Subject: "Octopath Traveler 0 is actually fun*"

I donā€™t really play tons of RPGs so Iā€™m not sure I would really know the ins and outs of the genre and what each game mechanic should feel like but Iā€™ll try my best to give you a good review of this game. I have played a little bit of Octopath Traveler 1 but dropped it because I was terribly bored of RPGs back then. I guess Iā€™m a changed man now.



Anyways, from what Iā€™ve heard, Octopath Traveler 0 is a retelling of the story from the mobile gacha game, Champions of the Continent. I dislike gacha games and paying for what are essentially lootboxes so I was a little bit cautious going in. Thankfully thatā€™s not the case in the main game. Only some mechanics are randomised and it isnā€™t really make or break. Iā€™ll elaborate more on that later.

HD-2D Goodness

This is the first thing that brought me into this game. My favourite aspect of these games. I really fricking love the artstyle of these games. I cannot stress this enough. It has this semi-realistic feel to it. Instead of just being some boring default looking Unreal Engine game with realistic lighting, They translated the blocky sprites of a console like the SNES into pretty graphics for the modern consoles.



The music is no slouch either. I really love the town themes a lot in these games. I think they are fantastic for the most part. I could just leave the game running and vibe to the track. Most of the soundtracks were just ported over from Champions Of The Continent if I recall correctly with only the Battle Music being newly produced. I think Yasunori Nishiki has been doing a fantastic job composing music for this franchise as a whole.

Game performs well. Itā€™s an Unreal Engine 4 game after all. It runs at a locked 120 FPS. The settings are a bit lacklustre with barely any options but itā€™s serviceable. After all, the game runs on a Switch so I donā€™t think optimization is a big concern. I was able to max out the settings and still get good FPS. Itā€™s not a very intensive game.

Good Overall Setting

The game comes has some really strong scenes. It doesnā€™t really hold back any punches when it comes to more mature themes. Struggle is a daily part of life in Orsterra and it is baked deep into the setting of the game. Some parts of it are quite unsettling with how screwed up this fictional world is.

The NPCs you meet in towns and in your journey can have the most diverse set of views on their life or the world as a whole. It kind of reminded me of Majoraā€™s Mask when different people react to the moon falling in different ways. Whether it is raw emotions from a betrayal or facing the loss of a loved one, the game doesnā€™t try to quell it which I absolutely respect.

There was one NPC specifically that I remember who was stuck with a predatory loan shark. Whatever money he earns through his income, most of it is immediately siphoned back into paying interest. He is seen wondering why life is even worth living. Then there is the debt collector who wants to bleed him dry to pad out her bottom line and cooks food for him just so he can stay alive and siphon money out of him.





These small stories are like a microcosm to the gameā€™s main overarching points about Wealth, Fame and Power. This just makes it feel all the more detailed and you can tell the writers stuck detail into every nook and cranny. There are small details literally hidden everywhere and you just have to spend time looking around.

Story & Disposable Characters

The Story is fine. I think itā€™s good in that it can provoke my emotions but I just feel like some cutscenes were purposely designed in a way to evoke emotions by bringing about a death of a teammate or an enemy. I feel like it throws away a lot of the characters that had lots of potential in story-building. Iā€™m sure some of them could have turned for the better. There could have been parts where they were forgiven or pardoned.

Yet, the storywriters just chose to kill them off. Itā€™s a little bit frustrating because sometimes youā€™ll find characters introduced in the same chapter only to be removed in no time. Itā€™s like they were brought in to tie loose ends. This harms the story because the game just constantly tries to bombard you with emotions that arenā€™t really there, making everything feel artificial.



Speaking of repetitive, I think the game uses betrayal and backstabbing a bit too excessively. I think itā€™s nice to have one, maybe two throughout the story but where I am in the story now at least, I think itā€™s been used multiple times and it just feels like a cheap way to build up a climax. This is something I really disliked in the story.

Most of the questlines have the same predictable formula. Each chapter has an end boss that you have to fight to progress through the story. Itā€™s a bit tiring and I wish they could just change it up a little here and there. The game just feels too rigid and you can really feel it in the gameā€™s DNA because of its mobile-first nature.

Comically Evil Villains

I played a little bit over a quarter of the story so far and I have to say, the villains till now are comically evil. All of them are shown to have no sense of humanity or regret. They are well written, yes, but there are some exceptions. The backstory of the villains donā€™t really play that big of a role. They are supposed to help make you as the player sort of sympathise with them and it is done quite poorly.

The main character doesnā€™t seem to acknowledge their backstories. I wish this story allowed some of the villains to be redeemed instead of just killed. Maybe they could become your ally. Turn over a new leaf. Something like that but itā€™s just not there. This sort of makes the game feel black and white instead of trying to challenge the playerā€™s moral compass which could have been , at least narratively, a better choice.

The villains arenā€™t as nuanced or morally in-depth as I would really like them to be but itā€™s serviceable. I would be lying if they didnā€™t piss me off sometimes but thatā€™s where they currently stand. I just think they are a tad bit too shallow for my liking.

Easygoing Gameplay

I think the game is relatively easy for a newcomer. Itā€™s easy to pick up the mechanics and easy to master. The level requirements are pretty merciful and you can easily fight bosses while being underlevelled. I was able to beat a Lvl. 20 boss while being at Lvl. 16-ish. The game also has lots of dungeon crawling mechanics.

Also, I want to elaborate about the randomness mechanics that I mentioned at the start. Thankfully, the only RNG-dependent mechanic is for path actions which is perfectly ok. They arenā€™t make or break for the game and donā€™t really affect progression in any meaningful way. There arenā€™t any microtransactions in-game as well. Essentially, you get the full package.

The game isnā€™t really grindy. You can progress through the game normally without any worry. Following questlines and making it through the main story gives you more than ample XP to level up. Grinding does help though, letting me get through most of the ā€˜Master Ofā€™ questlines. I found Rippletide Coast and West Valore Trail to be good spots to grind early-game. JP is quite hard to get normally so grinding is recommended.

Also, the game sometimes lets you pick dialogue options, but it is very very pointless. Most of the time, the choices just merge back into the main branch ending up at the same place with just a couple extra lines of dialogue. I wish this game had more player agency with the dialogues and allowing you to take different paths.

Townbuilding & Character Creation

These are completely new to the franchise. The game lets you create your own character at the beginning of the game. It lets you pick out some starter abilities and some favourite dishes as well! Itā€™s very limited in terms of options but thatā€™s ok. It doesnā€™t really change a whole lot. Lastly, youā€™ll pick any one of the eight classes typical of OT.

After that, the entire prologue happens and then you have the town building mechanics. You are able to build housing for townsfolk and able to invite people into your town. You can also build special buildings that can perform special actions such as a farm for growing vegetables and much more. Your residents can also collect materials which are very much needed for expanding the town.



This is the slowest part of the story progression in my opinion. You need to give this aspect of the game seperate attention so you can actually unlock new buildings and level up your town. A lot of the progression is tied behind this one questline so you have to be wary while playing.

My Thoughts...

I feel that this gameā€™s scope is too narrow. I wish it wasnā€™t torn between just good or bad and instead focusing on making more compelling characters with some depth to them. They could have created branching storylines which I think would have been very fitting since there is a lot of agency in the new mechanics such as town building and character creation.

Despite all these gripes, I quite liked the game. Iā€™ve been having lots of fun and to me, the most important part of a game is for it to be interesting. To keep me so invested to the point where I look forward to the next play session, and I think Octopath Traveler 0 does that for me. The biggest sin you can commit as a game is just being boring and OT0 is not that.

The game is $50 on Steam and I think it has enough meat on it compared to most AAA games now for it to be justified. I feel like maybe around $30 and under would make it a strong buy, no doubt about it. For people who are just starting to play RPGs like me, I think it is a pretty good starter game.

At the end of the day, it is a console port of a mobile game. You do have to temper your expectations a little. Itā€™s not some revolutionary game that will blow you away nor is it some AAA masterpiece. I went in with very little expectations but ended up having way more fun than I expected. Iā€™m sure you will too.