[DS] The Dark Spire- Thought Etrian Odyssey was for pussies? Then this is probably for you

Please release your grip on my balls, game.



The Dark Spire was released this past week, and it makes me want to cry. Similar to Etrian Odyssey, you take the role of a blank-slate protagonist and his fellow guildmates as you try to explore a massive labyrinth located just beyond a hub-town.

Unlike Etrian Odyssey though, the game follows more traditional Dungeons & Dragons rule sets rather than the usual JRPG norms. Lawful/Neutral/Chaotic natures are determined by the spells you use and what church you pray at (as well as govern various abilities), Armor Class influences your defensive/evasive reliability, etcetera. You pick a race and class initially, but you can level other classes even after you pick your initial one.

Another really neat feature is the ability to shift between Classic and Modern visuals:




So far I'm still in the first floor of the tower, trying to grind but failing miserably. Every chest is trapped after battle, and my thief usually gets the trap order and disarming right, but sometimes fails and gets poisoned/dies.

In this case, it's often better to simply make a new character than spend the 200 gold to revive them.

So, anyone else playing? Great game, just hard. I'll expand on this thread and post when I better understand the mechanics.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Mage is attack and support, Priests are mostly healing. They can cast Holy magic, but it can't really replace a Mage for dealing magic damage. You could level both Mage and Priest classes on a single character, but I doubt it's very efficient.

How ya doing, buddy?

Yeah, you can save anywhere (and I do so often), which is really convenient. I wish Etrian Odyssey let you do that.

For now, I'm just trying to unlock Dark Elves and High Elves to see how good they are before I really start leveling my guys.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Omnislash124

I'm not going to lie, I prefer the "anime-y" feel of EO over this, but anything along the lines of EO, I'm sold for.

Well, although the game shares some visual and basic gameplay similarities to Etrian Odyssey, it's better to think of it like Wizardry. Or maybe at the most an extremely westernized Etrian Odyssey.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Yeah, I remember people said Etrian Odyssey was a Wizardry clone with more JRPG influence, but that was at a time when there was Wizardry, Etrian Odyssey, and nothing else.

But now that there is more or less an established sub-genre, it's better to compare it to the original rather than a fellow off-shoot. If you get to playing the Dark Spire, you'll see there's few strong similarities between it and EO. Better to compare the latter to 7th Dragon, which takes Etrian Odyssey and easternizes it further (makes sense since it's the same guys).

I was speaking idiomatically.

Ninjas I believe are front-row fighters only, but are a bit better at absorbing damage than Thieves. And personally, I wouldn't put in anyone who lowers the encounter rate further. It's pretty forgivable already.

I got some time in today, was able to deck out my Warrior pretty completely (AC of 1). Still exploring the first floor. Hard stuff.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

The game actually got me back into Etrian Odyssey II, which I never finished, haha.

I finished up the first floor, moved on to the basement. Still debating whether or not I want to keep my Thief in the front row or just switch to the Heroic formation and let the enemies suffer the whiff-fest that is my Warrior.

I believe the entrance to the third floor is in the northeast. Can't recall exactly though, so don't hold me to it.

FELIPE NO

Haha, my bad. Like I said, I couldn't remember. I was dicking around on the second floor and almost got wiped out, so I was a little too panicked to make note of the staircase to the third when I stumbled upon it.

Surprised IGN gave it an 8 and game of the month. Didn't some good stuff come out in April? Maybe it was March.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Depends on what the item is. What're you missing? My hint is that everything is on the fourth floor and below.

Currently 12-13 with everyone, fiddling around on Floor 4. Elevator fixed, so I went and got the Druid class unlocked and turned my Mage into one. Still have all the others to get, ha!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Freelance Wolf

All I'm missing is the

Spoiler:

squirrel

I know it's on the 4th floor, and I

Spoiler:

'
freed' it from the hat

, but I don't know where it went. I explored most of the floor already so I'm running out of places to look.

I was also told to

Spoiler:

]rescue the Shrine Maiden

but I don't see how to. I can't interact with those people.

I'm not sure if I've rescued her yet, myself. But I have spoken with her and interacted with them. So, let me ask you-- have you paid tribute? But, as far as the elevator quest goes, I don't see much of a point. You're only supposed to deal with the Shrine Maiden to make it easier to get to the fourth floor.

As for the squirrel, try a room really close by to where you freed him. And make sure to look around with X, of course.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Really? I'm usually amused with rotating tiles. I guess I like spatial memorization, though.

Haven't dealt with the Shrine Maiden on the fourth floor. Huh. Just got to the fifth in order to slay the Killer Bunnies for Sir Garland. The "Slay ___" quests seem to unlock the secondary class missions, so it appears I have to press on through the Tower sooner than I'd like.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Okay, so, apparently this game didn't really sell, because it's now a very reasonable $9.99 at Gamestop.

It's a good and damn hard classic dungeon crawler, so it's hardly going to hurt if it turns out to not be your thing. Plus, if you buy it new (used is only a dollar less), you'll get the nifty soundtrack along with it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I never really had any trouble keeping track of where I was. Even if I did, there are spells and items that can tell your exactly where you are and what direction you're facing.

If you keep at it, you get good at navigation very quickly-- especially in the basement, where movement tiles are all over the place to break your concentration.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Well, in some ways, Etrian Odyssey is harder because of its ample use of bosses that are impossible to beat when you first stumble upon them. This game, at least, always gives you winnable battles.

But in most other aspects, the Dark Spire is the more difficult of the two. Mapping and navigation are far more vague, regular battles are deadlier, leveling is slower, skills are more difficult to learn and have far more subtle uses than Etrian Odyssey's, etcetera.

Etrian Odyssey II and the Dark Spire are both great games though, and I'd recommend the former if you're enjoying the latter. I just think the Dark Spire has a much greater atmosphere.

Originally Posted by Omnislash124

See, most of the time, I don't have an issue with keeping track of where I am, but only when you put warp tiles all over the place do I get confused, especially if all the warp tiles are adjacent and I stop playing for an extended period of time and come back to it later.

The best way to figure out where you are after a warp is to look for changes on the map. If a new tile is marked, that's where I am (I'll move forward once to see what direction I'm facing). If not, it means I've been there before and I just have to either use a compass or look for landmarks.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

In that case, you need to start remembering where warp points take you. I never have too much trouble remembering since there aren't terribly many on each floor.

If that fails, I've found it's really easy to deduce where you are by looking around at the layout of the dungeon and comparing it to the map. Takes me about 30 seconds if I'm completely stumped, since most rooms won't have the exact same amount of doors in the exact same places. I think I've used a compass maybe twice, and the first time was because I didn't know exactly what it did. The second time I was impatient.

As for customization, it's debatable. Classes are permanent in Etrian Odyssey, while it's all very fluid in the Dark Spire. Characters can ultimately fulfill several roles on the fly, while party members in EO must be carefully crafted from the beginning to fit in to one or maybe two specific roles through their entire career.

FELIPE NO