Hmm...my most memorable experiences with the first Etrian Odyssey.

Well, I first heard about the Japanese RPG World Tree Labyrinth causing a buzz amongst the RPG community for it's unforgiving, classic style of gameplay. I immeadiately thought "nice, RPGs have gotten a bit soft since the hey-days of PC RPGs, hopefully they'll bring it here".

Of course - my all-time favorite publisher, Atlus, came to the rescue. You guys never let us hard-core fans down ^_^.

I scooped up my pre-order on release day and dove right in. One of my first memories about the actual game was just how it nailed the classic PC-RPG style of "create your own party" while utilizing in the modern features of the Nintendo DS. It was like being 12 years old again playing Wizardry - Knight of Diamonds for the first time.

I also remember spending literally hours building my first party. With these type of RPGs, I really geek out on what is the "perfect" party for my play style. Most of the first day was experimenting with different classes and combinations of classes to make a party that was just right. I also got pretty attached to those guys (and girls) - when you spend that much time just coming up with the right name and look, you tend to get attached.

Once I actually got into the game, I geeked out again on the map features. God, I had notebooks of graph paper back in the day for the Wizardry games. Again, nostalgia ran up my spine. I made notes of EVERYTHING and used icons everywhere.

The next 5 hours or so was spent slowly inching my way through the first area, scraping together enough gold to buy my frontline guys better weapons and carefully choosing new skills for everyone. Etrian Odyssey was living up to it's reputation - I couldn't tell you how many times I ran back to town with my party beat to hell - but I was loving every minute of it. Just like similar RPGs of my youth, my characters were becoming important to me; if one of them was killed and needed a resurrection at the church, I felt like I had let them down somehow.

Another rumor about the game also rang true - unlike most portable games - this wasn't a pick up and go game - this is a full-scale RPG hiding in an SD card. I remember many an evening flying by, crouched in an easy chair, only to look up and realize it was almost 1 in the morning...

I could go on with many other memories of Etrian Odyssey, but like most great games, there are unique moments that are so individual and personal that it almost makes those moments fade a little by re-telling them.

Damn, I sound like a video-game Halllmark Card.

Well, that's about it - hopefully I inspired some of you RPG fans our there who may have passed this game up to go out and try it yourself. As long as you're not expecting an RPG that holds your hand the first few hours then gradually eases you into harder and harder fights. Etrian Odyssey isn't even close to that - it basically smacks you in the face and tells you to suck it up right from the get go. Actually, buying a box of tissues wouldn't be a bad idea - it just might make you cry the first week of play.