Customer Reviews

Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was a big fan of the first entry into the series, and this sequel doesn't disappoint. Besides adding 3 new classes, the new FOE behavior makes for a more challenging experience overall, the power curve is very much restructured. There is a wide variety of viability in party compositions now compared to the first game (anyone who played the first knows how necessary Protectors and Medics were).

Like the first it starts off pretty brutally hard, but as you experiment it gets easier. That being said, it just isn't for everybody. If you are not patient, I could see people shutting this game off after 30 minutes and not playing it again. The early game has a lot of fighting 3-4 battles, go back to town, sell, rest, repeat until you get a few decent skills and pick away at the labyrinth. Also it can be rather hard to figure out how classes interact with each other in a party, and the level of synergy can be a bit daunting to newcomers. It also is sparse about holding your hand, which is both good and bad - good if you seek to figure things out as a gamer, bad if you get easily frustrated by any challenge in games.

This is definitely a niche game, but a worthy addition to the DS library. If you are an old school Wizardry kind of player, you'll love it. The map making is to me at least a rather fun feature - I'm unsure about people who claim map making in this series is "tedious". I often map out while in combat after making my selections, and also the addition of auto battle has been a small but great addition making under leveled random encounters a bit less effort to get through.

If nothing else, it's a game that stands on its own merits in the current market. I can't think of any RPG I've played in this generation of gaming which stands out the way this series does (despite admittedly being an update to the truly old school CPRGs).

I just finished the first Etrian Odyssey and thought I was going to start a new game on it just so I wouldn't of gone through withdrawals, and then a friend tells me there is an Etrian Odyssey II!!! So I bought it right away.

If you haven't played an Etrian Odyssey game yet, it is a fun RPG that has you take 5 characters out and about fighting monsters, mapping a multi-level labrinth, finding treasures, and fulfilling missions and quests. You don't need to play the first one to enjoy this game, in fact this game gives you more of a tutorial as you go through for new people.

I really like the mapping feature, at first I thought it was dumb but then I found it really keeps me going, I want to keep seeing how the map will turn out on each floor. And the mapping tools are improved on this version, there are now more icons to use, including three different colors of item points (you can chop, mine or take in this game to collect things to sell or use) and there is now a open door and locked door icons, for those special doors that need a key.

Other new features I like - if you forget what you need to do for a quest, you can find out in your quest menu exactly what it is. Also in the store, you can look at your characters as you look at the weapons for sale and see how they would improve with a new weapon without having to go to "eqiup". Probably my favorite new feature is when you go to the custom list - this is how you upgrade your characters whenever you get a new skill point for them - the skills that are not available now show a prerequisite feature on the side, telling you which skills you need to add before you can aquire the skill. In the first game, some of the skills I wanted I could never figure out how to get to them.

There are extra types of players available now, War Magus and Beast, and Ronin and Hexer are available immediatly. Watch out though cause some of the characters that had certain skills do not have them and other characters do. Such as the Protector used to have Stalker, now the Survivalist has it.

The Geomagnetic fields are different now, at first I was thinking they were less convienient but then I discovered they are more helpful. There are poles every few floors now and you can warp to them from town, to the latest one anyway, but not from them to town. Always have a Warp Wire with you! Then there are the fields - you can use them both to the statum and to town, and you access these on the first option at the forest - the labrinth option. These go to the beginning of each stratum. By the way the second Statum is really pretty! I enjoy in this game and the last one seeing what the new stratums will be. Each one has about 5 floors on it, and has a different theme, so the forest looks that way for the 5 floors.

Some things I don't like about the new game - there is no Amrita right away! I found out on a website that you have to wait till floor 15 for it to show up at the store! In the first game it is there right away, and is an essential item as it allows you to replenish your TP, which is magic points that you use to use specialized skills. Also, there is only one file for saving on the game, bummer (was the same for the first game too).

Also, you do not get experience points for fighting FOES! This really bugs me. And they are really hard to fight. There are even some that don't show up on the map.
If you haven't played Etrian Odyssey yet, these are extra bad monsters that stalk a certain area until you kill them, and sometimes they even come back later. They show up on the map as purple arrows.
(Ordinary monsters just randomly show up every so often, and you can use Stalker to help lower the encounter rate.)

This game is more challenging than the first one. I am doing a lot more running around building up my characters than even in Etrian Odyssey. I have some advice. Make sure you have a gunner in your group. He/She can get the skill Haltshot right away if you give it to him/her. Then use it to freeze FOES for a few turns. You will need this on the 2nd and 3rd floor to even get past them in the beginning so you don't get bored on the first floor after you've mapped it.

Also, you can now register up to 30 characters. I registered my main 5 people, then one of each kind at at least (you may need other characters later for certain gameplay and quests) and then I am making additional Survivalists cause they can have all three of the collectings skills, Mine, Chop and Take. Then I take 4 of my main ones and one of the newer ones out to the 4-5 floors to collect stuff, when you take a weaker character out with stronger ones they upgrade in a hurry! So they can do a lot of collecting pretty quick. There is a limit each day so I try to take as many characters out as I can before I sleep. Remember to take strong characters with the weak one or you will die fast. This helps me gain money and also helps upgrade my main characters, and at the Take item points I can collect Sour Fruit or Mugwort, which gives you a little bit of TP. Since there is no Armirita right away, this is important. Also have some of your main party have Take as well so you can collect what you need when out and about doing new mapping.

This is definitely a game that does not apply to everyone. It is an old-school style pen and paper dungeon crawling RPG, except in place of the pen and paper you use your DS. You map out the dungeons on your bottom screen while exploring the dungeon on the top. Monsters appear which you have to fight, all of which are creative and very well designed. There are of course bosses, quests, and many many types of character classes to choose from!

If you are looking for an RPG that will last you a long long while, and will keep you hooked the whole time, look no further. If you played the first Etrian Odyssey and liked it at ALL you definitely need to check this one out.

They made quite a few improvements over the previous version, the graphics of course are a little enhanced, they have all new character classes, weapons, items, and more. Of course all new dungeons and monsters. The mapping system now has more icons you can use which come in VERY handy in the more complex dungeons. Many tweaks and various improvements have been made to make it feel great overall.

Lastly, the soundtrack is AMAZING, one of my favorite soundtracks for any hand-held system by far, and even rivaling some of it's larger and more powerful counterpart's soundtracks.

For what this game sets out to do it is AMAZING, and I thank Atlus so much for bringing over and doing a great job with the localization. Definitely give this game a look!

This game has made no effort at all to be accessable to the general public. It will not bring new fans to the gaming world. It will not convert gamers who like other gaming styles, like real time strategy. Clearly it was made by, and for, hardcore role players. I mean the real hardcore, not the wannabe hardcore. Seriously, if you have never played an RPG before, or if you think that Diablo was an RPG, try Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest instead.

That said, by golly, there is no more authentic RPG on any platform. Lots of stats, lots of reloading after your whole party was wiped out, lots of items, lots of monsters (many of them willing and able to kick your sweet patootie). And just in case you thought it might be a little too forgiving, you make your own maps here. I mean it, it's not an option, it is how you do it. Keh. Bwahahaha.

This is for the few, the proud, the nerdy, the un-math-challenged, and the very, very, patient.

I love it.

PS: Wait a sec. I'm trying to get over certain materialistic tendancies, so let me amend.

I *love* my wife.

I *like* this game.

A lot. I do. <sigh>

Etrain Odyssey II retains much of what made the first game a treasure and expands on the franchise in a few key ways. Interface enhancements and additional map icons are just the beginning. Three new classes have been added: War Magus, Gunner and Beast along with sprite updates and an all new story. This time you are going up the tree.

Game play is essentially the same: A dungeon crawler with extreme rpg elements and the unique requirement to map out your progress. This time around there are more side quests and event areas in addition to environmental obstacles. The levels are more winding and maze like so be on the look out for plenty of hidden doors to reduce your back tracking as you make frequent return trips into town to sell your findings, stock up on goods and recover.

Heroes of Lagaard is a lot harder than the first game. Expect to run a lot, especially from FOES who are much tougher and no longer give that extreme boost in experience points. To assists and new set of skills and items have been built around stopping or luring FOES to a different location allowing you to use some guile or skill in passing difficult areas without altercation.

The skill tree for each class has been reworked with some new skills added and older ones either paired down or enhanced to even out the characters more. While you will definitely want to take a medic, the War Magus is a valuable asset in place of the Protector to provide both tanking and healing capabilities.

If you liked the first game, you'll love this one. If you enjoy dungeon crawlers, and have not played the first game, what are you waiting for? This is a game for you!

I'm not a "hardcore" gamer, but I have played many RPG's over the year, and I really like this one. I haven't finished it, but so far it consists almost exclusively of dungeon delving. The combat system is pretty basic, swinging swords and throwing spells/skills at groups of monsters who appear before you--not a lot of tactical maneuvering here. One interesting thing, you collect seemingly worthless items to bring back to the store, where the weaponsmith will make progressively better items for sale to your characters. The mapping is pretty basic, but still engaging. And the story is original (you don't have to sit on the A button watching dialogue for hours).

Once again, I'm not a hardcore gamer, and I haven't played the first Etrian Odyssey, but I love this one.

This game is the sequel to Etrian Odyssey, one of the most difficult games I have played in years. Here's the rundown: you create a team of adventurers, and explore the labyrinth found within the giant tree your town is built around. The plot is stays simple, but it's more of a plot than the first game had, and it's enough to give you a reason to keep going.

Basically, you map out the many levels of the labyrinth. fight monsters, gather treasure, create new weapons, level up, etc. Just beware: this game gets very hard, very fast. Within a single battle, your heroes can quickly be brought from "top fighting form, we can take on anything!" to "low on health, low on tech points, and oh god I forgot to buy warp wire and there's a FOE between me and the way back!"

But if you played the original, you knew that already. In fact, I'm going to assume you've played the original and finish this up with some pros and cons between the two games:

PRO:
-The new auto button. In the last game, trudging through the lower levels was a chore, because you had to keep mashing on the A button to get through battles with weak enemies that can't possibly pose a threat anymore. Now you just hit L, and watch as you party makes short work of the enemy.
-Improved mapping. More icons and the ability to stick more of them on the map really improves the experience.
-More characters. This gives you much more flexibility in forming a party, because you no longer absolutely NEED to use certain characters.

CON:
-FOEs no longer give experience. This means that not only are you out a valuable source of experience, but also that the developers could stick more of them on each level! And there's nothing quite like defeating the boss of the previous stratum, only to have your entire party wiped out in one hit by a FOE on the next level.
-The auto button. Yes, I also listed that as a pro, but you'll be tempted to abuse it, and it WILL kill you. Either you'll take too long and a FOE will stumble across your battle, you'll take too long and discover that one enemy can summon a stronger monster, or (most frequently) the enemies will use a status-affecting ability and by the time you've canceled the auto-battle your healer and primary damage-dealer will be out of action, and all you can do is desperately try to revive your healer or escape as one by one the rest of your party is KO'd.

It's a hard game, no question. But it's also fun, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a challenge.

This game is a kind of sequel to the original Etrian Odyssey, which I considered already the toughest and most addictive game I've ever played. The first one took me a whole year to finish!
This second installment is not a real sequel, since it takes place in a whole different place and labyrinth (although it might be the same labyrinth, this time climbing up instead of down the Yggdrasil Labyrinth). And even though the interface has a lot of improvements, this new game plays like the first one on "expert mode"!
If you haven't played the first Etrian Odyssey, I would recommend you tackle that one first (good luck finding it, though!). If you played the first one and liked it, you will definitely LOVE this one!

Etrian odyssey II is a great game. so great I paid $60 for it plus $3 tax. I had to buy it from a local shop as the ordered one from Amazon was left on my doorstep by the Post office despite instructions otherwise and stolen either by local kids or by the postman. Who knows? Nothing that can be done about that. It is a great game though. seriously worth picking up for $30 if you are tired of games that are childishly easy. Etrian will challenge you.

Etrian Odyssey quickly summed up:

Draw your own maps using several objects including doors, item boxes, etc. Drawing in walls requires the touch screen and is relatively fun. The floor spaces are generally drawn in for you as you walk, but that setting can be changed and there are 3 floor colors that you can use. There are no unlockable map drawing options. There is plenty of locked loot, and doors that will give you a sense of wonder that is missed in many other titles.

Drew your map wrong? That's a serious possibility and may cause much frustration, make sure to draw your maps carefully and completely, or risk dying or being forever stuck until you backtrack over your entire floor(s).

Difficulty of bosses on Etrian Odyssey II on a scale from 1-10, most are near 8-9 and maybe 10. Etrian Odyssey doesn't joke around with bosses too often.

Difficulty of random battles on Etrian Odyssey II on a scale from 1-10 in an unexplored region can range from 3-9 but generally tends to be towards 7.

Difficulty of the side quests available at the bar can range on a similar scale anywhere from 2-10. Some quests seem somewhat ridiculous at times, however most are unneccessary to continue with the main game.

In comparison with the next title, this game is slightly less intuitive when it comes to selling items, and drawing maps. You may never use some of the icons, while some other icons will need to be replaced with time. Some icons are very non-descript forcing you to use notes, which are tedious to make, but very possible.

In comparison to the previous title, this game allows for side-movement (strafing) using the L and R buttons previously unavailable. This game has much improved menu navigation especially when buying items and when viewing characters. You are also allowed to switch between characters using L and R while giving skill points which was also previously unavailable.

If you are looking for a long title, this one may be the best. I can say from experience that Etrian Odyssey III seems to be easier and shorter to beat than both of its predecessors.

What makes Etrian Odyssey so hard? How many characters can be on your team? Is this game beyond my range of possibility?

Etrian Odyssey is hard because the designers did a fair amount of work making sure that the enemies stay one step ahead of you at all times. From the time that you start, to the time you are hours into the game, death will lurk around every corner and only the cautious and well-prepared will be able to dodge "death's glance". FOE which stands for a word that stands for something no one would probably understands, means field on enemy, as far as I know. These FOE's will mean disaster for a party unless you are well-prepared and much stronger than the beast. They will show up as flame-like balls and you are equipped with an indicator to tell you when one is nearby.

In Etrian Odyssey you can have up to 5 characters on your team. Sound great? Well, keep in mind that the designers planned it that way as well, the difficulty will certainly not decrease if you have 5, but will certainly increase if you think you can handle it with only 4 or less.

It all depends. Are you a huge fan of standardized RPG's with little story? This game will test almost everything you can come up with and more. There will be characters that will be kicked from your main team, sub-teams should and probably will be created, re-leveling will be done with characters who are given skill points in ineffective areas and most importantly, there is a level cap at 70, and at that point it will be near impossible to beat the game. But wait! The level cap can be broken, a level at a time when you "retire" your character which halves their current level and gives specific non-accumulative stat point increases and skill point increases.

In other words, if you are level 30 (lowest possible level to retire) after retirement you will be level 15 and can now get up to level 71. If you make it to 30 again, you will again drop to level 15 and be able to make it up to level 72. This process must be repeated 29 times with each character in order to reach level 99, which probably isn't necessary to beat the game. Level 90 would be a safe bet. This process is no easy ordeal, in fact, this estimatedly would take 50-100 hours dependent upon the strategy to complete. Beyond this, the chance that this game can be beaten without retirement is very low, dependent upon your skill level. It may be possible to beat the game at level 70, but it is certainly not a challenge the average, or even slightly advanced gamer would take on in his spare time.

What I suggest is playing this game until satisfaction with your progress, unless you have the motivation and time, (or bored friends) that would allow you to do the grinding for experience that this game requires. Welcome to the near-endless labyrinth of Etrian Odyssey II, my friend. May your adventure last a lifetime, and your experience help you with organization, determination, perseverance, thought, and careful consideration because your next step, could be your last. . .