Gamertell Review: Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City for DS
by at September 1, 2010 12:01 am
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The Etrian Odyssey games are a masochistic pleasure. They force you to invest lots of time and effort in the hopes of mastering what seems like an endless dungeon. While this does alienate many DS owners, it also makes it an unparalleled gem for RPG fans who love arduous adventures filled with formidable opponents and a multitude of character customization options. Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City is the culmination of the series and will impress anyone looking for a nostalgic and challenging RPG experience.
Become dungeon and ocean masters.
Around a hundred years ago, part of the city of Armoroad sunk into the ocean after an earthquake. In its place, a labyrinth appeared. The dungeon still holds many secrets though, and Armoroad’s government calls upon explorers to investigate it and its mysteries, as well the as the uncharted ocean around Armoroad. You’re a new explorer, ready to create a new guild and team to search through the unknown.
Once you’ve established your guild, Etrian Odyssey III follows the footsteps of its predecessors pretty closely. You explore a dungeon in a first person view. When a battle occurs, it’s turn based and you see only the enemies, in 2D, in front of you. Occasionally you run into event instances in the dungeon, triggered either naturally or by accepting a sidequest. This time, you can explore the oceans around Armoroad and the labyrinth around it. The more you explore, the more you learn about the history of the area. Just be careful, as FOEs, super strong enemies you can consider mini-bosses, also roam the dungeons.
Challenging, yet satisfying.
Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City refines the Etrian Odyssey dungeon crawling, character creating and cartography experience. You can face all kinds of challenging creatures, with a team of characters from one of 10 initial classes while making incredibly detailed maps of the dungeon and ocean around Armoroad. Even better – later on you can unlock one of two other classes and have subclasses for each of your characters.
The sailing experience is also brand new. You can set off on ocean expeditions to search for new challenges, items and experiences. Or, you can fish for profit. It offers an interesting respite from dungeon crawling, even though it can get a bit expensive when you factor in supplies needed for each voyage.
The map-making, a cornerstone of the Etrian Odyssey experience, has once again been improved. That’s quite a feat in and of itself, as the mapmaking in Etrian Odyssey II seemed perfect. The icons you can place are even clearer and you can set up an autopilot path to make journeying easier when you’re in a dungeon. When you’re in the ocean, there are a number of appropriate icons and colors to use for landmarks and to indicate certain spots to visit, tides and such. You can create clear and perfect maps.
Etrian Odyssey III is difficult. Old school, tear your hair out and throw your DS across the room hard. Expect to spend three to four hours on the first two floors alone, as you have to defeat one of two menacing FOEs to reach the stairs leading from B2 to B3. (I’d suggest a team of level 7 adventurers, with a zodiac proficient in ice spells.) The boss of the first stratum pulls a nasty, devastating trick once you get it’s hit points whittled down halfway. If that scares you, don’t even think about Etrian Odyssey III. If it doesn’t, the prepare yourself for some of the most satisfying dungeon crawling you’ll experience this year.
Also, the multiplayer is rather unimpressive. The concept is sound, being able to undertake ocean challenges with another friend over local wireless or exchange guild cards in the standby mode, but it fails in practice because Etrian Odyssey III is such a niche title. The odds of actually encountering another player when having it in standby mode is astronomical. As for the battles, it only works if you have a friend nearby also willing to get the game and invest the time necessary to build a stable team.
The ultimate Etrian Odyssey experience.
The Etrian Odyssey series has always been an acquired taste for gamers. You either love the endless dungeon crawling, level grinding, map-making and FOE-tackling, or hate it for it’s intense challenges. If you’re willing to invest time in Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City, you’ll find it’s the best entry in the series. If you prefer instant gratification, then you should look elsewhere.
Read [Gamertell] Site [Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City]
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