Every Octopath Traveler 2 Party Member Ranked

"Octopath Traveler 2" was finally released half a decade after the original, much to the delight of fans. The sequel received a warm welcome from critics, who generally felt that it expands on the ideas of its predecessor. For those new to the experience, the core concept of "Octopath Traveler 2" centers on eight stories, each led by a different character, which intersect and interact with one another as the player goes through them. 

This format puts a heavy emphasis on the game's cast of protagonists, as they all feature a distinct personality, story, and playstyle in and outside of combat. In the first "Octopath Traveler" this led to many players disliking a particular character, so fans anticipated seeing how the cast of the sequel would hold up to the original when compared to one another. In the wake of the "Octopath Traveler 2" launch, a ranking has emerged for the eight party members.

18-year-old Agnea works as a dancer in a tavern. Throughout her childhood, she traveled with her father and sister as they followed her mother, a famous singer and dancer, around the world for her performances. While her mother ended up dying of an illness after overworking herself for many years, Agnea idolized her mother and grew up with the dream of following in her footsteps to spread the joy of dancing around the world. This dream forms the crux of her storyline throughout "Octopath Traveler 2." She is very upbeat and can bring some levity to the party, but her story lacks stakes and makes her feel very flat even as the player gets to know her more. 

Agnea's abilities also inspire very little excitement. In combat, she is one of the weakest party members because of how her skills attempt to fulfill multiple functions. This sees her doing okay in nearly every situation but leaves her not having nearly as much impact as the other party members who can specialize in and excel at one role. Her abilities outside of combat are also lackluster in that they are both weaker iterations of abilities that other party members have. 

Castti, an apothecary, specializes in healing through the use of items. Her personal story focuses on having amnesia and trying to piece together her past after a ship crew found her washed up on a beach. An extremely kind and caring personality with benevolent aims she hopes to help everyone she can. The mystery at the center of her narrative does bring an interesting element to "Octopath Traveler 2," but it struggles to reach a satisfying conclusion. 

In combat, the game's other healer, Temenos, overshadows Castti. Her utility in battle is completely outclassed by Temenos' output, especially when factoring in her reliance on items that make it more complicated and expensive. Outside of fighting, she has the ability to get information from NPCs and put them asleep to remove them from her path. The information-gathering element can be useful, but other party members have superior versions and her ability to make NPCs slumber doesn't contribute much. Having a skill that gets the player items has a greater payoff and putting enemies to sleep too often can leave them under-leveled for content later in the game. 

A merchant, Partitio grew up in a small town heavily inspired by the Wild West. His story begins with him starting a personal mission to help the lower and middle-class citizens of the town escape the oppressive influence of sinister landlords who have exploited them for years. His narrative starts off strongly enough but fails to find its footing once he leaves his home to travel throughout the world in search of business ventures to help his cause that have little context or impact on anything.

Partitio really struggles in combat. While he has some solid moves he fails to live up to the specialized performance of the better party members in "Octopath Traveler 2." He works fine as a filler until the player gets a full party of more capable individuals, but there is little reason to ever select him over the other possibilities. His skills outside of combat are also lackluster. He has the ability to hire NPCs to fight alongside the party or to straight up purchase their equipment. These are fine in a vacuum, but the monetary element makes them worse than other party abilities that accomplish the same result without any player investment. 

A fun beastling hunter, Ochette is almost completely driven by her love for food. Extremely energetic, she frequently tries to get through any job or task as fast as possible so that she can get back to making or eating tasty morsels. However, this doesn't stop her from being generous and striving to help others in between meals. Her fun personality makes Ochette entertaining to play with in "Octopath Traveler 2." Her personal story isn't particularly interesting, but it does feature some entertaining and visually impressive boss fights that help balance out its lackluster concepts. 

In combat, Ochette's skills focus on using a bow while her unique Capture ability adds an interesting layer to battles. It allows her to capture beasts to summon them later for assistance. Alternatively, she can also kill and cook them to make meals that can be used to bribe NPCs or give her buffs. She also has an out-of-combat ability that allows her to battle NPCs during the day, but in the fights, she can only use her captured beasts, which can leave the player woefully unprepared if they don't have the correct monsters on hand.

A disgraced scholar, Osvald starts his "Octopath Traveler 2" story in prison after being framed for murdering his own family by a jealous colleague. After spending five years locked up he puts together a plan to break out and manages to pull it off. From there the player follows Osvald as he becomes consumed by enacting revenge on his previous friend. The story has a lot of great personal stakes and dramatic moments that come up throughout the game to keep it interesting for the entire playthrough. 

In combat, Osvlad also fulfills a unique role by serving as a dedicated wielder of magic that augments his abilities with technology and scientific study. This makes him a solid fit for covering every elemental type, ensuring the player is prepared for every encounter they come across. Osvald also boasts a strong ability outside of battles that allows him to duel NPCs and take all of their items if he wins the duel. 

One of the more traditional characters of "Octopath Traveler 2" is Throne. Throne sits firmly in the thief character archetype that focuses on dealing damage in combat and acquiring items through illicit means. In combat she can shell out an incredible amount of pointed damage, especially thanks to her latent power Leave No Trace which allows her to take two turns in a row. Ouside of combat she also has the ability to steal items, which can enable the player to get vastly overpowered gear early on in a playthrough. 

Throne also has a very fun and interesting story that revolves around her working to free herself from the chains of slavery to the guild that she was raised within. This upheaval of her intended destiny is made particularly intriguing because early on in the narrative it is revealed that she was intended to replace the guild's current leadership. This makes it a fun story filled with tension and world details, while also letting the player have a positive impact on the world by dismantling the sinister Blacksnakes guild. 

Temenos is definitively the strongest healer in "Octopath Traveler 2." Temenos is a powerful cleric who is surprisingly laidback despite showing himself to be very intelligent and kind to all people. He also has an inherent distrust of authority figures and positions of power, which stands in stark contrast to his religious studies and background. His fun and unique personality helps make his story entertaining while it follows him investigating the murder of a fellow clergyman at the hands of a mysterious magical beast. While the narrative doesn't have any particular personal notes, it is interesting and fun to play the role of a detective in the game's world.

Where Temenos really shines is his combat performance. His healing is unparalleled in the game and makes him an almost necessary party member once he joins. Despite this, he also can hold his own when it comes to damage output for turns where there are no party members who need healing or buffs. The only aspect of Temenos' character that keeps him from being the best in "Octopath Traveler 2" is his lackluster abilities outside of combat which are lesser versions of options from other party members. 

Hikari is the best party member in "Octopath Traveler 2." He is a young prince who was pushed out of his country due to a seemingly unending civil war. He opposes the traditional personality of his clan by being calm, introspective, and kind. He cares deeply for his nation and aims to help it find a new way forward through alliances and peace. However, his personality is contrasted by demons inside of his psyche that were passed on to him through his heritage, making him a layered and complicated character to follow while the player helps him on his quest to end the bloodshed that is slowly killing his home nation. It all comes together to make his story the very best of the game thanks to its personal stakes, interesting elements, and wider impact on the world at large.

In combat, Hikari is also a force to be reckoned with. He has the highest melee output of any character in the game, allowing him to devastate opponents when he is well-coordinated with other party members like Temenos and Osvald. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of his playstyle, however, is his ability to steal the moves of opponents. This allows him to react to various encounters and always change to what the party needs most at the moment, which is a lot of fun to mess around with throughout a playthrough.