A sequel to the immensely popular JRPG, Octopath Traveler, Octopath Traveler II follows the story of eight different characters, each with their own story, motivations, and skill sets. The game begins with you choosing the first story you want to hear.
There is a brief synopsis of each character that can be chosen, and selecting them will put you in their opening prologue sequence. I chose Hikari, the noble warrior archetype that seeks a better future for those he leads. Of course, it doesn’t matter too much who is chosen as the first character, as every character can be recruited and assigned as the party leader.
One of the biggest hurdles of getting into JRPGs are the massive storylines. These games easily push 50+ hours, with some getting up to over 100 hours. It’s a massive time commitment and can be off-putting. By telling eight different stories, each of which is significantly shorter than what would be found in a standard JRPG, Octopath Traveler II is more accessible. The game still takes around 50-60 hours to complete in its entirety, but it’s easy to jump back into each story since there isn’t 30 hours of exposition to remember.
While the storytelling is a bit unconventional, the rest of the game is very much an archetypal JRPG. Combat is turn based, with turn order playing a key role in how things play out. Enemies have specific weaknesses to weapons and elements, and targeting those weaknesses will decrease their shield points. Bring those shield points down to zero and the enemy’s stance breaks and they become more vulnerable to attacks. They also lose their next turn.
With each turn your “BP” gauge will also fill up. These points can be used to improve attacks and abilities, up to a multiplier of four. Each character also has special abilities that can be greatly amplified when fully maxed out with BP. In challenging battles, especially the final battles of each story, using these points incorrectly can be the difference between success and failure.
Using these points with a character’s basic attack causes them to attack several times in a sequence. This makes them incredibly useful for targeting an enemy’s weakness to break their shield. However, these standard attacks won’t do as much damage as a special ability. It’s a balancing act that keeps the combat interesting.
Once you acquire a full party, most enemies will have at least one fairly easy to exploit weakness. Different character classes equip different weapons and have different abilities that target weaknesses. Some of these classes have more overlap, so depending on the composition of the team, combat can become harder.
But throughout the game, there are guilds that will grant a license for different classes. Once you find these, you can start multiclassing, as your character gets access to all weapons and abilities that the second class has. This is a very generous approach as many games offer watered down abilities, or a limited selection, when multiclassing. This system allows every character to be used in any combination to make a viable team.
Outside of combat, each character has special abilities that are tied to their backstory. For example, Partitio the merchant can purchase items off any NPC during the day, and he can hire people to follow your party at night. Hikari the warrior can challenge people to duels during the day, or bribe people for information at night. Some characters will have similar abilities that achieve the same results but with a different approach. This fits in with the theme of giving players freedom in assembling a party without missing out on any content.
There are some caveats to the format of Octopath Traveler II’s eight character approach though. Chiefly, the initial recruitment of all eight characters does drag down the pacing of the game. Whenever a new character is encountered, they eagerly ask to join your traveling band of adventurers. At that point, you have the option to either continue playing as you were, or to play through that character’s prologue.
Choose to skip the prologue, and it can be accessed later from one of the many taverns in the game. That being said, the prologue is an essential part of learning about each character’s motivations and setting up their plot line. Ignoring it will make them feel much more like a standard NPC, instead of another playable character. However, each prologue resets you back to level one and the gameplay feels like a repeat of the first 30 minutes of the game. It’s a bit of a slog, but it is technically optional to play through the prologues – although it hurts the storytelling.
The other downside is that there isn’t a system that strongly rewards or encourages swapping out party members. There are storylines that follow pairs of characters, and these only get triggered when both members are in the party, which is a marked improvement over the first game. But there isn’t a way to quickly swap out characters in combat, which is limiting.
Instead of feeling like a band of eight adventurers, it feels like one main party that occasionally has people swapped out. It’s a shame because there are several instances in the game where the assigned party members will talk with each other about what is going on. Unassigned characters don’t participate in these exchanges, which is unfortunate because they build on those relationships and show the relationships each character forms.
Despite these hangups, the gameplay and combat is incredibly fun and engaging. The boss fights are challenging, and even when at the recommended level, they still require that you take advantage of the different combat mechanics to succeed. Of course, grinding for more levels is also an option, and I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that even after starting the final chapter of a character’s story, it’s still possible to leave and level up or follow other stories.
There is a large amount of player freedom, with optional areas and boss fights. There are several secrets hidden throughout the world. Just finishing the main stories doesn’t mean the game is over, and that’s the mark of a true JRPG. Tons of content that fully fleshes out the world.
All of this takes place to an absolutely gorgeous set piece. Each region is meticulously crafted, using a combination of 2D sprites and 3D landscapes that allow for dynamic camera movement. The music is beautiful and the level of care and detail that has gone into Octopath Traveler II is obvious.
The voice acting is also great. I swapped between the Japanese and English voice actors to see how they sound, and many prolific actors lend their voices to the game. If you’re a fan of anime, you’ll recognize voices from major shows like Naruto, One Piece, and Hunter x Hunter.
It all means that Octopath Traveler II is challenging yet rewarding, full of narrative that you’ll want to immerse yourself in. It may initially feel a slog, but there are hours of play here, all of which play out across some great world design.
Octopath Traveler II arrives to Xbox Game Pass, alongside Octopath bundle – https://www.thexboxhub.com/octopath-traveler-ii-arrives-to-xbox-game-pass-alongside-octopath-bundle/
Buy or play on Game Pass – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/octopath-traveler-ii/9n2x3vzw8qnn
