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.

Eu me apaixonei por Octopath Traveler na depois de algumas horas jogando o primeiro jogo. Apesar de minúsculas ressalvas, fui cativado pela sua mistura de um estilo clássico com sensibilidades modernas em seu gameplay, estilo artístico, trilha sonora e construção de mundo e personagens.
Sua continuação pega todas essas características e as eleva a um patamar ainda maior.
Mas a principal coisa que torna esse jogo ainda melhor que o primeiro é suas histórias e a forma como elas se convergem no final. Se no primeiro jogo elas eram apenas um plano de fundo para justificar as batalhas, aqui elas emocionam, empolgam, alegram e arrepiam.
Octopath 2 é simplesmente uma obra-prima e eu estou muito feliz de ter passado por mais de 80 horas dessa jornada maravilhosa. O sentimento depois de ter terminado é agridoce, pois parte de mim não queria que acabasse. Parabéns aos envolvidos.
Por favor não deixem essa série morrer, e por favor contratem Yasunori Nishiki para fazer mais trilhas sonoras. Esse homem merece um prêmio.

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.

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.

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.

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.