My personal favourite Etrian game and probably??? the best place for newcomers to start? I admittedly haven't played 2 or 3 but I feel like this is true.
The main thing that really stands out to me in this one is the subclassing which, once you unlock it, really brings the whole game together. Spending a while considering your options and then selecting a subclass that perfectly compliments with your main class makes you feel like an absolute genius when it works out, and the potential for very funny combos, or cool synergies between party members makes playing around with the system really fun. By the end of the game, I had a nightseeker somehow dual wielding bows hitting the entire lines of enemies for huge damage thanks to the arcanist keeping status effects of everyone and cashing out for big heals at the end of their magic circle's duration, a landschneckt getting ridiculous numbers of followup attacks from the bushi's multihit skills, and a protector who could dance a little jig to buff everyone when defense wasn't a priority. By the end they felt like a well oiled machine with options for all sorts of scenarios and a flexible gameplan that could change turn to turn. Awesome.
But the master stroke, in my opinion, is that each time you unlock a new class, the game gives you a small bundle of items that will raise any character to an appropriate level for where you're at in the game. This means that you can not only instantly grab an "at level" member of the new class, but you can also level up a couple of other characters that might compliment the new one, or swap out a member of the team who just isn't working out anymore (sorry medic, you're on the bench...). This small thing puts the game miles ahead of the others in the series in my opinion, solves the issue of late game unlock classes feeling a chore to level up, gives you a little flexibility in your team building, but doesn't overdo it and make the game too forgiving.
Been a while since i played it, but writing this review really makes me want to dive in and try some classes that didn't end up in my final party this time, and I think that's a ringing endorsement!
The main thing that really stands out to me in this one is the subclassing which, once you unlock it, really brings the whole game together. Spending a while considering your options and then selecting a subclass that perfectly compliments with your main class makes you feel like an absolute genius when it works out, and the potential for very funny combos, or cool synergies between party members makes playing around with the system really fun. By the end of the game, I had a nightseeker somehow dual wielding bows hitting the entire lines of enemies for huge damage thanks to the arcanist keeping status effects of everyone and cashing out for big heals at the end of their magic circle's duration, a landschneckt getting ridiculous numbers of followup attacks from the bushi's multihit skills, and a protector who could dance a little jig to buff everyone when defense wasn't a priority. By the end they felt like a well oiled machine with options for all sorts of scenarios and a flexible gameplan that could change turn to turn. Awesome.
But the master stroke, in my opinion, is that each time you unlock a new class, the game gives you a small bundle of items that will raise any character to an appropriate level for where you're at in the game. This means that you can not only instantly grab an "at level" member of the new class, but you can also level up a couple of other characters that might compliment the new one, or swap out a member of the team who just isn't working out anymore (sorry medic, you're on the bench...). This small thing puts the game miles ahead of the others in the series in my opinion, solves the issue of late game unlock classes feeling a chore to level up, gives you a little flexibility in your team building, but doesn't overdo it and make the game too forgiving.
Been a while since i played it, but writing this review really makes me want to dive in and try some classes that didn't end up in my final party this time, and I think that's a ringing endorsement!