Sunday Blues and Etrian Odyssey Untold

On 09/22/2013 at 08:16 PM by KnightDriver

I was so blue today, that I went to the park and played Etrian Odyssey Untold in my car while listening to podcasts. I love the upgrades to the menus and look of this remake of the first game in the series. It looks a lot like Etrian Odyssey IV that came out earlier this year.

EOU

The addition of a story mode is pretty interesting. I'm playing on Picnic difficulty, using auto attack every time, and just soaking in the new story and anime cut scenes. Yea, there's nothing to it that way, but I've been lazy in my gaming lately and just can't be bothered with all the details. You don't even have to create a party in Story mode. You get your one character already made and then party members drift in a out of the group as you progress in the story. I am upgrading equipment as I go however.

The demo gives you 30 plays or until you get to level 10. Then you can carry your save over to the full game when it comes out Oct. 1 in NA. I've quickly gotten to level 5 but game time will increase as levels get harder to attain. I'm pretty happy with being able to play so much of it before it comes out.

I finally got out of my car and did a little real world Pokemon Snap by photographing bugs along the side of paths. I found a lot of caterpillars, spiders, and grasshoppers. My reading of Superorganism, which is all about ants, bees and wasps, has me more than usually fascinated by insects. It dawned on me that the Pikmin in the Pikmin games are remarkably like ants. A lot of times you are attacking big bugs that look like the caterpillars some ants go for.

Tonight I will be watching this crazy Finish-German-Australian flick Iron Sky. It's a scifi movie about Nazi's that have been living on the moon since 1945 who finally return to Earth to conquer it in 2018. It's very purposely comic. I can't help thinking of games like Wolfenstein and Turning Point: Fall of Liberty when watching the trailer. The SFX look very good, but we'll see.

Guten tag mein Freunde!

Travis Hawks Senior Editor

09/22/2013 at 08:57 PM

Sorry you're so blue, but it sounds like you made the most of it. I've been wanting to see Iron Sky, so you'll have to report back with what you think.

KnightDriver

09/23/2013 at 12:24 AM

The effects are really good, but the script is kinda weak. It could've been a lot funnier too. There's some pretty hilarious criticism of the U.S. in there. I mostly chuckled rather than laughed out loud though. I gave it a 3 out of 5 stars, meaning I liked it, but not a lot, and definitely didn't love it. Some of the look of the film reminded me of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which I thought had a similar great-look-shallow-story appeal. Iron Sky got mostly bad reviews by critics but it did win an award for effects. That probably says it all right there.

09/23/2013 at 12:59 PM

Well, between you and Snee it sounds like I should pass on Iron Sky.

My review of EOU should be coming out soon. NDA is up today, but I need more time.

09/23/2013 at 01:04 PM

What? And not see the giant space Zeppelins?

This thing, IN SPACE!

Ok, so it's not so great... But Sara Palin as President!

Matt Snee Staff Writer

09/22/2013 at 09:47 PM

i watched parts of Iron Sky but I couldn't stomach the whole thing. It was funny sometimes though. Definitely a great concept.

09/23/2013 at 12:26 AM

Yea, "funny sometimes" that's about right.

I saw there was a video game made, Iron Sky: Invasion, but I think it only came out in Europe because I've never seen it here in NA.

Halochief90

09/23/2013 at 12:53 AM

Hey, thanks to portables even gamers can go outside and still play something. Now you can even play Wii U in an airport if you don't mind packing the whole system.

Iron Sky looks pretty different. Can't tell exactly what it's going for, but I can say this wouldn't be made in America.

09/23/2013 at 02:18 AM

I could see all the oil prints my fingers left on the screen while outside. I had to keep the system out of too much light or I couldn't see past the smudges. Inside I don't see them at all.

The tons of U.S. jokes told me right away this wasn't an American film. It's interesting to see how the rest of the world views the U.S. in terms of comedy. The message seemed to be our government is full of greedy, lying, war mongering, propaganda loving politicians out to rob the rest of the world of their resources. That's what this film seemed to be saying... in a comedic way.

transmet2033

09/23/2013 at 09:02 AM

Since I have a copy of Etrian Odyssey Untold coming I should probably download the demo and start the game.

09/23/2013 at 12:55 PM

Yes, do! It's very cool! I'm at level 9 and expect to get kicked out of it very soon. Can't stop playing it.

I finally figured out how to do notes on the maps. It works great! This series does everything right in presenting the old school first person dungeon crawl for handhelds.

NSonic79

10/06/2013 at 12:43 AM

Iron Sky! I was so mixed when it came to that movie. I wasn't even sure how to take it. It looked like it would start off good with the authentic look of the nazi gear and their colony on the moon. But it started to fall apart with the satirical angle. I really hated that campaign manager.

Then it goes into parody territory with the USS George W Bush. Really?

And then it turns dark WAY fast with the nuclear strike!

the ending with the UN fight and the rest just made me question why I watched it in the first place. It had such a good concept, but just like Turning Point it falls apart for me.

10/06/2013 at 03:27 AM

I'm forgetting everything in the movie already. There's no really memorable moments, just lots of spectacle and the most obvious of jokes.

PixlBit