EO4 is another great entry in the dungeon crawler genre, it combines many different elements to create a really fun game
• Lots of character classes and pictures to make your party feel deep and interesting.
• Two difficulty levels to fix the grinding problems the prior EO games had.
• Lots of weapons, armour and monsters to flesh out the game play.
• Lots of side quests that you can do at the same time your perusing the main quest.
• Multiple smaller dungeons to explore as well.
• Well done party management system.
• Better skill system compared to prier EO games.
• Less punishing to adjust characters skills if you decide to alter characters later on in the game.
• Game just looks more polished and better then previous EO games.
• Mapping is still fun and addictive.
• Good use of NPC's makes game play more interesting.
• Battle is fun and challenging.
Cons:
• Smaller dungeons compared to prior EO games.
• Limited storylines.
• Characters lack personalities.
• Travel and exploration outside of the city and dungeons seems less interesting compared to Etrian Odyssey 3.
• Subclasses feel like a waste of time and skill points, more of a distraction then anything else.
• Online features feel pointless and annoying.
• Not much of a reason to replay the game after finishing it.
• The 3D is not helpful at all.
The story and characters are really barebones in this game, character creation is deep but all your party members have no personalities unless you give them one your self. The characters look good and you can have many different types but that's it. The story is very basic, you create a party of 5 to explore the many different area's and dungeons surrounding the city of Tharsis. Through the jobs you get from the ruler a basic story line is formed. This isn't as bad as it might sound, the game is focused more around exploration and mapping. As long as you know this before your purchase there should be no bad surprises.
Game play is very much like all the other EO games, enter a dungeon and see your surroundings on the top screen and a grid based map on the bottom screen. As you move random monster battles will occur, the combat is turn based. Your party is made up of two lines, front and back. Physically stronger characters are in the front line and spell casters and similar characters are in the back line. As you deal damage to monsters a burst gauge will fill up with energy, there are 5 levels to the gauge. Special skills are discovered in the dungeons on scrolls, if your gauge has enough power in it you can use these special skills in combat. Normal skills are class based and require TP(skill points) to use, this system is just like many magic systems in RPG's. Once you defeated the monsters your party receives experience points(EXP) and body parts from the monsters. The body parts are sold at the Atelier(weapon/armour/item) shop to be used to create new weapons, armour and items. There are 7 locations you can visit in town, the atelier shop. The inn where you can recover health, cure status ailments, revive dead characters and store item. A cafe like place where you take on job/side quests, completing jobs gets you items or money and also EXP. The explorers guild where you manage your party. The cargo wharf where you access online options. The grand court where you accept story advancing missions from the ruler of Tharsis. And finally the city gates where you can enter a dungeon(Labyrinth) magically or depart on your skyship to explore the realm.
The graphics are sharp and nice but the 3D is not helpful at all, however I don't like the 3D effects on any of the 3DS games so this is not the fault of the game but a personal preference on my part. The colours and graphics are great and really enhanced the gaming experience.
The value to Etrian Odyssey 4 is immense, I played for 152 hours so I got my monies worth. There is also a new game + feature but I don't know much about it. Replaying the game is not really necessary unless you want to, with all the dungeons explored and mapped there's not much else the game offers. But one play through is more then enough and I don't feel cheated at all.
Final thoughts:
Etrian Odyssey 4 is an amazing game, do a bit of research about dungeon crawler rpg's and if you think you would like them then do your self a favour and get this game. It is by far the best game in the series for new players to the genre.
Story & Characters: 6
Game Play: 8
Graphics: 10
Value: 8
Score: 8/10