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…

After hearing all about the DS game Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City after it was released in Japan, and seeing an hour long sneak-peek preview, I was more than ready to start my own adventures around Armoroad. Thankfully, that opportunity arrived earlier this week! Etrian Odyssey III begins the same way as all Etrian more »

Gamertell recently had the opportunity to attend an Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City demonstration led by Atlus’ Aram Jabbari and Nich Maragos that went into some of the new additions to the series introduced in the third game. The next step in DS first person dungeon crawling and cartography may not be out until September 21, 2010, but we now know a bit more about what party creation, sea exploration and dungeon scouring will be like.

Before the demonstration began, Jabbari showed a sneak peek of the Etrian Odyssey III preorder incentive, the Etrian Odyssey: Forests of Eternity artbook. There were images showing location art, character sketches and much more. It reminded me a bit of the Knights in the Nightmare DS preorder book, Knights in the Nightmare: Tome of Lost Souls. But where the Knights in the Nightmare book was more of a companion guide/artbook, the Etrian Odyssey III book is all about the art from all three entries in the series.

After that sneak peek, Jabbari and Maragos took a moment to show what party creation would be like in the latest entry. When the game began, there were 10 classes available…

Good news for Atlus fans! You can get something free with your copy of the forthcoming DS game Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City. The thing is, you’ll have to preorder to get the freebie. It’s worth it though, since you get a 60 page artbook called Etrian Odyssey: Forests of Eternity. The artbook not only features artwork and designs from Etrian Odyssey III, but also from Etrian Odyssey and Etrian Odyssey II.

The Atlus Faithful email that announced the preorder incentive even lists a few of the retailers which should be participating in the Etrian Odyssey III preorder deal. While you will still want to double check first, Amazon, GameStop, Walmart…

The July 2010 issue of Nintendo Power is quite informative. For example, a quick look at it’s Table of Contents reveals that Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City is going to be coming to the US. When? We’re not sure. But it’s almost assuredly coming to us courtesy of Atlus, since the company has handled the previous two Etrian Odyssey DS games.

Like the previous Etrian Odyssey entries, Etrian Odyssey III is a first person dungeon crawler where the player creates a custom party of characters and sets off to complete various missions, while also crafting maps of each visited area on the touch screen. There’s always a massive dungeon to explore and lots of secrets to find.

Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City stands apart from the other entries for two reasons. First…