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Etrian Odyssey 4, Untold $20 each on eShop this week
We knew there was an eShop sale on the way for the Etrian Odyssey 3DS games, and now we know the discounts. EO4: Legends of the Titan and EO Untold: The Millennium Girl are each going for half-price at $20, and that sale runs through until Monday, May 19. Atlus' dungeon-mapping series has enjoyed a strong start on 3DS. New entry EO4 took four stars in our review, which praised the RPG for being accessible while retaining the series' core values. Meanwhile, EO Untold is a remake of the first Etrian Odyssey, but with enough "tedium-reducing improvements" to also earn four stars. While it's an entry in another franchise, Etrian Odyssey fans will see the series' dungeon-crawling elements return in upcoming 3DS game Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth. [Image: Atlus]
Etrian Odyssey Untold presents a fresh face this fall
Etrian Odyssey remake Untold: The Millennium Girl treks onto the eShop and retail shelves in North America on October 1, mapped out at a price of $40. The 3DS dungeon-crawler adds a new story mode with voice acting and animated cutscenes, alongside a 3D version of the original DS game. To see how old and new balance out, check out our preview. Meanwhile, NIS America confirmed to us Etrian Odyssey 4 completes its journey to Europe on August 30. According to reviewer Kat Bailey, EO4 is one of the two best RPGs on the 3DS - the other being the excellent Fire Emblem: Awakening - so it should be worth the wait.
Amazon sale on 3DS games: Fire Emblem: Awakening, Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers and more
Whew! E3, huh? Right? Y'all remember when that guy said that stuff, and then all the things happened? What a crazy week! We don't know about you, but we're feeling like it might be time to unwind from this week's insanity by catching up on our gaming backlogs while we wait for all these sick-looking next-gen jams to drop. Fire Emblem: Awakening, Mario Kart 7, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, Super Mario 3D Land and a mess of other great 3DS games have all been dropped to around $30 on Amazon, which is convenient since we were just saying how we need to catch up on our backlog. Weird! Head past the break for the full list of games and their pertinent purchasing links.
Etrian Odyssey 4 delays European trek to the summer
It'll take Etrian Odyssey 4: Legends of the Titan a bit longer than expected to reach Europe, after NIS America pushed back its release window to this summer. It was expected this spring, but with the season dwindling fast, the Atlus-developed RPG won't hit European retailers or the 3DS eShop until summertime. NIS America says a demo which includes two dungeons is coming to the eShop beforehand, which to us sounds like the same demo North America received.Etrian Odyssey's return to Europe - the first game released on the continent but the second and third ones did not - marks, according to JRPG guru Kat Bailey, the series finally becoming recommendable to mainstream players; Etrian Odyssey 4 hauled a sweet four stars in our review.
Etrian Odyssey 4: Legends of the Titan review: The warm embrace of exploration
This year is starting to feel like an embarrassment of riches for RPG fans who own the Nintendo 3DS. Fire Emblem is out, Pokemon X/Y and Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hackers are on the way, and now we've got Etrian Odyssey 4: Legends of the Titan. Admittedly, Etrian Odyssey is not a series that I would necessarily recommend to everyone. It has a history of being very tough, and its story (such as it is) is on the sparse side. But despite looking much the same as the original Nintendo DS games, changes are afoot with Etrian Odyssey 4, many of them for the better. The most important change, arguably, is that it's easier. A lot easier. Not that it's overly simple or anything; but compared to the first three games, the opening areas are a breeze. This is good, because Etrian Odyssey long delighted in simply tossing players into its trademark labyrinths, then watching them die. This way, at least, newcomers have a chance to see what really makes Etrian Odyssey great.%Gallery-181354%
At long last, Fire Emblem and Etrian Odyssey can be recommended to the mainstream
This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer. The average first-time experience with an Etrian Odyssey game goes something like this: You spend some time constructing a team; you venture into the forest for the first time, and you die. Then, unless you're a particular breed of RPG fan, you probably quit forever. Until now, anyway.After three games worth of trial and error, Etrian Odyssey IV seems to have hit the 'Goldilocks Zone' of RPG difficulty. In other words, it's still pretty tough, but it's not impossible. And for that reason, it's finally reached the point where I can reasonably recommend it to someone other than a hardcore dungeon crawler fanatic.The crux of EOIV's new accessibility is its casual mode, which makes it to the second high-profile 3DS RPG this year to feature such an option (Fire Emblem: Awakening was the first). The effects are relatively simple: when you die, you'll be whisked back to town, rather than having to start over. In addition, you will be blessed with an item that lets you leave a dungeon at any time.This would seem to have the effect of making EOIV a tad too easy; but in reality, it makes it compulsive. Rather than getting frustrated by every cheap death and accidental counter with an F.O.E. – minibosses that roam the labyrinth – I've found myself simply rolling up my sleeves and trying again. The result has been much more rapid progress than I've ever experienced before, and a whole lot less in the way of cursing and throwing my 3DS.
Nintendo Direct EU release date round-up: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and more
Today's European Nintendo Direct broadcast flung an onslaught of new release dates and windows our way, but after dusting ourselves off we've managed to gather them all up nice and neat into a hopefully helpful post. We've already covered concrete EU release dates for Animal Crossing: New Leaf (June 14), Fire Emblem Awakening (April 19), and others, so let's quickly go over the stragglers.First up is Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, which brings its mix of cute critters and dungeon crawling to the continent on May 17. As for the rest, it's just release windows for now. Splattered across the panes of the spring window are Etrian Odyssey 4 and the download-only Code of Princess, while Project X Zone and a 3DS version of Inazuma Eleven 3, with 3D-enhanced graphics, are baking in the heat of the summer window.
New Nintendo eShop releases: Ken's Rage 2, Mega Man 2, Etrian Odyssey 4 demo
With the delay of Rayman Legends, today's release of Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage would be the Wii U's only retail game in February ... except it's exclusive to the eShop. So it's only kind of the only retail game this month.Things are a bit busier on the 3DS, with the arrival of the Etrian Odyssey IV demo and the Virtual Console release of Mega Man 2, the best Mega Man game.
Etrian Odyssey 4 demo hits 3DS eShop Feb. 7
If you've spent your life too timid and fearful to subject yourself to the hardships of an Etrian Odyssey game, you will soon have the opportunity to try one with much less risk. Atlus will release a demo of Etrian Odyssey 4 on the 3DS eShop in North America on February 7.The demo includes one dungeon and part of another, along with a "skyship" section and a town that allows you to trade items via QR code and receive QR gifts. All of your progress in said demo will transfer to the full game when it comes out on February 26, so your bold experiment need not be in vain.
Etrian Odyssey 4: Legends of the Trailer
Get your first look at the locations you'll die in, and the cute creatures that will kill you, in this English-language trailer for Etrian Odyssey 4: Legends of the Titan, out on 3DS February 26. It's worth noting that the new "Casual" mode may enable you to survive for a bit longer.As is Atlus's custom, the publisher will include a free "Design Book" and music CD with every copy. The CD is a set of "Rough Drafts & Outtakes," comprising unused or alternate versions of composer Yuzo Koshiro's soundtrack.
