Persona Q is the perfect gateway to Etrian Odyssey

Etrian Odyssey is kind of a big deal again, and yet it's still one of the most niche titles that has a very particular kind of fan base. Recently at a GameStop, I overheard a conversation where a customer was asking the store manager about an Etrian Odyssey game, and whether he thinks he'd like it, having never played any previous ones. The manager replied "There is no such thing as a new Etrian Odyssey fan." I chuckled at the response, but I somewhat agreed at the time. I tried playing one of the earlier Etrian games a long time ago, and it didn't take me long to figure out that the game just wasn't for me.

Of course, then Persona Q had my interest all over again. I adored Persona 4 Golden, and at some point plan on finishing Persona 3 Portable, so Persona Q had to be up my alley right? Except there was one small catch; Even though the characters, setting and enemies were all Persona based, the gameplay itself was straight out of Etrian Odyssey. I was at a crossroads. Would I succumb to my love for Persona and give the game a shot, or shut it down because I simply had no interest in playing an Etrian game?

I decided to go for it, and boy was I happy I did. Sure, the Etrian legacy could be found all over PQ's gameplay. It had map making, tough random enemy encounters, FOEs, limited recovery items and a ton of exploration. But comparing it to past Etrian titles, this one still seemed geared toward Etrian newbies; People like me!

Once Persona Q had my interest, naturally I wanted to keep feeding my curiosity, and purchased the then discounted Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl and Etrian Odyssey 4: Legends of the Titan. Needless to say, the practice I got in Persona Q actually got me much more prepared for those two titles. So for those that might want to eventually take the plunge into the crazy tough Etrian games, let me highlight a few points that Persona Q does well to prepare you for them.

Map Making is optional, but a good primer

Notice the simple map tool menu on the right

The staple to Etrian games is the ability to draw the map on the lower screen of the 3DS, marking important spots, shortcuts, treasure chests, etc. The same goes for Persona Q, except it's completely optional, and yet still requires some of your input. For instance, you can set the map making to automatic in Persona Q through the game's menu, which then fills in the floor plan including any walls you come across automatically. However, if you want to make the most out of that map, you'll still need to mark important spots like shortcuts. Failing to do that will just leave you with a complete map, but no indications how to move through it effectively. It's a great primer for future Etrian games where drawing your own map is necessary.

Now look at Etrian's menu. And that's just one tab of tools…

Persona Q also provides a few shortcuts, such as simply dragging a shortcut icon displays which direction the shortcut works, or even displays chest icons as open if you've already plundered them. In Etrian games, you have to manually enter the direction of each shortcut, and icons don't change upon use.

Party management

Another huge component of Etrian games is being able to build your party from scratch. That can seem like a rather daunting task since you're not really sure what kind of character classes are good to take along, and which work well together. Persona Q sidesteps this by giving you an established cast that you can pick and choose who to bring along with. This is even more helpful if you're already familiar with Persona 3 and 4, as you'll know that members like Yukiko will be your main healers, or that Kanji will be your heavy hitter with physical damage.

But party management does go a bit deeper in Persona Q in the form of Sub Personas. Each member can also equip a Sub Persona which can give them wildly different abilities. That means Yukiko, who previously was mainly a healer with some fire damage, can start casting tough physical attacks as well. This is where character building, much like in Etrian games, comes into play. It'll take some time before you figure out the perfect combo for each character, but that's the beauty of it. Experimenting with Personas and fusing them to create new ones with wild new powers is definitely part of the fun.

Familiar vs. unfamiliar

This point is mainly for those who played and enjoyed past Persona games. When venturing into the unknown, even a new game genre like with Etrian, it's much easier to get acclimated with it if you're familiar with a lot of the terminology. Everything from spell names to item names, to facilities like the Nurse's office and even concepts like All-out-attacks will immediately feel more familiar to Persona players, and thus get them acclimated to the new gameplay much faster.

If Persona isn't your cup of tea, try Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl first

I know I've stated that Persona Q is the best gateway game for those wanting to get into the Etrian games, and I still firmly stand by that. But I realize that Persona isn't for everyone, and there are surely players that might be interested in Etrian games, that have no intent to going back and ever playing a Persona game. For those people, I suggest Etrian Odyssey Untold.

Sure, the gameplay is slightly more hardcore, and the map making is nowhere near as optional as it is in PQ, however, the game allows for a true Story Mode, which includes fixed characters and character classes, eliminating the need to carefully consider characters and classes for your party. It's also a bit easier and does have an easier learning curve than say Etrian Odyssey 4. It's also complete with cutscenes so those looking for a more story-focused adventure complete with cutscenes are sure to find a lot to like here.

What's also great about Untold is that it includes the standard Etrian mode as well. So there isn't a need to purchase a new game after you beat the story mode. You can simply choose the other original mode, create your party, and see how you've acclimated to the hardcore gameplay, and if you have the know-how to survive.

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While I still find the GameStop Manager's outlook on Etrian games hilarious, I don't think he was necessarily right. There is certainly room for Etrian games to gain new fans, as hardcore as they may seem. Fans just need to know which games are better to dive into first. As a new fan myself, I certainly hope there are more gamers out there willing to give Etrian games a shot.