Octopath Traveler II

Genre: Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Octopath Traveler + Octopath Traveler II Bundle, along with Octopath Traveler. It is also included in the Octopath Traveler II + Various Daylife bundle, along with Various Daylife.)

Octopath Traveler II, released in 2023 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch, is a Turn-Based JRPG, and naturally the follow-up to the first Octopath Traveler, which was the origin of Square Enix’s increasingly prolific “HD-2D” style of games that combine modern and retro elements both in these games’ gameplay and presentation. And as with the first Octopath Traveler, this game’s tale focuses on eight protagonists, each with their own separate story that has them questing across this game’s new land of Solistia.

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Octoposse

I feel I should really highlight the fact that once again all eight stories in this game are indeed still largely separate. With the exception of a small handful of brief “Crossed Path” side-quest storylines only accessible around 10-15 hours into the game, these characters will barely talk with one another or recognize each other as individuals, outside of brief “Bravo, (insert name/title here)!” comments in battle. It is once again one of this game’s greatest flaws that it would bring us yet another eight protagonists who are (mostly) all pretty compelling, and whose only reason for traveling together seems to be “because they’re the protagonists”.

In some cases, it doesn’t even make sense that these characters would seek traveling companions. Cleric Temenos has reason to suspect convenient help from strangers as he investigates an apparent conspiracy, and scholar Osvald’s status as a criminal means he would naturally want as few people as possible knowing who he is (and his hate-fueled mission of revenge seems like it wouldn’t mesh well with taking seven detours to pursue the interests of his new companions).

Still, while the eight narratives are still more of a gimmick than parts of a greater whole, the characters and their stories are at least compelling and offer a wide variety of tones and topic matter, from a professional thief trying to escape a lifetime of bloodshed and abuse at the hands of her masters to a merchant on a grand quest to try to end poverty. I should mention that murder, abuse, torture, and abuse of authority are frequent themes in this game, so those who are bothered by topics such as these may want to stay away from this one.

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The Old Song and HD-2Dance

Of course, the HD-2D style once again returns here, and it once again looks gorgeous, though it’s not quite as impressive as it once was. This distinct mix of 3D visuals and 2D pixel art still looks great, with excellent detail, great environmental effects, wonderful lighting and shadows, and some absolutely incredible water distortion effects. However, it’s notably missing some of the effects that were in the original game, such as light glinting off of snow. Also, I did notice some slowdown in areas, and while this doesn’t interfere with the gameplay, it does detract from the “wow factor” this style of graphics usually brings with it. Again, this game still looks wonderful, but it’s disappointing that I have to note all of these flaws.

The voice acting is also once again excellent here, though I couldn’t point to any character I felt was a true standout. That’s not because the voicework is unimpressive, but because pretty much every voiced character here is well-written and expertly performed. This is also backed by another superb orchestral soundtrack, though I’m afraid I can’t really point to examples here.

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Gameplay that Travels to New Heights?

The gameplay in Octopath Traveler II revisits pretty much all of the gameplay mechanics of the first game, but adds new elements as well, making for even deeper and more intricate gameplay.

In combat, we see the return of the BP system that allows you to store up points to perform more powerful actions in later turns, as well as the Break system that sees enemies getting stunned when you use attacks they’re weak against. However, in addition, this time your characters also have new “Latent Power” abilities that act as a “Limit Break” of sorts that charges up over time and can be used for a powerful character-specific ability, such as Throne’s ability to use two attacks or abilities in one turn, or Temenos’s ability to ensure that all of his attacks hit enemies as if it was attacking their weaknesses. What’s more, each character also brings passive abilities into battle, such as Osvald’s ability to instantly reveal enemy weak points.

There are new abilities outside of battle as well, such as a new ability that allows you to travel on water via any port, instantly hopping in a canoe, making for more interesting map design. However, probably the biggest overall change to the gameplay here is a new day/night system. As with most games that use such a mechanic, different things are happening depending on the time of day, with characters in different locations, and tougher enemies (with greater rewards) coming out at night.

However, in addition to this, your character’s “Path Actions” return from the first game, with each character having different abilities they can use outside of combat, such as Ochette provoking otherwise peaceful NPCs into fights, and Partitio’s ability to barter with them. However, characters now have two unique abilities – one that they can use during the day, and one to use at night.

This… is both a good thing and a bad thing. On the one hand, getting more abilities is always nice and provides more options. On the other hand, restricting these abilities to time of day often makes little sense. Throne the thief can pickpocket during the day and knock out NPCs at night… but why can she not also pickpocket at night? This seems like an arbitrary design choice that I don’t quite understand.

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A Path to Be Taken, or Avoided?

In the end, I think that Octopath Traveler II makes a lot of solid improvements to what we saw in the first game, and retains most of what made that game great. However, I think that some of those improvements have some rough edges to them, and there are still some major flaws in the storytelling that this game’s “Crossed Path” system doesn’t fix so much as slaps a Band-Aid on. However, when all is said and done, Octopath Traveler II is still a superb Turn-Based JRPG, and an excellent follow-up to the original. And while this game isn’t quite the major leap ahead of its predecessor many likely hoped for, it’s still a must-play game for any fans of the genre.

tl;dr – Octopath Traveler II is a Turn-Based JRPG that follows a new cast of eight characters who each have their own (sadly mostly separate) stories. There are multiple gameplay improvements here, and while there are certainly some rough edges and flaws, overall this is still a must-play game for fans of the genre.

Grade: A

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2023 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best RPG, Best Music (by Yasunori Nishiki)

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