EltheKvothe

Etrian Odyssey HD isn't the first first-person dungeon crawler I've played, but it's certainly the first one I've beaten and truly enjoyed.Story: While I understand that in most games of this genre, the plot often serves just to support the gameplay, the story in EO is actually very enjoyable. It reminded me a lot of the Made in Abyss concept, which happens to be one of my favorite anime of all time. Since EO predates MiA, I find the concept to be original and intriguing for its time.Graphics and Art Style: While I don't think anyone expects much in terms of graphics when playing a first-person dungeon crawler, the game runs smoothly. However, the art style is amazing to me. The portrait designs are great, and the enemy designs are both beautiful and imaginative.Music: Yuzo Koshiro has done an amazing job with this OST. Many of the tracks are so memorable that I'd probably recognize them instantly in the future. However, the music does get repetitive fairly quickly, to the point where I had to turn the volume off and listen to something else while playing. I understand that this is likely a distinctive characteristic of the genre, but I would have enjoyed it more if there were additional exploration tracks, for instance.Gameplay: The gameplay is fun and quite unique. I really loved having to draw my own map, and in this version, I appreciated the option to enable some quality-of-life features that made map drawing easier and faster. While the exploration aspect is the game's strongest point, it's also reminiscent of older RPGs that require a lot of grinding. I can see how this might turn some people away, but I personally enjoy grinding, especially while watching a YouTube video, so it wasn’t an issue for me.Battle System: EO HD offers a fairly standard dungeon crawler experience but with quality-of-life features that make it much smoother. Random encounters can be completed quickly using the auto-combat feature, while FOE and boss fights require strategic thinking and planning. This depth comes from a detailed and enjoyable skill tree that allows for plenty of customization.Overall, the game was an amazing experience for me, though not as much in the post-game. I enjoyed the main game so much that I completed every single side quest and even tackled some of the super-bosses. I was having so much fun that I aimed to 100% the game and fully planned to see it through.Sigh... the post-game is the worst I've ever encountered in a video game. The level designs become convoluted, outright annoying, and mind-numbing. I honestly believe the post-game is literally unplayable without a guide, and barely playable even with ****'s not the combat that's frustrating, but the mapping and level designs. I tried tackling B26F and B27F with a guide, and the experience was abysmal. I honestly had a terrible time with it, and it felt more like I was doing a chore or a second job than enjoying the game.I was so disappointed because I really wanted this experience to last longer. However, the fact that I still wanted more from a game that took me 50 hours to complete says something positive in itself.

Sigh... I really wanted to like this game. The hand-drawn art style is beautiful and unique. The OST by Masashi Hamauzu gave me strong FFX vibes, and considering that's my favorite OST of all time, I had high hopes. With a story written by Yoshitaka Murayama of Suikoden fame, I was pretty sure I was in for a treat. And for the most part, I was. The game has a slow, very slow, and rough start. The first 10 hours feel more like a tutorial than anything else, and 10 hours to get into the real meat of the game is a lot, especially for a 35-45 hour game. By the 10-hour mark, I had reached chapter 20, and to my knowledge, the game has 20 more chapters to go. So, half the chapters of the game feel (to me at least) like a tutorial. After the 10-hour mark, the game opens up and turns into a somewhat open-world RPG. You have gathered most of your team members and can build your group as you see fit, travel the world, gather NPCs to fortify and level up your five guilds (which are reminiscent of your castle in Suikoden games), and traverse the sea to learn more about the world and the antagonists of the story. But here lie the issues I had with the game. First of all, I could not get invested in the plot. I don't know why, but it just didn't grab me. I wasn't interested in the world and its problems, I didn't hate the antagonists enough, and overall, the story felt slow to me. The second issue was with the progression system, both for the guilds and the units. To level up the guilds, you have to recruit NPCs from around the world. While this gave me strong Suikoden vibes (I love the Suikoden games), it required a lot of legwork. I had to travel back to places I had already visited countless times, mostly on foot, and frankly, I didn't find the NPCs all that interesting. Furthermore, the NPCs cannot join your party to fight alongside you, and they don't even contribute to the guilds by providing new services; they are just fodder for guild XP. Your units do not traditionally level up; instead, their weapons improve. They randomly learn new moves for the weapons they use most, and those moves randomly level up... Overall, I enjoyed the art style, characters, and OST. I saw some really interesting ideas in the tactical combat, weapon progression, and guild systems. However, I also found my time with the game boring. I felt some enthusiasm when I gathered the whole group, when the world opened up, and when all the guilds came together. For about 5-10 hours, I enjoyed gathering new guild members, leveling up my guilds, and building the right tactics for party combats. But, at the same time, the game felt grindy, slow, and convoluted to me. While I don't usually focus on voice acting in RPGs, and it's rarely an issue for me whether it's present, absent, or even if it's not great, for some reason, the lack of voice acting in this game was oddly noticeable. Especially during cutscenes, the direction was such that I expected to hear the characters talking. I understand that many games, especially on portable consoles, struggle with voice acting quality, but this game felt barren without it. Lastly, I played the HD Remastered version on Steam, and I experienced at least 4 hard crashes during my 23 hours of gameplay. This prompted me to use the quicksave button frequently and made me anxious about my progress. All in all, I don't believe The Alliance Alive to be a bad game; it's just not the game for me. Despite loving the art style, soundtrack, and many aspects of the gameplay, I might consider returning to it with a guide. However, if I have to play a game following a guide, it begs the question: am I truly enjoying the game? I retired at Chapter 24, 23 hours into the game.

The darkest fairy tale I've ever experienced in video game form. **Gameplay 7/10**: While the game boasts an innovative and unique combat system with the Judgement Ring, it has yet to reach its full potential. The sequel introduces more quality of life improvements to this system, including enhanced visual quality, more customization options, and an overall superior experience. This isn't to say the system in this game isn't fantastic—it’s just not flawless.**Story 10/10**: An incredible journey spanning two continents, set in an alternate universe where historical events are intertwined with fiction and mythology, creating a plot rich with mystery and the occult. **Visuals/Atmosphere 8/10**: Despite the graphics occasionally resembling PS1 games and the cutscenes being almost atrocious (possibly the worst I've seen on the PS2), the atmosphere and haunting backgrounds elevate this game significantly. The ambiance is top-notch, eerie, and captivating (the Blue Castle background might be my favorite setting in any game I've ever played). **Characters 8/10**: For me, the main characters of the game are Yuri, Alice, and Halley. These characters are well-crafted, deeply developed, and thoroughly fleshed out. The rest of the cast served more as comic relief without significant character development. For instance, I felt like I knew nothing about Margarette or Zhuzhen. I wish the rest of the cast had been better developed, especially given the game's relatively short length. **Music 9/10**: The OST is largely memorable and perfectly complements the game's atmosphere, adding a sense of mystery and darkness. Unfortunately, a few tracks (mostly town themes) broke my immersion. **Voice Acting 5/10**: The voice acting is borderline bad, but tolerable. Voice acting wasn't a major focus in the West during the PS2 era, so this is understandable. Would I prefer the game without voice acting? I'm not sure, but I would like to try the Japanese voice acting in my next playthrough. **UI 10/10**: While not typically a major concern, I found the menus and index in this game to be exceptional. I read every description of every item and enemy, and it was truly engaging. Overall, this is realistically an 8.5/10 game. So, why am I giving it a 10? Because I have never played anything like it. While the sequel surpasses the first game in almost every aspect, improving significantly on all fronts, it loses some of the atmosphere that defined Shadow Hearts and Koudelka. It takes a more humorous approach, which I also enjoy, but the first game’s haunting tone resonates more with me. Ultimately, I've decided to give a 10/10 to any game that compels me to start a second playthrough immediately, and this is one of those rare games.

- Amazing OST. - More Balanced and More Fun Combat System than previous trails, with more balanced arts and surprise attacks for faster farming. - Best story in any Trails game thus far. - Amazing Characters and Character Development. - Greatest entry to the Trails series so far.