Etrian Odyssey - COMPLETED!

I finished the main game of Etrian Odyssey this morning and damn, what a hard and unbelieveably enjoyable game.

About a week ago, I hit floor 20 with the brutal FOE's and the end boss. There are about 15 of them that you have to take out BEFORE you make a stab at the final floor 20 boss. To add insult to injury, the boss just happens to be roaming around the floor and will come after you when you are in a fight too close to him. If you take him out before the other FOE's, he will respawn and you will have to kill him again to get past the floor.

I first gave it a shot when my party was at level 46, then 47, then 49, then 51 and I got wiped out every time. I had to keep leveling them up earlier in the dungeon (on floor 18 with the revitializing spring) to level 56 to be able to beat that floor. Wow. Maybe if I had an Alchemist or Troubador or something I would have had a better shot earlier on. I had to fill my bags up with Amrita II's, Nectar II's and a few Somas and spend a ridiculous amount of cash to make it past that boss. But it was totally worht it because the final floors are fantastic.

From floors 20-25, I pretty much cruised past everything, although I got wiped out a few times by these damn flowers that put your entire party to sleep. There are some tough FOE's, but you can take them all out pretty quick. There aren't any like the first few floors of the dungeon that are overpowered.

The final five floors are possibly the most maze-like in the game and very beautiful. Walking down into the 21+ floors in the dungeon was stunning. I don't want to spoil it, but there are a lot of good moments in the final few floors.

It took me a few days to make it through the last floors and fight the final boss, which seemed a breeze after the 20th floor FOE's! The ending is fantastic and the last battle has some great cinematics that open it up. Make sure you wait through the credits and save your finished game - there a few more floors to go!

There are apparently another five floors you can complete after you defeat the final boss and three new quests after the game ends and I might take them on, but I think I'll have to load up Izuna: The Unemployed Ninja first. This game kind of kicked my butt and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Having to refocus at level 20 made me more cautious and where hard work is involved, the rewards are sweeter.

For anyone thinking of picking up this game - do it. It's getting harder and harder to find and like most Atlus games, it's starting to command a premium price on the 'bay, so if you see one at your local Game Stop, pick it up and dive in.