Seeing the Etrian Odyssey trilogy, first released on the Nintendo DS in 2007, 2008, and 2010, show up on Steam felt like a dream come true for a dungeon crawler fan like me. But then I started to worry. These games were not just exclusive to Nintendo's dual screen handheld: they were designed with the DS's unique multi-display touchscreen features firmly in mind. How could that possibly translate to PC?
These ports were already in troubled waters before I'd even downloaded them, because they just don't really fit their new home—or anything else out there, either. And then to make things worse, Atlus declared it was adding modern "QoL" features and "conveniences" to a trio of games that always intended to be retro-hard, that always tried to deliver an experience that was memorable because it was a struggle, because it took a lot of effort. I was ready to reject these HD remasters, and as much as I feel I should recoil in horror at these betrayals of the series' principals …
