Etrian Odyssey

Old school dungeon crawling at its finest

Gone are the days of old dungeon crawling RPGs (mostly) like Wizardry. They achieved their fun from giving you a wide sense of exploration, and hard difficulty. Etrian Odyssey of the Nintendo DS is a refreshing experience because it is a throwback to the genre, and does a good job of doing this. Be warned, however, that this game is not for everyone. As an old school dungeon crawler, the game has an intense difficulty level that, at times, seems just plain unfair. You will explore a labyrinth and draw your own maps, and write notes without any real,deep story. When you start the game, you register the explorers in your party, and basically try to get as far into the deep dungeon as possible. The combat is good, with characters having the ability to use many skills, and the sprites you fight look detailed. The game is displayed in the first person, as you explore the 3D dungeon, and the characters are well drawn, but don't move or animate. The enemies as well, are basically just pictures that rotate slightly or shake as you attack them. One thing the game does superbly is give you a sense of not knowing what's next to come. Early on, you'll be seeing game over screens as you fight the weakest enemies. This is not exaggeration, but at the same time, this hard difficulty level is what will draw you into the game. There is a lot of customization, suspenseful exploring, and a good map making system. The game takes many many hours to complete, with bonus dungeons and bosses. Etrian Odyssey will punish you in many ways. But that doesn't necessarily hurt the game, because the punishment is half the fun.