Michael Manning – Contributing Writer

mbm6718@psu.edu

From “Final Fantasy” to “Kingdom Hearts,” Square Enix has shown time and time again that creating interesting worlds with engaging characters is their forte, and I’m happy to say that “Octopath Traveler 2” is another success. 

The sequel to 2018’s “Octopath Traveler,” “2” maintains a lot of the original pitch while sanding off the edges that made its original feel like little more than an interesting tech demo. The game stars eight playable characters, the titular Travelers, who each have unique reasons to explore the world, and the player can collect them in any order and engage with the individual tales at their own pace. 

“Octopath 2″’s gameplay harkens back to classic Square RPGS, while still managing to introduce unique mechanics and spins on common RPG systems that make it feel truly its own. Once the entire cast is amassed, and as the player finds optional guilds, they gain access to a myriad of unique classes, each with their strengths and roles in a party. Players are encouraged to customize their parties, experiment, and find their preferred builds and party layouts as they progress through each character’s story. 

With a bite many may find lacking in other modern turn-based RPGs, “Octopath 2” is not afraid to challenge the player, nothing comes for free. In combat, players must utilize the proper weapon or magic types to break an enemy’s guard and deal real damage, while in the overworld, players must fight for every advantage by utilizing their character’s unique talents. These range from allowing the player to recruit powerful NPCs, often for a price, to coercing them for information, revealing the fact that almost every NPC in “Octopath”’s world has a story going on just off camera. “Octopath Traveler 2” goes on to say that the world and its people are constantly changing, and it is up to the best of us to help steer that change in a positive direction, and every in-game system seems primed to help push this theme. 

The biggest draw of many large party adventures are the interactions between the members, seeing unique characters clash and grow closer bringing a lot of long-running RPGs their lifeblood, and “Octopath 2” has taken strides in that department. While the original focused far more on individuals inside of their sectioned-off stories, 2 is brimming with interactions while still allowing each character to be uniquely them. In between major solo story moments, other party members will interject with optional “party banter,” allowing the cast to bounce off of each other and feel much more like a proper team. 

Overall, “Octopath Traveler 2” is a robust improvement over its predecessor, offering better gameplay, story, visuals, and music. Every piece of the pie has been developed with passion and dedication, harkening players to a simpler, sprite-filled time of turn-based combat while utilizing every modern creation it can to deliver the greatest version of itself. 

“Octopath Traveler 2” is available now on Steam, Xbox One, PS4/5, and Nintendo Switch.