Etrian Mystery Dungeon can leave you bullied and brokenhearted. Picture this: after descending dozens of floors and cutting down swathes of virulent enemies, you step on a trap that fills the room with enough feral boars and sharp-toothed wildcats to take out an army. You're ill-prepared, having already exhausted most of your recovery items, so down goes your only medic. You're fresh out of the nectar and Yggdrasil leaves that had kept you on your feet, and somehow you forgot to bring along an escape item to pull you out of this mess. You continually swing your sword, but even the sharpest steel can't cut through such numbers. With a meaty thud, you drop, and away goes the gold, equipment, and items that once stood as trophies of your labor.

Within the dungeons, the lows are quite low; no one wants to watch progress vanish into the ether. But surprisingly, the highs manage to outstrip them. Etrian Mystery Dungeon is a punishing RPG that forces you to think before you dungeon crawl, as the penalties for falling in battle or failing to protect your home base can turn your stomach. But once you fully grasp the game's unique loot loop and begin to enter each area with a purpose, the sense of progression is almost too sweet to spurn. With endless customization options and a rich series of quests and randomly generated locations, this sprawling 3DS treat can devour your free time before you even feel the prick of its teeth.

There's a great deal of trial and error, and I can almost guarantee you'll lose your most treasured possessions more than once. These were the times when I was repelled by Etrian Mystery Dungeon's thorny edges, where its learning curve seemed too steep to surmount. But I became savvier to the game's often frustrating peccadilloes over time, and became adept at managing the deepest of dungeons. Keeping the right items, placing forts at the correct intersections, and grinding my party to a sharp edge led to fewer close calls, and even fewer frustrations. Etrian Mystery Dungeon does little to hold your hand, but the early heartbreak acts as an effective lesson in how the game functions.

It's a grind, but a welcome one. The process of taking on quests, digging up new items, and returning to town with a fat bag of goods becomes more and more enticing as time goes on. The combat isn't all that action-packed, but the control you have over each member of your party paired with the wide variety of skills at your command produces interesting challenges from room to room. This is a loot hunt, through and through, but there are enough interesting hooks and unique adornments to make what could be simply repetitive consistently fun.

If you're looking for a rich story or open world to explore, Etrian Mystery Dungeon isn't your huckleberry. The narrative thread is just strong enough to remain interesting, but it takes a back seat to the loot-soaked foundation that works so well. The different levels of progression take center stage, and if you can overcome the opacity of the systems, the rewards are rich. Etrian Mystery Dungeon's tough outer shell takes time and patience to crack, but can’t conceal the treasures stored within.