When Octopath Traveler 2 was released, it was immediately met with praise, and many claimed it was better than its predecessor, Octopath Traveler. While there was more than enough applause to go around for it, Octopath Traveler 2 is not a perfect game, and many still hold their rightful grievances with it.
Both JRPGs are flawed, but they have their enjoyable moments. The sequel is a stand-alone, meaning you don't have to play the first to understand what's going on, but you might come to appreciate Octopath Traveler 2 more if you do play the first.
7 Octopath Traveler - Harder Gameplay
While some may enjoy the easier gameplay of the sequel, for some of you, the balance has been completely thrown off. With the addition of latent power in the second game, combat has become easier to proceed through.
However, that easier combat makes it hard to face a challenge until you are completely off guard.
The simpler mechanics in Octopath Traveler require you to become a master of your craft rather than brute force your way to success. There's also something to be said about how harder-fought battles can be the most rewarding.
Still, Octopath Traveler 2's battle does require some knowledge of the mechanics. Without combat knowledge, you probably won't get very far.
6 Octopath Traveler 2 - An Interactive World
If you've played both games, one of the first things you may have noticed when picking up the sequel is that you can actually enter buildings now.
Instead of banging on the doors of taverns, inns, and shops begging for their wares, you can go inside! Even better is that, on occasion, your travelers will banter with each other after interacting with NPCs during side quests and the main quests.
This interaction helps to give depth to the world. The characters feel immersed in it - you feel immersed in it - rather than sitting on top of it and bulldozing your way to the end. In Octopath Traveler 2, the world is living and breathing rather than stagnant, waiting for you to make the first move before it can blink.
5 Octopath Traveler - Take Your Time
While the slowed pace of the first game might prove agonizingly boring for some, that's where it finds it thrives. The game is meant for you to invest time in - to truly devote yourself to reveling in.
Rather than speeding through the world and barely taking in anything than what is right in front of you, the slower pace of Octopath Traveler encourages you to explore.
With a slowed pace, you can observe every little detail and spot hidden things and Easter eggs. You come to love the music and the design, immersing yourself in the world of Osterra with every moment.
4 Octopath Traveler 2 - Overall Better Stories
While both games still explore the eight-story format, Octopath Traveler 2 pulls it off with much more grace. There are times when travelers can feel disconnected from one another, and every story isn't great, but the sequel still succeeds where the first failed. You can't miss Travel Banter now and can always revisit it in the journal for later.
On top of that, the Crossed Paths stories help to create a sense of shared adventure, something that the first game needed. Their stories may feel disconnected while they play, but as you're going through the final chapter, exploring each of the found journal scraps, everything begins to click into place.
It recontextualizes the entire beginning of the story, granting you a brand new playthrough, this time in a shining, new light.
3 Octopath Traveler - Advanced Jobs
Although Octopath Traveler 2 has a lot it improved on compared to the first game, there is one area it could have pulled from the first: Advanced Jobs.
While the two games have the same amount of secondary jobs, in order to gain access to each advanced job in the first game, you needed to beat their associated boss first. The only job where you have to do this in Octopath Traveler 2 is with the Conjurer.
It was one of the few Boss fights that was fun and exciting, keeping you on your toes constantly. It would have been a delight to see that mechanic, along with the unique Advanced Jobs, return for the sequel. Instead, Octopath Traveler 2's path to Advanced Jobs feels less like an accomplishment and more like a fetch quest.
2 Octopath Traveler 2 - The Day And Night
It's hard not to abuse this new mechanic for all it's worth. Being able to switch between day and night is a delightful experience, changing the mood of the game.
On top of that, stronger monsters come out at night, making grinding slightly easier than it was in the previous game. Combining this function with the day and night path actions means you don't have to stand around forever, waiting for time to pass.
The dual-path actions also add further nuance to each character, working off of their personalities and their skills. Temenos is the best example of this.
He may be a cleric and inquisitor, holy in the eyes of others. But, he is also a very curious person who finds it easier to doubt and seek out the flaws before he believes. He will rip you open and expose your sins to the eyes of the gods without so much as batting an eye.
1 Verdict - Octopath Traveler 2 Is Much Better
It's hard to find things that the first game did better than the second because there isn't much. Square Enix took the grievances players had with their first iteration of Octopath Traveler and improved upon them. In places where the first game failed, the second thrived. Sure, Octopath Traveler 2 isn't a perfect game.
There are places where it could improve, like integrating travelers into each other's stories more. Things like an increase in dialogue between travelers could be worked on. The dialogue itself can be a bit odd and disjointed sometimes.
But overall, Octopath Traveler 2 is a significant improvement from the first in almost every way.