The original Octopath Traveler title was a trendsetter in all the ways that matter. It was not only a callback to the RPGs of old in terms of its sprites, turn-based combat, and random battles, but an advancement of the genre itself. It was the game that brought 2.5 HD graphics to bear and led to more RPGs being made in this manner. It also was bold enough to give players eight very different stories for gamers to play through via eight very different main characters. It was a big hit, and so at the recent Nintendo Direct, it was revealed that Octopath Traveler II would be coming in February of next year.
Then, at the Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix held a special presentation and highlighted many of their new and upcoming titles, including Octopath Traveler II. During its 20-minutes of time, it showcased not only the gameplay but was given a lot more details on what fans could expect from the sequel.
For example, the team making the game was indeed the ones behind the original. Square Enix also admitted it had sold over 3 million copies so far, with over 1.5 million being on the Nintendo Switch, where it debuted. Anyway, the sequel will feature you in a brand new world known as Solistia, where you will inhabit eight brand-new characters with eight brand-new stories.
In terms of the combat the “Boost & Break” system will once again be in full effect. This, of course, refers to the finding and exploiting of enemy weaknesses, whether they be from blades or magic, and then using that against them. Also, there’s the conserve “Battle Points” in order to make certain attacks of yours stronger and make devastating attacks. This level of strategy was part of what made the original title so much fun for RPG players because it added a lot of depth to the gameplay, especially during boss fights.
Then, there are the “Path Actions,” where each of the eight protagonists will have special abilities they can use on NPCs all over the world. The twist in the sequel, though, is that your Path Actions will be different depending on whether it’s day or nighttime. That cycle is very much new to the title, and apparently, there will be many key differences that happen in day and night times that players will have to adapt to and exploit.
But arguably the biggest thing of all is the “Crossed Paths’ feature. In the original Octopath Traveler, while the eight protagonists worked together, they only slightly acknowledged one another in their journeys. Here though, they’ll be more “intertwined” and thus interact with one another in grander ways.
The gameplay for Octopath Traveler II can be seen at about the 5 hour 15 minute mark below:
Source: Nintendo Everything
