Octopath Traveler II Reviews
Octopath Traveler II’s core strength is its characters, and this bunch of eight heroes are some of the finest you’ll find in the genre. There’s a real emotional rollercoaster built into the way you’ll experience their stories stacked on top of one another, and it’s backed by some amazing worldbuilding, a slick and strategic combat system, and, of course, those stunning HD-2D aesthetics. The original was already exceptional. This is even better.
Overall, Octopath Traveler II is an excellent sequel to the endearing and much loved first game. It doesn’t offer up anything all that new in the gameplay department, but all the new characters and their stories are nicely engaging, as is the excellent combat.
Octopath Traveler II is the rare sequel that manages to improve on the original without changing too much, finding success by expanding and polishing.
Despite the negatives and criticisms of the game, this is still one of the best RPGs you can currently play on the Nintendo Switch. The game looks beautiful, tells eight interesting stories with eight different heroes and play styles and is accompanied by a wonderful soundtrack. The world now rewards the player much more for exploring and the grinding has been made a little less painful in this title.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Octopath Traveler II is a solid JRPG that shines beyond its nostalgic tricks. With fantastic storytelling, beautiful visuals, an exceptional soundtrack, and engaging combat mechanics, the game delivers 8 memorable journeys. While it stays in line with its predecessor, Team Asano and Acquire understood the areas of improvement and worked to deliver a great experience
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I liked it back in 2018, and sure, I like it in 2022, as well. It would be disingenuous not to highly recommend it to JRPG fans, or single-player gamers in general. But make no mistake; should a third entry spring forth, I will be expecting something definitively new and unique. Call it selfish if you must, I just want to see the true Latent Power this franchise holds.
The non-linear storytelling, freeform exploration, and strategic combat of Octopath Traveler II makes for a challenging and satisfying RPG adventure.
An outstanding achievement from start to finish. Octopath Traveler II takes what made the original such a success and builds on it. It may feel more of the same but why fix something if it isn't broken. The additions made to exploration and combat are all for the better. The only real issue is that not much effort went into making the game less grandy or addressing the various difficulty spikes Octopath Traveler II suffers from.
And again, the grind is real, guys! Octopath Traveler II is insanely beautiful to look at, the story around the eight characters is better realized, and the turn-based battle system is a true joy, reminiscent of the glory days of 16-bit RPGs. If some boss fights drag on forever and random battles also demand their share of playing time, it shows that the sequel also appeals to die-hard fans for the most part. Nevertheless, the improvements compared to the first part are noticeable in every corner - Octopath Traveler II shows itself as a role-playing game on the highest level in 2023.
Review in German | Read full review
Octopath Traveler II is basically a "more of the same". Although the guys at Acquire have made several adjustments to the formula of the original, implementing interesting innovations such as the day / night cycle or latent powers, none of them can be defined as really impactful.
Review in Italian | Read full review
As an ode to '90s JRPGs, there's no doubt that Octopath Traveler 2 has chops. Its aesthetic and combat system are perfectly judged to recall the old while feeling new. The fragmented nature of its eight separate plotlines, however, means the world and its characters lack coherence and room to escape simple archetypes, while the stories themselves lack sufficient nuance to hold the attention.
Octopath Traveler 2 is on balance still superior to its predecessor in more or less every way. It has a denser world with more to do, is the best-looking HD-2D game to date, and smartly addresses a number of complaints from the original. By the same token, however, it’s a shame that other problems from that game remain an issue here - and hold this back from greatness. I wish it’d been a little braver and gone a little further - but a safe sequel to a good game is - surprise - also very good.
Octopath Traveler II is simply a better version of the original. It expands upon what made the first game great while shoring up its weaknesses. That being said, if you didn’t like Octopath Traveler then the formula is similar enough that you probably won’t like the sequel either. This is an excellent take on the classic 2D JRPG and fans of the genre won’t be let down.
It’s only made a handful of changes over the original, but Octopath Traveler II is a 60-100 hour journey that’s well worth experiencing.
OCTOPATH TRAVELER II illustrates superbly how to revive a classic JRPG. This sequel matches the original's quality and improves upon it in almost every way. Due to a few lengthy boss fights and a high volume of random encounters requiring their fair share of playing time, the game will appeal to genre veterans more than newcomers.
A competent and entertaining faux-retro Japanese role-player but apart from the new characters almost nothing has changed since the first one.
Octopath Traveler II is a very well finished game, with a beautiful realization and music. But the game is also a bit lazy and feels like a big DLC of the first game.
Review in French | Read full review
To sum it all up, Octopath Traveler II comes close to being the ideal sequel. It once again totes that amazing HD-2D aesthetic and style, and continues to build on the successful foundations of the series. The storytelling has also improved, with crafted tales that feel both easier to get into and remain invested in. Yet, the game does lack meaningful surprises in a sense, remaining steadfastly familiar to the 2018 release save for the new tweaks. It doesn’t make Octopath Traveler II any less of a great JRPG; just be sure to check your expectations at the door.
If you loved Octopath Traveler or are just a fan of expansive JRPGs, Octopath Traveler II is for you. Its cast is appealing and varied, even if the accompanying shifts in tone and stakes between each character's storyline can feel jarring at times. The combat is also a joy, rewarding experimentation and customisation, despite the amount of level grinding required later in the game. If you want a fun, if familiar-feeling, JRPG that will last you a while, Octopath Traveler II will absolutely do the trick.
The developers of Octopath Traveler 2 have chosen to keep the elements of their previous game that emphasized the player's journey rather than individual stories. In addition, they have strengthened the gameplay mechanics to deepen each travel. Although there is still a lack of interaction in the storyline, the RPG's core theme of travel has been further strengthened.
Review in Korean | Read full review