Ah Octopath, a series I want to love so much more but a few issues eventually catch up and wear me down.
II does build upon what was a mostly solid foundation of the first game, adding in things like Crossed Paths to get a little more interactions within the cast, and the new latent abilities which help make each character feel more unique in battle as each one gets their own special move, like Agnea being able to make single target spells hit every target or Partitio being able to refill his BP. This coupled with better knowledge on how important gear is in Octopath and how to make full use of Bewildering Grace allowed me to push much further than I did in the original, even beating 3 stories, before it's issues caught up to me after 60ish hours.
For all the improvements this game made, the main issues I had with the first game went unaddressed here. My main issue is the game does not respect my time. EXP once again is limited to only your active party members, so if you wanna experience every story, you're constantly needing to level up inactive party members so they're not getting wiped in a single hit. Difficulty options could've helped with that as well, like having an easy mode that gives more EXP so you're not relying on propping a 0.1% x100 EXP Bewildering Grace so much. I don't mind grinding a little bit but my gosh it felt like every chapter I was having to level up a character so I could enjoy their story and it wore me down. There's also no random encounter slider so there's also the frustration of having to constantly run from battles when you just want to explore and try and find some better gear. And the most frustrating thing about these issues is that this team already had all these options in the Bravely games on 3DS.
I did manage to put 60 hours into this though, so it's not all frustrations. I adore the HD 2D aesthetic, the environments are beautiful and it makes the world a joy to look at. The stories here are a step up from the original, with Partitio trying to eradicate poverty and Temenos little mystery ride being highlights for me. Also enjoyed Throne's story a lot, there's a lot of interesting narratives here. The day and night stuff is fun, with different path actions opening up and being able to explore the seas is very cool. I also appreciate the turn based battle system and random encounters in this game felt less resource draining and less HP spongy compared to the first game.
Frustrations aside from issues I was hoping to have been addressed, Octopath Traveler II is a good game and for those that don't mind a little bit of grinding there is a lot to love here.
II does build upon what was a mostly solid foundation of the first game, adding in things like Crossed Paths to get a little more interactions within the cast, and the new latent abilities which help make each character feel more unique in battle as each one gets their own special move, like Agnea being able to make single target spells hit every target or Partitio being able to refill his BP. This coupled with better knowledge on how important gear is in Octopath and how to make full use of Bewildering Grace allowed me to push much further than I did in the original, even beating 3 stories, before it's issues caught up to me after 60ish hours.
For all the improvements this game made, the main issues I had with the first game went unaddressed here. My main issue is the game does not respect my time. EXP once again is limited to only your active party members, so if you wanna experience every story, you're constantly needing to level up inactive party members so they're not getting wiped in a single hit. Difficulty options could've helped with that as well, like having an easy mode that gives more EXP so you're not relying on propping a 0.1% x100 EXP Bewildering Grace so much. I don't mind grinding a little bit but my gosh it felt like every chapter I was having to level up a character so I could enjoy their story and it wore me down. There's also no random encounter slider so there's also the frustration of having to constantly run from battles when you just want to explore and try and find some better gear. And the most frustrating thing about these issues is that this team already had all these options in the Bravely games on 3DS.
I did manage to put 60 hours into this though, so it's not all frustrations. I adore the HD 2D aesthetic, the environments are beautiful and it makes the world a joy to look at. The stories here are a step up from the original, with Partitio trying to eradicate poverty and Temenos little mystery ride being highlights for me. Also enjoyed Throne's story a lot, there's a lot of interesting narratives here. The day and night stuff is fun, with different path actions opening up and being able to explore the seas is very cool. I also appreciate the turn based battle system and random encounters in this game felt less resource draining and less HP spongy compared to the first game.
Frustrations aside from issues I was hoping to have been addressed, Octopath Traveler II is a good game and for those that don't mind a little bit of grinding there is a lot to love here.