In early June, Square Enix released the beloved role-playing game Octopath Traveler on PS4 and PS5 consoles and Octopath Traveler II On Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles.
Additionally, both games have been added to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. This means you can finally play all People from all directions Basically any game on a non-cloud based gaming platform.
At this point in time, Square Enix was kind enough to provide me with PC review codes for both games. Everything below is my own opinion.
If you would like to purchase a copy of any of the games, you can purchase them from your favorite store, including the stores below, which also support us through GeekTyrant as affiliate links.
Octopath Traveler (PC) from Humble Store
Octopath Traveler II (PC) from Humble Store
Octopath Traveler II (Nintendo Switch) from Humble Store
GameStop’s various platforms
Since launching with OCTOPATH TRAVELER in 2018, the OCTOPATH TRAVELER series has sold over 4 million copies worldwide*, popularizing the unique HD-2D art style: a stunning fusion of 2D character design and beautiful 3D worlds.
Both games are standalone experiences set in different worlds, with eight different protagonists, each with their own story to explore and path-based action to play with.
Players will embark on a grand adventure and guide their journey based on the character they choose to play.
I decided to review these two games together. I know, it’s a bit of a weird move, but ultimately I feel like a lot of my thoughts on both games are the same, so there’s no point in doing two separate reviews.
I also want to disclose that I played these games entirely on my Steam Deck (on which they all run perfectly), and because they are both very long games, I set up each one before writing this review Game play requires at least 4 hours. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the following games.
If you don’t know, Octopath Traveler It’s truly a game that made the HD-2D art style very popular and more mainstream in 2018. Octopath Traveler II It continues the aesthetic style when it was launched in 2023 last year.
This means that the characters are 2D sprites, but they are in a 3D environment, creating stunning visual effects. It feels nostalgic due to the pixelated art, but feels more alive and larger due to the 3D elements. I’ve become a big fan of it.
Additionally, the character and creature designs are excellent. This is a game that invites you to stop, watch and accept.
Next, let’s discuss audio. This is probably my favorite aspect Octopath Traveler series. Jin Jingdian Creating what may be the most perfect soundtrack in a video game. On many occasions, while playing I would stop and tell my wife to listen to the music. It’s incredible!
The sound effects are also incredible and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the voice acting. The casts in both games are killer and you can hear the quality coming through in every aspect of the game.
I personally don’t like the little voice acting moments where the voice actor just records the first 1-2 words or other character’s name and then you have to read the text bubble (which personally gives me all or none), but this feels like such a small complaint.
Now it’s time to talk about gameplay. For me personally, turn-based RPG combat can be very hit or miss. Sometimes it felt too tough, sometimes I felt like I didn’t need to change my strategy at all until I reached the final boss, which took me dozens of attempts, and sometimes it was engaging enough in a way.
Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler II For me, it has been a mostly positive experience. In the bigger fights, however, I felt challenged, but not too much. I attribute this to two main factors.
First, each enemy has a set of weaknesses that you can exploit to breach their defenses. The nice thing is that when you hit an enemy with their weak point, it unlocks an icon underneath the enemy that serves as a visual reminder of that enemy’s weak spot in combat and in all future encounters.
Using a weakness also lowers their defense, and when it drops to 0, they lose their next turn and become more vulnerable to attacks. This can really help guide your current strategy.
Another major factor is the nudge mechanism. Each turn, each character receives a boost point. You can then spend boost points (up to three) to power up your attacks, which for some attacks will also double the number of attacks you unleash.
For example, if you enhance the area of effect of a fireball spell, it only seems to increase the damage. However, if you power up your sword attack, you can swing the sword up to four times. This can really help destroy an enemy’s defenses based on their weaknesses, adding another layer of strategy that’s easy to understand but takes time to master.
My first complaint is Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler II It’s that I want the enemy to show health. I know you can unlock skills that let you see how much health an enemy has at the time, but I really want a health bar that I can keep an eye on and better gauge if my team is doing well and if I’m wasting more strong attack, or if my current strategy doesn’t hit hard enough. The fact that this is honestly my biggest complaint should tell you how incredible these games are.
As you fight, you earn points for upgrades and JP that can be used to purchase new skills. I actually like this JP system. Additionally, once you have your fourth skill, the character unlocks their first support skill, which is a passive buff. Over time, additional support skills will be unlocked.
One thing I do find weird about these games is that sometimes you go fight a boss or something and the art shows the boss or some soldiers as these big, more detailed pieces of art, but your party is still pixel art. I don’t hate it, but part of me does wish we’d seen bigger party art in bigger battles.
Another important aspect that I think is important is that each character has a unique action that they can interact with NPCs in the overworld. Some will do useful things like make NPCs follow them. Others can buy and sell things to them, while others can still steal from NPCs. I don’t like challenging NPCs to fight, especially provocation. From what I’ve played, it doesn’t seem very useful.
if you are curious Octopath Traveler, I want to say, it’s really good and worth it. In fact, it scores right here. Definitely worth playing if you like JRPGs.
