Octopath Traveler II review: A game of simple pleasures
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RPGs — more specifically, those from Square Enix — are having a nostalgia moment. Dispensing with the graphical and gameplay trappings of modern games, like Dragon Age: Inquisition or Persona 5, Square Enix has released multiple games similar to the RPGs of yore. These are the games with sprite art, turn-based combat and deep stories told in text boxes. One of their first ventures in this throwback genre was 2018’s Octopath Traveler.
Now the sequel, Octopath Traveler II, is out. And it begs the question: How do you improve on the original while sticking to the vision of an old-school RPG? The answer is in the subtle differences and the gameplay tweaks. OT2 builds on the original in small ways, rather than with large changes, and what we’ve got is a game that is an upgrade in most ways that matter — though it’s still not entirely it’s own entity.
Octopath Traveler II, despite being a sequel, follows a new cast of eight characters in a new world with new problems. They are:
As the above suggests, each character has their own story, with the first one you play acting as the point-person for the party in all non-specific interactions. I chose Temenos (because I’m always down to solve a murder mystery) and later experienced the other characters’ stories when he encountered them.
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The new octet of heroes are a diverse bunch, in the sense that you’ll find among them whatever story you might wish to play. Agnea’s tale about becoming a
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