So should I play this series in reverse?

[Fox]

Honestly I'm not totally sure if I should post this here or in the EOIII but we'll find out.

Mmmk, so the backstory here is that I started with Etrian Odyssey IV due to the interest in it and due to Fire Emblem never being in stock (I gave it a month to show up) and I have been just delighted.

With that said, soon I'm gonna be coming into some money and I'm gonna get another title in the series. However from what I've heard the older the title the harder the difficulty. So should I just go backwards? As in should I get EOIII next instead of the first? Making the games more challenging as I go along and avoid being discouraged by having my ass handed to me in the first one possibly?

And another thing I should ask is how much does the password system add to EOII? Is this change significant or can I just skip it?

tl;dr Should I go EOIII > EOII > EO or EO > EOII > EO or some other weird combination.

Also hi!

[Dangerus]

Go whichever path you like. I personally started with EOIII and went backwards there until EOIV showed up to grace itself. The stories don't really direct to each other until post game or QR code. I will tell you though start with EO first and then hit EO2. It is the major exception in that sense because seriously you get a bonus that hints EO2 in EO1 and it is a code that brings some more reputation and such from EO1 into EO2.

[isometric]

Hi!

They're all fun, and they all have slightly different playstyles. My favorite is the second one, but III's pretty good too (despite being the one I've played the least probably). I'd say just start with I and go forwards, since they get mechanically better with each one. That's not to say that I<II<III<IV as far as fun is concerned, just as far as fluidness/speed/controls are concerned.

Word of warning about the first one: It's much slower-paced than the others. There's no auto for combat, no side-stepping and less icons for your mapping. There are also less classes, but that's not a big deal since about 8 of them are pretty good. I started with it and didn't really notice how slow it was, but when I decided to play it again after beating III's postgame... it was a little painful.

Not to say it wasn't fun, just slower.

[Lethen]

I prefer working from the bottom up, but since I only have EO:II currently I'm starting with that one in the series, after I beat it I'm moving on to the first EO, then the third and so forth. I feel like I may miss references to the older games if I start with the newer ones.

[isometric]

[Dangerus]