lordsathien wrote:

Thunderhorse wrote:

I've wanted to play a "Create your Team" RPG

Dragon Quest IX is like this as well. And I'm aware that both games allow your abilities to carry over with class changes.

That's what I was hoping DQ V was but instead I'm stuck with some idiot merchant. DQ III is one of my favorite games. I feel that when an RPG doesn't have to worry about character development, it means they can spend more time focussing on the plot.

I can't speak for this one, but Etrain Odyssey's plot was, "there is a dungeon, go as far down as you can," while Etrian Odyssey II's plot was, "there is a tower, go climb it." There isn't a whole lot of depth in the plot, but the level design is great, character balance surprisingly good, art down right beautiful, and the music is quite fitting.

I really liked the plot for DQ III, but plot or not, I always thought it was nice to custom make your teams instead of being stuck with just a few set characters.

EXAMPLE: Say I reach a dungeon in which all enemies are resistant to physical damage. In Neverending Adventure 5 I might just be stuck with an archer, two warrior types and a mage. The best way through the dungeon is hours and hours of grinding, but in a game like DQ III I could just make/grab a few mages and fight my way through.