Etrian Odyssey Untold 2: The Fafnir Knight is coming out in the next few months, and there are still some questions about the game. So here’s what you’ll need to know about the game before you jump head first into that labyrinth of overpowered monsters.
Story Mode
In this mode, players follow a cast of five characters as they travel through both the Yggdrasil Labyrinth and the Story Mode-exclusive Ginnugagap Ruins. As they travel between the two places, they uncover more and more dark secrets of their world and of the Fafnir Knight.
The party features the five main characters: Princess Arianna, the protagonist, Flavio the Survivalist, Bertrand the Protector, and Chloe the War Magus. Players aren’t able to make other guild members unless they’re playing in Classic Mode, so none of these Story-exclusive characters are replaceable. However, like in the first Untold game, players are able to change these characters’ classes once they’re Level 30. (This excludes the protagnist, the Fafnir Knight.)
As players get further into the game, they’ll experience cut scenes that not only move the story along, but also show off the game’s voice acting and animation. This mode gives players a more in-depth, detailed story than that of the original game.
Classic Mode
For players that don’t care for the newer story, there’s Classic Mode. This mode is simply an updated version of the original. The graphics and system mechanics of the original game is updated with all the improvements of EO IV: Legend of the Titan and of EO Untold: The Millenium Girl. In this mode, players can choose from 15 classes to create their own unique parties. There’s also a DLC for original art of these classes for players to use when making their Classic Mode party.
EO II classes like the Beast, War Magus, and Gunner are included in the lineup, but the Princess from EO III: The Drowned City and the Highlander from EOU are also included. The Highlander, however, is only available through a DLC event. For the first two weeks after the game is released, it’s free to download; after that, players need to pay for it.
Exploration
The exploring style, mechanics, and system of EO IV and EOU were used to update the game’s labyrinth. Compared to the original systems of the first Etrian Odyssey and EO II, this is a signifcant improvement. It makes exploration much more convenient.
Players can now tell how strong or difficult an FOE is by the colored ring around its map icon:
- red means it’s too strong to even attempt
- yellow means the battle will be difficult, but it’s possible to take on
- blue means the player is strong enough to take it on
Floor Jump was also brought back. A new feature from the first Untold, Floor Jump allows the player to instantly teleport to whichever floor they wish. Once the player has seen most of a floor or has drawn the majority of it, they unlock the feature. The staircase icon on their map turns yellow to show that Floor Jump has been activated.
Mapping
Mapping system of the orignal game has been completely updated:
- Floor Jump is now included
- Players can use the B-button to run in the labyrinth.
- There are now 8 different floor colors, compared to the usual 3. It’ll be easier to note floor conditions and patterns now.
- Icons for treasure chests and shortcuts change once they’ve been used or opened.
There’s also been a change to the auto-pilot system. The original icons have changed to lines. On the map screen, there’s now:
- A button to activate/deactivate the auto-pilot movement.
- An arrow for solid lines, which draw the route of the auto-pilot. Routes can be drawn in different colors.
- An arrow for dotted lines, which erases the route. If the player holds the arrow down, it’ll erase all the drawn routes.
- And a two-directional arrow, which changes the direction of or type of a drawn route.
City Development
One of the new features of the game is the Duchy Run Restaurant, a restaurant with a specialty in “labyrinth cuisine”. The restaurant is like the guild house of EOU, but with more features and improvements.
Players will have to explore the dungeons and collect ingredients for the restaurant and its recipes. There are two types of these ingredients:
- “labyrinth ingredients”, which come from Chop, Take, and Mine points
- and “monster ingredients”, which come from monsters.
(These ingredients are held in a different part of the players’ inventory, so it doesn’t get in the way of exploring.)
Once all the ingredients for a recipe are collected, players can cook the meal, and if done correctly, it appears on the menu. They can also eat it and gain effects that make dungeon exploring easier. The effects of this food last forever, or until the player chooses to eat a different food.
But since the place is also a restaurant, players have to advertise and promote it. In the five regions of the Duchy of Lagaard, players have to accomodate the people and their tastes. If done well, they gain extra money or items. From the profit the restaurant earns, players can reinvest the money into the town. Developing the town increases the number of people and customers; it also helps in grimoire trading later on.
Save Data
This game introduces something new to the EO series: multiple save slots. In total, there will be 8 save slots for players to use. The game itself will only have 1, but an SD card will hold the other 7. Players also have the option of copying one of their files onto a different slot.
Players can now play both the Story Mode and the Classic Mode at the same time in this game. However, to completely fill out the Guild Card and get all the medals, they have to play both modes on the same save slot.
That’s some of what to expect when Etrian Odyssey Untold 2 comes out. The game will be released in North America this summer and Europe next year, but the game is already out for preorder.
