this game is something else. if you even have a slight desire to play etrian odyssey, PLEASE do. i cannot believe i didn't get into this series a decade sooner.
while i didn't feel such an immediate connection with V as i did with nexus, i think the fact that there's less bloat and more room for interesting ideas makes this a better entry overall. and while you don't have the overwhelmingness of 17 different classes to start from, each class has clear roles and every one has a chance to shine or do some insanely cool shit in some form or another. teambuilding in general and how these roles progress as you move through the game while unlocking new skills and upgrade paths is satisfying beyond words. and doing shit like tanking hits like nothing or doing over 2000 damage with units that used to languish and feel useless is HYPE as fuck. it took me a while to feel like i was doing everything right (and my team didnt have quite as much synergy as my nexus team), but overall teambuilding is among the best in any RPG i've experienced.
now that i'm a few games into this franchise, i have a really deep appreciation for the dumb-ass map drawing gimmick. it might be because you're playing on the DS, but keeping track of more and more elaborate layouts for each floor and always having that record of your progress is really nice. this is complimented by really solid map design, and plenty of interesting gimmicks that keep things from getting stale. keeping track of FOE movements, fully mapping out areas you had to sprint through on a previous path, finding your own personal way of keeping track of stuff... it's a gimmick that takes a ton of adjusting to, but there's nothing else like it - even the HD collection doesn't really stack up to doing stuff with a stylus.
now, every time i bring up the "oh you have to use your imagination when coming up with your characters' backstories and the overarching story of your guild" bullshit, i feel fucking insane - just because it works so damn well. just like with nexus, i JUMPED on the opportunity to craft out character backstories, and i loved having their relationships and dynamics shift as you progress through the game. i'm literally in the middle of writing some AO3 shit about the Kore Guild's backstory, and even though nobody outside my immediate friend group will ever read it i'm still having a blast doing stuff with these characters. i sound like such a dork with how much i gush about this stuff, and i'm sure plenty of people see the lack of a concrete story as really lazy, but this shit really vibes with me.
the game's not perfect, unfortunately. there are some pretty weird difficulty spikes with some of the bosses, not every FOE gimmick is a winner, and the 4th stratum's teleporter maze is REALLY annoying. i also didn't really care much for Race Skills (actually what they're called btw), as they weren't anywhere near as satisfying as the regular upgrade tree. despite all that, though, this is one of the most solid and enjoyable RPGs i've played in recent memory. i'm gonna be thinking about this one for a long, long time.
while i didn't feel such an immediate connection with V as i did with nexus, i think the fact that there's less bloat and more room for interesting ideas makes this a better entry overall. and while you don't have the overwhelmingness of 17 different classes to start from, each class has clear roles and every one has a chance to shine or do some insanely cool shit in some form or another. teambuilding in general and how these roles progress as you move through the game while unlocking new skills and upgrade paths is satisfying beyond words. and doing shit like tanking hits like nothing or doing over 2000 damage with units that used to languish and feel useless is HYPE as fuck. it took me a while to feel like i was doing everything right (and my team didnt have quite as much synergy as my nexus team), but overall teambuilding is among the best in any RPG i've experienced.
now that i'm a few games into this franchise, i have a really deep appreciation for the dumb-ass map drawing gimmick. it might be because you're playing on the DS, but keeping track of more and more elaborate layouts for each floor and always having that record of your progress is really nice. this is complimented by really solid map design, and plenty of interesting gimmicks that keep things from getting stale. keeping track of FOE movements, fully mapping out areas you had to sprint through on a previous path, finding your own personal way of keeping track of stuff... it's a gimmick that takes a ton of adjusting to, but there's nothing else like it - even the HD collection doesn't really stack up to doing stuff with a stylus.
now, every time i bring up the "oh you have to use your imagination when coming up with your characters' backstories and the overarching story of your guild" bullshit, i feel fucking insane - just because it works so damn well. just like with nexus, i JUMPED on the opportunity to craft out character backstories, and i loved having their relationships and dynamics shift as you progress through the game. i'm literally in the middle of writing some AO3 shit about the Kore Guild's backstory, and even though nobody outside my immediate friend group will ever read it i'm still having a blast doing stuff with these characters. i sound like such a dork with how much i gush about this stuff, and i'm sure plenty of people see the lack of a concrete story as really lazy, but this shit really vibes with me.
the game's not perfect, unfortunately. there are some pretty weird difficulty spikes with some of the bosses, not every FOE gimmick is a winner, and the 4th stratum's teleporter maze is REALLY annoying. i also didn't really care much for Race Skills (actually what they're called btw), as they weren't anywhere near as satisfying as the regular upgrade tree. despite all that, though, this is one of the most solid and enjoyable RPGs i've played in recent memory. i'm gonna be thinking about this one for a long, long time.