Octopath Traveler 2 is now available after a smashing success back in 2018 when Octopath Traveler first came out, and Square Enix has done it yet again with the sequel. It is available on Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4 and 5, but sadly, Xbox fans will be missing out this time around.

While Octopath Traveler 2 is a new story, it still keeps a lot of the groundwork from the first game, mainly the graphics and animation style, with the characters being 2D but being able to explore in a 3D environment. While the playable world and backdrops are painted in a 16-bit style, there is a lot of detail in the setpieces that work perfectly, helping it feel like Square Enix is keeping with its roots and using older games like Final Fantasy as the inspiration.

It has been a while since I played the first Octopath Traveler, but I feel there have been new additions to the combat camera, especially when performing massive attacks. The camera will pan across to focus on the damage being dealt, rather than being a fixed perspective as most turn-based RPG games seem to do. The elegant soundtrack, specifically created for the game by Tasunori Nishiki, does not disappoint, and from the battle music to the somber orchestra sections, the whole soundtrack breathes extra life into the game.

There are eight new characters for Octopath Traveler 2, and players can freely pick who they start with, as it does not impact any direction the game goes in, and over the game, you can explore and recruit all the possible characters into your party to experience the skills of each character and learn their story. Firstly, Hikari the Warrior. A prince of his land, he seeks to find others that can help him in his ambition to bring peace to the lands. Hikari was my starting character because he’s based on the samurai, complete with the outfit and style, and I am a sucker for samurai. Throné is a thief wanting to get away from her violent lifestyle and start fresh.

Osvald the Scholar has a dark story, as he was framed for the murder of his family and spends his time plotting revenge. Castti the Apothecary suffers from memory loss, and all Castti knows is that she has a skill for mixing items to tend to people, but she seeks to find answers about herself.

Temenos, the once relaxed cleric, now sets off to find out the truth behind what befell his church and the lands. Partito the Merchant comes from a town that in the past did great trade, but over time, poverty has struck the town, so he sets off to find a way to bring wealth to all. Agnea the Dancer is a small-town girl that loves to perform and spread joy with her dancing, and she seeks to make her dreams come true and spread joy, and lastly, we have Ochette, the Hunter, part of t beastling race, who learns of the fate of her island. She sets off in hopes to find the three creatures of legends to help save her home.

While the backstories of each character are different, they all follow the same main objectives. What I like is the shared story that plays out as you progress through the game. Characters will interact with each other, building bonds as they adventure together, offering some amazing details and opinions that the characters will have on various matters.

The combat has stayed the same in terms of the break and boost combat system; when attacking, you will see small boxes under the enemy, and these will be empty until you learn what weapon or magic works against them. Boxes will then display an icon of what works, and to break and stagger an enemy, you need to break their guard. This is displayed next to the boxes of what works against them, and it takes the form of a shield icon with a number on it, so if the number is four, you will need to land four hits with an attack that works against them to break the unit. This will result in having that enemy stunned and skipping their next action.

The boost skill can be used in any turn as long as you have BP, and this is earned each turn, so you can stock up on BP to unleash big attacks. Just keep in mind that you can only spend three BP in total for an attack. This will result in a more powerful attack and is ideal to use on broken targets, especially boss encounters. Each character still has a unique ability that can be performed out of combat, like recruiting villagers to assist in combat, or as sparring partners for people to learn new styles of attacks.

A new battle system is Latent Power, and each character has this skill, but it’s unique per character. These skills can have a wide variety of abilities, such as dealing out massive damage, being able to craft without using items, replenishing health based on damage output, and much more. Latent Power is earned as the character takes damage, if they break an enemy, or by using items to fill the Latent Power bar. If I was to compare latent power with anything, I would say they are like Limit Breaks from Final Fantasy.

While exploring has stayed the same in the grand scheme of things, there are new fun features for us to play with, and the one I loved the most, as it made grinding levels much easier in the early game, is the ability to change day to night. This results in harder enemies spawning during encounters, but it will also bring new potential opportunities with villagers that only show up at night. During the night, the eight characters will also behave differently in terms of their ability, from being able to bribe people for information to helping them sleep, either knocking them out or giving them a potion.

Another new feature to the exploration side of Octopath Traveler 2 is being able to set sail. You do not need to do anything special to do this as all characters will have a boat at the start of the game. This opens up the chance to find hidden treasure or fight monsters from the depths, but it can also be helpful in dungeons. My only complaint about the exploring and quest progression is how the next quest markers are not displayed and you will need to actively keep checking what steps you are on.

The end game will trigger when all the characters’ stories are finished, and you will then be able to take on the optional final chapter, but beware, it is a challenge, so keep in mind that it never hurts to keep farming and building up before taking on the final task of the game and enjoy saving the land.

Octopath Traveler 2 is another smashing hit from Square Enix, and after how well the first installment was received, the second is just as good. I was particularly drawn to the freedom the game offers – being able to pick who to start with and who to recruit when I wanted to. It will be a heavy hitter for the Game of the Year in the RPG category.

Written by: Shane Walsh