I just remembered, for Etrian Odyssey V, I downloaded an undubbed version of the rom. It was so worth it imo. The Japanese voices are good.
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Help me reach Etrian Enlightenment!
I only ever briefly looked at one of the EO games on my NDS, after grabbing a rom and chucking it on my flashcard. I had no manual, had never heard of it before, and had no idea what was going on. I think I was not in the right frame of mind for it because I never got anywhere and never went back to it.
Where should I start, here in the middle of 2023, given that I have played essentially zero of them previously? This new re-release of EO 1? If so, do I get it on my PC or Switch? (I'd be guessing it is more of a switch-y game, but I leave that to all you experts!)
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@ārejjā#p122276 I feel like I have some kind of giant wall of text in me to write about recommendations but Iāll reign it in! I would start with EO1 without question; it will set you up to make the kinds of decisions about classes and party and character growth that youāll need going forward. For the version, I think the HD version is the easiest and most accessible. Personally I prefer the Switch for playing, but that might just be my bias. I would have been a die hard DS/3DS recommender a month ago but I think theyāve done brilliant job implementing drawing controls using the right stick in the HD version!
Iām happy to go into more detail if you want me to!
Hit a broken NPC that soft locks the game :////
https://www.reddit.com/r/EtrianOdyssey/comments/142jwnv/bug_that_requires_restart/
Be careful on floor 10 of EOII.
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@ātreefroggyā#p122306 Dang thatās frustrating. Iām glacially going through the game at the moment (only floor 2 so far) but that's useful to know.
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@āKarasuā#p122301 Iāll read any details you take the time to share!
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Stratum 2 boss gave me trouble. I had a feeling that after what a breeze EOI was just using Fire magic the entire time, for part 2 I should switch to ice or lightning. Well the stratum 2 boss is immune to fire, which made things very difficult. I got him down to a sliver of health very consistently when my team ran out of gas every time. I went back and did some exploring, questing, farming and grinding, and made it through without much trouble. I tried respeccing my mage to ice, but that was too easy, so I restored my previous save and did it the hard way. The next stratum is all snow, so having fire magic maxed out is going to pay off and make things a breeze, I'd imagine.
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Just finished the first stratum of EO2. I always get owned the first time I attempt bosses but I had a solid strategy of ākeep hittingā and use Landsknechtās Tornado attack on the slaveimps. I managed to get away with them only buffing the main bossā strength once and I survived without it being by the skin of my teeth.
At the moment I'm pumping a Troubadour's skill points into EXP boosts for the party so that I can reach level 30 quickly and then retire my guys with the boosts. I don't normally retire anyone but this game is already proving itself to be one of the more tense and punishing of the series and I think it would be worth it to gain a slight advantage.
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Does anyone have any strong feelings / suggestions about which difficulty an Etrian noob should pick?
I loaded up EO1 (HD, switch) and upon hitting New Game it defaults to selecting "picnic", the easiest -- which feels kinda like a worrying sign. If they're defaulting to the easiest that makes me think going any higher is just going to be _rough_.
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@ārejjā#p122682 I canāt verify the accuracy of this information but it seems like itād be fairly accurate compared to my understanding of previous games. Picnic mode has often been seen as too easy, and given the figures quoted there I can see why.
I'm playing Basic, and typically play the "normal" setting in these games and think that's just the right balance. A big part of these games is to carefully build your own party for the challenge ahead, to figure out how to avoid FOEs, and to decide whether you want to go just a bit further or play it safe. My impression is that Picnic mode practically eliminates the need for any of that and you'd end up simply traversing floors and bonking things on the head without any meaning to the journey or your accomplishments, and that it would seem really boring?
_That's just me_ and your experience may differ but I would personally recommend giving Basic a whirl.
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@āLeFishā#p122688 Iāve long since left my āplay everything on hardā days behind me ā I have nothing to prove to anyone, and it just isnāt fun headbutting a wall for hours grinding on a checkpoint in whatever game ā so usually just stick to the defaults. EO1 defaulting to āpicnicā here is what surprised me a little.
Thanks for that link, I think that pretty much seals it that I should choose "basic".
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@ārejjā#p122693 Yeah, Hard modes are really punishing in these games and the Normal modes are challenging enough. Gear is typically just as, if not more, important than levels so grinding isn't really going to make a difference other than maybe to make the early game a touch easier for getting some extra skill points earlier than you might otherwise.
The only party wipes I've had on Basic have been with FOEs and bosses, which typically happens for me anyway and then the next attempt will usually prove successful once I know what I'm doing and work out a strategy. As I say, it's challenging but it wouldn't be head-butting hard.
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the helldia FOE (or whatever spelling) blocking the snowbloom on 12F doesnāt seem to want to move at all. heās supposed to be too powerful to defeat at this stage in the game. not sure how to get him to move, without a rare item.
@"LeFish"#591 in my experience, the first stratum boss is often the most difficult. EO1 and 2 both have first stratum bosses that summon multiple underlings.
@"rejj"#455 just do normal. picnic is "mommy mode". Even if you bounce off of normal mode, which everyone likely would their first try-- if you went with mommy mode, it would stop being fun pretty quickly, and you'd feel like you spoiled the reward cycle of the game by seeing all the content.
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I do remember the EO1 first boss being tough, EO4's first boss too - though that might be because it was my first EO game.
I've reached floor 8 of EO2 and I'm having a good time. I've reached the point where I can take down most FOEs if I need to, or want to for the drops, which is helping me get some cool gear. I levelled up six times during a quest involving staying for three days on the fourth floor and I feel I might be a bit over leveled given that I invested in exp boosts with my Troubadour, and as a result I'm considering whether to retire at level 50 than 30 (because I'm on 27 already) for the extra stats and skill points, and that I'll have better gear to help me quickly level back to where I was. Decisions, decisions - but that's EO!
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Looking forward to the dual analog retro bit Saturn pad. If it were out now, it would be perfect for EO. Right now I switch between Saturn pad and 8bitdo sn30 pro for mapping.
Either way, Iām grateful we live in an age with this retro replica controller arms race, with several companies competing, and allowing me to create a fantasy for any game that I am playing. For Etrian odyssey, that is the fantasy that it is a pseudo Saturn game!
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I just rinsed the second stratum boss on my first try inside six turns after poisoning it on the second turn and throwing the kitchen sink at it until it died. That was comfortably my easiest boss experience in any EO game and it feels kinda rad. Though part of me is thinking that I might bump the difficulty up to Expert now as I appear to be steamrolling everything.
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I have entered the sixth stratum of EOII. The top floors of the 5th stratum reminded me of NES RPGs because I was running a lot, due to the enemies use of status effects and entire team hitting moves wiping out my party randomly in one turn on many occasions.
Also I am kind of glad I didnāt realize until now that the sixth stratum of EO1 exists and is completely optional.
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Iām half way through the fourth stratum on EO2 and other than avoiding FOEs the whole area is a super chill, cherry blossom filled stroll. However Iām about to retire my guys and am going to swap out Landsknecht and Troubadour to Dark Hunter and War Mage to get a bit more synergy in my team. The Landsknecht is a lone attacker and my Troubadour, whilst great for defence with his party-wide buff, is fairly redundant otherwise. I also don't have an elemental attacker and rely on poison to beat physically resistant enemies.
What a game though. Upscaling the graphics to 4K 120fps is great, even if the framerate only really benefits from going from tile to tile in dungeons, opening doors, and menu hopping. But it's smooth as heck!
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I love the EO series dearly. They were my go to travel games back when that was a thing. Started with 3 and kept rolling through though I never finished X.
I bought the collection as an excuse to revisit the first two games now that I (hopefully) understand the series better. I remember bouncing off of them when they first came out. Never really understood why the 3rd one took but I'm glad it did.
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@āLeFishā#p123389 What a game though. Upscaling the graphics to 4K 120fps is great, even if the framerate only really benefits from going from tile to tile in dungeons, opening doors, and menu hopping. But itās smooth as heck!
... This isn't a capability in the Switch remaster, is it?
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