Etrian Nights (and Days, and Nights Again)

I missed the boat on a lot of early role playing games. I am aware of the existence of The Bard's Tale, Ultima and Wizardry, and that when they are namedropped, it means that we're in the realm of the "old school". Thinking back, while I did play a fair bit Final Fantasy III (read: VI) on my Super Nintendo, the only classic RPG I ever really managed to get all the way through was Chrono Trigger. Oh, I guess it should be noted that I also finished a handful of Pokémon games, as well.

When Atlus touted Etrian Odyssey as being a challenging throwback to the hardcore role playing experience, I was curious. A mapmaking interface? A deep labyrinth filled with secret passages, treasure and monsters? Highly customizable character skill development? The promise of a truly traditional dungeon crawler intrigued me not as a veteran of the genre, but as a relative newcomer. Given that my gaming habits usually tend to lack an attention span, this game really had no business taking residence in my DS any longer than, say, Big Brain Academy.

And yet, it's the handheld game I've played the most obsessively since I spent long, marathon sessions warring online with Tetris DS. Now, those sleepless nights consist of me telling Etrian Odyssey that it's time for me to go to bed, and it responding by grabbing me by my collar and slamming me right back into the labyrinth before I even know what's going on.

It might be the game's simplicity that draws me back every time. There is very little in terms of a plot; in a nutshell, the Yggdrasil Labyrinth sits just outside the town of Etria, drawing explorers from all around who endeavour to discover its secrets. You create a party of adventurers from a number of different classes, and set out into the labyrinth, just to see just how deep it goes. That's all there is to it. The focus is on exploration and discovery, which is supported by the game's "gimmick", for lack of a better term: the mapmaking feature.

When you enter the labyrinth for the first time, the DS' lower screen displays a blank grid that represents your map. As you traverse the many floors of Yggdrasil, you use the stylus to outline the rooms and hallways you are exploring. The mapping system includes symbols that you drag and drop into the grid that represent staircases, doorways, treasure boxes, and other events. The system is designed to harken back to the "old school" games I mentioned earlier, where players would often sit down with a pencil and grid paper and hand draw maps of the dungeons they were exploring. Combining this concept with the new school tech of the DS' touch screen was a fantastic move on Atlus' part.

The reason why I hesitate to call the mapmaking feature a "gimmick" is because the game doesn't just become an exercise in map completion. The dungeon crawling itself does not reinvent the genre, and the combat is nothing new: random encounters, first person perspective, turn based, menu driven. What propelled me to keep descending to the next floor, however, was the unique combination of deep customization and simplicity found in the levelling system. As your character gains a level, you gain one skill point to use towards acquiring and increasing the power of new attack moves, magic spells, healing powers, etc. There are a plethora of different skills, with each skill set differing from class to class. You can focus on one skill, or spread everything out evenly: deciding the path you want to take with each of your party members' skills is part of the fun of levelling up, and having just one skill point each level per character makes it a manageable task.

As the game only has one hub town, new items and weapons are uncovered through the items acquired from monsters, as well as from "item points" which allow characters, possessing the appropriate skill, to mine or forage for items. When these items are sold at the local shop, they eventually unlock new weapons and other useful items. This allows for a very natural progression of equipment upgrade, parallelling your level of descent into Yggdrasil.

The acquisition of items, along with types of monsters, are tracked in the city's main hall. The monsters are standard dungeon crawling fare - bugs, bats, and other animals - that obviously increase in difficulty as you progress. The wrench that Etrian Odyssey throws at you comes in the form of FOEs. FOE apparently stands for Foedus Obrepit Errabundus, which means "the vile, wandering one sneaks up". This is more than fitting nomenclature, as FOEs lurk around the labyrinth, and will often start to chase you if you get close. They are much stronger than the standard dungeon monster, and will trounce you if you stumble into a fight with one unprepared. They will appear on your map when they get close (or if you cast the appropriate spell), and this is fortunate as you will spend a lot of your time trying to avoid them. This creates quite a bit of suspense, especially when encountering a boss FOE for the first time. Sporadically, the game will use text boxes to narrate some interesting non-combat events that break up the level-grinding. The use of intense descriptive language, along with frantic musical cues often create a tense atmosphere that is quite impressive given the bare bones nature of the presentation.

As of this morning, I have attempted to beat what appears to be the game's final boss FOE a handful of times, with my party being routinely slaughtered each time. This has not left me frustrated so much as challenged. I feel like my party may need to gain a few more levels before they are able to withstand the boss' torrent of attacks, but I look forward to meeting the task head on.

The game's provided me a solid 50 hours or more of gameplay, perhaps more than a habitual dungeon traveller would need to reach the end of their own "odyssey". Despite the release of other top-tier titles such as Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, I've constantly come back to Etrian Odyssey for an RPG experience that I guess I missed out on in my youth. As the story is minimal, even after extended breaks from the game I could slip right back into Etria without feeling like I've missed a beat. With that said, it will not summon the same addiction as it did for me in everyone, as simpler, more mainstream games like Tetris DS can. This is a game meant for the hardcore, and is unapologetically so. If you liked what you've read here: deep customization and cartography elements in a difficult but rewardingly long dungeon crawling adventure, then by all means go check it out.

On a personal note, I'm equal parts anxious and afraid to crack the seal on Etrian Odyssey II. If it's as much an improvement as the reviews seem to suggest, then I'm in for some more sleepless nights (and rough mornings).