Thank you! It was a challenging game, but at least there was some fun to be had in the late game as I mentioned in the review.

As for your question, I think your best bet is to start with either Etrian Odyssey III or Etrian Odyssey IV. No dungeon crawler is going to be easy, but these two games have a number of features that make them much friendlier to those new to the genre. The series as a whole has far less obtuse character creation and management than typical dungeon crawlers, allowing for a strong focus on the actual dungeon crawling. So while the dungeon itself may be extremely challenging, it's not due to being able to properly manage your party. Etrian Odyssey III is easier than the first two thanks to better balancing, better mapping tools, and dual-classing to allow for strong party construction.

Etrian Odyssey IV is much better as an intro to the genre, though. For starters, it has a casual mode where when your party wipes in a dungeon you just warp back to town Dragon Quest style instead of losing your progress. It doesn't make the actual enemies and such any easier,  but it at least takes the edge off the difficulty. Aside from that, with a world map of sorts to explore, side dungeons, and more quests, Etrian Odyssey IV has lots of interesting, optional content to explore to help level your party for the main dungeons. So I guess my recommendation for the Etrian Odyssey series, and for the genre as a whole, is to play the Etrian Odyssey series in reverse and then branch off to other games from there.

Yeah it does take an excessively long time to be able to change classes. Judging it by how far into the game it is however, and it's actually not that far in! Still I think unlocking it a little earlier on would help the pacing quite a lot given how slow the game is.

People saying the second one sucked are being a bit overly harsh. The battle system is far more engaging than the original, and removes the issue in the first game where mages where leagues more powerful than the other classes. The story structure and constant reuse of locations certainly put a damper on the overall experience. Still, it had a lot of good moments. You should give the original a chance. The setting is actual interesting in game (I was pretty "meh" about it too just reading about the setting before playing), there's many meaningful story choices, and a great cast of interesting and well voiced characters. Cap that off with a bunch of cool DLC (which is all bundled in the now very cheap ultimate edition), and it makes for a fantastic package. Can't recommend it enough! I hope the third game can manage to take the best aspects of the first and pair it up with the battle system of the second game.

Yeah, I would love to see that happen, but it's a fools hope at best. Not all of the post Camelot Shining Force games are bad, but they've spent way too much time away from the tactical roots of the series. I think at this point I'd just prefer Camelot make their own new tactical series so I don't have to expect anything from Sega, would probably go an not localize a new Shining Force anyway.

Why would you do such a thing to my precious Thief?!?!?!!?!?? You lie! I know you took it!

Your level of excitement should be turning into a rocket ship, assuming you know what you're getting into with the series. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate should be a great place for a beginner to start thanks to the great number of weapons along with the inclusion of online play. The series is often at its best when played co-op not to mention a lot easier. Just don't expect anything in the way of a story. If you love fighting huge challenging monsters and tracking down components to make new weapons and armor then you will be in heaven!

Depends on which Breath of Fire you're talking about, but generally the answer would be AWESOMEST.

Pi

I don't have any drugs man, I mean...

Only by defeating Dracula with nothing but the dagger sub-weapon without having used a continue can you become a cop.

What a fantastic question. There are many different variations that I've used over the years, but my all time favorite grouping would have to be Chrono-Frog-Ayla. This allows for a strong offensive attack, enough magic if needed, and plenty of healing options. They also have some powerful combo attacks if I remember correctly. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I'm a big fan of Frog and Ayla. I never really missed with Chrono-less parties later on in the game so I wonder if I should try some other combinations using Frog and Ayla. Time for  another playthrough of Chrono Trigger!