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Etrian Odyssey IV Sailing To 3DS With More Approachable Casual Difficulty Level

By Spencer . February 21, 2012 . 4:04pm

Early leaks from Famitsu may have spilled one of tomorrow’s Nintendo Direct announcements. Etrian Odyssey, Atlus’ Wizardry-like dungeon crawling series, is coming to the Nintendo 3DS.

Etrian Odyssey IV: Legend of the Giant God was revealed along with seven jobs. Players can choose swordsman, medic, fortress, rune master, nightseeker, sniper or dancer. Atlus aims to make Etrian Odyssey IV more approachable than previous games with an additional casual difficulty setting. Beginners can choose this while seasoned Etrian Odyssey adventurers can pick normal. The difficulty setting can be changed at anytime during the game so players who want more of a challenge can switch to normal.

One surprise is Princess Mononoke artist Nizo Yamamoto is creating background art for Etrain Odyssey IV. Other staff members include familiar Etrain Odyssey staff like Yuji Himukai (character designer), Shin Nagasawa (monster designer), and Yuzu Koshiro (sound). Daisuke Kaneda, battle advisor on the original Etrian Odyssey and director of Trauma Team, is the director on Etrian Odyssey IV.

Etrain Odyssey IV is slated for release on July 5 and if you reserve the game you’ll get a booklet and a soundtrack CD as a bonus.

Read more stories about Etrian Odyssey IV & Nintendo 3DS on Siliconera.

http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
I was hoping they would have another entry of Etrian Odyssey. The current one I have is third one.
I still haven’t gotten far on it. It’s one of my personal favorites.

Exkaiser
How far are you in it? I picked it up on day one, but it fell back on my play list until just recently, when I powered through the entire second game (which I also bought on day one but lost track of…) and now I’m up to the third stratum on EOIII.
The whole time I was playing EOII, I was telling myself “Oh man, I can’t wait to finally play the third game!”

http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
I’m still like on the second part. I haven’t completed the Sea Charting mission yet.
Right now, I haven’t play it much recently. And I usually don’t have time for it.

Wafflenaut
ATLUS, you never cease to please me. Good show.
Edit: And it has Yuzo Koshiro? Pre-Ordered.
Edit Edit: Thank you Solidus.

SolidusSnake
You mean, “never cease to please,” right? o_O

Thomas Maloney
True, but it still has Yuzo Koshiro. So I don’t even care about the grammatical errors right now~

IvanAzure
Cool, I loved the Etrian Odyssey games on DS. Though they took me some time before being playable at all (xD), they did feel really rewarding when I got to achieve success in exploring the labyrinth. :3
I really hope I won’t use the “Casual Mode”, but I do think it’s a welcome addition. ^^ Anyway, it’s another game for my “must-have” 3DS list.~ :)

http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
I’m dying to get this one but it have to wait after I get my Vita.

IvanAzure
Well, I hope you enjoy getting the game regardless getting it on release or not. ;)
I’ll probably not get it on release anyway, but I know I’ll enjoy it (even if it’s not a priority for me to get this game). ^^

riceisnice
Omg. I never thought I’d hear any news about this game. I’m happy it’s still alive.
And double omg! Yuzo Koshiro!!
http://twitter.com/KeionKirby HoshiKirby
YESSSS! Finally! The news I was waiting for!!!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=749504598 Shane Guidaboni
Tears of joy. This game will lend itself perfectly for 3D.
Novac
Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
RPGRocker
Great… now I need a Vita for Ys and a 3DS for Etrian Odyssey.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=749504598 Shane Guidaboni
I’m assuming casual mode will just adjust damage levels? I won’t use it, but it’s cool for people that might have been afraid to try the series before.
http://amc9988.deviantart.com/ amc99
EO IV?! *faints*
SolidusSnake
Looks like I’m getting a 3DS.
Casual difficulty level? Whatever, the difficulty of this series has always been grossly exaggerated. You just have to be careful and watch out for F.O.E.!
Now, we just need someone to localize Beyond the Labyrinth.

theworldofnoboundries
Konami bring us BtL plizzzzzz.
Exkaiser
I eat F.O.E.s for breakfast.
Dinolich soup is just heavenly.

solbalmung
Atlus USA, heared that?
NOW GET TO WORK ALREADY!
Jokes aside, can we have this localized Atlus ;-;?

http://www.jb2x.com/wordpress/ JB2X
Sorry, I’m gonna have to be “that guy”:
It’s “heard”, not “heared”. “Heared” isn’t even a word :/

mirumu
It’s nice they’re trying to be welcoming to a wider range of players, but at the same time it won’t be the same without the overpowered FOE.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=749504598 Shane Guidaboni
I don’t think anything has changed. You can still play it as hard as you like. There’s just an easy mode now.

mirumu
That’s not quite what I meant. The difficulty and FOE encounters are what defined Etrian Odyssey to some extent, so someone playing on casual difficulty would would be experiencing something a bit different.
It’d be like adding a casual difficulty to Dark Souls. It still might be good, but the game’s character wouldn’t be the same.
I mean how many games get music videos made about their difficulty?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Gk5HQreW0

http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
I know the high difficulty defines Etrian Odyssey well. But at the same time, most would be intimidated by it.
Of course, they allow the option to switch difficulties anytime you wish.
I’m sure you’ll still be able to face higher foes and whatnot.
I really don’t see how this would be an issue. Unless I’m getting this wrong, correct me, if you please.

mirumu
It’s not an issue, and if either of my posts sounded like a complaint they weren’t meant to.
I was merely making the observation that since high difficulty has
always been part of Etrian Odyssey’s appeal, then someone playing on
casual difficulty won’t be able to experience one of the things that
long time fans have liked about this series.
http://twitter.com/DanijoEX DanijoEX
I see. Well, whatever floats your boat, I guess.
Solomon_Kano
Except if that high difficulty appealed to them in the first place we’d never have this mode. I get what you’re saying, but that’d likely be a non-issue to anyone who was put off by the series prior.
Difficulty is only part of the experience after all, so it’s no loss that people will have the opportunity to experience it at a lower setting — especially since the alternative would likely be to not play the game at all.

chicken_and_rofls
Sorry, but attitudes like this really bother me. Why do you care how other people experience a game? If someone wants to play on easy, that’s their prerogative. You may like the high difficulty, but others don’t. It’s far better to give people options rather than dictate how they should or shouldn’t enjoy a certain game.

mirumu
*sigh* You didn’t even read what I wrote did you? Where exactly did I “dictate” anything?…or say the game could only be enjoyed a certain way?
chicken_and_rofls
I did read what you wrote, hence why I responded to it.
You’re lamenting the existence of an added feature that has no impact on your personal enjoyment of the game. Using the feature may change the character of the game for you, but not for other people, so there is absolutely nothing to act all wistful about. Also, I never said anything about you “dictating.” I was referring to the fact that it’s better for DEVELOPERS to give their players options rather than dictate that they may only enjoy a game because of its excruciating difficulty.
mirumu
No, you’re putting words in my mouth I never said. I’m actually happy they’re adding easy mode hence why I wrote “It’s nice they’re trying to be welcoming to a wider range of players” in my original post. I see the addition of this new difficulty setting as a good thing.
Regarding my other comments let me explain it this way instead. Imagine Namco released a SoulCalibur game where the characters didn’t have swords. Or Square Enix released a Final Fantasy without Chocobos or a character called Cid. I’m not saying it’s bad, merely that it’s different. I’m not saying anything more than that. If you read more out of it then don’t blame me.
Exkaiser
The issue isn’t the existence of an easy mode. It’s just that an easy RPG has a completely different character from what Etrian is. You might as well be playing a different game- especially since Etrian is a game entirely focused on its style and feel of gameplay and not storytelling. The key defining philosophy of the game is the fear of death instilled in the player, but a mode in which death is not an issue is counter-intuitive to the nature of the game.
On the other hand, if the difficulty of the gameplay is not changed too much, then it might as well not even be a separate difficulty.
It’s possible that the Casual Mode is not a change of statistics or battle intensity, but a lessening of consequences- for example, your party being warped to town and losing money when they get wiped instead of getting game over. That seems like a much better way to make the game more accessible without losing the spirit of the game with less dangerous encounters.
There isn’t very much information on what exactly the easy mode entails yet, but I do hope it falls towards the latter approach.
chicken_and_rofls
“The key defining philosophy of the game is the fear of death instilled in the player, but a mode in which death is not an issue is counter-intuitive to the nature of the game.” This is true for you, but not for others. I’m sure plenty of people consider defining trait of Etrian Odyssey to be its mapping system, the artwork, or something else; not the difficulty of a combat. A mode that accommodates these people without frustrating them is not “counter-intuitive to the nature of the game” when that mode is entirely optional.
I could understand your concern if the gamemakers were removing a feature that you personally enjoyed, but that’s not what’s going on. Your enjoyment of the game will not be affected. I could also understand if you were asking for an easy mode that retains some level of combat difficulty because you or others would like to make use of that feature. But that’s not what seems to be going on either. As far as I can tell, you’re just worried that other people will unwittingly choose easy mode and not have a chance to experience the things you find enjoyable about Etrian Odyssey.
But so what? People who pick easy mode probably aren’t the type who’d enjoy this series’ normal level of difficulty. It’s really unlikely that this feature will turn away people who otherwise would’ve become fans. It’s not going to harm the franchise or somehow change the likelihood of future games. The only thing it will do is allow people to enjoy the game in a different way.
And really, why does it matter if new players like Etrian Odyssey IV for something other than it’s difficulty? How other people choose to enjoy the game has nothing to do with you. Worrying about this sort of thing is like worrying about whether Starbucks should sell decaf coffee. To you, the entire point of coffee may be the caffeine. But for other people it’s not. If Starbucks wants to sell them decaf, why should you care?
Be happy that a game you like is adding a feature that should increase the fanbase.
Exkaiser
Please do not put words into my mouth. You are acting like I am saying “EASY MODE IS AWFUL, HOW DARE ATLUS ALLOW CASUALS TO PLAY MY PRECIOUS ETRIAN.”
I’m not.
Not at all.
You are, perhaps, confusing my post with those of the posters above me, some of which insinuate easy mode is a bad idea. I’m not adversarial here.
What I am saying is that an easy difficulty creates a game that is, at its core, different from Etrian Odyssey. It’ll have the same trappings and wallpaper, but it won’t be the same spirit. It might possibly draw in more people, but they won’t be playing quite the same game.
I did not even insinuate that was a bad thing. It’s just different. To use a coffee analogy, Etrian is a black brew. Cream and sugar make it appealing to people who aren’t normally interested in black coffee, but it’s no longer black, is it? This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just different. The new fans are not interested in the same thing as what the thing normally is.
I only put forth the hope that the Casual mode was not the type of change that would change the spirit of the game- precisely because I am a fan of the series and would like others to be able to enjoy it, brutal spirit and all, but without being deterred by complete and utter defeats. Like a black coffee with sugar but no cream.
But hey, I like my coffee hot as hell and blacker than a moonless night. And decaf.
To compare it to another game franchise, take Shin Megami Tensei and the Persona subseries. Persona (P3 and 4, specifically) was able to appeal to a larger audience than the regular SMT game. However, much of this wider audience actually doesn’t like other SMT games. They aren’t Megaten fans, they’re Persona fans.
Which is, of course, not a problem (well, a lot of old fogey megaten fans like to wave their canes and tell those Persona fans to get offa their lawns, but not this one). It just, instead of drawing more people into the Megaten fanbase, created a new fanbase that happens to overlap into some of the same space as the existing one.
Again, I am not arguing that this is bad. I’m simply discussing it. Ya dig it? We cool? Cool.
TL;DR: I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I just wonder if the casual mode will really be the same game or if it’ll lose the spirit of the thing. I also hope and trust that Atlus will be able to retain the spirit while making it accessible. Sorry it was such a long post. I’m really not arguing, honest!

OneOkami
I guess you can’t have it both ways. The traditional Etrian Odyssey experience is intimidating to a lot of people. Making the experience more welcoming to people who would otherwise be turned off by it naturally requires alteration. You can’t make a less intimidating Etrian Odyssey experience without modifying the experience, and you can’t maintain the same experience without making it just as intimidating.

http://twitter.com/nectarsis Byron Brauner
Man and with me picking up my Vita tomorrow, there FINALLY comes a game that tips me to buy a 3DS…though it won’t be here for awhile that buys me some time.
Enda O’ Boyle
IM SO PSYCHED
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Thomas Maloney
Back to the Golden Deer Pub I go.
Draparde
Awesome! i can’t wait for this! :D
theworldofnoboundries
OMG 3DS is getting more goodness lol. Another game that i must buy hiks…..damn when is my pay going to come T_T.
http://twitter.com/matthewn4444 Matthew Ng
Best news all year (until localization). Now I must get a 3DS. I also hope it stays 2D (3D animations are fine), I didn’t like how 7th dragon was moved into 3D
RX79V
When I first saw the news, I almost thought there were 2 games announced, EO4 and another game about Ideon. :P
Hopefully more is revealed in Nintendo Direct tomorrow.

Exkaiser
Space Runaway Etrian?

Phlo
This confirms it, I’m getting a 3DS.
http://twitter.com/FaithlessMr Bruno Silva
Amazing staff working on this game. Do want.
pockystix
I wonder if we’ll be able to make the characters this time, instead of just choosing presets. . .

Exkaiser
What, you mean like choosing hair and such? Not a chance. They might bump the number of portraits up to 3 for each gender for each class, but they’re probably going to stick to 2 each with color swaps.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1769064526 Vivian Mai
F O E on a 3DS?
Imma get 3DS when this gets localized. So much want.
Solomon_Kano
Princess Mononoke artist… well, guess I’ll be jumping into this series on 3DS as well.
I played one of the older ones… for all of 5 minutes. Having enjoyed that (short) experience is enough for me to give this a go.
Quadsdat
I hope that with the addition of a casual difficulty, there will be another similar difficulty on the other side of the spectrum.
I also hope for the return of the seafaring features from 3. I really enjoyed that.

Exkaiser
We’re getting it in the form of airship exploration, looks like.

http://www.facebook.com/JaeWhy SasuleUchiha
I’ve never played the older series but might be getting this one, Is it a sequel game or completely new like FF ?

Exkaiser
Completely new. They all take place in the same world (and your guild from the first game can in-story be the heroes of the second game), but each game tells its own story.

http://www.facebook.com/JaeWhy SasuleUchiha
Awesome

http://twitter.com/VXLbeast VXLbeast
Never played one of these games. Any good?

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000172099718 Dominic Hunter
Not unless you just love 1998-style 1st person dungeon crawling tradidtional RPG’s

http://twitter.com/VXLbeast VXLbeast
Never played one of those either. 0.o

Exkaiser
Fantastic.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000172099718 Dominic Hunter
So whats with this idea that you can just “turn down” a finished game’s difficulty level without changing anything else, and still expect it to be just as much fun? Games typically aren’t designed that way, ESPECIALLY traditional JRPG’s, where it’s all about the numbers anyway.

puchinri
Well, it sounds like the idea is actually to welcome people to a “turned down” version so they can get acquainted and move on to the “turned up” version. Which means they will be having just as much fun, I would guess.
Sounds smart to me, anyway.
Exkaiser
You can’t, but it doesn’t matter because no adventurer worth their salt will even touch Casual mode.

SetzerGabbiani
I’ve invested so many hours into EO 1-3 over the years, it’s kind of embarrassing. At the end of the day you really feel like you’ve accomplished something in this series…particularly when you can go back and take out an FOE you could barely handle previously with a single character. Oh the satisfaction!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001769899351 Reno Evangelista
The classes sound like a return to the original two games’ system.
Hopefully it’s not too alike. I mean, I love the EO series but I don’t want it to be one of those nostalgia-bogged franchises where someone complains about every tiny change. EO3 rewriting the roster completely to fit the naval kingdoms setting was nice.

Exkaiser
They’ll probably fit the same roles as the EOI/II counterparts, but have totally new skill sets. Like how Landsknecht and Gladiator or Protector and Hoplite are different.

Ashurei
Worst best news ever. I’ve been waiting with bated breath for this news, but now I have to get a 3DS. Damn!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3ITUZUKPZYUV2VUCVXUW3DVO6Y AJ
I don’t care, as long as Yuzo Koshiro composes for this game….wait a minute.
A new Etrian Odyssey.
That Hatsune Miku game
A “Layton-like Rhythm game”
A Fire Emblem game that would release the same was as a common Pokemon game
And a few other confirmed examples….
Those rumors are true. We might be getting The Silver Case on 3DS!! YES!
http://myanimelist.net/profile/Kuronoa Kuronoa
It’s Atlus, difficulty on easy is like everybody else normal. Well okay maybe not but I like to think it is.

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