The eShop just got a whole lot prettier

There's not long to wait now until the sublime looking Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan is finally released for the 3DS in North America. The game will be available on 26th February in both physical and downloadable formats.

Speaking of downloadable formats, as we mentioned in our weekly downloads round-up, North American 3DS owners can now venture into the eShop and unearth a demo of the upcoming release. It's quite an expansive one too, allowing players to get a good feel for the opening gameplay areas. You get to play the introduction; the first mini dungeon, Old Forest Mine; the first skyship area, Windy Plains; and some of the first main dungeon in the game, the Lush Woodlands.

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Possibly the most interesting thing about this demo is that all the progress you make can be transferred to the full game upon purchasing it. This means you won't have to go though all the early stages of the game all over again.

Atlus, the game's developer, is releasing a few QR codes into the wild for you to find that will allow you to get hold of rare in-game items. We'd tell you where they are going to be, but why spoil the fun in looking?

The developer is also holding a screenshot capture contest which players can enter for the chance to win one of three Ultimate Adventurer's Prize Packs.

To initiate the contest, players must download the Etrian Odyssey IV demo from the Nintendo eShop and access their Guild Cards. In case you're wondering, the Guild Card contains player details such as guild and skyship names, current party, game stats, and all the medals you've earned. To enter, you have to follow Atlus on Twitter and then tweet or retweet the message below along with a screenshot of your Guild Card.

The packs are certainly worth winning, each one contains a copy of Etrian Odyssey, Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Laagard and Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City, all for the Nintendo DS. On top of that there is even an exclusive QR Code for a rare item in Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan.

Those gamers who've thought ahead and pre-ordered a physical copy of the game will receive a limited edition art book and music CD - while stocks last. So many goodies.

We still have no word on a European release for Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan. For now North America will have all the fun.

What are your thoughts on this, North America? Surely this is worth downloading? Let us know how you get on with it in the comments section below.