Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight is the remake of Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard, coming in as the second title in the Untold sub-series. Like the numerous other entries in the Etrian Odyssey family, Untold 2 is a hardcore dungeon-crawling RPG, recapturing the essence and feel of the Wizardry games of old. Atlus has been pumping out updated remakes of their earlier titles left and right lately, but with a game of this quality, you’d be doing yourself a disservice by missing out on it.
At the onset of your adventure, the game presents you with two options: Classic Mode, or the new Story Mode. The former will allow you to create a party of your own characters to adventure with, giving you free reign to choose their classes as you see fit. Story Mode, on the other hand, gives you a group of pre-fabricated adventurers. The advantage of choosing this option is simple: your characters will have dialogue, and have an over-arching plot that ties them together.
The Classic Mode’s plot is essentially the same as the original Etrian Odyssey II, whereas the Story Mode adds a completely new narrative. It also adds voiced dialogue, animated cutscenes, and the Fafnir class—which allows the character in question to transform into a spooky monster. It’s honestly a much better experience overall, though there is definitely something to be said about exploring dungeons with characters that you created and named yourself.
The story of Untold 2 revolves around Arianna, the princess of Caledonia, as well as the silent protagonist. She is on a pilgrimage to a ruin known as Ginnungagap to perform a ritual that takes place every 100 years. The protagonist and his friend Flavio both belong to an order known as the Midgard Library, and are tasked with protecting her on her journey, despite being quite inexperienced adventurers.
Along the way, you meet a lazy knight named Bertrand, and his constant companion, Chloe. They join the party as well, and eventually you make your way to the mysterious ruins of Ginnungagap. During a dangerous enemy encounter, the protagonist goes into a fugue-like state, before transforming into a beastly demon and defeating the monster. He comes to learn that he is similar to a legend of yore, The Knight of Fafnir, and eventually takes this title as his own.
The story, while seeming rather pedestrian at face value, has a few twists and turns that make it worthwhile. Additionally, the characters have some pretty entertaining interactions, and really come into their own as the game progresses. Etrian Odyssey isn’t a series that’s known for its particularly riveting storylines, but this game does enough with the narrative to keep me interested.
The new story and Fafnir class aren’t the only additions Untold 2 brings to the table, however. Gone are the days of the single save file, with Untold 2 allowing up to 9 in total. The loading speeds are much faster as well, including the speed at which the game saves data. It is also the first game in the series to add purchasable DLC upon release. These downloadable add-ons include the new Highlander class, the Prince/Princess class, different battle portraits for several classes, and sidequests.
Thankfully, the Command Confirmation feature from Persona Q has returned as well, giving you the ability to confirm commands made in battle, as well confirm if you choose to auto-battle. This is an added precaution against mis-pressing a button, as well as a final chance to ponder if your decisions were the correct ones. This can be disabled in the options menu if the player chooses, which is also nice.
The most important (and lauded) feature of an Etrian Odyssey title is its hardcore, dungeon-crawling gameplay. Thankfully, Untold 2 is no slouch in this regard, bringing forth another solid title to stand alongside Persona Q and Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl on the 3DS’ roster. Combat is difficult and requires the player to think before acting. Bosses and FOEs are as tough as ever, and the map system makes a triumphant comeback, rewarding diligent players while also adding some nice tools to utilize. Fans of the series will enjoy the improved formula, while newcomers will have an easy time accessing this title as well, due to the optional Picnic Mode and auto-map features.
Visually, Untold 2 is impressive. Lovingly-rendered character portraits from acclaimed illustrator Yuji Himukai certainly draw the eye, and the enhanced 3D graphics for enemies and attacks look quite nice, despite the limitations of the hardware. The animated cutscenes are gorgeous, and the monster designs are equal parts wacky and imaginative. It’s difficult to find many bad things to say about the game from a graphical standpoint.
Once again, in line with the previous entries in the series, Untold 2 has a badass soundtrack. Battle themes get your blood pumping, sure, but more somber events are accompanied by an excellent score as well. What might upset some people, however, is the fact that dual-audio is not available in this title. The English voicework is competent, and I can’t remember any cringey dialogue or even any particularly bad acting. The fact remains, though, that Japanese voices are something fans have wanted for some time from Atlus’ titles. It would be nice to hear their pleas answered.
All in all, it’s hard to find much to complain about in Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold. A competent story, engrossing and deep gameplay, lovely artwork/graphics, and a divine soundtrack are a few things to look forward to when purchasing this game. There are a few minor hangups, mainly the lack of dual-audio, (and the fact that day-one DLC might upset some folks out there) but as a whole, Untold 2 is without a doubt one of the best games on the 3DS right now. Look forward to its release on August 4th.
Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight was reviewed on 3DS using a code provided by Atlus. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here.
The Verdict: 9.5
The Good:
- Fantastic character art and in-game visuals
- The same deep, hardcore dungeon crawling you’d expect from an Etrian Odyssey title, and more
- Beautiful original soundtrack, competent voicework
- A good story in a series not particularly known for good stories
- A crap-ton of new features, easily an improvement over the original
- Chloe is moe
The Bad:
- Lack of dual-audio support (please Atlus, give us Japanese voicework!)
- Day one, paid DLC
