The announcement ofOctopath Traveler 2has been a pleasant surprise indeed. The first game wasn’t perfect, but it was a perfect combination of age-old JRPG mechanics along with modern innovations that looked absolutely beautiful. It was a great game for fans of the genre which had three huge strengths to rely on — its beautiful HD-2D design,the combat system that absolutely shone during the boss fights, and the stellar music.
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While the sequel still has many things going for it, there’s no denying that a few improvements need to be made for this game to make it truly exceptional.Octopath Travelerwas certainly a great game in its own right, but there are still some aspects of the title that need to be reworked for the sequel to not be burdened by the same problems that plagued its predecessor.
8The Multiple Stories Need To Be More Connected
Octopath Travelerhad the unique concept oftelling different stories for each of the eight protagonists, encompassing everything from a revenge plot to a coming-of-age story and doing so in a pretty impressive. However, while the individual stories are pretty well-told and fleshed out in their own right, this does come at a cost.
The stories are so individually contained that the rest of the party members feel like backseat viewers of what’s happening in that particular tale. As a result, it feels pretty jarring to see a party of four have absolutely no reaction to one of their friends having a major breakthrough and fighting against a person who’s been a thorn in someone’s side for so long.
7The True Ending Should Be Easier To Access
Octopath Travelerhas individual endings for each character that end on a decently satisfying note. However, all the plot threads of the characters lead to one common point that can be discovered with a fair bit of effort.
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However, to access the true ending,players need to get through a grueling boss rushbefore fighting the hardest boss in the game. Most JRPGs use superbosses as optional challenges to not frustrate players and lock them away from experiencing the entire story, and it’s a shame thatOctopath Travelerdoesn’t follow suit here. Perhaps the sequel can make it so that the true ending of the game can be experienced without any issues, while more challenging foes end up becoming completely optional encounters.
6Voice Acting Needs To Improve
Japanese games have a pretty rocky history when it comes to English voice acting, with most games having pretty shoddy voice direction that leads to the performances feeling rather stilted, at times. This is the case inOctopath Traveleras well, where the voice acting feels rather forced and unnatural in many instances due to the voice direction being all over the place.
Octopath Traveler 2can make some major strides to make the localization more pleasing to hear. This can prove to be a major hurdle to get over, but the game can definitely be more enjoyable to play with engaging vocal performances.
5Regular Battles Should Be Less Random
Random battles have pretty much become a thing of the past in most JRPGs. Most modern games let players see enemies in the overworld,letting them either escape them or engage them in battle.
This choice isn’t present inOctopath Traveler, forcing players into random encounters after a few steps in dungeons or the overworld. This design is pretty archaic, and fans can hope thatOctopath Traveler 2sheds this part of its otherwise immaculately designed game.
4The Narrative Structure Should Be More Complex
In a bid to tell unique individual stories, the narratives of each character inOctopath Travelerend up relying on a bunch of cliches and tropes to deliver a decent story. While this got the job done, it didn’t amount to anything extraordinary either.
These simple stories should be replaced with more complex and interconnected narratives in the sequel. This way, not only will the stories be more riveting and memorable, but they’ll helpevery party member feel like an integral part of the taleinstead of just turning them into bystanders.
3More Extra Jobs For The Player To Find
Octopath Travelerhasa wealth of jobs that players can unlock in the game. Aside from the eight jobs that each member of the party already has, players can also unlock four more special jobs that are absolutely incredible in the game.
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Unlocking them is almost mandatory if players want to defeat Galdera since this task is almost impossible without these special jobs. As a result, the party feels rather lopsided with four members being way stronger than their counterparts. The new game should try and add more special jobs, especially if it wants to add more challenging optional encounters as well.
2The Overarching Narrative Should Play A Much Greater Role
After completing all eight stories, players will get the opportunity todefeat the true final boss of the game. However, before this battle, players have to go through a gauntlet of eight boss fights that dump a ton of exposition on the player to get them up-to-date on how all the narratives connect in the game.
It’s a neat idea that is executed rather haphazardly inOctopath Traveler. If the sequel is wishing to improve on its story, then making the overarching narrative more central to the plot and motivations of the eight party members would be a good place to start.
1A More Natural Way For All The Protagonists To Team Up
The manner in which all eight party members ofOctopath Travelerteam up is pretty weird indeed. Players need to go to different towns regardless of the motivations of their main selected protagonist and listen to the backstories of each character in a rather awkward fashion.
There needs to be a better reason for the eight party members to join forces, which is something the sequel should work on. As it stands, the firstOctopath Travelerdoesn’t even try too hard and just lets the characters form a team regardless of their personalities and objectives.
Octopath Traveler 2will be available for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PC.
