The first portion of Untold consists of a remix of the original Etrian Odyssey. Maybe it seems unsporting to beat up a sleeping camel-monster, but they're actually kind of jerks so it's OK. And it remains true in Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl, which is something of a remake yet practically a sequel, despite Untold's radical transformations to the underlying game. This central hook has remained true beginning with the original Etrian Odyssey in 2007 all the way through this year's Etrian Odyssey IV, despite the constant evolution of design on display across the games. Etrian Odyssey takes on a more even, measured pace. You can't simply blast through the game, because you need to record each step you take. In doing so, you form a connection to the labyrinth, in a sense making it your own through the discipline you apply to the process. Rather than simply wandering around and letting an automap sketch out the details of your line-of-sight, in Etrian Odyssey you chart your progress through each step of the dungeon by hand. Mapping makes the process of exploration wholly interactive - a commitment. It's not just that the process hearkens back to the olden days of video games in which players were expected to undertake that process with graph paper and pencil, clearly planting a flag on the old-school philosophy Atlus hoped to stake out with the series. It's mapping, I think, that really defines Etrian Odyssey. Mapping makes the process of exploration wholly interactive - you form a connection to the labyrinth, in a sense making it your own through the discipline you apply to the process. And every milestone you reach simply opens the door to new and more daunting challenges. You're left to puzzle out the best arrangement of skills and tactics on your own. In Etrian Odyssey, you begin with nothing and face ferocious resistance from powerful enemies that attempt to thwart you every step of the way. You build characters from scratch, giving them a name and a class and outfitting them with a handful of skills. Actually, before you even get that far, you have to create a guild. In some ways, it's the effective opposite of an Elder Scrolls game, where you're able to explore a massive world with little trouble here, you're making incredibly slow progress through a confined and clearly defined space, even as you lend it that very definition.Įtrian Odyssey games invariably begin with a mission that requires the player to map - physically map, using the stylus as a virtual pen on a "sheet" of fake graph paper - the dungeons that comprise very nearly the whole of the game. Where contemporary RPGs generally allow you to glide right on through them with little effort, Etrian Odyssey expects you to make a genuine effort before it'll cede victory. They recognized that a little friction in a video game serves to heighten its impact - that a bit of struggle creates greater appreciation of success. Its creators deliberately turned back the hands of time in many ways for the benefit of their game. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!Įtrian Odyssey may be an invention of the past decade, but it's also a child of the early days of computer RPGs. With a MOBA like League of Legends, where you're expected to spend 100 hours or more simply learning the basics, the deep learning curve and intense competition lend a thrill to any victory you manage to eke out. In World of Warcraft, time and socialization help heighten your sense of commitment to your chosen role. In something like Monster Hunter, the deliberately unfriendly interface and need to rely on friends create a high barrier to entry that makes eventual victory deeply satisfying. Precisely what constitutes great immersion varies from game to game. Big budgets and a desperate desire to imitate Hollywood don't make games great player immersion and the ability to inspire a sense of commitment do. A player interacts: Guiding the action, learning the rules, deciphering the mechanics. Games aren't like film or music, where the audience sits passively and lets waves of entertainment wash over them. It makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Video games stand apart from other mediums for their interactivity. Not necessarily a financial investment, but a commitment of time, attention, effort, and enthusiasm. To my mind, the best and most satisfying games tend to be the ones that require the greatest investment from the player. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team. This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |