"Oh Atlus made this? Is this any different from their usual RPGs?"
Dies and get sent back to the title screen loosing all progress
"Nope. All present and accounted for."
This turn-based RPG is quite the dungeon crawler. The main gimmick is that you have to draw the dungeon maps yourself. This can be awkward with the new control scheme as the originals had you use the DS touch screen, but there is a option to have it automatically draw floors and walls you touch. I know some might feel this hurts the vibe of the dungeon mapping, but realistically I don't see how else they could've pulled it off on controller only. There's a reason why DS and 3DS remasters aren't too common, the dual screens are extremely awkward to redesign with one screen and no touch compatability. That said there's still a lot the game won't automatically draw for you. You have many icons that you can stamp on the map such as chests, doors, tents, gathering point icons, and so forth. While many have intended purposes on how to use them, others are more versatile to allow for your own personal map making. An example being I had trouble marking the map where the dungeon floor had teleporters. After some fiddling, I eventually settled on putting down fire floor markers to indicate where the teleporters activate and a arrow that points to where it teleports too. Can even add some text notes for more specific reminders.
But why bother with dungeon mapping? Oh many reasons. A big one is that, on death, you lose all your progress but have the option to keep your mapping. This made some game overs not sting as badly since I now had a better idea where I needed to go and where the treasure was. These floors are all big and winding, and can blend in with each other with some samey corridors and turns. Normally that wouldn't make for interesting or engaging dungeon design, but getting lost is kind of the point if you neglect the map. The dungeon is also seperated by distinct sections, but you can only return to the dungeon at the beginning or end of the these stratums. And you'll be thanking yourself when you're backtracking for quests and items, and have laid out every shortcut on every floor. Mapping can take time at the moment, but it will save more in the long run. Especially when dealing with the infamous F.O.E.s
Most of the time encounters are random, albeit they provide you some kind of glowing circle on the U.I. that will gradually turn red when you're about to be thrusted into battle. A F.O.E. though is a roaming monster that are extremely dangerous. Some you could potentially fight and win when you first encounter them, but they can drain your resources and health (or lives) if you take them lightly. This is where the map becomes your savior as many of the F.O.E.s in the game have distinct patterns and behaviors. Some will chase you, some are on patrol, some will only approach you if you're already in a battle with another monster. Yes that can happen. The F.O.E.s are still on the move even in combat, and can ambush you while your dealing with the usual monsters. They're the cherry on top of this mapping system as it adds more urgency to take notes on where these monsters are and what their patterns are.
As for the RPG system themselves they're all around solid. You have a class system in which they all fill distinct roles, plus subclassing later in the game to add a wide berth of options to your party. Admittedly there are a few classes that either too good not too have, or are outshined by others. Not helped by the high difficulty which can push creativity and expression for some, while for others it'll cause them to look up "Best Parties" instead and take away a lot of fun problem solving. It can also be time consuming to raise extra party members apart from the main five you'll have through your whole journey. Only members in the active party earn experience, and new recruits start at Level 1. You can retire a party member which will allow you to recruit a higher level explorer with added stat bonuses, but you'll be loosing another party member permanently. Personally, make use of the 'picnic mode' added to this remaster. It makes the game very easy, but more importantly it substantially increases the gain of experience points. Makes things much smoother if aren't keen on long grind times, though I hadn't grinded a lot since I did a lot of side quests.
A small quibble I have with these RPGs is that I'm not the biggest fan of how these turn-based games operate when it comes to turn order. There's probably a name for this, but essentially think of the difference between RPGs when selecting your commands. Games like Persona, the Mario RPGs, and Octopath have characters initiate their action the moment a command is given. Then you got Pokémon, Dragon Quest (not XI), and Etrian Odyssey here where you select all your commands for all your party members then proceed to watch it play out. This makes it so you have to plan better for what the enemy can do, but it can also make battles feel more luck-based then I feel is necessary. Sometimes your healer turns to stone before pulling off their resurrection spell, sometimes you give a buff to a now dead party member, sometimes your damage dealer became confused and wasted their turn. It's a lot of unpredictability which can push the boundaries of enjoyable failure and frustrating failure. At least when it comes to when turn orders operate they appear consistent. I never had my support ninja randomly move slower then my DPS, which is important since that means I can consistently debuff the enemies defense the same turn my arbalist shoots a cannon at the bosses face.
Story is more involved then I was expecting. I thought this be akin to old-school dungeon crawlers with a story that exists solely for set-dressing, but it actually does more then that. I kept forgetting this game is rated T, and that made the darker moments catch me off guard. I would say I wished the story presentation was more interesting with only having single static portraits for every character, but it is a DS game so I can't fault it too much. It's not a story that'll stick with me, but it tried a lot harder then it needed and I have to give kudos to that. Just watch what you say to others when exploring the labyrinth.
While I wouldn't call myself a fan of this franchise after finishing this, it did satisfy my RPG craving I've had and then some. Solid recommendation to RPG lovers, maybe think twice if you aren't a fan of turn-based combat.
There's a farmer class. They do some honest work I tell ya.
Dies and get sent back to the title screen loosing all progress
"Nope. All present and accounted for."
This turn-based RPG is quite the dungeon crawler. The main gimmick is that you have to draw the dungeon maps yourself. This can be awkward with the new control scheme as the originals had you use the DS touch screen, but there is a option to have it automatically draw floors and walls you touch. I know some might feel this hurts the vibe of the dungeon mapping, but realistically I don't see how else they could've pulled it off on controller only. There's a reason why DS and 3DS remasters aren't too common, the dual screens are extremely awkward to redesign with one screen and no touch compatability. That said there's still a lot the game won't automatically draw for you. You have many icons that you can stamp on the map such as chests, doors, tents, gathering point icons, and so forth. While many have intended purposes on how to use them, others are more versatile to allow for your own personal map making. An example being I had trouble marking the map where the dungeon floor had teleporters. After some fiddling, I eventually settled on putting down fire floor markers to indicate where the teleporters activate and a arrow that points to where it teleports too. Can even add some text notes for more specific reminders.
But why bother with dungeon mapping? Oh many reasons. A big one is that, on death, you lose all your progress but have the option to keep your mapping. This made some game overs not sting as badly since I now had a better idea where I needed to go and where the treasure was. These floors are all big and winding, and can blend in with each other with some samey corridors and turns. Normally that wouldn't make for interesting or engaging dungeon design, but getting lost is kind of the point if you neglect the map. The dungeon is also seperated by distinct sections, but you can only return to the dungeon at the beginning or end of the these stratums. And you'll be thanking yourself when you're backtracking for quests and items, and have laid out every shortcut on every floor. Mapping can take time at the moment, but it will save more in the long run. Especially when dealing with the infamous F.O.E.s
Most of the time encounters are random, albeit they provide you some kind of glowing circle on the U.I. that will gradually turn red when you're about to be thrusted into battle. A F.O.E. though is a roaming monster that are extremely dangerous. Some you could potentially fight and win when you first encounter them, but they can drain your resources and health (or lives) if you take them lightly. This is where the map becomes your savior as many of the F.O.E.s in the game have distinct patterns and behaviors. Some will chase you, some are on patrol, some will only approach you if you're already in a battle with another monster. Yes that can happen. The F.O.E.s are still on the move even in combat, and can ambush you while your dealing with the usual monsters. They're the cherry on top of this mapping system as it adds more urgency to take notes on where these monsters are and what their patterns are.
As for the RPG system themselves they're all around solid. You have a class system in which they all fill distinct roles, plus subclassing later in the game to add a wide berth of options to your party. Admittedly there are a few classes that either too good not too have, or are outshined by others. Not helped by the high difficulty which can push creativity and expression for some, while for others it'll cause them to look up "Best Parties" instead and take away a lot of fun problem solving. It can also be time consuming to raise extra party members apart from the main five you'll have through your whole journey. Only members in the active party earn experience, and new recruits start at Level 1. You can retire a party member which will allow you to recruit a higher level explorer with added stat bonuses, but you'll be loosing another party member permanently. Personally, make use of the 'picnic mode' added to this remaster. It makes the game very easy, but more importantly it substantially increases the gain of experience points. Makes things much smoother if aren't keen on long grind times, though I hadn't grinded a lot since I did a lot of side quests.
A small quibble I have with these RPGs is that I'm not the biggest fan of how these turn-based games operate when it comes to turn order. There's probably a name for this, but essentially think of the difference between RPGs when selecting your commands. Games like Persona, the Mario RPGs, and Octopath have characters initiate their action the moment a command is given. Then you got Pokémon, Dragon Quest (not XI), and Etrian Odyssey here where you select all your commands for all your party members then proceed to watch it play out. This makes it so you have to plan better for what the enemy can do, but it can also make battles feel more luck-based then I feel is necessary. Sometimes your healer turns to stone before pulling off their resurrection spell, sometimes you give a buff to a now dead party member, sometimes your damage dealer became confused and wasted their turn. It's a lot of unpredictability which can push the boundaries of enjoyable failure and frustrating failure. At least when it comes to when turn orders operate they appear consistent. I never had my support ninja randomly move slower then my DPS, which is important since that means I can consistently debuff the enemies defense the same turn my arbalist shoots a cannon at the bosses face.
Story is more involved then I was expecting. I thought this be akin to old-school dungeon crawlers with a story that exists solely for set-dressing, but it actually does more then that. I kept forgetting this game is rated T, and that made the darker moments catch me off guard. I would say I wished the story presentation was more interesting with only having single static portraits for every character, but it is a DS game so I can't fault it too much. It's not a story that'll stick with me, but it tried a lot harder then it needed and I have to give kudos to that. Just watch what you say to others when exploring the labyrinth.
While I wouldn't call myself a fan of this franchise after finishing this, it did satisfy my RPG craving I've had and then some. Solid recommendation to RPG lovers, maybe think twice if you aren't a fan of turn-based combat.
There's a farmer class. They do some honest work I tell ya.