Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight
Overview -
It's honestly quite amazing how many games some companies can release in a year. Atlus has really been at it, with consistent releases that should keep any JRPG fan occupied year round. It's not always sequels and spinoffs either. 'Lost Dimension,' a SRPG series revolving around finding traitors amongst a group is one very recent example. But now, fans are getting an entry to one of Atlus' more popular series, 'Etrian Odyssey' with a remake of the second game, titled 'Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight'.
Video Review
Since 'The Fafnir Knight' uses the same engine as 'Etrian Odyssey IV', the graphics are largely unchanged from the 2013 game. That said, they still look good. Dungeons are lush and colorful, and are appropriate eye candy for dungeon crawling that's typically rather dull for the genre. The character portraits are also nice, with a striking art style that is nice to look at. That said, the visuals don't push or even approach any kind of limits--they are simply nice overall.
Audio Review
The Etrian Odyssey series is well known for its amazing music, composed by the wonderful Yuzo Koshiro, and 'The Fafnir Knight' is no exception. The original tracks to 'Etrian Odyssey II' are remixed with a wholly instrumental, rocking tune to it, and the tracks really make it a joy to get into battles. The original music from 'Etrian Odyssey II' is there as well, untouched for purists, and can be changed anytime in the options menu. It's also worth noting that the default soundtrack for Story Mode use the remixes, while the default soundtrack for Classic Mode uses the original tracks.
The voice acting for Story Mode is pretty sparse, with a few key spoken lines by the important characters and battle voices. The voices don't really add nor take away from the game, though from time to time the grunts and lines in battle can become a little annoying.
Final Thoughts
'Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight' is really more of the same, the same graphics, the same core gameplay, the same general goal. For most 'Etrian Odyssey' fans, however, that's not really a bad thing--after all, there's the spinoffs 'Persona Q' and 'Etrian Mystery Dungeon' available for those that want to try something different. While the Story Mode might be new, it still doesn't diverge enough from what makes the 'Etrian Odyssey' series what it is to really mark it as anything special for the series. Still, with multiple difficulties and actual characters to guide (instead of generic cutouts), 'Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold' is a great entry point for players new to dungeon crawling series.