Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight (Nintendo 3DS) Second Opinion Review

What does one get by mixing the - at times - sadistically difficult dungeon crawlers of old with modern game design and technology? Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight gives us the answer to this question with a game design that takes strong influences from titles such as Dungeon Master and Bard's Tale, and adding in some modern JRPG gameplay mechanics, such as crafting and limit breaks.

Newcomers who will delve into the labyrinth for the first time might be in for a shock if they play at the games higher difficulty levels. The shock being that, unlike in most normal RPGs, even the trash mobs are quite dangerous, and once players face their first F.O.E. (enemies who wanders around on the field often being far stronger than expected), and, especially, bosses, they will figure out that the difficulty is very tight, and seldom allows any mistakes to be made - just like it should be. The Etrian Odyssey franchise takes (in true Atlus spirit), much inspiration from older RPGs such as Dragon Quest and Bard's Tale in their encounter balancing, meaning that there is no dead time. One has to always be on the button rather than idling around, grinding like those who grew up with Pokémon Red and Blue, or modern MMORPGs. It creates a refreshing and exciting feeling, where every combat makes the adrenaline pumping.

Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight does, however, offers the option to choose the difficulty level. Even though the franchise is originally meant to be played on Expert, those who feel like they just want to explore can actually play on Picnic mode, which removes most of the difficulty, or normal which gives a more balanced experience, by falling somewhere between expert and Picnic.

Those old-school elements found here, though, stretch far beyond the combat difficulty, and into deeper game design choices. One of the most significant features that have marked the franchise throughout its entire existence is the map system. The map in Etrian Odyssey titles comes completely empty, and it is up to the player to draw it up while proceeding through them; a feature which newcomers might at first find annoying, but the more the game goes on the more it grows, because nothing feels more rewarding than looking down on the hand-drawn map after hours of mapping, with the sense of "I'm finished." It quickly becomes quite addictive to write down every single location found.

Veterans of the franchise might be familiar with Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl, knowing full well that this is a remake of the original Etrian Odyssey 2: Heroes of Lagaard, with an added story mode. Those might question themselves why they should bother with this title. While those will definitely know what is waiting for them here, there is some new stuff added that expands on the experience.

The biggest news is the story mode, which has the player following a pre-made party of characters, throughout an adventure to finish an ancient ritual. Unlike in Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl, it's possible to actually change the class of most party members to fill their needs; removing one of the main issues veterans had with the former story mode. This one adds characters with varying personalities to the cast, creating fun and funny scenes. Sadly, the story in itself is not strong at all, and is a little more than an "excuse" of a plot to get the quest moving on.

The second new big feature is Ginnungagap; a new dungeon which is added with the story mode - although it is also accessible in classic mode. This level comes with several new floors and exciting bosses with some new, and, sometimes, creative mechanics that add interesting new elements to the gameplay, and which should be enough to make veterans look at this title.

While all these are good additions, they are, sadly, not enough to make this a justified purchase for veteran players who already played the original. For newcomers, though, this is a great time to join the bandwagon to see what everyone talks about. Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight perfectly highlights the features of the franchise, which makes it great, while making features players might not enjoy (such as the brutal difficulty), possible to get around, making this into a game that any dungeon crawler fan who have so far missed out on the franchise should bat an eye to.