Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection Reviews
Despite the cartography being less enjoyable than on DS, this remaster is still the best way to experience once of the best Etrian Odyssey games...as long as you play in handheld mode!
I’m torn on these remakes. On the one hand, I don’t think they work on Switch. Not in recreating the original vision of Etrian Odyssey, at any rate. The best way to play these is to jettison the mapping feature that was so core to the experience on the DS and 3DS. This truly is disappointing. On the other hand, even as a stock-standard set of dungeon crawlers, the three Etrian Odyssey titles bundled up here are beautifully elegant, ethereal, and artful. They’re challenging and fundamentally enjoyable, classic dungeon crawlers. If these new releases help a new legion of people discover Atlus’ dungeon-crawling genius for the first time, then I’m ultimately very glad they exist.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is a wonderful repackaging of three of the best RPGs on the Nintendo DS, maintaining nearly all the benefits of dual screens while offering players respectable quality-of-life features. What Etrian Odyssey lacks in conventional narrative, the series makes up for with its emphasis on player-driven pacing and highly customisable party building. Although the price point is certainly steep, there's no getting around the fact that these are the definitive versions of the first three Etrian Odysseys. Visually crisp with great audio and some of the best dungeon-crawling the genre has seen, all three titles offer RPG fans hundreds of hours of dense dungeon-crawling all on their own. Together, the collection offers audiences a high-class trilogy that'll realistically last them the rest of 2023 - if not even longer. Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is frankly a steal at $80.
The Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is a perfect example of challenging dungeon-crawling action at its finest with just the right amount of HD polish, and I couldn’t be happier that it found its way onto the Switch. I can’t say for certain what this means for Etrian Odyssey as a whole. But, whether it means we’ll continue to see re-releases of older games, or perhaps even see new ones, so long as Etrian Odyssey lives on, then I’ll be happy.
The Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection from Atlus is so much better than expected, but not without its flaws. The dungeon-crawling and exploration experiences are primo, as is the need to build a map out and put it on the player to keep track of their surroundings. While the beginning of the game may force some players to question if they’re up for the task of traversing the Etrian Odyssey worlds, as well as some of the gameplay design decisions that can be archaic and restrictive, the collection’s payoff seems much greater by the end than the amount of effort it took to get there.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is a collection of three high-quality dungeon crawler-style RPGs that remain an immersive experience in a hostile and exciting world even years after their original release on DS. However, this is not the highlight of what the franchise has to offer and it is clear that the games had a difficult adaptation to the reality of a single screen.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Three old school JRPGs that are so perversely old-fashioned they force you to draw your own map - and yet they're surprisingly captivating and fully deserving of this welcome remaster collection.
There may not be any real new features to speak of in Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection, apart from a difficulty selection and a lick of paint, but there is still a huge amount of very enjoyable gameplay.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is an excellent collection of three titles that have made the history of their genre.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Etrian Odyssey is a great dungeon RPG series, and its transition to PC & Switch is an admirable one, but some interface oddities and a hefty pricepoint raise eyebrows.
The HD versions of Etrian Odyssey and Etrian Odyssey II in the Origins Collection are faithful to a fault, but miss the mark on delivering a definitive experience for a pair of already revisited classics.
You can tell Etrian Odyssey isn't a game that is particularly optimised for the Switch but, despite its age, it is still a lot of fun, with a unique cartography feature that makes it stand out from other dungeon-crawlers and well worth preserving.
Atlus gave DS series fans more of what they enjoyed with this entry. Now, thanks to SEGA's publishing, additional players can experience what all the fuss was about. It's unnecessary for me to extend this review any further with nostalgic gushing or flirts with spoilers. To conclude, while newcomers might prefer starting with the first game to determine if its repetition becomes addictive, existing fans might find Etrian Odyssey III HD is the installment they want.
I'm thrilled that Etrian Odyssey exists beyond the DS and 3DS, but what we got doesn't hit the highs of the series. Atlus admirably tried to make it work on Switch, but the controls for drawing your map aren't as natural as they were on DS and 3DS. Etrian Odyssey II is still a great video game, with a really good progression through each stratum and a lot of depth and synergies between the classes and abilities. My hope is that if Etrian Odyssey survives beyond this dungeon crawl, the next release will be more future-focused than porting over the past.
Overall Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is a solid, if overpriced, collection of some excellent dungeon crawlers. The same core gameplay remains strong to this day, but series vets might be annoyed at the lack of Untold's features. Any of the games is an excellent game on its own and provides gameplay for quite a while. If not for the price tag, this is an incredibly easy game to recommend, with or without Untold features. Even the most hardcore of Etrian Odyssey fans may want to stick to one game or wait for a sale.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is a great compilation of dungeon crawlers but one that will require a substantial amount of patience to play through so if you're up to the task, it can be one highly rewarding package that'll stay with you for a very long time.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection preserves everything special about Etrian Odyssey I, II, and III and ensures the games feel perfectly at home on the Switch.
With Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection Atlus brings us a compilation of HD versions that are, just like the original Nintendo DS versions, with the map now on the same screen, higher resolution and better sound, an easy difficulty mode and, finally, translation into our language. On the one hand, it is a very good opportunity to get hooked on a saga with tradition, but on the other, the price seems excessive for the type of product that we find.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Etrian Odyssey has an easygoing nature that blends beautifully into the background, making it a perfect summer game for nights in the garden or while you’re watching TV. The map building is surprisingly satisfying, the visuals are stunningly rebuilt for Switch and the soundtrack transports you to wonderful retro eras past, while being a fulfilling, rewarding game in the modern era.
For most people, getting Etrian Odyssey II HD means purchasing it in a triple decker sandwich with the predecessor and the sequel. You can enjoy the first one and then use that to expand on what’s great about this game, namely that everything is better while still being similar. It’s not nearly the departure that comes in subsequent games; it’s almost like playing a fan mod of the first with QoL improvements from basement devs. If you’re not looking for something that changes your life but does make it a little more fun, then Etrian Odyssey II does a fine job of being a fantastic dungeon crawler.