“Octopath Traveler I” is a masterpiece of game design. From the memorable stories to the finely crafted turn-based RPG combat, the game shows just what the artistic medium of video games can accomplish. Making a sequel to such a game might cause it to lose its charm as the developers try to fruitlessly recapture the magic of the first title. However, the 2D-HD team managed to hold on to all of the near-flawless aspects of the original while fine-tuning other elements to make “Octopath Traveler II” even better than the previous release.
“Octopath Traveler II” holds to the adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Every aspect of the first game remains nearly untouched in this sequel, from the gameplay’s brilliant Break/Boost system to the vibrant visuals characteristic of Square-Enix’s HD-2D development group to the euphoric soundtrack to the satisfying storylines. The developers understood what worked with the original game and knew not to innovate heavily and needlessly. This does not mean this game is simply a repeat of the first title, as “Octopath Traveler II” also refines its design to near perfection.
For example, the gameplay received new features to enhance the experience. In addition to having access to every other character’s unique class, the repertoire of the main cast now features two passive abilities, two overworld actions and limit breaks. These abilities help the playable characters feel less like empty templates for good equipment and classes. Additionally, this lets the player develop intricate strategies, as the restriction of each character’s unchangeable primary class acts as a perfect breeding ground for creativity.
The layout of the world also received massive additions, allowing for more exploration! Characters can now traverse over water thanks to their convenient canoes, which makes the layout of each locale feel more intricate as players can wander around and often come across rewards for their curiosity. The game also lets the player change the time of day with the press of a button, which allows for more in-depth exploration.
“Octopath Traveler II” also fixes the biggest complaint placed against the first game: the lack of interactivity between the characters. Whereas the characters in “Octopath Traveler I” lacked a reason to assist one another in their journeys, the game takes the time to give characters a reason to help one another via brief scenarios where characters will run into the party and request to join. This lets every character’s tale flow more smoothly than in the original release, wherein other main characters haphazardly dropped into the middle of a different main character’s opening chapter.
The presentation also received several upgrades, making an already beautiful game look and perform amazingly. Once-static enemy sprites now feature animations, battles on the sea involve the same canoes used to traverse the water, characters complement each other when they break the enemy’s defenses and more! Furthermore, the setting shifted from a medieval land to an iron-age society, creating striking visuals in the form of glowing landscapes and bustling towns. These elements combine to make one of the most vibrant worlds ever seen in an RPG.
The only subpar aspect of the design is the writing of certain plots. Not every storyline deals with bad writing, as characters like Osvald, Temenos and Agnea still showcase the HD-2D team’s capabilities of writing engaging storylines and intriguing characters. However, characters like Throné–while still well-written–feel rushed in their character development. The game needed to spend more time on the characters in this storyline, as playing through Throné’s opening chapter felt like a summary of events rather than the actual events themselves. Of course, when writers need to craft eight different stories, some of them will inevitably require polish.
Certain aspects of the performance also suffer from the occasional quirk. Non-player characters tend to fade in suddenly after a cutscene or a shift in the time of day, which feels jarring in this otherwise well-running game. Additionally, although this could be due to the worn-down hardware that I used to play this game, the graphical resolution drops briefly upon launch. Neither of these severely detracts from the game, thankfully!
All in all, I give this game 10/10 and I highly recommend it!
