In a surprise announcement, Nintendo revealed during this morning’s Direct that there’s a sequel to Octopath Traveler on the way, and it’s due out in only five months.
The 2018 role-playing game was a huge hit for Square Enix, with a mobile prequel out only a couple of months ago. But the revelation that a complete sequel is this far along, without any leaks or rumors, is quite the thing.
The sequel, currently called Octopath Traveler II, features the same distinctive HD-2D art style that made the original so visually appealing. Described as “a brand new game in the Octopath Traveler series,” it will feature eight brand new characters, and as such, eight entirely new stories to play through.
We’re in Celestia now, following Hikari, The Warrior; Agnea, The Dancer; Partitio, The Merchant; Osvald, The Scholar; Throne, The Thief; Temenos, The Cleric; Ochette, The Hunter; and Castti, The Apothecary. There will be different paths depending upon whether you’re playing at day or night, and of course the big hook of how the eight storylines will intersect.
You can see the new trailer below.
This is all due as soon as February 24, 2023, although it would be foolish not to expect some delay. All games are delayed. It’s the law.
Given this was surprise-revealed today, we can expect an awful lot more information about the game over the next few months. In the meantime, that mobile prequel only just came out a couple of months ago, two years after its original Japanese release, and the good news is Kotaku previously reported that it didn’t fall into the mobile trappings.
Square Enix proved me wrong. Champions retains the visuals and music that made Octopath a unique title in a field of pretty RPGs, and its streamlined combat is a massive improvement over the grindiness of the original game. Octopath is even better on mobile than it ever was on the Nintendo Switch.
Not long to wait to see if this full sequel can prove even better, back on the Switch.