Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal (PS Vita) Review

By Nikola Suprak 17.08.2015

Review for Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal on PS Vita

Prior to the game's American release, developer Sting had to go in and alter four images for being overly sexual to prevent Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal from receiving an adult only rating. From here, the Internet seemed to break down into two irate camps, both of which assembled on alternate sides of the field to yell at the game. The first thought it was still too overly sexualised, particularly in its treatment of younger looking female protagonists, while the other thought it had caved to censorship and had ruined the experience entirely. Both, however, had clearly not spent time playing this new release because if they had they might be surprised to find that it is a very competent dungeon crawler with a lot of good ideas. The fan service is way over the top and will likely drive away a huge swath of gamers that just aren't into that sort of thing, but those that stick around might be surprised by what they find beneath the avalanche of anime backsides.

When Dungeon Travelers 2 opens, the hero, Fried, is in a bit of a bad position, and not just because apparently his parents were drunk when they named him. He has just started his profession as a Libra, a very special class of character that is capable of sealing monsters away in various books. Killing monsters in this world is rather ineffective for some reason (possibly they have found stocks of Phoenix Down somewhere) and the only way to deal with them is to seal them away in this fashion. Fried is immediately thrown out into battle because the Royal Library has found itself drastically understaffed for the sudden and unexplained boost in the monster population. As such, it falls to Fried to investigate exactly what is going on, get the influx of baddies under control, and maybe save the world while he's at it - sort of rough for a guy's first day, right?

It becomes almost essential to mention the fan service at this point, and for those not in the know, the phrase "fan service" is used to describe a game where pages of a Victoria's Secret catalogue get mixed in with the design documents. To say Dungeon Travelers 2 merely has fan service is a bit misleading because truly this is a game about fan service. There aren't little scenes every once in a while, or at the end of long optional side-quests that can either be skipped or ignored if fan service isn't really up the player's alley. No, this was written into the plan all along. In fact, right above "make a good dungeon crawler" someone possibly wrote "BUTTS AND BUTTS AND BUTTS AND BUTTS" in big bold letters and underlined it twenty times so that nobody forgot what the true focus should be. Every chapter has multiple scenes with the main characters in various states of undress, boss monsters have their clothes ripped and are thrown into various compromising situations after defeating them, and all of the generic enemies (which aren't weird varieties of fruit) are scantly clad, nearly nude women in various poses that look pretty uncomfortable and probably aren't the best suited stances to wage battle in.

Screenshot for Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal on PS Vita

It should be made clear that Cubed3 is in no way passing any sort of judgement on people that like this sort of thing. It is, however, equally important to point out that if someone doesn't like it, and if a constant barrage of scantly clad cartoon women doesn't sound appealing, this will quickly become near enough unplayable. This isn't something that can be ignored, skipped or a case where pretending it isn't there is a possibility because the game is throwing it up front and centre every other minute, just in case anyone happened to forget what bottoms looked like. On the one hand, at least this has no pretensions about being anything else, and the fan service is so intertwined with the core of the gameplay that everyone should be able to tell before purchasing the game if this sort of thing is for them or not. On the other hand, this will absolutely drive away at least half of the possible audience, and while not every title needs to be for everyone, Dungeon Travelers 2 shouldn't be surprised when it is met with a large degree of indifference from the general gamer population.

Beyond the fan service, the story and characters are just kind of… weird. They all follow fairly common and predictable anime tropes, if the tropes were suffering from some sort of head injury and weren't sure how most normal humans acted. Two of the very first scenes involve Fried bumping into some old friends, one of whom falls down, exposes her butt, and then sits there and has a five minute conversation with him with her butt up in the air. The next has a penguin creature and a bear showing up out of nowhere to talk about some of the game's mechanics and make references to five-year-old memes about taking arrows to the knee. This is such a perfect encapsulation of about 95% percent of the plot that it is staggering. The overarching plot about Fried and his roving band of lady friends going around and sealing this sudden surge of monsters is pretty linear and predictable, and most of the character interactions feel forced or superficial. It isn't all bad, as the game never takes itself too seriously, leading to some humorous interactions between some of the characters from time to time. Unfortunately, a lot of the humour misses the mark and comes off feeling forced. It is just a plot that is hard to become too involved with, and even with a large cast of characters, none of them end up being particularly interesting.

Screenshot for Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal on PS Vita

While seemingly trying its hardest to turn away as many people as possible, those that stick around are actually in for a bit of a treat. The gameplay starts off as a fairly standard dungeon crawling RPG and, at first, it seems like the game isn't particularly interested in doing anything remotely different from the well-established formula for the genre. Going around, farming for slightly better equipment and fighting slightly stronger monsters, each dungeon works as well as it usually does, but for a while it feels like the game there are no tricks waiting for veterans of the genre. It does take a bit to ramp up, with early portions spent plodding through dungeons with a small handful of characters. It isn't until Fried gains a full party that the adventure truly begins, with characters of different strengths and skills. Even more will join the party along the way, and while the amount that can battle is capped at five, there is a great amount of variety in who can be switched in and out. There are a lot of good ideas here, and while many probably will be driven away by the presentation, the truth is that Dungeon Travelers 2 is one of the strongest dungeon crawlers in recent memory.

The class system here is exceptional, and what it does better than almost any other title of this ilk is provide clever interplay and diversity amongst the game's numerous classes. The expected ones are all here, with units that will be good for strong attacks, stalwart defence, or various magical skills, but there are some excellent and unique support classes that add a tremendous amount of strategy to the final team layout. Each character starts at one of five different classes, which can then be powered up to two different sub-classes at level fifteen and, finally, three or four various advanced classes at level thirty. Beyond the statistical improvement that comes with levelling up, characters will also gain skill points that can be sunk into any one of the numerous skills at their disposal. There are a ton of options for various classes, and the numerous classes, skills, and class progression lead to a very deep and satisfying experience. This is one of the better levelling systems in dungeon crawlers, full stop, and the variety brings about a level of strategy that isn't found in many modern examples.

It also helps that Dungeon Travelers 2 features an absolutely brutal difficulty, basically forcing gamers to learn the ins and outs of the combat and levelling system. A poor strategy or poor party layout is a recipe for a quick boot out to the main menu while Fried's poor party lies around bloody and broken. Early dungeons have absolutely no qualms about throwing in bosses with moves that can wipe out even stronger members in a single hit, and just when the game starts feeling manageable the difficulty ramps up about halfway through. It absolutely makes the most out of the depth of the customisation system, and by doing so allows the implementation of a real, genuine challenge without feeling too cheap. Also, so many of the advanced classes are actually useful that, for once, it doesn't feel like being punished for selecting the "wrong" classes. There are those that are better than others, but as long as the player comes to battle with a cleverly thought out party, the challenge will be readily apparent without feeling overwhelming.

Screenshot for Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal on PS Vita

The combat and exploration is pleasing, but even with all it does right, there are some general shortcomings that might leave a bad taste in the player's mouth. The most noticeable annoyance is an overreliance on grinding, and there are multiple portions where a boss will basically show up to decimate the party and laugh at gamers for being so underprepared. Even the best thought-out parties will meet barriers like this, forcing them to walk back and forth in the dungeon to either get stronger or find better equipment before trying things out again. The levelling system is strong enough that it absolutely doesn't need this sort of grinding to serve as a sort of artificial difficulty, but luckily the combat is enjoyable enough that the grinding never feels too over the top. Dungeon Travelers 2 also doesn't do a particularly great job explaining many of its mechanics, and it is likely some will get lost at least once or twice selecting classes that don't work well together. It is nice to allow the discovery of so much of this alone, but it would have been better if it could have at least provided a few more hints or explanations along the way rather than leave things to trial and error. Luckily, characters can be reset to specific levels to allow for some quick redistribution of skill points, so while the poor tutorials are a bit annoying, they are not game breaking.

Dungeon Travelers 2 also has an absurd amount of content, which should satisfy even the most rabid of completionists. There is a ton to do here during the first playthrough, and looking for every last secret could take upwards of 80 hours. There are quests to complete, copious items to collect, and plenty of areas to explore to find the dungeons' hidden chests or additional conversations. Defeating nine of any monster type will allow them to be sealed in a book, which can then either be equipped for some bonuses in battle or enchanting them to various items to provide some much needed boosts. It might seem like a silly title based on appearances and the early exposure to the story, but this is one of the deepest, most complex dungeon crawlers to date.

Screenshot for Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal on PS Vita

Cubed3 Rating

7/10
Rated 7 out of 10

Very Good - Bronze Award

Rated 7 out of 10

There will definitely be a market for Dungeon Travelers 2, but this is the sort of game that caters to the nichest of niches. It isn't just that the core mechanics here require a lot of patience and work to fully appreciate, which is sure to frighten away those either inexperienced with or disdainful of the dungeon crawler genre, but also the dedication to fan service - the constant parade of butts and butts and butts - that will drive away anyone that isn't actively seeking out that sort of thing. Still, if it does sound the least bit appealing, or if any possibility exists that it can be ignored or tolerated, Dungeon Travelers 2 on PlayStation Vita is definitely worth a look. The core combat here is solid, and the depth of customisation, the excellent variety and choice in specific classes, and the genuine challenge and difficulty, make this one of the more enjoyable dungeon crawlers in recent memory. There are some actual gameplay issues here that prevent it from reaching true greatness - particularly an overreliance on grinding and a weird and uninteresting story - but, overall, this is a very solid adventure that is enjoyable enough that it almost overcomes its questionable presentation. Just try not to play it out in public…

Developer

Aquaplus

Publisher

NIS America

Genre

Turn Based RPG

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  7/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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