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This week's Famitsu 12-8-09 (ETRIAN ODYSSEY 3... plus FFXIII score)

Amir0x

Banned
Ploid 3.0 said:
What is Etrian Odyssey? Never heard of it. Any relation to Lost Odyssey?

Etrian Odyssey is a first person RPG, old-school like, but the compelling part of it (besides endless dungeon crawling), is the dungeon map drawing. The game has this neat addicting system where you personally map out the level on a graph, complete with all sorts of symbols and marks you can place down to provide context.

It's a really, really, really great use of DS touchscreen. One of the best uses, if you ask me!

Bebpo said:
Not at the same time. You can't ever control the other characters in FFXIII?

Sure you can, at least in the same exact way you're using "same time" as any other FF. Any any time if one of your characters turn is ready, you may switch to them and give them a command. It's more time consuming obviously, but you absolutely can control them all and independently issue them all commands if you see fit.
 

7Th

Member
Will EO3 even be by the original EO staff? Niinou jumped ship a long time ago and I doubt the team that was hard at work with SJ just a few months ago has already some kind of announcement to make.
 

Ploid 3.0

Member
Bebpo said:
Not at the same time. You can't ever control the other characters in FFXIII?

That's what it sound like. From what I know you can only control the other characters by changing their class during the fight. In FF12 you could change to other characters and issue them commands like you can in Dragon Age. I'm so glad DA came, I wish it had more fights like ff12 though. There was a interesting side boss in some tight claustrophobic room though.
 
Bebpo said:
Not at the same time. You can't ever control the other characters in FFXIII?

But in which FF game could you give commands to more than one party member at the same time?

XII just gave you a POV to work with, you very much controlled the party.

Ploid 3.0 said:
That's what it sound like. From what I know you can only control the other characters by changing their class during the fight. In FF12 you could change to other characters and issue them commands like you can in Dragon Age. I'm so glad DA came, I wish it had more fights like ff12 though. There was a interesting side boss in some tight claustrophobic room though.

You did not even need to switch leader.
 
I do wonder though how "fair" they score games though.


The one extreme would be where they each review the game separately, put a number on a piece of paper, and then they count all pieces together and that's it.

The other extreme is a thoroughly discussed score with considerations like "we can get away with one 8, nothing less", "we have to make sure the score is higher than 35 though", "let's make sure it's not another 40 this time", ...
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
Normally I can wait out scans for the famitsu digital article to come up but, but EO III? No chance of that.

Let's see, I see quite a few new classes. Pirates, Prince/Princess, and two others who I can't tell. They might just be NPCs but they kind of have that new class feel about them.
 

ethelred

Member
I'm down for more Etrian Odyssey. I like that they're really changing up the setting this time, and though I'm not expecting any radical changes to the formula, hopefully they tweak things up a bit to keep it fresh.

7Th said:
Will EO3 even be by the original EO staff? Niinou jumped ship a long time ago and I doubt the team that was hard at work with SJ just a few months ago has already some kind of announcement to make.

Most of the design leads for EO2 were not involved in either Devil Survivor or Strange Journey.
 

B.K.

Member
7Th said:
Will EO3 even be by the original EO staff? Niinou jumped ship a long time ago and I doubt the team that was hard at work with SJ just a few months ago has already some kind of announcement to make.

It has to be a different team and not the Strange Journey team. The game comes out in Japan on March 4, so it's been in development for a while.

I really need to finish Etrian Odyssey. I got to the 22nd or 23rd floor and got distracted by something. I haven't played it in almost two years. I haven't even opened the second game yet.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
First game they went down the dungeon, the next game they went up...

Sideways this time? Or maybe a curve ball and they'll go diagonally! :lol
 

Ploid 3.0

Member
lorddarkflare said:
You did not even need to switch leader.

Oh yea, I forgot you can just bring up the menu and give them a command. It was very streamlined and I think if SE continued sharpening this type of system they could make some very interesting battles. They just had to tone down the need to make the user depend on phoenix downs for some of the side boss fights, and the marathon final side boss fights that last for hours.
 

B.K.

Member
Man God said:
First game they went down the dungeon, the next game they went up...

Sideways this time? Or maybe a curve ball and they'll go diagonally! :lol

Maybe there is no dungeon. There are sea quests, so maybe you just explore the ocean.
 

duckroll

Member
I'm going to buy EO3. The ocean setting looks very interesting, and I don't think it was unfair for me to not buy EO2 since I just finished EO1 and it was honestly more of the same. I played a bit more SJ again yesterday while on the train, after a long hiatus, and got to the end of the second last dungeon in the game. It reminded me how fun dungeon crawling is, and I think the bright outdoor setting of EO3 could be just up my alley.
 

ReyBrujo

Member
Man God said:
Normally I can wait out scans for the famitsu digital article to come up but, but EO III? No chance of that.

Let's see, I see quite a few new classes. Pirates, Prince/Princess, and two others who I can't tell. They might just be NPCs but they kind of have that new class feel about them.
Looks like Ninja and Phalanx. I am interested in this last one.

(Edited: Pirates and ninjas in the same team, what can top that?)
 

7Th

Member
ethelred said:
Most of the design leads for EO2 were not involved in either Devil Survivor or Strange Journey.

B.K. said:
It has to be a different team and not the Strange Journey team. The game comes out in Japan on March 4, so it's been in development for a while.

I honestly just don't see the need for another EO game without Niinou. I didn't like EO2 that much. :(
 
Isn't it obvious to everyone? Famitsu gave FFXIII a 39, because that's the only way they can give Versus a higher score.

On a serious note ... EO3! Yeeah! Let me start preparing my Excel sheet character planning.
 

ethelred

Member
7Th said:
I honestly just don't see the need for another EO game without Niinou. I didn't like EO2 that much. :(

I don't really see how anyone could like EO1 but dislike EO2. The games are not that different. I personally liked EO2 more because I appreciated a lot of the minor upgrades (strafing, better mapping options, having the old bonus classes from the start, the new bonus classes, and some of the very useful interface tweaks), and also because I liked some of the specific boss fights and dungeon floors a bit more, but these aren't radically different experiences.

I know some people disliked a few of the balancing changes, but I don't get into the min/maxing crap at all, so...

Anyway, I expect this game has been in development by the portion of the EO2 team that did not move on to work on Devil Survivor (since SJ had, like, an entirely different design team), so again, I wouldn't expect anything radically new here, either. It'll have new classes and new dungeons; that'll be enough for me. I am hoping, like I said, that there'll be a few more formula changes, and I'm hopeful that the extra year's worth of dev time will help there.
 

legend166

Member
duckroll said:
I'm going to buy EO3. The ocean setting looks very interesting, and I don't think it was unfair for me to not buy EO2 since I just finished EO1 and it was honestly more of the same. I played a bit more SJ again yesterday while on the train, after a long hiatus, and got to the end of the second last dungeon in the game. It reminded me how fun dungeon crawling is, and I think the bright outdoor setting of EO3 could be just up my alley.

Yeah, I'm wondering whether to do this too. I beat Etrian Odyssey pretty much at the exact time EO2 was coming out (in English, that is), so I'm wondering if I should just wait until EO3 comes out instead of buying EO2.
 

Zeliard

Member
Y2Kev said:
See what you did.

Say "Aerith's Theme" out loud.

Amir0x said:
Etrian Odyssey is a first person RPG, old-school like, but the compelling part of it (besides endless dungeon crawling), is the dungeon map drawing. The game has this neat addicting system where you personally map out the level on a graph, complete with all sorts of symbols and marks you can place down to provide context.

It's a really, really, really great use of DS touchscreen. One of the best uses, if you ask me!

Might have to steal my buddy's DS again. I think he has this game. And I think I might have to shell out for my own DS eventually. :/ Some RPGs I'd really like to play on it.
 

7Th

Member
ethelred said:
I don't really see how anyone could like EO1 but dislike EO2. The games are not that different. I personally liked EO2 more because I appreciated a lot of the minor upgrades (strafing, better mapping options, having the old bonus classes from the start, the new bonus classes, and some of the very useful interface tweaks), and also because I liked some of the specific boss fights and dungeon floors a bit more, but these aren't radically different experiences.

I liked EO1 because I really had a great time with it. I didn't like EO2 because it felt a little bit repetitive, not as tight and it just felt more like a chore than the first one. Don't think much of it, it's just the impression of the experience I had with both games.
 
Sekaiju no Meikyuu III: Hoshimi no Raihousha (Etrian Odyssey III: Caller of the Starry Seas [lit])
- New Classes: Prince/Princess, Phalanx, Monk, Shinobi, Pirate
- Oceanic Quests, fight enemies on the ocean, new mapping system for the ocean
- March? 2010 in Japan
 

ReyBrujo

Member
legend166 said:
Yeah, I'm wondering whether to do this too. I beat Etrian Odyssey pretty much at the exact time EO2 was coming out (in English, that is), so I'm wondering if I should just wait until EO3 comes out instead of buying EO2.
Darn, buy it! Support Etrian Odyssey now, don't wait! EO2 has several improvements that make it more enjoyable than the first one, and will let you get used to the new icons. Put your EO1 password to use there! A pity 2 didn't have passwords (which made me think we would never see a EO3), but now, it is all in the past!
 

duckroll

Member
As far as EO3's team is concerned, I will be very surprised if certain people who worked on SJ are not also working on EO3. Think about it this way, we know for a fact that SJ started development around the time EO2 was completed (not released, but completion of major development). It took about a year to make EO2 after EO1, and about 2 years to complete SJ. It would not surprise me at all production on EO3 started mid-way through SJ's development, after certain people had completed the bulk of their duties on SJ (like say the battle director). As far as programming goes, EO3 is almost certainly still Lancarse. They only need 3-5 programmers to complete a game, so it's a non-issue.
 

legend166

Member
ReyBrujo said:
Darn, buy it! Support Etrian Odyssey now, don't wait! EO2 has several improvements that make it more enjoyable than the first one, and will let you get used to the new icons. Put your EO1 password to use there! A pity 2 didn't have passwords (which made me think we would never see a EO3), but now, it is all in the past!


Yeah, maybe I should. I didn't even pay for Etrian Odssey 1, thanks to Joe Martin, true gaming hero.
 

RevenantKioku

PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
A 39/40 from Famitsu actually makes me more excited for FF13 than a 40/40 would have.
 

Narcosis

Member
Someone on page 1 referenced the "honor and shame" meme creator from here in regards to the 39/40. Do you people not see how it relates? Famitsu is getting back at Square by deducting a single point because of their lack of honor. When versus XIII releases they will give it that elusive 40/40 and one of the reviewers will proclaim that Square regained it's honor by keeping the title exclusive, thus it's purity was not diluted by the filthy gaijin-devil-box.

Also, the next check will be 10% higher :D
 

Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
They didn't want to give the PS3 a perfect score this year because they're too busy trying to destroy the Wii.

Systems that get perfect scores from Famitsu tend to start fading away the following calendar year. I have no idea why but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with it.
 

lyre

Member
Oh my fucking god, EO fucking THREE!

And pirates, ninjas, monks, and princesseses? Only thing missing are dinosaurs, Abraham Lincoln and Frebreze!

ethelred said:
Do you not see the massive tree behind the coastal town?
There are two screens showing maps of the ocean. I wouldn't mind another tree grind if the game mixes it up a bit with some sea travel redundancy.

Either way, fuck final fantasy 13; fuck yes eo3!
 

ethelred

Member
Azelover said:
Systems that get perfect scores from Famitsu tend to start fading away the following calendar year. I have no idea why but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with it.

It's true. In hindsight, Nintendogs definitely was a portent of the beginning of the end of the DS's domination.
 
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