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While Octopath Traveler II retains the same structure of following eight separate character's stories throughout the game, it follows eight new characters in a new setting separate from the prior games. New to the battle system are "Latent Powers", special abilities unique to a given character which recharge when taking damage or breaking the enemy. Every turn, "boost points" are accumulated, which can be used for extra moves in future turns. Once discovered, an indicator is shown onscreen, and if it is exploited enough times, a "break" occurs, temporarily weakening the enemy. Every enemy has a number of hidden "weakness" attributes related to being weak to particular weapons or elements. The game retains the turn-based battle system of the first game as well, including the "break" and "boost" systems. For example, the player can choose to make the character Hikari duel characters in the daytime, in hopes of learning new skills for battle, but at night, there is the separate option to instead spend in-game currency to bribe characters for information or items.
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New to the sequel is there being distinct "daytime" and nighttime" segments of gameplay, with path actions being different depending on the time of day.
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Once again, each character has their own "path action" - a particular means for the player to have the respective character interact with non-player characters in the game world, often with the goal of getting reward items or characters to fight in support of their cause.
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The player moves between eight separate characters, each with their own purpose for traversing the game world. Similar to the first Octopath Traveler, the game plays as a traditional JRPG. It was released worldwide on Februfor Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows it is the first Octopath game released on PlayStation platforms. It is a sequel to Octopath Traveler (2018), and the third entry in the series after the prequel mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent (2020), though it features a new cast of characters and setting separate from prior games. Octopath Traveler II is a role-playing video game developed by Square Enix and Acquire and published by Square Enix.
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