Play Etrian Odyssey Online

Etrian Odyssey is one of those games that makes you feel like a real explorer—if explorers carried graph paper and constantly worried about running out of healing items. You start in the sleepy town of Etria, where rumors of a massive labyrinth have drawn adventurers like moths to a flame. Your first task? Build a guild from scratch, picking from nine classes (I always end up with at least one Medic—those FOEs don’t mess around).

The twist? You map everything yourself on the DS’s bottom screen. Walls, shortcuts, hidden passages—you scribble it all as you go. At first, it feels tedious, but there’s something weirdly satisfying about filling in blanks and realizing you’ve circled back to a staircase you missed three floors ago. And yeah, you’ll get lost. A lot.

Combat’s classic turn-based stuff, but the labyrinth doesn’t play fair. FOEs—those glowing nightmare creatures—roam the halls, and if you’re not careful, they’ll flatten your party before you can say "retreat." No quick saves either—you either make it back to town or lose progress. It’s brutal, but that’s what makes stumbling onto a new floor or rare drop so rewarding.

Just don’t skimp on map notes. Trust me.