New Etrian Odyssey game still a long way off according to the developers
During a livestream that Atlus held to commemorate the announcement of Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection, it was mentioned that it will still take quite some time to develop a new entry in the Etrian Odyssey series.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection contains HD remasters of the first three entries in Atlus’ Etrian Odyssey series of dungeon-crawling RPGs. The first game was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007 and tasks players with creating a party of adventurers who explore the mysterious Yggdrasil Labyrinth, a vast underground maze of woods that emerged near the small town of Etria.
The most unique aspect of the series is that dungeon maps are drawn by players themselves. As they advance through the labyrinth, players must map out the walls, floors, hidden shortcuts, routes to avoid powerful enemies, and anything else of importance that will aid them in their journey.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection features newly remastered graphics, with both the 3D dungeons and 2D character and monster illustrations now presented in high definition. Battle effects have also been improved over the original games. The collection adds a new character portrait for every class type in all three games, bringing the total options to five for each class. It is also now possible to use portraits from other classes too, increasing the amount of freedom that you have when creating your characters.
Other additions include the ability to select from three difficulty options, an auto-mapping function, additional save-slots, and online support for Etrian Odyssey III’s sea quests. Furthermore, series composer Yuzo Koshiro has created a new battle theme for the sixth stratum in Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City. So not only will these HD remasters look better, but they will also be easier to play and contain new features.
The latest game in the Etrian Odyssey series was Etrian Odyssey Nexus, which was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in 2018 and worldwide in 2019. The developers released a teaser trailer for a new Etrian Odyssey project in July 2018, but almost five years have passed, and we have yet to hear any further information. Development of a new entry was also briefly touched on during the livestream.
According to the development staff comments that begin at around the 57-minute mark of the stream, a new entry in the series will not be released any time soon: “To be honest, it will still take quite some time to develop a new Etrian Odyssey game, as the hardware has changed from the two-screen DS (Nintendo DS/3DS).” So while there is no official movement on that front, it’s likely that preparations for a new title are steadily underway.
It was also noted that the new remasters are the result of continued research and were created based on the concept of wanting the original three titles to be playable on current consoles. They would also like to utilize the feedback from those who play these remasters when developing a new entry, so fans can look forward to what lies in store for the future of the Etrian Odyssey series.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is set to be released on June 1 for the Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam).
Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-02-10 00:52 JST)
