Wow, Apple’s spellcheck recognizes “frabjous” as a real word. Apple is good people.
Tomorrow is the most annoying day of the year. No, not because it’s April Fool’s Day; people try and fail to be clever on the Internet all the time, so there’s nothing especially interesting about a day for concentrated mediocrity. No, tomorrow is going to be annoying because it’s the day that Sekaiju No Meikyuu III comes out in Japan, but there’s been no U.S. release date announced yet.
I mean, obviously it’s coming, because I’m pretty sure Atlus publishes all its first-party creations in the U.S. these days. Also, I ran into the company’s PR guy at PAX East and he casually mentioned something about the game… under the name “Etrian Odyssey III.” I guess that is what is known as a “no brainer.”
I’m pretty psyched for the game, but also terrified. I’ve been reading rumors about extra unlockable classes and, worse yet, a New Game Plus mode. Yeah. As if the first two games didn’t eat enough of my free time without the ability to carry over progress into a second playthrough.
We’ll be importing the game from Japan, of course. I want to cover it, but even more to the point I need something to drag me away from Pokémon HeartGold. The other day I started organizing the critters in my PC boxes by their pokédex number, including duplicates of different species to allow me to have one of each evolution. And then I found a Ditto and turned it into a breeding machine so I could generate a bunch of duplicate starters for trade. Yeah. I need me an Etrian Intervention, all right.
If you can handle something as obtuse and grind heavy as Etrian Odyssey, competitive Pokemon battling ought to be a cinch. C’mon and join us ;)
Man, Etrian Odyssey’s got nothing on Pokémon. Also, I hate anything that requires the involvement of other people. (Actually, you could probably just leave out the words “anything that requires the involvement of.”)
Ah. Free time, where forth hast thou gone.
Mind you I’ve never played Etrian Odyssey 1 or 2. Any suggestions for an Etrian Odyssey like game on the DS to try and get into this sub-sounding-rpg-genre? PSP might work, come June 8th anyways.
“C’mon and join us ;)”
Who’s the ‘us’ here, Kat?
Mr. Jeremy Parish. Breeding up a storm and trying to catch-em-all.
Truly this is a day to be remembered, as the downward spiral to apocalypse has begun.
:D
And the news of a New Game Plus in EO3 excites me. These are games that, once I finish, I know I will want to play over again when I have a tiny bit more gray in my hair. And being able to carry over past teams will make that leap back into them all the more enjoyable.
“Any suggestions for an Etrian Odyssey like game on the DS to try and get into this sub-sounding-rpg-genre?”
If you’re looking for games “like Etrian Odyssey” on the DS, the closest you’ll find is the recently-released Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, which is really a sub-RPG genre in its own right since it has emphasis on talking to/recruiting/fusing demons and story and alignment stuff over Etrian Odyssey’s character customization, drawing the map, and less emphasised narrative. It’s really the only choice for bridging the gap, though; even though it’s more SMT than EO, they share elements like missions and collecting enemy loot to get new equipment available, not surprising since Lancarse worked on both.
SMT’s its own beast and all, but if you love Strange Journey, it shouldn’t be hard to get into Etrian Odyssey.
Cannot believe so many people attempt to aim and be funny every year on the Internet this day. I think we’re one of the few who try and adopt ignoring the Internet completely on this day. Sure know it would do far more good than hurt, I facepalmed nearly every hour at my desk at awful IGN/Gamespot jokes.
“Mind you I’ve never played Etrian Odyssey 1 or 2. Any suggestions for an Etrian Odyssey like game on the DS to try and get into this sub-sounding-rpg-genre?”
Word on the street is that the games “Etrian Odyssey” and “Etrian Odyssey II” for the DS are VERY similar to these Etrian Odyssey games you speak of.
JRC: Etrian Odyssey games aren’t really the hardcorest-of-the-hardcore – in fact, they’re the only of their sub-genre typey thing to ever attract me to it, so… I would say if you’re looking to dip your toe in, there isn’t a better place to start than the original EO.
@ThornGhost, Pombar: I’d love to purchase either the first or second Etrian Odyssey. Problem is I’m a cheap bastard and the cheapest that Amazon.com has for it new is $60+. No thank you. I might have to keep an eye out at Wal-Mart. Sometimes they have gems for cheap, I haven’t had a chance to play it yet but I picked up Hoshigami Remix for $20 at Walmart the other day.
@Metal Man Masher: I might have to give SMTSJ a try. It will probably be in my next round of DS purchases. *sigh* This is what happens when you pretty much swear off gaming for 3+ years. You come back to a whole list of stuff you need to try and get, Disgeae DS, FFTA2, some other stuff I can’t remember at the moment. Basically too many games too little time and too little money :-(
Maybe I’m not hardcore enough, but I can only remember finishing one first-person RPG, and that was Shining the Holy Ark. And it was awesome. :)
I’m very intrigued by Strange Journey, though. And maybe EO3 will be the one to suck me in (although for the sake of my free time, I hope not).
I have tried to get into the Pokemon phenomenon, but it has failed to capture me. Perhaps it is for the best.
The thing that scares me about EO III is the multi-classing. That’s why I can’t go very long without playing FFT, FFV or DQ III.
Pokemon games are in a class of their own with all the numerous critters, movesets and variables to keep track of.
Not to say EO3 won’t be a beast in its own right.