The Good Stuff:
- 2 games in one, story mode and classic mode.
- Updates are useful and enhances an already great game.
- Multiple difficulty settings help new players enter the genre, but still leaves the difficulty high for veterans of the series.
- New release doesn't feel like it's milking the series by having multiple versions of the same game.
- Side quests reward players with XP, which makes them worth doing.
- Lots of new and old content.
- Story mode adds depth to game play while classic gives players lots of options.
- Game is good at creating strong anxiety when being pursued by powerful F.O.E's.
- High value for the price.
- Grimoire Stones add a new element to combat.
The Bad Stuff:
- Characters and story still feels not fleshed out enough.
- Even with the improvement there is to much back tracking.
- Number one worst thing about this game is, you can't sleep at your mansion to recover HP and TP for free.
Story & Characters:
Your main character is a Highlander who was sent by his clan to Etria city, your mission is to discover what's causing earthquakes near Etria. While exploring a strange structure at the location of the earthquakes you meet 4 people. First there's Ricky a girl with amnesia that was sleeping in a metal box. Second there's Raquna a female Protector. Third there's Simon a male Medic and finally Arthur a male Alchemist. The last 3 are here investigating on behalf of the Midgard Library. After talking with these people it's decided that all of you are pursuing similar goals and the best way to get some answers is to explore the near by Yggdrasil Labyrinth together as a team.
Game Play:
Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl plays just like Etrian Odyssey 4 but with a few changes and improvements. First the basics for those of you not familiar with the EO series. Your 5 member team enters the Labyrinth and you 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. When you defeat monsters your party receives experience points(EXP) and body parts from the monsters.
There are 7 locations you can visit in town, Shilleka's Goods shop where the body parts are sold to create new weapons, armour and items. The Rooster Inn where you can recover health, cure status ailments, revive dead characters and save game data. The Golden Deer Pub 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. A mansion that you can name that acts like a headquarters and a storage depot. Radha Hall where you accept story advancing missions from the ruler of Etria. And finally the forest entrance where you can enter the Labyrinth or the area where you found Ricky.
When a character goes up in level that character receives a Skill Point, skill points are used to gain access to class skills and to improve those skills once you have access to them. One major addition to the game is Grimoire Stones, during combat Grimoire Stones are some times created. Grimoire Stones have character and monster skills imbued in them and can be equipped to give you characters skills that normally they wouldn't have access to. You can also combine Grimoire Stones at your Mansion to create new Grimoire Stones that are more powerful.
Graphics & Music:
Both the graphics and the music are very well done. The graphics are in a anime style and are very colourful and crisp on the 3DS. The music is wonderful and fits very well with the area you currently are in, plus it helps set the atmosphere greatly. Through out the game there are also short animations of the characters and story events.
Final Thoughts:
Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl is a high quality upgrade of the first Etrian Odyssey game on the DS and adds to it very well. Although at times I needed to take long breaks from playing the game it was a fun and fulfilling experience. After playing the game for 160 hours I can say it was well worth the price and I highly recommend playing Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl.
Story & Characters: 6/10
Game Play: 8/10
Graphics & Music: 8/10
Value: 10/10
Score: 8/10