These aren't the same games as the Untold games. The Untolds are reimaginings with completely different dungeon design, mechanics and completely redesigned classes. There's also content in these original games that were removed for the Untold games.
@@shinobus.2654 Even then. I honestly prefer the Untold remakes then the original since those games had major balancing issues compared to the 3DS releases which were better in my opinion. Plus I'm rather confused why they want the 2D path instead of 3D... I'm sure the Switch can run 3D models just fine.
I just got the Collection and I'm really happy with what I've seen so far. I LOVE Untold 1 and 2 for what they are, I also feel glad that this Collection exists and that I can also replay the original 1, 2, and 3 in a way that is very true to my experience playing those games for the first time -- no added core game mechanics, no major changes to the class skill trees, etc.
The point about the Untold versions fleshing out the NPCs and setting more is fair, but in gameplay terms I think it's best to just treat them as separate installments rather than improved updates of the originals. They're just so different in so many ways; the labyrinth layouts, the enemies, the items, the adventurer classes' abilities. It's absolutely worth it to play both the original 1 & 2 and the Untolds if you find you enjoy the series. As for the HD Collection in general, it seems like a competent port job but there's a few major stumbling blocks that make it less attractive for me. One is obviously the pricing, while I may swallow it as a fan who knows just how good these games are, it makes it difficult to recommend them to friends. Atlus are shooting themselves in the foot by turning potential newcomers away like this. The other is a bit less obvious, but the western localisation's typeface choices for the UI and text boxes look very flat and boring, which is not good when a major part of the gameplay consists of reading. This is something Atlus West previously nailed with the 3DS installments, so dropping the ball here with such a dull-looking end result is strange.
I would disagree, because things like the runemaster's changes to the main elemental spells made those classes far more interesting, and encouraged more diversity. In the original EO, you have to bring a protecter, the medic is busted but you have no options for damage redirection besides dark hunter. Otherwise it's just immunise- which wasn't working as intended. Come EO1U, your survivalist can play dodgetank and a protector can more easily play the role of a medic, so you can drop one or the other comfortably. Dungeon changes like say, untold adding rock monsters are using the 3D change to update the feel of the dungeon for the better. I think 1 is best played just untold, even on classic. I definitely agree with you about the pricing though. I personally would reccommend people get 3 HD, and then see if they can find Untold copies through certain other means. yknow?
@@LAGSASit's a bit late of a reply but a few weeks ago I'd absolutely agree with you. Except now I'm in the middle of EO1 playthrough without Medic or Protector and it's surprisingly smooth. Costs of consumables are nasty but that's kinda true for every party since even with Medic you'll have to occasionally use those even if you use Immunize liberally. That and Gear Cost does add up. While certainly ended up at higher levels than parties with Medic or Protector (although frankly I never really grinded for exp specifically) the end results were Fenrir fight where I had to actually slow down because I wanted to kill all Skolls for their drop, Cernunnos dying in 3 turns without even landing a hit and the only full death being due to Taking on Moa while my party was in poor condition. Ultimately Both EO1 and Untold are their own thing with neither being truly superior. Nothing in the remake can really match the feeling of Labyrinth in the original. The overall Challenges are less threatening there, though honestly it's probably because unlike EOU you can't just jump to whatever floor you feel like.
Given Sega's price gouging on this collection I fully expect the Untold remakes to be their own separate collection, likely collected with the Shiren the Wanderer crossover and for EO 4 through Nexus to be a third collection. All at the $80 price point.
Can't be upset about loss of QoL improvements if 3 never got an upgrade 🥲 3 was the only one I planned on picking up anyways. I still have the artbook from the og DS release ❤️
Put it on a wishlist. They will go down in price. I will say the games are very, very good and each is something like 30 to 50 hours in length. So on a pure dollars to hours ratio (not the only ratio that matters of course) its a lot of content. That said the price is indeed too much for most for what is on offer from a presentation and effort perspective, but I strongly recommend putting on a wish list and buying at 50 or below. If the the entire collection ever hits 40 bucks thats a steal, and as its on steam im sure they drop even more than that over time.
Whilst I love the games, this is totally valid. If you do want to try, I'd recommend going for the third game, just by itself. You can buy them individually and that's cheaper.
@@thatanonwholurksmoar7386 but ATLUS need that money for Untold 3, more ports/remasters of the 3DS entries and to continue the franchise with new entries made with the current consoles in mind and of course, this needs to be made available for EVERYONE, not just on the Switch and PC like what's going one right now with this collection
Never played this series. Will wait for a sale. 1 thing that seems odd is that it doesn’t include all of the games. Are they doing a 2nd collection? Kinda weird omissions
While 3DS could run DS games, it doesn't mean you can just stitch games from two different systems together and port them to another system. I'm no programmer, but I'm still fairly sure it's not something you can do without pulling your hair out while debugging.
@@Edagui97 are these ports? They seems like remakes using some of the original assets. They certainly not emulation. Like you said,.we're not programmers. But I'm sure it could be done
@@kaikiske7436 There's also the fact that this collection is for both PC and Switch, so that also complicates a lot. They also probably didn't want to exhaust their inventory of ideas all at once, since you gotta save some for the future. These are long games, so by the time most people have finished all three Atlus will be ready to launch the next collection or even a new entry. Final reason is the price, people are more likely to buy two 80 dollar collections rather than a single 150 dollar one.
This would be my first Etrian Odyssey games. Excited to start them too. Missed opportunity to include the best versions of I and II though. Maybe on the next installments, hopefully they could :)
well, it's called ''Origins'', which means they've only included the DS games that started it all if they sell enough copies of both the collection AND each game individually, they'll make a volume 2 with the other games in the series though tbf, they should leave the Untold games in a separate volume as otherwise, porting 5 games into 1 will force ATLUS to cut it in half due to how HUGE those are so, a volume 2 with EO4-Nexus and then a volume 3 with the Untold duology (or the reverse works too) would be their best option IMO THEN, maybe once they're done with EO, they'll do the same for the Persona Q duology as those are still locked on the 3DS as we speak
@@martinde-serres8724 I like the sound of this. NIS with their volume compilation is pretty much successful with it’s own merits. I wish the same for this series. :)
There is a full automap that adds the walls in as you pass them. Youll only need to put down doors and chests and things you want then which simplifies it greatly
@@franciscobutte nah, its just an accessibility option for those that want it, its not a feature you cant turn off, it just helps some people that may not want to do that part, like for example, i usually turn on the auto-wall part and i just fill in the rest as i see fit, like red tiles for damage, blue for water, etc, it just simplifies some part of it to who want it without breaking their own inmersion
@@franciscobutte you do know there are other first person dungeon crawling that have automap filling too, right? EO isn't the first to do so, what made them unique compared to others in the genre was the ability to map them yourself with the DS/3DS' touch screens while the Switch version have touchscreen support, that's not the case with the PC version, so they've added the automap feature for both of them to make things easier for players
@@martinde-serres8724 Of course I know that EO is not the first DC game. But it was the first that had the "draw your map feature". A big feature using the second screen of the DS/3DS
For those bummed they didn't use the Untold versions of EO 1 and 2, let this be clear, they called this collection ''Origins'' for a reason: they've brought the original DS versions of them alongside EO 3 to modern platforms as they want to show everyone where the series first started. If this collection sells well enough, ATLUS will eventually port the Untold duology and then EO 4 - Nexus as well. Also, for those complaining about the high price point of the collection, you got 3 full RPGs for the price of one, so that's a justified asking price. Plus it also has the ATLUS tax, so you know their games are more expensive than any other RPG from any other developer/publisher.
Great review! I picked up both Untold games for 3DS before the eshop shut down, so I'm only looking at picking up 3 from this collection. I'm glad to hear that they work so well on Switch!
I thought about the hd collection and bought it for my love for the EO series. It was a big purchase for me, but definitely worth it. I’m loving the game so far!
I was excited when this was announced, but when I realized that this wasn't going to add anything not in the originals (which I still own) I was disappointed. I see that at least the skill trees have been made actual trees, which is nice, but it doesn't look like there's enough to make the experience feel different (especially at that cost--yikes). I'm hoping this is just a PoC for a new EO game on Switch.
40 bucks a pop for games that are ultimately prettier but (damningly) less convenient versions of their DS originals turns me off from picking them up. While 3 was the game that got me interested in the franchise, Mom couldn't find a copy for me when I was young and I had to wait for 4. I've played every mainline Etrian game from 4 onward, so this should have been a pickup for me without question. Now I feel that 3 is the only one that really deserves my attention and I probably will wait for a discount even then.
you can buy them separate too btw, if anything, the main appeal of the whole thing is having a legal way to acquire EO3, which until now was in quite an unfortunate situation, as you either had to emulate it, which most emulators had issues running it, or had to buy the cartridge which could go as over as 200 bucks, ofc, if you own the originals cartridges, there is like no reason to get them if you dont want to
Huh... not suppose to put medics in the front line... Ive always put them in the front line lol. Also. I hope in the next game for EO they have more than one spellcasters or Zodiac magic wielding class.
Their stock would sell out in an instant if it had a western English physical release. The worst part about it having one way of buying the collection physically with English support is that scalpers will buy a good majority of the stock and sell it at a profit on Amazon or other retailers. 2 months from now expect these scalpers to put listings up on Amazon or EBay and expect to pay $100+ to buy the collection physically if you don’t plan to import the Asia version yourself.
Etrian Odyssey games can be fun. However…. The difficulty, and game pacing (slow, by design) will turn off some gamers. It’s a game that is rewarding if the player is willing to be patient, read, and learn. I enjoy the etrain odyssey series, but, I also prefer slower turn paced gameplay. So, naturally fit for me.
It's the origin stories so I'm ok with that. $80 for 3 excellent games isn't all that expensive either. Publishers and developers still got to make money as these aren't straight ports, especially when it's a port is a DS game as you're not getting that second screen of gameplay.
You can get them individually, so there's nothing wrong with just getting one of them. I myself (the reviewer) would recommend grabbing the 3rd one, and then seeking out the untold versions somewhere else.
@@LAGSAS I picked up the physical release, from Play Asia, so I'm all in on all three of them. I thought it was $80 but, it's only $70 so $10 cheaper than expected. Still not a bad price.
@@viledisturbance1869 Individually, they are $40. I'm very familiar with the games and their length as I've played though all of them on DS and 3DS. Regardless, the asking price for a glorified DS game when they could have given us the Untold versions is just lazy and reeks of a cash grab.
This series deserves more love from the players and from devs. Why they took so long to make switch releases? Why left behind enhancements from the 3ds version? Why 4, 5 and Nexus are not on this collection? Nexus is the best game of the series in the sense that it has all the features and QoL from all of the other titles... And to be honest? Why they don't release a android version of EO? For me would be perfect, the game is not and don't have to be heavy or to have graphics, the game is huge and you will be playing for hundred of hours. And I'm not asking for a gems crap game, just sell the app and it's done.
I can see why they wouldn't do all at once. Whilst I complain about the lack of Untold QoL, they could release a new pack of 3D games down the line. They'd have to do a lot more to get the 3d working and looking good for a rerelease, it's not just a copy paste job
they are testing the waters with the original 3 of the DS, porting the rest could come down the line later, which is better to pace them out than all at once otherwise you overwhelm people making a purchase, as well that they run in a different engine than the first 3 and have more changes that need heavier adjustments if you want to port them and make them work So for now, lets celebrate being able to play EO3 legally and that the franchise isnt dead yet, and if you want to complain, ask them to port Etrian Mystery dungeon 2, cus that one never left japan
Makes senses, I don't know how well the EO Nexus was received, it come out too late for the 3ds. Would be good to see new titles and not only remakes for the switch.
I greatly disliked Nexus for nerfing some classes especially Pugilist. That was my favorite class in EOV. The split promotion of the classes was also really nice that they should have kept it. I remember having both types of Pugilist in my party. One for binding while the other for pure damage.
Hm? Subclassing is missing? I don't remember subclassing being in Untold or Untold 2, just the Grimoire system, and we can't even use fafnir apart from the grimoire stones so we only had the transforming burst if you played story mode, then in Untold the extra dungeon I remember we couldn't do it while in U2 we could, though in U and 2U there were no voice acting for the characters you made sadly unless you played story mode in which case they will have voice acting disregarding the voiced npcs then though haha, and subclassing were only there from the 3rd game onwards then again I never actually really used the highlander or fafnir too much anyways so I didn't have too much of an issue, still listened to the whole review and for the most part I can agree
As you say Subclassing was introduced in 3, remained in 4, and instead of just adding it into Untold 1 and 2, they added the grimoire stones, which fundamentally serve a similar purpose, which is why I refer to them as that.
@@LAGSAS Ah I see, I just didn't really thought of them that way since grimoires fundamentally functioned different in EOIU and EOIIU from my memory, EOIIU skills could go up to lvl 20 thanks to grimoires meanwhile in EOIU they didn't stack which made getting a different skill make more sense Edit: so In 2U I used them more for augment than other skills but in U I used them for other skills basically
Since I already own the 2 Untold versions on the 3DS, the Collection itself is a hard miss for me. Being able to buy Etrian Odyssey III as a standalone game on the other hand is not though. Unless you used an Emulator, you couldn't even play EO III legally before this announcement.
@@Hallalemon yeah, but that's why they called this the ''Origins'' collection: to allow everyone the ability to play the original DS games on modern consoles pretty sure they'll eventually port/remaster the Untold duology some day
Nintendo DS screen resolution is 250x200. It is literally impossible to port any of these games to 1920x1080. Impossible, if the goal is to sell emulated copy&paste code as a "new" game. And looks like this game solved the "impossible feat" via.. split screen? Instead of, you know, making a couple of menus, but this would of course require actual work done.
I can FINALLY play etrian Odyssey 3 without paying a premium! And playing the originals after playing the untold versions will be cool too, very very nice.
It sucks that Origins is literally just the DS games but prettied up. I really appreciate the speed changes (I have the JP digital version so I beat 1 yesterday) but it sucks that the horrendous balance, lackluster random encounters, and bad quests (1 and 2) still remain. I'm indifferent on wanting the new classes. I personally think subclassing is really stupid in all three games it's in (especially in 3 where most of the roster has awful synergy), and you can't just slap in subclassing or grimoires into games that aren't balanced with them in mind. 1 and 2 are already super simple and basic and adding subclassing would just make them worse.
@@namelessanomaly3946 Well, the new difficulties is a load of nothing for someone who already played the games. All I use it for is picnic to make farming or grinding up a new character/my farming squad faster. I like the inclusion because everyone should be able to play but it's an addition I personally barely care about. Second, bugfixes are nice but besides the terrible performance of 2 there weren't really bugs that really ruined the game. They cut levels at the end of some skills which did nothing which results in some super minor buffs to some classes, but the bugs in the originals barely mattered. The games are still unbalanced as well and the helpful bugs became features. I like the new battle speed a lot because 1 and 2 were stupidly slow and I still like the games even with the endless amount of stupid stuff in them. I got these games for $50 and I am having a good time, but I still wish Atlus went further. They did weird halfassed direct buffing of specific worthless skills but didn't go all the way.
Some games like EO were specifically made to be played on the DS and 3DS. I just can't imagine playing on a normal platform like PC or Switch. It just doesn't work.
EO is a first person dungeon crawler like hundreds before it, so they can easily be ported on modern platforms with automap and also the ability to still manually draw your own maps it's different than the DS and 3DS originals, but it's still feasible another example of a DS/3DS game that easily made the jump on other platforms is The World Ends With You SE were able to remake the game to fit only 1 screen for both its mobile and Switch versions as most of its gameplay was touch-based, though the caveat for the Switch version is the broken-ass motion controls for dock mode lastly, the Mega Man ZX duology also made the transition from DS to modern platforms smoothly as the bottom screen was barely used outside of some minor touch-based mechanics for some transformation forms you could still use them in the Legacy Collection, though it's a bit jarring for the PC and Xbox versions as they don't have touch controls unlike the PS4 and Switch versions on the 3DS side, they've ported Alliance Alive on Switch and other platforms with barely any compromises to the overall experience I'm pretty sure there were more, but those are the ones that popped up in my mind, and they'll be even more ports/remasters of DS and 3DS games down the line
@@martinde-serres8724 Of course I know that EO is not the first DC game. But it was the first that had the "draw your map feature". A big feature using the second screen of the DS/3DS
@@franciscobutte Why are you copying the same reply from a separate comment thread? I already know this, hence my reply from that said comment thread Also, my reply to you HERE is to explain how developers were able to bring some of those DS and 3DS games that were touch-heavy or have used some touchscreen features on modern platforms In fact, even those that barely used or don't even use those touchscreens can easily be ported over to modern platforms
@@martinde-serres8724 TWEWY was definitely NOT easily ported to switch. The combat was completely ruined. This was even mentioned in the first minute of the video.
It's very much debatable whether the Untold remakes are superior to the originals. I'm glad that many of those 'features' weren't included, as they would radically change the games.
It’s rather nice to see the resurgence of the franchise…but it is difficult to ignore that, indeed, the parts that were included as early as the third game being outright unavailable in the remasters of 1 and 2 are…rather sorely missed. Not least of all being the detailed wall textures that shows shortcuts…which, for actually locating shortcuts when you’re actively searching for them, is downright essential for exploration and *especially* backtracking, when you’re going through the same stratum. Between this, a lack of the ability to chat with people in the tavern, and especially how the ability to heal and revive is put behind an Ental premium (which only gets worse as your characters get higher in levels, and while the latter is always a thing in the series, we’re still stuck with the shop, inn and apothecary being *all separate areas in the hometown*, which breaks the pace…almost as badly as the difficulty. As someone who’s playing Etrian Odyssey HD on Basic Difficulty…it definitely feels like playing all of the 3DS titles would be a better introduction to the series…even if the 3DS side is fairly different, in a good few ways. If anything, the biggest appeals for the Origins Collection would be experiencing the original games as they once were (albeit with the quality of life changes anyone could see), and being able to play III without either paying an unpleasant premium for a DS copy or piracy. …also kind of wondering where the option to turn on the Remastered Tracks is unlocked…slightly concerning, there. Especially since it was one of the announced features of the Origins Collection overall.
@@LAGSAS Yeah but one game alone is 40 Euro. Why would I pay 40 Euro for a low effort 3ds port if I could get a brand new AAA game like Street fighter 6 for 60 games. The price is just absurd. MMBN Collection was so much more reasonable
@@LAGSAS Even it that is true most people skip it with this price. This way wont attract a lot of new customers. Sooo the remaster will most likely sell bad and they will take it as confirmation, that the series isnt popular enough and thus produce no more of it.
@@zlarez4485igh price, because EO is very niche series, and Atlus expect low sales. Plus Sega ended with cheap remasters since Valkyria Chronicles, Catherine, and Yakuza 0 PC versions for 20$. The only one exception is Persona 3-4 for 20 bucks, because they know this games sold better.
Yeah! I have a stylus that I really only use for chess. I can't wait to break out the Deck and stylus and start mapping out dungeons. This was one of my fav series on the DS/3DS. I think I'll just get 3, as I find it hard to go back to 1 and 2 without some of the changes that were made in Untold.
seeing people in the comments bend over backwards to defend these DS ports being $40 when Atlus just released Persona 3 and 4 ports for only $20 that are much bigger games, with much bigger budgets, much higher production values, etc is pretty damn funny.
@@LAGSAS they spent an equal amount of work porting P3P and P4 to the switch as they did rereleasing these games on the switch. They both use the exact same assets and run on the same engine - and were both digitally upscaled into HD and run at a higher resolution. Yet these games are double the price because.........? Now Etrian Untold 1 and 2...now THOSE were remakes.
Firstly, EO was not originally built on unity. Secondly, it was made for a dual screen system, so it had to be redesigned and the control scheme reconfigured, so it's not 'an equal amount' of time. I think yes, the price could be lower, but it's not ridiculous
On the one hand, not getting the Untold versions is kind of a bummer. On the other hand, having the original Labyrinth layouts, monster packs, and skill trees (now with fewer dead skills and the bugs fixed)... on PC... with clean, up-rez'd textures... is really really really really damn good. Even if the collection *is* horrendously overpriced, I'm willing to pay it simply to tell Atlus "Etrian Odyssey is one of my favorite game series of ALL TIME, here's my money, please give us PC Ports of the 3DS games and/or EO 6 and/or Untold 3 someday kthx."
@@karry299 i'm not against save states, but i feel like in this kind of game it takes away all the pressure and excitement in the encounters if you can just reload.
I'm a fan of this series but come on, no changes from Untold, no 3D models, shitty font from a mobile game... I'm waiting for the next full-fledged Etrian Odyssey, VI or whatever it will be called... if it ever gets made, but I hope so!
Inferior how? And don't say the story mode, if you don't like the story mode you can always not play it. I tried the original EO and I can't belive how poorly made the menu navigation and UI is in the town. They had a system with two screens and didn't even use the second one to display relevant information while you where shopping, always having to back out. And that's not mentioning how awfully the skill "tree" was displayed, checking the skill dependencies was so annoying.
So does this game have subclassing? Since there won't be Grimoires since it isn't Untold. I know EO3 had that since I have played that before. I have only played Untold 1 and 2.
I was interested until i heard the stuff about the story as they all sound like there isn't much and the fact that you create your group of characters pretty much tells me that they are just blank characters with zero personality. Is there a game in this style that has a deep story and good characters?
I think you're misunderstanding how this works. This is emergent storytelling The stories are set designs for you to create your own original characters, and narratives for them. Like a tabletop game or DnD yknow? These designs have story beats that you can have a character react to and develop them yourself. The untold versions of 1 and 2 have pre-determined characters as an option who get fleshed out and have development and exploration as you progress, in the vein a player might make. You might just want to look at those, because otherwise there's just other Shin Megami Tensei titles, like SMT 1-2, 4 and Soul Hackers?
Honestly, I just wished they ported Untold 1&2 and surprised us with Untold 3. Because I really wanted to fight the Abyssal God in 3D so bad :/
The story in Untold 2 was pretty nice. And it was cool that you can unlock Highlander from Untold 1 if you had a save file of it.
That was the logical idea
These aren't the same games as the Untold games. The Untolds are reimaginings with completely different dungeon design, mechanics and completely redesigned classes.
There's also content in these original games that were removed for the Untold games.
They probably should have since remakes would be more appealing to new fans.
@@shinobus.2654 Even then. I honestly prefer the Untold remakes then the original since those games had major balancing issues compared to the 3DS releases which were better in my opinion. Plus I'm rather confused why they want the 2D path instead of 3D... I'm sure the Switch can run 3D models just fine.
Original Etrian Odyssey is definitely an acquired taste. It’s not for everyone but it’s a taste I can’t get enough of.
I just got the Collection and I'm really happy with what I've seen so far. I LOVE Untold 1 and 2 for what they are, I also feel glad that this Collection exists and that I can also replay the original 1, 2, and 3 in a way that is very true to my experience playing those games for the first time -- no added core game mechanics, no major changes to the class skill trees, etc.
The point about the Untold versions fleshing out the NPCs and setting more is fair, but in gameplay terms I think it's best to just treat them as separate installments rather than improved updates of the originals. They're just so different in so many ways; the labyrinth layouts, the enemies, the items, the adventurer classes' abilities. It's absolutely worth it to play both the original 1 & 2 and the Untolds if you find you enjoy the series.
As for the HD Collection in general, it seems like a competent port job but there's a few major stumbling blocks that make it less attractive for me. One is obviously the pricing, while I may swallow it as a fan who knows just how good these games are, it makes it difficult to recommend them to friends. Atlus are shooting themselves in the foot by turning potential newcomers away like this. The other is a bit less obvious, but the western localisation's typeface choices for the UI and text boxes look very flat and boring, which is not good when a major part of the gameplay consists of reading. This is something Atlus West previously nailed with the 3DS installments, so dropping the ball here with such a dull-looking end result is strange.
I would disagree, because things like the runemaster's changes to the main elemental spells made those classes far more interesting, and encouraged more diversity.
In the original EO, you have to bring a protecter, the medic is busted but you have no options for damage redirection besides dark hunter. Otherwise it's just immunise- which wasn't working as intended.
Come EO1U, your survivalist can play dodgetank and a protector can more easily play the role of a medic, so you can drop one or the other comfortably.
Dungeon changes like say, untold adding rock monsters are using the 3D change to update the feel of the dungeon for the better.
I think 1 is best played just untold, even on classic.
I definitely agree with you about the pricing though. I personally would reccommend people get 3 HD, and then see if they can find Untold copies through
certain other
means. yknow?
@@LAGSAS
Pc gamers always have that complete before you buy mentality
@@LAGSASit's a bit late of a reply but a few weeks ago I'd absolutely agree with you. Except now I'm in the middle of EO1 playthrough without Medic or Protector and it's surprisingly smooth. Costs of consumables are nasty but that's kinda true for every party since even with Medic you'll have to occasionally use those even if you use Immunize liberally. That and Gear Cost does add up. While certainly ended up at higher levels than parties with Medic or Protector (although frankly I never really grinded for exp specifically) the end results were Fenrir fight where I had to actually slow down because I wanted to kill all Skolls for their drop, Cernunnos dying in 3 turns without even landing a hit and the only full death being due to Taking on Moa while my party was in poor condition.
Ultimately Both EO1 and Untold are their own thing with neither being truly superior. Nothing in the remake can really match the feeling of Labyrinth in the original. The overall Challenges are less threatening there, though honestly it's probably because unlike EOU you can't just jump to whatever floor you feel like.
Given Sega's price gouging on this collection I fully expect the Untold remakes to be their own separate collection, likely collected with the Shiren the Wanderer crossover and for EO 4 through Nexus to be a third collection. All at the $80 price point.
I really don't like the new font, but I absolutely adored Etrian Odyssey III back in the day. Will definitely pick it up on a sale.
Can't be upset about loss of QoL improvements if 3 never got an upgrade 🥲
3 was the only one I planned on picking up anyways. I still have the artbook from the og DS release ❤️
Not sure if these games are for me and at $80, seems steep.
Put it on a wishlist. They will go down in price.
I will say the games are very, very good and each is something like 30 to 50 hours in length. So on a pure dollars to hours ratio (not the only ratio that matters of course) its a lot of content.
That said the price is indeed too much for most for what is on offer from a presentation and effort perspective, but I strongly recommend putting on a wish list and buying at 50 or below. If the the entire collection ever hits 40 bucks thats a steal, and as its on steam im sure they drop even more than that over time.
Whilst I love the games, this is totally valid.
If you do want to try, I'd recommend going for the third game, just by itself. You can buy them individually and that's cheaper.
Yeah just avoid till it goes on sale
@@thatanonwholurksmoar7386 but ATLUS need that money for Untold 3, more ports/remasters of the 3DS entries and to continue the franchise with new entries made with the current consoles in mind
and of course, this needs to be made available for EVERYONE, not just on the Switch and PC like what's going one right now with this collection
@@martinde-serres8724 They are shooting themselves in the foot by making the price $80 if they want more money to continue the franchise.
Never played this series. Will wait for a sale. 1 thing that seems odd is that it doesn’t include all of the games. Are they doing a 2nd collection?
Kinda weird omissions
While 3DS could run DS games, it doesn't mean you can just stitch games from two different systems together and port them to another system. I'm no programmer, but I'm still fairly sure it's not something you can do without pulling your hair out while debugging.
@@Edagui97 are these ports? They seems like remakes using some of the original assets. They certainly not emulation.
Like you said,.we're not programmers. But I'm sure it could be done
@@kaikiske7436 There's also the fact that this collection is for both PC and Switch, so that also complicates a lot. They also probably didn't want to exhaust their inventory of ideas all at once, since you gotta save some for the future. These are long games, so by the time most people have finished all three Atlus will be ready to launch the next collection or even a new entry. Final reason is the price, people are more likely to buy two 80 dollar collections rather than a single 150 dollar one.
I heard great things about Etrian Odyssey games but never got a chance to play back then. I am glad the series come to Steam as well.
I love you
This would be my first Etrian Odyssey games. Excited to start them too. Missed opportunity to include the best versions of I and II though. Maybe on the next installments, hopefully they could :)
Here's hoping!
Untold are less remakes and more separate games inspired by 1 and 2, so I'm happy the originals are being made available.
well, it's called ''Origins'', which means they've only included the DS games that started it all
if they sell enough copies of both the collection AND each game individually, they'll make a volume 2 with the other games in the series
though tbf, they should leave the Untold games in a separate volume as otherwise, porting 5 games into 1 will force ATLUS to cut it in half due to how HUGE those are
so, a volume 2 with EO4-Nexus and then a volume 3 with the Untold duology (or the reverse works too) would be their best option IMO
THEN, maybe once they're done with EO, they'll do the same for the Persona Q duology as those are still locked on the 3DS as we speak
@@martinde-serres8724 I like the sound of this. NIS with their volume compilation is pretty much successful with it’s own merits. I wish the same for this series. :)
@@martinde-serres8724 really hope so. 4 is my favorite one and I need my Arcanists!!!!
There is audio distortion in the video about 1:50, just a heads up
I'm curious about the automapping since the manual stuff always sounded like it could be a lot
There is a full automap that adds the walls in as you pass them.
Youll only need to put down doors and chests and things you want then which simplifies it greatly
Automap kills half of the dungeon crawling experience imo.
@@franciscobutte nah, its just an accessibility option for those that want it, its not a feature you cant turn off, it just helps some people that may not want to do that part, like for example, i usually turn on the auto-wall part and i just fill in the rest as i see fit, like red tiles for damage, blue for water, etc, it just simplifies some part of it to who want it without breaking their own inmersion
@@franciscobutte you do know there are other first person dungeon crawling that have automap filling too, right?
EO isn't the first to do so, what made them unique compared to others in the genre was the ability to map them yourself with the DS/3DS' touch screens
while the Switch version have touchscreen support, that's not the case with the PC version, so they've added the automap feature for both of them to make things easier for players
@@martinde-serres8724 Of course I know that EO is not the first DC game. But it was the first that had the "draw your map feature". A big feature using the second screen of the DS/3DS
For those bummed they didn't use the Untold versions of EO 1 and 2, let this be clear, they called this collection ''Origins'' for a reason: they've brought the original DS versions of them alongside EO 3 to modern platforms as they want to show everyone where the series first started.
If this collection sells well enough, ATLUS will eventually port the Untold duology and then EO 4 - Nexus as well.
Also, for those complaining about the high price point of the collection, you got 3 full RPGs for the price of one, so that's a justified asking price. Plus it also has the ATLUS tax, so you know their games are more expensive than any other RPG from any other developer/publisher.
1:18 hey, i guess you mistakenly used the wrong release date. It says April 20,2023
Damn it. I keep messing that shit up! You right. It’s June 1st - Azario
I’d start with the 3rd for that banger as battle theme
Great review! I picked up both Untold games for 3DS before the eshop shut down, so I'm only looking at picking up 3 from this collection. I'm glad to hear that they work so well on Switch!
HELL YEAH Have fun, 3 is so much
IT WAS SHUT DOWN? FUCK, i wanted to buy EO V
Gotta emulate now I guess
@@nanaten3ebay it dude
@@nanaten3yarrr harrr
I can't wait for somebody to rip all those characters and monsters' portraits. They look so good in HD.
Gonna set a notification on my Steam list when it goes on sale :)
I thought about the hd collection and bought it for my love for the EO series. It was a big purchase for me, but definitely worth it. I’m loving the game so far!
happy for you
I was excited when this was announced, but when I realized that this wasn't going to add anything not in the originals (which I still own) I was disappointed. I see that at least the skill trees have been made actual trees, which is nice, but it doesn't look like there's enough to make the experience feel different (especially at that cost--yikes). I'm hoping this is just a PoC for a new EO game on Switch.
You've got taste owning the originals, I just hope this inspires more people to play and thus new entries
40 bucks a pop for games that are ultimately prettier but (damningly) less convenient versions of their DS originals turns me off from picking them up. While 3 was the game that got me interested in the franchise, Mom couldn't find a copy for me when I was young and I had to wait for 4. I've played every mainline Etrian game from 4 onward, so this should have been a pickup for me without question. Now I feel that 3 is the only one that really deserves my attention and I probably will wait for a discount even then.
I am interested in trying out this series, but unsure where to start.
Which out of the three in the Origins Collection would be the best entry point?
I strongly believe that the best entry point is whichever one looks most interesting.
I'd say only 3 is worth playing. You're better off playing the 3ds remakes for 1 and 2.
I would agree with Azure, as the reviewer of these titles.
Unless finding untold is too tricky
ohhhhhh, I remember playing this game way back. Guess Imma but it now.
Persona Q please, both of them.....
Most likely depending on how well the Origins Collection is received they may do 3D collection with 4-Nexus and Untold collection
Yet more to add to my backlog lol
I bought this on Day 1, too. Excellent Trilogy
Have funnn
I only buy EO3 for now, for rest of them i wait for sale.
smart move
So there's no auto map/icon feature? looks so tedious to make them after a while (even on 3ds to me)
No it does have auto mapping tools. You can pick between 3 different settings
@@HeyAaron12 oh great! Thx a lot!
@@HeyAaron12 not for icons, just for walls and floors.
Thanks for the review
Not sure if I should get this as I've already played it before.
Especially on the steep PC prices.
you can buy them separate too btw, if anything, the main appeal of the whole thing is having a legal way to acquire EO3, which until now was in quite an unfortunate situation, as you either had to emulate it, which most emulators had issues running it, or had to buy the cartridge which could go as over as 200 bucks, ofc, if you own the originals cartridges, there is like no reason to get them if you dont want to
Huh... not suppose to put medics in the front line... Ive always put them in the front line lol. Also. I hope in the next game for EO they have more than one spellcasters or Zodiac magic wielding class.
Still pisses me tf off how theirs no physical western release for this
so true, I would get it
Their stock would sell out in an instant if it had a western English physical release. The worst part about it having one way of buying the collection physically with English support is that scalpers will buy a good majority of the stock and sell it at a profit on Amazon or other retailers. 2 months from now expect these scalpers to put listings up on Amazon or EBay and expect to pay $100+ to buy the collection physically if you don’t plan to import the Asia version yourself.
Might not be what you're looking for but the asian version sold by Playasia has EN text available as one of the language options.
Etrian Odyssey games can be fun. However…. The difficulty, and game pacing (slow, by design) will turn off some gamers. It’s a game that is rewarding if the player is willing to be patient, read, and learn. I enjoy the etrain odyssey series, but, I also prefer slower turn paced gameplay. So, naturally fit for me.
they open up SUPER rough but it gets easier so
Yeah, gonna pass on this. The asking price is downright insulting, especially considering 1&2 aren't the untold versions.
It's the origin stories so I'm ok with that. $80 for 3 excellent games isn't all that expensive either. Publishers and developers still got to make money as these aren't straight ports, especially when it's a port is a DS game as you're not getting that second screen of gameplay.
You can get them individually, so there's nothing wrong with just getting one of them. I myself (the reviewer) would recommend grabbing the 3rd one, and then seeking out the untold versions somewhere else.
@@LAGSAS I picked up the physical release, from Play Asia, so I'm all in on all three of them. I thought it was $80 but, it's only $70 so $10 cheaper than expected. Still not a bad price.
Humblebundle and another site had the steam key bundle for $72 yesterday. May still be available
@@viledisturbance1869 Individually, they are $40. I'm very familiar with the games and their length as I've played though all of them on DS and 3DS. Regardless, the asking price for a glorified DS game when they could have given us the Untold versions is just lazy and reeks of a cash grab.
This series deserves more love from the players and from devs. Why they took so long to make switch releases? Why left behind enhancements from the 3ds version? Why 4, 5 and Nexus are not on this collection? Nexus is the best game of the series in the sense that it has all the features and QoL from all of the other titles...
And to be honest? Why they don't release a android version of EO? For me would be perfect, the game is not and don't have to be heavy or to have graphics, the game is huge and you will be playing for hundred of hours. And I'm not asking for a gems crap game, just sell the app and it's done.
I can see why they wouldn't do all at once.
Whilst I complain about the lack of Untold QoL, they could release a new pack of 3D games down the line.
They'd have to do a lot more to get the 3d working and looking good for a rerelease, it's not just a copy paste job
they are testing the waters with the original 3 of the DS, porting the rest could come down the line later, which is better to pace them out than all at once otherwise you overwhelm people making a purchase, as well that they run in a different engine than the first 3 and have more changes that need heavier adjustments if you want to port them and make them work
So for now, lets celebrate being able to play EO3 legally and that the franchise isnt dead yet, and if you want to complain, ask them to port Etrian Mystery dungeon 2, cus that one never left japan
Makes senses, I don't know how well the EO Nexus was received, it come out too late for the 3ds. Would be good to see new titles and not only remakes for the switch.
I greatly disliked Nexus for nerfing some classes especially Pugilist. That was my favorite class in EOV. The split promotion of the classes was also really nice that they should have kept it. I remember having both types of Pugilist in my party. One for binding while the other for pure damage.
Hm? Subclassing is missing? I don't remember subclassing being in Untold or Untold 2, just the Grimoire system, and we can't even use fafnir apart from the grimoire stones so we only had the transforming burst if you played story mode, then in Untold the extra dungeon I remember we couldn't do it while in U2 we could, though in U and 2U there were no voice acting for the characters you made sadly unless you played story mode in which case they will have voice acting disregarding the voiced npcs then though haha, and subclassing were only there from the 3rd game onwards
then again I never actually really used the highlander or fafnir too much anyways so I didn't have too much of an issue, still listened to the whole review and for the most part I can agree
As you say Subclassing was introduced in 3, remained in 4, and instead of just adding it into Untold 1 and 2, they added the grimoire stones, which fundamentally serve a similar purpose, which is why I refer to them as that.
@@LAGSAS Ah I see, I just didn't really thought of them that way since grimoires fundamentally functioned different in EOIU and EOIIU from my memory, EOIIU skills could go up to lvl 20 thanks to grimoires meanwhile in EOIU they didn't stack which made getting a different skill make more sense
Edit: so In 2U I used them more for augment than other skills but in U I used them for other skills basically
Since I already own the 2 Untold versions on the 3DS, the Collection itself is a hard miss for me.
Being able to buy Etrian Odyssey III as a standalone game on the other hand is not though. Unless you used an Emulator, you couldn't even play EO III legally before this announcement.
What's the track playing for most of the review?
ua-cam.com/video/lQcKlQ6iAew/v-deo.html
It's the theme of the first stratum in Etrian Odyssey 1
Etrian Odyssey is my favorite game series, played all but EO3 several times over, have been looking forward to this, especially 3.
Should have definitely been the Untold versions instead of og ds for 1 and 2 though. The untold line was fantastic, especially 2.
@@Hallalemon yeah, but that's why they called this the ''Origins'' collection: to allow everyone the ability to play the original DS games on modern consoles
pretty sure they'll eventually port/remaster the Untold duology some day
Nintendo DS screen resolution is 250x200. It is literally impossible to port any of these games to 1920x1080. Impossible, if the goal is to sell emulated copy&paste code as a "new" game. And looks like this game solved the "impossible feat" via.. split screen? Instead of, you know, making a couple of menus, but this would of course require actual work done.
I wish they had did the remaster for the untold games
I can FINALLY play etrian Odyssey 3 without paying a premium! And playing the originals after playing the untold versions will be cool too, very very nice.
It sucks that Origins is literally just the DS games but prettied up. I really appreciate the speed changes (I have the JP digital version so I beat 1 yesterday) but it sucks that the horrendous balance, lackluster random encounters, and bad quests (1 and 2) still remain.
I'm indifferent on wanting the new classes. I personally think subclassing is really stupid in all three games it's in (especially in 3 where most of the roster has awful synergy), and you can't just slap in subclassing or grimoires into games that aren't balanced with them in mind. 1 and 2 are already super simple and basic and adding subclassing would just make them worse.
They added difficulties and bugfixes, so I think that alone is worth it.
@@namelessanomaly3946 Well, the new difficulties is a load of nothing for someone who already played the games. All I use it for is picnic to make farming or grinding up a new character/my farming squad faster. I like the inclusion because everyone should be able to play but it's an addition I personally barely care about.
Second, bugfixes are nice but besides the terrible performance of 2 there weren't really bugs that really ruined the game. They cut levels at the end of some skills which did nothing which results in some super minor buffs to some classes, but the bugs in the originals barely mattered. The games are still unbalanced as well and the helpful bugs became features.
I like the new battle speed a lot because 1 and 2 were stupidly slow and I still like the games even with the endless amount of stupid stuff in them. I got these games for $50 and I am having a good time, but I still wish Atlus went further. They did weird halfassed direct buffing of specific worthless skills but didn't go all the way.
Some games like EO were specifically made to be played on the DS and 3DS. I just can't imagine playing on a normal platform like PC or Switch. It just doesn't work.
EO is a first person dungeon crawler like hundreds before it, so they can easily be ported on modern platforms with automap and also the ability to still manually draw your own maps
it's different than the DS and 3DS originals, but it's still feasible
another example of a DS/3DS game that easily made the jump on other platforms is The World Ends With You
SE were able to remake the game to fit only 1 screen for both its mobile and Switch versions as most of its gameplay was touch-based, though the caveat for the Switch version is the broken-ass motion controls for dock mode
lastly, the Mega Man ZX duology also made the transition from DS to modern platforms smoothly as the bottom screen was barely used outside of some minor touch-based mechanics for some transformation forms
you could still use them in the Legacy Collection, though it's a bit jarring for the PC and Xbox versions as they don't have touch controls unlike the PS4 and Switch versions
on the 3DS side, they've ported Alliance Alive on Switch and other platforms with barely any compromises to the overall experience
I'm pretty sure there were more, but those are the ones that popped up in my mind, and they'll be even more ports/remasters of DS and 3DS games down the line
@@martinde-serres8724 Of course I know that EO is not the first DC game. But it was the first that had the "draw your map feature". A big feature using the second screen of the DS/3DS
@@franciscobutte Why are you copying the same reply from a separate comment thread?
I already know this, hence my reply from that said comment thread
Also, my reply to you HERE is to explain how developers were able to bring some of those DS and 3DS games that were touch-heavy or have used some touchscreen features on modern platforms
In fact, even those that barely used or don't even use those touchscreens can easily be ported over to modern platforms
The 3ds had dlc you can't get anymore to
@@martinde-serres8724 TWEWY was definitely NOT easily ported to switch. The combat was completely ruined. This was even mentioned in the first minute of the video.
It's very much debatable whether the Untold remakes are superior to the originals. I'm glad that many of those 'features' weren't included, as they would radically change the games.
I dont think the 4/20 release date is accurate...
Yeeeea
Noisy Pixel were wishing it was 420. Or they were partaking in a bit of 420 when making that card.
It’s rather nice to see the resurgence of the franchise…but it is difficult to ignore that, indeed, the parts that were included as early as the third game being outright unavailable in the remasters of 1 and 2 are…rather sorely missed.
Not least of all being the detailed wall textures that shows shortcuts…which, for actually locating shortcuts when you’re actively searching for them, is downright essential for exploration and *especially* backtracking, when you’re going through the same stratum.
Between this, a lack of the ability to chat with people in the tavern, and especially how the ability to heal and revive is put behind an Ental premium (which only gets worse as your characters get higher in levels, and while the latter is always a thing in the series, we’re still stuck with the shop, inn and apothecary being *all separate areas in the hometown*, which breaks the pace…almost as badly as the difficulty.
As someone who’s playing Etrian Odyssey HD on Basic Difficulty…it definitely feels like playing all of the 3DS titles would be a better introduction to the series…even if the 3DS side is fairly different, in a good few ways.
If anything, the biggest appeals for the Origins Collection would be experiencing the original games as they once were (albeit with the quality of life changes anyone could see), and being able to play III without either paying an unpleasant premium for a DS copy or piracy.
…also kind of wondering where the option to turn on the Remastered Tracks is unlocked…slightly concerning, there. Especially since it was one of the announced features of the Origins Collection overall.
Honestly the price tag is just way too high to try out this series. Maybe in a few years when it reached an acceptable price, i might try it
you can buy them individually, or wait til sales if you need all 3. id take my time anyway
@@LAGSAS Yeah but one game alone is 40 Euro. Why would I pay 40 Euro for a low effort 3ds port if I could get a brand new AAA game like Street fighter 6 for 60 games. The price is just absurd. MMBN Collection was so much more reasonable
@@zlarez4485 Because Etrian Odyssey 3 will beat out any triple A title any day of the week. That's why.
@@LAGSAS Even it that is true most people skip it with this price. This way wont attract a lot of new customers. Sooo the remaster will most likely sell bad and they will take it as confirmation, that the series isnt popular enough and thus produce no more of it.
@@zlarez4485igh price, because EO is very niche series, and Atlus expect low sales. Plus Sega ended with cheap remasters since Valkyria Chronicles, Catherine, and Yakuza 0 PC versions for 20$. The only one exception is Persona 3-4 for 20 bucks, because they know this games sold better.
Still too much of a massive price tag for me, I'll wait for a sale.
The price tho
i mean they're 3 different games.
And you can grab them individually.
@@LAGSAS Grabbing them individually makes the games more expensive, why do you think this is any kind of argument?
@@niquel5831 because you can grab just the 3rd one, and then use
Alternative means (Y'know)
to get the Untold versions of the other two
@@LAGSAS Doesn't change the fact that it's still expensive, and even increases the price from 27 to 40.
No Untold features? Good, it was a bit much with the Grimoire system. I'm looking forward to this release sticking close to the DS versions.
Yay!
Must have for the Steam Deck! I am really looking forward playing these games again, but now on the Deck!
Yeah! I have a stylus that I really only use for chess. I can't wait to break out the Deck and stylus and start mapping out dungeons. This was one of my fav series on the DS/3DS. I think I'll just get 3, as I find it hard to go back to 1 and 2 without some of the changes that were made in Untold.
😊😅😊
The 3ds had dlc you can no longer get too
Yeaahhhh, real bummer about that.
Unless you use
alternate means
they put denuvo on this so i'll never ever get it.
ok so this is really funny right.
they put denuvo on the store page.
it's not in the game.
how????
seeing people in the comments bend over backwards to defend these DS ports being $40 when Atlus just released Persona 3 and 4 ports for only $20 that are much bigger games, with much bigger budgets, much higher production values, etc is pretty damn funny.
these aren't ports though, you can complain about the price being too high but these are remakes
@@LAGSAS they spent an equal amount of work porting P3P and P4 to the switch as they did rereleasing these games on the switch. They both use the exact same assets and run on the same engine - and were both digitally upscaled into HD and run at a higher resolution. Yet these games are double the price because.........?
Now Etrian Untold 1 and 2...now THOSE were remakes.
Firstly, EO was not originally built on unity.
Secondly, it was made for a dual screen system, so it had to be redesigned and the control scheme reconfigured, so it's not 'an equal amount' of time.
I think yes, the price could be lower, but it's not ridiculous
@@LAGSAS Reconfiguring a control scheme is easy as fuck, dude. And changing engines is not that hard, even from a ds game.
@@niquel5831 Changing the display so it feels right on a single screen when it's made for two?
I DON'T own a Switch so unless it gets a PS4 version I can't play it.
I'd say since I've played eo3 onwards I like coming back to where it all started.
But like bring formaldehyde to eo1 and eo2 plz
On the one hand, not getting the Untold versions is kind of a bummer.
On the other hand, having the original Labyrinth layouts, monster packs, and skill trees (now with fewer dead skills and the bugs fixed)... on PC... with clean, up-rez'd textures... is really really really really damn good.
Even if the collection *is* horrendously overpriced, I'm willing to pay it simply to tell Atlus "Etrian Odyssey is one of my favorite game series of ALL TIME, here's my money, please give us PC Ports of the 3DS games and/or EO 6 and/or Untold 3 someday kthx."
not a fan of the font
"Also available on PC"
Thank you, blessed gods of gaming 😭
The gods of gaming blessed us with emulators decades ago. A few extra portraits are not worth the lack of savestates and turbo mode.
@@karry299 i'm not against save states, but i feel like in this kind of game it takes away all the pressure and excitement in the encounters if you can just reload.
@@karry299 lmao what???? why are you playing EO with turbo and savestates?????
too expensive
I'm still mad about the pricing and the lack of Untold 1 and 2. This is just a cheap cash grab
it's called ''Origins'' for a reason: it's the first 3 DS EO games in 1 package made available on modern platforms lol
I'm a fan of this series but come on, no changes from Untold, no 3D models, shitty font from a mobile game... I'm waiting for the next full-fledged Etrian Odyssey, VI or whatever it will be called... if it ever gets made, but I hope so!
Nexes spelling that wrong is basically number 6
@@andysnyder3844 Nexus is a remix of all the previous entries with little new content. Still waiting for VI or other new game in the series.
@@elanczewski cool I'll remember that
I hate the fact that the first two games were just ports of the original versions. What a bummer.
it's called ''Origins'' for a reason lol
The untold games were inferior to the originals and Japan tends to agree with this. This is why Atlus didn't port them to the switch.
Inferior how? And don't say the story mode, if you don't like the story mode you can always not play it.
I tried the original EO and I can't belive how poorly made the menu navigation and UI is in the town. They had a system with two screens and didn't even use the second one to display relevant information while you where shopping, always having to back out. And that's not mentioning how awfully the skill "tree" was displayed, checking the skill dependencies was so annoying.
So does this game have subclassing? Since there won't be Grimoires since it isn't Untold. I know EO3 had that since I have played that before. I have only played Untold 1 and 2.
It looks like you play a menu
You know this is very low budget DS game ?
I was interested until i heard the stuff about the story as they all sound like there isn't much and the fact that you create your group of characters pretty much tells me that they are just blank characters with zero personality. Is there a game in this style that has a deep story and good characters?
I think you're misunderstanding how this works. This is emergent storytelling
The stories are set designs for you to create your own original characters, and narratives for them. Like a tabletop game or DnD yknow? These designs have story beats that you can have a character react to and develop them yourself.
The untold versions of 1 and 2 have pre-determined characters as an option who get fleshed out and have development and exploration as you progress, in the vein a player might make. You might just want to look at those, because otherwise there's just other Shin Megami Tensei titles, like SMT 1-2, 4 and Soul Hackers?
I just wish they gave you all 6 in one shot. Then it'd be worth $80
MOST. TERRIBLE. GAMES. EVER.
Didn't know it would be that boring, repetitive and GRINDY. Oh God. The grind... 0/10.