History VideoGame / OctopathTravelerII

** Like the original, the number of human antagonists who ''don't'' burst into evil laughter (or let out sinister chuckling) at least once can be counted on one hand.
** Throné, while [[DarkIsNotEvil not evil]], is prone to sinister chuckling after successfully Stealing from, or Ambushing, an NPC.

* ExactWords: In Temenos' Chapter 1, Vados' Coerce info refers to him as a "religious zealot", suggesting that he is devoted to the Order of the Sacred Flame. [[spoiler:In Temenos' Chapter 2, it is revealed that Vados is responsible for the murder of Pontiff Jörg, and that his devotion lies with [[GodOfEvil Vide]]]].
* ExactlyExtyYearsAgo: The flashback explaining [[spoiler:Kaldena's backstory]] states that it happened exactly thirty years ago. [[spoiler:This places it right about the time Temenos was born...]]

* FreezeFrameBonus: In Hikari's Chapter 5, after defeating the final boss, [[spoiler:after Kazan tells Hikari to go outside to declare victory, the scene fades to black. As it fades to black, Kazan looks at the now-abandoned Darkblood Blade.]]

** In the advertising, each character's story was described as "A journey for ___." The pre-boss fight music for each character is also named "For ___" accordingly (e.g. "A journey for home" and "For Home" for Hikari.) [[spoiler:The final chapter is referred to in-game as "the journey for the dawn."]]

* '''Temenos [[WhiteMage the Cleric]]''': A [[TheGadfly flippant]] church inquisitor hunting down a murderer who seems to be guided by prophecy. In addition to "Guide," he can "Coerce" people at night, entering a BattleAtTheCenterOfTheMind to get information from them. He can Summon people in battle, and also auto-applies debuffs to enemies in battle at night.

** Since each traveler will be alone in their starting chapters (whether they are the starting character or not), the three squishiest characters (Temenos, Osvald and Agnea) will be accompanied by a sturdier temporary character until their first boss is defeated, and they join your party (or start their journey, if they are the first traveler). This is unlike the first game, where starting with fragile characters (more particularly Primrose) could mean a difficult chapter 1, as dying was very easy.

** Beastlings in general seem to age much slower than humans. Ochette is 20 years old despite still looking like a child, and the leader of the Hunters' Guild is ''120'' years old despite looking much younger than that.

* SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain: The game is fairly evenly split between [[TragicVillain villains you want to give a hug]] and [[HateSink villains you want to punch in the face]]. [[spoiler:On one hand, you have characters like [[DeathSeeker Father]], [[FallenHero Trousseau]], [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Kaldena]] and [[TragicMonster the Darkling]], whose actions were the result of circumstances beyond their control. On the other, you have characters like [[OneBadMother Mother]], [[MadScientist Harvey]], [[TheCaligula Mugen]], and [[SerialRapist Claude]], who are utterly monstrous individuals with no redeeming qualities to speak of. [[ThePrimaDonna Dolcinaea]] is the odd member out, as she's just a major snob and doesn't even qualify as a villain.[[note]]The worst she did was trying to forcibly evict the people of East Sai from their homes and renovate the place into [[{{Egopolis}} a resort in her liking]]. And that was more out of inconsideration towards their feelings rather than any genuine malice.[[/note]] And even then, she grows out of it by the end of Agnea's route.]]

* AnAesop: Each story has a CentralTheme that's usually directly addressed in some way during the third or fourth chapter (accounting for where the game generally expects the player to be in the context of characters with route splits.) with a central, unifying theme of hope uniting them:
** Ochette's story revolves around the fact that hatred begets hatred, especially among people who don't understand each other. The reason all the Creatures of Legends take so much effort to bring home is that each of them (or, in the case of Cateracta's guardian, Alpione) have been harmed in some way by others and respond with distrust and vitriol when Ochette tries to initially entreat them. It's only a result of everyone trying to move past their hatred that the Night of the Scarlet Moon [[spoiler:goes as well as it does, as the humans on the Beastling Isle are forced to recognize how ill-prepared they were for the event largely due to their focus on trying to win territorial disputes and must work with the Beastlings for everyone to come out alive.]]
** Castti's story addresses the fact that healers ''cannot'' save everyone, but giving up largely as a result of dissatisfaction regarding the inevitability of death just makes things worse. [[spoiler:It is ''strongly'' implied Trousseau's StartOfDarkness were his feelings of inadequacy regarding the loss of his sister despite being an apothecary meshing with the dark history written within the Book of Night, causing him to give up entirely and instead bring happiness by killing everyone. Contrast Castti, who spends as much time as she can giving Rosa the treatment and care she needs to pass peacefully, and who is rewarded for her efforts with a happy patient who was at least able to have one last moment of pure joy before her passing due to seeing her daughter's birthday. Castti's desire to save everyone and belief in hope while tempering her idealism with the acceptance that death happens is what allows her to stop Trousseau from committing genocide in Timberain.]]
** The path to Throné's freedom is drenched in blood, and she has to suffer through a lot to attain her freedom, but as [[spoiler:the final chapter and Epilogue shows, she eventually makes peace with what had to happen and is one of the happiest to greet the future before her, having endless possibilities stretching out into the horizon. The price for freedom, true freedom, is high, but it's more often than not worth it.]]
** Osvald is very up-front and obvious with his lesson -- a quest with meaning is far more fulfilling than a quest for revenge. He ''immediately'' becomes a brighter, happier person [[spoiler:shortly after he comes to terms with the fact his daughter is safe. As he himself admits, it changes the entire context of his adventure, and he spends the final chapter ''directly'' helping people on his way to stop Harvey.]]
** Partitio sings his theme to the high heavens -- everyone (and anything) is good for ''something'', and sharing wealth and opportunity is the best way to see everyone's best qualities and capabilities come to light. [[spoiler:He ultimately redeems Roque in the end by pointing out the man invented the best potential vehicle for travel in Solistia's history, and urges Roque to turn over a new leaf by helping him set up a transcontinental railroad with Roque's steam engine that allows for a wealth of opportunities for everyone across the continents.]]
** So long as it is for a noble cause, no dream is too small to be worth pursuing. Agnea is constantly aided by people throughout her journey who see how good and kind she is, and ultimately [[spoiler:comes out on top in her duet with Dolcinaea]] largely as a result of other people supporting her dream to become a star and giving her inspiration for lyrics for 'The Song of Hope.' These people all come to her aid because '''she''' comes to their aid, supporting and inspiring their own dreams.
** As wonderful as idealism and optimism are, they ''have'' to be tempered with a healthy dose of skepticism if those philosophies are to have any chance of making a difference. [[spoiler:Temenos is largely successful where his peers falter because he is no one's fool. Also, the investigation into the ritual murders only gets as far as it does because Temenos is able to convince Crick to not be blinded by his idealism and blind faith in the church.]]
** Loyalty built on fear is fleeting, while companionship and camaraderie built on hope and charity is reliable and leads to far less pain and suffering. [[spoiler:Even after his attempts to prevent a rebellion by pre-emptively killing the commonfolk who hated him in Ku, Mugen ''still'' ultimately gets dethroned because rebel cells sick of his cruelty spring up anyway, and anyone initially under his yoke due to their fear of him either ends up dead or betraying him. Hikari, meanwhile, amasses a massive following that allows him to liberate Ku in a quick, efficient military operation that lasts a matter of hours, spilling very little blood in the process.]]

** Zigzagged with the Armsmaster's Sixfold Strike, which deals damage with all six weapons, very similar to the first game's Winnehild's Battle Cry. Now instead of hitting all enemies, each hit will target a random enemy. On the other hand, it's no longer a Divine Skill, thus can be spammed more often.

* SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain: The game is fairly evenly split between [[TragicVillain villains you want to give a hug]] and [[HateSink villains you want to punch in the face]]. [[spoiler:On one hand, you have characters like [[DeathSeeker Father]], [[FallenHero Trousseau]], [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Kaldena]] and [[TragicMonster the Darkling]], whose actions were the result of circumstances beyond their control. On the other, you have characters like [[MadScientist Harvey]], [[TheCaligula Mugen]], [[MoreDespicableMinion Cubaryi]], [[OneBadMother Mother]], and [[SerialRapist Claude]], who are utterly monstrous individuals with no redeeming qualities to speak of. [[ThePrimaDonna Dolcinaea]] is the odd member out, as she's just a major snob and doesn't even qualify as a villain.[[note]]The worst she did was trying to forcibly evict the people of East Sai from their homes and renovate the place into [[{{Egopolis}} a resort in her liking]]. And that was more out of inconsideration towards their feelings rather than any genuine malice.[[/note]] And even then, she grows out of it by the end of Agnea's route.]]

* SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain: The game is evenly split between [[TragicVillain villains you want to give a hug]] and [[HateSink villains you want to punch in the face]]. [[spoiler:On one hand, you have characters like [[DeathSeeker Father]], [[FallenHero Trousseau]], [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Kaldena]] and [[TragicMonster the Darkling]], whose actions were the result of circumstances beyond their control. On the other, you have characters like [[MadScientist Harvey]], [[TheCaligula Mugen]], [[OneBadMother Mother]], and [[SerialRapist Claude]], who are utterly monstrous individuals with no redeeming qualities to speak of. [[ThePrimaDonna Dolcinaea]] is the odd member out, as she's just a major snob and doesn't even qualify as a villain.[[note]]The worst she did was trying to forcibly evict the people of East Sai from their homes and renovate the place into [[{{Egopolis}} a resort in her liking]]. And that was more out of inconsideration towards their feelings rather than any genuine malice.[[/note]] And even then, she grows out of it by the end of Agnea's route.]]

* SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain: The game is evenly split between [[TragicVillain villains you want to give a hug]] and [[HateSink villains you want to punch in the face]]. [[spoiler:On one hand, you have characters like [[FallenHero Trousseau]], [[RageAgainstTheHeavens Kaldena]] and [[TragicMonster the Darkling]], whose actions were the result of circumstances beyond their control. On the other, you have people like [[MadScientist Harvey]], [[TheCaligula Mugen]], and [[SerialRapist Claude]], who are utterly monstrous individuals with no redeeming qualities to speak of. [[ThePrimaDonna Dolcinaea]] is the odd member out, as she's just a major snob and doesn't even qualify as a villain.[[note]]The worst she did was trying to forcibly evict the people of East Sai from their homes and renovate the place into [[{{Egopolis}} a resort in her liking]]. And that was more out of inconsideration towards their feelings rather than any genuine malice.[[/note]] And even then, she grows out of it by the end of Agnea's route.]]

* SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain: The game is evenly split between villains you want to give a hug and ones you want to punch in the face. [[spoiler:On one hand, you have characters like Trousseau, Kaldena and the Darkling, whose actions were the result of circumstances beyond their control. On the other, you have people like Harvey, Mugen, and Claude, who are utterly monstrous individuals with no redeeming qualities to speak of. Dolcinaea is the odd member out, as she's just a major snob and barely qualifies as a villain. And even then, she grows out of it by the end of Agnea's route.]]

* SympatheticVillainDespicableVillain: The game is evenly split between villains you want to give a hug and ones you want to punch in the face. [[spoiler: On one hand, you have guys like Trousseau, Kaldena and the Darkling, whose actions were the result of circumstances beyond their control. On the other, you have guys like Harvey, Mugen, and Claude, who are utterly monstrous individuals with no redeeming qualities to speak of. Dolcinaea is the odd member out as she's just kind of a bitch and barely even qualifies as a villain. And even then, she grows out of it by the end of Agnea's route.]]

* TeamKids: Though not the youngest of the group (that would be Agnea), Ochette is the most childlike, as well as being inexperienced in the ways of the world, such as money, due to having grown up on a secluded island. She's also particularly close to TeamMom Castti, whom she (usually affectionately, but sometimes derisively, such as when the latter tells her she can't only eat meat all the time) calls Mama.

''Octopath Traveler II'' is a sequel to the original 2018 [[SpritePolygonMix HD-2D]] [[EasternRPG JRPG]] ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'', created by Creator/SquareEnix and released on February 24, 2023 for Platform/NintendoSwitch, Platform/PlayStation4, Platform/PlayStation5, and Platform/{{Steam}}, with a port to Platform/XBoxOne and Platform/XboxSeriesXAndS in 2024.

* DropTheHammer: One of the gizmos that the inventor job can create is the Hastening Hammer, a mechanical hammer much bigger than your character, that can cause massive damage, especially in the hands of a physical oriented character like Hikari or Ochette.

* DemotedToExtra : The four additional gods of the first game, [[StarPower Steorra]], [[TheArchmage Dreisang]], [[SpellBlade Balogar]] and [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Winnehild]] are not part of the Solistian pantheon unlike the Osterran one and their corresponding jobs aren't in the game. They are however mentioned in Agnea's dance sessions, although with altered names ("Sterra's Fantasia", "Nocturne of Sang" and "Hild’s Hymn", with "Sonata of Balogar" being the only unchanged name). The reason for their absence and their name's alteration is unknown, though it is implied [[spoiler:they didn't participate in their sibling's battle against Vide like they did against Galdera, and therefore, aren't very well known in Solistia]].

*** Although the character in question isn't truly a part of them, strictly speaking, one might suspect that something is up with [[spoiler:Tanzy, who constantly references a "goddess". This is pointed out as unusual, should you Inquire/Scrutinize her, as no one else does even among the religious]].