Though your humble editor is hardly a bona fide expert, it’s long been said within enthusiast communities that EO2 is the best of the series (or at least among the best). Following the engulfing experience that was the previous two EO games (Etrian Odyssey Untold and EO4: Legends of the Titan), I was fully prepared to test that claim. So when I sat down to embark upon the literal odyssey that is The Fafnir Knight (a journey that would last me a full two months of balanced review time), I hardly expected to be so enthralled by its subtle refinements and careful balance.
EO2U is, as Atlus describes it, sort of like two games in one package. It’s the original EO2 with redesigned maps, presentation, user interface, and other changes, plus a new Story Mode (much like the previous EOU game), which introduces five deeper characters into the mix, a mildly elaborate backstory, and an entirely new ruins area called Ginnungagap which is central to the plot. Though both modes hold their own unique blend of appeal, this review focuses almost entirely on Story Mode, which is enough of a behemoth in and of itself to satisfy even the most dedicated gamers.
Classic Mode is still available with many new enhancements.
Story Mode, as usual, features a fixed party with colorful personalities attached to the five starting classes. You’ve got your main hero, a so-called Fafnir (which is a knight with Force transformation powers and the ability to add to his repertoire of abilities as the story progresses), a Princess named Arianna, a Protector named Bertrand and his young War Mage friend Chloe, and finally, a Survivalist named Flavio. Job class changes are possible subsequently, of course, at a sacrifice of five levels each switch, but these are the defaults—and to be honest, I was happy enough with them that I left them untouched.
Princess Arianna has chosen the Fafnir to accompany her to the ruins of Ginnungagap to perform an ancient ritual of which she knows very little, apart from the fact that it takes place once per century. In order to reach the ritual chamber, the guild quickly discovers that they must also simultaneously delve into the depths of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth to find the secrets of the Yggdrasil tree and gather powers required to progress through the ruins.
Since there’s quite a lot of colorfully-written dialogue to digest, it’s fortunate that all five of the characters in EO2U are likable and frequently humorous. While it’s true that they are a bit one-dimensional at times as compared to counterparts of more story-driven franchises, their dichotomous synergy softens the otherwise long and difficult expedition with healthy emotion. For instance, Chloe’s exotic obsession with consuming lots of meat is a humorous and unique distraction at regular intervals, but her considerably more complex relationship with father-like figure Bertrand—not to mention Bertrand’s clouded, mysterious past—is a source of enduring curiosity for the player throughout the duration of the adventure. I found myself interested enough in the story to consider its addition undoubtedly valuable overall.
My have they ever, Professor.
But, of course, it’s the growth of the characters and the exploration of the depths of Yggdrasil’s Labyrinth and beyond that truly drive the player, and EO2U milks this desire with veteran refinement. In case you’re a series newcomer (and this really would be a great game to start with if so), Etrian Odyssey is all about exploration, and it’s the joy of carving one’s way though the tension of the unknown which makes the journey so exhilarating. You don’t even receive a map until you draw one—though the game does feature an option to have it auto-draw on your behalf those floors and walls that you traverse. The various drawing tools have also further evolved as the series has aged, and EO2U’s are the best to date. As always, you’re rewarded for adequately filling in the maps of each floor with the ability to floor jump at any time to a qualifying staircase, not to mention the benefits to your later explorative ventures—so it’s worth taking the time.
The environments are stunning in their presentation. Visually, they’re beautifully constructed, but the real magic isn’t so much in the technical details as it is in the choice of art style and atmosphere. The first stratum (which is defined as floors 1 through 5 of the Labyrinth) is a somewhat unremarkable and ordinary forested area (as is typically the case with EO games). But upon climbing the stairs to the second stratum, the Auburn Thicket, the player finds himself surrounded by stunning deep orange and red foliage, as though they’re exploring a temporally frozen, perfect autumn day. Coupled with the sheer beauty and emotion of live-recorded string instruments, it is moments like these in which EO2U transcends its description as a dungeon crawler and becomes something slightly more profound, and equally importantly, unique.
You look awful badass and super manly mister, could I get you something feminine to help balance things out?
Plus, it’s against all convention that the game chooses to employ downright gorgeous locales even in the later stages of the adventure, complete with comparably calming music. It relies not so much on these valuable explorative moments to stress and engage the player, but rather on its aforementioned difficulty and the terror of trying to avoid the powerful FOEs wandering the environments. In fact, the most beautiful moments in the game are likely actually part of the fourth and sixth stratums, which are well into the game’s story. The developers know this, and throughout the course of the odyssey the characters frequently remark about the haunting qualities of the Labyrinth’s synthesis of danger and splendor.
Another quick note on that subject before moving forward: FOEs, for the uninitiated, are incredibly powerful boss-like creatures which visibly roam the Labyrinth’s passages, moving with each step the player takes, generally in detectable patterns. They can be monitored when nearby via the on-screen map, and the player can nearly always avoid encountering them if they’re careful. However, they also provide powerful drops when defeated, so sometimes engaging them makes sense.
Gameplay is immediately familiar, with the same style of turn-based battles occurring at regular intervals during exploration. Most of the game’s battles are random; in Etrian Odyssey convention, an indicator in the lower-right corner of the screen displays the current random encounter likelihood (when it fades to deep red, you can expect one within a few steps). On anything other than the lowest difficulty (“Picnic”), random battles carry enough weight that most every one of them in currently-relevant areas is a serious threat to your party unless handled with due strategy. It renders the auto-battle tendency rather useless in anything but the most benign of environments, but simultaneously, it lends valuable weight to what is otherwise so often a tedious chore of RPG progress.
“It’s amazing!” is probably what she’s saying. (She says it probably 100 times.)
Even on Normal difficulty, the game can sometimes seem a bit unfair at first—but careful preparation and strategy for the trials generally trumps anything it can toss at you… provided you’re sufficiently leveled of course. Besides, even when you make a grave error, it provides a helpful safety net: a wise and much-appreciated addition to the formula is the ability to continue once just before a game-ending battle had begun—but this is only possible on a single occasion each time you venture out from town.
The battles hinge heavily on strategy, then, but just as much can be said about preparation as the attacks and defense of typical battle flow. For starters, cognizance of buffs and debuffs is positively crucial to success, as is attention to repetitive healing actions that last for multiple turns. Apart from that, however, even the management of preemptive battle rates via skills and the considerable depth provided by the extensive skill tree provide great incentive for proper planning and thoughtful allocation of one’s skill points.
Furthermore, the existence of Grimoires (skills normally specific to a particular job which can be equipped—up to six total—on any character) just makes it even easier to mold any character to your liking. Even if you don’t ever dabble in actual job class changes (as I didn’t), strategic equipping of Grimoires on characters can provide considerable customization. They stack with existing skills as well, so you can use them to externally (and instantly) level up a skill you already have. However, they’re only swappable within the town, so you have to plan accordingly.
The joke’s on you, Flavio! In this game, we force the players to create their maps themselves!
In addition to this array of character customization options, there’s also a restaurant in the town which allows you to collect foods and resources from gathering locations and vanquished foes to be used as ingredients in humorously gourmet dishes. Each entrée provides a unique buff of some sort, generally for as long as you choose, but only one can be active at a time. In addition to that, however, there’s also the ancillary activity of gathering recipes and managing advertisements to the townspeople, as well as town development investments to help increase the quantity and affluence of prospective dining clients. This all translates to small, periodic heaps of additional income for your party as long as you stay on top of matters. It’s fun, though I didn’t find myself consistently managing my advertising as much as probably would have been ideal for my financial benefit.
The rest of the basics remain essentially the same: the primary goal is to explore the Labyrinth, delving further and further into its depths, which in Story Mode also yields increased access to the deeper areas of the Ginnungagap ruins. Along the way, you’ll be swarmed by options for side-quest missions, most of which involve the mere retrieval of specified resources or the defeat of a particular monster, but which occasionally also feature some pretty significant events (such as, in one case, a means to access massive hidden areas in the Labyrinth that span nearly all of the previous floors you’ve already explored). Meanwhile, the large number of drops you receive while venturing mostly wind up getting sold as resources to the local shop, where they are turned into both profit for your party and new items for purchase.
Arianna is about to discover why deer are indeed the most deadly animals.
It’s a very addictive formula (one whose core concepts have been popularized by smash hits such as Monster Hunter), but it also lends itself well to moderate-length play sessions on a nightly basis. It’s tempting just before bedtime to venture out into the Labyrinth, take care of a few missions, map out some more areas, and then hit the sack. In fact, that’s what I did every single night for nearly two months during this review period. And wouldn’t you know it, the very atmosphere and wonderment surrounding the game’s environments was more than enough to keep me enthusiastically progressing the entire way.
In spite of its traditional RPG foundations, the game features an array of modern refinements to enhance its accessibility and reduce the tedium typically affiliated with dungeon-crawling random battle adventures. There are too many of these to list in detail (and there’s plenty of info in our previous EO review regarding most of the enhancements), but mostly they relate to streamlined conveniences to make the repetitive and arduous tasks less so. Stuff like holding A to fast-forward battles, pressing L to Auto-Battle (as previously mentioned), and holding B to run through the labyrinth environments. This isn’t to insinuate that there isn’t still notable room for improvement; for instance, I would have loved to see the introduction of a crude macros system where the player could repeat the last battle round again or even define preset battle commands replayable at the press of a button.
Overall, though, EO2U is perhaps the best entry in the series to date. The environments are enticing, the enemies are tough, the strategy is deep and rewarding, and the presentation is top-notch. In short, this is dungeon-crawling done right.