Etrian Odyssey II: Sweet ride

 

Lagaard done and dusted! My run clocked at 12 hours, and was infinitely more satisfying than my EOI run. The reason could be summed up in one word: refinement. Every feature at work in EOI was polished and honed in EOII, creating a game that improves on its predecessor on virtually all fronts. 

 

 

As I crawled in Picnic mode again, my main focus was exploration and dungeon layouts. I can safely claim that EOII fares much better than its prequel on that front — although it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how and why. I’d say that the overall dungeon design is smoother and more intuitive, so to speak; it feels more organic, less contrived than in EOI. Sure, you find the exact same dungeon features as in EOI — conveyor belts, shortcuts through walls, floating platforms, you name it — but they’re much better implemented. My roaming time should be abundant proof of that betterment in on the dungeon design front: I polished off the whole labyrinth, final boss et al., in a mere 12 hours; in comparison, I needed 14 hours to reach EOI’s 24^th floor, while knowing a good part of the labyrinth from before. 

 

 

On a personal note, I dug Lagaard way more than Etria. First, the notion of ascending a giant tree rather than diving into an abyss was more pleasant; secondly, the strata’s themes sat better with me. I was immensely fond of the Frozen Grounds because winter, and Petal Bridge was nicely unexpected — I’ve not encountered a Sakura blossom-themed dungeon since Touhou Genso Wanderer. The final dungeon, Heavenly Keeps, was a bit lacking on the visual front; however, it made up for it by offering clever floor designs. Really, my only pet peeve with EOII’s dungeons is the infuriating occurrence of harmful dungeon events. Dungeon events in EOI were few and far between, and as likely to be positive as negative; they’re at every corner in EOII, and way more likely to produce bad outcomes. After my precious Ariadne Thread was taken from me three times (insert murderous eyes) in such dungeon events, I learnt my lesson and avoided them like the plague for the rest of my run.   

 

 

Dungeon events aside, that run was a grindy monument of crawling perfection. The second it was over, I launched Etrian Odyssey III and dove into it with the dopamine-fueled enthusiam of a gamer who just finished a glorious run. I expected EOIII to be just as good, if not even better, than EOII; but was it? Let's find out in my EOIII report, dear fellow gamers!