This review contains spoilers
When the first Octopath game came out in 2018, I was excited as a big 16-bit JRPG fan. Terrible title aside, fans were hoping this new Square Enix franchise could be a return to form of sorts. Said fans were disappointed en masse to discover that all 8 character's stories were completely independent of each other and they barely interact at all.
This honestly didn't bother me much as I had no preconceived notions about what Octopath was supposed to be. So when Octopath Traveler II released in 2023 as a direct upgrade in almost every way I was absolutely thrilled.
The eight characters all still have their own stories, but with some real overlap now in the form of "Crossed Path" duo chapters. Little dialogue moments are also present mid-battle where the characters address each other directly, complimenting each other after defeating a monster or thanking the party member that healed them. It's a little detail that goes a long way compared to the first game where these characters refused to acknowledge each other and carry on as if they're all alone. This isn't a perfect solution, as the player can still tackle any of the traveler's stories in any order, and fans that hoped for a dynamic story changing significantly depending on which characters are present will have to look elsewhere.
The cast is lively this time around, I started with Agnea (apparently people think her story is the least interesting, but a unique standout final battle in her last chapter made the payoff worth it, I don't regret my decision in the slightest.) Partitio the merchant is a standout, his goal being to somehow eliminate poverty itself from the world after witnessing his once-prosperous town fall on hard times. Osvald the scholar begins his story in prison on an isolated frigid island, imprisoned for years for the murder of his wife and daughter that he didn't commit. A heavy and serious tale especially compared to travelers like Agnea who just wants to become a great dancer like her late mother, or Ochette who basically is setting out to become a Pokémon trainer (complete with choosing a starter companion, in this case either a fox or an owl).
Initially I rolled my eyes at Castti's story beginning with the dreaded amnesia trope, but found myself pleasantly surprised as she ends up with one of the best and most emotional stories of the bunch. Hikari's chapter 1 on the other hand had me instantly hooked, while Temenos the cynical and witty priest spends his story playing Sherlock Holmes the whole time, its entertaining stuff. That just leaves Throné, who in my opinion has the only uninteresting tale, there's some standout scenes and the premise has promise, but her twist ending is so terrible and unexplained that it ruins hers for me.
Eight stories each with at least 4 chapters is far too much for me to go over in an already lengthy review, but the presence of a bonus epilogue chapter pushes Octopath II from good to great. With their individual journeys finished, all eight travelers come together for one final mission as a group. Seeing everyone actually travel together finally delivers on the ideas so many people were hoping to see come to fruition in the first game. It does feel a little rushed, and the epilogue tries way too hard to make all eight stories seem relevant to the final chapter, when many of them were better off left as concluded (the game telling me all eight previously unrelated stories had villains involved in a grander overarching conspiracy really tested my suspension of disbelief.)
I'm often harsh in my critique of JRPGs, but Octopath Traveler II gets so much right. The job system mechanically is great, new features like latent powers and a day/night cycle are refreshing, and the game visually is beautiful, 16-bit bliss reminiscent of a bygone era. Lastly, the soundtrack is some of the very best I've heard from a video game, ever. Not something I say lightly.
4.0/5.0
This honestly didn't bother me much as I had no preconceived notions about what Octopath was supposed to be. So when Octopath Traveler II released in 2023 as a direct upgrade in almost every way I was absolutely thrilled.
The eight characters all still have their own stories, but with some real overlap now in the form of "Crossed Path" duo chapters. Little dialogue moments are also present mid-battle where the characters address each other directly, complimenting each other after defeating a monster or thanking the party member that healed them. It's a little detail that goes a long way compared to the first game where these characters refused to acknowledge each other and carry on as if they're all alone. This isn't a perfect solution, as the player can still tackle any of the traveler's stories in any order, and fans that hoped for a dynamic story changing significantly depending on which characters are present will have to look elsewhere.
The cast is lively this time around, I started with Agnea (apparently people think her story is the least interesting, but a unique standout final battle in her last chapter made the payoff worth it, I don't regret my decision in the slightest.) Partitio the merchant is a standout, his goal being to somehow eliminate poverty itself from the world after witnessing his once-prosperous town fall on hard times. Osvald the scholar begins his story in prison on an isolated frigid island, imprisoned for years for the murder of his wife and daughter that he didn't commit. A heavy and serious tale especially compared to travelers like Agnea who just wants to become a great dancer like her late mother, or Ochette who basically is setting out to become a Pokémon trainer (complete with choosing a starter companion, in this case either a fox or an owl).
Initially I rolled my eyes at Castti's story beginning with the dreaded amnesia trope, but found myself pleasantly surprised as she ends up with one of the best and most emotional stories of the bunch. Hikari's chapter 1 on the other hand had me instantly hooked, while Temenos the cynical and witty priest spends his story playing Sherlock Holmes the whole time, its entertaining stuff. That just leaves Throné, who in my opinion has the only uninteresting tale, there's some standout scenes and the premise has promise, but her twist ending is so terrible and unexplained that it ruins hers for me.
Eight stories each with at least 4 chapters is far too much for me to go over in an already lengthy review, but the presence of a bonus epilogue chapter pushes Octopath II from good to great. With their individual journeys finished, all eight travelers come together for one final mission as a group. Seeing everyone actually travel together finally delivers on the ideas so many people were hoping to see come to fruition in the first game. It does feel a little rushed, and the epilogue tries way too hard to make all eight stories seem relevant to the final chapter, when many of them were better off left as concluded (the game telling me all eight previously unrelated stories had villains involved in a grander overarching conspiracy really tested my suspension of disbelief.)
I'm often harsh in my critique of JRPGs, but Octopath Traveler II gets so much right. The job system mechanically is great, new features like latent powers and a day/night cycle are refreshing, and the game visually is beautiful, 16-bit bliss reminiscent of a bygone era. Lastly, the soundtrack is some of the very best I've heard from a video game, ever. Not something I say lightly.
4.0/5.0