In 2020, Square Enix released an interesting 'stopgap' in the Octopath Traveler series called Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. This free-to-play mobile game took the gacha approach to design, regularly launching new units and storylines to interact with as the years rolled by. The company wrapped up that initial version in January this year, but it decided to design a new standalone version for consoles: Octopath Traveler 0.
Not quite a straight port of the original nor a brand new game, this fresh release converts a previously more fractured game into a cohesive traditional JRPG that features no online elements or microtransactions and feels more in line with what you’d expect from a proper numbered entry. And while it’s not the true successor to Octopath Traveler II, OT0 nonetheless stands tall as another great entry in the series.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
The narrative here is arguably the most interesting aspect, as it somewhat bucks the series trend of offering various disconnected narratives following each of the primary protagonists. For one thing, there’s now technically only one protagonist (your self-insert MC) and everyone else is merely an incidental addition to the plot. And while there’s still a nonlinear, chapter-based system that allows you to pursue the main story at your leisure, each chapter is now focused on a specific antagonist.
Even though intraparty interaction is still kept to a minimum, the storyline is nonetheless significantly more streamlined and in line with what you’d expect out of a typical JRPG. You begin as a resident of the cosy, friendly town of Wishvale, which is very quickly pillaged and razed to the ground by a nasty group of villains. After reconnecting with another survivor, you set out on a campaign of vengeance several years later, hunting key leaders of the attack, setting up the first arc of the overarching narrative.
What I really liked about this storytelling approach is how much more personal and interesting it made the rogues' gallery of villains. Not only do the ensuing chapters explore some of the antagonists' moral greyness, but there are some genuinely surprising and dark plot twists that add to the satisfaction when you finally get a chance to punch these people in the mouth.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
I was always a fan of the way the first two games handled their braided narratives, but choosing to centre the narrative this time on one protagonist and various villains that have made their life hell is an interesting and ultimately worthwhile change.
That all said, the length of the campaign is a long haul. Given that this is based on a live-service gacha that grew quite a bit, there are literally years of storylines to experience—the developers themselves flagged that it should take you roughly 100 hours to clear, and that’s not including the mountain of optional side content. I wouldn’t say that this tremendous length is necessarily a mark against Octopath Traveler 0, but just be aware that the pacing and quality can vary over that time, as any narrative of that size can get unwieldy in some places.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
Gameplay otherwise follows the standard formula of previous games, wherein you explore a sizeable open world, pick up quests, fight in turn-based battles, explore dungeons, and utilise Path Actions to interact with the various NPCs you come across. Initially, you only have two party members, but as you discover and explore new towns, you eventually grow the party to just over 30.
All of which is to say, this is exactly how you’d expect a new Octopath entry to play, and while I would have liked to see more innovation on the gameplay side of things, it’s tough to argue that the team didn’t stick the landing with the execution of their gameplay loop.
Combat remains largely the same, with a key difference being that you now have eight active party members instead of four. Only four of them are active during a given round, but when a party member’s turn comes, they can tag out to let their backline partner take an action instead. The backline is more than just a reserve in case someone gets knocked down, too, as all characters in the rear at the end of every round also gain HP and SP.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
Though the eight-character setup doesn’t massively change the overall flow of combat that we’re well familiar with by now, I really appreciated the additional strategic depth offered by the extra members. You effectively build BP (Boost Points) twice as fast now, which can lead to some crazy combos if you plan out your team right, and there’s a lot more to think through as you consider the various skills and abilities of each member and plan in advance how you’ll place them in the overall formation.
Do you put two healer characters together to maximise your healing output? Or do you pair one with a DPS character who will need to get cycled to the back to recover? The previous two games regularly asked you similar teambuilding questions, but here that more strategic approach is present to a much higher degree.
On the other hand, individual character progression has been kneecapped a bit, and I'm not as much a fan of how it’s been implemented. The ability to multiclass in previous games kept character-building interesting throughout the whole experience as you constantly unlocked new class types and found new ways to combine different class abilities to lead to some units that truly 'broke' the game. Here, there are no second classes; you can only progress a character along their default assigned class.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
There is some variation introduced by equipping Battle Skills and Support Skills gained from NPCs, granting boons like the ability to utilise wind attacks or increased healing output. However, these feel more limited than giving a character access to all the abilities that come along with a new class, and it leads to characters feeling pigeon-holed into the clear roles they’re designed to fulfil.
There’s something to be said about having a roster of bespoke characters who become simply more of what they already are at the beginning, but I’ve always viewed the Octopath Traveler games as encouraging you to find ways to make party members overpowered by building them far beyond their initial loadouts and here that definitely feels reined in.
Given that there’s technically only the one protagonist in this game, the Path Action system has been adapted. Now your protagonist can do all the actions (such as stealing, inquiring, or haggling) and the success rate is determined by how much you’ve grown their wealth, power, or fame stats by completing various quests and side quests. Which stat gets checked depends on what the character you’re talking to values most, and this also affects what path actions are available to use on them. Overall, this doesn't feel like a significant change, but I appreciated how it gave you reason to regularly return to towns, as many NPCs are clearly way above the levels you’re at when you initially meet them.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
Perhaps the headlining new feature is the addition of townbuilding elements while you slowly rebuild Wishvale to its former glory. Simply talking to your carpenter friend, Stia, or interacting with a workbench will turn the overgrown ruins of the once-quaint town into a grid where you can place new buildings, paths, and decorations according to your liking. Some of these buildings have a more functional passive value, too, such as how the pub allows you to bring food and prep dishes to give yourself an edge in battle for a certain number of turns.
As you find new towns, some NPCs will have the 'Invite' Path Action, which lets you invite them to Wishvale to contribute to the community. Every NPC has some sort of passive ability that can affect things like crop production speed or JP (Job Points) gain in battle, and housing them in your town lets you build these up over time. Plus, inviting more residents causes the overall town level to increase, unlocking new structures to build, and lets you place more homes where you’d like.
I appreciated how the townbuilding managed to feel both instrumental and optional to the game’s progression. Though there are plot reasons for why you have to build up the town to a certain point, it’s something that you can otherwise choose to ignore if you’d rather just stay on the road and keep pushing on to the next quest.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
On the other hand, there’s plenty to dig into here if you want to get in the weeds of building the most picturesque town possible as you regularly return to reap the rewards. And while there are concrete gameplay benefits from investing in and interacting with your town, they aren’t so enormous that you’re handicapping yourself if you choose to only return to Wishvale when necessary.
As far as visuals are concerned, this entry falls neatly between the fidelity of the previous two mainline games. It's clear that it was built with many reused assets from the first Octopath Traveler, but there are some details and flourishes present that will remind you more of the second game.
The Switch 2 version runs quite well, too, and seeing the action unfold at 60fps makes everything appear that much nicer. It definitely feels like a slight step down if you’re playing this right after putting a lot of time into Octopath Traveler 2, but overall the HD-2D art style here still holds up exceptionally well and looks gorgeous in motion.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
Much like how the visuals feel like a blend of the previous two games, the soundtrack offers a variety of tracks and remixes from its predecessors, with some new tracks thrown in there to accompany the new content. Though it’s a bit disappointing that we didn’t get a new full-fledged soundtrack for this release, the new music feels right in line with the previous tracks, which are just as excellent as they were when we heard them for the first time.
Conclusion
In many ways, Octopath Traveler 0 feels like a ‘victory lap’ for the beloved series, remixing various elements that you’re familiar with from the past games while introducing some interesting new ones to spice things up a bit. Importantly, this prequel does not feel like a proper Octopath Traveler 3, but that doesn’t mean that it isn't still an incredibly good time and a much better JRPG than most genre peers.
Even if it's a retread in some ways, though, an absolutely monstrous amount of content, interesting new gameplay elements, gorgeous visuals, and compelling storytelling all come together to make Octopath Traveler 0 a must-buy.
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