Masashi Takahashi, producer of the upcoming Octopath Traveler 2 has told Famitsu in a recent interview that in response to the first game’s fan feedback, the developers have decided to enhance the story by introducing many new concepts to the retro homage experience, including crossover stories between the eight main protagonists and twists to the traditional storytelling of Japanese narratives.
The crossover stories have been created for the sake of added immersion in the game’s concept of eight intertwining journeys. This time, though, these individual trips won’t follow the traditional four-act structure — commonly used in eastern narratives as Kishōtenketsu 起承転結 — as the first game did. Instead, the developers want every chapter to emit a feeling of a different RPG altogether, and they hope to create a bridge between the characters and their worlds but also introduce an enticing sense of mystery to their respective adventures.
Unlike the three-way story structure of western narratives, the development of Asian narratives goes like this: Introduction > Development > Twist > Conclusion. While a climax is usually supposed to be the culmination of a story, the Kishōtenketsu emphasizes the high point of the story in the twist, and gives more flexibility to the writer to end the story in any way they like. However, it is still a rigid mold in which to fit a story, and readers can easily interpret the developments of the story at any point, which is why the director wants to go even beyond that mold.
To include extra variety and chances to integrate the isolated narratives, the developers have divided the continent in two, which has inspired different methods of intercontinental transportation and created a discrepancy between the countries. There will be cities where civilization is quite advanced, and eastern-inspired countries never seen before in the Octopath Traveler world. The players will also be able to change between day and night cycles with the press of a button, and the number of available NPCs and their dialogues will differ between morning and evening, adding more spice to the player’s immersion in each character.
For those who enjoyed the first Octopath Traveler, it would still be wrong to assume the second game will be more of the same, as the developers are promising a different experience from the ground up in terms of storytelling, soundtracks, and even game mechanisms. The team hopes with Octopath Traveler 2 to resolve the Memory Correction phenomena — wherein fans believe that only old games had vibrant graphic styles and resonant narratives — and to introduce a new experience that goes beyond the expectations of their past recollections, leading it to linger in their memories for years to come.
