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I'm gonna open this review up by saying that I wasn't a big fan of the first game at all.
Octopath Traveler 2 is the perfect example of an old-school JRPG keeping the spirit of the genre while still modernizing it. Fans of JRPGs from the PS1 and SNES era are sure to love this game, and I'll try my best to illustrate why in this review, while still not shying away from the flaws it has.
At the very core of it, Octopath 2 is a traditional JRPG that focuses on 8 characters with 8 different storylines that you can add to your party. There is no single overarching story at first glance, which (as showcased in the first game) can make progressing the story feel choppy and incoherent. However, Octopath 2 remedies this issue by very clearly tying almost all of these storylines together in an arc that you can see very early on. The characters also all have reasons to travel together, they constantly banter with one another, and there are even side stories that involve two of the characters at the same time. One of the major flaws of the first game was that your party felt disconnected, just 8 different stories that you jumped between until they all came together at the end. That feeling is completely gone here, so you won't be put off by constant tension breaks.
The writing itself is, for the most part, very good. You won't be getting stories akin to the older kiseki titles or xenoblade, but it's certainly comparable to the likes of final fantasy 6 and chrono trigger. There is one story that feels a bit dull and pointless, and one that makes you want to rip your hair out because it feels like it was ripped straight out of the horrid writing of the first game, but these are the inevitable low points in an otherwise great story that keeps your attention.
The combat is where this game really starts to shine. Using a modified form of the brave/default system from bravely default, as well as the robust job system that old-school final fantasy is known for, Octopath 2 manages to create a JRPG combat system that rewards skill over stats. I personally found myself going up against lvl 45 bosses when my party was only around lvl 32, and still winning with proper play. I also ended up beating the final boss 15 levels under the recommended, which felt equally frustrating and rewarding. The customization is unparalleled, and the difficulty can get immense, with an optional secret final boss that harkens back to the days of superbosses being completely unfair to fight, yet still possible. And while mowing through enemies can get repetitive if you decide to stay in the same area for a while, the game includes a battle turbo button by default.
Graphically and musically, the game is overall on par with the first, which is in no way a complaint. I found some of the songs lacking compared to Octopath 1, and the graphics certainly lost their reliance on the sparkle effect. Octopath 2 more than makes up for it with the camera being dynamic in some instances, however, and enemies having actual animations. While I do find some choices, like job sprites not being reflected in the overworld, odd, the game doesn't suffer for it, and will keep you immersed from start to finish.
So, what are some cons?
The single biggest one for me has to be the lack of proper tooltips. The game truly will feel like an old-school JRPG with descriptions of your abilities, mostly due to being poorly translated. One passive states you have a 50% chance to attack an enemy when performing a non-damaging action. This is incorrect, it's a 100% chance to attack when performing a non-damaging action on that enemy specifically. Or perhaps the Thief's disguise ability, stating that you disguise an ally, when it really turns you into a clone of them and copies their abilities for a set number of turns. This certainly makes the experience authentic, just not in a way I think anyone wants.
The party of 4 with 8 characters system. This didn't seem to be addressed from the first game. You have 8 characters with 8 stories to complete, all of which center around a certain level range per point in the story. Your starting character is forced in your party until you beat their story fully for some reason. This leads to the most comfortable way to play being to pick up 4 party members and keep them in your party until you beat all of their stories, then switch over to your backup 4. But this has issues with how your equipment and job unlocks carry over, making their stories incredibly easy to complete. You could just swap out all 8 members as you play, but your starting character will quickly overlevel, and keeping up with all 8 stories will burn you out and make you forget what your goal is. The end game also relies on you to use all 8 characters, meaning you'll end up spreading your resources far more thin than you normally would, and this just makes the end feel sloppy. The final boss and secret final boss using mechanics that were otherwise not present at all in the game makes it feel like a shoddy attempt to use all 8 characters, when *every single aspect of the game is best designed to be played with 4.* The final boss is much worse than the secret final boss in this regard.
In the end, I absolutely adore this game. It isn't perfect, but no game is. And as much as I like to hold my money and wait for a sale, if this all sounds appealing to you, that full price is definitely worth it.
The best JRPG to come out of square enix in a long, long time.