Octopath Traveler 2 Review-in-Progress

Octopath Traveler is one of the best jrpgs for the Nintendo Switch. And now it has a sequel, Octopath Traveler 2. We’ve been playing the sequel and want to share our thoughts on the game so far. Is Octopath Traveler 2 as good as the first game? Here is our review-in-progress.

There are a lot of jrpgs on the Switch and a lot of them are pretty good. The first Octopath Traveler stands as one of the best because of its fantastic HD-2D graphics, addictive gameplay and battle system, and unique storytelling. The second game has a lot to live up to and so far, its living up to its legacy and possibility surpassing it.

Octopath Traveler 2 is a great looking game. Though, at first, it looks pretty similar to the first game. That is not a bad thing at all, the first game is stunning, but it was expected that the second game would take the graphics up a notch. And then it happened. We met a prince named Hikari and decided to check out his first chapter. Oh my.

Hikari’s chapter starts out during a war. The scope of Octopath Traveler till now had been similar to the first game: personal stories with characters that decide to live their hometown for one reason or another. While Hikari does leave home, his story is more epic in scope: we see the character walking through a battlefield full of soldiers fighting. Not only that, but whenever Hikari gets into battle, we see other battles in the background. After the war is over, we see the place where Hikari lives which is so much more impressive than any town we’ve seen so far in the game. Chapter One of Hikari’s story takes Octopath Traveler 2 to the next level: in graphics and in storytelling.

That’s not to say that the other stories in this game are not interesting. We’ve been collecting a few interesting characters, each with their own unique jobs and skills. Like the first game, each character can do some interesting things out of battle, like recruit NPCs or even steal from them. Though, yes, Hikari’s day-time skill, fighting NPCs and then learning their skills, is the best one we’ve seen so far. Yes, he is currently the best character.

What about Octopath Traveler 2’s battles though? How are they? Well, they are a lot like the first games. Boosting your attack was a big part of the first game’s battle system and that’s back, along with a new latent power option that opens up if you get attacked enough. There are some neat new abilities that the different characters have too. Octopath Traveler 2 doesn’t reinvent the series’ turn-based battle system and it doesn’t have to. This is turn-based battling at its best.

Overall, Octopath Traveler 2 is a fantastic game so far. It could very well be better than the first game. We’ll continue playing it and will have our full review later in the week! Stay tuned to GamesReviews.com for more on Octopath Traveler 2.