Etrian odyssey 4 classes image series#
Random battles are unavoidable – but then you have the series staple and Etrian’s way of handling boss encounters: the FOES. It is a throwback to when you would actually do something similar using a piece of paper and – shock, horror – a pen! A bit of crude drawing on Zelda: Phantom Hourglass aside, this is the first time yours truly can recall being this enamoured by mapping things with a stylus. Since the original DS first appeared, the lower screen has always had excellent potential for this type of thing. As you explore an uncharted dungeon, you are given icons and a legend on the bottom of the clamshell that allow you to mark your progress and help make your way through the labyrinthine environments that bit easier. You are shown how the game works in this first lush section of hostile jungle, including the awesome focus on home-made map making. The static character portraits are Atlus 101, as anyone who has played their other titles will attest, but during the core action it looks utterly sublime, and coupled with Koshiro’s spectacular multi-layered soundtrack this is an aesthetic tour de force. You can also chop and change your party between missions, so if you get fed up with your Sniper and fancy changing up for a Bushi, you can do so to your heart’s content.Īction begins with a tutorial level, which finds your gang immediately confronted by randomly-appearing beasties in the beautiful-looking first-person maze view. You get to name your crew, but must avoid anything offensive if you want your characters to be involved in the online Guild-sharing functionality.
Although their names may sound a bit fruity, there is nothing here you wouldn’t have seen before – for “Landsknecht”, read sword-wielding all-rounder, for “Runemaster” you get an aggressive magician type. You kick things off by choosing a party of four from the different class types available. Along the way, NPCs reveal lots of background information on the legendary tree and why you are crawling towards it, battle by battle, and it IS mildly diverting – but this is a game more concerned with dungeon crawling gameplay and the wonderful cartography elements (seriously!) to be bothered about delivering a ripping yarn. You know that you are part of a guild on a mission to reach the Yggdrasil – a magical tree that is purportedly the origin of humanity – but the characters you do this with are defined by their battle class rather than their unique personalities.
For starters, there is pretty much bugger all in terms of a complicated, sweeping plot and well developed characters. In fact, it has a lot more in common with the kinds of dungeon-exploring games that you would have played on your Commodore Amiga back in the day. Although it features turn-based battles, this is about as far from a formulaic JRPG as you can imagine. Legends of the Titan does not disappoint. The DS games have been uniformly enjoyable across the board. The Etrian Odyssey series is another gem, with tough-as-old-boots dungeon crawling the order of the day, put together by the director of the Trauma Centre titles and featuring a healthy dose of aural pleasure courtesy of the legendary Yuzo Koshiro – the genius behind the brilliantly innovative Streets of Rage soundtrack. Atlus have a fine track record on Nintendo’s touchscreen handhelds, including the excellent Shin Megami-related role-players, and the compulsive, stylised Trauma Centre surgery romps.
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