Great RPGs can live or die by their final chapters – what’s been built up through a long journey could pay off with major revelations that leave a lasting mark or fall flat with cliches that undermine its best ideas. I spent over 100 hours with Octopath Traveler 0, and although I’d say about 80 of those are pretty good overall thanks to a fair share of ups and downs, it’s those last 20-or-so hours where it ascends to true greatness. If that sounds far too daunting, I get it, it’s a big time investment – but what you get in return is something that only games of this scale can pull off, making good on its various story branches and stunning you with one moment after another as you approach its wild conclusion. While Octopath already had a brilliant turn-based combat system, this iteration adds its own quirks to freshen things up as the HD-2D art style delivers its unique brand of modernized nostalgia yet again. And along with an outstanding soundtrack to beautifully frame both pivotal and quiet moments alike, Octopath Traveler 0 shows that this series can and has pushed the genre to new heights.
Octopath Traveler 0 is largely a repackaging of the mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, which is a prequel to the original entry. But by axing the microtransations and gacha elements used to recruit party members, as well as introducing some very important additions to story and gameplay, it has become a fully fledged RPG worthy of this wider release. I’m a bit shocked that this game in particular was once a mobile exclusive because it’s built as a traditional RPG, and I’m thrilled it exists in this form since I would have otherwise missed out on some of my favorite moments from any recent game.
However, it’s not always a smoothly paved road, and I’m not terribly surprised as any 100-hour game leaves plenty of room for valleys between its peaks. Story is where I had most of my reservations in the first half-or-so, and while I wasn’t expecting the most beautifully written script or deepest character study, I found some of the dialogue and plot beats rather shallow. Comically evil villains made for bosses who were satisfying to take down, but when their unabashed cruelty and simple thirst for power is the primary hook without much nuance, I didn’t feel quite as compelled by them as characters. But despite the inconsistent quality of its storytelling, Octopath Traveler 0 still runs at a decent pace and doesn’t sit on any one thread for too long.
That’s mainly due to how the main quest is structured. After a tragic prologue where your hometown is burned to the ground, you’re given three story branches in order to pursue the trio of villains who were responsible. Themed around power, fame, and wealth, those three paths then converge into a conclusion for what is roughly the first half of the overall story (at about 40 hours). And don’t be fooled by the fakeout credits roll, because you’ve barely seen what Octopath Traveler 0 has up its sleeve. It then splits into three new questlines that pick up those themes once again, and although they retread similar territory, the stakes get higher as more of Octopath’s world gets involved and your understanding of it deepens. Warring kingdoms and corrupt religious institutions across the land of Orsterra, where betrayal is more common than loyalty, start to face greater consequences as the full picture comes into focus and the story gains real momentum.
Rather than trying to build eight separate stories for characters that have to run in parallel, this game is able to tell a tighter tale by weaving its themes together, putting your custom character at the center of it, and elevating the important figures when needed. While your silent protagonist may seem like a typical “chosen one,” having the story revolve around the world’s eight rings that grant godly power turns a cliche setup into a strong foundation for its deeper messages. Octopath Traveler 2 was very successful with its cast of eight and made for one of my favorite games of the last decade, but this change of pace is a smart direction. Unfortunately it does mean most of the 30-plus party members you can recruit through sidequests feel rather disposable, but the dissonance that creates is worth the trade-off.
And like many of the seemingly frivolous features of Octopath Traveler 0, that roster eventually means something important in the grand scheme. There’s a reason why you want to recruit as many of these characters as possible, and this pays off in unpredictable ways that even had me – someone who’s played nearly every major JRPG under the sun – absolutely stun-locked. That’s a powerful example of how this game makes you care about the seemingly mundane things in retrospect and earns its big moments. Perhaps it could’ve benefitted from trimming its lesser parts (especially where it runs into problematic tropes or naive politics), but the time you spend along the main questlines builds an intimate understanding of the people who embody Orsterra and the leaders you collaborate with in earnest.
Avoiding any specific spoilers, once you hit the “final” questline, Octopath Traveler 0 mashes the gas and does not stop; it almost felt like I was playing a whole new game. Dungeons get more intricate, boss fights get a lot tougher, character arcs come full circle, and motives begin to make much more sense. Plenty of stories go for the complex and sympathetic villain or antihero, but the true antagonist of this tale represents an incredibly thoughtful, fully realized, heartwrenching, and intense exploration of this archetype. I was floored by the revelations therein because of how they’re grounded in things that feel real, with both gameplay mechanics and music wielded as storytelling devices to paint a complete picture without having to explain itself out loud. The more I peel back the layers that make its final chapters so moving, the more it’s stuck with me well after I rolled credits on the 0-exclusive true ending after 106 hours on the dot.
I’ve been on record saying Octopath Traveler 2 has one of my favorite turn-based combat systems ever; it shines here as well and for slightly different reasons. The Boost and Break systems give the typical dynamic of hitting elemental affinities some extra depth to devising how turns should play out. Playing the guessing game of discovering what enemies are weak against gets a little tiresome, but once that part is solved, scheming for your plan of attack based on turn order to Break enemies and tee up the big hits is oh so satisfying. Building each party members’ Boost points to add extra hits or increase spell potency gives you something to plan around for turns well in advance. And lining up all these variables while juggling the threat of hard-hitting bosses, who can impose some impactful status ailments or wipe party members in one turn, had me feeling like a genius tactician. Octopath might be playing on our nostalgia with its HD-2D retro-style visuals, yet this series has continually set a high bar for turn-based combat systems in modern gaming.
Party composition is quite different this time around since you have eight active party members at all times – four in the front row and four in the back. With well over 30 characters in my roster, it’s an overwhelming amount to process and manage. While the fundamentals of Octopath’s combat system are familiar, matching character duos for the row they occupy is a unique strategic layer that allows for a lot of flexibility. And because they all build Boost points individually, you can dole out the big hits more frequently and keep up a brisker pace in battle compared to previous entries. You sacrifice individual character depth, however, as each party member has just one Job to progress through (aside from your protagonist), but you can at least master specific Job skills to then equip on other characters to diversify their moveset.
I found Octopath Traveler 2’s character progression more meaningful, especially as it tied to their individual stories, but Octopath 0 offers a welcome change of pace that hits the turn-based highs that’ve made the series special. The slow-motion cinematic camera cuts for Max Boost attacks and each party member’s tide-turning limit break still get me hyped up, giving combat the visual flair that truly makes the HD-2D style stand out when the action picks up. The tactical considerations you need to make in order to inflict damage well past the 9,999 soft limit requires effort and foresight that isn’t spelled out for you, but figuring out how to wield these systems and mechanics yourself is as satisfying as it is necessary to stand a chance in late game fights. Random encounters throughout dungeons and the overworld get overbearing, but that tedium pales in comparison to the gratification of landing a Break and busting out every full-powered ability to overcome a boss you had no business defeating.
While that turn-based combat supports much of the A-plot I’ve already praised, there’s also a B-plot that revolves around reconstructing your hometown of Wishvale. In the process of bringing it back to life narratively, you actually rebuild it with a town-building system in a similar vein as Fallout 4 or Ni no Kuni 2. You collect crafting materials naturally throughout which then allow you to build housing, shops, and decor within certain parameters on a grid-based layout. It’s an enjoyable side activity, with tangible benefits that come from new buildings and recruiting new residents, such as discounted shop prices, a self-sufficient flow of materials, and a training ground for inactive party members to continue leveling up. Town building may seem optional at first and isn’t particularly deep, but it becomes almost essential the further you get, especially when you consider the story’s broader message about what home means to you and the people you care for. And seeing the town you put together yourself in the background of cutscenes is a heartwarming touch that is its own small emotional reward.
This questline’s story can be a bit cheesy at times, but its heart is in the right place as it gets sentimental about what it takes to rebuild after losing everything. Like the previous game, the way poverty shapes a person and going from nothing to something remains a prominent motif, and even though it fumbles the messaging at times here, it’s willing to talk about those topics with clarity. In the same way the branching questlines eventually converge sensibly, the town-building system and story attached to it enrich the main quest in tangible ways. By having you take the actions necessary to pick up the pieces and offer survivors some semblance of the past lives of your hometown, Octopath Traveler 0’s overarching themes about holding onto your humanity comes across as more genuine.
After 100-plus hours, I look back on this journey often teary eyed. Its prevailing messages and star characters really resonated with me, offering perspectives on how tragedy changes people. That hits hardest when I listen back to my favorite songs on the soundtrack that evoke those feelings. Series composer Yasunori Nishiki has a particular style that lends itself extremely well to the genre, but is an absolute madman when you break down the musicality of his work, especially here in Octopath Traveler 0. A rock orchestra with swelling strings, horns, and drums (sometimes backed by opera vocals and chanting choirs) boss battle themes make me feel like I can run through a wall; hell, even the initial normal battle theme slaps hard. It’s also in the softer town themes that round things out, and specific motifs that punctuate important moments and work their way into the most impactful songs. Twice during late game bosses, I had to put my controller down absolutely stunned by what I was hearing before picking it back up and using the power of music to propel me to victory – so yeah, Yasunori Nishiki deserves to be mentioned alongside the GOATs.
