Octopath Traveler II review: A game of simple pleasures

RPGs — more specifically, those from Square Enix — are having a nostalgia moment. Dispensing with the graphical and gameplay trappings of modern games, like Dragon Age: Inquisition or Persona 5, Square Enix has released multiple games similar to the RPGs of yore. These are the games with sprite art, turn-based combat and deep stories told in text boxes. One of their first ventures in this throwback genre was 2018’s Octopath Traveler.

Now the sequel, Octopath Traveler II, is out. And it begs the question: How do you improve on the original while sticking to the vision of an old-school RPG? The answer is in the subtle differences and the gameplay tweaks. OT2 builds on the original in small ways, rather than with large changes, and what we’ve got is a game that is an upgrade in most ways that matter — though it’s still not entirely it’s own entity.