Nintendo's official site has revealed that Elminage Original is coming to the 3DS eShop in North America this week.
Developed by Starfish, Elminage Original is a remake of the 2008 game which started it all. It was previously localised for the west on the PSP in 2012.
Elminage is thematically similar to the Wizardry series, and involves moving around a dungeon from a first-person perspective.
Here's the game's official description:
The five rings that protect the world have been scattered after five sorceresses attempted to release the Demon King.
They who can find the five rings and restore the barrier on the Dragon's Fang shall be richly rewarded.Today, many adventurers pass through the gates of Trangelda, their true motives hidden within their hearts.
Elminage Original is an atmospheric, dungeon RPG where players assemble a band of adventures and embark to conquer dungeons and recover the rings!
The five rings lie in dungeons across the world throughout temples, caverns and forests, their locations randomly placed when starting a game. Earn Fame by completing events and infuse it into a compass to track where the rings are hidden.
Hordes of monsters lie in wait throughout the dungeons, some of them so huge they cannot fit on the screen. Create powerful adventures and level up to progress deeper into the dungeons and face stronger foes.
Choose from a total of 16 classes of adventurers, including the more unusual "servant" in addition to the traditional fighters, mages and samurai classes. Nine races, gender, age, and nature, parameters allow players to customize their own powerful characters. Learn 72 different spells under the mage, cleric, and alchemy lines and cast unique spells from your very own characters.
Your very own epic adventure awaits you!
If that sounds right up your street, then cast your eyeballs over the trailer for the PSP release:
This is certainly a pleasant surprise; will you be picking this RPG up on your 3DS?
[source nintendo.com]
Comments 48
It looks like it was made with RPG Maker Fes.
That's not a compliment.
I'd love to see a port/sequel to Orcs and Elves that was released on the original DS. Absolutely loved that game to bits. I beat it at every difficulty level.
That trailer looks rough. Hard pass on this one.
It's a five year old game, why would i want to play it if i didnt play it in the last five years?
I already have it on PSP.
Dunno why nobody is interested though. Series is better than EO IMO and I prefer this graphical style too.
Why would someone play this nowadays?
If it looks and plays that bad on the PSP then obviously it's going to be worst on the 3DS.
Hmmm... Let's just wait for Etrian Odyssey V.
@Bunkerneath not that I want it, but I've found out this game's existence thanks to this article, so if I haven't played it during these years I might want to play it now. That's not the case as it's a genre I'm not fond of, but is it really that hard to understand? Has it never happened to you to find out and play a game years after it was released?
@sillygostly I'm pretty sure there was an Orcs and Elves 2. It might have been for old-school cellphones only.
Colour me interested. Looks okay.
As a big fan of first person dungeon crawlers, i give this a hard pass.
Elminage has some quirks that would be archaic even in some of the earliest Wizardry titles.
But the (3)DS is home to much better games. If you're interested in the genre, pick Etrian Odyssey and you'll be much happier.
@setezerocinco why would anyone want to play Final Fantasy VII or The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past nowadays? A game being old doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad, you know?
The animation really brings those heroes and monsters to life! (I couldn't type that with a straight face.)
Meh, give me the Original Golden Sun over this.
@PlayerOne : Yeah, I'm aware of that. I would buy it in a heartbeat if it were released on smartphones or 3DS/Switch though. Doom 2 RPG is very similar (same developers/mechanics/aesthetic), but the difficulty is horribly unbalanced to the point that I got stuck relatively early into the game.
God, I wish Legend of Grimrock wasn't just a PC title. Those would make superb Switch titles.
@JacquesLecornu that was exactly the direction of my comment. The game is also bad, not only old. FFVII and ALttP I will play until the end of my days.
It looks OK, but considering the likely vastly superior EO5 is releasing in the next few months... I'll pass.
@sillygostly yeah even etrian Odyssey looks better than this. Never was into first person view much, let alone the trailer doesn't show much character development. Ah well, back to steamworld heist for me
@Bunkerneath 😂😂😂 that's hilarious!! I could have sworn I hear the exact opposite from so many Nintendo fans. Just saying.
YOU TOUCHED IT!
(I think that's what a meme-y line from the game was.)
I am honestly surprised at the very low enthusiasm people are showing in the comments. This is a dungeon crawler, through and through, and is a better homage to Wizardry than the EO series. Fans of The Dark Spire especially should be excited for this game, although lots of people didn't bother with it too now that I recall. The fact that it's more like the classic games is precisely why I like it.
I guess people these days just want 'flashy' dungeon crawlers with colourful graphics and stuff. It's sad that people, if this article is any indication, don't care about anything outside of the EO series regarding this genre.
And people should Dark Spire a chance. People didn't want to try it because of the 'terrible graphics' and stuff, and the genre has never been about graphics or story. Only the gameplay matters.
As far as I know this game supports custom portraits. I will probably buy it, I'm very interested. It looks very good overall imho.
EDIT: I didn't read the full article, I live in Europe. I hope this game will make its way to Europe eventually
Not on my European 3DS.
The fact that @1:03, Meme uses a dagger to land two hits for seven damage should be enough to tell you the people behind this game put a lot of thought into their creation.
I miss turn-based games and never owned a PSP, so I'll definitelty consider this if Project Octopath Traveler or Lost Sphear fail miserably.
Did they drop the option to use your own images as the characters' profile pictures? Aw, I think that feature actually made this game kinda cool.
I love these kinds of games, but UFO Interactive is publishing this??? No way man; still get flashbacks from their Wii/DS days.
This really makes me yearn for something like Eye Of The Beholder, or Abandoned Places. I loved those types of games.
Now that's a name I haven't hear in a while.
Been waiting a while for Elminage. Will check it out if the price is right
Were those spell charges? Dang. I might pick this up. It looks like Wizardry's 16 bit cousin. There's no price announced yet is there?
@Octorok385 @Windy 2 articles and the official website said it's $19.99 US.
http://ninjagamesjapan.com/title/elminage/
There's a feature to use your own characters using photos you take with the camera.
Where did they dig this artifact from?
@sillygostly That was one of my favorite DS games of all time. Would love a 3DS dungeon crawler in the same vein.
@Freelance
Oh so that feature IS still there? Thanks for that, that was actually key whether or not I wanted to buy this game. Having a dream team of my favorite characters from literally anything is just too cool.
@Freelance that price is not right from what I can see of the trailer. Hope they have a Christmas sale.
@Expa0 Did you check the link I posted? The official website does list this feature if you want any proof.
I find it strange people would pay $40 ($50+ in Canada) for an EO game, but don't want to pay half that for another game that IMO, is just as good as EO, if not better.
I'm rather disappointed at the people who inhabit Nintendo Life, dismissing a game because of 'terrible graphics' and whatever. I think the designs look great. The GameFAQs board had much better reception than here (the PSP version), and those boards are supposed to be terrible.
I think I may buy it after all, as I doubt the 3DS version is going to get much sales if this article is anything to go by. They'll want some support.
Don't care what anyone else thinks, I'm getting this. There's not enough blobbers on the 3DS. I have the Elminage games on PC, so I already know I like the series.
@sillygostly I agree about RPG Maker! I thought the same thing.
I guess you're replying to me, but based on your post, it sounds like you've never played a single 1st person dungeon crawler in your life. If you think the trailer is so terrible, then there's really no point in trying to explain to you what makes the genre so appealing because It doesn't look like the genre is for you, and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't like/care for some genres either. What you said is basically what a 1st person dungeon crawler -is,- except for the gameplay part. The genre has plenty of gameplay, but I doubt anything I say is going to change your mind at all.
I also don't see what price has anything to do with it. The genre doesn't dictate how much a game should cost. You're probably one of those people who think SHMUPs and pinball games should cost no more than $5.
@sillygostly
Shame id Software's mobile unit is pretty much abandoned after Carmack left the company.
@World Different publisher this time. Rising Star Games. Definitely get it if you know Wizardry.
@Freelance Oh nice; Rising Star is much better. Also I love Wizardry, so that's enough of a recommendation for me! Thanks!
@World Actually, I'm getting conflicting info about that. Some sources say it's Rising Star Games bringing it over, but other sources say Ninja Games is. I've no idea who Ninja Games is, but their logo does appear in-game. No idea if they're both the same company under different names too. Either way, the game is fine. I haven't seen any issues,
@Freelance Yeah, I haven't heard of them, but if it's like Wizardry and actually works okay then I'll probably get it to tide me over until EOV.
I'm going to get this one soon
Just picked it up on sale today for 9.99. Glad I waited. So far the menus feel a bit clunky. The 3d looks cool. It has a heavy Wizardry feel to it which is a good thing. No tutorial about anything. They throw you to the wolves to figure it out. I like it so far and I'm glad I waited for a sale. Personally they should do a permanent price drop to 9.99 I just think the quality of this puts it in that price range and makes it a better purchase
@Freelance I'm shocked people have Dismissed this game. We don't have enough games of this type on 3ds other than the Etrian Odyssey series. I myself like the graphics so far. The game has more of a Wizardry feel to it than the EO series. I did wait for this games first sale which I got it for 9.99 today. I have played very little so far but very impressed so far. You do need to fiddle with it and figure out everything for yourself as there is no tutorial here. Took me forever to figure out how to save a game.
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