Repost of a Blog Entry by Kazuya Niinou, the creator of Trauma Center and Etrian Odyssey

Parting thoughts posted at 05/10/2007 10:14 AM PDT

This will be my last post. I won't get a chance like this again, so I'm going to say whatever I want. When I talked to our marketing team, I told them I wanted to emphasize that Etrian is "the renewal of the 3D dungeon RPG." What I mean by that is that I hope the genre will thrive again, not just attract the same Wizardry fans. Of course, that's a tall order for a little game, and we don't expect we'll be able to accomplish this alone. We do hope that this game might be a cue for the genre to come back, though. It doesn't end here: once we gather players and a market for this type of game, then we can really begin. Even so... I don't think that "cue" for the genre to resurrect itself has to be Etrian Odyssey, or even an Atlus game. My real hope in making this game was that at some other company, some talented developer will be inspired to create a 3D dungeon RPG that everyone will love. I hope this can be at least one step on that path. If in 10 years, I can play the wonderful new dungeon RPGs of those developers while lying in bed, I'll consider it a success. Of course, none of that means we'll neglect Etrian Odyssey if it does become popular. We'd love for it to grow as well. Please tell us what you think about the game once it's out! -Kazuya Niinou [This made me give Etrian Odyssey a second chance.]