IGN held an interview with the development team behind Etrian Oddysey Origins Collection where they discussed various topics like how they adapted the touchscreen controls, how they are balancing the difficulty of the games, its price point and more. Here we have some of the more interesting tidbits of the interview!
On the touchscreen controls:
IGN: What was the process of figuring out how to adapt Etrian Odyssey’s touchscreen mapping to the Nintendo Switch? Was there a lot of trial and error?
Team: (…) Of course, the Switch, which includes touchscreen features, is the most compatible hardware in that regard, but as many are aware, the mechanics do differ between the DS and the Switch. So we knew we had to figure out ways to get it right on Switch, and that the experience still had to be fun. We developed a prototype version early on to check the touchscreen functionality, but after initial review, realized that the mechanics need work and further rounds of adjustments.
In particular, we had to figure out ways to address issues like how sensitive to make the touch detection, what the layout and spacing of the map tools should be, even how to account for the fact that a player’s hand blocks more of the screen than a stylus would. We even extended development a few times to reach a final quality that we would be happy with. But as a result, we do think we were able to polish the game to the point where you can enjoy an experience very close to the original games by utilizing a stylus.
On why they chose the original trilogy:
IGN: Why did Atlus specifically choose to focus on the first three games? Was there any consideration of including the Untold games, or elements from those games?
EO Team: For EO’s first foray onto modern platforms, we wanted to start at the true beginning of the series. Fans have been asking for ports of these classic games, and we also wanted to be able to introduce the series to new players who may never have had a chance to play the originals before. We wanted to focus on the core EO gameplay that the original three games provide. But we also know that modern gamers have certain expectations when it comes to the gameplay experience, so we updated a lot of the systems to be more in line with the series’ most recent releases like Etrian Odyssey Nexus. We think modern gamers will find the experience very user-friendly.
On how they handled difficulty for the new games:
IGN: The original Etrian Odyssey games are notoriously difficult. Will the difficulty be rebalanced?
EO Team: In these remasters, players will be able to choose from three different difficulty levels (Picnic, Basic, Expert) to find the gameplay experience that works best for them, and you can adjust the difficulty at any time you like by returning to the main town area. The difficulty of the original games can still be experienced by selecting the Expert mode. This adjustment is shared across all 3 titles, as we wanted to preserve the difficulty level that our planning team carefully crafted in the original games to ensure a thrilling battle experience. We recommend Expert mode for players who want to immerse themselves in more sophisticated battles, while Basic and Picnic are perfect for players who want to enjoy a more casual dungeon-crawling experience. We’ve also adjusted certain skills that weren’t functioning properly, but left certain specs that could be utilized strategically towards the player’s advantage untouched.
On the game’s $80 price point:
IGN: Based on some early attention on price point, why $80 to purchase the collection?
Sega of America: Yes, the collection is available for purchase at $80. With this purchase, players will get 30+ hours of gameplay for Etrian Odyssey HD and 50+ hours for Etrian Odyssey II and III, plus free DLC portrait sets of popular characters from other ATLUS IP when they pre-order. That is a lot of content and gameplay that we think players will be very excited for in the first three games of the remastered series for Nintendo Switch and Steam.
If you want to read the interview in full, click here!
Certainly a lot of interesting points, and while there is controversy around the game’s price point, it’s easy to tell that the devs are putting a lot of care into this collection, but what do you think? Will you be getting the game? Let us know below!
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