Platinumed in 58 hours.
Octopath Traveler II is a good, but not great, JRPG romp. A marginal improvement over the first entry, this sequel offers slightly better stories and improved combat. The pacing's great: I completed all 8 stories in under 50 hours, meaning each story was a little shy of 8 hours. There's plenty of side content to go around as well, with over 60 sidequests and around a dozen optional dungeons.
On the flip side, most of the stories were predictable or even forgettable, and the balancing is extremely wonky. It'll either be quite difficult or incredibly easy, all depending on what jobs you use. While the mechanics allow for a wealth of creativity in how you strategize, you're only rewarded if you play each character a certain way. The worst of it comes from the secret boss. I hate when JRPGs force you to make specific playstyle choices to beat the superboss, so I was beyond frustrated when I found out that this game had that sort of superboss. Not only that, it's among the worst offenders. You can beat it in 4 turns if you use a certain cheese strategy, or you can struggle for 6 hours like I did before switching to said cheese strat. At least beating it was a massive relief. Finally, while the stories intertwine better than in the first game, it's still an inferior endgame to that of its influence: Live a Live.
If you enjoyed Octopath Traveler, play this sequel. It's far better. However, if you felt mixed on it, be wary. You will either find this a worthwhile game or be let down yet again. I, personally, enjoyed my journey a lot despite its flaws.
Octopath Traveler II is a good, but not great, JRPG romp. A marginal improvement over the first entry, this sequel offers slightly better stories and improved combat. The pacing's great: I completed all 8 stories in under 50 hours, meaning each story was a little shy of 8 hours. There's plenty of side content to go around as well, with over 60 sidequests and around a dozen optional dungeons.
On the flip side, most of the stories were predictable or even forgettable, and the balancing is extremely wonky. It'll either be quite difficult or incredibly easy, all depending on what jobs you use. While the mechanics allow for a wealth of creativity in how you strategize, you're only rewarded if you play each character a certain way. The worst of it comes from the secret boss. I hate when JRPGs force you to make specific playstyle choices to beat the superboss, so I was beyond frustrated when I found out that this game had that sort of superboss. Not only that, it's among the worst offenders. You can beat it in 4 turns if you use a certain cheese strategy, or you can struggle for 6 hours like I did before switching to said cheese strat. At least beating it was a massive relief. Finally, while the stories intertwine better than in the first game, it's still an inferior endgame to that of its influence: Live a Live.
If you enjoyed Octopath Traveler, play this sequel. It's far better. However, if you felt mixed on it, be wary. You will either find this a worthwhile game or be let down yet again. I, personally, enjoyed my journey a lot despite its flaws.