Article Eclipse Expounds - Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan

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Greetings again, my Valourian friends and Shiro! My name is Eclipse, and as you've probably noticed, there's a very fancy banner just above these words. Truth be told, one of my goals with my set of reviews and other articles was to have an introductory banner setting the scene for the occasion, though I didn't get inspiration to do so until recently, so after over two hours of effort and experimentation (mostly experimentation), I produced the picture you see above.

Now please stare in awe for about five seconds at a picture of a critter reading a book in a library.

More towards the point, this article will be a review of another video game I know and love. I know my review of Spirit of Justice was on a more recent game, but most of the games I like are considerably older, and this one is no exception:

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The outland city of Tharsis... In the uncharted territory beyond that city stands a giant tree called Yggdrasil. Legends say something sleeps within Yggdrasil that calls people to eternal paradise. In order to ascertain the truth of this legend, the Count of Tharsis issued a challenge across the land. "Reach Yggdrasil and uncover the truth!" That summons has drawn countless explorers to the city. You are among their number, a pilgrim to the city with little to your name but a blade and boundless curiosity. Nevertheless, you aim to solve the mystery of Yggdrasil and win fame and fortune!​

Released in 2013, during the height of the 3DS' lifetime, Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan (EO4 for short) is an example of a video game that I wasn't quite keen on at first, but I've since grown to love it immensely. It is also the only Etrian Odyssey title (other than Etrian Odyssey I) to have been released in Australia - most EO titles are lucky to even make it into Europe. (It is also one of 2 EO games to have been released in Korea, for those of you Valourians who live over there - the other one is Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl.)

And that latter reason is why I have chosen to review this particular Etrian Odyssey title over the others - because it is the easiest one to acquire. Indeed, what use would a review be if you couldn't experience the game for yourself?

The Etrian Odyssey series of games are JRPGs in which there are two main draws to the game: the ability to create and customise your own party (names, classes, portraits, and skill trees); and recording your progress as you traverse the game's world by drawing your own map. As the tagline above suggests, you play the part of an explorer who's come to the city of Tharsis to explore Yggdrasil - the World Tree itself being a staple of every game (the series' Japanese name is Sekaijū no Meikyū, which translates to "the World Tree's Labyrinth"). The name Etrian Odyssey comes from the first game; the town in that game is named "Etria".

Etrian Odyssey IV is the first EO game to be released in 3D, and with that came a nice new clean interface, both in terms of how you view the game AND how you draw the map. Every EO game released since this one has followed the same interface as EO4 - and for good reason, but I digress.

Exploration in EO4 is divided into two main parts: overworld and dungeons (which are subdivided into caves and mazes). Areas in this game (both in the overworld and in dungeons) are arranged as a coordinate system, each location subdivided into squares, and you move around 1 square at a time (which also advances the in-game clock; 30 steps causes 1 hour of in-game time to pass).

In the overworld, you fly about the area surrounding Tharsis on your airship, looking for areas to harvest food from (beasts, fish, or birds), but more importantly navigating your way towards the various dungeons. In the dungeons, you navigate the areas one square at a time, drawing maps as you go along to note your progress - but mostly so you don't get lost. The dungeons are also where your random encounters take place, so expect to get jumped after you take a certain number of steps.

Dungeons in EO4 are either caves or mazes. Caves are very small and only have 1 floor, and are generally related to quests you receive in town, which can either be for small rewards (as most quests are), or are necessary to advance the story/your progression. (In fact, each cave has exactly 1 quest associated with it, and once you finish said quest, you get a special stamp on your map showing you've fully explored the place. Not all quests are tied to caves, though.) Mazes are crucially more important - they are much larger, and possess 3 floors, at the bottom of which is a boss, which - as expected - is noticeably stronger than anything you've faced up to that point. Some mazes (and even a few caves) also have a mini-boss encounter partway through, that you'll need to fight past.

Defeating the boss of a maze will allow you access to the next area in the overworld - you start the game in the "1st Land", and defeating the boss in the "1st Maze" grants you access to the "2nd Land", and so on, slowly but surely making your way towards Yggdrasil. Each Land has 3 or 4 caves to it, but only 1 maze. All EO games are like that, actually, except in the other EO games, there's no overworld or caves (you just go straight into the maze), and the maze itself is one large unit layered into strata, so when you defeat the boss of that stratum, you proceed right into the next stratum.

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Sounds like a pretty typical JRPG, right? At first glance, the unique features you might find about the gameplay are the grid-based movement and drawing a map to record your progress. Both of those things are true, but there are two other things you need to be aware of, which are what EO games are more well-known for amongst people who play it: the difficulty curve and the FOEs.

EO games in general have a rather steep difficulty curve, and EO4 is no exception. Even early on, expect to run into some particularly nasty enemies, or just have your party wear out quickly, and have to make frequent trips back to the inn at town to heal. Don't fret - this is normal, but this is also not Baby's First RPG either. It's largely to make the experience more rewarding for you as the player, but do keep in mind that the game will never go easy on you, not even out of pity - you will simply need to be strong enough to take on the dungeons.

Now, FOEs? They are another variety of monster that you can encounter, except instead of running into them randomly, they are clearly visible to you when you're around exploring. FOEs exist in both the overworld and in dungeons - some of them just patrol the area and let well enough alone, while others will actively pursue you if they notice you. FOEs are also markedly stronger than all other enemies in the area, so if you see one, it's bad news. Common practise is to avoid FOEs when you first notice or see them, and come back to fight them only when you want to and are of a sufficiently high level.

In fact, the game actually helps you see if you're strong enough to take one on: FOEs are also visible on the map you draw, so you can track their movement patterns, which tend to be fairly predictable, to make your life easier (well, somewhat). FOEs will be denoted on your map surrounded with a blue, yellow, or red ring, which measures their power in relation to your own party's levels (blue = weaker than your party; yellow = on par with your party; red = stronger than your party), to see if you're ready or not. Keep in mind that blue and yellow don't mean you'll win easily - they're dangerous regardless, so be careful. Bosses are technically a category of FOE, except their rings are always purple regardless of what your level is. Bosses are also stronger than the FOEs in the area, too - though that's to be expected.

And if that doesn't whet your appetite for a challenge enough, Etrian Odyssey IV (like all EO games) features a new area accessible after you beat the final boss of the game...which starts off twice as difficult as the entire game up to that point, and it only gets worse from there.

The game's soundtrack is also very memorable, and it's actually my favourite part of EO4 (and EO games in general). EO games generally have soundtracks made with an FM synthesiser, so they have a bit of a nostalgic feel. EO4 does not - while it's still composed with a computer, it goes into the full gamut of instruments, and it sounds absolutely fantastic for it. As a sampler, here's a link to the game's random encounter music - and yes, it doesn't loop until after three and a half minutes, which is much longer than any random encounter will take. My favourite track in this game is the 'mini-boss' theme - but I'll let you play the game to hear it for yourself. (If you're impatient and want to hear it now, though, I can tell you that its title is "[invis]The End of the Raging Winds[/invis]".)

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That concludes my review on Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan. I've gone over a basic overview of the game, including how it's played, what to expect, and what things you will see. I don't want to go into specifics beyond that about what mazes and caves are like, because I believe it's best you appreciate each place's scenery for yourself. Yes, the locales change as you progress through the game - and some are actually quite beautiful!

I also believe that Etrian Odyssey IV is also a very excellent foray into the series as well. While EO4 wasn't my first EO game (it was my second), it is definitely a good way to start. My first was Etrian Odyssey Untold (that I mentioned earlier), which feels more like a typical Etrian Odyssey game (due to how the mazes are set up), but it's a bit more rigid than EO4 if you play with the story mode. That's also for 3DS, so it's about as easy to get as EO4, but it hasn't been released in as many places, so in some areas of the world, EO4 may be the only option. Both of them are good choices for a first EO game, though (Untold is a bit easier if you're concerned with difficulty), but I personally think EO4 is better for it - hence why I chose to review this game over that one.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all very soon!

◈◈ From the desk of Eclipse, the Pure-Black Dragon ◈◈