I enjoyed the first game fine enough, but Octopath Traveler II manages to take everything about the first game that worked and improve upon it while dropping everything that didn't. Lowered encounter rate, day/night cycle, better stories and more consistent (and present) voice acting, auto progress for voiced scenes, better side quests, more interesting and varied towns and environments, improved upon "hidden" job classes, latent powers, the MUSIC! The list goes on.

What else can I say? It's the first game but so much better with much better stories, intertwined stories, better character moments, and an amazing climax where all the stories tie together into one last big bad.

I can't necessarily recommend the first game, but this is a must-play for old-school JRPG fans. Easily one of my games of the year and a soundtrack I'll be listening to for years.