A dungeon crawler that caters to veterans and newcomers alike.
This latest EO installment is a refreshing remake of the first game of the series. It takes cue on the previous installments while adding new mechanics of its own - making it a good 3ds dungeon crawler you could waste your time on.
New to the series is the ability to choose two gaming modes - story mode and classic mode. Classic mode is as every bit as what EO is. Here, you're given the freedom to create a guild and units out of scratch. Story mode is more of a traditional RPG. While you'll only be able to play with a preset party, you gain access to two exclusive classes. Plus there's the whole story thingy with cutscenes as such.
One big gripe is that you only have one save slot. So you have take careful consideration to what gaming mode to choose. Players who are very likely to choose classic mode will be left out from the new classes. Although base in my experience, you can get by just perfectly fine with the rest of the class composition. New Game+ is there to alleviate the one save slot as it carries over your completed data to either story or classic. Although it kinda favors transfers from story mode to classic mode and sadly not the other way around as classic mode transferees are locked(as in barred) from participating in story mode(as to what a source states).
The ability to explore outside from the dungeon like in EOIII and EOIV is absent here. And while the ability to select a subclass is also absent, Untold makes it up for it's new feature - the grimoire stones. Basically, you can get one from sheer luck or enhancements during a battle. A grimoire stone contains skills either from your party or from monsters you defeated. It's interesting to be able to use a monster's skills apart from the skills gained through leveling up and yes, you can acquire a boss' skill too. Grimoire crafting lets you mixmatch three stones to form an enhanced one. It feels like the absent of subclassing doesn't affect the game in a major way but the downside is that you'll be basing your grimoire hoarding on almost luck alone just to get the most potent ones.
Another new to the series is you'll be able to acquire a guildhouse and be able to name it. Having a guildhouse let's you take up requests, take battle-tweaking benefits, and store/retrieve items. Requests prop up from time to time and while it's pretty much basic and redundant it is a boon to those who are into level grinding.
Aaaand Etrian Odyssey would just be Etrian without the explorer-themed stuff. A staple to the series is the ability to draw a map in the 3ds lower screen. And perhaps the new two things that are very much helpful are the auto-draw and floor jump mechanics. In previous installments, you have to draw a line to represent a wall or a dead end. In here, the game is giving you the option to let it do the drawing for you. Whatever icon or note you put in a map is to your discretion but hey, at least you don't have to put up drawing e-v-e-r-y f-r-e-a-k-i-n-g l-i-n-e-s. The floor jump is a welcome addition, too. If you have explored a certain portion of a floor you unlock it's floor jump ability. You can then jump from floors that have these too. It somewhat makes adventuring and exploring a little less tedious.
Untold has three difficulty settings - easy, standard, and expert. It can be change anytime as long as you're not in a dungeon. If you're looking for the classic EO experience then going expert is the right choice. Standard difficulty lowers enemies' stats significantly but can still be a challenge. On a personal note, I think easy is best suited on story mode as it allows players to focus on the story rather than on the tedious grinding stuff.
And there we go with my review! Looking for a good 3ds dungeon crawling fix? If you like building up characters, planning party compositions, generally improving in the RPG kind of way while overcoming challenges and beating down badass f.o.e.s then this one is worth the try.