JRPG fans will appreciate OCTOPATH TRAVELER II’s nostalgic feel. Extensive narratives, dozens of playable classes, and many hours of gameplay are just a few of the highlights.
OCTOPATH TRAVELER II is a sequel to 2018’s Octopath Traveler, while it is not a direct sequel at the same time. Despite what the title might lead you to believe, this sequel can be enjoyed without having played the original. Although it is mostly a stand-alone title, it takes inspiration from Final Fantasy and features some repeating motifs, etc.
In OCTOPATH TRAVELER II, you’ll play as one of eight heroes whose individual journeys are tied together at the game’s conclusion. You’ll progress through those tales as you build your characters and gain expertise in a wide range of jobs and classes.
It is challenging to explain the nature of the storyline without spoilers because the story’s beginning has a fragmented and inconsistent flow, and it is also tough to describe the plot without giving anything away. You start the game by selecting one of eight main characters, and by the end, you’ll have access to all of the game’s content and have rounded up your entire party.
The initial character you pick will serve as a de facto protagonist for the remainder of OCTOPATH TRAVELER II. Until their tales are told, they are an integral part of your group and cannot be replaced. On the other hand, once that task is completed, you are free to switch them with something else as you see appropriate.
You won’t miss out on much either way, but the beginning will be distinguished by the choices you make. The reason for this is that after selecting one of our eight playable characters, you will have to go through the prologue of their respective storylines.
Once you’ve found them, the other characters will join your story at the beginning of their respective second chapters, which will still be marked on the map. You may, however, hear their tales from the beginning at any tavern across the country. The story can be as linear or nonlinear as you like after the first chapter. The other characters can be gathered, or the player can begin individual quests, etc.
There are five chapters for each character’s story, and the difficulty gradually increases throughout. Obviously, the plots revolve around the personalities of the various characters. Since OCTOPATH TRAVELER II features a concept dubbed “crossed paths,” we can expect the protagonists to encounter new story pathways.
In these stories, the main characters embark on numerous expeditions together. These are briefly compared to the complete chapter for our regular characters, but they provide some dialogue amongst everyone in the story. This method isn’t always successful because the characters don’t seem to have a solid reason for embarking on this journey together.
When you meet paths with other party members, it triggers party banter, which allows them to weigh in on the events of the chapter you’re playing through with your current character. The meeting of all the characters and their willingness to join your team is really simplistic and could use some work.
OCTOPATH TRAVELER II does not do a great job of explaining why these people have decided to embark on this journey together, but once the group is assembled, they succeed in convincingly portraying themselves as a unit.
You’ll probably start to see the common thread in each of these personalities once you’ve learned a few of them and their backstories. There are common themes and reoccurring characters that emerge as you read each of their stories independently. After finishing their own storylines and the intersecting stories, you’ll reach OCTOPATH TRAVELER II’s conclusion, where everything ties together and becomes wonderfully warped.
The majority of the tales are well penned; some are unexpectedly gloomy, while others are meant to encourage. It’s a nice variety of stories that might serve as a welcome break, and the quality of the writing and the stories themselves is rather high. On the flip side, they struggle a little with pacing. There are significant level differences between some of the chapters, so you might frequently have to grind to satisfy level requirements.
However, this is somewhat lessened by completing optional tasks and venturing into optional dungeons. However, you might still feel the need to grind at certain points to satisfy the level requirements, and this could also become a bit tiring at times. It takes roughly 50 hours to complete all eight characters’ stories, but a lot of that time was spent simply grinding out levels.
Nevertheless, whichever character you choose at the beginning of OCTOPATH TRAVELER II doesn’t diminish the significance of the others, nor does the fact that they come from different backgrounds. Hikari Ku, a prince from a particularly aggressive nation, is one of them.
Hikari is forced to flee the country by his own half-brother as a result of a coup caused by the cruel methods that his nation employs. Partitio Yellowil is a merchant with high aspirations who plans to achieve them through hard work, the negotiation and management of many deals, and the discussion of a corrupt businessman.
When you complete the Scent of Commerce, an additional set of objectives for Partitio, you’ll have access to new features and rewards. Throné Anguis is a forced thief; she is unquestionably a thief, but she is a member of a group called the Black Snakes that essentially enslaves people from a young age and compels them into a life of crime. Hers is the most chaotic background we’ve heard.
Osvald V. Vanstein is out for revenge against the person responsible for his unjust incarceration. Oswald’s adventure is a little different from the rest because you have to get through chapters one and two before you can explore the rest of the world and use his magical abilities. As an inquisitor for the Church of the Sacred Flame, Temenos Mistral is tasked with looking into a string of killings with a religious overtone. There is, therefore, a great deal of curiosity about this tale.
Even though he’s an inquisitor, the nearly sacrilegious attitude of his faith means that he can heal your group or deal some holy-based damage as a cleric. The story of Agnea Bristarni stands out as the most optimistic.
Leaving her small town behind, the famous dancer sets her sights on becoming a global celebrity. It’s only natural that her endeavors would reveal to her that her idealistic worldview is at odds with the real one. And yet, when stacked up against the other characters, hers is a largely upbeat one as well.
Castti Florenz is an apothecary who suddenly forgets everything that happened to her. She’s trying to recall her past in order to figure out why the apothecary squad she was with is universally held in such low regard. However, being an apothecary, she is not only able to heal but also to deal with some damage.
Ochette, a beastling from an island tribe, has made great strides in developing into a skilled hunter and eventual guardian of her home. But in order to defend that island from impending threats, she will need to round up creatures from all across the globe. Each character brings something different to the table, both in terms of class and powers and in terms of path actions.
OCTOPATH TRAVELER II’s progression mechanism is reminiscent of traditional JRPGs while also introducing some innovative features. Your level and your equipment are the most important factors in this regard. As is typical of the genre, your characters will acquire levels as you progress through the game by defeating enemies and engaging in battle.
Gaining a level raises your character’s base statistics, which you can further improve with gear. The game’s itemization is good, especially in the later stages. You are presented with a number of alternatives, from which you can select the one that is most suitable for the circumstances at hand.
Rather than their being a single, unbeatable choice, this arrangement gives you more flexibility. You’ll have access to six distinct melee weapon kinds, for example, and even within those classes, you’ll find weapons that offer an additional attack but significantly less damage.
Alternately, you can locate weapons that reduce unique enemy effects or boost your elemental attack in comparison to your physical attack. Square Enix has positioned an extensive range of gears that let you specialize in one area rather than using generically optimal gear.
Each of OCTOPATH TRAVELER II’s eight playable characters has a major job they focus on throughout the game. In the end, there are eight distinct jobs from which to choose. However, thanks to secondary jobs, any player character can have two jobs at once.
In order to put these to use, you will need to get a license for them, which will require you to locate the guild that is linked with that job. These can be found all around the world, and locating the guild will earn you the necessary license.
If you want more than one character to be able to do the same secondary job, you’ll need to do some work for the guild since a license is only good for one character. In addition, this action may provide you with up to two further work licenses.
Having a job linked to a character has many advantages. For example, diversifying your character’s skill set by equipping a secondary job to an empty slot and receiving passive improvements to that job’s stats. In addition, if you have the proper equipment for a given occupation, you’ll have access to that job’s usable skills.
Gaining job points is one way to gain resources in OCTOPATH TRAVELER II. As you spend more job pints, you’ll unlock more and more of the relevant abilities for your equipped job. For that position, it will release these additional skills. However, you’ll need a job that allows you to put your active abilities to use. Once you’ve achieved the support skills, you’ll be able to employ them at will, and they’ll be quite helpful.
The Warrior profession, for instance, offers a talent that, among other things, raises the maximum possible damage dealt from 9999 to 99999. The EX skills, which are unique to each character and their primary role, are only one example of the many other aspects that set OCTOPATH TRAVELER II apart. Simply finishing the story of the associated character will grant you one of these two abilities. Taking the character to a shrine will grant you access to the second EX skill.
There are four secret jobs in OCTOPATH TRAVELER II, three of which can be discovered through normal play and one of which may require a bit of search. The secret jobs, however, go beyond this. They actually have some interesting twists and turns in their evolution. Take the Armsmaster, a superior alternative to the Warrior. However, you can’t use its abilities until you find rusty weapons, take them to a blacksmith, and then equip yourself with the resulting weapons.
Then there’s “inventor,” in which you’re tasked with locating a number of innovations. The job point requirements for each talent are significantly higher for the other two. The final talent you’ll get for every profession is known as the “Divine skill” for that profession. These are extremely potent skills, accessible only at maximum level.
OCTOPATH TRAVELER II features a sizable open environment that may be explored in a variety of ways. It’s up to you how you want to play the game; you can go in any direction, complete the stories in any sequence, or just wander around. However, the narratives won’t take you everywhere; you don’t have to visit every location on the map.
This includes a variety of alternative quests that can lead to more bosses, rewards, and even story advancement in some cases. For instance, you can acquire a ship by completing the optional task Scent of Commerce offered by Partitio. Instead of taking a ferry, you can use this ship to get where you need to go. Once you’ve mastered the seas, you’ll unlock even more side tasks that require this ship to access.
In addition, Square Enix has implemented a day-night cycle that changes the environment, the locations and availability of NPCs, and the options available to you when choosing a path. Similarly, the time of day dictates which of our eight characters’ two-path actions is available to use. You’ll be able to have various conversations with NPCs and explore the environment thanks to these actions.
Hikari can bribe people for information at night or challenge them to duels during the day. Throné can pick pockets during the day and knock them unconscious at night if she’s high enough level.
The world becomes much more interactive when you are able to use this to bypass guard NPCs, locate quest-related things, or simply get additional goods. However, if you are not vigilant, you will suffer the consequences of your careless path actions.
Your reputation might take a knock if you were to flunk one of these. If it drops too low, you’ll have to fork out a little money. You’ll be unable to take any more course actions until you settle that fine. In any case, the sum total of these mechanisms creates an enjoyable environment where you can actively participate even though many of the steps on each character’s path are identical.
Hikari, for instance, can bribe individuals into giving her information, while Castti can simply ask them for it. Of course, each has its own set of specifications, but many of them overlap, and some are more straightforward than others.
It would have been good if there had been more variety in that regard. It’s a good system all the same, especially for a genre that normally doesn’t give you a cause to talk to every NPC you run into.
However, all these simply lead us directly to our fighting mechanism. In OCTOPATH TRAVELER II, battles are thrilling, and victory depends on finding and exploiting the enemy’s vulnerabilities. Each enemy has its own unique set of weaknesses, including specific weapons and different kinds of magic. If you use a weapon that can easily penetrate their defenses, you can inflict more damage on them.
When opponents’ shield points are depleted to zero, they enter the broke status, losing their next several rounds while taking greater damage. That is, rather than focusing on dealing the most damage possible, the primary goal here should be breaking your enemies’ shields by repeatedly hitting them with what they are weak to. Once they are already damaged, you should do as much damage as possible.
That’s where the boost mechanism in OCTOPATH TRAVELER II comes in. Each turn, your characters get experience points that can be used to level up any and all of their skills. In terms of your base assault, you should do all in your power to maximize the effect. Regarding your abilities, it only gives you access to more attacks.
Depending on its function, a skill may increase its attack count, strength, or both. To defeat an opponent, you should first break them and then use weapons like boost effects and the opponent’s weaknesses against them. However, as you can expect, certain enemies, particularly bosses, have mechanics that preclude or make it more difficult to add a few additional systems to it.
In OCTOPATH TRAVELER II, each of our protagonists retains a latent power. These are the things that set apart each persona beyond their profession. The protagonists build latent power when they defeat enemies and endure damage themselves. Each character has special abilities that can be used once it reaches its maximum level.
This is a pure damage-dealing maneuver in certain circumstances and a utility-oriented one in others. For example, Temenos can use his ability to inflict shield point damage with any strike, while Osvald can transform his area-of-effect attacks into devastatingly precise single-target blows. Agnea can generalize an effect that normally only affects one foe.
The turn order for OCTOPATH TRAVELER II battles is displayed at the top of the screen. You’ll have a fair degree of control over this, even with only your base statistics and speed playing a role. However, if you break enemy series at strategic times, you can prevent them from taking the action they were planning on taking.
And you can do this in addition to other skills that can alter the turn order. It all boils down to how well you can combine those skills during the fight. Being a JRPG, though, you can level grind until you’re so far ahead of the competition that it makes little difference until you reach the final boss.
It may come as a surprise, but the merchant is OCTOPATH TRAVELER II’s strongest profession. The hired help merchant skill is available to characters with the merchant job. They can utilize the hired help talent to hire a veteran soldier who will deal nearly maximum damage regardless of your character’s level or skill for an extravagant 30000 gold. With the attack’s boost, you can recruit four workers at once. When fully powered up, this can cause roughly 40000 damage to a damaged character in an assault.
Some of the most challenging bosses in OCTOPATH TRAVELER II have more health than that, although the majority have between 800,000 and 160,000. However, this means you can make short work of any boss with little effort.
One drawback is that it’s too expensive to utilize early in OCTOPATH TRAVELER II, but once you start making millions of gold, 30,000 is little. Having this job on many characters serves as a “win” button in case all other options are exhausted.
The stories are great, especially the way they all tie together at the conclusion; the only weak point is the reason our protagonists are on this journey together. Although the tale provides no explanation for why our protagonists are on a journey together, the remainder of the story is developed wonderfully during the game.
In addition, it’s satisfying to delve into OCTOPATH TRAVELER II’s world and find your way around the many side quests, boss fights, and hidden treasures that await you by using path actions to solve puzzles and uncover hidden tidbits. However, there are instances when the game feels really lengthy. Although sluggish pacing is par for the course in the genre, it can be distracting and prevent you from enjoying the story.
OCTOPATH TRAVELER II performs without a hitch. The game operates virtually perfectly, save for a few minor glitches. Regarding performance, there is literally nothing more that could be improved upon. OCTOPATH TRAVELER II is one of the best JRPGs I’ve ever played. 2D-HD graphics, in particular, have a striking visual flair.
All these path acts contribute greatly to providing the player with an enjoyable experience, as the game features some interesting stories and a highly interactive universe. Those interested in the genre should check it out, and those who enjoy JRPGs with a strong emphasis on exploration and story should consider it a must-play.
