Etrian Odyssey for Nintendo DS Reviews by Gamers

Etrian Odyssey is going to be one of those few games that people will either love and gush all over or hate with a fiery passion. I don't disagree with the people that are giving this title a 5 or lower Rating. I can kind of see where there coming from.

This is an RPG for people with OCD. It's for the numbers geek that loves putting together the most optimal party and maximizing every little advantage that they can. People describe Etrian Odyssey as "Tough", but it's really not that hard.

Etrian Odyssey doesn't hold your hand, it's just you, and the dungeon. Depending on how you handle your character's skill sets will make it either more or less of a challenge. If you don't place skill points with some thought you can gimp your character, and if you gimp a character, you unbalance the party, therefore gimping the party. The opposite is also true, Eterian Odyssey rewards players for coming up with thoughtful and efficient party and skill combinations.

I think what is putting people off is that they don't like having to think about party and character skill set balance. I can see how people can dislike scrutinizing each skill point and its placement.

For those of us that don't mind having enough rope to hang themselves, this will be one of the most rewarding dungeon crawler experiences ever.

My most memorable experience so far was having the party running down the hallway with a FOE (aka mini-boss) in hot pursuit. It was a FOE that could easily wipe the party, but I needed to get past it so I could complete a quest to catalog the minor creatures on this floor. I could either spend time leveling up and kill the FOE, or I could avoid the floor and work on an easier quest, or I could do what I did, and try to sneak around him... Etrian is more than happy to let you try it, and won't shed a tear when you end up eating dungeon floor.

That's what makes Etrian cool...

There is nothing that stands out about this game. The music is the typical repetitive rpg stock music. The scenery graphics are above average but the battle graphics are average or below. The story is non-existent. But somehow I find myself coming back to it and playing it for many, many hours. This game has a stiff learning curve. When I say stiff I mean stiff there is room for mistakes. A single misjudgment of a foe can set you back a lot because you can only save in town or a select few spots in the duegeon. Etrian does shine in it's leveling up of characters. This particular aspect of the game is deep and varied and offers choices that could never be fully fleshed out unless you played for a hundred hours. This customization really lets you build a character that fits your particular likes and dislikes. The drawback is a wrong choice can really affect your individual character and your group. A game that is not worth a rent because you must be around for the long haul to like this one.