Etrian Odyssey X is a compilation which combines all good aspects of past series games

After formally revealing Etrian Odyssey X (pronounced Cross) earlier this week, Atlus has also released an information batch on the game in Weekly Famitsu magazine. This info gives a basic rundown of the game's features as well as an interview with the game's director. You can read more about it after the jump.

Etrian Odyssey X will include a lot of popular features from past games such as the following:

• Force Boost and Force Break from Etrian Odyssey II
• Sub-Class from Etrian Odyssey III & IV
• Character Maker from Etrian Odyssey V

While Etrian Odyssey X gathers popular character jobs throughout the series, it will also add a brand-new, all-around job called Hero. Here is the full list of all 19 jobs that will be featured in this game:

1. Paladin (EOI, called Protector in the west)
2. Bushido (EOI, called Ronin in the west)
3. Medic (EOI)
4. Ranger (EOI, called Survivalist in the west)
5. Gunner (EOII)
6. Doctor Magus (EOII, called War Magus in the west)
7. Highlander (EOII Untold)
8. Prince/Princess (EOIII, also known as Sovereign)
9. Shogun (EOIII)
10. Zodiac (EOIII)
11. Shinobi (EOIII, called Ninja in the west)
12. Farmer (EOIII)
13. Swordsman (EOIV, called Landsknecht in the west)
14. Night Seeker (EOIV)
15. Mystic (EOIV, called Arcanist in the west)
16. Imperial (EOIV)
17. Cestus (EOV, called Pugilist in the west)
18. Reaper (EOV, called Harbinger in the west)
19. Hero (EOX)

Compared to 40 voice types in EOV, Etrian Odyssey X will have 20 more types for a total of 60 voice types for created characters. In the Japanese version, these voices will be provided by 33 voice actors, including Maaya Uchida, Akio Ohtsuka, Houchu Ohtsuka, Yui Ogura, Chiwa Saito, Ayane Sakura, Hiro Shimono, Megumi Han, Rica Fukami, Saki Fujita, Kenta Miyake, and more.

Purchasing early release copies of Etrian Odyssey X will also come with a limited bonus DLC of five new job character illustrations. At the right column on the preview scan right below, you can see the new Medic illustration drawn by Mota and the Farmer illustration from Shigatake. Other than that, the DLC pack will also include a new Gunner by FLIPFLOPs' Yuki Takahata, Night Seeker from Shirou Miwa, and even a special Project Re FANTASY collab illustration from Atlus' very own Shigenori Soejima.

You can read the translated interview between Famitsu magazine and EOX's director Shigeo Komori right after this.

Filled with old and new appeals

Famitsu : This game gathers jobs and systems that have gained popularity throughout the series until now, so it really seems like a compilation indeed. Please tell us the details on how you came to create content like this.

Komori: The first opportunity was that, after we released Etrian Odyssey V to the world, we listened to various requests from all our users.

We made EOV as a compilation with a direction of challenging new things on the systems, jobs, world settings and more, as we used the know-how we’ve gathered throughout the series. I think people were able to enjoy that point. But on the other hand, I feel like there are also many people who expected a direction of gathering the good points in the past series instead of just entirely new things.

That’s when we came to think we should create one more compilation that combines systems and jobs that have been supported by everyone in particular.

Famitsu : Lemuria, the world of this game, for some reason also has dungeons inspired by past numbered titles.

Komori: We cannot divulge details on the world setting yet, but Lemuria is a land separated from other continents, and legacy adventurers may notice familiar forests expanding around the World Tree standing at the center of the land.

However, although you may think they look similar at first, the knowledge you have may even end up triggering traps instead, so I hope you'll get to take the challenge with a new feeling.

The reason why this land has aspects like this is related to the core of the story, so I can’t talk about it right now, but we’ve also prepared gimmicks that will make people who played past series games grin, so please kindly look forward to them.

Famitsu : This time you’re also preparing a World Map, which is the first time ever in this series, so it also sounds exciting.

Komori: Actually we had wanted to do this for quite some time, and we’re finally able to realize it now. Numerous dungeons exist all across the World Map, and by fulfilling certain requirements you can go to new places or even trigger events.

If you include dungeons that are not required to clear the game, this has the highest volume in the series, and I think it will satisfy people who want to draw lots of maps.

Since this is the last series title appearing on Nintendo 3DS, I’ll be glad if you play this game thoroughly.

A pleasant combination of jobs and systems

Famitsu : Please tell us about the 18 existing jobs that had been carefully selected, as well as the new job Hero.

Komori: Regarding the existing jobs, while we took the results of the popularity poll held in the series 10th anniversary show as reference material for consideration (Note: The top 5 were Night Seeker, Zodiac, Prince/Princess, Gunner, and Imperial in order), we selected them in a way that there would not be a bias in abilities and roles like attackers, healers, and supporters. Even so, attacker jobs have high popularity so it can’t be helped that they end up having more representations.

And as for the Hero’s position, since popular jobs from each numbered titles have gathered, we thought of adding a “new job” that won’t lose both in looks and abilities. We’re planning for it to be a very protagonist-like job while having new things that wouldn’t let it get buried by the returning jobs.

Since it is a newly appearing job, there should be a lot of people who “want to try putting them into the party,” so we adjusted it to be an easy-to-use all-around type which can attack, defend, and also heal.

Famitsu : You’re also taking in good points from past series for the game system.

Komori: In EOV we hammered out a system that further sharpened each individual job. While that was an interesting trial on its own, we also have a dream to increase the breadth of acquired skills, just like how the Sub-Class in EOIV & EOIII got received well. I hope you’ll get to be proficient with the vastly expanding strategic elements, as jobs from EOV, EOI, and EOII will also be able to use the Sub-Class gimmick.

Also, Sub-Classes in the past games had places where you’d end up utilizing the sub job more than the main job, but this time we've made the good traits of the main job to stand out more by also including the Force Boost and Force Break gimmicks.

Other than that, EOV’s character maker, which has a tremendously high degree of freedom, can be also applied to all jobs in this game, and the voice types have also expanded. Some people may end up spending an entire day just to create characters and form a party.

Famitsu : That spectacle is going to come to our minds (laughs). The illustrations in the early purchase bonuses also look fresh as this kind of project wouldn’t have been possible before!

Komori: It’s also the first time for us to do this kind of project, but when we tried implementing the drawn designs to the game, I felt a level of novelty not available in past series. I want you to kindly look forward to illustrations from other people.

And we still have a lot of things we want to inform about this game, from the system, appearing characters, details on each job, and more. The whole staff team is diligently developing [the game] right now in order to create pleasant memories, so please look forward to it!

Etrian Odyssey X (Cross) will be released for Nintendo 3DS in Japan on August 2. No English localization has been announced yet for this final 3DS Etrian Odyssey game.