While the first Octopath Traveler wasn't perfect, I thought it was a wonderful little game. The introduction of the HD-2D style, 8 little contained stories with a couple of memorable characters, a good soundtrack, and a fairly satisfying turn-based combat system. Octopath Traveler 2 improves vastly upon its predecessor in every conceivable way.
The game takes place in Solistia, a country split across two continents. Similar to the first game, you pick a starting character to serve as your MC, and wander around the world picking up your other party members and experiencing their stories. The major criticism that many people levied against the first game was the lack of party interaction. There were brief little scenes you could see if you went out of your way to watch them at taverns, but they didn't really feel connected to each other for 99% of the game. In OT2, most major story beats will have a set of banter scenes you can view depending who is in your party (and all of them are available to watch through the menu). During battle, when a party member breaks an enemy, there is also a high chance that the next party member up to attack will directly compliment them for it. Additionally, there are four pairings of the main characters who have their own little side stories together. These extra little scenes, interactions, and scenarios really help the party feel closer to each other.
From a gameplay perspective, the major new addition is the day/night system. Different enemies, different party effects, different NPCs, and even different music(!) take effect depending on the time of day, and this is brilliantly tied to the push of a button so you can freely toggle it at any time. The combat is largely the same as in the first game, complete with a job system to mix and match to your preferences. There are some other pleasant surprises too that you will come across during your travels from dungeons, to job guilds, to COUNTLESS major cities and towns that truly reward your exploration.
One other key bit of gameplay that I'd like to touch on is the design of the side quests. Each NPC that has a side quest is marked on your map, however no markers are made as to the objectives themselves. The player must use the quest givers descriptions, or often context given by nearby NPCs for hints on where you can go to complete it. While a handful of them were obtuse enough that I looked up a guide, I ended up actually taking notes to remember who wanted what and where I could potentially find it. It was honestly refreshing to have a reason to do something like that again, which made me want to complete as many of them as I could.
This game also features yet another incredible OST and since every area features a day/night version of each song, I have no doubt it's their longest. One final improvement over the original I would like to highlight is the characters. Each and every one of them is memorable and goes through a unique and fairly developed story with different stakes. They are all special in their own way, and even the one I felt goes a little too far off the deep end still ends up being really cool and memorable in its own way.
For fans of the turn-based genre, Octopath Traveler 2 is absolutely worth your time. I only left a couple of major things left undone, but my final playtime clocked in around 75 hours so there is a LOT of meat to the game. I hope they get to keep making these and maybe shake things up again in an OT3 down the road.
The game takes place in Solistia, a country split across two continents. Similar to the first game, you pick a starting character to serve as your MC, and wander around the world picking up your other party members and experiencing their stories. The major criticism that many people levied against the first game was the lack of party interaction. There were brief little scenes you could see if you went out of your way to watch them at taverns, but they didn't really feel connected to each other for 99% of the game. In OT2, most major story beats will have a set of banter scenes you can view depending who is in your party (and all of them are available to watch through the menu). During battle, when a party member breaks an enemy, there is also a high chance that the next party member up to attack will directly compliment them for it. Additionally, there are four pairings of the main characters who have their own little side stories together. These extra little scenes, interactions, and scenarios really help the party feel closer to each other.
From a gameplay perspective, the major new addition is the day/night system. Different enemies, different party effects, different NPCs, and even different music(!) take effect depending on the time of day, and this is brilliantly tied to the push of a button so you can freely toggle it at any time. The combat is largely the same as in the first game, complete with a job system to mix and match to your preferences. There are some other pleasant surprises too that you will come across during your travels from dungeons, to job guilds, to COUNTLESS major cities and towns that truly reward your exploration.
One other key bit of gameplay that I'd like to touch on is the design of the side quests. Each NPC that has a side quest is marked on your map, however no markers are made as to the objectives themselves. The player must use the quest givers descriptions, or often context given by nearby NPCs for hints on where you can go to complete it. While a handful of them were obtuse enough that I looked up a guide, I ended up actually taking notes to remember who wanted what and where I could potentially find it. It was honestly refreshing to have a reason to do something like that again, which made me want to complete as many of them as I could.
This game also features yet another incredible OST and since every area features a day/night version of each song, I have no doubt it's their longest. One final improvement over the original I would like to highlight is the characters. Each and every one of them is memorable and goes through a unique and fairly developed story with different stakes. They are all special in their own way, and even the one I felt goes a little too far off the deep end still ends up being really cool and memorable in its own way.
For fans of the turn-based genre, Octopath Traveler 2 is absolutely worth your time. I only left a couple of major things left undone, but my final playtime clocked in around 75 hours so there is a LOT of meat to the game. I hope they get to keep making these and maybe shake things up again in an OT3 down the road.