Octopath Traveler 2 Review: Beautiful JRPG, huge void in storytelling

Many of Octopath Traveler 2The most memorable moments are about human connections. Castti, the amnesiac pharmacist who learns about her lost past from her past patients; Hikari, the exiled prince who tracks down and reconnects with his allies; Agnea the dancer wants to bring joy to people by putting on shows in memory of her mother.

There’s a lot more to the eight characters and their adventures, but it’s those moments of caring that stand out because they pose an inescapable question to the game: Why aren’t any of these protagonists actually friends?

For dozens of hours there will be a combination of four out of eight together. As they explore the beautiful, meticulously drawn 2.5D world, they converge in a neat little line. When fighting, it is crucial to consider their strengths and weaknesses and use their abilities together in turn-based combat. But get to a scene in the main story and all but the single person directly involved will suddenly disappear.

The occasional prompt to see “Journey Banter,” where two characters suddenly stand in a foggy nowhere world superimposed on their previous position and chatter awkwardly to one another as if they’ve only recently met, does nothing to alleviate this problem . Neither are the occasional, shallow side stories where the characters’ paths cross. In fact, these feel more harrowing than when they all disappear because they neither develop nor show credible connections.

The same separation apparently existed in the original Octopathic Traveler (which I haven’t played), and I wonder if it also felt so at odds with the story the broader game was telling. Each of the eight narratives skillfully weaves in supporting characters so that their relationships with their respective protagonists feel like the core of the game. Unlike the travel banter, their short screen time is put to good use in building stories and personalities for the protagonists. Also of note here are the sprites, which are packed into the tiny characters with incredible expressiveness: mannerisms, gestures, even actions like smoking quickly add up.

But while the vibrancy of the supporting cast is fantastic, it only exacerbates the main crew’s isolation from one another. For example, when characters from a previous chapter appear to be cheering on Agnea for her big dance, the absence of one of her traveling companions feels powerful. Conversely, when someone threatens the pharmacist Castti and tells her to go into a shady building alone, the sight of three other protagonists suddenly appearing next to her saps the tension.

It’s a shame because apart from that strange sense of separation, Octopath Traveler 2 is convincing. You’ll travel through a sprawling world, recruiting new characters and delving into their quests while solving problems big and small for different cities and groups.

The eight stories range from passable (Partitio, the merchant’s desire to bring friendly capitalism everywhere is probably the most inconsistent) to cheesy but entertaining (Ochette the Beast Hunter might not have a great character arc, but she’s cute and funny) to move dexterously (there’s a boss fight in Scholar Osvald’s route that uses mechanical storytelling to incredible effect). Collectively, they have an anchoring thematic core about separating personal ambition from harmful greed, while their diversity creates a world rich in historical, magical, social, and religious detail.

This world is also stunning to behold, and if navigation is sometimes complicated thanks to the winding paths, vague world map, and even vaguer radar, that’s less of a problem and more of an excuse: to spend more time looking at the sun-dappled world Trees, marvel at the moonlit snow or listen to the stellar soundtrack. It also doesn’t matter if the travel takes a bit longer and you come across more enemies because you have to grind anyway. The recommended levels of the main chapters make a big jump in both mid- and endgame, so extra XP gained through backtracking is still put to good use.

Although this intermediate loop wears off towards the end of the game – you stop unlocking interesting abilities at a certain point – the pace of the chapters themselves is snappy. Most last an hour or two and involve grappling with the diverse cast of supporting characters, perhaps using some of the protagonists’ special abilities to advance, and then facing a big boss fight.

The puzzling through these encounters begins long before you enter the battle itself: team composition, gear, and skills are all crucial. For example, Osvald’s mage powers deal different types of elemental damage, but hitting someone with his staff won’t do much physical damage. Hikari, on the other hand, can deal massive damage in a single hit as long as he has a powerful enough sword and maybe a buff from Castti. Balancing these elements during combat is very satisfying when it works, although losing focus towards the end of those long fights can quickly lead to something devastating. This is especially a problem towards the end of the game when the difficulty spikes become more frequent and the fights get even longer. (It also didn’t help that I ran into a few UI bugs that prevented key text from telling me what certain abilities and items did.)

Quibbles aside, these boss fights are generally satisfying conclusions for their chapters, especially since most bosses’ abilities reflect their characterization in the story. A comically evil medic might focus on debuffing and poisoning the party, while an enemy general trained in swordsmanship will likely just hit very hard and very often.

But while I enjoy the thought that goes into the design of each fight, I keep coming back to the lack of connection between the protagonists. When a protagonist must fight a childhood friend, their similarities in attacks and strategy are emotionally effective; and there are several similar examples of this attention to mechanical cause and narrative effect. But these poignant moments remain muted by the chasm between the group – their momentum halted by the silence between the leads.

Anyone who’s spent time in fandom circles knows how little is enough when it comes to filling in the gaps in character relationships. A hand on a shoulder, a passing compliment, a little joke—anything can stimulate the imagination. There was a lot of time in it Octopath Traveler 2, during exploration and combat when my mind was free to roam and would have done most of the work – if there was a foundation to build upon. But I can’t help feeling that imaginative fuel wasn’t put into the script from the start. without it, Octopath Traveler 2 is nicely done, but there is a hole in the middle.

Octopath Traveler 2 will be released on February 24th on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC. The game has been verified on Switch using a pre-release download code provided by Square Enix. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. You can find For more information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy, click here.