Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler II, Square Enix's two big role-playing games, are now out on Nintendo Switch 2. They landed on Thursday, 1 October as proper native Switch 2 versions, and they run at a higher resolution and a smoother frame rate than they did on the original Switch.

Each one costs US$59.99 on its own, either as a download or on a game-key card. There's also a digital-only bundle with both. Square Enix says the series has now shipped and sold more than seven million copies worldwide.

Two games, sixteen travellers

The first Octopath Traveler came out on the original Switch on 13 July 2018. The name tells you the hook. There are eight playable characters, each with their own story, their own starting point and their own skills, and you pick who to begin with. Square Enix's launch release says the continent of Orsterra runs "from lush forests to desert outposts and snow-swept cathedrals."

Photo: Crisco 1492 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), cropped

Octopath Traveler II arrived in 2023 with a new world, Solistia, and eight new characters. It stands on its own, so you don't need to have played the first one. The release says the sequel deals with "the perils and promise of a new industrial era."

Both games are turn-based. You work out what an enemy's weak to, break its guard, then spend stored Boost Points to hit harder or string attacks together. Every character also has a Path Action for dealing with people in town. That covers everything from buying or stealing items to recruiting followers.

But what really made the series stand out was the look. Square Enix calls it HD-2D. It's pixel-style sprite characters set against 3D backgrounds, with lighting and depth-of-field effects on top. The style has since spread right across the company's catalogue. Nintendo's release calendar has Final Fantasy Resonance coming on 22 October, billed as "the first ever FINAL FANTASY game to be presented in HD-2D". Not every Square Enix revival goes that way, mind you. Terranigma's upcoming release, as we reported, sticks with its original pixel art.

What's better on Switch 2

Square Enix promises "improved resolution and frame rates optimized for Nintendo's latest console." It didn't give exact targets. Nintendo World Report did, though. In its review of the first game, Jordan Rudek wrote that the Switch 2 version looks to hit 1080p at 60 frames per second. The original Switch managed 720p at 30 frames.

"There are some small dips in the frame rate during more intense battle sequences, but as a whole the experience is a really smooth one," Rudek wrote. He added that load times "seem to be slightly reduced here as well."

It's not a big download either. Nintendo's US store lists the first game at an estimated 3.1 GB, and it works in TV, tabletop and handheld modes. The developer named for the Switch 2 version is ACQUIRE, the Tokyo studio that's worked with Square Enix on the series.

The catch if you already own them

There's no upgrade path. If you've got either game on the original Switch, you'll pay full price for the new one, and your save won't carry across. Gematsu reported both points back in July when these versions were announced. Nintendo's store page puts it plainly: "save data is incompatible between the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 versions."

That's what reviewers have pushed back on. Rudek listed "no save data transfer and no upgrade path" as a con. He compared it badly with CD Projekt Red, whose free Witcher 3 upgrade we covered last month.

And publishers aren't all doing the same thing on Switch 2. Some recent releases, like Devil May Cry 5's cartridge edition, have been full-price new versions. Meanwhile Nintendo's own October list says Kingdom Hearts cloud owners can buy the native Switch 2 versions at a discount and bring their saves with them.

The Switch 2 plays most original Switch games through backward compatibility anyway. So if you own the old versions, you can keep playing without paying again. The new ones are really for people who want the sharper picture, or who never played these games at all.

Which one to start with

Rudek's verdict on the first game was warm, but measured. "It's a satisfying turn-based RPG in its own right," he wrote, but "if you are only planning to play one or two of these games, the sequel and prequel are the better options than the debut." The prequel he's talking about is Octopath Traveler 0. It came out on Switch, and as a native Switch 2 game, on 4 December 2025, according to Nintendo's store listing. With this week's release, all three games now run natively on Switch 2.

Rudek also pointed out that threads from the first game "get tugged on gently in Octopath 2 and much more strongly in Octopath 0". So the debut still earns its place if you want the whole story.

Each of the first game's eight characters lines up with a classic role-playing class. Rudek began his Switch 2 run with Olberic, the warrior. He remembered friends finding the opening hours tougher with H'aanit, the hunter, or Alfyn, the apothecary, whose abilities "take a bit more effort to make effective". Who you pick changes how those first few hours play, and that's a big part of why people go back for another run.

Where else they're coming

Switch 2 isn't the only new home for them this month. Square Enix says both games arrive on GOG for the first time on 8 October, with a launch discount running from midnight Pacific that day until midnight on 18 October. In Adelaide, where daylight saving starts on Sunday, 4 October, the GOG launch lands at 5:30pm on Thursday, 8 October. GOG sells its games without DRM, so PC players who'd rather own an installer outright than a Steam licence will now have that choice for both games.

They're already on the original Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC. Square Enix put out a Switch 2 launch trailer for the pair on its official YouTube channel on release day, and you'll find it at the top of this page.

Switch 2 is in the middle of a busy run of role-playing ports. Octopath turns up alongside Elden Ring's Tarnished Edition and the coming Final Fantasy Resonance. If you skipped these two the first time round, this is the best-looking way yet to play them on a Nintendo machine.