Octopath Traveler was a massive hit on the Nintendo Switch, reaching the impressive milestone of 2 million sales worldwide. Whilst a smartphone prequel, Octopath Traveler: Conquerors of the Continent is sure to briefly quench the thirst for 16-bit RPG nostalgia, it’s the console sequel I’m most excited for.
Whilst I loved the first instalment, there were a few nagging issues that stopped it reaching true RPG greatness. Here are some of the things I hope Square Enix tinker with next time around.
A world map
I miss a world map. Although Octopath Traveler had a map, it wasn’t a traditional overworld we could zip around on an airship in a disproportionately short amount of time. With Square Enix unashamedly cashing in on the nostalgia of the SNES era, what would bring those fond memories back more than a proper world map, all too rare in today’s age of huge, sprawling, life-sized worlds?
The areas were large and exploration was rewarded with secret caverns and shrines, but there’s something liberating about stepping out into the big wide world and searching every crevice for hidden locations and treasures, grand music accompanying every step. Additionally, it’s always satisfying to visit a previous area with new skills or vehicles that enable you to reach that pesky cave that was tantalisingly out of reach last time.
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that a real world map is a thing of the past, but if any game can reintroduce one with minimal fuss, it’s hopefully the Octopath Traveler sequel.
Interwoven stories
A common complaint of the original was the disconnect between party members and the limited way in which they interacted. It was certainly my biggest gripe with the game, as the optional party banter didn’t do enough to make us truly feel we were part of a fascinating little team.
I’m happy for every character to have their own separate story, and I would assume Square Enix will keep this general theme, but in the Octopath Traveler sequel I’d like to see some of the stories overlap.
For instance, perhaps every once in a while there could be double-length joint chapter, only unlocked when two specific characters had reached a certain point in their individual stories. With an overlap, their stories could progress together as the characters worked together to resolve whatever conflicts had arisen. This would help solve the distant nature of the party we were left with the first time around.
New jobs
Octopath Traveler started us off with each character occupying a relatively conventional class, such as Thief and Warrior. Others may have had different names, but they weren’t too different to anything we’d seen before. For instance, Cleric and Scholar are respectively white and black mage. Admittedly things like Merchant and Apothecary were a bit more novel, and greater versatility was opened up for your battle strategies when secondary jobs were unlocked at the various shrines scattered around the map.
However, I particularly loved the four secret jobs unlocked in more remote sections of Orsterra, namely Starseer, Runelord, Warmaster and Sorcerer. The skillsets were a bit more out there, such as combining different elements within the same attack, adding elements to follow-up attacks, or in the case of Warmaster allowing one party member to access all physical attack types.
I’d love to see the Octopath Traveler sequel double down on this and give us a bunch more original, outlandish jobs from the start.
A true joint climax
It was nice for every character to have their moment, and their own tale to experience. But the post-game dungeon of Octopath Traveler – quite aside from being a real pain to unlock – was no more than a series of boss fights and a few pages of exposition. We still didn’t get the chance to really see our heroes band together and inspire one another to save the day.
I suggest letting each of the eight characters complete their stories, which would then unlock one final monstrous chapter involving all characters, and rounding off each of the tales together. It doesn’t need to be an arbitrary dark castle sprouting into the middle of the map, with a demon inside about to take over the world. I just think there needs to be some common goal that can connect the party for one final push to end the game on a real high.
More fluent dialogue
Whether or not we get stories themselves to link together, it’ll still be a far better experience for characters to chip in with natural conversation throughout the chapters. I’d even happily keep the party banter skits for some extra interaction, so long as it doesn’t actually take precedence over organic dialogue.
During the plot progression scenes of Octopath Traveler, supporting characters aren’t even given the dignity of appearing on screen. Surely it isn’t too much to ask for the characters to actually be there, so they can be acknowledged and can react to what’s happening. As I mentioned in my review, it was bizarre to have instances where characters were told they were on their own when they simple were not. Even though it’s natural for the character to take the lead in their own story, this bothered me throughout the game as the stakes were repeatedly raised but characters who had been outspoken and defiant back in their own scenes were relegated to imaginary ghost figures who didn’t utter a word. I don’t know about you but when, for example, Lucia turned into a giant zombie-looking monster, I’d probably have something to say about it.
Fitting in some more lines is hopefully simple enough, but more RPGs are taking the connection with their party even further. We could see the travellers build up their relationships throughout their journey in a way that affects battle. Going as far as Persona-style social links would not really fit, but occasional bonding events as in Trails of Cold Steel could work well, giving the player an opportunity to spend extra time with their favourite characters without overwhelming us with choices.
Better side quests
It’s difficult to get sidequests right. So many RPGs end up using them as blatant padding that add little enjoyment or satisfaction. In fairness, at least Octopath Traveler mixed it up a little by including the use of the characters’ field abilities, but I can’t say many of the quests particularly gripped me.
I’m not expecting Witcher 3 levels of detail, but I’ve always been a fan of more sparse quests that involve the player more and reward accordingly. One or two per town is plenty, especially if they are multi-faceted, demanding some puzzle-solving, exploration and of course a challenging mini-boss at the end of it.
More of the same elsewhere
Changing things isn’t always necessary, and the Octopath Traveler sequel shouldn’t try and fix what isn’t broken.
The music should definitely feature the same style that made it into my top 5 RPG soundtracks of the generation. The aesthetics will probably receive a welcome tweak or two, but should definitely not digress from its classic SNES-style roots. The same can be said of the battle system, where a few new elements may be neat but its core turn-based mechanics should remain.
If Octopath Traveler keeps its charming heart but includes some of the necessary additions and deviations discussed, hopefully its sequel will be an even better JRPG throwback.
Are there any other differences you’d like to see in the Octopath Traveler Sequel?
Read my Octopath Traveler review here.
