Etrian Odyssey 2 Review

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I own the first Etrian Odyssey and had fallen in love with it. I loved some of the unique concepts, how much it allowed you to customize your team, and the difficulty level of the game. I quickly marked my calender for the date this one would come out. (It came out a little early for me so I was thrilled) I was hoping that there would be a few add ons for the second one but I didn't want an almost perfect design for a game to be ruined by too much change. I was happy to find that everything I loved about the game was still there plus more that made it even better. I thought it would be hard to top the first Etrian Odyssey but this game does. From a newer, more detailed story to a few add ons in the game play department this game is an improvement on the first one. I think this revolutionizes how future dungeon crawling games will be made.

The story in the first I felt was okay but the setting felt plain and you never got to really know the characters. This story is different in some respects. The new setting is in a town where the explorers will adventure and map out ruins that climbs up into the sky. I bet it is pretty intimidating to your characters to look up and watch the ruins disappear into the clouds. The characters in the town have more personality and seem to fit in their roles better. The bar tender is a big, brute of a man with a loud mouth and the inn keeper is a loud, but motherly middle aged woman. They are about what you picture whenever you read a story. Your characters may not have any personality but that is a necessity for this game seeing how you will retire or release characters and you can customize them so much. Overall the story is probably perfect for this kind of game.

The game play is what Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard revolves around much like the first game. The game is about you exploring through different floors and mapping them out. You map out where events will happen and where you can chop to find items. This new game has many more new symbols then the older version. It has different colors so you can tell which item point is take and which is chop or mine. It has a closed door to mark whether the door is locked and many more new symbols. Whenever you die in the dungeon, you start over from a previous save but you can still keep your map data which will help you make your way back up to where you were before so make your maps accurate. Another big thing for the game is the ability to customize your team. You pick which character is what class, what skills they learn as that class, whether they are in the front row or the back, and which portrait will represent them. This game has new skills for each class and new prerequisites for some skills. It also has new classes like the Gunner or the War Magus. You will have more choices so you will be able to customize your team to an even greater extent then before. Something else I think is huge about this game is the difficulty level. I almost never get a Game Over in any game. In both the first and the second Etrian Odyssey I have gotten multiple Game Overs. The enemies start out so difficult and the difficulty level raises so dramatically between floors, you will be constantly grinding levels and will have to think hard on where to spend skill points to learn new skills or raise stats. Overall I love the new add ons to the game play. They were definitely for the better.

The graphics and music aren't truely necessary for this game but Atlus made an effort here. Of course most of it is 2D but the portraits or the different classes and even your enemies are elegantly drawn. You can tell the artists took their time and take pride in their work. The different stratum scenes are also well done and the different unique characters in town are great. The music is what you would expect your same music for most video game. It is a little dull but who buys a game for the music? Overall the graphics and drawings are great but the music is ordinary.

I think this game is a must buy for DS owners. It has fun unique game play and a new and improved story. You do not necessarily have to play the first to understand the second. I know you will love this game because it is a great game that will challenge a player and everyone loves a challenge. I hope if you buy this game you will enjoy it as much as I have. It is a new, unique type of dungeon crawler and I think this is how future dungeon crawling games should be made. So sorry I have to leave you right now I need to go back to mapping out my teams way to fame and fortune.