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Etrian Odyssey 5 (2017) Review
2 months ago
{°д°}
Even on FurAffinty, F.O.E!
___________________________________________________
Etrian Odyssey 5 is presently the last mainline numbered entry in the DS/3DS dungeon crawling games that successfully modernized the Wizardry / Bard's Tale dungeon crawler formula. The series is known for having you explore the dungeon in first person on the top screen while using the touch screen to draw out the map. This simple feature (among others) defines Etrian Odyssey to a T.
And honestly. that part is still fun.
The premise is that you play as a guild of adventurers you create and customize seeking to climb the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, a tower that spans 30F into the sky seeking to discover new materials, dodge monsters, and uncover the mystery behind the creation of the labyrinth itself. The story is still as barebones as ever, expecting you to use your headcanon to make your own story. Its allright but just... really dosent have that kinda pizzaz or spice. You could remove the dialogue boxes and it wouldn't make a difference.
Now, Etrian Odyssey 5 is a unique game in the series in that it acts as a soft reboot to bring the series back to its roots with a single 30F dungeon as seen in Etrian 1 & 2. However, that's where the similarities end as Etrian odyssey 5 introduces so much new ideas related to character customization, a revised damage formula, and an all-new roster of monsters.
The loop is simple. Create your own characters, stock up on items, and explore the labyrinth fighting random encounters and dodging FOEs going as deep as you can before you have to tap out. Its a simple but effective loop that has been refined so well that Etrian 5 is easily the best the series has gotten so far. It goes without saying that Etrian 5 is an Atlus game so you will have use all the tools in your disposal as Atlus does not fuck around in ANY Etrian game on standard and classic difficulty.
Character creation is one of the core pillars as each and every class plays a unique role that often works well with other party members. This is a game series where each and every role matters and you NEED to make the best of your limited party slots. You start out by picking a race which determines your overall stat growth and racial skills before a class which gives you your skill tree and weapon choices. Then you pick a portrait and your character is created. You choose from 4 races, Earthlains(Humans, good at tanking & aliments), Lunarians (Elves, good at spells), Therians (Demi-furries, Strong and Speedy attackers), and Brounis (Halflings, good at supports) and each race has several classes that they specialize for a total of 10 classes. You also unlock the ability to reclass characters so you can have a class with a different stat growth table than their base race. In addition, you can now recolour your character portraits using an incredibly detailed colour scheme allowing you to pick between all 255 shades of RGB. This is the best the character creator has gotten so far.
The skill trees got overhauled as you now have 2 separate trees, one for racial skills and one for class skills. You use racial skills to get useful passives and limit breaks unique to your race while your class skills are what gives you your passive and active skills. In previous games, you could pick sub classes but in EOV, you now have to pick between 2 master titles which determines your class specialization. Each master title act as an upgrade to your current class. For instance, if you have a Dragoon (tank class), then you can choose to become a shield bearer which makes you more of a tank or a cannon bearer that makes you a tank that can bite back with overwhelming artillery. It is basically Atlus' answer to resolve the broken subclassing system that cracked the game wide open. (Though they ended up adding them back in nexus) I prefer the legendary titles as subclassing is nice but I like seeing base jobs get upgrades to stronger versions of themselves.
Now this game is still excellent in how it continuously improves and modernizes the dungeon crawling formula with a hard as hell 1st stratum that gradually gets easier once you unlock your abilities. Adding to the difficulty are puzzles and obstacles in the form of F.O.Es, enemies you have to avoid on the dungeon map as they represent mini-bosses that will paste you unless you prepare well for them. They are just as tense as they are in past instalments when you first see them simply because you don't have the levels to even meet them on equal footing.
The design of each stratum (6 in total, each being 5 floors) is decent but I feel like it could have been done better as it felt meh besides the 3rd and the 5th & 6th stratum. The vibe each straum gives off is well executed and the monsters reflect the theme rather well. I do miss the overworld that you could explore in Etrian 4 as i felt that added a LOT of character to the world and 5 falls short of that as you're stuck within the 30 floor tower the whole game.
Overall, this is a game that I can't really talk about in text as its one you have to explore for yourself to see how good it is. It is like dark souls (its a meme but it really does earn its Nintendo hard reputation) in that its tough but fair. The game wants you to use ALL the supportive tools in your arsenal such as disables (Aliments & binds) and items to get yourself out of tricky situation. As such, random encounters within the Etrian series feels more engaging than normal because you have to actually mitigate damage, you can't just outdamage everyone else and hope that you live after the 2nd turn.
If you're interested in the Etrian series, then you should start with the HD remaster instead of trying to Pirate 5. Etrian is a series that you have to play to see how it grows its beard and tries to be unique with multiple callbacks. Furthermore, the ending (normal and true end) will have a greater impact if you've played all the other Etrian games up to 5 first. Nexus is meant to be played after you play all the EO games.
So in short, shut up and buy the HD remaster to start at Etrian 1. You'll also appreciate Metaphor RF more.
Even on FurAffinty, F.O.E!
___________________________________________________
Etrian Odyssey 5 is presently the last mainline numbered entry in the DS/3DS dungeon crawling games that successfully modernized the Wizardry / Bard's Tale dungeon crawler formula. The series is known for having you explore the dungeon in first person on the top screen while using the touch screen to draw out the map. This simple feature (among others) defines Etrian Odyssey to a T.
And honestly. that part is still fun.
The premise is that you play as a guild of adventurers you create and customize seeking to climb the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, a tower that spans 30F into the sky seeking to discover new materials, dodge monsters, and uncover the mystery behind the creation of the labyrinth itself. The story is still as barebones as ever, expecting you to use your headcanon to make your own story. Its allright but just... really dosent have that kinda pizzaz or spice. You could remove the dialogue boxes and it wouldn't make a difference.
Now, Etrian Odyssey 5 is a unique game in the series in that it acts as a soft reboot to bring the series back to its roots with a single 30F dungeon as seen in Etrian 1 & 2. However, that's where the similarities end as Etrian odyssey 5 introduces so much new ideas related to character customization, a revised damage formula, and an all-new roster of monsters.
The loop is simple. Create your own characters, stock up on items, and explore the labyrinth fighting random encounters and dodging FOEs going as deep as you can before you have to tap out. Its a simple but effective loop that has been refined so well that Etrian 5 is easily the best the series has gotten so far. It goes without saying that Etrian 5 is an Atlus game so you will have use all the tools in your disposal as Atlus does not fuck around in ANY Etrian game on standard and classic difficulty.
Character creation is one of the core pillars as each and every class plays a unique role that often works well with other party members. This is a game series where each and every role matters and you NEED to make the best of your limited party slots. You start out by picking a race which determines your overall stat growth and racial skills before a class which gives you your skill tree and weapon choices. Then you pick a portrait and your character is created. You choose from 4 races, Earthlains(Humans, good at tanking & aliments), Lunarians (Elves, good at spells), Therians (Demi-furries, Strong and Speedy attackers), and Brounis (Halflings, good at supports) and each race has several classes that they specialize for a total of 10 classes. You also unlock the ability to reclass characters so you can have a class with a different stat growth table than their base race. In addition, you can now recolour your character portraits using an incredibly detailed colour scheme allowing you to pick between all 255 shades of RGB. This is the best the character creator has gotten so far.
The skill trees got overhauled as you now have 2 separate trees, one for racial skills and one for class skills. You use racial skills to get useful passives and limit breaks unique to your race while your class skills are what gives you your passive and active skills. In previous games, you could pick sub classes but in EOV, you now have to pick between 2 master titles which determines your class specialization. Each master title act as an upgrade to your current class. For instance, if you have a Dragoon (tank class), then you can choose to become a shield bearer which makes you more of a tank or a cannon bearer that makes you a tank that can bite back with overwhelming artillery. It is basically Atlus' answer to resolve the broken subclassing system that cracked the game wide open. (Though they ended up adding them back in nexus) I prefer the legendary titles as subclassing is nice but I like seeing base jobs get upgrades to stronger versions of themselves.
Now this game is still excellent in how it continuously improves and modernizes the dungeon crawling formula with a hard as hell 1st stratum that gradually gets easier once you unlock your abilities. Adding to the difficulty are puzzles and obstacles in the form of F.O.Es, enemies you have to avoid on the dungeon map as they represent mini-bosses that will paste you unless you prepare well for them. They are just as tense as they are in past instalments when you first see them simply because you don't have the levels to even meet them on equal footing.
The design of each stratum (6 in total, each being 5 floors) is decent but I feel like it could have been done better as it felt meh besides the 3rd and the 5th & 6th stratum. The vibe each straum gives off is well executed and the monsters reflect the theme rather well. I do miss the overworld that you could explore in Etrian 4 as i felt that added a LOT of character to the world and 5 falls short of that as you're stuck within the 30 floor tower the whole game.
Overall, this is a game that I can't really talk about in text as its one you have to explore for yourself to see how good it is. It is like dark souls (its a meme but it really does earn its Nintendo hard reputation) in that its tough but fair. The game wants you to use ALL the supportive tools in your arsenal such as disables (Aliments & binds) and items to get yourself out of tricky situation. As such, random encounters within the Etrian series feels more engaging than normal because you have to actually mitigate damage, you can't just outdamage everyone else and hope that you live after the 2nd turn.
If you're interested in the Etrian series, then you should start with the HD remaster instead of trying to Pirate 5. Etrian is a series that you have to play to see how it grows its beard and tries to be unique with multiple callbacks. Furthermore, the ending (normal and true end) will have a greater impact if you've played all the other Etrian games up to 5 first. Nexus is meant to be played after you play all the EO games.
So in short, shut up and buy the HD remaster to start at Etrian 1. You'll also appreciate Metaphor RF more.
