Glittering Prizes

Etrian Mystery Dungeon is the result of a collaboration between Atlus, responsible for the Etrian Odyssey series, and Chunsoft, developer of such titles as Shiren the Wanderer and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. It is a turn-based roguelike set in the Etrian Odyssey universe and features several classes lifted straight from main entries in the series. The skill tree system returns from Etrian Odyssey IV, but subclassing is noticeably absent, ostensibly for the sake of simplicity. 

Gameplay is not altogether too different from Etrian Odyssey, when it comes down to it. Players are tasked with plumbing the depths of various dungeons, acquiring gold, items, and experience as they do so. It is possible through repetitive journeys into these dungeons to progess further down where a boss will frequently await. Of course, conversely to the main Etrian Odyssey series, the dungeons in EMD are mostly randomized. Each trip will likely be very different from the last. There also isn't much in the way of puzzles or unique exploration mechanics. The ninja class can walk on water to subvert certain obstacles, but it's seldom necessary to think outside the box to progress.

Etrian Mystery Dungeon almost feels like an arcade game with heavy RPG elements. Each of the four characters in your party has a fatigue gauge that gradually drains as you walk around--but it can be replenished with food and by walking over some suspiciously-colored amber tiles scattered throughout the dungeons. These tiles also restore 1 TP apiece, meaning it is possible to sustain very long journeys into the labyrinths. This is good, because the series staple item Ariadne Thread--an item which allows instant return to town--is much more rare this time around. It is only infrequently available to purchase and drops seldom from slain monsters. Combine this issue with the fact that you'll lose all items upon death and you'll run into plenty of frustrating situations and lost progress.

The Etrian Odyssey series has always been punishingly diffcult, but Etrian Mystery Dungeon really ramps it up as far as penalties are concerned. Losing equipped items upon being vanquished is insanely frustrating, particularly when you have gear you've wasted precious armory scrolls on to upgrade. There's no way to restore a previous save to try again, either--because the game automatically saves your progress upon death. You can choose to call your party back and lose precious items, or send a rescue party (comprised of characters you'll also have to have leveled up prevously) to bring them back. Now, assuming your rescue fails, those party members will lose items too. I can't imagine why anyone thought this was a good gameplay concept.

The base game is actually pretty fun, even if the options for character building are thin in comparison to the third and fourth games of the series. The Protector class invalidates most other available strategies due to the game-warping power of Provoke--a taunt that works without fail and consistently protects party members from harm. I couldn't help but be reminded of the imbalanced power of the Protector and Medic classes from the original Etrian Odyssey. I wanted to try the ninja as my "tank"of choice instead, but it would have made the game a lot harder and by a certain point I just wanted to be done with it.

I have mixed feelings about Etrian Mystery Dungeon. I really enjoy the concept--and I do think Etrian Odyssey works in roguelike format--but I think the classes could have been a little more interesting and the dungeons themselves more inventive. I'd jump to try a more polished sequel, though.

The Etrian Countdown

Sometime early last year, I read an article previewing a game called Etrian Mystery Dungeon, a spin-off of Etrian Odyssey, a series of dungeon crawlers featuring random encounters, turn-based combat, and mapmaking. I'd already decided to tackle the EO series by this point after successfully completing (and greatly enjoying) Persona Q, another spin-off/crossover with Persona 3/4. I wrote about this game at length at the very beginning of the year. Sometime shortly after that, I started Etrian Odyssey, with the goal in mind to complete all four of the principal entries of the series and then follow with Etrian Mystery Dungeon. I had no idea what I was getting into.

I completed the first three games of the Etrian Odyssey series sequentially without really playing anything else in between. Each took me about a month to plow through due to their unparalleled difficulty and complexity. Although I found the games to be immensely frustrating, they were also quite rewarding. I was already familiar with the gameplay thanks to Persona Q, but found it somewhat difficult to adjust to the lack of frills by comparison. Persona Q had a wealth of Etrian Odyssey titles to draw on to streamline the experience--and unlike the main entries in the series, Persona Q featured no classes or complex skill trees to navigate. Most of that side of the gameplay came from the Persona series. Etran Odyssey is brutal and unforgiving by comparison, but I found it quite satisfying to conquer the game's challenges as I plumbed the depths of the games' respective labyrinths.

What I found compelling most of all about Etrian Odyssey has nothing to do with the dungeon design or mapmaking. To be honest, I mostly found these aspects pretty frustrating, especially in comparison with later entries in the series. What interests me most of all about each successive Etian Odyssey entry is the amount of gameplay to be found in putting an adventuring party together. There are a number of classes available in each of these games, all with a series of unique abilities with woefully vague descriptions. I found myself doing a ton of research on classes, builds, and party compositions as I played through these games--but I still derived a lot of satisfaction from exercising creativity in putting my party together.

The first two games in the series were host to several glaringly broken mechanics, most notably the ridiculous power of the Medic's Immunize in the first game, and the entire Dark Hunter class in the second. And you'd better believe I abused them both--because even with access to these powerful mechanics, these games are hard. When I got around to playing Etrian Odyssey III, I discovered there weren't very many especially powerful mechanics to abuse and so I felt I made slower progress. Fortunately, it was also the first game in the series to introduce dual-classing, a mechanic that vastly increased the complexity of the party composition process. Each character could effectively be two classes at once with surprisingly few restrictions. More restrictions were inevitably put in place by Etrian Odyssey IV--which I didn't end up playing until several months later.

After playing three Etrian Odyssey games straight, I was beyond burnt out. I saw dungeons and maps in my dreams. I was intrigued by the pretty 3D graphics of Etrian Odyssey IV and curious about how it would take the sublcass mechanic and sailing mechanics from EOIII and expand on them--but I knew at the time that I just didn't have the heart for it. My original goal was to blaze through the EO series and be ready to play Etrian Mystery Dungeon around release day, but that certainly didn't happen. I finished the third game almost a month after EMD's release, so I left it to languish while I played a lot of other games. It wasn't until probably four months later that I finally did get around to it.

I found Etrian Odyssey IV pretty refreshing after a break from the series. The graphics were massively improved and the gameplay and interface significantly streamlined. Sailing became flying (with an airship) and was integrated more into the main gameplay instead of being separated into its own thing. The dungeons are separate and have distinct identities instead of being interconnected into one giant Tartarus-esque super labyrinth. The classes are interesting and distinct. It is probably the most solid entry into the series so far, even if there are certain aspects from Etrian Odyssey III that I prefer. I missed creative classes like Ninja and Wilder--but was pleased with new additions like the Imperial and Nightseeker. As with all Etrian Odyssey games, it did eventually become a bit of a chore what with the endless grinding and soul-crushing repetition of venturing ever deeper into the game's deepest dungeons--but I still felt immensely satisfied when I finally completed it.

At this point I decided to take another break. Earlier in the year it had been no big deal to play several Etrian games in succession, but I think that wore me down for good. I worked on other things for a month and then I finally started Etrian Mystery Dungeon, a full seven months after it was released. I finished it last night, but now that I've written so much about the events leading up to it, I think I'd rather talk about it in my next entry.

Saviors of Orience

I discussed at length the possibility of buying a PlayStation 4 several months back on this blog but I didn't follow through on those plans until relatively recently. Final Fantasy Type 0 HD was my only game purchase at the time, but I have since also acquired Disgaea 5. I've finished Type 0 (after a month of playing in short bursts) but won't be able to play Disgaea 5 until I've finished Disgaea D2 for the PS3. Of course, I've been a lot busier lately, so there's no telling just how long it's going to take me to work through my current round of games. I may be a bit burned out by the time Disgaea 5 comes into the rotation--and then of course there's Final Fantasy XV and Persona 5 on the horizon.

Of course, Type 0 is not a straight up PS4 game. It's an enhanced port of a game originally only released in Japanese on the PSP. In some cases, this is blindingly apparent. While the game's main cast of 14 playable characters received a massive graphical overhaul, the game's host of NPCs are noticeably blurry and indistinct on my 46" HD display. The graphical inconsistency isn't a dealbreaker of course, because the gameplay itself is quite fun. Unlike many main series Final Fantasy games, Type 0 is structured more like an action game, with an emphasis on controlling a single character at a time--although it is simple to quickly switch between different characters.

Each of Type 0's 14 playable characters have distinct gameplay from each other, although I definitely enjoyed some more than others. The characters, 12 of which feature numeral-themed names such as Ace, Cinque, and Seven, fall into a few loosely defined roles such as melee damage dealers, ranged attackers, and supports. Sice wields a scythe and gains power from slaying opponents without taking damage. Cater uses a chargeable magicite pistol capable of discharging elemental blasts. Deuce batters her opponents with bubbles emitted from a flute, of all things, and ends up being surprisingly powerful once she's acquired enough experience.

The game is story-driven, but broken up into missions separated by stretches of "free time," during which the player is afforded the opportunity to undergo some frankly pretty menial and pointless quests and acquire information about the game world. I found myself utterly bored by the game's lore and many of the characters, even if I did think a few of them were well designed. Nine's brash personality and voice acting are particularly questionable, but I did enjoy hearing from Matt Mercer (as Trey) and the newcomer providing the voice of the card-slinging Ace. Regardless, plot is not the game's strong point--I found myself glazing over in disinterest on multiple occasions as the game's text washed over me. Type 0's sole non-numeral playable characters, Machina and Rem, play a pivotal role in the trajectory of the plot but I couldn't begin to even summarize their importance.

Combat missions make up the bulk of Type 0's gameplay and in most cases these are really fun. Each character has different strengths and weaknesses. Queen has a strong aptitude for lightning magic, for instance, but this doesn't mean she's pigeonholed into using a particular type of lightning sgapell. In keeping with the game's decidedly military theme, most elemental spells mimic the function of weapons such as rockets, missiles, and rifles. Thunder-ROK allows the player to aim with a crosshair, for instance, and Fire-SG explodes out at close range. These elemental spells are available to all characters, but aptitude determines their strength. Of course, each character also has access to an array of unique skills and spells, such as Queen's wide-area life-draining spell and Sice's target-seeking whirlwind attack.

I did find myself having to grind for experience a pretty excessive amount in the game's latter half, and I found myself more and more disinterested at the trajectory of the plot. The final dungeon was fairly long and involved, but the final encounter itself disappointing. In fact, it seemed the game was playing itself more than anything. I wouldn't say that Type 0 is an essential entry into the Final Fantasy series, but I had fun with it an it tided me over until I could get another PS4 game. It also somewhat satisfies my completionist tendencies--it's one more Final Fantasy game stricken from the list. Now, if only I could finally get around to finishing Final Fantasy X. . .