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The RPG that wasn’t afraid to get weird.

Remember that silly old trope in teen movies where the nerdy “plain Jane” character magically becomes super attractive just by removing her glasses? It was a bit like that with EarthBound- an RPG that was largely ignored when released on the Super NES in its twilight years. Nintendo’s ill-conceived ad campaign telling the player that “this game stinks” didn’t do it any favors either. The game’s overtly humorous kid-friendly facade was unusual for its time and quickly written off as ugly and boring by all but the most accepting of RPG fans. But thanks to the positive praise in gaming forums years later, it picked up steam and eventually became lauded as one of the best on the Super NES. Much like the bespectacled character in every 90s teen comedy, it was as if EarthBound removed its glasses. Nothing was different about it- just our perception of what was already there.

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Get hooked on this cult fave where it all began.

It seems like the Etrian Odyssey series has steadily won over more and more fans since its first entry in 2007. Along the way, Atlus has added in niceties to take the edge off of a series that demands a lot of its players, and revisiting the original entry with these tweaks turns out to be a great move. Even though it seems a bit odd to remake a game that’s only six years old, Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl is the perfect way to please existing fans and those just joining the dungeon-diving party.

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Etrian Odyssey’s evolution may have reached uber-game levels.

Having just recently completed Etrian Odyssey III, I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to dive right back into another massive adventure.  I mean, heck, I was a little worn out from all of the grinding I had been doing and wasn’t so sure I wanted to get into that again.  Well, somehow I got sucked back into this mess and am I ever grateful.  Atlus has taken the fourth Etrian Odyssey game through a monstrous evolutionary process to create the best balanced, most addictive, strategically engaging dungeon crawler around.

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"I hear you got a bug problem, ma'am."

There's no question that die-hard Earth Defense Force fans may be a little turned off by the latest title in the series, Insect Armageddon. As something of a spin-off of the main series, the title has been developed by western studio Vicious Cycle Software, rather than the typical folks at Sandlot in Japan. In the shift to D3Publisher's western office, Earth Defense Force has seen some slight changes in an effort to build a stronger third person shooter for western players. As someone who has enjoyed the likes of 2017 and Zangeki no Reginleiv, the changes are a mix of both good and bad.

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