Eight paths directly into the innermost retro chambers of my heart.
Do you like lavish vintage console RPG-esque art? Do you like strolling around a cozy town talking to charming little people while listening to a soothing song? Do you like solving strategic puzzles to defeat gargantuan foes in mortal turn-based combat? This games takes all these disparate elements and puts them together into a single composition. The result has moments of elevated intensity, but this adventure is most remarkable for just how very comfortable it is. You can really spend a lot of time in here (and I did) because the experience is almost soothing. The variety of emotional tones and excellent pacing provide a refreshing rhythm to the experience. It’s never too one note. In the narrative, the sad stories are balanced out by the happy ones. In the gameplay, the cognitively engaging combat challenges contrasts with strolling through the cozy towns. In light of all this, I found Octopath II to be the most impressive retro-inspired JRPG to date.
In the abstract, it’s a strange mixture—fighting monstrous superbosses then dipping back into a flaneur-like existence in an adorable town. The chilling and the killing take turns on center stage—so to speak. It’s almost a paradox at the heart of the genre. (On the other hand, there’s something so charming about fighting all those wonderfully drawn sprites that it barely even registers as an act of virtual violence.) I can imagine that some people might intensely love exactly half of the experience and intensely hate the other. And which half you like depends largely on your disposition. But that contrast, that range of emotional intensity, that almost paradox, is an almost essential characteristic of this genre. If you like that mixture, then this is one of the very best examples.
If so, then go ahead and collect your tiny characters, get in your little battles, walk around the tiny towns and talk to all (yes, all) the other chibi people, then get in a little boat and sail across this vast miniature world.
Now let’s talk about some details.
The HD-2D style is even more stunning this time around. The detailed sprites, varied environments, and cozy towns are all lovingly crafted in their own way. Even the menus and text boxes and fonts have a certain tasteful, classic, restrained, Square look. The soundtrack is almost unfailingly good—and when it’s not to my taste, it is thematically appropriate.
The combat is excellent and consistently engaging. It’s smooth, it’s fast, it’s puzzle-like. There are resources to manage and strategies to ponder. It is similar to much else in the genre. Exploit enemy weaknesses, pick your attacks, use your boosts and specials wisely, manage your health and mana and status effects well—and you’ll eventually win. That sounds simple enough, but way it comes together is one type
of turn-based perfection. For comparison, the only (non-tactical) turn-based combat I’ve found this cognitively intriguing and would probably be SaGa Scarlet Grace, FFX, and X-2.
And these encounters are designed for speed. It’s like the designers asked “Can we make turn-based battles blazingly fast?” And they did . The transition to the battle screen is fast. The menus are responsive. The action animations are quick but impressive. The rewards screen is brief and takes a minimal number of clicks to get through. If you’ve never experienced some the molasses like battles during the PS1 and PS2 days, know that these are some high compliments. Trash mobs can usually be dispatched within a minute or so. Bosses and superbosses are appropriately challenging and will take longer. The progression systems (which are a mix of leveling, skills, jobs, and gear) are rich, interesting, and breakable in the best possible way. The towns are memorable and filled with charming npcs (often with hidden lives that range from comical to sinister.) The world feels vast and mysterious and rich. The way the world map is designed avoids those all too familiar boredom inducing vast empty spaces. There’s a SNES or PS1 openness—where the vastness of the world done in miniature just like the chibi sprites.
And this world is bursting with side quests and secrets. Dungeons are just about the right size—long enough to present some challenge, but brief enough to avoid degenerating into a slog. And, like in the original, there’s a neat visual search and path finding mechanic when it comes to side paths and treasure. This is a simple and common diversion in classic JRPGs— see the treasure chest and then puzzle out how to get to it. But due to the fixed camera angle and HD2D art style, there’s a bit more depth in the scene. This means designers can make the most of occlusion to misdirect and confuse the player. (This wayfinding element plays sort of like Toad Treasure Tracker if you couldn’t rotate the camera and there were fewer puzzles.)
The designers also introduced a day/night cycle along with the ability to shift between the two times at will. By changing day to night or vice versa, you can adjust the encounter rate seamlessly. And it makes for some puzzles here and there in the dungeons. The day/night cycle also made the towns feel even more lively because the npcs have different habits.
The stories on the individual paths vary in tone and quality. The tone goes from comedic to melodramatic to darkly tragic. The quality ranges from not so good to okay to alright to cute to that was sort of poignant to the absurdity of that made me laugh. And yet I played every story because it’s just a pleasure to spend time in this world. And besides, many of the characters are likable enough— and when they weren’t, the combat mechanics kept me going. The creativity on display in the boss fights made it worthwhile to me. Each boss is an oversized pixel art spectacle on the outside with some intriguing puzzle box mechanics on the inside. These boss fights were really their own reward. And then they typically rewarded you with something interesting.
This review began with the phrase “Eight paths directly into my heart.” More accurately,it could have “eights paths set in a world whose systems and atmosphere lead into my heart no matter how much I did not resonate with the narrative in the path I chose.” That’s a bit too long for an opening line though.
There’s quite a bit of depth in the progression systems here. Interesting gear, job classes, and special secondary classes. Hunting for synergies in the menus is fun if that’s your sort of thing. Grinders should find plenty to do here: superbosses, ultimate weapons, hidden dungeons. For the first time since probably the PS2 era, I personally did every bit of optional content. And I was still sad to see it all come to an end.
Do you like lavish vintage console RPG-esque art? Do you like strolling around a cozy town talking to charming little people while listening to a soothing song? Do you like solving strategic puzzles to defeat gargantuan foes in mortal turn-based combat? This games takes all these disparate elements and puts them together into a single composition. The result has moments of elevated intensity, but this adventure is most remarkable for just how very comfortable it is. You can really spend a lot of time in here (and I did) because the experience is almost soothing. The variety of emotional tones and excellent pacing provide a refreshing rhythm to the experience. It’s never too one note. In the narrative, the sad stories are balanced out by the happy ones. In the gameplay, the cognitively engaging combat challenges contrasts with strolling through the cozy towns. In light of all this, I found Octopath II to be the most impressive retro-inspired JRPG to date.
In the abstract, it’s a strange mixture—fighting monstrous superbosses then dipping back into a flaneur-like existence in an adorable town. The chilling and the killing take turns on center stage—so to speak. It’s almost a paradox at the heart of the genre. (On the other hand, there’s something so charming about fighting all those wonderfully drawn sprites that it barely even registers as an act of virtual violence.) I can imagine that some people might intensely love exactly half of the experience and intensely hate the other. And which half you like depends largely on your disposition. But that contrast, that range of emotional intensity, that almost paradox, is an almost essential characteristic of this genre. If you like that mixture, then this is one of the very best examples.
If so, then go ahead and collect your tiny characters, get in your little battles, walk around the tiny towns and talk to all (yes, all) the other chibi people, then get in a little boat and sail across this vast miniature world.
Now let’s talk about some details.
The HD-2D style is even more stunning this time around. The detailed sprites, varied environments, and cozy towns are all lovingly crafted in their own way. Even the menus and text boxes and fonts have a certain tasteful, classic, restrained, Square look. The soundtrack is almost unfailingly good—and when it’s not to my taste, it is thematically appropriate.
The combat is excellent and consistently engaging. It’s smooth, it’s fast, it’s puzzle-like. There are resources to manage and strategies to ponder. It is similar to much else in the genre. Exploit enemy weaknesses, pick your attacks, use your boosts and specials wisely, manage your health and mana and status effects well—and you’ll eventually win. That sounds simple enough, but way it comes together is one type
of turn-based perfection. For comparison, the only (non-tactical) turn-based combat I’ve found this cognitively intriguing and would probably be SaGa Scarlet Grace, FFX, and X-2.
And these encounters are designed for speed. It’s like the designers asked “Can we make turn-based battles blazingly fast?” And they did . The transition to the battle screen is fast. The menus are responsive. The action animations are quick but impressive. The rewards screen is brief and takes a minimal number of clicks to get through. If you’ve never experienced some the molasses like battles during the PS1 and PS2 days, know that these are some high compliments. Trash mobs can usually be dispatched within a minute or so. Bosses and superbosses are appropriately challenging and will take longer. The progression systems (which are a mix of leveling, skills, jobs, and gear) are rich, interesting, and breakable in the best possible way. The towns are memorable and filled with charming npcs (often with hidden lives that range from comical to sinister.) The world feels vast and mysterious and rich. The way the world map is designed avoids those all too familiar boredom inducing vast empty spaces. There’s a SNES or PS1 openness—where the vastness of the world done in miniature just like the chibi sprites.
And this world is bursting with side quests and secrets. Dungeons are just about the right size—long enough to present some challenge, but brief enough to avoid degenerating into a slog. And, like in the original, there’s a neat visual search and path finding mechanic when it comes to side paths and treasure. This is a simple and common diversion in classic JRPGs— see the treasure chest and then puzzle out how to get to it. But due to the fixed camera angle and HD2D art style, there’s a bit more depth in the scene. This means designers can make the most of occlusion to misdirect and confuse the player. (This wayfinding element plays sort of like Toad Treasure Tracker if you couldn’t rotate the camera and there were fewer puzzles.)
The designers also introduced a day/night cycle along with the ability to shift between the two times at will. By changing day to night or vice versa, you can adjust the encounter rate seamlessly. And it makes for some puzzles here and there in the dungeons. The day/night cycle also made the towns feel even more lively because the npcs have different habits.
The stories on the individual paths vary in tone and quality. The tone goes from comedic to melodramatic to darkly tragic. The quality ranges from not so good to okay to alright to cute to that was sort of poignant to the absurdity of that made me laugh. And yet I played every story because it’s just a pleasure to spend time in this world. And besides, many of the characters are likable enough— and when they weren’t, the combat mechanics kept me going. The creativity on display in the boss fights made it worthwhile to me. Each boss is an oversized pixel art spectacle on the outside with some intriguing puzzle box mechanics on the inside. These boss fights were really their own reward. And then they typically rewarded you with something interesting.
This review began with the phrase “Eight paths directly into my heart.” More accurately,it could have “eights paths set in a world whose systems and atmosphere lead into my heart no matter how much I did not resonate with the narrative in the path I chose.” That’s a bit too long for an opening line though.
There’s quite a bit of depth in the progression systems here. Interesting gear, job classes, and special secondary classes. Hunting for synergies in the menus is fun if that’s your sort of thing. Grinders should find plenty to do here: superbosses, ultimate weapons, hidden dungeons. For the first time since probably the PS2 era, I personally did every bit of optional content. And I was still sad to see it all come to an end.