Topic: Etrian Odyssey Outperforms in Japan

[Bloodworth]

The new RPG from the director of Trauma Center sells out overseas.

ETRIAN ODYSSEY(TM) FLIES OFF JAPANESE SHELVES

   

Eager gamers cause nationwide shortages of Atlus’s latest handheld RPG

   

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA — February 1, 2007 — Atlus U.S.A., Inc., a leading publisher of interactive entertainment, announced that immediately following the Japanese release of Etrian Odyssey, the Nintendo DS(TM) RPG known as Sekaiju no Meikyuu in Japan, virtually every last copy has been plucked from store shelves.

   

Director Kazuya Niinou, who previously directed Atlus’ smash DS hit Trauma Center: Under the Knife, says, "we are grateful that players have embraced our hard work. Sales such as this prove that the new ideas and fresh approach of this game are what players want in an RPG."

   

The all-star development team under Niinou includes scenario writer Shigeo Komori (Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner) and legendary composer Yuzo Koshiro (Actraiser, Streets of Rage). Etrian Odyssey is currently scheduled for American release in May 2007.

   

Etrian Odyssey has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

   

About Etrian Odyssey
 In a vast and fertile land lies a small town known as Etria, a peaceful village that became famous for a startling discovery. A crack in the vast forest opened at Etria’s edge, leading downward like a gaping maw. It all began there...

   

Your salvation in the labyrinth is in your own hands: Create your own team of adventurers to withstand the maze’s fierce battles, while creating your own dungeon maps using the Nintendo DS touch screen outside of combat! Lush 3D graphics and a world-class soundtrack puts an exquisite face on the mortal danger that lurks at every step!

[KDR_11k]

That's a nice way of saying "it's a dungeon crawler".

[YenRug]

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
That's a nice way of saying "it's a dungeon crawler".

And?  Some of us like that sort of game, I'm looking forward to Atlus bringing this to the West.

[KDR_11k]

I distrust dungeon crawlers because they're hard to get right but very, VERY easy to mess up. It's just too tempting to put too many randomly generated floors between interesting events to increase playtime but it's hard to make a random generator that can generate interesting dungeons (Diablo 2 is my favourite example for a well done random generator). Dunno, they don't say anything about a random generator but I don't think many dungeon crawlers use handmade dungeons.

[Louieturkey]

It's good to see more and more third party games doing well on the DS, which means more third party games to the system.