Octopath Traveler II

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Similar to the Octopath Traveler, the game plays as a traditional JRPG.^[1] The player moves between eight separate characters, each with their own purpose for traversing the game world.^[2] Once again, each character has their own "path action" - a particular means for the player to have the respective character interact with non-player characters in the game world, often with the goal of getting reward items or characters to fight in support of their cause.^[1] New to the sequel is there being distinct "daytime" and "nighttime" segments of gameplay, with path actions being different depending on the time of day.^[3][4] For example, the player can choose to make the character Hikari duel characters in the daytime, in hopes of learning new skills for battle, but at night, there is the separate option to instead spend in-game currency to bribe characters for information or items.^[4]

The game retains the turn-based battle system of the first game as well, including the "break" and "boost" systems.^[1][5] Every enemy has a number of hidden "weakness" attributes related to being weak to particular weapons or elements.^[5] Once discovered, an indicator is shown onscreen, and if it is exploited enough times, a "break" occurs, temporarily weakening the enemy.^[5] Every turn, "boost points" are accumulated, which can be used for extra moves in future turns.^[5] New to the battle system are "Latent Powers", special abilities unique to a given character which recharge when taking damage or breaking the enemy.^[5]

The game retains the six weapons from the first game, sword, spear, dagger, axe, bow, and staff. It also retains the six magical elements, fire, ice, lightning, wind, light, and darkness. Depending on the jobs each character has, it will allow them to use certain weapons and elements. Like the first game, there are 8 standard jobs, which once again are hunter, apothecary, thief, scholar, merchant, dancer, cleric, and warrior. All characters can have an additional job aside from their default one and can gain their skills, except for a few that are unique to the default character. Unlike the last game though, players can have a maximum of three characters aside from the default one on the same job. To get a character another job, players must find each of the guilds first. Aside from the eight standard ones, there are four unique jobs as well, Armsmaster, Arcanist, Conjurer, and Inventor, which offer more unique skills than the standard ones, and require the player to complete unique quests to unlock. Unlike the standard jobs, players can only assign a special job to just one character.

When the player starts the game, they will have to choose one of the eight characters to start their journey. The chosen character will then become the protagonist of the story. Said character cannot be removed from the active party until their story is completed. The character will also take the lead role in events that do not specify a certain character.

Unlike the first game, all eight characters will play through their first chapter entirely on their own, and may be joined by the others on the following chapters. However, except for the protagonist, players can choose to skip the first chapter of the other seven travelers.

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While Octopath Traveler II retains the structure of following eight separate characters, it features a new cast in the world of Solistia, a setting more technologically advanced than the medieval environment of the previous game, resembling the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries. During the game's events, technological developments such as the steam engine emerge.^[2][4][6][7]

The story follows eight protagonists, each with individual narratives. Ochette, a hunter from Toto'haha, sets out to capture three legendary beasts to prevent a prophesied calamity, ultimately confronting and killing her unchosen companion when it leads the attack on her homeland. Castti Florenz, an amnesiac apothecary, retraces her past and confronts her former colleague Trousseau, who used poisoned rain to destroy a village and threatens another town. Throné Anguis, a member of the Blacksnakes assassins' guild, seeks freedom by stealing keys to her collar and eventually kills Claude, the guild's true leader and her biological father.

Osvald V. Vanstein, a scholar falsely imprisoned for murdering his family, escapes to pursue the real culprit, Harvey, who conducted experiments using Osvald's wife and kidnapped his daughter. Osvald defeats Harvey and rescues his daughter. Partitio Yellowil, a merchant seeking to eliminate poverty, attempts to acquire rights to the steam engine from businessman Roque Brilliante and ultimately forces him to honor their agreement. Agnea Bristarni, a dancer inspired by her late mother, travels to become a star and defeats her rival Dolcinaea in a competition.

Temenos Mistral, a cleric investigating his archbishop's murder, uncovers the Moonshade Order and defeats Kaldena, who orchestrated the killing and attempted to harness dark power. Hikari Ku, crown prince of Ku, flees after his brother Mugen seizes power, later returning with allies to overthrow him and reclaim the throne.

In addition to individual stories, the game features "Crossed Paths" chapters in which pairs of travelers collaborate. Ochette and Castti investigate a dark presence in a forest, Throné and Temenos recover fragments of a mirror linked to a mysterious woman named Alpates, Osvald and Partitio assist in developing a telescope while noting unusual changes in the night sky, and Agnea and Hikari hold a festival following Ku's restoration.

After completing all stories, the travelers experience visions of the Sacred Flames extinguishing as the world is plunged into eternal night. Using Alpates's mirror, they seek to restore the flames and uncover the Moonshade Order's plans. The Dark Hunter, Petrichor, manipulated events involving Ochette's companion, while other antagonists influenced the protagonists' journeys. Temenos's acquaintance Mindt is revealed as Arcanette, leader of the Order, who orchestrated multiple events to revive the dark god Vide.

As the Sacred Flames are extinguished through various sacrifices, Arcanette attempts to revive Vide and bring about eternal night. The travelers defeat her, then pursue Oboro, who sacrifices himself to complete Vide's revival. The travelers ultimately defeat Vide and restore dawn to Solistia.

The game was first announced during a Nintendo Direct broadcast on September 13, 2022, with first live gameplay footage being shown a few days later at the Tokyo Game Show.^[6] Like the prior 2 entries in the series, Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, the game uses a graphical style dubbed HD-2D, an approach that recreates the 2D pixel-based graphics style of the 16-bit era of video games and portrays it in a high-definition, 3D diorama style.^[7][8] At the time of announcement, the game was already estimated to be approximately 90% complete.^[9] The game was released on February 24, 2023, for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows platforms.^[10] A limited edition of the game with figurines of all eight main characters and an art book was also offered.^[4] A demo of the game was made available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Steam prior its release.^[11][12] Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S versions were announced during Tokyo Game Show 2023.^[13] The Xbox versions released on June 5, 2024; the June 5 release included a patch for all platforms that included various difficult superbosses to fight in the postgame after clearing the main story.^[14]

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Critical reception

Octopath Traveler II received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.^[15][16][17]

While enjoying the visuals, Polygon criticized the narrative of the main party, "When fighting, considering their strengths and weaknesses and using their abilities in concert during turn-based battles is crucial. But come to a main story scene, and everyone but the single person directly involved will suddenly disappear."^[30]

Others were more positive, with RPGFan asserting that the game improves on its predecessor, "Octopath Traveler II takes everything good about the first game, turns it up to 11, adds a few quality-of-life updates, and is, in fact, the superior game overall."^[31]

Sales

The Nintendo Switch version of Octopath Traveler II was the second bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 53,995 physical copies being sold across the country. The PlayStation 5 version was the eighth bestselling retail game in Japan throughout the same week, with 14,422 physical copies being sold, while the PlayStation 4 version sold 7,269 physical copies in the country, making it the eleventh bestselling retail game of the week in the country.^[32]

The game sold 1 million units by June 2023.^[33]