The reviews are starting to roll in for the highly anticipated new game in Square Enix’s Octopath Trailer series, Octopath Traveler II. The long-running adventure game on Nintendo Switch is currently underway Metacritic with a score of 84 based on 28 critic reviews (11.30am UK time) The vast majority of reviews for Octopath Traveler II hover around the 8/10 mark which is good and the team seems to have listened very carefully to feedback on the original Octopath game as we would make something approaching RPG excellence. However, it should be mentioned that IGN’s review notes that the Nintendo Switch version has a few minor issues, but nothing that breaks the game. Hopefully the issues will be fixed with an upcoming software update. There’s a demo for Octopath Traveler II on the Nintendo eShop, so if you want to play around with it before buying, that might be a good idea. Here is a selection of reviews:
“But what really surprised me Octopath Traveler 2 the richer the sequel. This is a lavish game with unexpected attention to camera angles, lighting and music. It is incredibly cinematic and dynamic. Even just wandering the roads as you go from one space to another sends people into the foreground and into the background, moving around various kinds of features. The art is flawless. There are times when using light during the day can almost wash away some ghosts, but even so it’s remarkable to see the depth, dimension and detail that emerge as you explore homes, roam the world and encounter enemies.”
“Octopath Traveler 2 begins with the promise of adventure and journeys that show how characters grow and shape the world, sending you across a lush world as you help each individual and, along the way, make Solistia a better place. There is so much potential here, and everyone can choose how to approach it all. More importantly, it’s accessible, ensuring that everyone can appreciate the stories that Square Enix and Acquire will tell.”
“While the structure is unchanged, Square Enix has made some welcome tweaks to most job classes, including several new abilities that change the course of battle and keep the combat fresh. One of these new enhancements is each character’s hidden power, an ability that augments their other skills in powerful ways. Encounters feel better balanced, with a taut rhythm of smart choices at the right moment, and they don’t outstay their welcome.”
“Octopath Traveler II does what a great sequel should. Instead of breaking new ground left and right, it improves on the original in almost every way and feels more confident in the stories it’s telling. There’s still room for improvement in some of its sharper areas, but Octopath II is an incredible achievement all around.”
“On the Nintendo Switch, I found Octopath Traveler 2 to be somewhat of a step back from the original. The amazing 2D/3D art style returns, and the areas appear to be filled with even more eye-pleasing 16-bit papercraft, but some of the lighting effects I loved from the beginning – especially the glimmer on the snowfields – are gone. I also ran into an issue where certain boss battles would stop completely long enough for me to start panicking, as well as certain cutscenes stacking up and requiring me to hold ‘B’ to skip. A full exit and load fixed these issues, but it was a huge problem and caused some battles to take longer – even many longer – than they should for it to run smoothly.”
“Once again I’m delighted with Octopath Traveler and its style – but five years after the original, it’s not as strong. So little has changed in his battles, and this sequel sticks a little too closely to the original systems without expanding on them too much. Especially now that the 2D/3D art style is the established look, the still nice visuals just don’t stand out as much anymore. Regardless, the combat system is still quite fun, and finding the best course of action to exploit weak points, knock enemies unconscious, and then land on them with as much force as possible remains satisfying. I also found myself more invested in the stories this time around, and the way it eventually comes together is more interesting and cohesive than the first. If you liked Octopath Traveler (or even any of the Bravely Default games), Octopath Traveler 2 is another good old 80 hour JRPG – feels like I’ve played before.”
