Octopath traveler 2 is a fantastic experience that you should play 100%, i became a fan of the series when I first played 1 on console and I’m currently replaying 1 on pc and I must say octopath traveler 2 is just a way better experience than 1, octopath traveler 1 had a bunch of issues that made the whole experience a bit weaker, in octopath 2 the gameplay, story, character interactions, world and the music are way better than in 1 so let’s go by part.

The gameplay is an improvement over 1 being way faster this time around while adding a lot more options especially with the latent power addition, each character now will get their own unique skill to use in battle which makes it so you have more options when it comes to planning your turn as an example the thief can use her latent power to get an extra turn right after she finishes her current one, sure it’s a simple power but it adds a lot more options when it comes to dealing with a fight, I will say the game is a lot more easy this time around compared to 1, I only really had issues with one fight and that was because of a gear issue besides that one fight I rarely if ever got a game over but still the gameplay is fantastic.

The story while I think it’s great it does have some weak moments from time to time, all of the characters go to a pretty decent arc but a few of the stories start off strong and end up on a weak note so that can be a bit disappointing for some people, but the story does do its job to keep the player entertained and striving to reach a goal so its fine for the most part.

Character interactions is something that I feel needs to be mentioned since it goes hand to hand with the story as well, this time around octopath 2 has a lot more voice acting compared to 1 and I think of the most minor but impactful changes the game did was making the characters have small interactions with each other while being in a fight, for example if Agnea the dancer breaks the armor of the enemy the next character that goes after her will say something like “thanks Agnea” it might seem like it’s not a lot but in 1 it really felt like the rest of the party members didn’t even acknowledge each other which is not the case here, besides having those small interactions in the middle of battles the characters also have their own “duo stories” where 2 party member will have a special story complete with fully voiced cutscenes and these add a lot to the character interactions It really makes it feel like these are travelers that just happened to meet on the road and ended up developing a friendship, plus party banter is back again these time these are a lot more frequent so these are pretty cool changes compared to 1, it even goes a step further if you go for a complete playthrough so yea it’s a great change.

The world of Solistia is a lot more interesting compared to Orsterra, while in octopath 1 I felt a lot of the areas lacked a lot of I guess “distinct” feeling in 2 that is no longer an issue, I very rarely felt a city or area looked like another one, one moment you can be exploring a forest and the next one you are going to a city in the middle of snowy mountains, the next moment you are going to a city that already has technology like the steam engine, Solistia really feels like a world that is filled with magic while being a world that has steampunk technology making the areas to be quite unique when exploring.

The music is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ masterpiece, there was always a piece of music for every situation and I mean EVERY situation, one moment you could have a sad melody for the plot of a character, the next one you can be walking by a city and hearing a nice tune that goes perfectly for your character just exploring the city and of course there is the boss theme which is just fantastic it really adds a lot to the fights making them more memorable, especially when the characters theme transitions into the boss theme making it so damn epic.

TLDR: Octopath traveler 2 is a fantastic experience that I feel everyone should give a try at some point, is it a perfect game? Hell no it still has some problems but comparing it to 1 this game is a straight upgrade in every single part, this game kept everything that made octopath 1 good and fixed everything that made octopath 1 bad.