In an effort to obtain the mythical "Grail of Kings" said to be kept in the floating palace, the Duke of High Lagaard is now recruiting adventurers in order to explore the labyrinth and discover exactly how to reach the castle.

Etrian Odyssey II requires players to slowly make their way up the trunk of a massive magical tree in order to reach a floating castle at the top while completing smaller quests along the way.

The tree is represented by a series of vertically stacked levels which are explored one at a time with frequent return trips to town in order to rest and resupply.

Periodic warp points allow players to escape the labyrinth in order to save the game, so being able to successfully return to these (with the assistance of an accurate map) can be quite important.

[4] In a separate interview, Komori noted that while the game engine was re-used from Etrian Odyssey, the character classes and enemies were given completely new artwork, as were the dungeon "strata" (layers).

Etrian Odyssey II originally shipped with a number of gameplay bugs in Japan, but many of these were addressed for the North American release, where the developers were pleased to have additional time to improve the game.

[7] The remastered version is based on the Nintendo DS original instead of its 2014 remake, and includes updated visuals and music, quality of life changes, and additional character portraits.

But it says something about our hobby that even in a week when the biggest-budget, highest-tech game imaginable hits stores, there's a seemingly anachronistic, equally engrossing labor of love available from a minuscule, hardworking crew with just as much heart as [Hideo] Kojima's team.