[Let's Play] Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight: Pick my Party!

[Fawful_X]

What is Etrian Odyssey and why are you doing this?
Etrian Odyssey is a dungeon crawler by Atlus (best known for the Shin Megami Tensei series, and by extension Persona). The goal is simple; get to the end of a labyrinth spanning multiple floors. Of course, given Atlus is known for having very difficult games, the task is far more simpler on paper than it is in execution.

Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold is a remake of the second game, the original game honestly being pretty poorly balanced even when you factor in how the most overpowered skills were taken out of the game or nerfed into oblivion, with certain classes being nerfed to the point of uselessness. Regardless, it was still fun despite this, and even then many things have been rebalanced in the remake to make it more challenging and fair. The most noteworthy change that came about the remake was the inclusion of a story mode, which many veterans of the series dislike due to how it forces specific personalities and classes onto the party. This issue was only exacerbated further with the first game, which included a side dungeon that you could only access in the story mode. Thankfully, while EO2U includes this side dungeon, it allows you to access it in classic. Another thing many veterans dislike is the inclusion of easier difficulty modes that give you a second chance should you fail a fight, but while I am a fan of the series, all I can really say in regards to that is ?Why complain about this, when Expert is essentially classic Etrian Odyssey??

As for why I?m doing this? Well? I?ll be honest, I?m stealing this idea of others picking my party from a screenshot let?s play I saw when I thought the idea was clever. I can?t promise any screenshots at all, but I can attempt to give a rundown of events while making some attempts at giving the characters I make a greater sense of character in the meantime.

Oh yeah, there?ll be spoilers. While the plot is somewhat barebones unless you?re playing story mode, there are still a few twists and turns. I?d suggest trying to play to the end of each segment if you decide to play along with me for some reason. Also, while I?ll be giving some advance warning as to what I?ll expect in the next segment, I?ll be trying to keep things as spoiler-free as possible.

Rules
-Every time I progress through either three floors or finish a stratum, I must change my party to the top five picks suggested. As for the rules on that, a community member may pick up to five different classes, and the same class can?t be chosen twice (as I am only using one class per character).
-The Fafnir Knight is banned. While he is a mediocre class if you don?t use his Force skill, Transform, doing so immediately turns him into a force that completely ruins the balance of the entire game.
-Grimoire stones and the cafe are banned for added difficulty.
-Expert difficulty (Though for me, it?s less of a restriction and more of how I typically play the games).
-Extra restrictions will be applied to each class. These restrictions will gradually be relaxed as the game continues.

The Southvale Guild
Note that, while choosing party members, I can only have up to three party members in either the front row or back row. This is very important to adhere to, as not adhering to this can greatly impact my party?s ability to survive.

I may edit in pictures of Sovereign and Highlander later, and delete this sentence afterwards.

Alicia the Landsknecht

Spoiler:

There are two sides to Alicia, a timid coward and a bloodthirsty and vengeful spirit of wrath. She usually stays more towards the ?cowardly? persona, but she quickly deviates to the more aggressive one when her friends start falling in combat or she finds herself up against a mighty opponent. Her class prefers the front row (as much as she?d want to be in the back row at times).
Strengths and weaknesses: High Strength, Vitality, and HP makes her a long-lasting front row fighter. Has access to heavy armor and shields, further improving her survivability. Her low TP and Luck means she can?t use skills often and she struggles to inflict statuses with certain skills, however. She also has a weak Technical stat, but that will be irrelevant to anything other than elemental damage she takes honestly.
Notable abilities: Gets access to chaser skills, which lets her attack the foe immediately when a spell of the corresponding element is used by the party. Hurricane is like Giga Impact in the pokemon games, in that it?s a hideously powerful attack that has a cooldown turn after it?s used, only she can still use a normal attack, flee, or defend. While she does have axe-exclusive skills, her sword-exclusive skills like Hurricane are much better.
Restriction: Must attempt to run when another party member flees. When against a FOE or a boss or if another party member is downed, cannot run.
FORCE BOOST: All attacks will crit for three turns.
FORCE BREAK: Incredibly powerful cutting attack to one enemy. Fails if arms are bound.

Johnny the Survivalist

Spoiler:

Johnny is a thief who, instead of serving prison time, opted to take an alternative punishment and serve in the newly-formed Southvale exploration guild. Due to his past, the other members of his guild aren?t trusting of him. His class prefers the back row, but can operate well enough on the front row.
Strengths and weaknesses: Has the best Agility among the party, which is relevant to his attacking skills as well. High Luck lets him inflict statuses easily, and his Vitality lets him buffet more hits than one would expect. Has rather poor Technical, however, which affects his ability to take elemental attacks.
Notable abilities: He has access to attacks that can blind and paralyze the enemy. He can additionally increase his own evasion at the cost of making enemies attack him, though this synergizes well with his best damage skill, which requires him to dodge an attack for it to work.
Restriction: Cannot use items or buffs on other party members unless the target is incapable of acting (either via death or petrification) or the item/buff affects him as well. Others cannot use items on him out of battle.
FORCE BOOST: Raises evasion by an obscene amount, and follows up on bow moves.
FORCE BREAK: Hits random enemies up to sixteen times. One enemy can?t be hit for more than four times. Fails if arms are bound.

Sonia the Protector

Spoiler:

Sonia is an amnesiac stranger who was found in the streets of High Lagaard. She has an uncanny familiarity with the vendors there, despite being unfamiliar with the layout of the city, and is an unusually adept explorer for being a greenhorn. She is deathly afraid of certain powerful opponents, however, and will attempt to flee immediately whenever she encounters one. Her class strongly prefers the front row.
Strengths and weaknesses: Has amazing HP and Vitality, letting her easily survive blows, but her lack of speed means she more than likely will act last. Being able to equip shields and heavy armor also makes them incredibly defensive.
Notable abilities: Front Guard lets her grant a defensive boost to the front row for the turn, and has great priority. Her elemental walls can defend, then negate, then absorb the first respective elemental attack to hit a party member. Sentinel Guard is capable of defending the entire party by reducing the damage they take and raising their defenses to that of Sonia?s if they?re lower, but her shield skills are disabled for a turn afterwards.
Restriction: Must be the party member chosen first for certain events in the labyrinth that require a party member to perform an action. Must always try to flee battle when a FOE or boss is within one space of the party, and has to defend on the first turn of combat against a FOE or boss.
FORCE BOOST: Halves damage taken by allies under the effect of a shield skill.
FORCE BREAK: Negates all damage the party takes. Doesn?t block status effects. Fails if arms are bound.

Ribbon the Dark Hunter

Spoiler:

A scatterbrained, mute expert in the disabling of enemies, Ribbon is known for acting? strangely. Some say it?s due to a curse of some kind, others say she always was like that. Two things that can be agreed upon, however, is that she is a deadly fighter and beyond incompetent with items. Her class is most effective when fighting on the front row.
Strengths and weaknesses: Has good Vitality, Strength, and Luck. Her poor Technical means that magic-based skills will easily kill her, however, and somewhat poor TP may negatively impact her sustainability in the labyrinth.
Notable abilities: Has skills that can bind an enemy?s various limbs, which disables certain abilities they can use and reduces their stats some to boot, and an incredibly powerful attack that grows stronger with every bind the enemy has with whips. Is the only party member that can inflict petrification, and has to use a sword to do so. While I?d say the bait skills are noteworthy, in this game they?re noteworthy for being terrible and luck-based.
Restriction: Cannot use items at all. Cannot use stat-lowering moves on the enemy.
FORCE BOOST: Doubles damage against enemies with binds or ailments.
FORCE BREAK: Attempts to inflict head, arm and leg binds and poison on one enemy while damaging them. Fails if arms are bound.

Zack the Medic

Spoiler:

A seemingly experienced explorer from a distant land who seeks to advance his medical career. While he is gentle in demeanor, his smile seems more like a battle-scarred grimace, a fact that is only made more evident by how he has post-traumatic stress disorder, which kicks in whenever he finds himself on the front lines and leaves him unable to act. His class generally prefers the back row, but can put up an effective offense should they find themselves in the front row? something that he, unfortunately, cannot take advantage of.
Strengths and weaknesses: His high Technical and decent Vitality mean that he heals for obscene amounts, to the point where it?s very likely for him to heal for far more than actually necessary, and his good TP lets him keep healing for a while. His abysmal Luck leaves him vulnerable to status ailments, especially the obscenely-crippling-for-him head binds, however.
Notable abilities: Healing skills, of course, with noteworthy ones being Salve and Revive. Overheal takes advantage of how he heals for simply obscene amounts, by letting him heal for more than the max HP of each party member. Vital Hit is important for combat medics, but Zack will be unlikely to make good use of it due to his character-specific restriction.
Restriction: Can only defend and use his force skills if he?s in the front row.
FORCE BOOST: Greatly boosts the amount skills heal for, halves the TP cost of healing skills, and dramatically boosts the speed at which healing skills work at.
FORCE BREAK: Revives, unbinds, removes ailments, and greatly heals the entire party. Activates incredibly quickly. Fails if head is bound.

Jacob the Alchemist

Spoiler:

An eccentric, narrow-minded person who is obsessed with developing a formula that can mimic the effects of the fabled philosopher's stone, Jacob joined the Southvale Guild when he learned that the Yggdrasil Labyrinth could hold the key to accomplish his goal. He has a great distrust of the work of others, to the point he only use his own research for combat? as explosive as the results might be. He strongly prefers to chuck his deadly potions from afar, but has a deadly trick should he find himself on the front lines.
Strengths and weaknesses: His high Technical and TP let him deal severe elemental damage to the enemy throughout the entire trip. Unfortunately, his low Vitality and HP means he can?t take many hits, especially if he?s using the palm skills, and his low strength means that once he runs out of TP, he is more of a liability than anything else.
Notable abilities: He can deal three types of elemental damage, and eventually inflict elemental damage across the entire enemy party with formulas. However, should he use Compression, he can sacrifice the ability to hit every enemy with an element in exchange for radically boosting the damage dealt to a single target with said ?hit every enemy? skills. If he is in the front row, he can choose to make use of palm skills, which are bizarre yet useful skills that boost his damage on the next turn and add the elemental effect of it to his next attack, but can only be used on the front row (which can make them very risky to use).
Restriction: Cannot use items that affect elemental damage done or deal elemental damage. Cannot use his Force Boost.
FORCE BOOST: Increases damage dealt if an attack hits an enemy?s weakness.
FORCE BREAK: Deals incredible almighty damage to all enemies, but is slow to execute. Fails if head is bound.

Ezekiel the Troubadour

Spoiler:

A bard, inspired by the tales written by another bard of a famed group of explorers, that seeks to make a name for himself so he can tell his own tales of adventure. His relative inexperience, however, prevents him from playing certain complicated songs, and he lacks the ability to play a so-called ?ultimate battle song.? He can fight on the front or back lines equally well.
Strengths and weaknesses: His class has the best TP pool in the party, but one of the worst Strength stats as well. Fortunately, bows can circumvent this issue, since they rely on Agility and not Strength for their damage output.
Notable abilities: As he is in the class suited best towards buffing other party members, he naturally can increase the damage other party members deal. Additionally, they can give other party members a damage boost and an elemental effect added to their weapon that isn?t weakened by any other buffs they may have, which synergizes nicely with their ability to raise party resistances while lowering enemy resistances. Reverb is worth mentioning due to how it lets you take a party member?s buffs and apply them to another party member, which is useful for quickly buffing someone you just revived, but due to the restriction he cannot use it unless that aspect is relaxed.
Restriction: Cannot use Ensemble skills, and by extension any skills that require them to be at a certain level to learn. Cannot use his Force Break.
FORCE BOOST: Prevents buffs from decaying for three turns, and prevents enemies from removing buffs.
FORCE BREAK: Boosts damage the party deals and reduces damage the party takes by 50% for a turn. Fails if head is bound.

Yuki the Ronin

Spoiler:

A princess from a far-off land running away from a hastily-crafted arranged marriage, Yuki found herself joining the newly-formed Southvale guild once her poorly-constructed false identity was discovered to be a fake in order to avoid being deported back to her home country. The stress that she could still be deported back makes it difficult for her to effectively rest, and her poor reflexes is evident in her inability to deliver a blow that lets her swiftly enter a combative stance. Has to fight on the front row, as she can barely do anything in the back row.
Strengths and weaknesses: Has slightly better Strength than Landsknechts, and thus the best Strength out of all the party members, and amazing Agility. However, her poor HP, defenses, and TP don?t lend to her lasting for very long in the labyrinth, and their poor Luck makes it unlikely for them to debilitate the foe or avoid being debilitated themselves.
Notable abilities: Upper stance gives her access to powerful attacking skills and buffs her attack power, Clear stance gives her more defense and varied skills, and Drawing stance gives her access to even stronger attacks while buffing her evasion and accuracy. From one of the stances, she can choose to go into Peerless stance, which lets her use all katana skills until the duration of the skill runs out or she uses Peerless combo (assuming her Force Boost isn?t active) and grants buffs to her attack, defense, speed, accuracy, and evasion, though it?s worth noting that Peerless stance costs TP while other stances only cost TP if you?re using a skill that deals damage and initiates a stance.
Restriction: Cannot reset her skill points. Cannot use skills that inflict damage and initiates a stance.
FORCE BOOST: User?s stances cannot end for three turns.
FORCE BREAK: Damages all enemies and attempts to inflict instant death. Instant death chance radically increases if the enemy damaged has low health.

Remilia the Hexer

Spoiler:

A timid, quiet girl usually found in the company of her older sister, Ribbon. She is rather inconfident in her own abilities, and is surprised when one of her curses actually works. She is allergic to High Lagaard?s medicine, and her cripplingly-weak muscles make it near impossible for her to carry a weapon, as well. Her weakness makes the back row incredibly preferable to her.
Strengths and weaknesses: She has high TP and Luck, and bad Vitality, HP, and Strength. That?s about it.
Notable abilities: Oh man, Hexers as a class have a lot of things they can do to debilitate the enemies. Beyond that, however, pretty much the only way they?ll be doing any sort of damage is through poison (which finds itself only being effective on random encounters) and through certain skills that require the usage of their Evil Eye skill, which also requires a significant skill point investment as well.
Restriction: Cannot equip a weapon. Healing items cannot be used on her unless she is petrified.
FORCE BOOST: Ailments and binds have greatly increased activation rates. Debuffs on enemies do not decay for three turns.
FORCE BREAK: Debuffs on enemies are extended by a turn. Fails if head is bound.

Nils the Gunner

Spoiler:

A sharpshooter who once defended High Lagaard from monster attacks. He expresses a pessimistic viewpoint, and finds it difficult to trust others not to screw things up. It is nearly impossible to convince him not to carry the pack, and to dole out items to those in need of them if another party member can take care of the requested duty. It?s easier for him to safely aim at and eliminate an enemy in the back row.
Strengths and weaknesses: As a gunner, Nils has the best Agility? which only really matters with his attacks, as guns impose a surprisingly hefty penalty to action speed. Everything else ranges from mediocre to bad.
Notable abilities: All of a Gunner?s best skills inflict a speed penalty and increases Nils? frailty, but execute a powerful attack with both elemental and stab damage. He can also inflict binds, but there?s not as much point to doing so if Ribbon and/or Remilia are also in the party. He also gets a passive that lets him use gun skills twice on occasion.
Restriction: Prevents the party from using items on the field unless no party member can accomplish what the item does. Is the only one capable of using items in battle unless he is incapacitated.
FORCE BOOST: All gun skills have a 100% chance of activating twice. The second activation will deal 40% less damage.
FORCE BREAK: Damages an enemy and stuns them, unless they are immune to stun. Activates reasonably quicker than normal. Fails if arms are bound.

??? the War Magus

Spoiler:

A mysterious person who can use what is best defined as magic. While nobody knows her name and she is unwilling to divulge such information, she responds to being called various shades of the color red. While adept in various forms of magic, it?s difficult for her to deviate focus from an attack unless she focuses for long enough. While medicine does work on her, medicine that heals her status is ineffective. She seems to prefer the front lines.
Strengths and weaknesses: This stranger is all-round good in pretty much everything, though she?s somewhat frail in regards to HP and horribly lacking in Agility. Due to how her healing skills work, however, Agility isn?t that much of an issue.
Notable abilities: A War Magus has little that stands out compared to other classes other than that they can heal at the start and end of every turn, but what does stand out is Ailing Slash and Vampire. You need a status for Ailing Slash to reach its full potential and for Vampire to even work, but the former deals obscene amounts of damage and the latter provides incredibly effective healing that gets even better. Bindcut also helps in debilitating an enemy, but also requires them to be under a status for it to work effectively.
Restriction: Has to attack, defend, use an item, die, get afflicted with a status that removes control over her, or flee to use a different skill than the one she used in the previous turn. Cannot have her status restored.
FORCE BOOST: The effects of skills that require the enemy to be under a status ailment activate even if they don?t have a status.
FORCE BREAK: Heals the entire party, while also removing binds and statuses. Negates all statuses and binds the turn it is used. Fails if head is bound.

For gameplay purposes, her name is [Scarlet].

Robin the Sovereign

Spoiler:

A prince who found himself exiled from his country for his own safety during a sudden uprising. Due to how he was raised, he exudes a natural aura of leadership, as taxing as it may be on him, and he cannot show any form of weakness due to the risk behind it weakening the monarchy. His charisma lends more towards him being on the back line.
Strengths and weaknesses: Bizarrely, Sovereigns have rather poor vitality for a class that can equip heavy armor, which negatively impacts their survivability significantly (especially when compared to the only other entry they appeared in, which was the third game). Despite their frailty and somewhat poor Agility and Luck, they have great Technical and TP reserves.
Notable abilities: Sovereigns are probably most comparable to a Protector that trades in pure defensive support for buffing the party?s attack and ability to resist statuses. Additionally, they get access to a skills that lets them target an enemy and contribute magic damage to it or the entire enemy party every time it takes damage from any element.
Boon: Negates the effects of some other restrictions as long as he's alive. The sole character with a boon.
Restriction: Cannot defend or flee unless he is in the front row, and can?t use items. Cannot be healed except by a Beast or if he is incapacitated.
FORCE BOOST: Order skills affect the entire party and cost 50% less TP.
FORCE BREAK: Heals 60% of the party?s max HP and 30% of the party?s max TP. Fails if head is bound.

Sabre the Beast

Spoiler:

It?s a zebra-patterned, saber-tooth tiger that?s probably male judging by how the first and third portraits are used for male characters in Etrian Odyssey and his portrait is the first one, and also Robin?s pet. That?s really all there is to it other than how it has restrictions you?d expect of something without opposable thumbs and is the loyal pet of another party member. It generally tries to be in front of its master at all times.
Strengths and weaknesses: They have great durability, and that?s about it. While their Agility and TP is poor, it doesn?t matter as much given their skills cost little TP and most of what they do actually has priority.
Notable abilities: Beasts are more focused on taking damage rather than reducing or negating it like protectors are. That?s? honestly all there is to them, really.
Restriction: Cannot use items on itself or incapacitated party members. Can only flee if Robin is defeated and he cannot be healed, or the other party members are incapacitated (whichever happens first).
FORCE BOOST: Triples maximum HP for three turns, then fully heals the user.
FORCE BREAK: Takes all damage directed at the party, and attacks all enemies if not at full HP. User cannot go below 1 HP or get inflicted with binds or any ailments other than instant death.

Fafnir the Highlander (Not to be confused with the Fafnir Knight)

Spoiler:

A strange mercenary believed to come from the wilderness near High Lagaard, or possibly even the labyrinth itself. She gets along very poorly with other people, and is probably more of an animal than Sabre? which is definitely saying something. At least she can speak. Her ferocity is most evident in the front lines, which she adamantly refuses to stray from.
Strengths and weaknesses: Fafnir is very similar to Alicia, only she trades less Vitality and more vulnerability to binds and statuses in exchange for a little more Technical and fair bit more Agility. It?s worth noting that, while she can use shields, Fafnir cannot wear heavy armor.
Notable abilities: Highlanders will burn through their own HP with many of their skills, which makes healing support invaluable with one on the party. Beyond that, though, they?re somewhat similar to Landsknechts.
Restriction: Cannot be put in the back row. Cannot flee.
FORCE BOOST: Increases damage dealt by spear skills, and any action used with a spear heals 25% of the party?s HP.
FORCE BREAK: Party loses 20% of their HP and all enemies take typeless damage.

Three things are worth noting about the Highlander. First, they are a DLC-exclusive class, and cost $0.99 USD to purchase. Second, they are the only class that can use spears. Third, their Force Break is actually bugged in two ways. The first bug is that their Force Break deals typeless damage, and not stab damage. The second bug is that it?s truly typeless damage, and thus cannot be resisted by enemies that even have a hidden resistance to typeless (AKA almighty) damage.

Fafnir Knight

Spoiler:

Included purely for completion?s sake, and is not actually a part of the guild. Fafnir Knight is a class with a simple gimmick: He?s very weak until he uses his Force Boost, Transform, and then he becomes a monstrosity that completely breaks the game in two if he?s in a properly built party (which the party you?re given in story mode? isn?t, given he?s the sole party member geared for dealing damage). Many of his skills rely on being in the transformed state or accelerating the rate at which he transforms. While transformed, some of his attacks become different attacks, and he gains special abilities based on which bosses you have defeated. Other than the first one, all of them make him even more horrifically overpowered. There?s a reason you can only use a Fafnir Knight in Classic mode once you beat Story mode once, after all!
His Force Break is pretty bad since you can?t use Transform again until you return to High Lagaard, and Fafnir Knight under Transform is the primary reason you ever want to use one. I guess it has a use for getting certain enemy drops and finishing off bosses and certain FOEs, since it does hit very hard.

Running Tally of first voting session
??? the War Magus - 2
Ezekiel the Troubadour - 2
Nils the Gunner - 1
Yuki the Ronin - 1
Ribbon the Dark Hunter - 1
Robin the Sovereign - 1
Sabre the Beast - 1
Alicia the Landsknecht - 1
Sonia the Protector - 1
Johnny the Survivalist - 1
Zack the Medic - 1

 

[Black Rosè1]

I'm seeing.. Ribbon the Dark Hunter, Ezekiel the Troubadour, Scarlet the War Magus, Robin the Sovereign, and Sabre the Beast

Had to include the beast :3

 

[Starlight_Maiden]

Okay,
Alicia, Sonia, Johnny, Zack, Ezekiel.

Also, maybe consider writing a story after finishing by using all the chars? They all look like neat characters that could make an amazing fan story.

 

[Fawful_X]

Gonna close the votes for this voting session. As they are the top two picks, the War Magus and Ezekiel will be included in the party. As for the various classes with a single vote, I'll be choosing Sonia, Yuki, and Johnny.

As for what I'll expect to encounter after the next voting session, there will be a fight against a great beast that is weak to the ice element, and has access to poison and fire skills. A special item can be obtained if it dies to poison damage.

@Starlight_Maiden - I'll be writing a story as I go, so no need to worry about that :P

 

[Fawful_X]

UPDATE 1

Prologue

Spoiler:

~When civilization sunk beneath the seven seas, deep forests spread across the five remaining islands. Only the chosen ones escaped the waters in their castle strongholds.~
~Eventually, the waves overtook even the last five islands? And the castle was all that remained.~
~After the passing of ages, the people in their floating castle chose to descend upon their mother soil.~
~These are the chronicles of the land of High Lagaard.~

~High Lagaardian legend, circa. 947 A.Y.​

Deep in the mountains in the northernmost populated location, the Grand Duchy of High Lagaard resides at the base of a holy tree known as Yggdrasil. An ancient myth states that a god that resides in a mysterious flying castle at the top of Yggdrasil, a myth that may yet be disproven with the discovery of a deadly labyrinth filled with aggressive and twisted flora and fauna that snakes its way up through the tree, and so far is the only known means of reaching the top of the gargantuan tower of nature. Many explorers challenged Yggdrasil?s Labyrinth, only to be met with cruel deaths.

Our tale follows one such group of explorers, who shall defy impossible odds and claim the glory that awaits in the topmost branches of the tree? or die trying, and descend to the roots in the swiftest and most permanent means possible. It all begins with a Troubadour?

An adventurer walked into the Explorer?s guild, anxiety filling his heart. This was his first ever time to step foot in the building, despite passing by it twice every day as he left his accommodations to busk at a local bar. As he took in the environment, he realized that? the guild was rather small. As it was the only place adventurers could register to explore the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, it was something he found rather surprising.

?Hmm? I?ve never seen you before. You?ve come to explore the labyrinth, I assume??

The troubadour found himself whipping around and taking a step back when he heard a voice behind him, which belonged to an armored figure of undeterminable gender. Their voice was muffled due to the heavy helmet they wore.

?Why yes,? said the music man in his rather pleasant voice. ?I?ve came here after another troubadour inspired me to go on an adventure with his songs. And since there?s a labyrinth somewhat like the one he sung about, why not try to make my own tales??

?...Good enthusiasm,? said the knight in an amused tone. ?That?s what I like to see, but in order to become an explorer, you must first establish a guild? Well, it?s the first day of the new year. Shall we commemorate it with a new guild!?

?Certainly! Give me the forums, and I?ll fill it out!?

With this said, the troubadour soon found himself heading the Southvale guild, named after his hometown. Unfortunately, there was still an important thing missing that would prove to be a death sentence if it was not addressed, especially due to his lack of skill. Namely, other guild members. As such, he found himself wandering High Lagaard in search of others who could potentially join his guild. Eventually, he encountered a group of soldiers near the entrance of town, apprehending a woman in a kimono and looking after an arrested bandit. Immediately upon seeing him, both of their eyes lit up.

?Hey man!? said the bandit. ?You look like yer? a new guild owna! Ya mind if I join ya? Better fer? me than rottin away in a prison!?

?I assume that joining a guild would be a proper replacement for a passport?? said the woman. ?If so, I would like to join his guild, if he accepts it.?

The soldiers grumbled irritably, apparently annoyed that their jobs were once again interrupted by the presence of an explorer. With a confirmatory sigh by the apparent leader, the troubadour found himself somewhat overwhelmed by how two criminals correctly predicted he had recently formed a guild, and wished to join him.

?Uh, sure, but under two conditions. First, well, you can?t do? uh? whatever got you where you two were. Second, I need both of your na-?

?Name?s Johnny.?

?Yuki Myzoai.?

?...As for me, that is something you shouldn?t concern yourself with.?

Everyone?s attention was abruptly ripped away from the new explorers and directed towards a woman wearing red garb. Her skin was bizarrely pristine for someone wearing such muddy robes, which when combined with her unusual accent and staff, made her mere presence be as unsettling as the typical Hexer and certain Dark Hunters.

?My apologies for not presenting myself earlier in this scuffle,? said the stranger. ?But I saw no reason to get involved until now. This guild? does it have a name??

?Well, yeah?? said the troubadour. ?It?s Southvale, bu-?

?Then I shall join the Southvale guild. Or is this somethi-?

?Jus? who do ya? think ya? are?!? said Johnny. ?Ya? can?t just go bargin? in on sum?un else?s conversation!?

?I do believe you are in no position to argue. Or do you wish to give these men a reason to not let you join??

The stranger casually threw a dagger at the feet of the thief, the latter promptly taking it and looking it over. It had a foreign craft, and was something he realized would be impossible to wield without practice. With that, an uneasy silence consumed the group.

?Now, shall we complete any necessary procedures to become recognized explorers??

?Sure thing!?

?Very well. Oh? and just to make sure I understand correctly, we have to meet with the leader of this settlement before we can begin our journey.?

And with this, the Southvale guild found itself developing in one of the most shaky ways one could possibly imagine.

Entry 1-1-1: The First Mission

Spoiler:

Upon arriving at the Duke of High Lagaard?s Palace after registering Johnny, Yuki and the strange woman as a Survivalist, Ronin and War Magus respectively, the band of misfits found a woman in heavy armor finishing an argument with an elderly man with a long beard. Noticing the newcomers, the man proceeded to take note of their foreign clothes and greet them as the woman left.

?I bid you welcome to the Grand Duchy of High Lagaard,? said the old man. ?Within this palace, the Duke himself presides over our fair nation. I am Minister Dubois, vassal to the esteemed Duke.?

?And I am Ezekiel, the leader of the newly-formed Southvale guild. It?s nice to meet you.?

Dubois took a moment to clear his throat as Ezekiel, a troubadour and the apparent leader of the Southvale guild, introduced himself. Judging by his tired eyes, he seemed to think little of the guild and was relatively tired after dealing with the woman from earlier.

?Ahem? I am charged with the governance of High Lagaard. My duties range from managing civic affairs to overseeing the explorers that investigate the Labyrinth. You are, I see, another band of hopeful explorers come to make your mark in the forest? However, only official citizens of Lagaard are allowed past the first floor.?

?I presume that having royal status doesn?t count?? asked Yuki.

?I?m afraid not. Rather, you must pass a test of our devising in order to register as a citizen.?

?And that test is to map out a region of the first floor, no?? said the War Magus.

Dubois took a few minutes to blink, apparently surprised that the nameless woman guessed correctly.

?Ehrm, yes? To explain, the Duke himself has given the order to have the Labyrinth fully explored. Our ultimate aim is to find the floating castle of legend. Of course, it may only be a myth-?

?It exists.?

Everyone recoiled in surprise at the War Magus? confident and gutsy statement, except for Yuki (who seemed to be in it solely to get out of legal punishment and nothing else).

?Heaven?s Rock Seat!?? exclaimed Ezekiel. ?I thought it was just a myth, like the legendary heroes of days long past!?

?Well, maybe,? replied Johnny skeptically. ?If I didn?t know ?etter, I?d say it?d cler?ly exist, ?ut when ya? been on the streets for as long as me, ya? learn to take rumors and bold statements wittha grain o? salt.?

?Well, no matter what the case,? said Yuki in a cautious tone. ?It sounds more like a death trap if there?s myth and legends around it and it actually exists. It doesn?t matter if it?s crafted purely from precious metals if nobody lived to confirm its existence.?

Dubois loudly cleared his voice, redirecting everyone?s attention back to him.

?Ahem? While we may not know for certain on whether the floating castle exists or not, surely chasing myths and legends is at the very core of an explorer?s purpose, yes? If you find the floating castle, you will be greatly rewarded, and if you wish it, even ennobled? but I?m getting ahead of myself. First, you must accomplish this mission and prove your ability.?

MISSION I: ENTRANCE EXAMINATION
Missions are the primary driving force behind Etrian Odyssey?s story, whether you are playing the Classic mode present in all games or the Story mode in the Untold entries. At several points in the game, progress will be outright barred by an NPC, who will tell us to accept a mission from the Duke?s Palace to continue the game.

?...If it means that we can begin our exploration,? said the guild in varying tones and inflections that portrayed their interest. ?Then we accept.?

?Haa-rumph? You have undertaken a mission to create a basic map of the Labyrinth?s first floor. It is essential that you master mapmaking skills before going too far into the Labyrinth? and one thing more. I?d like you to bring back a token from one of the treasure boxes on the first floor. Don?t fret overmuch. I?m sure you?ll stumble upon it naturally as you walk the Labyrinth drawing your map. The lass I dismissed earlier will have more details at the Labyrinth's entrance. When you have proven your worth in this challenge, report back to me, and I will confirm you as citizens of the Grand Duchy and approve your travel through the forest.?

Having received their mission, the Southvale guild moved to tackle the first floor of the sprawling and deathly maze of Yggdrasil, only for Dubois to speak up once more.

?Oh yes? it may be wise to make your arrangements at an inn and Sitoth Trading before venturing into the Labyrinth. If you are not properly prepared for exploring, your journey will be all the more difficult. You should encounter the renowned Flaus Inn and Sitoth Trading on your way there.?

Now that we have the first mission accepted, I?ll go over the various locales one can visit in High Lagaard.

-Flaus Inn: Here, you can save your progress, resurrect dead party members and cure petrification, and fully recover the party?s HP and TP. One must pay 5en multiplied by the highest level in the party to sleep at the inn. While it?s not too expensive right now, it will cost quite a lot once we begin rising in experience level. For all intents and purposes, utilizing the inn to cure status does not violate any restrictions involving status effects, as otherwise party members would effectively be permanently killed if they were petrified.

-Sitoth Trading: As the name implies, this is where we will be doing our shopping. Unlike most RPGs, we do not acquire currency after every battle, and instead we must sell off items harvested off the monsters we slay (which additionally eats into our limited inventory space) and materials we gather here to make money. What can be purchased is also determined by what we sell here, with stronger weapons and armor naturally coming from monsters higher up in the labyrinth.

-Renovating Shop: This isn?t here if you aren?t playing the Untold remake, just like how you are unable to make Sovereigns, Highlanders, or Fafnir Knights in the original game. Other than a couple quests I will do in the postgame, it is irrelevant.

-Stickleback Bar: This is where we accept quests, once we complete the mission Entrance Examination. We can have up to five quests at a time, and completing them grants items and EXP (remake only). It?s worth noting that missions do not go against the 5-quest limit.

-Explorer?s Guild: This is where the party is managed. You can register a total of 25 characters here, reset their skillpoints, change their class while retaining their portrait and stats, delete them from your roster, rename them, or, once they reach a high enough level, be retired to obtain a new character at half level, but with additional points in every stat and skill points. For all intents and purposes, all retirement will do in regards to my writing is add to the skill points a character has.

-Duke?s Palace: Pointless, aside from certain missions/quests or if you want to talk to Dubois.

-Forest Entrance: The party enters the labyrinth. You can choose to start from any stratum you?ve been to.

Upon checking over their pack and equipment, which consisted of some basic equipment everyone already had and medicine, the Southvale guild entered the labyrinth and found themselves meeting a female Protector that was examining a set of damaged maps, groaning at how they seemingly failed to match up with what else they worked on.

?Ugh, there shouldn?t be a passage to that room with the raptor here? Oh. You must be a new guild.?

The woman was very clearly not very enthusiastic about her position, and seemed bored as Ezekiel walked up and greeted her.

?Yes, we are. We?re on-?

?-A mission to map the first floor and hopefully not die, yada-yada. Look, I may not remember much, but I know a bunch of hopeless souls when I see them.

?...Hopeless!? Just who do you think you are, judging us like that??

?Look at yourselves. None of you seem to trust each other that much, judging by the distance you?re giving each other, and in the labyrinth, that?s barely different from going in by yourself. Like it or not, I refuse to let you pass.?

?...Well,? began Yuki. ?You do not seem very enthused with your position. If you were to join us, I can promise a job that you will enjoy more than this.?

?Sure? And then you?ll go die, taking any promises you made with you.?

?Hmph, I can?t see why you are thinking of ?saving? us when we desire to explore the labyrinth,? said the War Magus. ?Even from where I come from, the punishment for disobedience is exilement, and death if that is not adhered to. I can?t see that you could go anywhere but the labyr-?

?...F-Fine?? said the Protector in an unusually nervous tone. ?G-Go in there, a-and see what happens to you??

?Yknow,? said Johnny in a rather sinister and exploitive tone. ?I doubt that da? Duchy will ?preciate hearing one o? his men aren?t followin orders? O?course, I dun? see why I hafta rat out a fellow guildie, ?specially a cutie willin to give her name??

Everyone but the Protector, who began crying fearfully, proceeded to glare at the Survivalist. Before another word could be spoken, the Protector spoke up.

?I-I?ll join?! E-Even if I go into the labyrinth w-with? you? i-it?d be better than going in alone?! A-And I?m Sonia...?

?Feh, thought so. Now, we hafta to map out ?dis area, Sonia??

Mapmaking is a central part of Etrian Odyssey. It is your sole guide to the labyrinth, and failing to maintain it can lead to your party getting lost and dying horrible deaths. In addition, it can track the movements of FOEs, powerful enemies that you?re not meant to fight, except when you are.

Upon confirming the area that was to be mapped, the guild proceeded to begin working on mapping the area on their parchment, only to encounter an old, tangled whip left behind by a Dark Hunter.

?U-Um? I think I can get it??

Sonia proceeded to climb up the tree relatively awkwardly and attempted to untangle the whip, only to fail at doing so. Eventually growing tired of her lack of dexterity, she began cutting at the part of the branch that the whip.

*THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THUMP!*

The branch fell to the ground upon taking sufficient damage, only for what could be best defined as a squelching noise to ring out afterwards. Soon, two snails appeared, and hostile intent could be seen in their eyes.

?W-We have company!?

Combat in Etrian Odyssey is simple. You can attack, use a battle skill that has at least one skill point invested into it, defend, use an item, adjust your party mid-fight, use a force boost if the force meter is full, or try to flee (which we can?t do in this encounter, as it?s an event). Everyone in the party starts out with a full force meter, and it?s replenished upon returning to the streets of High Lagaard.

From the start of combat, it was evident that the guild was lacking in skill. Yuki began swinging at the snails with her sword still in its sheath, the War Magus? agility left much to be desired, Johnny found himself running out of arrows rather rapidly, and Ezekiel?s instrument was out of tune and thus unsuited towards playing music. Although Sonia was decidedly the most experienced of the entire party, the intimidation she endured from Johnny earlier had left her rattled and unfocused, leading to her taking injuries she could have avoided otherwise. After combat had ceased, the entire party found themselves wounded, with Yuki in particular having rather severe injuries. Upon noticing the condition of the guild, the War Magus closed her eyes and shoved the end of her staff into the ground, creating a wave of energy that rejuvenated the party but mentally exhausted her.

?Damn, ya? skills are pretty hot, Red!? complimented Johnny as he picked up the branch. ?Though not as hot-?

?I appreciate the nickname, but before you say anything else, I have no intentions of flirting with you. That goes for you too, Ezekiel.?

Johnny groaned in irritation as his affections were coldly rejected, while Ezekiel didn?t seem to care one bit.

?Let?s move on,? said the Troubadour. ?While I?m no expert in exploring, I do think that there?ll be more monsters if we stay here, given the noise we made.?

As a party travels through the labyrinth, they?ll inevitably stumble upon random encounters. The game will track how close you are to the next one with an orb that shifts from blue, to yellow, to red. Encounters are actually not that random in Etrian Odyssey, but that?s a mechanic I?ll explain later.

Unfortunately for them, a pair of hedgehogs with equally murderous feelings to the snails appeared. Sonia lifted up her shield just as they were about to attack, which buffeted the impact of their strikes. Unable to cope with a barrage of attacks made by the rest of the group, the creatures soon fell beneath the assault upon them. After an hour, the party came to a peaceful stream, where they began relaxing for a bit.

?...Um, why are you guys in the Labyrinth, anyway?? asked Sonia, her voice evening out some.

?For glory, of course!?

?As?a way to evade dem? cops.?

?To escape my family.?

?I?d prefer not to answer.?

The party looked at Yuki with interest over her answer, though her silence and lack of willingness to continue the conversation decidedly stated she lacked the trust to give her reasoning. After some time, though, she suddenly spoke up.

?Um, well? I was in an arranged marriage? to a man I hated. I?d? rather not say anything else.?

?Understandable,? said the War Magus. ?I have my own tales I do not wish to share.?

?Thanks for understanding? um, can I call you Scarlet??

?Of course.?

After the rest, the exploration continued with minimal issues, only for a deer to cross the paths of the guild. Sonia let out a terrified scream at them, and contrary to her status on the front lines, proceeded to cower behind everyone.

?A-AAAAH!? screamed Sonia at the confused deer. ?S-STAY AWAAAAAY! DON?T KILL MEEEEE!?

?Relax,? said Ezekiel. ?It doesn?t seem like it?ll attack unless we get closer to it.?

Despite the guild?s attempts to comfort her, Sonia wouldn?t stop giving panicked screams and pointless cries for the deer to stay away. Her whining, however, did bring attention to how its body was unusually well-built, its muscles visibly stronger than the typical riffraff they had been fighting.

?Less? Less jus? keep clear of dis? thing,? said Johnny nervously. ?It?s givin? me bad vibes.?

This deer is a FOE. FOEs will horribly mutilate weak parties, and it?s not uncommon for one to instantly kill your party members if you?re meeting it for the first time. It should go without saying to avoid them like the plague if you don?t feel ready to fight for your life, though it?s not exactly easy to do if you find yourself in an encounter near one (as they can join an ongoing fight). Handily, the game gives you a radar that tracks how close a FOE is to you if one is within three spaces of you.

Fun fact: FOE is short for Formido Oppungatura Exsequens (The pursuing dread that will attack) in America, Foedus Orbrepit Errabundus (The vile, wandering one that sneaks up) in Europe, or Field-On Enemy (Field-on enemy) in Japan. There?s a wide array of alternative, fan-made names, but not all of them are work-appropriate.

The guild cautiously found themselves back away from the deer, finding themselves cornered in relatively large corridor. Sonia calmed down and shook her head as the deer began patrolling an area around a tree, clearly fearful over something about the beast.

?Sorry?? muttered Sonia. ?It?s just? FOEs like that deer??

?Wait, FOEs?? said Ezekiel. ?There?s more powerful beasts like that deer??

?Unfortunately, yes? Those deer aren?t the weakest one, but there?s so many more powerful FOEs? U-Ugh, just hearing the noises they make is enough to send me into a panic??

?Look, as unfortunate as it sounds, if there?s more than just those deer, we?ll likely find ourselves fighting against one eventually. Like it or not, we need to be ready and have a plan if we encounter one? even if it?s just fleeing.?

?...Alright? Um, I?ll try to serve as a distraction while you guys clear a path? If we find ourselves in a fight against one, anyway... Oh, isn?t that one of those item boxes??

Everyone?s attention was directed to a mysterious, golden box that bore glowing green markings and mysteriously floated on its corner. When the War Magus touched it, the lid of the object flew open, smacking her in the face and causing her to spew verbal abuse in another language. After this, an ornately carved wooden plate was launched a short distance out of it, and it landed gently on the grass before it. With a greedy glint, Johnny picked it up and examined its craftsmanship.

?I dunno what ?dat thing did,? said Johnny. ?But it?s cler?ly sum kinda treasure chest. I bet ?der?s more boxes dan? that in this place!?

?Datum apud me fuit similis...? started the War Magus, only to catch herself when she realized she was speaking in foreign script. ?Ah, I mean, it?s indeed likely that we will encounter more chests like it. I feel like we would mostly only receive supplies that would aid us in our journey, however, there likely would be precious gems we could pawn off later also thrown in the mix.?

S-Still?? muttered Sonia nervously. ?W-We?d still have to get past that deer??

?Do you see how it?s circling around that large tree?? said Ezekiel. ?As long as we give it a fair berth, we shouldn?t find ourselves disturbing it. Also, give me that plate, Johnny, we need it to complete the quest and I can?t trust you to not try and sell it off.?

?U-Um, if you s-say so??

?Urgh, how?d ya know!??

With the simple plan Ezekiel developed and the plate now in his hand, the group waited until the deer had passed, before making a break for it. Unfortunately, another deer had claimed its territory on the thin path. Sonia let out a pained whine, clearly dreading how more powerful beasts had appeared.

?Relax,? said Yuki. ?It looks like it?s doing the sa-?

The Ronin found herself being silenced as a large mole with razor-sharp claws jumped out from the undergrowth and slashed at her, causing her to collapse to the ground as she was critically wounded. With a slew of curses, the party eliminated the beast in short order, before trying to assist their fallen comrade.

?Ergh, what was that thing!?? said Ezekiel, still somewhat surprised.

?A simple mole,? replied the War Magus. ?Twisted by the environment of the labyrinth. Anyway? I can assist, but at the moment, I have to use my own supplies.?

The War Magus proceeded to pull out a vial of what appeared to be glistening nectar, and emptied the contents onto Yuki?s wounds. Miraculously, the fluid revived her, as evidenced by the Ronin letting out a pained gasp and calling for medical attention.

?I ain?t seen nuttin? like that?? muttered Johnny.

?Really?? replied Sonia. ?It?s typical medicine extracted from flowers that grow in the labyrinth. It?s one of High Lagaard?s most desired exports, although I heard rumors of a ?flower forest? in a far-off land that, if a farm were to be established there, could export nectar at half the cost and make double the profit than High Lagaard does.?

?...That was the last nectar I had,? said the War Magus after curing Yuki?s wounds. ?I do not believe we have any nectar in our pack, so we?ll have to return back to town if we need to revive someone.?

?And? well? if we get past these deer? we?ll back at the town??

After evading a couple more deer and dealing with some rogue hedgehogs, the Southvale guild found themselves leaving the labyrinth in a rather sorry state, with only Yuki not being exhausted to the point she couldn?t execute any combative abilities, and everyone had at least some minor injury. Ezekiel and Sonia, who were in the best physical shape at the moment, went to the Grand Duchy while everyone else made accommodations at Flaus Inn.

?We?re? done?? panted Ezekiel as he presented the wooden plate to Dubois.

?I congratulate you on your skills on traversing the labyrinth,? said Dubois. ?I hereby name the Southvale guild explorers of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, and citizens of High Lagaard? Ahem, as I mentioned earlier, you have but one goal. Climb the Yggdrasil Labyrinth, and discover the lands said to lie in the skies above. I expect great things from your guild from here on out-?

He was interrupted by Ezekiel passing out in front of him from exhaustion, causing him to sigh and shake his head.

?...But I guess that can wait until the evening. I presume you?re with him, Sonia??

?Indeed. Now, here?s that blank citizenship card you asked us to retrieve.?

Sonia handed the wooden plate, which she recognized as one typically used by guilds in High Lagaard, to Dubois. After he finished inscribing an insignia upon it, he handed it back to her, along with 500 ental.

?Stay safe.?

Sonia merely looked onwards as she received the guild card and payment for successful completion of the mission. While it went unsaid, she could practically hear Dubois question her.

?...For someone who lacks a memory, it?s? rather unusual you know so much about High Lagaard?s people and the labyrinth, but remember so little about anything else. Watch your back.?

Upon concluding thier business, Sonia picked Ezekiel?s exhausted up and went to the Flaus Inn, looking up at Yggdrasil's towering form as she thought to herself.

(I don?t think I?m amnesiac? but why does everything feel so different compared to what I?ve seen?? At least, what I think I've seen...)

Regardless of what she thought, she knew the only way she could hope to find any answers is to reach the top of the towering tree. While she had a vague idea on what awaited her, she was uncertain if it was actually true, something that was contrary to what her memory suggested, or if it was even just a mere trick of her own amnesiac mind. All she knew is that she'd have to co-operate with the Southvale guild to find out what the truth was, despite how negative her thoughts of her allies so far were already.

Notes: The short introductory title scrawl is, to my knowledge, not present in Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold (instead having been replaced by an animated movie featuring the story mode characters).
NPC dialog is mostly faithful to what is found in the games, with some alterations being made for the sake of improving storytelling.
Italics not surrounded by quotes, as you may have gathered if you read the the rest of the post before these notes, are me talking. Generally, you can expect me to do this when explaining game mechanics or special DLC-exclusive events.