How to use your imagination
When your party stays at the Inn overnight, what do they eat?
If you ever catch yourself wondering that, then you know you've formed an attachment to your characters.
With Etrian Odyssey's characters, you only give them a name and a portrait, so no matter how you think of the character, it's technically just your imagination. But even in that case, without your imagination, the character is nothing.
For example, a landsknecht who uses an axe might eat his meat with his bare hands and no utensils, but one who wields a sword might prefer a knife and fork at dinner. You might think differently, but... If you can imagine small details like that, you might find that you enjoy this kind of RPG even more.
The essence is an RPG is using numbers to make calculated decisions, but if you invest those "numbers" with your own feelings, you can spice up the game a little. Think about this:
In your party of five, three characters are dead. Two of them are alive, but they only have a couple of HP left, and no TP. They're certain to die in their next turn, giving you a game over. Number-wise, those characters are useless, but how do you imagine they feel about that? What kind of people are those 2 characters who are about to die? Try to imagine things like that in the brief time before your game ends.
Are they a landsknecht and a ronin, who'll die facing the enemy and laughing? Is it a protector, ordering the weak medic to run with his last breath?
The game over screen looks the same every time, but in your imagination, it could play out very differently.
The game itself isn't that big of a thing; what you imagine for yourself is much more fun. We hope that the player uses this game as a tool, to create dramatic and fun situations in your own minds.
I think a lot about this bit by Kazuya Niinou about how an RPG can be one thing on your screen and another thing in your brain
03.01.2026 00:49
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27.02.2026 18:01
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psst hey everyone did u know i just released a new yuri vn it's really cool i swear π
28.02.2026 04:00
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28.02.2026 01:27
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MOONROT is OUT NOW!
A short horror game about a rover exploring a distant, desolate moon. Take grainy photos, record crackly signals, and keep your battery charged to survive.
There may be a chance for mankind just yet.
store.steampowered.com/app/3622230/...
19.02.2026 18:57
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#Pokemon
29.01.2026 20:39
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20.01.2026 01:39
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21.01.2026 17:32
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Anomalocaris Witch
19.01.2026 15:43
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hmm
#kirby #galacticnova #pokemon #magearna
11.01.2026 23:04
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Ludonarrative blah blah blah. Why'd you make it that way? Why'd you make that choice? How did you do it?
05.12.2025 19:42
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Odludek! A troublesome little newt-like witch that only knows one spell: Transform into Frog. She has no idea how to dispel it.
04.12.2025 19:11
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Reveal trailer for my space rover horror game, MOONROT.
Take grainy photos, record crackly signals, and uncover the source of the anomaly that led you here.
There may be a chance for mankind just yet.
Wishlist on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3622230/...
05.12.2025 01:14
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she got trapped in a little library (or to her, a normal library) trying to get you a book and now we gotta call the fire department
24.11.2025 17:14
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super thrilled for this to be my first foray into game development, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner to do it with!
I put a lot of feelings into this one. I hope they reach out to you
23.11.2025 05:43
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21.11.2025 13:08
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Tom Clancy's Bible Black
12.11.2025 01:21
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The hat has come off
04.11.2025 16:21
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me watching a king of the hill episode with my girlfriend: "hank hill's voice sounds simultaneously like he's never said any word he's currently saying before in his life but also like he's been talking this exact same way for fifty years"
22.10.2025 03:44
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#dot_png π
12.10.2025 19:15
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also fascinated by the transition to the trap room?? it's nowhere near as jarring or uncomfortable as it is in the game...the way the walls just sort of obligingly fly away to reveal the environment and the choice of music almost give it a serene, majestic sort of feeling...
07.10.2025 06:31
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I love that this captures one of the underappreciated things about yume nikki's horror: things that just sort of sit there staring at you that you can't interact with. drawing a parallel between that and the experience of being trapped in bed with something staring down at you like this is so smart!
07.10.2025 06:28
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New video: youtu.be/v8JFyZiPf1c
06.10.2025 23:49
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Birds and bugs have wings and lay eggs. But angels have wings and dont lay eggs. And snakes lay eggs but dont have wings. So its not wings that make you do that. Its some other thing.
04.10.2025 03:00
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these new girl designs⦠arknights is literally so back
04.10.2025 04:11
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A porcelain doll soldier with gold filigree & spools of glowing thread stands alone, holding a sword and a rifle.
Threaded Knight
03.10.2025 15:29
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2010s: be sure to put some sort of dog interaction in your game for a Polygon writeup
2020s: be sure to put a perfect square of negative space in your HUD for Northernlion to nest in
03.10.2025 10:30
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You come across a lone doll. Fine silver scissors pin the diminutive creature to their final resting place. Faded paint and tarnished joints speak of untold time frozen in its repose.
Despite the light long having left its vulpine mask, a painted smile remains.
03.10.2025 00:54
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RPG Maker Software Advertisement and Default Assets: create classic fantasy stories of knights and dragons!
Early 2000s RPG Maker Users: what if there was a girl in a really upsetting location
01.10.2025 14:43
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