spacer New here? Join the Ripten community.
We are an independant open forum for both hard-core and casual gamers alike. Membership is free and grants access to exclusive contents.

Returning Riptenner: Login Now
spacer
360 PS3 Nintendo Wii Reviews Interviews Previews Trailers Events News PC DS PSP Retro Gadgets Film & TV Comics
Ripten Team
Founder/Editor-in-Chief
Chad Lakkis
Bio | Posts | AIM | Email
Reviews Editor
Dan Landis
Bio | Posts
Host / Editor
Jon Zungre
Bio | Posts
Associate Editor
Dylan Duarte
Bio | Posts
Writer (US)
Demi Adejuyigbe | Posts
Writer (UK)
Sam Naylor | Posts
Our Friends
G4TV The Feed
g4tv.com/thefeed
Meet In The Lobby
meetinthelobby.com
Read Other Recent Posts
Are You A Video Game Junkie With Mad Writing Skills? Write For Ripten
NFL Super Bowl Champion Steelers Connect with Soldiers in Iraq for Guitar Hero Competition
Emergency Alert System Broadcasts Making Their Way To Video Game Consoles?
Modern Warfare 2 Writer Reveals Alien & Undead Storyline That Never Was
Sonic The Sackboy: LittleBigPlanet Goes Hedgehog with DLC Costume Pack
VGA 09 Set To Reveal Ten Unnannounced Titles, Including A New Shooter From 2K Games
Ripten Original Programming
Ripten TV
Ripten Radio
Ripten RSS Feed
Ripten Twitter
Ripten MySpace

spacer
ds-preview-etrian-odyssey-2

DS Preview: Etrian Odyssey 2

by Jenni Lada on March 10, 2008 at 11:21 pm

etrianodyeditted2cover.jpg

If there is one thing that Etrian Odyssey 2, a.k.a. Sekaiju no Meikyu II, succeeds in doing, it is throwing in additional content. After only a short time playing, I can honestly say that if Atlus chooses to release the sequel to this first-person RPG in North America, fans of the original will be quite pleased.

The first additions come in the class section. At the very beginning there are 11 different class options available, as opposed to the original, which featured only 7. All of the 9 original classes (landsknecht, protector, survivalist, dark hunter, medic, alchemist, troubadour, ronin and hexer) are available from the beginning for party creation.

On top of that, the gunner and doctor magus/shaman jobs are also initially available. The only “hidden” profession is pet, but players don’t need to worry. Where the ronin and hexer jobs in the initial game required players to delve into over 10 floors, the pet job is unlocked after defeating a boss on the fifth floor and returning to that area.

EO2 screen1

For my personal party, I chose to go with a slight alteration to my original Etrian Odyssey party. I replaced my dark hunter with a gunner, and then created a party filled with a landsknecht, alchemist, troubadour, ronin and gunner all named after Nana characters. (I’m a dork, I know.)

Like the original game, the only thing you can do after that is go to the guild. It’s a whole new town, so everything looks slightly different. Everything is still in the same place though– there’s the inn, an herbal academy, a trading post, a bar, a guild and Lagaard Palace. Once again the first mission involves mapping part of the first floor of the dungeon and proving you can handle yourself, functioning more as a tutorial than a challenge.

After that I did what any good Etrian Odyssey veteran would do – went to the trading post and loaded up on potions. The first game was renowned for its difficulty levels, and I had heard that the sequel delivered more of the same.

Then I went into the dungeon. I was quite impressed heading in, as the graphics seem improved somewhat. I know that is difficult to comprehend and even think of, since the Etrian Odyssey games are first person RPGs when wandering through areas, but everything looked better. There seemed to be a lot more detail in the forest stage.

Also the mapping functions have some significant additions. There are three different colors which can be used for floors (helpful for identifying water or poisoned areas), new arrows to identify one-way paths between areas, new door icons to represent locked and unlocked entrances and a wide selection of assorted new markers to add to the map. This really delighted me, as in the first game I found myself getting frustrated that I’d actually have to click an area to find out if that sparkly place was a mining area or a gathering spot.

Moving forward causes a 2D palace guard to appear. He talks a bit, then teleports you to a random spot in the maze. You then have to find your way back to the entrance. I figured this would be fairly easy, as the first mission in the original game involved a fairly small, straightforward initial level and the enemies weren’t too menacing.

EO2 screen2

Then I ran right into a pack of wolves, followed by some mole creatures. Let me take a moment to say that Etrian Odyssey 2 is not forgiving. I was a little slow when doling out potions, and so Junko the ronin had to take a dive. Thankfully that was the only real hardship, and I managed to maneuver my way through the area back to the entrance. A nice point worth mentioning is that the first F.O.E. enemy lay behind a closed door, so it doesn’t pop up out of nowhere and join your battle.

Returning to the entrance, the knight congratulated me. My party went to the hospital (manned by a doctor bears a striking resemblence to Trauma Center Second Opinion’s Derek Stiles) to revive Junko then to the palace to claim rewards and glory.

From my brief playthrough, I can honestly say I am impressed with the way the sequel turned out – even if my ronin was owned by a troop of moles. It is clear that the creators really looked at what the fans of the series liked and disliked, and did their best to leave the good and fix the mediocre. If Atlus chooses to release Etrian Odyssey 2 in North America, it could very well receive more attention than its sleeper hit predecessor.

Screens courtesy of NCSX

Share This:
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • N4G
  • Add to favorites
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Live
  • Technorati
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • email
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • RSS
  • Yahoo! Buzz


Related Posts:
Unlimited Game Rentals Delivered - Free Trial spacer

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Comment Now


Note: Commenting on Ripten does not currently require registration, however to be eligible for contests on the site, you must be a registered user.

Commenting Rules: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Ripten reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. Thanks.

Tired of the Goomba? Upload your own custom comment avatar.

spacer Unlimited Game Rentals Delivered - Free Trial