All in all, Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard is a difficult game to score, especially in the sub-categories. Sure the graphics can be simple, but that helps the mood of the game. Sure the sound effects are not unlike like the original Gameboy and the same could pretty much be said for the music, but that adds a necessary charm that no other audio combination could add. And sure there's no plot for the most part, but the game excels when it's not pretending to tell a story beyond "climb the tree". There is no clear cut answer for a game like this.
It is for players who want to carve their own experience and will not mind getting perpetually pummeled by the game's unforgiving, yet often rewarding, difficulty. It is for the nostalgic gamer and the gamer with a lot of time on her hands. So any player with a strong stomach is surely recommended to pick up this title before it is as scarce as its predecessor, last stratum be damned. But consider this a warning; anyone who heeds it well will surely survive the labyrinth.
Back in 2007, Atlus decided to use the Nintendo DS to do something ambitious. It brought back the days of first-person RPGs with original party members you had to customize and dungeons you needed to map. Thanks to the handheld's design, the bottom screen allowed people to practice cartography as they played. Since then, 10 games have been released, each bringing something new to adventurers.
Atlus will re-release the first three titles in the Etrian Odyssey role-playing dungeon crawler series on the Nintendo DS, according to an ad posted on the NeoGAF forums.
Forum user Dwayne received the email ad from Canadian retailer Video Games Plus. Buyers will be able to pre-order Etrian Odyssey, Etrian Odyssey 2: Heroes of Lagaard and Etrian Odyssey 3: The Drowned City for $29.99 each or create a custom Etrian Oydssey DS Trilogy pre-order bundle. Those who pre-order the bundle will receive all three games at a $15 discount.
Stoked for this! I don't have the second or third games, so I plan to get those!
WhenSpamAttacks writes; "Starting off, has everyone placed their pre-orders for Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City? I’ve placed mine with Amazon so hopefully that means I am getting the art book with it, I better, damn it. My excitement is beyond measurable about the announcement of the North American release when it was announced. I love the Etrian Odyssey series as it has everything I love about RPG’s."
I remember putting in a good 5-10 hours grinding in The Legend of Dragoon, one of my first RPGs and I loved it, it was a fun game. Same can't be said with RPGs like Demon's Souls. Great game, but the constant grinding to get to certain places just killed it for me. A game like Fallout 3 however is completely different. You have a heavily focus shooter game with RPG elements and in the end I was fully leveled at about 65 hours in. Not once did I have to 'grind', I simply played the game.
That's how I feel most games should be, especially RPGs. I shouldn't have to do every sidequest and 5+ hours of grinding to beat the final boss...
I love my rpg's, yet i can't stand those generic action adventure games they call rpg's like fable, im more into the hardcore action rpg's like deamon's souls and story based rpg's like witcher and dragon age and elder scrolls.
Fooking loved Witcher man! What a fantastic game. I still haven't played Dragon Age. But I am gonna fix that problem soon.
For me grinding should have a few things:
-a good reward system, having the feeling the next level is just around the corner. Bad balancing can kill games like what happened with Last Remnant.
-power leveling areas, it's fun to find that secret spot in the world map which make you a lot more powerful than your expected to be, and relax for a bit during parts of the game. I found a great spot with a crab in Lost Odyssey, it was very powerful but after sneaking some wins it becomes possible to fight it steadily, I stayed like this for 2 days, and I didn’t need to power level until close to the end of the game when the ancient ruins were accessible.
-fun battle system, tales of Vesparia had the most fun battles for me, it was fun to string multiple encounters in one battle and getting critical attacks for extra exp,, this including the other 2 things I mentioned kept me playing the game for 100+ hours.
Oh, I totally agree with the balancing part. If the leveling isn't rewarding then I quickly lose interest in leveling up and usually as a result, the game. If it takes 3 hours to gain a level and I don't even get anything for it, then what's the point?
It does depend on the game. I am not a huge fan of JRPGs. But there have been a really good select few over the years that I really enjoyed.
The first RPG I fell in love with was Might and Magic 3 for the Sega Genesis. Then it was XenoGears. The ONLY JRPG game I have ever finished.
After that I never could get into any JRPGs again. I played others like the original 2 Fallout games, Quest for Glory 5, the Mario RPGs (including paper), Legend of Zelda(s), FF Tactics, The Witcher, Fallout 3, Baldurs Gate 1&2 (talk about EPIC!!), Divinity/Beyond Divinity (again, HUGE!!)... the list goes on.
I wish I could get into JRPGs but I just can't. Which is sad because the older I get the more I want to play single player games over Multi. :(
EDIT - yes I know M&M is not a JRPG.
i'm actually grinding in trinity universe ...i usually dislike grinding but in trinity universe it's not a chore ..
you're constantly discovering items / or manas / or souls meaning you can craft items /meteorites/monsters ...
and you're tempted to try your new gear and then i go into another dongeon
/REPEAT/
Also it doesn't take long to level up ..
IMo trinity universe is a very good grinding game ..
Etrian on the other hand was a very hardcore rpg where every action has consequences and you need careful planning to survive ...to each his own i guess ..i can enjoy both styles
Just noticed you mentioned Tales of Vesperia, I can't wait for the PS3 version with fully voiced characters and cutscenes! It's going to be great. Hoping they expand the multiplayer but even if they don't, the improvements definitely sound worth the double-dip.
Excellent analysis Game-ur, I feel pretty much the same way...
Most JRPGs do NOT meet these requirements for me, even some highly regarded franchises (most of the Final Fantasy series for example) but I get the appeal for those who can tolerate the grindage.
When an RPG does fit the requirements you set out, though, it's one of THE most satisfying types of games, IMHO, so I resepct any dev who tries. :)
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Especially for RPGs with complex / advanced battle system.
I could do this in Final Fantasy XIII.
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I love level grinding. I hate it when reviewers talk about how jrpg's are stuck in their ways and wrpg's are how it should be done. Some of us enjoy level grinding and having to save the princess/overthrow the empire in the majority of the games we play. There's nothing wrong with it!
