An impassioned plea for people to play Octopath Traveler II

“My personal favorite game this year was Octopath Traveler 2. I fell head-over-heels in love with the first game in spite of all its flaws (some characters weren’t as interesting as others, some plots felt meandering, the final dungeon felt like it came out of nowhere). Octopath Traveler 2, in my eyes, is the platonic ideal of the perfect sequel: not only does it give me more of what I adored from the first game (break-boost combat system, eight new travelers, gorgeous sprite work), it fixed all the issues I had with the first game (the eight travelers interact more, there are storylines where travelers actually interact in the narrative, each character is equally interesting, all of the plots feel exciting and substantive, characters all have unique and meaningful talents, the final dungeon feeling more connected to the character storylines) and added new features I didn’t realize I needed (character-specific combat abilities reminiscent of limit breaks, day-night cycle with unique world “path” actions depending on time of day, longer storylines, the ability to have more than one character equip the same secondary job at a time, better worldbuilding and lore). It builds upon and expands and improves the first game’s foundation without losing any of the heart and charm that captured my imagination in 2018. It flew under the radar for many, but for me it’s a game I can’t get enough of. If anyone here enjoys Japanese RPGs like Dragon Quest or classic Final Fantasy, please check out Octopath Traveler 2.” – Sean Etter