Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard is a fantastic RPG for dedicated players and a fine homage to the classic dungeon crawling RPGs like the PC Wizardry games. Players are given the opportunity to create a guild filled with characters from classes of their choosing, and then can explore a labyrinth at their leisure – mapping things out, leveling up, and fulfilling quests from the Duke and citizens of Lagaard.

It is a game that requires a lot of imagination and dedication on the part of the player. The only real stories in the game involve the labyrinth and its origins, since the characters in the party are all created by the player.

The sequel provides more options than the original game. There are more quests to undertake, a new dungeons, brand new mapping tools (I especially like the three different icons for gathering points), 12 different classes for characters, and new skills for characters to learn and new enemies. The tweaks in Etrian Odyssey II pretty much make the original game obsolete.

Of course an Etrian Odyssey game wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for FOEs, the insanely powerful monsters that roam throughout levels. They are always stronger than the other enemies on that floor, and quite likely far stronger than your party when you first encounter them. FOEs will follow you, attack you during fights with bosses or other enemies and will generally make dungeon crawling a nightmare. If you do beat one, it might provide rare items. In the original Etrian Odyssey, they also provided a large amount of experience points – very helpful. In Etrian Odyssey II they don’t, which is very disappointing.

My biggest gripe has to do with the “warp wire.” See, in Etrian Odyssey games, warp wires are essential items which allow a party to instantly teleport from anywhere in the labyrinth back to town. In Etrian Odyssey II, the item is unlocked by talking to the girl at the general store after you’ve completed the first quest from the Duke and are proclaimed adventurers.

If you can overlook the difficult opponents, constant need to grind and the game’s tendency to expect you know what needs to be done without being told, then Etrian Odyssey II is probably for you. It really can be a lot of fun, and a great challenge.

However, I’ve found I can only play Etrian Odyssey II in small bursts. At one point, you’ll get tired of the fetch quests, character grinding and map creation, and you’ll have to take a week or two off. It does surpass the first game, in terms of gameplay, map designs, challenges and options, but both games succumb to the repetitive pitfalls.

What does this score mean? Check out our review scoring breakdown.