Octopath Traveler II (Nintendo Switch) Review

Upon starting Octopath Traveler II, players are greeted by the beautiful HD-2D graphics that were a big selling point for its predecessor. The pixel art used may not be everybody's cup of tea, and some detailed cutscenes with the characters could definitely enhance the experience, but it just has a certain kind of charm this way.

Upon starting the game, a starting story has to be chosen, one out of eight. This can be tricky, as each story comes with an interesting character and background. Not to worry though, as throughout the game each character and their own story can be explored over time. When choosing which story to play, it often comes with beautiful pencil art of the characters. These pieces would be great to view in some kind of gallery.

It is now time to venture out into the world. Each character comes with their own set of skills due to their job, however some skills are quite similar to each other which is a bit of wasted potential. The battle system is turn-based and does not seem to be as difficult as it was in Octopath Traveler, which is a relief. Nevertheless, strategy is key, and it is important to keep that in mind, especially when facing strong opponents.

While exploring, the party may encounter different guilds which allows party members to take on a second job. This can increase the types of weapons a character can use and grant the in-battle abilities connected to the job.

There is no single linear path through this game, and areas come with different levelled enemies. This means that certain areas cannot safely be explored until the party has reached a certain level, or game over is imminent. A welcome addition is the 'Crossed Paths' side stories that require two characters to be in the party in order to play out in certain areas, and the 'Travel Banter' gives a bit more insight into the character of the different party members.

Naturally, the different parts of the world are interesting and great to explore. Certain side-quests promise some extra income or items, and the main story quests range from being intriguing, over sad to heart-warming.

Octopath Traveler II runs well on Nintendo Switch in general, but there are certain hiccups during which the game seems to struggle. This was a bit worrying as the game started lagging quite a bit, which is disappointing, considering that the gameplay is kind of simple. There are the occasional glitches as well, for example characters getting stuck somewhere, but luckily this can be circumvented using a fast travel method which was available.

The soundtrack is amazing, reusing themes from Octopath Traveler but also incorporating new music. Most characters are voiced as well, and the voice actors are doing an amazing job here. Generally speaking, Octopath Traveler II feels like a piece of art, with the way the different areas of the map and its towns and cities look and feel.