Etrian Mystery Dungeon is a deep, engaging and fun game that fans of the series and RPG followers will love at first glance, even though not every player will enjoy it.
Etrian Mystery Dungeon continues the streak of great Etrian titles. The shake-up in gameplay doesn't rattle the game too much for die-hard fans and will give them exactly what they want, while giving people unfamiliar with the franchise, a good entry level introduction.
By far the best Rogue-like on 3DS. Lots of depth and tons of content, this is a great value for people who love the genre.
If you're new to rogue-likes, it's a turn based game where every time you take a step or an action, the enemies do the same. It requires you to think and strategize. Rogue-likes are known for being difficult and this is no exception -- the first area is easy enough, and you can grind away if you find the game too hard, but it either takes a great deal of skill or a great deal of time grinding to defeat.
The dungeons are pseudo-random and this offers some variety of each dungeon, you'll never see the exact same layout twice, most likely. However, there are parameters as to what can be in each floor, so it's not total chaos.
Some people have complained about terrible A.I. My opinion is those players didn't give enough care to positioning. You can control any character at any time, and the other characters act themselves. Yes, it's important to not block doorways and make sure your allies have line of sight (LOS) on their targets, and this is part of the game. Once you realize you're controlling a squad and not focusing on a single character, the A.I. is at least on par with other rogue-likes.
There is no 'permadeath', but if you fall in battle, you will lose a fair amount of progress. If you are impatient and impulsive, this will cause a lot of frustration. Once you learn to take your time and pace yourself, it's very rewarding.
There are a number of things I haven't seen before in rogue-likes, such as the DOE system and building of forts. These add another dimension to an already complex game type, and I applaud it.
Fans of rogue-likes should absolutely pick this game up for certain. If you're new to the genre, this is more complex and involved than most, and it could be frustrating, especially if you're unused to the need to really plan and strategize. For younger or new-to-the-genre players, I'd recommend pokemon mystery dungeon which generally doesn't offer quite as much challenge. For adults or anyone with experience, looking for a challenge, this is my favorite by far.
It's an awesome game if you're a fan of the Mystery dungeon games, if not it will get repetitive and boring pretty fast because that's how this type of games works, nevertheless it doesn't really disappoint anyone.
Etrian Mystery Dungeon is a terrible Etrian Odyssey game, missing the point entirely in what an Etrian Odyssey game is meant to offer. But as a roguelike, it is such a clean, traditional example of the genre that I found it very difficult to put down.
The more I played Etrian Mystery Dungeon the more I fell in love with it. While the learning curve is pretty steep and the rewards are fairly low-end early on, you really do get as much as you put in. It gives existing Mystery fans a lot to stick around for, and serves as a nice entry point for newcomers, so long as they are willing to learn.
Etrian Mystery Dungeon provides a refreshing change of pace for Etrian Odyssey fans by infusing the dungeon-crawler with challenging elements from Spike Chunsoft’s venerable Mystery Dungeon franchise. Unfortunately, some clunky controls and curious design decisions prevent this roguelike from reaching the greatest heights of the genre.
If you're down for a lengthy adventure filled with frustrating trials and tribulations, then Etrian Mystery Dungeon might by perfect for you. [Issue #15; May/June 2015, p.74]
In a stone-cold RPG like Etrian Odyssey you want to minimize the crazy shit happening, but in a Mystery Dungeon you want to revel in it, like a surfer in search of the biggest wave. You would hope in spite of this the game would manage to branch off and do its own thing, but it doesn’t, unless that thing is needless complexity, endless grinding and conscripting dreary-eyed anime children on a plodding adventure.
I very highly enjoy this game. It's like a gift that keeps on giving! Have to take some off for somewhat clunky interface and horribly dumb party AI though.
I'm a big fan of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Etrian Odyssey, and playing EMD was a treat. I loved the concept of the game and it was very grabbing. It's THE type of game I love and would love to dive into. The dungeon crawling aspect is fun, and how they utilized the guild system was quite brilliant. But I'd say what brings my review score down are terrible UI, party AI and some system commands.
EO series in general doesn't have that great of UI, and EMD perfectly incorporates and worsens it. Too many skills, too many items and limited number of buttons forces the player to constantly study and spend time on the menu option.
Party AI is the worst I've seen in a game. After 30+ hours of gameplay, I still don't know when the game prompts the leader (or the player) to input commands of the party members. The members use up the items that I don't want them to waste. They use their skills pointlessly (and waste MP) even if I click 'cancel' on the battle command that's occasionally prompted to the player. This really broke my immersion and raised the overall difficulties.
The part that I enjoyed the most was DOE battles, which I usually use the 'command all' skill to command all of my party members. The battle becomes a lot more enjoyable if I don't have to suffer the party AI.
The Fortress system was fun. I liked using the guild members (and jobs) that I left dormant for some time. Most of the fortress defence members I set were different from my main party so the fort battles were refreshing.
Job system is broken. There are 10 classes, and Runemaster, Medic, and Landsknecht are almost mandatory in an exploration party. It's difficult to make much notable progression without any of them. The other 7 classes are supporters or long-ranged fighters, and I really didn't get much use out of them. I think this type of job system was ok in the base EO games, since there are 5 party members and you could put at least 2 supporters, but in EMD, you can only put 1 supporter and the other classes go to waste. I tried to utilize the support classes as much as I could in the fortress battles but still didn't get much use out of them.
I loved the gameplay, but can't stop thinking that the overall game was a missed opportunity. Some parts seem rushed and I believe they needed some extra time in the oven (which I understand that this was not the type of game that would be granted with that much of a budget). Heck, I'm seeing frame drops on New 3DS XL. There were so many improvements they could've implemented. It's not a bad game by no means and I greatly enjoyed it. However, from an objective perspective, it's not a well-constructed game. And I'm disappointed to say that.
EMD is a good game, its just not great. There is plenty here for fans of dungeon crawlers and roguelike RPG's but it just doesn't hold up compared to the Etrian Odyssey games or the other Mystery Dungeon games I have played(I have not played Gates to Infinity) and while it should be viewed for what it is and not against EO games I just cant help but feel there is potential that was not quite reached.
Recommended for fans of dungeon crawlers and roguelike games but just because you were a fan of some of the earlier Pokemon Mystery dungeon games doesn't mean you are going to enjoy this game. I am really pleased so see they are releasing EMD2 as I really feel the combo of mystery dungeon and Etrian Odyssey is a winning formula and with some small balance tweaks here and there this crossover is sure to shine.
A horrible AI coupled with a maddening Difficulty right from the Start destroy any Fun one could have with this Combination of "Mystery Dungeon" and the Etrian Universe.
Monster can 1 Shot you in the second Dungeon you gain access to (the first is a tutorial Dungeon). Even if the Player does smart Choices when he recruits...even a "Paladin" normally known for the highest Defense and some basic Healing Ability, gets 1 shotted by a "Trash" Monster.
Avoid this Game it only brings out the frustated and swearing Side of us Gamers.
Another overrated japanese trash by Atlus. You can count on them to always disrespect the player's time, making very cheap games with little effort on their part and just padding them with endless brainless boring grinding, because they can. Then they can advertise "hundrends of hours of gameplay". Yeah right.
If you somehow don't value your life and your time, you can play this. I suppose it is better than just starring at a wall. The rest of us can play decent games.
SummaryFar off in the mountains, the small village Aslarga becomes a hub for adventurers looking for fame and fortune from the Mystery Dungeons. But dire challenges await even the most stalwart adventurers in Etrian Mystery Dungeon, a turn-based action RPG rogue like developed by ATLUS and Spike Chunsoft. The Nintendo 3DS exclusive mixes Etrian...