Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard

RPGs have different "focuses", the primary one is often the story and character development, which is a staple in most of today's best coming from Bioware and Square Enix. Combat, I find often best found in tactical RPGs in the vein of Disgeia, and Fire Emblem. I find that one other, the sense of being lost in a world, is sometimes cast aside, and takes far too small a roll in the game's progression. The focus on story makes the above mentioned dev's games often too linear, offering just a few side-quests, that don't add much flavour to the game, and certainly aren't of the same pedigree.

Etrian flips these two roles around. Exploration and fear of the unknown take the center stage, and story is mostly non-existent. It plays like what you'd expect an old-school dungeon RPG would. After leaving the main "town" menu hub, all gameplay in the dungeon is first person, and movement is made through single tiles, that are to be mostly manually mapped out on the bottom DS screen. 

While exploring the dungeon, mapping out walls, dangerous tiles and other points of interest, you'll come across enemy battles, which play out very by-the-books. There isn't much to say about them, and if you've played a turn-based RPG before, nothing here will surprise you. The main source of tension comes not from the random battles, but the FOEs that inhabit the dungeon's floors. FOEs are miniboses that can be view in the dungeon as glowing orbs of various colours (and if you've explored the tile, they can be seen on the minimap, unless they're of a special type). They have special abilities that add a lot of fun to making your way through the maps themselves. Some become aggressive when you get too close, and will chase after you, making one tile movement after you make one. Some have the ability to "float" above obstacles, and some can never be seen on the minimap. Worse still, FOEs make one movement, be it normal patrol or aggressive, every turn in battle, so if you're facing a random encounter, they may join in the fight eventually, if they have the chance. And, if your party, through whatever course of events, ends up dying in the dungeon, it's game over. All progress, including mapping, is lost, and you'll have to load from the last save (which can only be done outside the dungeon in the Inn menu, or at a specific marker every 5 floors).

Creating a party, is also fun to explore on its own, as the game has 12 classes that each have very different strengths and weaknesses. Party members are created in a Guild Hall area, and can be easily named and popped into your group (which can hold up to a maximum of 5). Every level, your characters will gain a training point, which can be used to boost stats, learn new abilities, or improve them. And, like many other classic RPGs, parties can be arranged into a front of back row, proving more protection for weaker, magic using classes. 

All these elements make for a game that is very, very unforgiving, but incredibly rewarding. Once the primary rules of the dungeon are learned, and if you are persistent enough to deal with the early challenge, Etrian Odyssey 2 becomes a game experience that can be found nowhere else.