Octopath Traveler II builds on the original in some exciting ways. The battle system is revamped with new mechanics and moves, and path actions are easier to navigate thanks to the new day-night cycle. However, the sequel does not improve in the areas that I hoped it would. The story is lacking, and the 8 travelers still hardly interact.
Remember, this review reflects my experience and therefore everyone else’s as well. If you disagree with any point I bring in this post, then you should reflect on your opinion until you agree with me as I am correct and you are wrong. Thank you for reading!
New Mechanics
One of the major new mechanics is in the battle system. Each character now has a latent power gauge which fills up as they use moves or get hurt. When filled, that character gets access to special abilities unique to them. These vary wildly based on the character. Throne gets to move twice in a row, Hikari gets access to 3 powerful skills, and Castti gets to make medicine without consuming materials. I was worried the addition of all these different effects would complicate things, which it did. However, it is a healthy complexity which adds to the strategy. It also adds a level of uniqueness to each character as these latent gauges cannot be given to other characters like other job abilities can.
Another big addition is the day-night cycle. By pressing ZR, you can toggle between day and night whenever you want. The time of day affects lots, including what path action the characters can use. Each character now has two path actions: one used during the day, and one used during the night. Again, at first, I thought that this would overcomplicate the game, however, the more important path actions have several equivalents between the eight party members. So, with any four-member group, there is a good chance that either during the day or night, you have the action that you need. It’s not a perfect solution, but I only remember having to switch out members for this reason a couple of times, while it was dozens in the first game.
Story
I feel that the story of the first game was its weakest point. There were eight party members which traveled together, but they barely interacted and never affected each other’s story. I was hoping that the second game would have intersecting stories, but it didn’t. The main characters still don’t show up in other stories and the only major interaction is shoved off into a couple cutscenes after all the chapters have been completed.
(spoilers ahead)
I wasn’t impressed with the writing in any one of the characters’ stories. Most are bland and have aspects that don’t make much sense. Partitio’s is probably the best, but even his has several problems. I have a hard time accepting that Partitio earned an 80 billion leaf investment because he created a department store. That just makes me think Alrond is a bad investor. How could he determine that Partitio has a heart of gold from this act alone?
And let’s talk about the final quest to “Save the Dawn”. At first, I was interested in this section. The game talked it up like the entire world had changed. It seemed like this quest would be a sort of hunt to find the source of the darkness, forcing you to talk to NPCs about what they’ve heard and investigating leads on foot, but nothing significant actually changed. A few areas are marked on the map with purple fumes; these areas are where you have to go and have harder enemies than usual. The NPCs don’t even respond to the darkness surrounding the world at all, they just say the same stuff that they do every night despite the dark purple fumes encasing every part of both continents. I was quite let down.
Additionally, the Moonshade Order is an unappealing antagonist. Their goal is to shroud the world in an endless night. But like… why? What good will that do? This entire group is so passionate about this that they kill others and themselves towards this goal, yet we don’t really know why they are doing it. Ori and Oboron feel the world is full of evil people, but the Order’s plot was not to kill everyone on the planet, it was to make the sun never come up. Maybe they burn easy, poor guys.
There were too many twists in this final quest too. Why is it that nearly every remaining likeable character happened to be a part of the Order? There was not nearly enough foreshadowing to justify any one of these.
Music
One of the best aspects of the first game was its music. Few games have convinced me to get out my viola to play the songs like the first Octopath Traveler did. I’m happy to say that the music in the second game is just as good, and even better in spots!
The main 3 battle themes are just as good as the first game, but there are fewer distinct boss themes. Each character got their own “Journey for the ______ Ends” theme for their final boss, but they all sound pretty similar to me, so they don’t stand out.
However, Octopath 2 completely overshadows the first when it comes to overworld and town themes (which were already very good). Each one is beautiful, and as a bonus, thanks to the new day-night mechanic, each has 2 variations! The night themes are generally slower with more emphasis on the piano and voice parts while the day themes are faster and focus on strings and other instruments. In general, I like the day themes better, but it was great to have the option in any one area what song to hear. All of the songs fit great with their surroundings, which are stunning by the way. The music in this game is something special.
Some of my favorite tracks include “The Leaflands Day,” “Village in the Ravine Day,” “Cropdale, Village at Peace Day,” and “Village of Beastlings Night.”
Mistranslation
This is not something I usually consider a major issue. Games, especially JRPGs, have lots and lots of text. Some of the time the translators are going to miss a comma. However, this game is unique in that there are several items and skill effects whose descriptions are flat-out wrong! For example: Throne’s skill “Veil of Darkness” says it attacks all enemies, then gives throne the ability to dodge one physical move. In reality, it applies a debuff to all enemies which makes them guaranteed to miss their next physical move. There are many other moves with huge differences too such as the warrior skill Enervating Slash, the cleric support skill Resilience, and lots more. This is an unacceptable problem as these skills are the essence of strategy in every battle. Such crap.
Score
Octopath Traveler II adds a few things which improve upon the original such as the day-night cycle and the latent power gauge. However, it fails to fix major problems such as the lack of an appealing, interconnected story. I think the improvements and additions to the battle system make the sequel a better game, but only just. No doubt it is a fun traditional JRPG style game just like the first was, it just has a lot of the same problems holding it back.