RPGWatch Feature: The Whole Game in My Hand #6

Dhruin

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Mike Anderson takes on the world of handheld RPG gaming with his latest entry in this series. As usual, Mike rounds up the recent releases on the PSP, DS and other formats and the feature is a full review of Etrian Odyssey - a classic hardcore title the likes of which is no longer made commercially for them PC. Here is a sample:
There seems to be something of a RPG revival happening on Nintendo's handhelds recently - at the end of last year there was Mazes of Fate for the GBA (DS version in progress as noted above), then earlier this year there was the rogue-like Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja, and now we have Etrian Odyssey. This game hearkens back to classic party-based dungeon romps such as the early Might & Magic games and The Bard's Tale as well as many others. It is one of the best games I have played this year, but also one of those experiences sure to split opinions - it is brutally hard, extremely long and unforgiving, and is basically a dungeon crawl. I would term this a 'narrowband release', as it is really not made for the audience who are the growth crowd of Nintendo's 'Touch Generations' playing Cooking Mama or Brain Age, nor is it for younger console-centric folks who see Final Fantasy as the origins of the role-playing genre.
Read it all here.
More information.
 
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My heart stopped beating there for a second when I read Dungeon Keeper: Hunting Ground .. what a cruel typo, I would have bought a PSP for that ^^
 
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Now if only I had a DS and if only Etrian Odyssey was out in the UK.
 
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My heart stopped beating there for a second when I read Dungeon Keeper: Hunting Ground .. what a cruel typo, I would have bought a PSP for that ^^

Fixed ... thanks for that. I kept messing it up because I had picked up Dungeon Keeper for the PC at the recommendation of some folks here!
 
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Preview of next article:
- D & D Tactics (PSP) - strategy RPG
- The Settlers (DS) - strategy game
- Dragoneers Aria (PSP) - jRPG
- Luminous Arc (DS) - strategy RPG
- Jeanne D"Arc (PSP) - strategy RPG
- Heroes of Mana (DS) - strategy RPG
- Final Fantasy II (PSP) - jRPG
- (Harvest Moon) Rune Factory (DS) - fantasy adventure
- Riviera: The Promised Land (PSP) - jRPG
- Tales of The World: Radiant Mythology (PSP) - jRPG
 
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Eagerly awaiting your review of:

Final Fantasy II (PSP) - jRPG

If you can make some comparisons to FF1 which I have fond memories of.

Please let us know here on rpgwatch when you've reviewed it. Also are there any decent wizardry/might and magic like games on PSP...only handheld my niece has which I "borrow" sometimes. I've been playing Wiz 7 on her PC and damn that game is much harder then Wiz 8.

Thanks!
 
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Well, Final Fantasy I for PSP is in this article ... and FFII doesn't fare any better. Indeed it does worse because it simply hasn't aged well and they didn't make any real changes.

As for a Wiz-like, the DS has better options than the PSP now, especially with Etrian Odyssey.
 
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First I want to thank Mike for doing these great handheld reviews - they've really opened my mind about handheld gaming. I've been reading his articles over the past year or so and I ended up getting a DS about a month ago so I wouldn't miss out on these games. Currently I'm in the midst of Etrian Odyssey, and I can't agree with his article enough. If you love old school games like Wizardry, Might & Magic, or Bard's Tale then you should definitely play this game. The handhelds seem to be a refuge where old school RPGs live on!
 
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Damn, I didn't really want to buy a console/handheld but it seems Etrian Odyssey might be what I'm looking for. Maybe I can swing the wife into getting one for her niece again and I can "borrow" it.

Thanks for the insight Mike but it does suck that the PC doesn't seem to have any old school RPG's like I mentioned coming out.
 
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Thanks for the insight Mike but it does suck that the PC doesn't seem to have any old school RPG's like I mentioned coming out.
I know that in reality it does, but I have not been playing handhelds as well as PC games that so long as good games come out for one of my platforms I'm satisfied.
 
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Long time lurker, looking forward to Luminous Arc comments ... about to start Etrian Odyssey which I understand from several sources is sure to be a real treat.
 
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DARNIT!!!

Once again your review has sold me on a game that is nearly impossible to find! Everywhere I went, both brick-and-mortar and online, was out of stock of Etrian Odyssey.
 
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DARNIT!!!

Once again your review has sold me on a game that is nearly impossible to find! Everywhere I went, both brick-and-mortar and online, was out of stock of Etrian Odyssey.

Yep, EO was hard-to-find just a month or two after release. I don't think the developers/publisher expected the game would be so popular and only pressed a small amount in the first batch. Hopefully, they will re-release as part of a "Gold Edition" or compilation.

I feel very lucky to have purchased my copy when I did. What a wonderful return to Wiz-style gaming this has been. It is now my "go-to" RPG that I peck away at whenever I've tired of the latest game du jour. Great, simple gameplay mechanics, a wonderful mapping system, excellent skill/stat system... just a joy to play.
 
Since I've decided to get a handheld, I've been paying close attention to game availability, and it seems to me that DS games are largely (aside from the "core" titles) something to buy upon release because they don't stay around for long. And there also seems to be a noticeable gap in North American vs European availability.
So I suspect eBay would be the place to go for a lot of the non-core DS games.
 
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Gallifrey - the PSP has a similar problem with availability. Getting Puzzle Quest for *any* platform was a real problem for a while, and people had loads of problems finding Dungeon Maker and Brave Story and so on. Only big name things or stuff by Sony seems to get stocked (so it is easy to find Jeanne D"Arc, for example)
 
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One of the games I want to get a DS for is the DS version of Anno 1701 but as near as I can tell it's never been released in North America. All the eBay copies come from Europe, and I've never seen the game for sale on-line here, anywhere.
 
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One of the games I want to get a DS for is the DS version of Anno 1701 but as near as I can tell it's never been released in North America. All the eBay copies come from Europe, and I've never seen the game for sale on-line here, anywhere.

Apparently Disney got the US rights and I have no clue when they plan to release it ...
 
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Disney? Ok...
At least that's something though. I figured with Sunflowers (the publisher) folding, that the DS version would utterly vanish.
 
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Since when is cashing in the chips by selling to a bigger competitor considered "folding"?
 
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Thanks (belatedly) for the review. I'm trying to figure out which games to get when I get a DS (So that I can play the Sonic game), and this article helped a ton!
 
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