Turns out I've played the fan translation enough to be able to navigate the entire prologue without having to read anything, which is good to know.

Sadly, I couldn't get the phoenix code to work, so I'm stuck using Momo for my mana battery. It only really adds two levels to the build at most, but it's really important to get that up and running so I can fuel permanent Walk Safe/Evil Eye.

You can tell Momo's the mana battery because she's the only one whose name isn't romanized.

...I miss the Loafers.

Pros of taking a break from Etrian Odyssey after completing the first game to do something else for a while:

Stumble into a rabbit hole while investigating the history of another game you enjoy, one that makes everything make sense! (Theoretically.)

Find a whole bunch of new games to try out.

Rapidly develop a new understanding of what makes a game "good" and "bad".

Decide "fuck it, we ball", and push on with it anyways.

Enjoy the soundtrack and character designs along the way.

Eventually get fed up with it (and maybe a few other unrelated things), and decide to go back and play Etrian Odyssey 2.

Relax in the feeling of being in familiar territory (and making decisions that actually mean anything)

The cons:

The player has a pulse.

They know what the Defend command does.

They have bothered to teach their main attacker how to actually do that and maybe bought them a weapon.

Art I commissioned from xxmoonangelxx on BlueSky two years ago for Pride Month of my favorite ship in 7th Dragon, Yaiba and Mio from 7th Dragon III Code: VFD!