Etrian Odyssey review

Etrian Odyssey is not your typical Japanese RPG, though the cute anime artwork might mislead you at first. It’s much more akin to the dungeon-crawlers of yesteryear. Instead of a pre-determined cast of characters that leave and join throughout, you craft your own party from several classes of adventurer. Rather than “Go to Town A, see event B, slog through Dungeon C, wind up in Town D, repeat” gameplay progression, how far you’ve managed to make it into the game is determined simply by how deep you’ve burrowed into the massive labyrinth. There are no gimmick-laden battle systems here, just turn-based combat that’s been the root of RPGs since time immemorial. And, of course, there’s the difficulty, which can only be described as “merciless.”