The noble members of El Spite have returned to battle the labyrinthine forests of Etria — and, also, the Japanese language. They’re learning new skills and specializations along the way. Yukiko trained hard as a Protector, but now she’s become a Phalanx: A similar role to be sure, but one focused on the art of spear-wielding and plotting defensive formations. Rose has taken up a more drastic change. Formerly a Gunner, she’s abandoned arms altogether to become a Monk, retaining her role as a team powerhouse, but now doing it from the frontlines… with her fists. And also healing her comrades as needed. Toasty remains the feeble weakling; though no longer a Medic, his new role as Farmer mostly seems to involve him trying to put enemies to sleep only to have it backfire, leaving him useless and vulnerable. Perseph moves from Alchemy to the similar mystical artistry of the Zodiac class, dealing elemental damage to all. And Miaow sees the biggest change of all, forsaking the Hexer way, affecting a tan and some snazzier hair color, and specializing in the crossbow equivalent of a squad assault weapon as a Ballista.
(The rest of guild El Spite is deeply disappointed with Miaow, because they had translated バリスタ as “Barista” and were looking forward to delicious coffee to keep them caffeinated during those long nights of dungeon-diving.)
Yes, that’s right. I’ve maintained the same guild members across three different Etrian Odyssey games now. You want to make something of it? I like these guys! We’ve been through a lot together.
Speaking of Etrian Odyssey… the GameSpite bonus book is still in the works, but it’s run into a slight snag. Namely, my attempts to create a comic were really terrible. So I will whip together a replacement feature in its stead and have that wrapped by the end of the month. Also by the end of the month, I hope to have GameSpite Year One, Vol. 2 submitted for press proofing. Editing is well underway! GameSpite Quarterly 5 will probably be delayed a month or two as a result, but people keep asking for Vol. 2… and I would like to have its weight off my shoulders in any case. Please look forward to more details. Extra content for Vol. 2 will include a couple of all-new articles by me, as well as some long-lost (but formerly very popular) articles dredged from the corners of my hard drive….
Yukiko is the name I’ve used for my Medic in EO1 and 2, so that threw me off a little. And I used the same names in EO2 that I had in EO1 for the most part as well! I like the continuity that provides.
Hurray to Year 1, Vol 2, as well! Too bad I haven’t scraped together the money yet for GSQ4… guess I’ll go for a bundle when I do.
I’ve got a pool of 10+ names for characters, all which I’ve used through both games of the past and will very much use for this one as well.
I suck at coming up with names and having to name an entire party at the start of EO1 was almost impossible. It took hours. In EO2 I first carried over most of my guild’s names and only had to figure out a couple new ones, with the nice extra limitation of them being things I could spell in Kana. Then I started over with the guild “Fruit Salad” which made things nice and easy.
In Infinite Space I’ve had the luxury of only needing a new ship name every few hours, but they still lack any sort of thematic coherence, borrowing equally from arbitrary videogames (“Rislim,” “Gades,” “Twinbee”) and nothing in particular (“London,” “Unicorn,” “Incarnation”). At least I know what my next couple will also be called!
I just name all of mine after comic characters, usually to help me remember who the hell is what class. (“Steve” was the Protector, “Wanda” the Hexer, etc.)
This may or may not work so well in EOIII. I have no idea who the hell I’d use as a Farmer, for instance.
I wish I coulda finished EO. I made the mistake of having to big of a guild so i had to spend double the time grinding… not fun.
I always seem to end up at naming my guild members after friends and family members who kind of share similar traits: my cousin, who is in the army, always ends up a Protector; a friend who works at a national park as a ornithologist becomes a Survivalist and one of my more ‘perverted’ friends is turned into a Dark Hunter, specialized in whip bindings… O_o
$20 says one of the bonus articles is the Chrono Break FAQ…C’mon, Chrono Break FAQ…daddy needs an updated Chrono Break FAQ!
The Chrono Break FAQ is currently on the site, and in any case would fir more appropriately in the eventual Year Zero collection.
Syrg, a Farmer would be Peter R. (or better yet, Piotr), obviously.
I’m probably a step away from “fight”, “heal”, etc. here, but my guild (I thought we were all Guild Harshin, dudes!) is populated with characters with first initial corresponding to their class. Noble fighters, all:
Lawrence, Delita, Ramza, Hachi, Toshi, Murtaugh, Alcest…
…and Potato.
I get what I deserve for enrolling my nephew’s help in recruitment.
Ah, yes, that’s right, I forgot that when in doubt, AT LEAST one X-Man will fit the bill for anything.
Piotr (well, “Peter” anyway) would also work if they had a painter but I don’t think I’ve heard of them being in this. (A hidden class?)
Makes me think with EO I have had a same guild for each game it will be Odin III
@uphc: Same here!
I adopted this approach because of a limitation in the way shopping worked in EO1 (it was hard to track who was eligible for what). So, now I have names like Persiphim, Reya, Guinivir, and Hera.
Ormund is still my Troubadour, though, per the EO1 instruction booklet.