Recap / Octopath Traveler II

Work in progress

As with the first game, Octopath Traveler II puts the player in charge of an eclectic Player Party traveling the realm of "Solistia," a kingdom of two continents divided by the Sundering Sea. As with Orsterra, Solistia is an Adventure-Friendly World, organized into eight regions named after a salient geographical feature and musical theme; each region is divided into three sub-regions, with the starting ones being where each Traveler starts and having the lowest-leveled Random Encounters, and with battle BGM depending on the "Danger Level" of the region. As with the first game, each character has a "Path Action" that allows them to interact with NPCs in certain ways: they can Inquire information of them, they can Obtain the NPC's inventory of items, equipment and Shop Fodder; they can Recruit the NPC for use as an in-battle summon, at which point they will follow your party around; and they can Fight the NPC in various ways to render them comatose — which is important because a number of NPCs are actually standing guard in front of buildings or even places you specifically need to go. (For instance, one security guard acts as a Broken Bridge stopping access to the third tier of the Winterlands, keeping people out of a mountain pass that is now overrun with monsters.)

New to this game is an In-Universe Game Clock and day-night cycle. NPCs have different locations between day and night — or, in some cases, are only available during day or night — and each Traveler has two Path Actions depending on whether the sun is up or not. Fortunately, the developers took mercy on us players, and the clock can be flipped from day to night and back at the touch of a button. Each Traveler also has a "Latent Power" Limit Break which is unlocked over the course of their first chapter. The Latent Power gauge is filled by taking damage and by Breaking enemies.

The Eight Travelers:

• Ochette (no surname) is a The Beastmaster who can capture random-encounter enemies for use in battle. If she has too many, she can process them into various meals. During the day she has a Fight interaction where she acts as a Pokemon Trainer, fighting solely via monsters; at night she can Recruit NPCs by giving them food she has made. Her Latent Power is a choice of three physical attacks.
• Castti Florenz is an Apothecary, a Red Mage who splits her time between healing and physical combat. As an Apothecary, she shares the Combinatorial Explosion power of Alfyn, being able to mix reagents together and use BP to increase the number of ingredients; her Latent Power, "Every Drop Counts," lets her do this without consuming ingredients, making Concoct a viable early-game option. Her daytime Path Action is to Inquire; her nighttime action is a one-sided Fight mechanic where she consumes (comparatively rare) items to inflict Instant Sedation on the target.
• Throné Anguis is a thief wielding Devious Daggers and Video Game Stealing. Her Latent Power allows her to take a second action immediately after her current one. Her daytime Path Action is to Obtain via stealing and her nighttime action is an instant Fight via a Tap on the Head, but both have limits: Stealing has a probability, and screwing it up too often will cost the party's reputation (which takes money to restore). Meanwhile, "Ambush" is dependent exclusively on her level; there will be people she just straight-up can't do it to.
• Osvald V. Vanstein is the Scholar (Black Mage) who has a ton of Herd Hitting Attacks. His Latent Power focuses those spells on a single target for greater damage. His daytime action is an Inquire, and his nighttime is "Mug," which combines Fight and Obtain: Osvald has to duel the target, despite being a Squishy Wizard, but if he wins, he gets their stuff.
• Partitio Yellowill is the Merchant, the Jack of All Stats. His Latent Power, "Hoot and Holler," instantly fills his BP to the max. (If he already had 4, he only gets one more. Maybe don't use it at that point.) His daytime action is to Acquire via money, and his nighttime action to Befriend via money. Anyone he Befriends provides alterations to the party's commerce, like discounts on purchases, bonuses when selling, or rebates on the Cast from Money ability "Hired Help."
• Agnea Bristarni is the Dancer, who concentrates on strengthening her allies. She has a variety of ways to turn the game's (many) single-target skills into target-the-entire-party skills, including her Latent Power "All Together Now." Her daytime action is to Befriend and her nighttime action to Acquire, though, similar to Throné's Fight skill, it is dependent on her level. Her Befriend companion will give her bonuses whenever she uses a dance ability in battle.
• Temenos Mistral is a Cleric, the game's White Mage. His nighttime action is an Inquire, but is accomplished via an altered combat situation: he has to Break an enemy to learn about them. (It should be pointed out that Temenos, despite being The Gadfly and a priest, is the main character in a Film Noir detective story.) Appropriately, his Latent Power, "Judgment," enhances his next attack to remove Shield Points regardless of what that attack is. His daytime action is a Hire function called Guide; NPCs so summoned will hang around in battle for a few turns and can even be targeted by enemies.
• Hikari Ku is the Mighty Glacier Warrior class. In addition to the "Challenge" Fight mechanic during the day, he can also Inquire at night by bribing people. Every NPC in this game has a special attack, and Hikari can learn them after winning the Challenge against them, carrying a maximum of five into battle. This helps give Hikari some versatility, as the Warrior class forsakes magic attacks, debuffs and healing abilities for an exclusive focus on melee combat.

New to this game is a more interwoven plot structure. Where, in the first game, every character's Story Arc was self-contained and the other seven Travelers didn't even appear on screen during Cut Scenes, this game stops for intermissions and character interaction. As such, this document will be structured by chapters instead of by individual arcs, to give readers a better sense of the flow of the game as players would perceive it. Additionally, in this game, many characters have chapters, particularly Chapter 2, broken up into a series of smaller sub-activities.

Early Chapters

Ochette

• Chapter 1: Ten years prior to the present day, Ochette, with her hunting mentor Juvah, chooses her Loyal Animal Companion, after which the unchosen companion becomes agitated and runs into the wild. In the present, Juvah tells Ochette that the calamity known as the Night of the Scarlet Moon is coming. Ochette is tasked with finding the three Creatures of Legend — Cateracta, Tera, and Glacis — and returning them to the village, but suddenly Cohazeh, chief of the human side of the village, comes to them asking to find a missing child in the Tomb of the Wardenbeasts. Ochette does so, but that night, Beastling Village is attacked by shadowy creatures, with Juvah overpowered by them. Ochette fends off the creatures and sets out on her journey to save Toto'haha.
  • Boss: Dark Entity
• Chapter 2 (Cateracta Route): Ochette follows the scent of Cateracta to the town of Conning Creek, only to find that it was slain long ago by an individual known only as the Dark Hunter. Ochette earns the trust of Alpione, Cateracta's guardian, and leaves town with Acta, Cateracta's Generation Xerox offspring, in tow.
  • Boss: None
• Chapter 2 (Tera Route): Ochette follows the scent of Tera to the town of Crackridge, where she meets a food-loving aspiring hunter named Pom. They learn that Tera has been lying dormant beneath the town for years, but lately he has been stirring and causing earthquakes. The two of them venture to the Bed of the Titan, where Ochette cannot wake Tera by conventional means and instead tries Annoying Arrows; the result is a Boss Fight. Afterwards, Tera explains that it was the Dark Hunter that forced him into his slumber, and he agrees to return to Toto'haha with Ochette.
  • Boss: Tera
• Chapter 2 (Glacis Route): Ochette follows the scent of Glacis to Stormhail, where she learns that Glacis is the cause of regular blizzards that have been ravaging the town. Sneaking onto the mountain where Glacis roosts, Ochette meets a hunter named Heig, who wants to kill Glacis as revenge for the deaths of his fellow hunters at her hands. Glacis, in her grief over Heig's hunting party (including the Dark Hunter) shattering the egg of her child, attacks Ochette. After hearing that the Night of the Scarlet Moon is coming, Glacis abandons her anger and agrees to return to Toto'haha.
  • Boss: Glacis

Castti

• Chapter 1: Castti awakens on a skiff with Easy Amnesia: she has no idea who she is, but from the belongings in her satchel is able to discern that she is an apothecary. When the ship docks in the town of Canalbrine, a town in the Harborlands, the townspeople distrust her on sight: she wears the uniform of Eir's Apothecaries, a group Famed In-Story for having massacred an entire village in cold blood. She also meets Malaya, an apothecary like her, who is in search of the cure to a deadly disease. A teenage boy named Senah falls ill. While his older brother has Castti Mis-blamed for poisoned him, more people get sick, and Castti realizes that the town's water source has been contaminated by a couple of boss-level monsters. After she slays them, the townspeople apologize for their distrust, and a conversation with Malaya causes Castti to recover a flash of her memory: she remembers who set her out to sea on the skiff, and that it was Malaya. Additionally, a journal in the bottom of her satchel gives Castti the names of two towns she apparently once visited — Sai and Winterbloom.
  • Boss: Doron and Veron
• Chapter 2 (Sai Route): Castti arrives in Sai, a town in Hinoeuma, which is embroiled in war against the capitol of the Leaflands, Timberain. Sai's makeshift hospital is full of wounded soldiers, but their captain, Edmund, is short on men, and forces them back into battle before they have fully recovered. Mao, the town apothecary, causes Castti to remember that she was not just a member of Eir's Apothecaries but its leader. When Castti catches wind of wounded soldiers from Timberain, she rushes to the battlefield, where sand traps laid by Edmund's men have not only caused Timberain soldiers to fall into harm's way but also awakened an angry monster sleeping beneath the sands. Castti, a Determined Doctor, insists on rescuing them too, even badgering Edmund into helping her do it. Edmund falls into the sand lion's lair, but Castti slays it and saves his life. The Leaflands commander, Griff, thanks Castti for her service, as does Edmund. Before leaving, Castti catches up with Malaya and gets another flash of memory — someone in a plague-doctor mask, and a storm of purple rain...
  • Boss: Sand Lion
• Chapter 2 (Winterbloom Route): Castti arrives in the town of Winterbloom in the Winterlands and meets with its lord, a terminally ill woman named Rosa whom Eir's Apothecaries had once helped (mainly Castti and a young apothecary named Trousseau). Now on her deathbed, Rosa wants Castti to help her survive until her daughter, Melia, reaches her 12th birthday and can legally inherit the position — instead of her nephew, Upper-Class Twit Greg. Castti helps Melia gather herbs for a concoction to soothe Rosa's pain, but later on, Melia is kidnapped. The kidnappers decree that if Castti does not leave town, Melia will be killed. Undeterred by this threat, Castti tracks the kidnappers, a trio of bandits hired by Greg, to a local tavern, and fights with them after they refuse to unhand Melia. Greg apologizes profusely, not expecting that the bandits would have behaved the way they did. Rosa passes away on the morning of Melia's 12th birthday, surrounded by Castti and all of her loved ones. Before Castti leaves Winterbloom, she gets reminded of two things: the Eir's Apothecaries' creed of extending their hands to help anyone in need, as well as a kind person called Trousseau. But who is the latter? And why is he particularly important to Castti?
  • Boss: Plukk, Mikk, and Makk

After finishing both branches of Chapter 2, Malaya appears out of nowhere in front of Castti and tells her to go to the village of Healeaks, where everything will be explained to her.

Throné

• Chapter 1: Throné's story begins In Medias Res in the city of New Delsta, the heart of the Brightlands. She and several companions — Pirro, Scaracci and Donnie — are escaping from a bungled heist on a nobleman named Diamante. Donnie dies of his injuries after the door that should have led to an escape route turned out to be locked with no key, and the remainder of the party returns to their home — the headquarters of the Blacksnakes, the shadowy organization that they have belonged to since birth, ruled by "Mother" and "Father". Pirro takes the blame for the group's failure and endures Mother's punishment. The next morning, Throné and Pirro discuss what they want to achieve in the Blacksnakes, and later Throné receives a new assignment from Father. She is being fast-tracked as Spare to the Throne for Mother and Father, so she is tasked with eliminating a traitor within the Blacksnakes — Scaracci, who leaked the details of the heist to Diamante. Throné sneaks into Diamante's manor, but finds both him and Scaracci dead. Pirro reveals that he has killed them: he, Scaracci, and Throné were all given similar assignments, and Mother and Father wanted them to all kill each other so only one would survive and become successor. Desperate to move on up, Pirro fights Throné. Throné, longing to leave the Blacksnakes, seeks to kill Mother and Father and take the keys to her slave collar from them.
  • Boss: Pirro
• Chapter 2 (Mother Route): Throné tracks Mother to Oresrush in the Wildlands, where she learns about a man known as the Slaver whom Mother visited. Sneaking into the abandoned foundry, Throné discovers the Slaver playing a form of Russian Roulette (using poisoned glasses instead of a gun) with his slaves while the rich bet on it. Realizing the Slaver is also a Blacksnake, Throné decides to play his game to learn where Mother went. She wins, and the Slaver gives Mother's location — Mother's Garden, an orphanage in Wellgrove.
  • Boss: None
• Chapter 2 (Father Route): Throné follows Father to Winterbloom with the intent to kill him, having flashbacks to how Father taught her the art of killing when she was very young. Unexpectedly, Father tasks her with eliminating the Snowhares, a rival thief gang headquartered in town. Father comes along on the assignment, giving Throné an opening: while he is focused on killing the Snowhares' leader, Bergomi, his guard will be down. But instead, Father assigns her to kill Bergomi... and then stabs Throné In the Back, telling her to (should she survive) follow him to Montwise so he can put an end to this madness.
  • Boss: Bergomi

Osvald

• Chapter 1: Osvald has been serving a prison sentence on Frigit Isle, the victim of a Frame-Up concerning the murder of his wife and daughter, for the past five years. For all of this time, he has had a muzzle in place so that he could not cast magic spells or even speak. The entire time, he has planned a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against a man named Harvey, his former research partner into the One True Magic and the person who framed him for murder. A scholar, he has been performing Awesomeness by Analysis on the prison for the past five years, and he hatches an escape plan with fellow convict Emerald (who frees him from his muzzle). The two of them escape via an unfinished passage beneath the prison, planning to sneak out aboard am inspection ship from the mainland which visits regularly. However, they are intercepted by the sadistic Warden Davids, who had been monitoring Emerald on the suspicion that he would try to orchestrate a prison break. The two of them defeat Davids and his lackies, and Osvald uses his fire magic to blow a hole in the prison and make their escape.
  • Boss: Warden Davids
• Chapter 2: Osvald and Emerald's prison break continues. When the inspection ship proves to be heavily guarded, Osvald and Emerald get into a dispute on how to leave Frigit Isle, with Osvald MacGyvering a boat out of straw and ice and Emerald insisting that they take their chances with the ship. They split up, and Emerald boards the ship, but realizes he doesn't stand a chance against the guards. He opts to sink the vessel — with himself on it — in order to cover Osvald's escape. Some days later, Osvald washes up on the shore of Cape Cold in the Winterlands, where a retired scholar finds him and deduces that he escaped from prison. He lets Osvald go on the condition that Osvald promise to lead an honorable life. Osvald does, though with some inner regret, and then sets out from Cape Cold in search of Harvey.
  • Boss: None
• Chapter 3: Osvald's quest leads him back to his hometown, Conning Creek of the Harborlands. There, in addition to finding that all of his research on the One True Magic was stolen, he meets with his old assistant, Lady Clarissa, who believes that the town guards were bribed to lie about the fact that Harvey in fact murdered Osvald's wife and child, Rita and Elena. (Lady Clarissa's husband Ethan wound up dead trying to look into it). Osvald confronts Captain Stenvar, the greedy guard captain, who confirms what Clarissa had suspected — Harvey had indeed paid Stenvar to get Osvald imprisoned. Osvald defeats Stenvar and interrogates him on Harvey's whereabouts, and is pointed to the city of Montwise where Osvald and Harvey once both taught.
  • Boss: Captain Stenvar

Partitio

• Chapter 1: Sixteen years prior to present day, Partitio bears witness to the founding of Oresrush by his father Papp and their business partner Roque, with the town being constructed adjacent to a silver mine in the Wildlands. Eight years later, with the economy of Oresrush booming, Partitio deals with a gang of thugs led by a fellow named Giff, and returns home to shocking news — Roque is leaving town, and the silver mine's land has been privatized. With the mine landowner's blessing, Giff becomes the new leader of the town, and privation assails the town for everyone but him. In the present day, Partitio, sick of seeing his friends and family suffering, goes to Giff's manor, where Giff reveals that the new owner of the silver mine is none other than Roque. They fight, and Partitio spares Giff on the condition he give back the money he stole. Giff agrees, and after seeing life return to the town, Partitio sets out on a journey to eliminate poverty.
  • Boss: Giff
• Chapter 2: Partitio travels to Clockbank, home to the factory of the Roque Company, in the Brightlands. He encounters a debt collector named Thurston, a reporter named Ori, and a workaholic inventor named Floyd, and learns that the Roque Company is named for (and owned by) Roque himself. Partitio learns that the Roque Company is developing steam engines, and helps Floyd design an updated model. When he goes to see the new model in production, however, he finds both it and Floyd missing, and deeper in the factory finds that due to a clause in Floyd's contract, he does not own the rights to his own design. Partitio intervenes, but Thurston sics Garnet, the company guard dog, on him. After fending her off, Roque appears, and Partitio offers to buy the rights to the steam engine from him. Roque agrees on a price of 80 billion leaves, and Partitio, Wide-Eyed Idealist, sets out to find someone who can provide that much money.
  • Boss: Garnet

Agnea

• Chapter 1: Agnea's story begins with her dancing in the tavern of Cropdale, a small town in the Leaflands, to earn tips. She wants to leave the village and become a famous dancer like her mother Cuani was, but her father, Garud, will only allow her to leave once she proves she's serious about this by saving up 10,000 leaves. She's close to her goal, and dancing in the village's harvest festival will get her there. Agnea's sister Pala is in the woods picking fruit for the festival when a monstrous boar known as the Duorduor is spotted; fearing for her sister's safety, Agnea, accompanied by Gus (her childhood friend and the local tavernkeeper), venture into the woods to fend it off. It then turns out Pala was never in danger, and the festival goes off without a hitch. After showing to Garud that she has the money to leave town, he permits her to go, giving her the dress her mother used to wear on stage, and the entire village sees her off.
  • Boss: Duorduor
• Chapter 2: Agnea travels to New Delsta, the largest city on Solistia, to pursue her dreams. She befriends a pianist and tavern owner named Gil who compliments her on her "hot" moves, and lets her perform in his establishment. However, her success is short-lived, as La'mani, the owner of New Delsa's illustrious theater (and manager of its top talent, Dolcinaea), trashes the tavern and beats Gil up, unable to stomach the idea of the less fortunate being able to enjoy the arts. Hearing about this, Agnea heads over to the theater to give La'mani a piece of her mind, getting La'mani to agree to leave Gil alone. Agnea then heads out, but Gil hands her a piece of sheet music that he wrote for her called the "Song of Hope". Agnea promises to write the lyrics for it as she continues on her journey. Meanwhile, Dolcinaea seems to have a plan of her own...
  • Boss: La'mani
• Chapter 3: Agnea heads to the island town of Tropu'hopu on Toto'haha, where she meets Giselle's Traveling Troupe — a trio of performers named Giselle, Rico, and Coda, and their manager Tanzy. Agnea helps them out when their prop wagon gets stuck in the sand, enabling them to practice their performance. However, the day of the performance, Giselle is nowhere to be found. Agnea finds Giselle on a smaller island off the coast, where she reveals she struggles with stage fright, but Agnea encourages her and watches their show. Before Agnea leaves, Giselle realizes she had met Agnea's mother, and points her towards Sai, a town Cuani had apparently visited often. She also encourages Agnea to go to the Festival of Grace, the largest dance event in Solistia.
  • Boss: None

Temenos

• Chapter 1: Inquisitor Temenos' story begins from the perspective of Aelfric the Flamebringer, with his fellow gods all having fallen in battle versus Vide the Wicked. Just when it looks like Aelfric is also about to fall, the powers of his old friends return to him, and he is able to turn the tide against Vide... so goes the tale that Temenos is reciting to the children of Flamechurch, or at least until he forgets the next line, to the amusement of his child audience. The Pontiff Jörg, Temenos' superior, asks that he come to see him at the nearby cathedral. On his way through town, Temenos is attacked by heretics denouncing the Order of the Sacred Flame, but is saved by Crick, a knight of the Sacred Guard. Crick accompanies Temenos to the cathedral, but they find it locked. Temenos then coerces information out of an architect named Vados, and from him learns of another passage into the cathedral through the cellar of a nearby building. Upon their entry, they discover Jörg has been killed by a monster that somehow got into the cathedral, and the duo put it out of its misery. Recalling that Jörg was last seen alive with a scholar named Lucian, Temenos decides to track him down, while Crick is reassigned away from Temenos by Deputy Cubaryi.
  • Boss: Felvarg
• Chapter 2: Temenos arrives in Canalbrine in search of Lucian, coincidentally running into the Sacred Guard while they investigate the murder of a local apothecary. Crick ends up accompanying Temenos on his search, and the two of them find Lucian dead as well. From notes left behind, the duo deduce that Hermes, a local dancer, is being targeted, and discover the would-be assassin in the crowd of Hermes' show — Vados the Architect. The duo pursue him to the Sacred Guard's ship, where he admits he killed Jörg, the apothecary, and Lucian, but refuses to say why. After he is defeated, Captain Kaldena of the Sacred Guard takes Vados into custody and reassigns Crick to the Sacred Guard headquarters in Stormhail. Also among Lucian's notes were mentions of the "Moonshade Order" in Crackridge, leaving Temenos to choose between going to Crackridge to investigate or going to Stormhail for Vados' interrogation.
  • Boss: Vados the Architect

Hikari

• Chapter 1: Three years prior to the present day, the kingdom of Ku is embroiled in war with a neighboring nation. With the aid of their strategist Kazan, Hikari, along with his allies Ritsu and Rai Mei, bring up the charge behind Jigo, the king of Ku and Hikari's father. After an intense battle, Hikari's half-brother General Mugen chides Hikari for his mercy towards the enemy but praises Ritsu's fighting spirit, while King Jigo seems intent on bringing the war to a swift end. Shortly afterwards, a ceasefire is declared. In the present day, Hikari is watching over Ku's castle town and subdues a tavern patron who has thrown his support in with Mugen for Ku to return to war. After this, he is unexpectedly called away by Jigo's retainer Benkei to a meeting with his father. Jigo offers Hikari the crown, worried that Mugen's Blood Knight tendencies would drive Ku to ruin. Seeking a way to keep Mugen from taking over, Jigo calls Mugen into the throne room while Hikari digs up information on the military support Mugen has gathered. Hikari heads to a hill outside town where an arms deal is said to be taking place, but he instead finds Ritsu, who has also fallen in with Mugen. The two of them duel, with Hikari gaining the upper hand after a mysterious voice calls out to him and unlocks his Latent Power, which is apparently a Superpowered Evil Side. In the meantime, Mugen's soldiers ransack the capital and storm the palace. Hikari attempts to stop Mugen, but can only watch as he murders their father. Benkei covers Hikari's escape, and Hikari swears to find allies to retake Ku.
  • Boss: Ritsu Mishuyo
• Chapter 2: Hikari travels to Montwise in search of Kazan. He finds him at an underground arena, and Kazan then twists Hikari's arm into fighting in the arena to pay off his gambling debts. Suspecting something is amiss (as Hikari's first opponents were already wounded), Hikari confronts Kazan, who reveals his true goal is the total destruction of the arena and of the poor warriors fighting for the entertainment of the rich. Hikari decides to play along, defeating several other combatants including the feared Zeto the Butcher. Hikari also disdains the arena's ritual of executing defeated foes. All the while, Kazan places outrageous bets on Hikari, taunting Borneau (the proprietor of the arena) to keep his word on them. Hikari's battle against the undefeated Bandelam would be his and Kazan's final test, but one Hikari succeeds in despite Bandelam initially overwhelms him. With Bandelam defeated, Zeto and the other gladiators riot, demanding payment from Borneau, who runs for the hills along with Bandelam. Having gained Hikari and Kazan's trust, these gladiators agree to join the eventual battle to retake Ku. Meanwhile, Mugen has already invaded begun invading neighboring nations to expand Ku's territory, with the help of his right-hand man Ageha.
  • Boss: Bandelam the Reaper

Crossed Paths and Side Quests

Crossed Paths, Pt I

• The Hunter and the Apothecary, Part 1: Ochette and Castti travel to Cropdale. Ochette is excited to find a man selling meat skewers, but is disgusted by the quality of the meat. The vendor explains this is due to low hunting yields, prompting Ochette and Castti to go to the nearby Animal Trail to investigate. They are attacked by a duorduor, which they follow deeper into the woods (despite warnings from the animals telling them to turn back). Castti treats the duorduor's wounds, affectionately naming it "Wooly-Ooly", and Ochette relays that the forest has been under attack by a shadowy being...
• The Scholar and the Merchant, Part 1: Osvald and Partitio are walking around New Delsta when they find a man unconscious in the street. They feed him some bread (his first meal in days), after which the man introduces himself as Regulus, an Absent-Minded Professor and old friend of Osvald's. He is attempting to build a new and improved telescope, but accidentally gambled away all the money he put towards the materials. Partitio agrees to fund Regulus, and Regulus returns to Montwise to continue the project.
• The Thief and the Cleric, Part 1: Temenos returns to Flamechurch with Throné to uncover the truth behind a treasure known only as "Alpates" ("all-PAH-tees"). Finding a secret passage to the rafters of the cathedral, they discover the treasure is in fact a woman named Alpates, who had been taken in by Pontiff Jörg. With Jörg dead, Alpates leaves to seek her destiny, and leaves Throné and Temenos a piece of a mirror as thanks for freeing her.
• The Dancer and the Warrior, Part 1: Agnea and Hikari encounter a musician named Yomi at the Ryu trading post. Agnea, enamored by the sounds of her lute, tries to get Yomi to play another song, but it takes Hikari paying her and Agnea getting some horse hair to repair her lute for her to finally budge. The two of them listen to her song while watching the stars, and Hikari recognizes the song as one that his late friend Tsuki used to sing.

The Scent of Commerce

Partitio must complete at least one of these sidequests before being allowed to access his third chapter. Additionally, he must complete the Tropu'hopu one specifically before he can access his fourth chapter.

• Sai Route: Partitio meets Masoud, a retired merchant who wrote a famous manuscript detailing everything there is to know about the mercantile business, in Sai. Partitio asks to read the manuscript, but Masoud will only allow it if Partitio brings him something a merchant treasures above all else. Figuring that a true merchant would still value their loved ones, Partitio hires Masoud's daughter and escorts her to him, but Masoud says his answer is wrong. Partitio then tries to hire him, believing the true answer is that merchants value themselves above all else. This is correct, and Partitio is allowed into Masoud's home to read the manuscript any time he would like. The manuscript largely consists of worldbuilding and other neat details.
• Winterbloom Route: Walking through Winterbloom, Partitio hears a voice calling out for help. It turns out to be recorded on a gramophone, and its creator, Audrey, has been having trouble selling them. Partitio gets the idea to record not just voices but also music, and hires a guitarist, violinist, and pianist to record a song. This turns the gramophone into a smash hit, and every tavern in Solistia gets one after this, opening a Gotta Catch 'Em All feature where Partitio can buy records featuring the game's BGM and play them in taverns.
• Tropu'hopu Route: Partitio walks through Tropu'hopu's shipyard after hearing about a master shipwright in town. He instead finds that shipwright's apprentice, Terry, refusing to sell her half-finished ship to anyone. She initially refuses to sell to Partitio, too, but relents when he says his interest in the ship has nothing to do with her master, and charges 100,000 leaves for it. When Partitio returns with that money, Terry is initially flustered, before explaining that she could never get out of her master's shadow, even after his death, as any potential buyers were more interested with her master's craft than her own. After the ship is ready for sea, Partitio names it the Grand Terry in honor of its creator.

Secret Jobs

• One of the Secret Jobs, the "Inventor," is not very secret: it's just outside Throné's starting city of New Delsta, meaning that an experienced player could have access to it within the game's first hour. It's found in the house of a Mad Scientist named Arkar. Most Jobs in Octopath Traveler function via a Class and Level System where you earn Tech Points in battle and then spend them to unlock a Job's active and passive abilities; Inventor works via Gotta Catch 'Em All: you hand Arkar various gizmos and gadgets you find throughout Solistia, and he combines them into new abilities. Any character who wields the Inventor job then has access to those abilities; and all of them, at all times, have access to any passives unlocked.

Later Chapters

Ochette

• Chapter 3: Ochette returns to Toto'haha as the Night of the Scarlet Moon arrives. The island is besieged by the same shadowy creatures from her first chapter, and all the while Ochette smells a familiar scent. As Ochette turns the tide with the help of the Creatures of Legend, she comes face to face with the scent — it is the companion she did not choose, having gained immense power and gone mad in the past ten years. The Creatures of Legend are unable to do any meaningful damage to it, and Ochette is flung off a cliff into the ocean. There, she sees the light of the Sacred Flame welling up inside her companion and realizes she is fighting to protect the people of her village. Ochette puts the creature out of its misery, offering it food and showing it love in its final moments. With calamity averted, Cohazeh vows to pursue coexistence with Juvah and the beastlings, while Ochette embraces her role as Toto'haha's defender.
  • Boss: Lajackal/Malamaowl of the Sorrowful Moon

Castti

• Chapter 3: Castti arrives the Ghost Town that used to be called Healeaks. She meets with Malaya once again, and it is here that Castti's memory completely returns to her. Eir's Apothecaries — Castti, Malaya, Trousseau, Elma, Andy, and Randy — had all traveled to this village to check up on its residents, when one of the children suddenly fell ill. Castti and Trousseau traveled to the top of a nearby mountain to gather flowers for a cure for her ailment. Some time later, the Apothecaries returned in the middle of a rainstorm (shortly before the present day), and as they are about to leave again two of the children are found dead with symptoms of a deadly poison apparent. As more and more villagers fall ill and die, Castti realizes both that the rain itself, which is an unusual purple color, is poison, and that Trousseau has gone missing. The rest of the Apothecaries except for Elma climb the mountain, where they find Trousseau created the poison and used a bonfire to release it into the skies and have it come down as rain. Trousseau, having completely lost touch with reality and what made him want to be an apothecary, reveals that he wants to bring about the death of all humans in order to end suffering in the world. To that end, he heads to Timberain with plans to unleash his poison on the people gathered there for a coronation ceremony. The rest of the Apothecaries give their lives to try and stop Trousseau — Andy and Randy throw themselves onto the bonfire in order to put it out, Elma chooses to protect Castti's horse instead of herself, and Malaya succumbs to the poison just after setting Castti out to sea in the hopes that she can find a cure for the poison. With this, Castti realizes the Malaya that she has been talking to this entire time was an Imaginary Friend. With regained memories and a renewed purpose, she heads out to Timberain, where Trousseau has announced his intention to disrupt a royal function.
  • Boss: None
• Chapter 4: After arriving in Timberain, Castti attempts to warn the soldiers and townspeople of Trousseau's impending attack, but is largely ignored until both Edmund and Griff vouch for her. When the rain comes, Castti helps the military get the townspeople to safety; but it's not enough, as (she learned in Healeaks) the poison also becomes a gas. She needs to stop Trousseau, who is atop Timberain Castle. While she attempts to appeal to Trousseau's nature as an apothecary she once knew, she fails and must kill her former companion to save the city. Using the ingredients from the cures she used over the course of the story, Castti is able to create a cure for Trousseau's poison, and after testing it on herself administers it to Timberain's townspeople. She is also able to lay "Malaya" to rest, along with all of her other fallen comrades in Eir's Apothecaries, and drifts off to sleep as their spirits watch over her.
  • Boss: Trousseau

Throné

• Chapter 3 (Mother Route): Throné arrives in Wellgrove and meets a girl who bears a striking resemblance to her. She then infiltrates Mother's Garden, an orphanage owned by the Blacksnakes and run by Mother herself to raise its children into full-fledged members of the Blacksnakes. Throné finds the girl from earlier, Mira, here, and when Mother calls her into the courtyard Throné follows them. Mother recounts the story of the Blacksnakes' founding — long ago, a prince and a princess of enemy nations fell in love, and eloped to a faraway land and had many children, and that prince and princess and their children were the original Blacksnakes. Mother also reveals that she and Father killed Throné's biological mother, after which Throné demands the key to her collar from Mother, and kills her to take it despite Mira's protests (as she sees Mother as her true mother). Throné leaves as Mira swears vengeance on her.
  • Boss: Mother
• Chapter 3 (Father Route): Throné comes to Montwise as Father instructed, meeting him on the road to an abandoned church outside town. He reveals that while he is not Throné's biological father, he was madly in love with her biological mother, Marietta, who was the leader of the Blacksnakes before being ousted by Mother and Father. Throné follows Father into the church, where he mentions that he and Marietta got married in this church after Father got Marietta pregnant — he loved their child, but eventually Marietta was seduced by someone else, left Father, and did away with their child, which was Father's justification for him and Mother killing her. Despite this, Father reveals that he does love Throné as the daughter that should have been his; she calls him "dad" for the first time as he breathes his last.
  • Boss: Father

After finishing both branches of Chapter 3, Throné attempts to unlock her collar, but finds that the keys do not fit. Determined to figure out what the keys are really for, she returns to New Delsta.

• Chapter 4: Throné finds the Blacksnakes in total disarray after the death of Mother and Father, with its members killing each other at the drop of a hat to try and take control of the syndicate. Throné discovers a message written for her on Pirro's grave — "Return to where it all began". She heads to the sewers, where Donnie died following the failed heist, and finds thjat the keys she took from Mother and Father unlock that door. Following the abandoned highroad beyond the door, Throné finds an old man operating a gondola that takes her to the town of Lostseed. She hears a baby crying in this town, and finds a woman on the steps of the castle that the crying is coming from who begs Throné to kill her baby. Heading into the castle, she meets Claude, her biological father and the founder of the Blacksnakes, holding the crying baby. He reveals that he is immortal, and that all of the Blacksnakes are his biological children, including Throné, Pirro, Scaracci, Donnie, and even Mother and Father. Eventually, having left his legacy, Claude grew bored and orchestrated a scheme for one of his children to kill him. Throné gladly obliges if it means earning her freedom, fighting him to the death and earning the real keys to her collar. Throné leaves Lostseed grateful to be free of the life of crime she was forced into.
  • Boss: Claude

Osvald

• Chapter 4: Osvald visits the library in Montwise, and after scrutinizing visitors to Harvey's lectures discovers a secret passage to an underground laboratory. In this laboratory, he discovers Harvey has been conducting illegal experiments on monsters before coming face to face with Harvey himself. Harvey sics a monster on Osvald, the Grieving Golem, and Osvald picks up on his wife's essence in the golem. Demanding to know what Harvey did to his family, Harvey posits that the One True Magic's source is shadows and The Power of Hate. Osvald's wife, Rita, was descended from the Lumina bloodline, one of Incorruptible Pure Pureness, so she and their daughter Elena were kidnapped for Harvey to experiment on using magic derived from the ancient sage D'arqest. Just then, Elena appears, calling out for her papa... only for her to be referring to Harvey, who has tampered with her memory to erase any reference to Osvald being her father. A broken Osvald can only watch as the two of them walk away, with Harvey taunting Osvald to find him.
  • Boss: Grieving Golem
• Chapter 5: Osvald travels to Gravell, where the tomb of D'arqest is said to lie. There, several people who were on a pilgrimage to the nearby Duskruin Shrine suddenly go berserk and start attacking others. Osvald realizes they were all holding amulets imbued with the same shadow magic as the Grieving Golem, and realizes he must be close to finding Harvey. Rushing to the shrine, he finds Harvey ready to sacrifice Elena, but Osvald saves her, having figured out the actual source of the One True Magic — The Power of Love. With Harvey defeated, Osvald returns to Conning Creek in order to place Elena in Lady Clarissa's care until her memories are fully restored. Osvald then sets back out in the hopes of finding Harvey's associates.
  • Boss: Professor Harvey

Partitio

• Chapter 3: Partitio's search for an investor leads him to Wellgrove, where an eccentric nobleman named Alrond is said to reside. After the two meet, Alrond agrees to fund Partitio's deal, on the grounds that he do something to stimulate Wellgrove's economy. (He cites whichever "Scent of Commerce" sidequest Partitio did as proof.) Partitio gets the idea for what will ultimately become the first department store in Solistia, and he travels around the continent to find wares for the store to sell. Partitio returns to Alrond's manor to report on how things are going, only to find him under attack by an unknown assailant hidden in a cloak of steam. It turns out to be Thurston, whom Roque fired following the events of the previous chapter, seeking to sabotage Partitio. Partitio defeats him, and Alrond makes good on his promise, handing Partitio a promissory note for 80 billion leaves. Just then, Ori reveals to Partitio that Roque is holding a conference at the Roque Company headquarters regarding the steam engine. Determined to make good on his promise, Partitio heads out to meet him there.
  • Boss: Thurston
• Chapter 4: Partitio travels to Roque Island, the headquarters of the Roque Company. He and Ori sneak into the conference, with Partitio crashing the announcement to give Roque the promissory note from Alrond. When Roque refuses to make good on his deal, Alrond appears with a ship physically containing the 80 billion leaves. However, Roque becomes agitated and runs away, before appearing with his latest invention — the Steam Tank Obsidian, a cross between a steam train and a tank. Roque tries to kill Partitio with the tank, but Partitio survives the onslaught and destroys it. Roque, finally having realized he has lost his way, agrees to give up the rights to the steam engine and work with Partitio. They, operating as the newly-established Partitio and Roque company, use the steam engine to bolster Solistia's infrastructure, and the tale ends with Papp and Roque discussing business once again, this time about building a rail line through Oresrush.
  • Boss: Roque and the Steam Tank Obsidian

Agnea

• Chapter 4: After arriving in Sai, Agnea finds a statue of her mother in the town's slums. She is surprised to see it, but when she comes back to it she finds it has been vandalized by a local girl named Laila. Laila lives in an orphanage and believes there is no hope left for this town, and resents the statue of Cuani for being a symbol of false hope. Agnea attempts to teach Laila how to dance, and while she seems to be a natural at it, their practice session is cut short by men attempting to seize the land of the old town and destroy it. The one behind this turns out to be Dolcinaea, who grew up in Sai's slums (and learned how to dance from Cuani herself) and hates that someone as successful as her came from a place like this — she now wants to use the land to create "Dolcinaealand". Enraged by this, Agnea sets out to confront Dolcinaea in the hills outside town, where she instead ends up fighting Veronica, her bodyguard. Impressed by her talents, Dolcinaea hands her an invitation to perform in the Festival of Grace.
  • Boss: Veronica
• Chapter 5: Agnea arrives in Merry Hills, the town that hosts the Festival of Grace, and is immediately accosted by strange men that she fends off. As Agnea attempts to lose her pursuers, who were hired by La'mani to try and get back at Agnea, she is helped out by all of the friends she made along the way — Giselle's Traveling Troupe, Gil, and even Laila all help Agnea and make sure she gets to the festival safely. Just before she reaches the stage, La'mani himself appears before Agnea, but Veronica subdues him, and an intense dance battle between Agnea and Dolcinaea ensues. While the crowd is initially enamored by Dolcinaea's moves, Agnea's performance of the Song of Hope wins the crowd over. Agnea is congratulated by everyone that came out to support her, with Garud and Pala making the trip to see her dance and La'mani having a change of heart and supporting her. The story ends with Agnea proud of what she has accomplished.
  • Boss: Dolcinaea

Temenos

• Chapter 3 (Crackridge Route): Temenos heads to Crackridge, where the townspeople (many of whom are wearing crescent moon necklaces) seem very suspicious of him. He spends the night in an inn, where he reflects upon an old inquisitor friend named Roi, who mysteriously went missing after discovering an artifact known as the Darkblood Bow. The next morning, Temenos ventures to the nearby Fellsun Ruins, accompanied by a fellow traveler named Reiza. Temenos sees that Reiza wears the same necklace as the other townsfolk, and deduces that she is not merely some other traveler. Her cover blown, Reiza admits that she was supposed to kill Temenos, but did not agree with the teachings of the Order. Exploring the ruins, Temenos finds that the Moonshade Order orchestrated the genocide of the Kal tribe and realizes it is this Order that Jörg had intended to warn Temenos about before his untimely death.
  • Boss: None
• Chapter 3 (Stormhail Route): Temenos goes to Stormhail in the hopes of learning more from Vados himself. After catching up with Crick, Temenos enters the Sacred Guard's headquarters to figure out where Vados is, but the registrar denies any record of him entering the building. Heading outside to walk through the adjacent cemetery, Temenos finds Vados' corpse, and is attacked by a cloaked figure (but Crick saves him in the nick of time). Crick vows to get to the bottom of why the Sacred Guard is obstructing Temenos' investigation and hiding Vados' involvement in things — however, the next morning, Temenos finds him dead outside headquarters. Shocked by this, Temenos uses clues Crick left behind to find a secret passage to the headquarters' forbidden archive. When he gets there, Cubaryi follows shortly after, revealing that she and Kaldena killed Crick for discovering the Book of Night, a tome detailing an ancient rite that Kaldena seeks to carry out. An enraged Temenos strikes her down to avenge Crick, and at his funeral (also attended by Crick's closest friend in the Sacred Guard, Ort) silently swears to carry on his will.
  • Boss: Deputy Cubaryi

After finishing both branches of Chapter 3, Temenos deduces that Kaldena is the mastermind behind his story's events, and swears to bring her to justice.

• Chapter 4: Thirty years ago, Kaldena was the Sole Survivor of the Kal tribe's genocide. She joined the Sacred Guard in pursuit of her family's murderers, and of the power needed to exact her revenge. In the present day, she is accompanied by Ort and other Sacred Guard knights to a cave near a nameless village in Toto'haha, with Temenos in hot pursuit. Temenos learns from a beastling guarding the cave that Kaldena's rite is meant to call forth "the Shadow" to envelop the world in darkness. Meanwhile, Ort demands to know why Kaldena killed Crick, to which she responds by striking down her fellow knights and continuing into the cave. Temenos arrives just in time to see Ort, just barely hanging on, beg him to stop Kaldena. As Temenos fights Kaldena, she invokes the rite but it goes wrong, warping her beyond recognition, and Temenos puts her out of her misery. After Kaldena's death, the Sacred Guard is stripped of its authority, but Temenos, mourning the loss of both Roi and Crick, is unsatisfied — he still has many questions he needs to find the answers to, primarily the true goal of the Moonshade Order.
  • Boss: Captain Kaldena (Kaldena the Night)

Hikari

• Chapter 3: Following a tip from Kazan, Hikari travels to Wellgrove to intercept a shipment of arms headed towards Ku. He encounters Ritsu in the forest outside town, along with Rou, an old general in Ku's army. Hikari duels with Rou and also with the voice inside his head, with his conflicted feelings and injuries from the fight causing him to pass out. In a flashback sequence, Ritsu recalls that his father was killed by Ku soldiers for merely being lowborn, and he joined the army after Hikari promised to bring his father's killers to justice. In the present, Ritsu moves to finish off the wounded Hikari. Rou refuses to let this happen, warning Ritsu of the Ku clan's cursed bloodline (which manifests in Hikari as the voice he hears), so Ritsu, unwilling to return emptyhanded, instead kills Rou and returns to Ku. Ritsu tells Mugen and Ageha that he killed Rou for conspiring with Hikari — neither of them believe this, but Mugen gives him a promotion nonetheless, and returns to plotting Ku's expansion with the help of the Darkblood Blade.
  • Boss: General Rou
• Chapter 4: After the death of General Rou, Hikari travels to Stormhail, where Clan Mei now resides following the war three years ago. He and Rai Mei meet outside the clan's castle, but to Hikari's shock, she reveals that she too has fallen in with Mugen and uses her Spear of Levin to destroy the bridge Hikari is standing on and capture him. While unconscious, Hikari recalls a memory of his past — when he was young, Clan Mei swore its fealty to the Ku family, with Rai Mei and her older brother Jin becoming Hikari's retainers. Hikari learned swordsmanship from Jin, and became friends with Rai. Not long after this, Hikari and his mother Kura were walking through town, when a group of bandits attempted to kill both the young prince and his mother. They succeed in killing Kura, but Hikari experiences the Curse of Ku for the first time and kills the bandits. Jin Mei then intervenes before anyone else can get hurt. After waking up, Hikari is freed from the Clan Mei dungeon by one of Rai's retainers before he can be executed, and he heads up to the gallows to confront Rai. After an emotional duel, Rai Mei reveals that Kura's death was orchestrated by Mugen, and Jin Mei took the fall for their failure to kill Hikari on the condition that Clan Mei pledge its full loyalty to Mugen. Rai breaks down in tears, begging Hikari to kill her, but Hikari refuses, and heads for Ku in order to take back his land from Mugen.
  • Boss: Rai Mei
• Chapter 5: Hikari's forces gather just outside Ku's capital, while in the capital, Mugen calls upon Ritsu to be his personal guard in the upcoming battle. Benkei is revealed to have survived the events of Chapter 1, but Clan Mei is nowhere in sight. Hikari's forces charge into the city after Kazan engineers a sandstorm to blow through and disorient the enemy, and intense fighting takes place in the streets. Ageha and his men attempt to stop Hikari, but after they ring the Bell of Dawn, Rai Mei and her forces appear to take them on. Hikari rushes into the palace, where he is intercepted by Ritsu. They battle one last time, with Ritsu realizing how far he has fallen as he dies — however, Hikari has no time to mourn him, as he presses into the throne room to fight Mugen. During the fight, the Curse of Ku once again rears its head, and Hikari duels with its embodiment, a shadowy version of himself. Recalling the words of Kazan and his allies, he dispels the curse once and for all, and Mugen taps into the power of the Darkblood Blade to become the monstrous Enshrouded King. Hikari kills Mugen, and takes his place as Ku's new king. His first act as king is to renounce the claims Ku has on other kingdoms, breaking the vicious cycle of war once and for all.
  • Boss: Ritsu Mishuyo, General Mugen, "Hikari", The Enshrouded King

Crossed Paths and Side Quests, Pt II

• The Hunter and the Apothecary, Part 2: Ochette and Castti return to Cropdale, where they find the meat vendor from before is now gone. They head to the Animal Trail again, only to find the entire trail covered in shadows. Ochette fends off a shadowy creature, and Castti finds Wooly-Ooly again and learns that it covered the other animals as they ran from the forest. The two travelers are suddenly separated, with Castti encountering the shadowy being from earlier and it trying to get Castti to give into her feelings of guilt and despair. Ochette finds Castti and, unaffected by the shadow, calls out to Castti, breaking her free. The two of them then fend off the shadows once and for all, and the forest returns to normal.
• The Scholar and the Merchant, Part 2: Osvald and Partitio head to Montwise and find Regulus passed out in the library, having not eaten in days again. Regulus reveals that the telescope is complete but has been repossessed by a loan shark, who charged the clueless Regulus with exorbitant interest rates. Angered by this, they visit the moneylender, and Osvald beats him up to get the telescope back. That night, they observe the stars with Regulus' telescope, and realize that the days seem to be getting shorter...
• The Thief and the Cleric, Part 2: Temenos and Throné are walking through Conning Creek, where they find Alpates has turned up dead. Throné breaks into the house where Alpates' body is being kept, and finds a note in her dress that points them towards the nearby Cavern of the Moon and Sun. Here, the two of them find the other half of the mirror, and vow to keep it safe given that Alpates had given her life to keep it hidden.
• The Dancer and the Warrior, Part 2: After Hikari wrested control of Ku away from Mugen, Benkei asks the new king holding a festival to celebrate the end of war. Hikari initially rejects this, but after hearing Agnea's proposal to make it about remembering the fallen, changes his mind. Hikari and Agnea gather materials around town to set up the festival, but then realize they need a musician. Benkei points them towards the nearby Tranquil Grotto, as he sometimes hears lute music coming from there. Sure enough, the two of them find Yomi in the depths of the cave, reminiscing about her late sister, Tsuki. Blaming Clan Ku for her death, Yomi challenges Hikari to a duel, but is defeated. Yomi is able to make her peace with Hikari, who invites her to play her music at the festival, accompanied by Agnea's dancing.

Secret Jobs

• The "Armsmaster" Secret Job is found in Gravell, the third-tier Wildlands town. A blacksmith is beset by debt collectors; free him (via a Fight interaction) and he will promise to help you fix up any Rusty Weapons you find. These, like the components for the Inventor job, are scattered throughout the world; unlike the Inventor Job, an Armsmaster can only use the associated skill if they have the associated weapon equipped. Like Inventor passives, Armsmaster passives are free to use for the whole party.
• The "Arcanist" Secret Job is found at The Lost Isle in the southeast corner of the map; you need the Grand Terry to get access to it. It's in the middle of a giant maze, which players must navigate in order to get the solution. ...Which turns out to be that there's an invisible pathway right off the entrance, so you could just check the internet and save yourself the trouble. The Arcanist is a support class, featuring this game's version of Rune Transfer, "Seal of Diffusion," as well as Shadow and Light spells that refill the team's HP or SP in proportion to the damage dealt.
• The "Conjurer" Secret Job is found at the top of the Five-Tiered Tower just outside the Royal Palace of Ku. As its name implies, you must fight your way through five bosses. The fifth is Priestess Hinoekagura, the original Conjurer. She's a tough cookie: the next time you'll face a boss with this much HP, it'll be the Final Boss. The Conjurer is the other half of the Runelord job in that it allows the wielder to enchant the party's weapons with Fire, Ice, Lightning and Wind attacks — which essentially allows them to break an extra Shield Point, under the right circumstances; it also comes with the God-tier "SP Saver" support passive.

The Journey for the Dawn (SPOILERS)

The party are enjoying an evening under the stars near Cropdale — the first scene with all eight Player Party characters present. Having grown from their experiences but knowing their journey is not done yet, they enjoy some light banter, and talk about their dreams: Partitio, Agnea and Castti plan to ride the rails spreading health and cheer; Osvald and Temenos have further investigations to do, with Throné volunteering to accompany them; Hikari and Ochette have responsibilities to their homelands which they are now ready to shoulder. As they chat, they look up to behold a shooting star. Agnea wonders what tomorrow will bring.

Tomorrow never arrives.

As the party sleep, they all dream of the snuffing of the four Sacred Flames, three clearly in the past, but one at the Cathedral in Flamechurch. What is more, The Night That Never Ends has begun: the In-Universe Game Clock is permanently jammed on "night," the NPCs are all in their nocturnal locations, some Side Quests are unavailable until you complete this sequence, creatures of shadow are everywhere, and — unless you get into a boss battle or hit the final dungeon — there's no BGM. However, a Never Split the Party mentality has set in, and players can now revise their active party from the game menu instead of having to head to a Tavern, including whilst in dungeons.

The party journey to the four Sacred Flames, with Crossed Path pairings needed to relight them.

• Agnea and Hikari journey to the Tranquil Grove in Ku, where they had previously met Yomi playing. Relighting the Sacred Flame reveals that Kazan is responsible for snuffing this flame and taking the Darkblood Blade from the corpse of Mugen, which he uses to kill Ageha to smother it. Kazan, now and once again Oboro, disappears.
• Ochette and Castti venture into the Tombs of the Wardenbeats in Toto'haha. Within the tomb, they relight the flame and discover that the Dark Hunter Petrichor had abused Ochette's rejected companion until they grew wild and monstrous, before turning the Darkling upon herself, sacrificing her own life to smother Toto'haha's Sacred Flame.
  • Boss: Grotesque Monster
• Partitio and Osvald make their way into the Fellsun Ruins in the Cracklands, where they find the discarded notes of Ori. These notes detail her and her brother's efforts to aid the Moonshade Order in bringing about Vide's return, but how Ori, at the last moment, regained hope in humanity because of Partitio. She survives her own sacrifice.
• Finally, Temenos and Throné go to Flamechurch, where they meet Mindt. Temenos senses something odd about Mindt, so Mindt casts away her disguise to reveal that she is really Arcanette, leader of the Moonshade Order. Temenos realizes she's the one who ordered the murder of the pontiff, because the Pontiff suspected her. Mindt now possesses the Darkblood Staff, and the party do battle. With Arcanette defeated, the party venture to the Cathedral and relight the fire, but are met with a chilling scene: Arcanette has been emotionally manipulating Tansy from Giselle's Traveling Troupe for years, and then callously was the one who sacrificed her to snuff out the Flamechurch flame.
  • Boss: Arcanette

The four Sacred Flames are relit using the mirror found from Temenos and Throné's investigations into the murder of Alpatys. Now, with all flames rekindled, their energies reveal the location of the being responsible for this eternal night, the ancient island of Vidania.

The party journey to Vidania's broken shores and find that Oboro has beaten them there and stands at the top, a flame of shadow burning behind him. Oboro turns and addresses the party, asking why they seek the dawn, yet dismissing their answers. He once more laments humanity's stain, then bids the heroes farewell, steps back to the dark flame, holds out his arms, and falls into it, letting the darkness consume him.

The fires burn greater, and the shadow takes shape as a familiar entity lays before the eight heroes and the party leader informs their companions that the final battle is nigh.

• Boss: Vide

As the battle progresses, Vide swallows up the four party members thrust forward to fight her, forcing the others to step in. Eventually, the party defeat Vide's form, only for Vide to ascend to even greater heights, but for the first four party members to break free. All eight party members may now take part in the fight.

• Final Boss: Vide the Wicked

Vide is defeated and can only ask why the party stands against her. Yet she leaves with one final remark, that she is eternal. With the wicked god gone, the dawn returns. The party return to their campsite near Cropdale once more, say their goodbyes, and they part ways for a time. Some time later, they all meet one final time at the New Delsta Theatre, as Agnea performs one final show for the audience and the party, revealing the name of her story as the screen fades to white:

OCTOPATH TRAVELER

Let's Do It Again: The Hidden Superboss (MORE SPOILERS)

Sidequest: The Traveler's Bag

Outside your starting traveler's hometown is a 30-year-old man (according to Inquire data) named Al. He's been ambushed by a thug and lost his satchel. The main purpose of this sidequest is Instructive Level Design, teaching you how to use the In-Universe Game Clock: switch to nighttime and a "Glowering Man" will appear near where Al was lying dazed and injured. Confront him about the bag and the Glowering Man will change to a Bandit. He has 280 HP and 3 Shields, and upon defeat will surrender Al's bag. Give it back to the fellow and he's on his way. Hmm, this seems reminiscent of an adventure on Orsterra where we met a Chekhov's Gunman NPC right outside our starting town...

Sidequest: Procuring Peculiar Tomes

In the Montwise Library resides an Unusual Tome Specialist. If spoken to, she charges the party with obtaining three books and bringing them back to her.

• In the Beastling Village is a Foreign Traveler who is excited to have found the village. He has Dispatches from the Beastling Village in his inventory, which you must Acquire.
• In the Southern Stormhail Snows, just outside of Stormhail, an Archaeologist is overlooking the marvel known as the Great Wall. He has The Curious Legend of the Great Wall in his inventory. Acquire as usual.
• Down a ladder in the town of Crackridge is a Scholar standing guard outside his house. Knock him out with a Fight interaction to get into the building; Inquire him with Castti, Osvald, Hikari or Temenos to notice that whatever he's protecting has been driving him a teeeeensy bit binky-bonkers. It's From The Far Reaches of Hell. Hey, didn't an Orsterran Scholar named Cyrus Albright have some problems with this book?...

Sidequest: From The Far Reaches of Hell

Al has arrived at the Montwise library and decides he wants to read From The Far Reaches of Hell. However, he can't read the language: apparently, it isn't spoken in "my homeland of Orst— err, where I come from." He asks the party to help him with the translation. By consulting with both Al and the Unusual Tome Specialist, the party determines that a world-languages expert named Georges Lazuli could help. To find him, the party sets sail for the Nameless Isle, a Lv.38 dungeon in roughly the middle of the Sundering Sea. After defeating a boss, Gigantes, the party meets Lazuli, and are able to Inspect him to get a "How to Decipher Unknown Languages" token. Transferring this to Al completes the sidequest. You get some Leaves, a neat accessory, and... Hey, there's an island in the southeast corner of the map, marked "???"...

Sidequest: A Gate Between Worlds

You can visit ??? before completing the above chain of quests. It consists of a couple of treasure chests and a temple whose doors will not open. Well, those doors are open, and the area they lead to is called the "Gate of Finis." Inside the temple, Al awaits, injured, begging the party to turn back.

Past him lies Galdera.

It's another full-party battle, but worse; Vide can be defeated at Lv.60, but most internet guidance suggests your party be at least Lv.80 before attempting this fight. Galdera's stronger than it was on Osterra, having more Hit Points this time around. Galdera applies one of those gimmicks that reduce your max HP; it has arms that seal its weaknesses, and can seal the arms' weaknesses. As on Orsterra, it's two-phase battle, where one half of the party battles Galdera's bottom half and the other four take on the top. But, after the most difficult fight in the game, the Octopath Travelers succeed, and the God of Evil is sealed away again... for now.

Al thanks the party before pulling a But Now I Must Go. He explains he needs to return home, and teleports away in a burst of light. Before leaving, he gives the team his full name: Alfred Hornburg. Hey, isn't that the name of the grey-haired king Olberic Eisenberg once served?...