Octopath Traveler 0

I'll start with a confession: I haven't played the two previous instalments in this series. Why, you may ask? I love old-school turn-based Japanese role-playing games, with the first nine Final Fantasy games, especially VI, VII, and IX, being my personal favourites. Since then, I have basically only played re-releases, remasters, and remakes of this series on everything from NDS, PSP, and 3DS to PS5, as I lost hope in the direction taken after X. But enough about that series, even if it was worth mentioning here because Octopath Traveler 0 gives me roughly the same feeling as Hironobu Sakaguchi's fantastic saga.

The reason I didn't dive headfirst into the first Octopath Traveler was simply because of a slightly confusing exclusivity story where I lacked the hardware and time ran out in favour of other things. Today, however, they can be experienced on all formats, and it's high time for me to give the first two a well-deserved chance in this completely standalone trilogy of the more classic cut.

I've played Octopath Traveler 0 on Switch 2, and it leaves me wanting more, as this is exactly my kind of setup and story.

A big but significant difference this time is that we are allowed to create our own protagonist in a smaller but fully adequate editor, whereas previous games featured predefined characters and stories with different starting points on the world map. This time, there is a greater focus on a more personal experience and journey through the land of Orsterra where the game takes place, something that is reflected in the many systems and directions in which you can customise your fighter in the form of job classes, abilities, and attacks, and also your own level of influence over upcoming interactions with characters along the way. The story also allows for a degree of personal preference, where the overall plot after the prologue opens up in three main directions that you can follow, but also jump between for variety, where interesting encounters and a good slate of options of environments await.

The story begins in the friendly community of Wishvale, where the annual festival to bring good harvests, happiness, and prosperity is about to begin, with the lighting of a traditional and sacred fire. Your childhood friend Stia is busy with decorations, while Phenn, an orphan whom you consider a brother and who is now a member of the town guard where your father is captain, is doing his best to keep the town safe. In contrast to the festivities in the background, a trio of greedy tyrants are planning an attack on the town, where a sacred ring is said to be hidden, something that soon leads to destruction and tragedy, with the village being burned to the ground and far from everyone escaping unscathed. The player and Stia manage to escape to a hut, where they lie low and pass the time...

After the prologue, you are faced with a number of choices, one of which is job class, and true to the genre, we find everything we expect, such as Warrior, Thief, and Scholar, whose primary uses are physical strength and higher health, fast attacks with the ability to steal, and slightly more fragile magicians who use the elements. The other five classes out of a total of eight are more hybrids that mix offensive with defensive and various strategic abilities that can deal out buffs and debuffs, interspersed with more unique characteristics. Later in the game, however, you are allowed to choose freely between all classes and level up within each one, as well as combine aspects of them with each other for even more variety and possibilities.

Synonymous with all of them is that they all fight with two different weapon categories that can also be switched between in real-time in combat; for example, a Hunter uses both a bow and arrow and an axe. There is also a smart system for unlocking new abilities in the order you want, where the requirement for the next unlock gradually requires more points. This is a brilliant concept where, as a player, I am not locked into a framework but constantly advance within what I actually want, and can consider where I spend my hard-earned experience points. Similarly, attacks and abilities come in the form of items that I can equip the characters with in the same way as armour, helmets, or rings, which adds even more options to an already modular and free playing style.

After deciding on a class, the player and Stia return to the remains of Wishvale, where they are faced with another choice: the three antagonists behind the attack personify and reflect an overarching moral influence on how the world works as a whole. The system is called "Path Actions" and is divided into three areas: Wealth, Power, and Fame. Depending on which of these three you choose, you will receive a boost in that area, which will affect your chances and abilities in future interactions with villagers and characters along the way. All "Path Actions" level up over time, partly through the story, but also through deeds, choices, side quests, who you bond with, and much more. Depending on your level in these areas, you have a greater or lesser chance, calculated as a percentage, of succeeding in your interactions with NPCs.

Perhaps you want to haggle and buy a unique item they have in their possession (Wealth), challenge them to a duel for a new weapon (Power), or simply charm and persuade them (Fame) that you really need those health items that are so often used in combat. This makes every interaction with an NPC an interesting encounter that generates concrete items in addition to lore and information, many of which can also be recruited to help with the reconstruction of Wishvale.

The reconstruction of the village is a central part of the adventure, where the town gradually grows into a self-sufficient home base. To achieve this, raw materials, resources, and manpower is required. Timber, stone, metal, fabric, and seeds can be gathered in the environment or purchased in other villages, or as rewards after a classic "random encounter". Characters and manpower are recruited through persuasion in the many towns and villages you pass through, where different acquisitions have different skills in inns, shops, agriculture, and more. Rebuilding your hometown, placing houses, and decorating is a unique feature that is not only relaxing to tinker with as a kind of mini-game in itself, but also gives a feeling of rebirth where you put your own stamp on how it should be designed and what future rewards you want it to generate. It's simple and stripped down enough not to steal your time, if, like me, you don't really like building bases or doing that kind of management. You choose how aesthetically pleasing or space-saving it should look in the end.

But of course, we're also going to go after those behind all the misery. The greedy witch Herminia lurks in the depraved city of Valore, the corrupt military leader Tytos rules and controls Emberglow with an iron fist, and the last lord, Auguste, with his low-pitched and unpleasant voice, is a sadistic playwright who resides in Theatropolis. They all symbolise corruption and evil in different guises, where wealth, power, and fame have gone to their heads.

There are three main paths through the story, where you can follow one, the other or jump between them at any time, depending on where you direct your steps on the world map. Auguste made an impression on me during the prologue, so I chose to follow that path initially. I just described him as sadistic, but a more accurate description might be full-blooded psychopath, as I am sometimes astonished by what is said and what takes place during his chapter, where Auguste's misdeeds form the basis and inspiration for the theatre performances he is known for and which captivate everyone who witnesses them. At times, it reaches a level that few horror thrillers can match, which is unusual to see in a Japanese role-playing game of this type without giving too much away. The villains are interesting, well-written, unique, and thoroughly depraved.

Just like the previous games in the series, it involves turn-based combat, which means a measured pace with more thought required. New for this instalment is that you can have up to eight characters in your party, divided into a front and rear line. The front line fights and the rear line stands by, ready to replace the character in front, which generates countless strategic combinations. The rear line also regenerates health and the game's equivalent of "mana," called SP. The Break & Boost system established in Octopath Traveler is also present here, which basically involves breaking down the enemy's shield with the type of damage they are most susceptible to, which eventually takes them out of play and opens them up to more damage. Each "move" also generates BP (Boost Points), which are used in conjunction with any attack to unleash multiple repeated strikes in succession or more upgraded attacks. In addition to this, there are also Ultimate Techniques, which are new to this edition and best described as "summons" from Final Fantasy.

The combat system may seem a little stripped down at first, but it becomes much more dynamic, varied, and lively the more characters you recruit and attacks you acquire. Add in the positive and negative status changes that are part of this genre, as well as enemies that can affect both sides at the same time or switch characters for you, and it soon becomes really hectic and by no means a walk in the park. However, I would have liked to see a little more animated enemies, as they can seem a bit static at times.

The game has a semi-open structure, where certain areas are closed off until later, while others require a higher level to be successfully tackled. The environments are varied, ranging from enchanted forests, frozen mountain peaks, and sun-drenched beaches to dilapidated ghost towns and opulent fairy-tale castles. Add to that countless smaller isolated "dungeons" that often house a boss guarding something of great value. The environments are vibrant in terms of detail and mostly beautiful in the deliberately retro-style of HD-2D we've come to expect, with advanced lighting, reflections, and particle effects packaged via Unreal Engine 5. However, there are some textures that look strangely low-resolution and stand out, whether this is a bug or a result of the Switch 2 not being powerful enough, I will leave unsaid, or whether it's due to the fact that it's essentially an upscaled, expanded, and heavily modified mobile title. It looks significantly better in motion than in still images, where HDR in particular provides better contrast and colour.

The frame rate is stable and good, although more advanced environments can jerk a little at times, but never to the extent that it has a noticeable impact. However, I would have liked to see slightly larger environments and fewer of the narrow, cramped passages, which make up the majority of the game. There is a lot to discover and side quests to tackle, which often lead to new acquaintances joining your troop of characters, which number over 30. It's a big game in terms of content and scope, so expect to spend around 100 hours to get the most out of it. The music is also well composed, with sweeping strings and languishing pianos, just as it should be. The voice acting is also of a high standard, and I played with English voices, but Japanese is also available for those who prefer it.

Octopath Traveler 0 has well-thought-out job and combat systems, well-written characters, and that fairy-tale and "classic" story I've been missing for the last 10+ years. Path Actions with Power, Wealth, and Fame is a system that turns all interactions into rewards. It's retro and modern at the same time and rekindles the passion for the genre, whether you're an old hand or have been watching from afar and haven't dared to take the plunge. Octopath Traveler 0 is as much Final Fantasy from the past as it is something new that sharpens and tweaks a familiar concept with fresh features. This is new old-school in all the right ways.