Etrian Mystery Dungeon
Overview -
The Etrian Odyssey series has gained a lot of traction since the 3DS's release. What began as a rather niche dungeon crawling series for the Nintendo DS suddenly gained a good deal of exposure with its first 3DS entry, 'Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan'. Since then, remakes of the first two games in the series have been announced (with the first one already released), and a crossover with Atlus' Persona series in 'Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth' introduced an even wider audience to the series' brutally difficult, but addicting dungeon crawling style.
This time around it's 'Etrian Mystery Dungeon', which is actually a rather unusual crossover between the dungeon crawling series and the long standing 'Mystery Dungeon' games, which take on more of a rogue-like flavor. Does this mash-up succeed?
Video Review
While 'Etrian Mystery Dungeon' is not an ugly title, the visuals are not one of the title's strong suits. All of your guild's party member and the enemies are in a small chibi form, which doesn't allow for much detail for their models outside of the status screen. The models are colorful enough and don't get lost in the background, but they are a small step down from the typical Etrian fare.
Each major dungeon follows a certain theme, and minor dungeons appear to take assets from the majors dungeons for their backgrounds. Most of the backgrounds actually look quite nice, but since major dungeons are typically quite long and the scenery never changes up, the backgrounds tend to lose their luster after multiple floors.
Audio Review
'Etrian Mystery Dungeon' brings with it an absolutely wonderful musical score. Consisting mainly of remixed tracks from previous Etrian Odyssey titles, the music fits wonderfully with the game. There are somber and tense tracks for dungeon exploring, rocking battle tracks for boss battles, and for when monsters get the jump on your party. Even the town's track is solid.
Of course, given that the player builds their party themselves, there's nothing in the way of voice acting, not even for NPCs. Sound effects are present, which are also reused from previous 'Etrian Odyssey' games; they aren't spectacular, but at the same time they aren't offensive to the ears, either.
Final Thoughts
'Etrian Mystery Dungeon' really isn't a title that seemed as though it would work out: 'Etrian Odyssey' and 'Mystery Dungeon' are both very different types of games and blending them together just seemed off. However, the end result is a surprisingly great and addictive title for fans of both series alike. It's hard to tell if gamers outside the fandom will want to dive into this 3DS title, but the barrier of entry difficulty wise is low enough that most any RPG fan can jump in and have an enjoyable time, regardless of their knowledge of the series at hand.