In Octopath Traveler 2, the warrior of the party is a prince of Clan Ku, a Japanese-themed nation that lives deep in the desert. However, unlike the first game's warrior, Hikari finds himself working for the bad guys.
Hikari's story is thick with themes from classic Japanese samurai films, with brother set against brother and themes about the nature of strength and the value of war. Hikari believes in peace and fellowship, but sadly his family don't all share his views. On top of that, a family curse adds a touch of fantasy to complicate matters. But to start off Hikari's Chapter 1, Octopath Traveler 2 throws players into the deep end.
The Battle
The game opens with Hikari and his friend Ritsu talking about the fallen, but by the time players get control Hikari is running through a battlefield. Players should go down the only path available and eventually a battle with enemy soldiers will begin. Hikari's weapons and skills are all based around swords and polearms, and these enemies are weak to both. Ritsu has his own skills and weapons, but he's only a temporary companion.
Several cutscenes play and introduce players to the characters of Clan Ku. One of them, Rai Mei, joins Hikari as another temporary companion when the second combat begins. This time an officer joins the fight, but he's just as vulnerable to swords and polearms as the basic soldiers.
Finally, Hikari runs up to the enemy general and attacks him. The general is weak to swords, but not to polearms. Another weakness is lightning, which players can exploit using one of Rai Mei's skills.
After the Time Skip
Three years of peace pass after the battle, and Hikari finds himself in charge of the town surrounding Castle Ku. After players regain control, they can immediately access the provisioner and armorer who have set up shop at the base of the hill Hikari starts on.
Players can also find several treasure chests around town. First, head left from the kids on the road leading to the castle or head up the stairs next to the tavern to reach an area with two houses. The left house has a chest with a Healing Grape inside. Next, go up to the castle to find a save point and a long ladder on the wall to the right. Climb this ladder and go left to the other tower to pick up an Inspiriting Plum.
Inside the tavern, one of General Mugen's soldiers is making a scene. This is to teach players Hikari's daytime action, Challenge. Hikari can Challenge most NPCs to combat, and the game will rate their danger level on a scale of 1 to 10. If Hikari beats an NPC, he can learn a skill from them for his Learned Skills Talent. However, he can only remember 5 skills and must forget one to learn anything more. He starts with Hachimonjigiri, and for now players should avoid forgetting it since it's hard to replace.
Hikari can Challenge three of the tavern patrons for skills and XP, but the game will only continue when he Challenges and beats the Mugen soldier. After that, players can continue to explore the town and Challenge the locals. Of special note is a healer just up the stairs from the tavern who can teach First Aid, a cheap healing skill, and an old man on the road to the castle can teach Ignition, a fire skill. Once players are finished collecting skills, they should head up the stairs on the west end of town to continue the story.
Uncovering the Plot
After the cutscene ends, Hikari will decide to search around for evidence of Mugen's plot. Players can now enter the castle grounds, though not the castle itself. Listen to Hikari's thoughts and enter the building on the left, where players will get the tutorial for Hikari's nighttime action: Bribe. This is a new way to access hidden information from NPCs: instead of risking the party's reputation or needing a minimum level, Hikari can pay people.
In this case, the merchant wants 300 leaves. Hikari can easily get this by opening the chest behind the merchant, which holds 1,600 leaves. This is also enough money to Bribe all the other NPCs in Ku. Then there's another chest on the far side of a divider, but players can't reach it yet.
The merchant's information will take Hikari into the desert, but before leaving players should Bribe a few people in town to get some hidden items. First, the Ku soldier by the gate leading to the castle will tell Hikari about a hidden item for just 50 leaves. The item is a Healing Grape hidden halfway up the stairs on the west side of town. Next, players can Bribe the Citizen on the western wall above the stairs with 100 leaves to find a Critical Ring inside the house on the eastern hill (the hill Hikari starts on after the time skip).
Head back to the tavern to find an Apothecary standing in front of the building. Bribe him with another 100 leaves to uncover an Herb of Light in a pile of food on the road to the castle. Finally, a Boy in the house with the Healing Grape chest will take 50 leaves to tell Hikari about a piece of Candy. This Candy is in the same house on the left.
How to Fight with Hikari
As Hikari leaves Ku, he enters the first area with true random encounters. Players probably know the basics of combat with Hikari by now, but here are some tips on how to fight with him.
- Hikari's Job is Warrior, and his Warrior skills focus on sword and polearm attacks, physical buffs, and an ability that forces enemies to target him. The list is very focused, but Warrior skills can deal a lot of damage.
- Hikari's Talent is Learned Skills, which give him some much-needed versatility. Learned Skills can include status effect attacks, weapon attacks for weapons Hikari can't equip, and even magic skills that deal elemental damage or heal himself and allies.
- Unfortunately, the five slot limit (really four slots since Hachimonjigiri is hard to replace) puts a cap on how much versatility Learned Skills can add. Another issue is that Hikari can only learn skills from NPCs he encounters and beats. This makes Hikari a poor choice for the player's first party member.
- On the plus side, Hikari can relearn old skills by Challenging NPCs again. If an NPC is currently down, just leave the area and return to reset them. Even switching between day and night will get them back on their feet.
- Players should keep in mind that Challenge fights are always one-on-one duels, no matter how many party members Hikari has. Plan accordingly.
- The game only shows the name and the element or weapon of a Learned Skill when Challenging an NPC. However, players can see the full description and SP cost of a Learned Skill after they defeat the NPC and need to decide whether to replace a skill.
- Hikari's Latent Power is called Shadow's Hold. By activating it, Hikari gets access to several powerful skills that don't cost any SP and are useful against both single targets and large groups. Like regular skills, Shadow's Hold abilities get even stronger when Boosting.
Exploring the Southern Ku Sands
To reach the next story destination, players should start at the gate and go down, left, down, right, and then climb the hill. However, there are several chests to find along the way.
First, players can go right from the gate to find a staircase leading to the water. Simply step onto the water and a canoe will appear beneath Hikari's feet. Players can go straight up to return to Ku, or they can head left and go beneath the bridge to find an isolated chest with an Energizing Pomegranate inside.
Next, a chest most players will find is directly left of the gate. Inside is a Fire Soulstone. Go down and right from here to get to the other side of a barricade. There's a wooden tower to the right of the barricade, and beneath it is a chest with an Herb of Light.
Finally, once players climb the hill they'll see a save point waiting for them. He's hard to see in the dark, but there's also a peddler to the right of the save point. Players should buy and equip all his weapons and armor if they haven't bought anything better from town. Keep going right past the peddler to find one last chest, this one containing an Inspiriting Plum. After that, players should either restore their HP and SP to get ready for a boss fight or else level up one last time, which also provides a full restore.
How to Beat Ritsu
As it turns out, Ritsu cares more about fame than friendship and is prepared to end Hikari's life for good. As the city burns in the background, the boss fight of Hikari Chapter 1 begins.
- Ritsu starts the fight supported by two Footmen. Ritsu is weak to swords while the Footmen are weak to both swords and polearms.
- Players should focus on taking out the Footmen one by one to reduce the number of enemy turns per round.
- Another benefit of taking out the Footmen is that Aggressive Slash will target Ritsu 3 times instead of spreading out its attacks. This is a good way to chew through Ritsu's shields while saving up Boosts.
- After both Footmen are down, Ritsu will start to "emit a murderous aura" sometimes. When he does this, players should always Defend right before Ritsu takes his next turn.
- When Ritsu hits half health (his name turns yellow), he'll use a special ability to blind Hikari and a mid-battle cutscene plays. This unlocks Hikari's Latent Power, which players should avoid using while Hikari is blind.
- Once defeated, Ritsu drops a Healing Grape Bunch.
Return to Castle Ku
The fighting is all over, but Chapter 1 isn't quite finished. Hikari rushes back into the burning town of Ku and runs straight for the castle. Before going there, however, players should talk to the wounded guard near the gate to get an Empowering Lychee.
Another cutscene plays as Hikari enters the castle, but players should avoid charging up the stairs immediately. Instead, go left from the entrance to find a chest with a Thunder Soulstone. Then head down from the chest to enter a new screen and finally get the chest in the merchant area. This chest contains a second Critical Ring.
Now players can go upstairs, but not all the way. Halfway up is a room on the left with a Healing Grape inside, and on the right is a ladder that leads back down to an area with a Fortifying Nut. Players will also notice a blue sparkle on the table behind the nut. The interaction spot is small, but players who find it will get a key item called Oboro's Journal. Read it for some interesting hints about a bigger plot.
Finally, players can continue up the stairs to the top to begin the last cutscene of Chapter 1. So begins Hikari's hunt for his old friends and allies, though first he'll have to find more party members.
Octopath Traveler 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, and Switch.