Just Like Yuhtunga Jungle
I finally received my copy of Etrian Odyssey yesterday, after searching everywhere and finally resorting to buying it off some guy in Texas (off Half.com).
So far it’s extremely classic, being all turn-based and featuring random encounters. The map-keeping isn’t actually that bad, and you can put your own notes in. I like the character art, but because most of the action is first-person you don’t actually see your characters all that often. The saving in town system does curtail a bit of the portability of EO, since you can’t grind for 20 minutes and then save, but if no one else is using the DS, you can just pause and close the clamshell.
So far the difficulty of EO has not been underestimated. Even in the freaking n00b-zone, I’ve had frontline guys go down in two hits. It does add to that frantic feel as you try to navigate back to town to recharge your TP (medic starts out with such a small pool) and normal attacks barely scratch the Robber Crabs (or whatever they are called). Once your medic is out of TP, all you can do is either run or hope your slow Alchemist can land Ownzaga before your party dies. I thought I found an awesome grind area next to a TP-restoring fountain in the first zone, but it stopped working after about 4 tries!
I have also created a special party member, aptly named “Scrub,” who has all his skill points put into chop, mine, and take, i.e. the gathering skills. I’ve split the guild into two groups, with the first being a classic balanced group for progression purposes, and the second being a high DPS grinding group to escort Scrub in his adventures.
