OCTOPATH TRAVELER II is one of the greatest JRPGs of all time.
I adored the original OCTOPATH TRAVELER, and the sequel is everything that I could've hoped for. Each story immediately grabbed my attention and held it throughout, from Agnea's lighthearted wishes for stardom to Osvald's much darker plot for revenge, and the resolutions to each not only felt satisfying in a standalone sense, but each tied very well into the overarching major plot extremely well— not a new feat for the series, contrary to popular belief, but one that I nonetheless feel was done much more satisfyingly here compared to the previous entry. The new Crossed Paths make for interesting new scenarios involving two characters directly working together and interacting, which I definitely feel scratches the itch of those wishing for more interaction between characters. I won't spoil how everything all comes together in the end, but I will make one thing very clear: I cried during the credits. Not something that happens often for me, but Team Asano has found a way to do that to me twice within the past year (the other time being with LIVE A LIVE's remake on Switch). Absolutely lovely madlads over there.
The gameplay mechanics have been refined, upgraded, and otherwise made practically perfect— the Break and Boost combat is still as addictive as ever, the Path Action system continues to encourage exploration of every nook and cranny in each town (including new nighttime Path Actions!), and the characters overall feel much more balanced this go-round, all without taking away anything that made them fun in the first entry! Being a big fan of Merchant in the first entry I chose Partitio, and I was delighted that he was not only just as fun to use as Tressa from the first game, but the rest of the gang was incredibly enjoyable as well, with some of the more complex classes like Hunter and Apothecary getting fantastic reworks so that the Beast Lore and Concoct systems respectively are much easier to use. With the first game I felt like I had to push newcomers towards Tressa in fear that they'd pick someone else and end up dropping it because of their imbalances, but in 2 you can really pick anyone and have a blast without prior knowledge of the game, which is exactly what I was hoping for! (Still don't regret picking Partitio though, gotta love the funny Texan money man.)
The soundtrack is possibly Yasunori Nishiki's best work yet, continuing in the thematic style of the first game's soundtrack but getting very experimental with instrumentation and vocals in ways that the original didn't quite explore. The overworld themes had me excited for the next adventure, the nighttime themes had me relaxed and serene, and of course, the battle themes will have me tapping my foot for years to come. I won't get into too many specifics on the soundtrack since that touches on spoilers, but I will say that the saxophone in Partitio's theme was unexpected but works extremely well.
The world of Solistia is beautifully varied in culture and environment, allowing for a much more distinct look and feel for each of the storylines— you'll be going back and forth between the lush countryside of the Leaflands to the streets of the bustling New Delsta in a flash, and it's always a joy to look at no matter where your journey takes you. It's a beautiful celebration of how far the HD-2D visual style has come over the years, and whether you've followed every new Team Asano release or are just jumping in for the first time with Octopath 2 (which is totally okay to do, it's not connected to the first entry story-wise!), you're in for a treat.
"The places you go… The deeds you do… The tales whose hero you become… Every road is yours to take."
I adored the original OCTOPATH TRAVELER, and the sequel is everything that I could've hoped for. Each story immediately grabbed my attention and held it throughout, from Agnea's lighthearted wishes for stardom to Osvald's much darker plot for revenge, and the resolutions to each not only felt satisfying in a standalone sense, but each tied very well into the overarching major plot extremely well— not a new feat for the series, contrary to popular belief, but one that I nonetheless feel was done much more satisfyingly here compared to the previous entry. The new Crossed Paths make for interesting new scenarios involving two characters directly working together and interacting, which I definitely feel scratches the itch of those wishing for more interaction between characters. I won't spoil how everything all comes together in the end, but I will make one thing very clear: I cried during the credits. Not something that happens often for me, but Team Asano has found a way to do that to me twice within the past year (the other time being with LIVE A LIVE's remake on Switch). Absolutely lovely madlads over there.
The gameplay mechanics have been refined, upgraded, and otherwise made practically perfect— the Break and Boost combat is still as addictive as ever, the Path Action system continues to encourage exploration of every nook and cranny in each town (including new nighttime Path Actions!), and the characters overall feel much more balanced this go-round, all without taking away anything that made them fun in the first entry! Being a big fan of Merchant in the first entry I chose Partitio, and I was delighted that he was not only just as fun to use as Tressa from the first game, but the rest of the gang was incredibly enjoyable as well, with some of the more complex classes like Hunter and Apothecary getting fantastic reworks so that the Beast Lore and Concoct systems respectively are much easier to use. With the first game I felt like I had to push newcomers towards Tressa in fear that they'd pick someone else and end up dropping it because of their imbalances, but in 2 you can really pick anyone and have a blast without prior knowledge of the game, which is exactly what I was hoping for! (Still don't regret picking Partitio though, gotta love the funny Texan money man.)
The soundtrack is possibly Yasunori Nishiki's best work yet, continuing in the thematic style of the first game's soundtrack but getting very experimental with instrumentation and vocals in ways that the original didn't quite explore. The overworld themes had me excited for the next adventure, the nighttime themes had me relaxed and serene, and of course, the battle themes will have me tapping my foot for years to come. I won't get into too many specifics on the soundtrack since that touches on spoilers, but I will say that the saxophone in Partitio's theme was unexpected but works extremely well.
The world of Solistia is beautifully varied in culture and environment, allowing for a much more distinct look and feel for each of the storylines— you'll be going back and forth between the lush countryside of the Leaflands to the streets of the bustling New Delsta in a flash, and it's always a joy to look at no matter where your journey takes you. It's a beautiful celebration of how far the HD-2D visual style has come over the years, and whether you've followed every new Team Asano release or are just jumping in for the first time with Octopath 2 (which is totally okay to do, it's not connected to the first entry story-wise!), you're in for a treat.
"The places you go… The deeds you do… The tales whose hero you become… Every road is yours to take."