Etrian Odyssey

Here’s a little secret for all you gamers: sometimes, games are better in your memory than in reality. For example, old-school RPG gamers — such as myself — will pontificate about how the original Wizardry was the best RPG ever made. If you ever try to actualy play Wizardry, you’ll discover that it’s actually a nightmare. This is because it came before “save games” were mature. In Wizardry, a misstep can mean that you start the game over, as your entire party is “lost in the dungeon”.

What you really want is a game that takes Wizardry’s interesting parts (exploring a new world, leveling up a party of characters) yet avoids the bad parts (losing paper maps, irritating UI details).

Enter Etrian Odyssey, a direct homage to Wizardry.

It has similar characters (damage dealers, protectors, magicians, healers…), and even mirrors the specific buildings in town. It’s not a port though; there’s more to the game that makes it worthwhihile. A number of people in town give you missions, subtasks that help you gauge your strength. The merchant system is particularly interesting. The pattern in games like this is that when you reach dungeon level 5, you’ll find a steel longsword, which is good at the time. Then, as you keep playing, you find 65,000 steel longswords, that you sell for cash. In Etrian Odyssey, drops of finished goods are rare (”Hey, why was that rat carrying a helmet?”) Rather, enemies drop body parts, which you can then sell to the merchant in town, who may make new goods based on them. ThThe bottom part of your DS is used to draw and paint the map as you explore. This is awesome: it gives you the feeling of playing an old-school RPG without actually having to keep around a stack of paper.

The game is brutally difficult, and that is its worst part. You can only save the game in town (and you’d better do so frequently). You will find no shortcuts down into the dungeon for several hours. Your first five hours playing will involve a lot of walking back and forth to and from town. Casual gamers will want to avoid Etrian Odyssey. Those who like the genre, however, and have time to burn will find it devilishly addictive.