Etrian Odyssey III: One step forward, two steps back

  

 

“7 hours, 34 minutes and 50 seconds; 12^th floor barely reached — and I’m calling it quits.

EOIII is not horrendous; but as the title implies, it’s not quite as good as EOII. The latter’s strata themes clicked with me in the most effortless way; EOIII’s strata themes, on the other hand, feel a bit off — and clearly underexploited. For instance: despite being an absolute sucker for marine depths, I felt absolutely nothing when roaming the Undersea Grotto. No sweet wanderlust, no soothing immersion; that stratum felt more like a papier mâché décor than like a real ocean floor.”

 

This is what I initially wrote, and it was perfectly true at the time; in fact, I still stand by it regarding the subpar execution of the strata themes. The part about quitting, though, is outdated; for lo and behold, I dove back into EOIII with a vengeance and finished it in one fell swoop! 

 

 

 

 

The first order of business was to extract myself from the maddeningly labyrinthine Undersea Grotto. I found myself stuck because of some currents, and quickly reasoned that I was facing a headache — in every sense of the word — similar to the Elevator situation in EOI’s fifth stratum. Being a wise gamer honed by decades of gaming the way a fine blade would be, I knew obstinacy was as vain as it was futile; and thus, I quickly ran to the internet and let the wisdom of other fellow gamers enlighten me! The way out of that darn second stratum proved ridiculously arcane and convoluted — like, ‘80s Point-and-Clickers levels of convolution. But nevermind, I got myself out this mess and could soar ahead — as much as one could soar in a subterranean labyrinth, anyway.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, about that: after the liberation of climbing a giant tree in EOII, we’re back to the oppression of diving into an abyss. This is already galling enough for claustrophobic little me; to make matters worse, the marine setting and the Deep City stop reminded me unpleasantly of Made in Abyss — and I just DON'T wanna think about Made in Abyss, EVER. Erm, anyway! Another thing I mourn from the awesome EOII are the no less awesome one-way Geomagnetic Poles, which were present every two or three floors and enabled direct teleportation from town to the given floor once activated. 

 

 

Back to the strata: the Molten Caves were as graphically dull as any other lava level from any other game; as for the Abyssal Shrine, it was so unremarkable that I genuinely cannot remember what it looks like as I’m writing this. However, they were both stimulating to crawl, and they single-handedly rekindled my interest in the game. Then came the true jewel in the crown, a.k.a. Porcelain Forest. Gosh, the perfection! Splendid crystalline graphics, epic “the end is night” music, clever and challenging gimmicks: all this made for delightful crawling, and a very happy little me. Then came the pre-final boss — namely the Automaton King and Olympia, as I had chosen the Armoroad Route. Disposing of them was a matter of a couple of turns and minutes… and led me straight to the credits roll, leaving me gaping at the screen and thinking “wait, is it already over? Just like that?” Not gonna lie, that ending was kinda… anticlimactic. Sure enough, the Cyclopean Haunt was there for the crawling after the credits; however, that qualifies as postgame to me, and I don’t do postgame. 

 

 

 

 

I rank EOIII halfway between EOII and EOI. The second entry remains my absolute favourite of the original trilogy; however; I can see myself replaying the third — and not just for the sake of clearing all endings and getting more of the strata I liked. The weapon system, for one, was a real treat: not only were there more weapons available than in both EOI and EOII combined — both in terms of types and volume — but characters could also equip a variety of weapons instead of being stuck with a mere one or two types. This made for interesting variations in fighting dynamics, especially once the Class system was factored in — a.k.a. the game’s second saving grace as far as I’m concerned. 

 

 

 

 

Here's how it goes between me and class systems in RPGs: I hate single-class systems because they’re too darn restrictive for no good reason, but I love double-class systems because they allow for endless permutations. As you guessed already, EOIII’s class system belongs to the latter variety — and gosh, was it an absolute treat! My party became a roaring force of rampage as soon as the second class became available, and the enjoyment I derived from the game skyrocketed. So did my crawling speed: I polished off the three remaining strata in a puny five hours, making my run clock in at 12 hours, 20 minutes and 14 seconds. 

 

 

 

 

At any rate, one thing is abundantly clear: as far as the original EO trilogy is concerned, the Origins Collection is the real deal for me. I can thus part with the DS original games and 3DS remakes without a care in the world! I’d never thought the Switch would come to host so many past glories and hidden gems, bringing them to a wider audience; but that’s a development I’m more than happy about, and I’ll be the first to celebrate it. We need more games from generations past on the Switch, yes please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Etrian Odyssey II: Sweet ride

  

 

 

Lagaard done and dusted! My run clocked at 12 hours, and was infinitely more satisfying than my EOI run. The reason could be summed up in one word: refinement. Every feature at work in EOI was polished and honed in EOII, creating a game that improves on its predecessor on virtually all fronts. 

 

 

 

As I crawled in Picnic mode again, my main focus was exploration and dungeon layouts. I can safely claim that EOII fares much better than its prequel on that front — although it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how and why. I’d say that the overall dungeon design is smoother and more intuitive, so to speak; it feels more organic, less contrived than in EOI. Sure, you find the exact same dungeon features as in EOI — conveyor belts, shortcuts through walls, floating platforms, you name it — but they’re much better implemented. My roaming time should be abundant proof of that betterment in on the dungeon design front: I polished off the whole labyrinth, final boss et al., in a mere 12 hours; in comparison, I needed 14 hours to reach EOI’s 24^th floor, while knowing a good part of the labyrinth from before. 

 

 

 

On a personal note, I dug Lagaard way more than Etria. First, the notion of ascending a giant tree rather than diving into an abyss was more pleasant; secondly, the strata’s themes sat better with me. I was immensely fond of the Frozen Grounds because winter, and Petal Bridge was nicely unexpected — I’ve not encountered a Sakura blossom-themed dungeon since Touhou Genso Wanderer. The final dungeon, Heavenly Keeps, was a bit lacking on the visual front; however, it made up for it by offering clever floor designs. Really, my only pet peeve with EOII’s dungeons is the infuriating occurrence of harmful dungeon events. Dungeon events in EOI were few and far between, and as likely to be positive as negative; they’re at every corner in EOII, and way more likely to produce bad outcomes. After my precious Ariadne Thread was taken from me three times (insert murderous eyes) in such dungeon events, I learnt my lesson and avoided them like the plague for the rest of my run.  

 

 

 

Dungeon events aside, that run was a grindy monument of crawling perfection. The second it was over, I launched Etrian Odyssey III and dove into it with the dopamine-fuelled enthusiasm of a gamer who just finished a glorious run. I expected EOIII to be just as good, if not even better, than EOII; but was it? Let's find out in my EOIII report, dear fellow gamers! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Etrian Odyssey I: Still crappy after all these years

  

 

Way back in early 2018, I performed a solo run of the original EO. The whole endeavour was as exhilarating as it was torturous; it eventually turned plain tedious, and I finally threw in the towel at the end of the 4^th Stratum. In my final post, I wrote that sentence: "EO is like that new pal you meet and click instantly with, thinking you're gonna be mates forever — only to realize after a few weeks that they're a bit of a prick after all." That description was pitch-perfect back then; but does it apply to the ‘Origins’ version of EO? It pains me to say that, but it still kinda applies. 

 

 

Things started auspiciously enough, thanks to the combination of Picnic difficulty and a five-member crew. I could progress at breakneck speed, beyond my wildest expectations: while my initial aborted run clocked at 70-or-so hours, that new run lasted a puny 14 hours. Now we’re talking, game! Despite these good points, I didn’t finish my run, calling it quits right before the 25^th and final floor. I couldn’t figure out how to access said final floor, and I didn’t care enough about the game to keep trying to figure it out.

 

Another thing I wrote in my parting post with the original EO was "stupidly hard for the sheer sake of being stupidly hard". And well, my experience with the Origins version only confirms that statement. Once EO’s sadistic difficulty is removed, you fully realise how utterly uninspired the labyrinth layouts are; these floors are not designed to give you an exploration kick, but rather to accommodate stealth sessions where you play hide-and-seek with FOES. 

 

 

Actually, the whole game’s balance is structured around its tough-as-nails difficulty level; remove that difficulty, and nearly everything falls apart. Classes and team balancing become meaningless because FOES bit the dust in a couple of turns, and everything else in one turn. The precarious money balance issue virtually disappears, as you always have enough to get the best gear available. Last but not least, the whole thrill of overcoming seemingly impossible challenges evaporates entirely as everything submits to your will. Still, I don’t think it was a mistake to introduce more forgiving difficulty modes: the original experience is still very much alive for the masochists amongst us, and people who want an easier ride can now partake in the fun as well. 

 

 

I feel I’ve given the original EO its fair chance to shine. It turns out that this game and I aren’t meant together: even on Picnic mode, it remains a bit of a frustrating experience that’s definitely not on par other favourite FPDCs of mine. That’s not to say that subsequent entries won’t please me, though; as a matter of fact, I dove into EO II hot on the heels of dropping EO I. Stay tuned for the upcoming run report, dear fellow gamers!