Octopath Traveler II

Game Title: Octopath Traveler II
Released: February 24, 2023
Game Length: 92 Hours
Grade: A

Background

History: Square Enix released Octopath Traveler on the Nintendo Switch July 2018. It was a year before the game was adapted to Steam on June 7th, 2019. I played the game rather thoroughly and reviewed it on November 6th, 2019. It was totally worth it. Word got around of a prequel called Champions of the Continent. Unfortunately, the game was designed specifically for the mobile market. While the Japanese received their version October 28, 2020, it would take them another year or two before the rest of us caught wind of it on July 27, 2022. Then almost immediately after releasing that one came word that not only would a proper sequel be released on Nintendo Switch at the end of February 2023 but also at the same time on Playstation 4, Playstation 5, and Steam.

Game Comparison

The Same Problems: The most unusual thing I found about the sequel is that there are almost no improvements when it came to the issues of the original. Your first character will remain in your party as your main protagonist until you complete their final chapter. I would say that this would last for around 75% of the game. Information is rather lacking. There is very little explanation to things like what classifies as an "enfeebling" effect, what type of equipment a character is using, no explanation on how "nuts" provide permanent bonuses, what a companion's ability does in advance, or what sort of progress you made at any particular location. There are still a few translation errors. There is no "encyclopedia" to reference learned skills, monsters, or abilities. The game will not "remember" what such abilities do if you used them before. While there are additional hints to help ease completing side quests, the vast majority will still require some mental prowess in remembering where people are in the world or some clever work of mechanics.

Adjustments: Not everything is the same. For starters, you no longer need a thief to open purple chests as they no longer exist in this game. Although some equipment will have negative consequences, it is possible to equip an accessory item "Blessing in Disguise" to turn that frown upside down into a positive. The art department went to great lengths making things flashier and more pristine. They shuffled a bunch of skills around the classes. For example, the cleric's ability now improves both physical and elemental defense. Scholar can no longer directly use an elemental skill twice but needs to use Advanced Magic skill or randomly throw them in an Elemental Barrage. There are less support skills that benefit the character's vitals and more that make a character flexible in battle. This is a weird one, but you do not need to do all the introductory chapters. While I might find it in poor taste, the option is there to only know what your main protagonist would experience.

Options

Difficulty: Unlike its predecessor, there seems to be more freedom in choosing how hard you want the game. There is a large number of ways to make the game harder or easier. I counted around 6 Accessories and 8 Equip Skills that will provide you anywhere from more money to less encounters. You can take a chance to Flee from battle as long as it isn't during a boss fight. Running increases the number of monsters you encounter. You can shorten the number of characters in your party or obtain a wide-range of competitive companions and skills. Some companions can easily deal or heal 1,000 points to all members when I barely was able to manage 300 myself. There are some devastating characters late in the game as well. The advanced jobs make your characters exponentially more potent and can trivialize any encounter. You can encounter rare monsters like Caits and Octopuffs that provide you quite a boon but only if you go out searching for them. I managed to see and catch exactly one Cait and two Octopuffs in my entire playthrough. Even after experimenting with all the set pieces to find more of them, I wasn't able to spawn one in any of my ten fights through a region. Any creature boss you defeat has a rare chance to appear again in the area as one you can capture and use with Ochette. The ability Bewildering Grace creates a "curio" that can range from multiplying your experience by 100 to poisoning your entire team for 9 rounds. You can choose to visit a number of optional dungeons and areas. The game doesn't care too much about the level of your characters as it is the additive power of your equipment that determines your success in combat. This means that it is very likely you will come out ahead when finding some advanced weaponry that wouldn't normally be available for the location you are in. Even towns that are similar in level can be drastically different. For example, I can buy a level 37 platinum hatchet for 194 damage on Roque Island or visit Timberain to buy a level 40 hero's axe for 340 damage.

Interaction

Details: The game has expanded your abilities to interact with every person. Not only does each of your eight characters have an ability during the day, but they also have a different ability during the night. Unless the character is linked to a side quest, they will move around as they naturally do between settings. Some characters will only be available during one of those times. There are characters that guard houses, doors, and passageways that will need to be knocked out of the way (as they cannot be pulled away as a companion). Children cannot be recruited or interrogated, but you can still obtain items from them. This section describes each of those abilities. Feel free to role-play by only stealing from those who overcharge or act suspicious. Sometimes you'll learn new things like how everyone has a candy in their pocket because the old man at the entrance hands them out. Failing to perform a check several times without giving time to gain a level will result in losing your reputation in town. Simply pay a small fee at the tavern to restore it.

Obtain Items:

• Throne (DAY): set percentage to steal each item.
• Partitio (DAY): use currency to purchase things. Do not buy items only good to be sold to vendors.
• Agnea (NIGHT): Recommended for level check to entreat. Story-related heirlooms cannot be obtained this way.
• Osvald (NIGHT): win a standard fight to obtain all items through a mugging.

Gain Information:

• Castti (DAY): Recommended for level check to Inquire.
• Osvald (DAY): set percentage to Scrutinize where to find things.
• Hikari (NIGHT): use currency to Bribe for information.
• Temenos (NIGHT): uses an odd method to coerce people. You will engage the enemy but are only required to break down their weaknesses. Utilize defensive equipment, not damage. Use your latent ability to use any weapon.

Hire Companions:

• Agnea (DAY): set percentage to Allure someone. Companion will automatically assist (while playing one of several musical instruments) with Dance Session when Agnea uses one of her "dance" skills. It will apply to the selected target or randomly when all are selected.
• Temenos (DAY): set level to Guide someone.
• Partitio (NIGHT): spend currency to Hire someone. There are approximately 20 different merchant talents that will range from discounts from purchases, increase amount received from sales, and gaining more out of your abilities in battle. This is passively applied (in addition to their skill use in battle when summoned).
• Ochette (NIGHT): has a rare ability to Befriend someone by handing over a specific type of jerky meat "looted" from capturing monsters in battle.

Knockout People:

• Ochette (DAY): can provoke people in battle. Unfortunately, this method severely limits your encounter exclusively to your six captured creatures (and any earned through the story) in addition to any items you might have. You cannot use weapons or skills.
• Hikari (DAY): can challenge people in battle. This is the one time you might want to check every person available for the appropriate Learned Skill you want to receive. Sometimes you will be able to learn abilities they normally wouldn't be able to use as a companion. Here are some suggestions. You are only able to learn up to 5 skills and any weapon you use that your job doesn't provide will only deal 1 damage in battle.
• Castti (NIGHT): can soothe people to sleep using a limited number of Slumber Sage or Herb of Serenity.
• Throne (NIGHT): set level to Ambush.

Content

Stories: While you could technically say that each character has 5 parts to their story like the original game, Octopath Traveler II doesn't quite fit into that kind of mold outside of Hikari and Agnea. Osvald's story begins in prison and forces you to take part in the same setting for the first two chapters. Castti and Temenos allows you to choose which one of two different routes to do first during their adventure. Throne further breaks up two different routes into two parts (6 segments total). Partitio has four chapters but has three Scent of Commerce additions that supplement your gameplay. Ochette permits you to seek out three different legendary beasts that will be added to your adventure. In addition, you choose which of two pets that will follow you and the one you don't choose later becomes a boss fight. After you complete the final chapter for each character, you'll be given additional side quest(s) for characters you encountered during the story.

Crossed Paths: In addition to the main stories, there will be two chapters dedicated to a combination of two characters. Both must be discovered and present in your party. Their venture does not necessarily involve a stroll through a dungeon every time. Instead, you'll hear the first part early in the game and a second one after you complete their final chapter in the main story. This usually explains how their stories tie closely to the final encounter of the game. Travel Banter that happens during a story and inside taverns is something still available in both the original and the sequel. If you miss one, there is a feature to revisit them inside your journal.

Side Quests: There were 101 Side Quests in the original Octopath Traveler. While there is roughly half of that available in the traditional sense for the sequel, Octopath Traveler II does things a little bit differently with the other half. There are several that will require your characters to perform specific actions to complete, but there are also ones that will require you to change the time of day. Some will take you on a scavenger hunt. Your first initial quest The Traveler's Bag caters to the area you begin your story. A few encounters will simply require you to wait a couple minutes for something to happen. There are three quests that require you to stand in a specific spot over the railing to watch a court session unfold. The Bourgeoisie Boy will continue to trick you until you have a chat with his father. Stage Actors has a different outcome depending on the character you pick. In the case of Will Research for Money, it is possible to bring the man a Wealthy Investor to see an additional cutscene that offers a clue to what you need to do. Completing Goading the Grapes will periodically spawn items across the grape vine. Sometimes when a quest requires you to obtain a companion, they will temporarily hold onto your current companion until you finish your objective.

Optional Dungeons: It is very easy to discover a place that is out of your depth. Most of these locations have something associated with them. Sorting out what exactly can be very difficult.

• There will generally be a quest to visit several locations: Ruffians' Redoubt - Peddler in Eastern Cape Cold Snows - Winterlands - Ruffian's Hideout (Level: 14), A Devilishly Delicious Dish - Brightlands - Sunken Maw (Level: 34), From the Far Reaches of Hell - Al in Montwise Library - The Sundering Sea - Nameless Isle (Level: 38), and For Whom the Clock Tower Tolls - Old Clock Tower (Level: 44). Sword Hunter is a special case when you must go by yourself in Hinoeuma - Decaying Temple (Level: 40). The Missing Girl happens after you complete everyone's story in Wildlands - Ivory Ravine (Level: 50). Crossed Paths after the main story will have you visit Harborlands - Cavern of the Moon and Sun (Level: 45) and Hinoeuma - Tranquil Grotto (Level: 45).
• There are several you can simply stumble across that generally has a boss at the end: Harborlands - Lair of The Usurper (Level: 16), Hinoeuma - Sand Lion's Den (Level: 17), Brightlands - Abandoned Walkway (Level: 20), Crestlands - Abandoned Church (Level: 31), Brightlands - Mount Liphia (Level: 31), Hinoeuma - Dragonridge (Level: 34), The Sundering Sea - The Lost Isle (Level: 45), Toto’haha - Cavern of Waves (Level: 48), and The Sundering Sea - Curious Nest (Level: 52).
• Several places will have key items for jobs: Leaflands - Starfall Spring (Level: 15), Crestlands - Seat of the Water Sprite (Level: 26), Hinoeuma - Quicksand Gaol (Level: 30), Crestlands - Forsaken Graveyard (Level: 40), The Sundering Sea - Scourge of the Sea (Level: 45), Toto'haha - Sinking Ruins (Level: 46), The Sundering Sea - Shipwreck of the Empress (Level: 48), and Winterlands - Beneath the Wall / Infernal Palace (Level: 55). Two have associated quests like "The Cave Monster" for Wildlands - Unfinished Tunnel (Level: 34) and "A Mysterious Box" for Leaflands - House Wellos Manor (Level: 50). One location will have journals available after you complete all of the final chapters in Wildlands - Fellsun Ruins (Level: 24). You'll also find more in the Extra Stories portion of the game.

Gameplay

New Features: There are quite a few new things that get introduced early to the game. You are able to switch between day & night cycles practically instantly. They will have adverse effects everywhere from seeing different kinds of people, monsters, and buffs. You will encounter different monsters as you take boats in both small waters and the sea. In addition to using Boost Points, you have an additional feature called latent power that provides a unique perk to each of the characters. Jobs are available for more than one character when you accumulate licenses from completing tasks.

World Features: There are a lot of little intricacies in the game. Every time you move to a new area, the game auto-saves. While there are usually save points in each area, in the beginning of a dungeon, and before a boss, there won't be one before encountering "a presence" for optional dungeons. You do not have to immediately begin a story when you enter the designated location. Choose "A Tale For Another Day" and visit a tavern when you are ready to "Hear a Tale" to begin. You can add, remove, or swap characters at the tavern. You can also optimize equipment (outside of accessories), lock specific items down, or make exchanges with all of your members from the tavern. Ochette's home village is the only place where you have to pay in jerky. The world map shows where the docks take you with a dotted line. While you can teleport directly to these spots, you can still encounter monsters in the area. Some locations like the church are designated safe zones but are not available for teleportation. As much as I liked to personally become a Sanctum Knight, some side characters like Crick are not available as companions. On the other hand, some like Alrond that provide you experience multipliers can be made as companions late in the game.

Merchant Perks: Partitio will provide you a bunch of perks, especially when it comes to Scent of Commerce. You are able to buy records and play them on a gramophone. They will be available at every tavern to provide you alternative music when switching out equipment for your party. However, they will stop playing when you switch party members or leave the tavern. You can also read up on manuscripts about the world, but be aware that gaining access requires you to take some specific steps. You will be able to buy a boat to explore the great sea and make future revisions to it for a small fee. Just be aware that the Sunless Sea is level 36 and has many endgame areas. Your boat will replace the original ferry at the docks. Chapter 3 of his adventure will pose a challenge to build a central trading hub. Completing the task will provide you the Department Store with a convenient location to buy a lot of items. Despite these things, you will not be able to develop a way to buy all items from a single location. You'll still need to collect scrolls from people in order to obtain better equipment from the vendors.

Story Features: One major thing I must include here is how each character's story has a unique mechanic. I've already gone through the additional content Partitio provides above. Temenos, as inquisitor, will go into "Sherlock Holmes" mode and replay scenes with the help of the Sacred Flame. Castti's screen will glitch into a flashback when a word or phrase helps joggle her mind. Agnea's story, including her Crossed Path segments, will have some sort of theatrics - singing, dancing, and music - in every chapter. As a beastling, Ochette has the ability to hear what animals are saying to the point speech bubbles will appear above their head. The others have their own sort of flair I'll leave you to discover yourself.

Stories Rated: Unfortunately, a big problem with this game is how it becomes really wild and dark with most of the stories. Unlike how Octopath Traveler made all the characters feel like they were going on an adventure, some of the characters here go through some of the worst backstories I have ever heard. I'll minimize the spoilers as much as I can:

1. Agnea has just reached the age of 18 and earned enough money (that you personally can sell to the vendor and use) to follow in her mom's footsteps. She is very naive and yet optimistic at the same time. Since she reminded me much of Tressi from the first game, I chose her to be my primary. She might not know what a ti-cket is when she discovers the theater, but she is passionate enough to dance for anyone who is willing to watch. She eventually discovers the history and influence her mom left behind.
2. Ochette might appear small in stature, but she is fearless at the age of 20. Don't let how she moves her cute ears and fluffy tail fool you. She gets excited when encountering a beast that covers half the screen and doesn't flinch when their shout shakes the ground. She has a heart of a child when meeting people and believes eating meat will solve any problem.
3. Partitio has seen what both poverty and prosperity can do to people. His only desire is to make the world a better place for everyone. Absolutely nothing can stop him once he finds something useful and sets his mind to sharing it with the world. This leads to an epic chase of cartoon proportions as a scrivener follows him around and reports on his ambition. Despite not knowing what a business card is or what a newspaper looks like, he learns to adapt and provides people a solitary silver coin for reference.
4. Temenos describes himself as an inquisitor outside the laws and beliefs of the church. With the help of his comrade, he hunts down a murderer that seems to be following some kind of prophecy. Although death and betrayal follows him at every turn, he continues to press on in discovering the truth.
5. Hikari is a young prince with big problems. Not only has his brother taken over and massacred his people but he has to deal with an infernal presence that runs in his veins. Whether or not this influence is a blessing or a curse is something he will have to deal with while tracking down any allies he can from a well-known tactician to a clan that long abandoned their oath.
6. Osvald is a man who spent years in prison until one day he figures out a way to escape. While his intentions of revenge to find the man who framed him for the murder of his wife and daughter is repressed under his desire in figuring out what ultimately ended with his research, he'll encounter malformed beings and disfigured horrors created from his work when finding out the truth of his past.
7. Castti can be described as a caring mother. She will be gentle when it comes to healing people and frighteningly fierce when it comes to protecting them. One antagonist described her as the most beautiful rose with the sharpest thorns. Unfortunately, her amnesia can only have her forget the tragedies of the past for so long. In truth, she lost everything, similar to some of the other characters. Finding out what happened will lead her to a showdown against the clock to stop the disaster from happening again.
8. Throne is an enigma in a place she doesn't belong. She exists in a paradox where being free to live without death can only be achieved through ending the lives of her captors. However, she finds herself in a weird predicament when her skills lead her down a rabbit hole of extravagant proportions that will make you wonder if you stepped into a world designed by Edgar Allan Poe. Even after reading the journals that explain the situation, I was still left wondering how much reality had to bend to make it believable.

Adventure

Early Game: If you do not attempt to take advantage of some of the systems and take the time to experiment different battle strategies, the game should provide you a decent rotation between seeing a few cutscenes in a chapter, exploring the towns, traveling down routes, and a boss fight. Each story segment should take approximately one hour, with bosses taking up to 30 minutes to complete. It took me a total of 20 hours to obtain all 8 characters. Ironically, the person with Evasive Maneuvers that reduces enemy encounters was the last one I found. With it equipped, it was possible for me to traverse some areas with only a single encounter. The banter between the characters are quite hilarious to watch as well. Ochette had a hard time pronouncing Partitio and gave him the nickname "PartiHardy". Throne desires to touch Ochette's tail. Castti names a beast Wooly-Ooly. One thing to note is that many areas will be inaccessible until you reach that point in the story. This might be a good thing since some areas update after major events. Some people you encounter will also progress to different towns like in the case of Pom moving to Conning Creek or Heig returning to his lodge. Even though my team was only level 20, I was easily completing chapters with the equipment available to me. However, some chapters will require set levels from your path actions to continue. Throne's final chapter will require you to ambush a fellow at level 40.

Bosses: There are two things you will want to make sure you have: steal and collect. Depending on who you are fighting, you can get around 30,000 in funds (that amount came from a dog) and a nice weapon (even from the henchmen). Since most of the optional bosses are creatures, the amount you receive is unpredictable and you'll only able to steal a soulstone or jam. Some strategies can trivialize encounters when you can deal more than the typical 9,999 damage (using a support skill). However, I found it much more interesting to experiment with some tactics as you struggle against the increasing challenge of what an enemy can do. For example, one boss is a scholar-type and will summon larger elementals that attack all your members if you don't interrupt his incantation. A summoner-type will call forth waves of companions (that you can steal from). Some bosses, like the one in the arena, will get stronger and faster after losing a set percent of health (usually in increments of 25%). Since the stories of my struggles (and losses) are rather lengthy, I figured I would list my team makeup and rank the bosses according to fun mechanics (with minimum spoilers) down below:

1. Agnea boss is very flashy and comes in two phases (full rest between them). I personally had to do it three times: blind run with no preparation, some preparation in character composition, and finally complete destruction. Tactic: Augment All Around - Throne Shackle & Armor Rend, Agnea Latent Talent to increase Phys & Ele Defense with Prayer to the Flame with a Dance Companion that would restore HP & SP, and Temenos increase the physical attack of Ochette. Unfortunately, Temenos was stuck primarily healing the whole time and continuously being stolen away from me. Being hit with the boss's boost attack that throws every single ailment you can think of on your entire team wasn't helping the situation. Since I wanted so badly to unlock my main protagonist out of my party, I chose to finally devastate my opponent with two apothecaries cycling their divine ability to double the actions from Ochette the Armsmaster while increasing her attack power and decreasing the enemy's defenses. Did I mention she was doing 28,000 damage from a single blow?
2. Hikari boss is a rather long and brutal fight. I thought my weakest crew (level 35 at the time) would be able to make it. Tactic: Artillery Fire - two scholars, one as cleric and the other apothecary, and two hunters with the ability to use Squall of Arrows, Hikari learned skill and another with a companion. I did not know it would come in four parts: one mini-boss (able to do anything afterwards), one boss, a challenge (with a full rest afterwards), and a super boss. My freeform strategy failed twice spectacularly.
3. Castti boss has a bag of tricks that might catch you by surprise. Tactic: Pocket Thrower - makes use of apothecary's divine skill to extend items to all your party. There is also focus on using soulstones and jerky items. This wasn't too much of a hassle for me since I accumulated 2,000,000 leaves. I also tested some of the unusual items you might have picked up that doesn't really tell you how much damage or healing they provide. Even though I doubled up on the cleric and apothecary jobs with both Castti and Temenos, the boss circumvented my plan at every turn. His prickly potions would do 1,000 damage to every member regardless of their defenses (including reflective barrier). He managed to disable both my healers by locking healing abilities, which also prevented me from using any items or herbs that might have provided things like SP or BP. Although my maximum health was cut in half, two of my characters fallen, and a third unconscious, I was able to defeat him from one last glorious Ruineous Kick from Agnea.
4. Partitio boss is very unorthodox. You can get overwhelmed very quickly unless you focus on which part you want disabled. After obtaining one final license from a wrecked ship, I thought it would be fun to Tactic: Purple Mayhem with three non-elemental characters with the thief job and Throne with the cleric job (since she has that one Nun outfit handy anyways). The goal was to make a fast and evasive bunch of dagger-wielders that would maintain their health and other problems through their attacks. Between being a tad over-leveled and having some handy high-leveled daggers available, there wasn't much difficulty taking down the boss. Even handicapping Agnea with the "guaranteed critical hit" shield (that caused her to die a couple times), the team's attack power proved too awesome.
5. Ochette boss depends on what your choice was in the first chapter. It has the ability to fully drain your health in an instant and imitate your best skills. Tactic: Hunter Party - all members are hunters - was highly effective to keep the breaks up with Leghold Trap and Precise Shot. Even using Cleaving Blow on the waves of enemies beforehand gave you some massive buffs leading up to the boss.
6. Throne boss is like a mythical lord you'd find in Final Fantasy. He doesn't necessarily fight you but lock down full subsections of your abilities while sending "illusions" to attack you. Tactic: Rapid Investment - Partitio donates all his BP while Temeno doubles Ochette's turn. Salt in the Wound provides her a chance for another turn and Bolstering Break makes it so she has physical attack automatically on break. Don't do too much damage or you'll skip out on a couple of fun illusion fights. Amusingly, you can steal a couple of basic +4 Snakebite daggers from them.
7. Temenos boss doesn't necessarily do much differently than what you already encountered beforehand. Your abilities will simply be modified to a certain degree during the fight. Tactic: Necessary Distraction - make Hikari the ultimate tank with 4500 health, 700 Phs & Ele Defense, immune to all ailments, and resistant to all elements. Support skills include Ensnare to counter when attacked and The Show Goes On to make his skills last longer. Instead of attacking, you will cycle between Incite, Stout Wall, Abide, and Vengeful Blade.
8. Osvald boss is your standard typical caster. Interrupting him is your top priority. Ironically, I used Tactic: Wrong Way - take a team and assign them an opposite role (with the least skills available) without using an advanced job or duplicating one. In my case, Osvald would be the warrior, Throne a dancer, Temenos a hunter, and Castti a merchant. For added fun, they will be using old items and equipment that have negative bonuses. Only prevention accessories are allowed. Absolutely no items that restore HP or SP. Honestly, I did not think I would bring the boss down to 50% with the mere 500 to 3,000 damage I was doing per strike. The encounter is rather simplistic in nature and I would have succeeded if he didn't intensify his attacks.

Additional Bosses: There is no rule against obtaining advanced jobs, divine weapons, or rare accessories before you finish all the stories. In some cases, it can be considered as a recommendation. In any case, I kept trying different tactics while seeking out areas from the four corners of the world:

• In search of the rusty bow in Sinking Ruins, I went for Tactic: Lost Traveler - leave one man out... technically all men out and pretend Agnea is out performing on stage somewhere. This leaves Throne playing shield-maiden, Castti as the holy apothecary, and Ochette the Arms-Woman. I will admit that I was a bit nervous when a giant mammoth turned one of my characters to stone. I thought having Throne use her disguise ability to clone Castti and use Cleansing Leaf was a brilliant idea... except it does not remove petrification. Thankfully, I had a Herb-of-Grace Bud handy from one of the chests from the dungeon. Then I began to panic as I watched Throne turn to stone, followed by being shattered into pieces. I used a couple items to prepare Ochette for one final strike before he could do that with any one else.
• I faced off a mighty foe at the Curious Nest with Tactic: Lone Wolves - leave out the party members that can bring companions and caring Castti. This means you are stuck with Hikari, Throne, and Osvald.
• I used Tactic: Village People - either summon your companion or defend - on one of the islands, but the idea proved to be a little ridiculous to maintain.
• I fell into the abyss of Stormhail using Tactic: Advanced Line - everyone use an advanced job. Things went surprisingly well with Agnea creating a full party multi-barrier reflect system that caused his frost strikes to repel back at him for 1,500 damage each. Temenos the Conjurer would extend her 300 damage dagger to over 5,000 fire damage.
• Climbing the five towers in Hinoeuma was very interesting with Tactic: Night Crew - take the four lowest level members and equip them with the oddest jobs you think would still work for you. This meant Hikari had the thief job (which prevented any damage with Squall of Arrows or Upheaval), Castti doing double duty with the cleric job (and didn't have enough points for Aelfric's Blessing), and advanced jobs for both Partitio & Osvald. You have no idea how exhilarating this combination was without a dancer to buff or a hunter to slow the boss down. Let's just say that I managed to come back from the brink of death four times. Castti Diamond Shield to prevent instant death and Dragon's Helm to prevent unconsciousness came in handy. She also just learned the Revive skill. I also just learned and made great use of Osvald's Alephan's Wisdom skill to triple his spells. Too bad he became the primary target and died several times before having too much fun with it. I was shocked to find out Partitio survived a massive blow to the team with his Hang Tough Support Skill, break the enemy, retrieve my stolen healer, and pull the team back together. The final boss took me roughly an hour to bring down all 200,000 health. The 40,000 collect bonus wasn't too shabby either.

The Secret List: There are a lot of things the game doesn't spell out to you. I listed above how completing one side quest will allow you to obtain items that respawn overtime out in a field. Some of these things are really obscure in the sense that they are found outside the towns, with no vector quest pointing the way, and are easily missed if you aren't paying attention. Here are some of them:

• New Delsta Flats has a Black Market that cycles between different vendors during the night. You can even buy some exclusive items that are needed for a license there.
• Tourney Champion is a side story where I initially tried bringing a man to a girl outside the arena. The answer is surprisingly much more straightforward - ambush the man. Although they try to wrestle you into the arena, you do not have to win the fight to complete the objective. However, you can engage with Yurinas to learn a new skill and obtain an item each time you successfully win the fight. Watch the arena announcer say something different for each of your characters. You can also recruit her as a companion.
• There is a warrior on a platform outside of Ku in training. Challenge him and make sure you grab his items each time he "transforms" into a better person. You will be able to learn some nice skills for Hikari as he grows stronger after every battle.
• There is a little girl standing in front of a building in Lostseed. As you know, there isn't an option to challenge kids. In this case, make sure it is night time and simply wait for her to leave to enter the house.
• There is a leader of assassins standing in a pit during the night outside Merry Hills. Defeat them and you'll be able to hire them with your merchant in battle for huge bonuses.
• There is a little boy in Gravell with a very strange stuffed toy that you are unable to retrieve. Make sure it is during the night and stand by the ledge just west of the town. Coerce the boy with Temenos and do battle with something very mysterious to obtain a rare weapon.
• There is a suspicious and yet depressed merchant southeast of Sai that carries a few items. Steal all the items he has and he will have a few more items the next time you visit him.

Secret Boss: If you manage to complete a series of side quests, you'll be able to revisit an old boss from the original Octopath Traveler without fighting all the other bosses over again. While I did make a few attempts back then, I ultimately decided not to do the auxiliary content due to the amount of effort involved. I like establishing a strategy and living long enough to adapt a flexible perspective when faced with such opposition. I do not like restarting and planning out an attack to what I learned during the battle. So in my few attempts with a band of level 50 characters, I died after (1) learning that Eye for Eye does 1,500 damage to you from each minion from an attack that doesn't hit their weak points, (2) Eye for Eye cannot be removed with Abating Orb and activates before a Conjurer's elemental ability hits, (3) Heavenly Shrine using 180 SP hitting a broken minion and receiving a critical from his weakness only did 250 damage, (4) the eye has an ability to nullify all perks (outside of accessories) which includes reflective barrier/extra action, and (5) minions have the ability to remove characters from your party. Ironically, I never did figure out if you could switch your teams as you lose the moment all your members fall. I guess if I was level 99 with a perfect team I could do it in 3 turns, or if I meticulously planned out every element of my party I could make it to the end. Since I don't find any enjoyment in that, I'll move onto the next part.

Finale: There comes a part in the story where you won't be able to change the time of day or talk to some of the people in the land. A warning will come before starting the Extra Stories portion that leads you to the final boss. Strangely, you are able to switch between any of your characters between fights in this portion. There will be a couple of boss battles and some new (negative) revelations about the ones you've met along the way. Then you reach the final boss. This is where it gets really interesting! You will fight with Team 1 of a party of four and then must save them with Team 2 of the rest of your members. After that, all eight members will line up for the final showdown. This means that any abilities that normally targets your party will chain to everyone. Instead of giving everyone a turn, they allow the standard four-character turn with the added option to swap between the teams. The boss will only hit the four active party members. Taking down his arms will throw a bunch of ailments on your party. The boss will also prevent you from using any form of revive until you break down his shield. After you defeat him, the game will allow you to continue to explore and save before offering you the Epilogue. Here, it will show you every fight with every party make-up you had throughout the game. Then, it will show you one last event with all the (surviving) people you met along the way. If Agnea was your main character, then you will explore the city as Pala. It brings a tear to my eye to see such a farewell.

Summary

Review: Octopath Traveler II is a great turn-based game. They did their best making it as similar as they could to the original game without directly copying it. Instead of telling the story of how eight characters manage to meet with each other while going on their own fun adventure, the sequel designs the narrative with a bunch of mysteries that need to be solved through the increasingly tragic backstories of the main characters. Although most of the skills are the same in the game, they've juggled them around the classes and added new "talents" that can be used in battle. It was great fun being able to converse with almost every single person in the world and discover new options available to you through those interactions. The game might be considered easy for some, but that allows you to explore new strategies and tactics you might not have been able to consider beforehand. Do not be afraid to use items, change jobs, or add restrictions for more of a challenge. Unfortunately, the one thing that keeps the game from being perfect is the lack of information. There are times you'll struggle to know what certain items do, remember which weapon does what in battle, figure out the type of skills available to you through interactions in the world, or how potent each of the modifications in battle can influence the course of the fight. Beyond that, I fully recommend this game.

 

4-28-2023