With each year following the launch of the Switch back in 2017, it felt like Etrian Odyssey was never coming back. When Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection was announced, I was very excited. I love Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, but Etrian Odyssey is Atlus’ most consistently good series. I’ve played every game including spending a good amount of time with the Japanese-only Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2 that I imported. I was curious to see how Atlus would handle games built for two screens on single screen systems. While this Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection review will focus on the PC port and how the games run on Steam Deck, I will also cover whether the collection is worth grabbing if you’ve already played the 3DS versions of the first two games, and more.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection PC requirements
As expected, the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection PC requirements are very low. You will have no trouble playing this even on lower end systems.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection PC minimum requirements
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel Core i3-540 or AMD Phenom II X3 720
- Memory: 4GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 530 with 1GB VRAM or AMD Radeon HD 5570 with 1GB VRAM or Intel HD Graphics 4400
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 3GB available space per game
- Additional Notes: No anti-aliasing, 720p @ 60 FPS
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection PC recommended requirements
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel Core i3-2100 or AMD Phenom II X4 965
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti with 1GB VRAM or AMD Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB VRAM or Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 3GB available space per game
- Additional Notes: 4x AA, 1080p @ 60 FPS
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection PC graphics options
This is where the collection surprised me the most. I expected a bare-bones port of the Switch version capped at 60fps, but the developers went above and beyond not only with the graphics options, but also the control options which I will get to in a bit. Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection supports up to 150fps gameplay. The frame rate caps are 30, 60, 75, 120, 144, and 150. You can enable or disable v-sync and change window settings (fullscreen, borderless, or windowed). The display options also let you choose which display to use and adjust resolution from 711×400 all the way up to 4K. You can then toggle different anti-aliasing multipliers from 0 to x8. The final graphics option is brightness.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection PC control options
The basic Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection PC control options let you use a variety of controllers and have different button prompts displayed. You can either have the game auto-select button prompts or force it. The options are Xbox, DualShock 4, PS5 DualSense, and Nintendo Switch controller button prompts. The control options let you remap just about everything, but you can adjust the mouse for confirm, cancel, and main menu here. This can be done at any time. You can also play the game with just the mouse through an overlay that shows up for movement. I’m very impressed with the way the basic controls have been translated over alongside the mapping options available.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection PC performance – frame rate and resolution
On a laptop with an AMD Ryzen 5-3550H processor (2.1GHz Base speed up to 3.7GHz), 16GB DDR4 RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GPU, I had no issues playing Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection at 1080p and 120fps. Load times are quick and my DualSense controller worked perfectly. I recommend playing with a mouse if you plan on mapping manually though. If you are adamant on sticking to a controller, spend time with the mapping early on, and pay attention to the tutorials in-game. It took me a while, but it clicked.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection mapping controls – mouse, keyboard, controller, and touch tested
Having played Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection on Steam Deck and my laptop over the last few weeks alongside getting Nintendo Switch code about a week ago, I’m happy with the mouse and touch controls for mapping on Steam Deck and Switch, but mapping with a controller leaves a lot to be desired initially. It took me a while to get used to what analog stick and what trigger controlled which part of the menu. My recommendation for Etrian Odyssey fans is to use a mouse or touch on PC and touch controls on Nintendo Switch for the best mapping experience in the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection. Using only a controller to play docked on Switch or a controller on PC will result in basic things taking longer. If you plan on using auto-map, this will not be a problem.
It is worth noting that those who played the Untold games or the newest Etrian Odyssey releases on 3DS will feel right at home with the mapping in the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection. I’m glad it has the newer mapping style even though this release is based on the DS originals.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection on Steam Deck – the best way to play these games on PC?
Recently, the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection was Steam Deck Verified by Valve. While I did test on my laptop, I spent most of my time with the PC versions on my Steam Deck. I played Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection at maximum brightness on Steam Deck and was getting well over 4 hours of battery life (estimated) in each game. I set everything to maximum and had no performance issues. I even played it docked using the official Steam Deck Docking Station on my 1440p monitor and could play it at 1440p 90fps with no issues. It scales up quite well, but some of the icon elements for mapping are low resolution even when played on Nintendo Switch docked. This is my only complaint with the conversion barring the font.
Just to test for this review, I forced 4K resolution and 8x anti-aliasing to see how the Steam Deck would handle things. I noticed some minor drops from 60fps to the high 50s in some situations, but it held 60fps very well otherwise. If it wasn’t already obvious, you will have no performance or visual issues with the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection on Steam Deck. This is a rock solid version of the game. One thing to note is that the text entry with an on-screen in-game keyboard doesn’t bring up the Steam Deck’s native on-screen keyboard. You need to do that manually as of this writing. I was a bit surprised to see this keyboard issue as it is a Steam Deck Verified release.
Is it worth playing Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection if you already played Etrian Odyssey Untold?
I first experienced Etrian Odyssey and Etrian Odyssey II through the Untold remakes on 3DS. I ended up playing them on DS later on, and enjoyed them despite the lack of quality of life features I got used to in the 3DS releases. With Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection, you get the best of the original games with the new features but not new content of the Untold games. This isn’t ideal, and I’d have liked to have the Untold content as well, but it is what it is. If you already played Etrian Odyssey Untold and Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold, these are worth checking out if you go in knowing what you’re getting, which is the original trilogy with accessibility and quality of life features in addition to remastered visuals.
This obviously doesn’t apply to Etrian Odyssey III as that has never been re-released in any form outside of this Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection. For a lot of folks, Etrian Odyssey III HD would be the best one to buy standalone because it is finally available digitally and on modern platforms following its DS release. I still hope it gets an Untold release in the future. I’m glad Etrian Odyssey III is now more accessible than ever before thanks to this HD release and the collection.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection review
If you’re completely new to dungeon RPGs, Etrian Odyssey is one of the best gateway games, but know that it isn’t a story-focused experience. For one of those, you’re better off with NIS’ Labyrinth of Refrain or Galleria as an example of a fantastic dungeon RPG with a story focus on modern platforms. You could also try the Etrian Odyssey Untold releases if you have a 3DS and own the games already. I’ve had a lot of fun revisiting the Etrian Odyssey trilogy through the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection over the last few weeks.
The accessibility options and quality of life features in addition to mapping improvements over the original make these the best way to experience the trilogy, but the font is a bit lacking. While it isn’t as bad as I expected and has been improved a bit through updates, I would’ve preferred a pixel style font or a classic option to match the Japanese release’s English text. Hopefully that can happen through potential updates in the future. I also hope the few low resolution icons can be fixed in updates for both Switch and PC.
One of the biggest surprises has been the support for Nintendo DS passwords in Etrian Odyssey II HD. I tested a password that a friend found online for the DS version, and it worked on Switch. This was a 74 character string that was a pain to type on Switch, but it was worth doing it to see the end result actually work.
Atlus’ most consistently great franchise is finally back with the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection, and it is worth getting despite some issues. While I’m not happy with the font, the overall package for the collection is great for both fans and newcomers as long as you map with a mouse or touchscreen and buy the bundle. It also plays perfectly on Steam Deck with no issues.
While the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection should’ve been a bit cheaper as a bundle, it offers superb value for newcomers looking to sample some of the best dungeon RPGs ever. I would definitely not recommend buying the games individually at $40 each, but rather buying the collection whenever you want to play these games. It is also nice to see Atlus go above and beyond with the PC version and Steam Deck support.
Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection is out now on PC via Steam and digitally on Nintendo Switch worldwide.
