Etrian Mystery Dungeon
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Critic Reviews for Etrian Mystery Dungeon
It won't convert many new fans to either series but this is a successful mix of the best of both (minus the map-making) and whose new ideas deserve a future of their own.
While not as strong as a core Odyssey title, this blending of games succeeds in being challenging, lighthearted, and entertaining.
Etrian Mystery Dungeon is a punishing RPG that's difficult to put down thanks to a rich supply of loot and deep dungeons.
While it offers enough familiar touchstones to appeal to fans of both Etrian Odyssey and Mystery Dungeon, EMD manages to establish its own distinct style... enough so that it should appeal to players who couldn't quite get into either of those franchises on their own. With tons of content and a similarly expansive level of challenge, it quite impressively sidesteps the tendency of Mystery Dungeon spinoffs to feel slight and insubstantial. Admittedly, there's no shortage of either Etrian or Mystery Dungeon games these days, but this combination of the two deserves a look on its own merits.
The more I played Etrian Mystery Dungeon the more I fell in love with it. While the learning curve is pretty steep and the rewards are fairly low-end early on, you really do get as much as you put in. It gives existing Mystery fans a lot to stick around for, and serves as a nice entry point for newcomers, so long as you are willing to learn.
If you're the type that wants to find and fight everything, Etrian Mystery Dungeon will keep you occupied for days and days. If you just need a quick fix here and there, it's a great five-minute excursion (or a few hours of digging down per trip). And if you like on-your-toes strategy, this will do you good. Really, if you like a deep experience with plenty of replay value in portable dungeon-crawling, this is about as good as it gets.
Etrian Mystery Dungeon is an enjoyable and fully featured dungeon crawler, with some great touches to keep you coming back time and time again. Though there are a few occasional niggles it combines the two franchises very successfully and that should see it find fans in both camps.
A beautiful marriage of the Mystery Dungeon and Etrian Odyssey franchises resulting in a brilliant and fun game.