Release LedgerTrack game releases, backlogs and the moments worth keeping

Sekaiju to Fushigi no Dungeon 2 (Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2), 3DS

Game file 2852: Sekaiju to Fushigi no Dungeon 2, the 2017 Nintendo 3DS roguelike by Spike Chunsoft and Atlus. Release date, regions, series and how to play it today.

GAME FILE 2852 · NINTENDO 3DS

Sekaiju to Fushigi no Dungeon 2 (Japanese: 世界樹と不思議のダンジョン2) is a roguelike role-playing game for the Nintendo 3DS, developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Atlus. It was released in Japan on August 31, 2017. The title is usually translated as Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2, but the game never received an official English release, so that name is a translation rather than a product you can buy in the West.

Japanese title
世界樹と不思議のダンジョン2 (Sekaiju to Fushigi no Dungeon 2)
English name
Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2 (translation, no Western release)
Platform
Nintendo 3DS
Developer
Spike Chunsoft
Publisher
Atlus
Release
Japan: August 31, 2017. North America and Europe: not released.
Genre
Roguelike role-playing game (dungeon crawler)
Series
Etrian Odyssey spin-off, crossover with the Mystery Dungeon series
Predecessor
Etrian Mystery Dungeon (2015, released in Japan, North America and Europe)
Official site
sq-atlus.jp/sfd2 (Japanese)

What kind of game it is

The game belongs to two series at once. From Atlus it takes the Etrian Odyssey world, its character classes and its habit of letting you create your own party of adventurers. From Spike Chunsoft it takes the Mystery Dungeon formula: randomly generated dungeons that change every time you enter, and turn-based movement where every step you take gives the monsters a step too.

The first game in this pairing, Etrian Mystery Dungeon, set the template that the sequel builds on. According to the Wikipedia article on that game, you form a party of custom characters, directly control only the party leader while the others follow and fight on their own, and push through multi-floor dungeons toward the bottom. Particularly strong enemies called D.O.E.s can break out of a dungeon and threaten the town, and you can build fortresses inside dungeons to hold them back. If the party falls, you return to town and lose the money and items you were carrying.

The sequel's official site highlights the same building blocks: character creation (キャラクターメイク), the Mystery Dungeon structure, downloadable content, and a released selection of the game's music. It was also presented as part of the tenth anniversary project for the Etrian Odyssey series.

Release and regions

The first Etrian Mystery Dungeon came out in Japan on March 5, 2015, then in North America on April 7, 2015 through Atlus USA, and in Europe on September 11, 2015 through NIS America. The sequel did not follow that path. Public release lists, including the list of Mystery Dungeon video games and the game list in the Spike Chunsoft article, show a Japanese release on August 31, 2017 and no release in North America or Europe.

That matters if you are tracking or collecting the series. Any copy you find is the Japanese release, with Japanese text and Japanese packaging.

Can you still play it?

Yes, with some limits. Two practical details decide how:

For most players today, that means a used Japanese cartridge and a Japanese system. Since the game is text heavy and was never localized, a basic reading knowledge of Japanese helps a lot.

Where this game fits in the series

GamePlatformJapanWest
Etrian Mystery Dungeon (Sekaiju to Fushigi no Dungeon)3DSMarch 5, 2015North America April 7, 2015; Europe September 11, 2015
Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2 (Sekaiju to Fushigi no Dungeon 2)3DSAugust 31, 2017Not released

Both games are developed by Spike Chunsoft, the studio behind the wider Mystery Dungeon family, which also includes the Shiren the Wanderer games and the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon spin-offs. If you enjoy this sequel's structure, those are the closest relatives.

Tracking it in your own list

Japan-only games are easy to lose track of, because English databases list them under different names. When you add this one to a list, record both the Japanese title and the translated name, the platform, and the region of your copy. The guide on reading a game database entry explains why regional titles and editions cause so much confusion, and the backlog tracker lets you keep a note on each game.

About this page

This address was once a page in VideoGameTRACK, the game database that used this domain until about 2021, and Wikipedia articles still cite it for this game's release. The original page is gone. This fact sheet is a new page written for the same address from the official site and public references. It is not a copy of the old page. Read more on the about page.

Sources