History Awesome / EtrianOdyssey

* F.O.E.'s are not entirely immune to the instant-kill aspect of skills like Head Pierce. Taking one down in one shot is ''very'' satisfying.
** On a more general level, killing your first F.O.E. in any of the games.

** Interestingly, at least one of the franchise's vaunted {{Optional Boss}}es, (the Fallen One in ''Legends of the Titan''), isn't immune to OneHitKill attacks. It's just as amazing to see the colossal beast just keel and die from a Nightseeker's Assassinate, showing even the mightiest can be brought to heel.

** Most games will, on victory, have the game congratulate the player for beating its greatest challenge. In ''Beyond the Myth'', the player can opt to fight the superboss while Arken is around. Their victory in this case will earn Arken's undying gratitude, and the congratulations carries a little more weight coming from an NPC rather than the game itself.

** Defeating the TrueFinalBoss of ''Nexus'' gives the player one last cutscene showing its now lifeless corpse becoming one with the Yggdrasil. It's a sight to behold as the player's long journey through the game finally comes to a close.

** Tagen Battou (aka Drawing Slice) is a unique Ninja skill that requires unleashes several attacks; with more clones out, the attack hits harder. It's DifficultButAwesome because you're going to need an intentionally understaffed party to get as many clones as possible, but the outcome can oneshot superbosses. What makes it better is that the music briefly cuts out during the attack animation, so it can be an incredibly climactic moment as you see the payoff for all that setup!

* Curse is by far one of the worst ailments in the game due to HealthDamageAsymmetry greatly limiting the amount of damage it does. That doesn't stop several players from making the most of it. Cue the Curse Cheese strategy, focused on inflicting Curse to a boss, giving a level 1 party member (with the weakest defenses) a LastChanceHitPoint effect, and letting them take its strongest attack. This results in Curse reflection damage that can one-shot a postgame boss!

* Tagen Battou (aka Drawing Slice) is a unique Ninja skill that requires unleashes several attacks; with more clones out, the attack hits harder. It's DifficultButAwesome because you're going to need an intentionally understaffed party to get as many clones as possible, but the outcome can oneshot superbosses. What makes it better is that the music briefly cuts out during the attack animation, so it can be an incredibly climactic moment as you see the payoff for all that setup!

* Periodically through ''The Drowned City'' you receive Sea Quests that send you to aid members from other guilds as they take on various bosses. Come the final Sea Quest, and you're tasked with defeating the Elder Dragon, and several familiar names decide to return the favor. They're also incredibly high level so as to not be a liability during the fight.

** Interestingly, at least one of the franchise's vaunted {{Bonus Boss}}es, (the Fallen One in ''Legends of the Titan''), isn't immune to OneHitKill attacks. It's just as amazing to see the colossal beast just keel and die from a Nightseeker's Assassinate, showing even the mightiest can be brought to heel.

* It's not unusual to see someone try a daring SelfImposedChallenge, usually a SoloCharacterRun in a game that expects you to have a full party for expeditions, or attempting to beat the ultimate BonusBoss with a single character or unusual team composition. The things those players accomplish can be a sight to behold.

** "The golden shadow" quest suddenly places the [[BonusBoss Storm Emperor]] before the party. Bear in mind that this is meant for a level 60-70 party to take on, when the quest is accepted at level 45 or so. Fortunately, it does not engage the party, giving the chance to retreat to safety. Or, you could [[SuicidalOverconfidence take it on]]... ''[[SubvertedTrope and defeat it]]'', if you're cunning with skill usage. Bear in mind that you also need to keep the boss from escaping as it will flee after a few turns. If accomplishing that crazy feat is not already a reward in itself, choosing to fight the Emperor and win, despite its attempts to escape, will give the party an additional reward of ''100,000 ental''!

* Defeating the ultimate BonusBoss at the game's hardest difficulty is another for the player, especially if they don't cheese it with a massive burst damage strategy.
** Most games will, on victory, have the game congratulate the player for beating its greatest challenge. In ''Beyond the Myth'', the player can opt to fight the BonusBoss while Arken is around. Their victory in this case will earn Arken's undying gratitude, and the congratulations carries a little more weight coming from an NPC rather than the game itself.

** The battle with the Demi-Fafnir in Story Mode. You begin the battle with the protagonist in his newly acquired Black Guardian transformation.
** The final battle of Story Mode. The party has just beaten the Yggdrasil Core, but it reawakens and blows the party away. The protagonist has one last resort -- the Holy Grail -- and uses it to gain immense power, enough to curb stomp the Core ''alone''.

** The ShockingMoments reach new [[{{Pun}} heights]] when the player embarks on the Sixth Stratum. It's set in outer space!

** The HolyShitQuotient reaches new [[{{Pun}} heights]] when the player embarks on the Sixth Stratum. It's set in outer space!

** The DLC Ur-Devil is incredibly difficult, more so than the [[spoiler:Ur-Child]], and capable of causing a TotalPartyKill on a whim. Defeating it on Expert difficulty, where it holds back none of its unfair gimmicks, and while working through its attack pattern instead of just killing it in one go with a massive damage combo, is an incredible feat. The game acknowledges your victory with the Ragnarok sword, which at this point has become a BraggingRightsReward.

** Interestingly, at least one of the franchise's vaunted {{Bonus Boss}}es, [[spoiler:(the Fallen One in ''Legends of the Titan'')]], isn't immune to OneHitKill attacks. It's just as amazing to see the colossal beast just keel and die from a Nightseeker's Assassinate, showing even the mightiest can be brought to heel.

** Most games will, on victory, have the game congratulate the player for beating its greatest challenge. In ''Beyond the Myth'', the player can opt to fight the BonusBoss while [[spoiler:Arken]] is around. Their victory in this case will earn [[spoiler:Arken's]] undying gratitude, and the congratulations carries a little more weight coming from an NPC rather than the game itself.

** The DLC [[spoiler:Ur-Devil]] is incredibly difficult, more so than the [[spoiler:Ur-Child]], and capable of causing a TotalPartyKill on a whim. Defeating it on Expert difficulty, where it holds back none of its unfair gimmicks, and while working through its attack pattern instead of just killing it in one go with a massive damage combo, is an incredible feat. The game acknowledges your victory with the Ragnarok sword, which at this point has become a BraggingRightsReward.

** The battle with the [[spoiler:Demi-Fafnir]] in Story Mode. You begin the battle with the protagonist in his newly acquired Black Guardian transformation.
** The final battle of Story Mode. The party has just beaten the [[spoiler:Yggdrasil Core]], but it reawakens and blows the party away. The protagonist has one last resort -- the Holy Grail -- and uses it to gain immense power, enough to curb stomp the [[spoiler:Core]] ''alone''.

** All the townsfolk who assist you as guest party members in various quests are pretty awesome. [[spoiler:Jenetta turns out to be pretty handy as a Rover especially in her second trip with your crew, Lili's Soul Evoker build gives decent support and helps prop up any of your own Necromancers with some of her skills and passives, Egar seriously WRECKS the Primordiphant with his Cannon Bearer build with a hefty BUSTER CANNON, Solor's Deathguard setup lets her layer debuffs for your team and her other skills synergize incredibly well as a damage support, and Merina's Spirit Broker build gives you additional firepower from the back row.]]
** Special note on Jenetta's second guest star quest -- When she rejoins you, she's now a powered-up Hound Rover with lots of handy arrow skills and some useful Hound healing, and she can easily pull her weight supporting your party during the ensuing battle(s), even against [[spoiler:Dryad]].
** The set-piece leading up to the fight with the [[spoiler:Crystal Dragon]] on the 4th Stratum is pretty cool. [[spoiler:You are brought before it in a large chamber, where it demonstrates the power to throw teleportation crystals at you as an overworld attack. You then have to approach it without getting battered by the shockwaves of falling crystals, ultimately using those same crystals against it by teleporting around it so you can close the gap before it can turn to face you]].
** Following that battle, the lead-up to the Fifth Stratum, and reveal that comes with it, is really awe-inspiring. [[spoiler:Stepping past the defeated Crystal Dragon, Arken congratulates you and invites you to open the door to what comes next. Cue the cutscene that reveals the ''inside of a space elevator'' and the approach to the biodome that is the Fifth Stratum, complete with a good glimpse of the stars above]].
** The HolyShitQuotient reaches new [[{{Pun}} heights]] when the player embarks on the Sixth Stratum. [[spoiler:It's set in outer space!]]

** The DLC [[spoiler:Ur-Devil]] is incredibly difficult, more so than the [[spoiler:Ur-Devil]], and capable of causing a TotalPartyKill on a whim. Defeating it on Expert difficulty, where it holds back none of its unfair gimmicks, and without doing a massive damage combo to kill it within five turns or so, is an incredible feat. The game acknowledges your victory with the Ragnarok sword, which at this point has become a BraggingRightsReward.
* The battle with the [[spoiler:Demi-Fafnir]] in ''The Fafnir Knight''[='=]s Story Mode. You begin the battle with the protagonist in his newly acquired Black Guardian transformation.
* The final battle of ''The Fafnir Knight''[='=]s Story Mode. The party has just beaten the [[spoiler:Yggdrasil Core]], but it reawakens and blows the party away. The protagonist has one last resort -- the Holy Grail -- and uses it to gain immense power, enough to curb stomp the [[spoiler:Core]] ''alone''.
* The conclusion to the "Law and order" quest in ''Heroes of Lagaard'' has your party confront the thief who used the monster-summoning flutes against you. With his latest wave of monsters just beaten, he flees to an upper floor, only to be ambushed by one of the bigger monsters he had summoned with said flute. You then leave him to [[LaserGuidedKarma his fate]] and turn in the completed quest, but the remake adds an option to rescue him and confront an optional boss. Doing the latter and beating said quest boss lets you turn the thief in to the authorities, letting you cash in on his bounty -- 30,000 ental -- on top of the other quest rewards. ''Satisfying''.
* "The golden shadow" quest in ''The Fafnir Knight'' suddenly places the [[BonusBoss Storm Emperor]] before the party. Bear in mind that this is meant for a level 60-70 party to take on, when the quest is accepted at level 45 or so. Fortunately, it does not engage the party, giving the chance to retreat to safety. Or, you could [[SuicidalOverconfidence take it on]]... ''[[SubvertedTrope and defeat it]]'', if you're cunning with skill usage. If accomplishing that crazy feat is not already a reward in itself, choosing to fight the Emperor and win, despite its attempts to escape, will give the party an additional reward of ''100,000 ental''!

** The HolyShitQuotient reaches new [[{{Pun}} heights]] when the player embarks on the Sixth Stratum. [[spoiler:It's set in space!]]

** Beating the Yggdrasil Core in ''The Millennium Girl'', '''especially''' after the PostClimaxBoss that is the regular battle at the end of Story Mode. This time, there is no Yggdra Vaccine. There is no HeroicSacrifice to help the heroes. You're alone against an abomination M.I.K.E. believed required a multi-megaton weapon to destroy. You've weathered multiple attacks that would have caused a TotalPartyKill. ''And you reminded it what dirt tastes like''.

* The final layer of Yggdrasil in ''The Millennium Girl'', '''especially''' after the AntiClimaxBoss that is the regular battle. This time, there is no Yggdra Vaccine. There is no HeroicSacrifice to help the heroes. You're alone against an abomination M.I.K.E. believed required a multi-megaton weapon to destroy. ''And you reminded it what dirt tastes like''.

* The final layer of Yggdrasil in ''The Millennium Girl'', '''especially''' after the AntiClimaxBoss that is the regular battle. This time, there is no Yggdra Vaccine. There is no HeroicSacrifice to help the heroes. You're alone against an abomination M.I.K.E. fully believed required a multi-megaton weapon to destroy. ''And you reminded it what dirt tastes like''.

** Most games will, on victory, have the game congratulate the player for beating its greatest challenge, even though nobody will know what went down in the labyrinth. In ''Beyond the Myth'', the player can opt to fight the BonusBoss while [[spoiler:Arken]] is around. Their victory in this case will earn [[spoiler:Arken's]] undying gratitude, and the congratulations carries a little more weight coming from an NPC rather than the game itself.

* "The golden shadow" quest in ''The Fafnir Knight'' suddenly places the [[BonusBoss Storm Emperor]] before the party. Bear in mind that this is meant for a level 60-70 party to take on, when the quest is accepted at level 45 or so. Fortunately, it does not engage the party, giving the chance to retreat to safety. Or, you could [[SuicidalOverconfidence take it on]]... ''[[SubvertedTrope and defeat it]]'', if you're cunning with skill usage. If that's not a crazy enough feat, choosing to fight the Emperor and win, despite its attempts to escape, will give the party an additional reward of ''100,000 ental''!
* In ''Beyond the Myth:

** Special note on Jenetta's second guest star quest - When she rejoins you, she's now a powered-up Hound Rover with lots of handy arrow skills and some useful Hound healing, and she can easily pull her weight supporting your party during the ensuing battle(s), even against [[spoiler:Dryad]].

** Following that battle, the lead-up to the Fifth Stratum, and reveal that comes with it, is really awe-inspiring. [[spoiler:Stepping past the defeated Crystal Dragon, Arken congratulates you and invites you to open the door to what comes next. Cue the cutscene that reveals the ''inside of a space elevator'' and the approach to the biodome that is the Fifth Stratum, complete with a good glimpse of the stars above]].

* The conclusion to the "Law and order" quest in ''Heroes of Lagaard'' has your party confront the thief who used the monster-summoning flutes against you. With his latest wave of monsters just beaten, he flees to an upper floor, only to be ambushed by one of the bigger monsters he had summoned with said flute. You then leave him to [[LaserGuidedKarma his fate]] and turn in the completed quest, but the remake adds an option to rescue him and confront an optional boss. Doing the latter and beating said quest boss lets you turn the thief in to the authorities, letting you cash in on his bounty -- 30,000 ental -- on top of the other quest rewards. ''Satisfying''.

* The battle with the [[spoiler:Demi-Fafnir]] in ''The Fafnir Knight'''s Story Mode. You begin the battle with the protagonist in his newly acquired Black Guardian transformation.