I would describe this game as very similar to the first one, except pretty much every aspect is improved. I am here for it.
Some ofthe biggest improvments comes from the writing and characters. They are so much more interesting than the first one. I enjoyed each character and the arcs they went through. I enjoyed how the chapters had branching paths and 5 total chapters, one of them being dedicated purely to the narrative.
When it comes to visuals and music, there wasn't much to improve, but they still managed to do it. I like how all of the bosses have animations now and that all the weapons look different when they are equipped.
When it comes to gameplay, the additions the game makes improve the options and strategy you have. The addition of latent skills and the day/night abilities are generally cool. I like the new classes they added and the changes they made to the existing ones. I like the guilds to get new classes, rather than the shrines.
The real biggest improvement is the ending. In the first game, it was frustrating from a gameplay standpoint and poorly structured and written from a narrative standpoint. It overall just seemed very rushed. The ending in the second game obviously had a lot more time put into it, and it is much better written, witch much better designed bosses and I pretty cool conclusion.
Now to the negatives. The biggest flaw with this game in my eyes, carried over from the first one, is the lack of interconnectivity between the stories and characters. It is vastly improved from the first, but still not enough in my opinion. The addition of a few crossed path chapters, additional travel banter, and a more robust engame improves things, but throughout most of the game, the stories still feel very separate. There has obviously been a lot of thought into this issue, but it kinda seems inevitable with the way the game is structured.
The one aspect of the game that I feel wasn't imrpoved from the first was difficulty. The game seems a bit too easy for my liking. The only fights I ever found challenging were a couple I was 8-10 levels under the recommended, Hikari's final chapter, and the final boss. I feel like they overcorrected the amount of health on bosses. This first game had fights taking a long time. In this games, most chapter bosses went down in 1 or 2 break cycles. I feel like they usually ended just as they were getting interesting. I had a lot of second phases of boss fights that I completely skipped due to overkilling the boss before triggering the phase change. There were quite a few bosses that I came in around the recommended level and left without taking a hit. It's kind of a downer when you're preparing to use all of the tools the game gives you only to kill the boss before you can use all of them.
Overall this game is amazing, but it's flaws just barely pull it down from 5 stars. I appreciate all of the effort that went into this game.
Some ofthe biggest improvments comes from the writing and characters. They are so much more interesting than the first one. I enjoyed each character and the arcs they went through. I enjoyed how the chapters had branching paths and 5 total chapters, one of them being dedicated purely to the narrative.
When it comes to visuals and music, there wasn't much to improve, but they still managed to do it. I like how all of the bosses have animations now and that all the weapons look different when they are equipped.
When it comes to gameplay, the additions the game makes improve the options and strategy you have. The addition of latent skills and the day/night abilities are generally cool. I like the new classes they added and the changes they made to the existing ones. I like the guilds to get new classes, rather than the shrines.
The real biggest improvement is the ending. In the first game, it was frustrating from a gameplay standpoint and poorly structured and written from a narrative standpoint. It overall just seemed very rushed. The ending in the second game obviously had a lot more time put into it, and it is much better written, witch much better designed bosses and I pretty cool conclusion.
Now to the negatives. The biggest flaw with this game in my eyes, carried over from the first one, is the lack of interconnectivity between the stories and characters. It is vastly improved from the first, but still not enough in my opinion. The addition of a few crossed path chapters, additional travel banter, and a more robust engame improves things, but throughout most of the game, the stories still feel very separate. There has obviously been a lot of thought into this issue, but it kinda seems inevitable with the way the game is structured.
The one aspect of the game that I feel wasn't imrpoved from the first was difficulty. The game seems a bit too easy for my liking. The only fights I ever found challenging were a couple I was 8-10 levels under the recommended, Hikari's final chapter, and the final boss. I feel like they overcorrected the amount of health on bosses. This first game had fights taking a long time. In this games, most chapter bosses went down in 1 or 2 break cycles. I feel like they usually ended just as they were getting interesting. I had a lot of second phases of boss fights that I completely skipped due to overkilling the boss before triggering the phase change. There were quite a few bosses that I came in around the recommended level and left without taking a hit. It's kind of a downer when you're preparing to use all of the tools the game gives you only to kill the boss before you can use all of them.
Overall this game is amazing, but it's flaws just barely pull it down from 5 stars. I appreciate all of the effort that went into this game.
I have so much to say about this game and how much I adore it.
Literally everything in this game is an improvement over the first game. The stories, the characters, the structure, the combat, the visuals, the music and the connectivity. The only thing that was a slight downgrade in my opinion was the difficulty. The maps being larger means more random encounters and more exp.
All (but 1) of the characters I love (the exception I still really like though) and choosing a favourite is tough, unlike the first where I only really grew attached to a few characters really says something. Also my favourite character and the one I became most attached to (first game btw), was Mattias. An antagonist.
*spoilers for the final chapter
The stories aren’t anything special, they’ve been done in other games, but they’re all really good and compelling in there own way except Ochette’s which was kinda meh. But when they all come together for the eternal night it’s beyond satisfying. And having the final boss be 2 phases where in the second half you use ALL EIGHT TRAVELERS AT THE SAME TIME it’s so fucking amazing and it’s a really challenging fight and I love this game so much.
I can go on forever about this game. I’ve not even mentioned the soundtrack or how it’s one of 2 games to make me cry. This game is almost perfect. Now every game I play next will be disappointing in comparison. Oh well.
Anyway here’s my character ranking (will definitely change over time):
8: Hikari 7: Throné 6: Osvald 5: Ochette 4: Partitio 3: Castti 2: Agnea 1: Temenos
And the stories:
8: Ochette
7: uhhh
6: ummmmm
5: I don’t know
4: they’re all good
3: maybe…
2: not sure…
1: Castti
Literally everything in this game is an improvement over the first game. The stories, the characters, the structure, the combat, the visuals, the music and the connectivity. The only thing that was a slight downgrade in my opinion was the difficulty. The maps being larger means more random encounters and more exp.
All (but 1) of the characters I love (the exception I still really like though) and choosing a favourite is tough, unlike the first where I only really grew attached to a few characters really says something. Also my favourite character and the one I became most attached to (first game btw), was Mattias. An antagonist.
*spoilers for the final chapter
The stories aren’t anything special, they’ve been done in other games, but they’re all really good and compelling in there own way except Ochette’s which was kinda meh. But when they all come together for the eternal night it’s beyond satisfying. And having the final boss be 2 phases where in the second half you use ALL EIGHT TRAVELERS AT THE SAME TIME it’s so fucking amazing and it’s a really challenging fight and I love this game so much.
I can go on forever about this game. I’ve not even mentioned the soundtrack or how it’s one of 2 games to make me cry. This game is almost perfect. Now every game I play next will be disappointing in comparison. Oh well.
Anyway here’s my character ranking (will definitely change over time):
8: Hikari 7: Throné 6: Osvald 5: Ochette 4: Partitio 3: Castti 2: Agnea 1: Temenos
And the stories:
8: Ochette
7: uhhh
6: ummmmm
5: I don’t know
4: they’re all good
3: maybe…
2: not sure…
1: Castti
Amazing mm
Excellent game! Always something to do and the only time it drags at all is during some of the story sequences. Most of them don't wear out their welcome, though.
Completely blows the first one out of the water in every way possible, and i was already a big fan of OT1, so OT2 is everything I wanted it to be and more
partitiotheworld
partitiotheworld
Almost everything about this game is better than the original. From the visuals to the music to the atmosphere. It's just better. This is what I thought I was going to get with the first game rather than a run of the mill JRPG with good visuals. The combat is an improvement from the original mainly due to the new "latent powers" mechanic. And the 2x battle speed is very helpful for mob battles. I have some problems with certain bosses but for the most part, they range from fine to great.
Despite how much this game does right however, it does a lot of things wrong. The dungeons are awful and very one dimensional. Barely feeling like dungeons and more like a big room with treasure and random encounters to make it seem bigger. And speaking of treasure, chests are still very easy to discover and obtain. There's no puzzle solving or anything to that extent to reach the treasures. At most they just have pathways that are hard to see due to the almost 2D camera.
And my least favourite aspect of the game is still writing. While it is an improvement from the previous game's. Most characters still feel very one note and lack flavour and originality. The two characters that had me engaged till the end were Partitio and Temenos. The rest range from boring to decent.
Even still, I'm very happy that they chose to create a sequel because it now shows me that it's worth investing to make this a long running series. I know for a fact that this formula can be used again with new ideas to reach greater heights and to create a JRPG classic.
Despite how much this game does right however, it does a lot of things wrong. The dungeons are awful and very one dimensional. Barely feeling like dungeons and more like a big room with treasure and random encounters to make it seem bigger. And speaking of treasure, chests are still very easy to discover and obtain. There's no puzzle solving or anything to that extent to reach the treasures. At most they just have pathways that are hard to see due to the almost 2D camera.
And my least favourite aspect of the game is still writing. While it is an improvement from the previous game's. Most characters still feel very one note and lack flavour and originality. The two characters that had me engaged till the end were Partitio and Temenos. The rest range from boring to decent.
Even still, I'm very happy that they chose to create a sequel because it now shows me that it's worth investing to make this a long running series. I know for a fact that this formula can be used again with new ideas to reach greater heights and to create a JRPG classic.
This game could be so much more. Fantastic graphics and visual presentation, killer soundtrack but with not enough variations of the battle themes that will make you crazy after hearing it for the 1000th time. There's something for completionists here, but take care.
Loved hearing the japanese voices of the characters tho.
Edit:
Almost 50h later, i stand here trapped in a calm sea of endless grinding and you know what? I'm loving it! I mean, the things i said before this edit are still somehow valid to account for. The game is an ode for classic era rpg all right, but it's entirely built around grinding. Don't get me wrong, the individual chapters are the most cliche-anime that they can be, but just like Live a Live, there's some sasuga moments that leaves you just ready to wreck some crazy boss fight with your most broken skills and spells and that's something that happen very often.
This game would work wonders as a tv show.
I must elaborate further though. While i was bored after reaching all cast chapter 2 — and that was quite soon in-game — i've managed to optimize my party members with secondary jobs, found EX Skills while exploring tha map, even some badass looking weapons with broken stats that managed to carry my travelers thoughout the mid section of the game.
Now that i've finished most of the exploring, the game left me feeling a little bored, there is many secret challenges ahead, towards the true ending and all, but it keeps me wondering, is it worth it? Playing this game for days straight was worth something for me, but i just can't seem to lose this bad taste that i'm playing a sandbox rpg with no soul.
The game is filled to the brimm with beautiful pixel characters, that 16bit nostalgia drive but at the same time we're trapped in this world where there's no true emotional bond between the characters, we get travel banter in the form of a notification on the top of the screen and cross-stories that are just anime filler episodes. The grand scheme of things is somehow linked to every protagonist of the game but there's a lot of room to improve.
This game lacks the drive of the characters of Chrono Trigger, a goal and that teamwork banter that also exists in their individual stories. It feels really strange that character chapters are written like this. I'm keeping the 2,5 stars but i'm also warning you that there is fun here and you should check it out.
Loved hearing the japanese voices of the characters tho.
Edit:
Almost 50h later, i stand here trapped in a calm sea of endless grinding and you know what? I'm loving it! I mean, the things i said before this edit are still somehow valid to account for. The game is an ode for classic era rpg all right, but it's entirely built around grinding. Don't get me wrong, the individual chapters are the most cliche-anime that they can be, but just like Live a Live, there's some sasuga moments that leaves you just ready to wreck some crazy boss fight with your most broken skills and spells and that's something that happen very often.
This game would work wonders as a tv show.
I must elaborate further though. While i was bored after reaching all cast chapter 2 — and that was quite soon in-game — i've managed to optimize my party members with secondary jobs, found EX Skills while exploring tha map, even some badass looking weapons with broken stats that managed to carry my travelers thoughout the mid section of the game.
Now that i've finished most of the exploring, the game left me feeling a little bored, there is many secret challenges ahead, towards the true ending and all, but it keeps me wondering, is it worth it? Playing this game for days straight was worth something for me, but i just can't seem to lose this bad taste that i'm playing a sandbox rpg with no soul.
The game is filled to the brimm with beautiful pixel characters, that 16bit nostalgia drive but at the same time we're trapped in this world where there's no true emotional bond between the characters, we get travel banter in the form of a notification on the top of the screen and cross-stories that are just anime filler episodes. The grand scheme of things is somehow linked to every protagonist of the game but there's a lot of room to improve.
This game lacks the drive of the characters of Chrono Trigger, a goal and that teamwork banter that also exists in their individual stories. It feels really strange that character chapters are written like this. I'm keeping the 2,5 stars but i'm also warning you that there is fun here and you should check it out.
Menudo viaje.
Ya de primeras debo comentar que el primero me gustó mucho. Estaba relativamente en la minoría en ese sentido. El sistema de combate me maravilló con su estrategia y profundidad y me gustó cómo la trama era una serie de viñetas de distintas personas.
Octopath II es continuista pero mejora absolutamente todo. Las historias son más profundas, dramáticas e interesantes, al igual que los personajes. El sistema de combate está más balanceado y propone cambios nuevos en clases y el sistema de potencial que funciona muy bien. El mundo es mucho más variado...
Realmente es puro perfeccionamiento de lo que había antes y a mí me ha maravillado. Es desafiante pero justo. Un JRPG con un combate por turnos donde se debe escoger muy minuciosamente cada acción, habilidades secundarias y más.
Ya de primeras debo comentar que el primero me gustó mucho. Estaba relativamente en la minoría en ese sentido. El sistema de combate me maravilló con su estrategia y profundidad y me gustó cómo la trama era una serie de viñetas de distintas personas.
Octopath II es continuista pero mejora absolutamente todo. Las historias son más profundas, dramáticas e interesantes, al igual que los personajes. El sistema de combate está más balanceado y propone cambios nuevos en clases y el sistema de potencial que funciona muy bien. El mundo es mucho más variado...
Realmente es puro perfeccionamiento de lo que había antes y a mí me ha maravillado. Es desafiante pero justo. Un JRPG con un combate por turnos donde se debe escoger muy minuciosamente cada acción, habilidades secundarias y más.
So many hours. Fun game.
I had fun, but the story failed to grip me and keep me invested after a while. And with gameplay as simple (albeit flashy stylish) as it was, if the story wasn't keeping me invested, my interest was going to inevitably wane.
One of my biggest gripes was the fact that cutscenes just felt like they went on forever. Often enough, the only gameplay break inbetween cutscenes would be walking five meters to the left to talk to a story NPC to queue up yet another cutscene!
I thought I would be more invested in the game.
One of my biggest gripes was the fact that cutscenes just felt like they went on forever. Often enough, the only gameplay break inbetween cutscenes would be walking five meters to the left to talk to a story NPC to queue up yet another cutscene!
I thought I would be more invested in the game.
This review contains spoilers
Como el primero me ha gustado bastante. Cambios que no me gustaron tanto (como el hecho de la nueva forma de adquirir los jobs extra) y cambios que me han gustado mas (añadiendo al ejemplo anterior, puedes tener ahora mas PJ con el mismo job que no solo 1 adicional).
Todo el juego fabulosamente bien, jefes finales de cada personaje bastante bien y un buen inicio de la historia extra. Hasta que llegamos al punto donde he dejado el boss de la oscuridad y me he puesto a ver el ending en Youtube, por que los objetos curativos potentes que me he dejado para este momento, al equipo de desarrollo le pareció tremenda puta buena idea crear dificultad artificial haciendo que todo eso que me ahorré para este momento, no lo pueda usar xd
Todo el juego fabulosamente bien, jefes finales de cada personaje bastante bien y un buen inicio de la historia extra. Hasta que llegamos al punto donde he dejado el boss de la oscuridad y me he puesto a ver el ending en Youtube, por que los objetos curativos potentes que me he dejado para este momento, al equipo de desarrollo le pareció tremenda puta buena idea crear dificultad artificial haciendo que todo eso que me ahorré para este momento, no lo pueda usar xd
ogh
Truly a masterclass jrpg
My game of the year for 2023
I was always thankful that I enjoyed turn based rpgs, since I know its not a genre for everyone. However it had been a while since i engaged in one without and i never realized. Playing this game honestly reminded why the turn based rpg genre is my favorite in games. There is so much passion and love in every little corner. All the stories are satisfying and enojyable, the characters are all lovable ( Partitio the GOAT) the music is phenomal OH MAN honestly shouldve taken music of the year over FF16
The most impressive part of the game for me is how fresh every single fucking boss fight is in this game, it so so much fun. and the build variety is insane. ive never gone so far to experiment on different party setups before and this game really encouraged me to try all these different stuff.
Fantastic game from the start to the 95 hour mark.
I was always thankful that I enjoyed turn based rpgs, since I know its not a genre for everyone. However it had been a while since i engaged in one without and i never realized. Playing this game honestly reminded why the turn based rpg genre is my favorite in games. There is so much passion and love in every little corner. All the stories are satisfying and enojyable, the characters are all lovable ( Partitio the GOAT) the music is phenomal OH MAN honestly shouldve taken music of the year over FF16
The most impressive part of the game for me is how fresh every single fucking boss fight is in this game, it so so much fun. and the build variety is insane. ive never gone so far to experiment on different party setups before and this game really encouraged me to try all these different stuff.
Fantastic game from the start to the 95 hour mark.
It really is the most straight-forward and traditional JRPG experience refined into its best iteration yet.
The combat system is really satisfying during mob encounters, but still intense and creative during boss battles. Team building is also as fun as ever, as is figuring out some of the best combos you can pull off with your jobs and gear available at the moment.
Although the writing is a bit too silly for my taste most of the time, everything comes together nicely at the end. Some of the twists actually took me by surprise this time, and alongside some of the best soundtracks of the genre, I actually felt some goosebumps here and there.
It's the best parts of the first game combined with some actual decent story moments this time, highly recommend.
The combat system is really satisfying during mob encounters, but still intense and creative during boss battles. Team building is also as fun as ever, as is figuring out some of the best combos you can pull off with your jobs and gear available at the moment.
Although the writing is a bit too silly for my taste most of the time, everything comes together nicely at the end. Some of the twists actually took me by surprise this time, and alongside some of the best soundtracks of the genre, I actually felt some goosebumps here and there.
It's the best parts of the first game combined with some actual decent story moments this time, highly recommend.
Better than the first in every way. I'd recommend it to anyone that likes turn based RPGs
This review contains spoilers
if i ever manage to beat galdera (again) i will add a secret sixth star
Its one of the best games I've ever played.
but Hikari and Agnea never kiss so its kinda mid tbh...
but Hikari and Agnea never kiss so its kinda mid tbh...
Great RPG, we're still very much in the second golden age.
This game marks the return of Octopath. While this game shares some of the flaws of the original, such as poor grinding and a disconnect between the different character stories, it has shown a marked improvement in a few key regards. Its stories are more cleanly connected to each other, and various systems were improved upon.
Octopath Traveler II is a wonderful RPG with stunning art direction, a phenomenal ensemble of characters, engaging turn-based combat, fun bosses, a flawless OST, and an overall interesting world to traverse. The 8 travelers stories all come together in a surprising, but satisfying concluding arc that made for a meaningful ending to an overall phenomenal experience. Their stories were varied, but were mostly of excellent quality. Castti, Osvald, and Throné were highlight characters for me personally. "Travel banter" between the characters was appropriately endearing, and by the end it is easy to become invested in the relationships of the cast members as well as their individual personalities. The world of Solistia is unapologetically gorgeous: HD-2D has made a triumphant return in Octopath II, and I can only hope to see it further employed in the future, hopefully with equally intriguing writing accompanying it. The pixel art on display here, including a gargantuan effort to create the game's day/night cycle, is amongst the best you will witness in any video game. The only thing in Octopath Traveler II more stunning than the art direction is the music: it is simply, sublime. Without a shadow of a doubt, this game's OST is one of the best I have ever heard in any video game. It ranges from uplifting to haunting, graceful to chaotic, and I would wager is nearly perfect. For fans of traditional, ensemble-driven turn-based RPGs, Octopath Traveler II is an indubitably easy recommendation.
Castti is MAMA
boring af imo
very good game but I cannot believe how easy the combat was this game NEEDS a hard mode and level scaling
This is a great game to play when you have trouble sleeping and you don't got nightquil.
This game shocked me with how good it was. A genuine masterpiece of a RPG. Might go into more about this in a thread but this game is absolutely coming up in my GOTY conversations.
THE TRUE RPG OF THE YEAR 2023
Here is the thing with OT2. It's a better game than 1, but it doesn't do anything substantially different. This is why I find strange when some people call this a masterpiece while look down on 1. It certainly adds a lot of qol improvements, but the main core of the game is the same.
The main party interacts more, but still feels like eight travellers that simply share the road instead of a company of heroes.
The battle system is the same with some additions of some extra moves which barely add an extra layer of strategy. Having also 16 different skills outside the battle is an overkill and a perfect example of "just because you could, doesn't mean you should". Just like the first game apart from steal and guide most of them are useless, but now they are 16 of them!
It's bizarre that I sound negative for a game that not only I actually enjoyed, but I also believe it's superior to its predecessor. It's that based on the reviews I expected a major jump in quality, but what I got is just an improvement.
The main party interacts more, but still feels like eight travellers that simply share the road instead of a company of heroes.
The battle system is the same with some additions of some extra moves which barely add an extra layer of strategy. Having also 16 different skills outside the battle is an overkill and a perfect example of "just because you could, doesn't mean you should". Just like the first game apart from steal and guide most of them are useless, but now they are 16 of them!
It's bizarre that I sound negative for a game that not only I actually enjoyed, but I also believe it's superior to its predecessor. It's that based on the reviews I expected a major jump in quality, but what I got is just an improvement.
they finally added the ost on spotify! this game means a lot to me. no game has made me feel more like an adventurer than this game. a lot of jrpgs are immersive for the plots, environments, et cetera; however, there's something else about this game.
octopath traveler 2's setting honestly isn't anything new or too crazy. a large, sprawling fantasy world with magic, melee, the whole nine. the only real twist to the standard fantasy world this game adds is the start of an industrial revolution, solistia on the cusp of developing the steam engine, trains, and firepower. however, this is by no means to the game's downfall. octopath traveler 2 takes what is an already familiar setting to most players and perfectly polishes it. this is one of the most immersive games i've ever played; the formula of starting off with one traveler in an open world, running around wherever your heart desires and your stubbornness to ignore level caps takes you. journeying around and collecting each protagonist across the map one by one is a truly adventurous experience which leads no two players to have the same experience with this game.
the story structure of the game allows all kinds of players to enjoy the large time commitment that is playing a jrpg. not everyone is able to sit and play an 8 hour long session, and octopath acknowledges that. on days when i had work, i would come home late at night and tired. however, when i still had the urge to play, i was able to fit in one chapter of the story for whichever character i felt seeing. this easily digestible format allows any sort of player to enjoy the game at their own pace, and that's wonderful.
as i sit here writing this while listening to the game's amazing ost on spotify, i can't help but reminisce on all of the good times i had with this game. this reminiscence is what brought me on to pour out my feelings about this game to an empty echo chamber in the first place. i just needed to express my love for this game out loud, even if nobody can hear.
as i was playing this game, i went through a breakup with my then-partner of 3 and a half years. this game provided a nice escapism of that time and truly lets me look back on that month with fondness instead of sadness. the game's final messages taught me to look to the dawn of the next day, even if it seems dark. octopath traveler 2 is truly a personal journey i'll never forget. playing a video game has never felt so personalized and adventurous before. to you, who i feel like i wronged those many months ago, i hope you're doing okay out there.
as this game displayed its final cutscenes, messages, and ending art, i couldn't express my feelings with anything but tears. i think i sat on that ending screen for at least 5-10 minutes and cried nonstop. there's just something special about this game that i can't describe. i do not think this game has the most amazing story i've ever consumed, nor the best characters ever written or insanely amazing gameplay. however, it truly is something special. i can't help but feel a deep love for this journey that i was allowed to be taken on. i've never missed playing a video game so much for the first time as i do for this one. i'm almost glad i didn't play octopath 1 before this. experiencing the format of this series for the first time with this game which, as far as i know, improved upon the first game in every single way, was truly unforgettable. to the entire team behind this game, thank you for giving me an experience i'll never forget. this game's story, characters, music, and full journey is something i will always hold on to.
thank you, octopath 2, for letting me journey with you. whether or not this series ever gets more installments, i'll always consider myself a traveler.
thank you.
octopath traveler 2's setting honestly isn't anything new or too crazy. a large, sprawling fantasy world with magic, melee, the whole nine. the only real twist to the standard fantasy world this game adds is the start of an industrial revolution, solistia on the cusp of developing the steam engine, trains, and firepower. however, this is by no means to the game's downfall. octopath traveler 2 takes what is an already familiar setting to most players and perfectly polishes it. this is one of the most immersive games i've ever played; the formula of starting off with one traveler in an open world, running around wherever your heart desires and your stubbornness to ignore level caps takes you. journeying around and collecting each protagonist across the map one by one is a truly adventurous experience which leads no two players to have the same experience with this game.
the story structure of the game allows all kinds of players to enjoy the large time commitment that is playing a jrpg. not everyone is able to sit and play an 8 hour long session, and octopath acknowledges that. on days when i had work, i would come home late at night and tired. however, when i still had the urge to play, i was able to fit in one chapter of the story for whichever character i felt seeing. this easily digestible format allows any sort of player to enjoy the game at their own pace, and that's wonderful.
as i sit here writing this while listening to the game's amazing ost on spotify, i can't help but reminisce on all of the good times i had with this game. this reminiscence is what brought me on to pour out my feelings about this game to an empty echo chamber in the first place. i just needed to express my love for this game out loud, even if nobody can hear.
as i was playing this game, i went through a breakup with my then-partner of 3 and a half years. this game provided a nice escapism of that time and truly lets me look back on that month with fondness instead of sadness. the game's final messages taught me to look to the dawn of the next day, even if it seems dark. octopath traveler 2 is truly a personal journey i'll never forget. playing a video game has never felt so personalized and adventurous before. to you, who i feel like i wronged those many months ago, i hope you're doing okay out there.
as this game displayed its final cutscenes, messages, and ending art, i couldn't express my feelings with anything but tears. i think i sat on that ending screen for at least 5-10 minutes and cried nonstop. there's just something special about this game that i can't describe. i do not think this game has the most amazing story i've ever consumed, nor the best characters ever written or insanely amazing gameplay. however, it truly is something special. i can't help but feel a deep love for this journey that i was allowed to be taken on. i've never missed playing a video game so much for the first time as i do for this one. i'm almost glad i didn't play octopath 1 before this. experiencing the format of this series for the first time with this game which, as far as i know, improved upon the first game in every single way, was truly unforgettable. to the entire team behind this game, thank you for giving me an experience i'll never forget. this game's story, characters, music, and full journey is something i will always hold on to.
thank you, octopath 2, for letting me journey with you. whether or not this series ever gets more installments, i'll always consider myself a traveler.
thank you.
I both had a good time with this but also wish it could have been more. I really enjoyed the mechanics of the RPG battle system. I also really loved the art style. However, I just find the multiple character system limiting. I found it really hard to keep going for long stretches because there wasn't really a connective thread keeping me going.