Fans have been waiting five years to get their hands on Octopath Traveler 2. The original was one of the Switch’s first big RPGs and it was great that it was a throwback to Square Enix’s early days. As fun as it was, there were some problems with it.
Unfortunately, Octopath Traveler 2 doesn’t address a lot of the bigger issues in this sequel. For example, characters not in the party cannot gain experience. It’s a bit hard to go through everyone’s stories, like Agnea who is one of the weaker party members, when they have to spend so much time grinding. That is disappointing, but the sequel does add plenty of new content that fans can clap for.
7 It’s Now Multiplatform
When the original game launched, it was a Switch exclusive. It was like a throwback to the SNES days when Square games were mostly exclusive to that platform. Octopath Traveler was eventually ported to the PC in 2019 though and then the Xbox One got it in 2021. None of the PlayStation consoles ever received it which is odd in retrospect.
However, this time around, PlayStation gets the upper hand over the Xbox brand. Octopath Traveler 2 launched on PC, PS4, PS5, and Switch and there are no plans, as of now, to bring it to any Xbox console. Rivalries aside, it’s just nice that the game is available for more consoles from the start, allowing it to thrive.
6 Eight New Characters Not Connected To The Past
Players that never touched the original may be wondering what happened in Octopath Traveler. The good news is it doesn’t matter and they can jump into the sequel fresh. Like the Final Fantasy franchise, all of these games, so far, remain unconnected in any major way.
Octopath Traveler 2 features a new cast of party members including Castti, Partitio, Agnea, Osvald, Temenos, Throné, Ochette, and Hikari. Players can start with any one of them and recruit the rest as they journey through this large world. The one downside is that these characters do not interact with each other on a meaningful basis like RPG parties typically do. This was a problem with the original too.
5 Crossed Paths
The sequel sort of addresses this story problem with the addition of Crossed Paths although not in the way fans expect. Every character, from Ochette the Hunter to Partitio the Merchant, has their own story going on. Players can traverse the map, play character chapters when they want, and then move on.
Crossed Paths are side quests that will open up once certain chapters are completed for two characters. Temenos and Throné, for example, have an early chapter together. Players can return to Flamechurch wherein Throné will ask Temenos about a secret treasure in the church, leading them on a quick quest. The addition is not as good as having everyone react with one another naturally, but it does deserve some recognition. At least the developers tried to appease fan outcry.
4 Playing Around With Time And Path Actions
There were eight characters in the first game and they each had one Path Action exclusive to them. Obviously, there are eight new characters in Octopath Traveler 2 as well, but there is a big difference with the Path Actions. There are now sixteen in total as each character now has two.
Players can change the game to night or day, affecting how these Path Actions play out. For example, Throné can use Steal to literally steal from enemies in the daylight. At night, she can use Ambush to knock out NPCs to get past doors, or staircases as two examples. The day/night cycle, in general, is a huge improvement in the game.
3 Latent Powers
Latent Powers are basically this game’s version of Limit Breaks from the Final Fantasy series. Getting attacked, and attacking in Octopath Traveler 2 will build up a meter. Once filled, players can activate a Latent Power whenever they want.
For example, Osvald’s Latent Power is called Concentrate Spells. Most of his spells attack every enemy on the battlefield, but Osvald will redirect these spells to attack single enemies instead. This will increase the potency of these spells to do more damage.
2 Boat Travel
Players may not even realize this, but boat travel is a new feature in the game. It’s not explained how, but from the very start of any of the characters’ stories, players can go into the water and a boat will appear. Osvald’s story is the only one that addresses this mechanic, but it still doesn’t make any sense.
Where are these characters keeping these boats? It’s an RPG trope that has been asked time and time again. Where do characters keep items? Yes, it is absurd, but it is still a nice new addition to the exploration abilities in Octopath Traveler 2.
1 New Jobs
The eight starting Jobs are the same in Octopath Traveler 2 between the Apothecary, Hunter, Dancer, Scholar, Thief, Merchant, Cleric, and Warrior. There are missing Advanced Jobs, however, which have been replaced by four new ones. The Advanced Jobs in the first game were Starseer, Runelord, Warmaster, and Sorcerer.
In Octopath Traveler 2, the new Advanced Jobs are Armsmaster, Arcanist, Conjurer, and Inventor. The first three are similar to other jobs but Inventor is truly a new addition. It is the easiest one to get if players start with Throné. It will allow players to use inventions on the battlefield to create some unique tactics like one that can throw weapons at all enemies in battle.
Octopath Traveler 2 was released on February 24, 2023, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Switch.