I don’t think many people knew what to think when they first heard about the original Etrian Odyssey.  A hardcore dungeon-crawl RPG, with heavy focus on drawing your own map on virtual graph paper?  Yet when the game released in North America early last summer, it proved to be a deep, challenging, refreshingly old-school adventure, and quickly cemented a dedicated cult following.  For developer Atlus, “dedicated cult following” is their stock in trade, so one year later they deliver with the sequel, Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard.

Much like the first, Etrian Odyssey II hasn’t got much of a backstory: there’s a town which surrounds the entrance to an expansive, mysterious, dangerous dungeon.  The town’s governing body wants to document the levels of the dungeon, and is recruiting local adventuring guilds to supply the legwork.  This is where the player enters: as the founding member of a new group, you’re encouraged to lend your abilities to the task at hand.  But, first things first, you’ve got to recruit a party of adventurers.

Players create their party members by choosing one of twelve classes (the nine classes from the original, plus three new ones), picking a character portrait, and customizing their beginning skills.  A well-balanced party is a must, and players have plenty of character types to choose from.  Sure, you’ve got your RPG staples (the damage dealing landsknechts, defense-heavy Protector, magically powerful Alchemists, and ever useful Medics), but some of the others are more original and offer interesting new combat possibilities.  Take the new classes, for instance: the Gunner is a well balanced back-row character, equally skilled in dealing out physical and elemental damage (sort of like a mage and an archer combined), the War Magus is just as handy with healing magic as they are with attack spells, and the Beast is a snarling wall of aggression, capable of soaking up damage intended for your other characters (when it’s not dealing out pain, that is).

You’ve got plenty of choices to make concerning your adventuring party.

Once you’ve got your characters, it’s time to head into the labyrinth.  It’s here that the game’s central focus—punishingly difficult RPG combat—come into play.  Random battles occur frequently, and players new to the series might be surprised at how difficult the battles are.  Actually, even Etrian veterans might be surprised, as Heroes of Lagaard is significantly more difficult than the first (which is really saying something, considering the first’s legendarily brutal encounters).  The game’s not impossible by a long shot, but success does require some careful planning, cautious movement, and a little luck.  Even more dangerous than your garden variety battles are the wandering sub-bosses known as FOEs, especially since they no longer grant you insane experience bonuses.  They’re avoidable, but running from them often turns into heart-pounding chases.

Even the simplest random encounter can turn deadly for your characters very quickly.

The labyrinth is also where the game’s other key gameplay element, hand-drawn mapmaking, rears its head.  Unlike modern RPGs with their fancy automaps, Etrian Odyssey leaves navigation solely in the hands of the player.  As each dungeon floor is maze of twisting, branching, overlapping paths, a carefully drawn map is oftentimes (usually, even) all that separates a successful dungeon run from bitter failure at the end of a monster’s attack.  The mapmaking elements of the game have been streamlined to be as user-friendly as possible, with new symbols that make annotating unique encounters easy, and a new feature that follows the characters’ progress through the maze.  Some complained about the mapmaking elements of the first Etrian Odyssey, and if you didn’t like it then, you aren’t going to enjoy it now—that said, they’ve made it as accessible as possible.  As far as I’m concerned, the mapmaking is a huge part of what makes these games fun, and really delivers the feeling that you’re exploring this seemingly endless labyrinth.

Your ability to accurately map the dungeon is integral to your ability to succeed in Etrian Odyssey II.

Of course, all the cartography in the world isn’t going to make you feel like you’re trekking through unexplored wilderness without the graphics to back it up; luckily, Heroes of Lagaard delivers visually.  Much like the first, the game consists of a mix of high resolution character and monster artwork, integrated into detailed 3D mazes.  While the game might not have the flashy production values of the DS Final Fantasy titles, the hand-drawn character art are well-designed and beautifully drawn; the monster art is equally gorgeous, and the enemy designs are sometimes brilliantly inspired.  The dungeons themselves are incredibly atmospheric, and while the DS’s 3D capabilities lead to a draw-in distance that’s sometimes painfully close, the dungeons look great, with nice environmental animations and a ton of variety between levels (the dungeon strata with an autumn theme is especially stunning).  The game has an impressive score courtesy of acclaimed game composer Yuzo Koshiro (known for Streets of Rage, ActRaiser, and the Ys series).  Other than the beautiful music, the game is rather sparse on the audio end, but some nice environmental sound effects add to the mood nicely.

In the dungeons, you’re surrounded by dense, lush nature on all sides.

Just like the original, Etrian Odyssey II is a game that only a dedicated few will enjoy.  The game’s one-two punch of blisteringly hardcore difficulty and staunchly old-school design will turn many modern gamers away immediately.  But those willing to persevere through the game’s more difficult elements will be rewarded with a deep, unique, atmospheric dungeon-crawl RPG.  For any hardcore RPG fan, it’s the sort of game that can devour months of your life.

Gameplay:  9.2

The hardcore difficulty will turn away most gamers raised on more recent, more forgiving RPGs.  Anyone who braves the game’s high challenge, however, will find an incredibly well-balanced, incredibly rewarding, incredibly fun dungeon-crawl RPG.

Graphics:  8.2

The characters and monsters are nicely drawn and uniquely designed.  The 3D dungeons suffer a bit under the technical limitations of the DS hardware, but remain gorgeous and distinctive, with the feeling that you’re actually exploring a natural wild environment.

Sound:  8.0

The soundtrack is remarkable and beautiful, managing to evoke memories of the best soundtracks of early-era videogames while remaining unique and distinctive.  Sound effects are sparse (and forget about any kind of voice overs), but this goes hand in hand with the game’s old-school charm.

Difficulty:  Hard

Etrian Odyssey II harkens back to the days of old, when RPGs were known for their incredible challenge.  While the game will definitely punish any player who acts rashly or makes careless mistakes, it can be overcome with good planning and careful playing.

Concept:  8.5

Etrian Odyssey II is an unapologetic love letter to the dungeon crawls of yesteryear, yet it improves on the games it takes inspiration from by streamlining the entire experience and making every element of gameplay as user-friendly as possible.

Overall:  8.8

This is a game that only a dedicated few will enjoy, but those players will find a game that’s as deep, rewarding, and fun as they come.  Etrian Odyssey II is the very definition of a “cult” game, but for those few that get it, the game promises an experience they won’t soon forget.