Octopath Traveler 0 Review
Octopath Traveller 0 is a very familiar experience if you’ve played the series prior. It still retains gorgeous visuals with the HD-2D engine, the job system that determines which powers can be wielded, and most importantly the exceptional turn based battle system built around boost and break mechanics that offers great depth and strategy.
Where Octopath Traveler 0 deviates from its predecessors is that it’s built around the experience of a singular hero on a quest for retribution as well as the restoration of the city of Wishvale from the remnants of ashes.
Despite the illusion of freedom, restrained decision making and some counter productive design choices, Octopath Traveler 0 is still a worthy addition to the franchise thanks to the series pillars combined with the new additions that are complimentary to the overall experience.
OCTOPATH TRAVELLER 0 REVIEW
The adventure of your hero begins with rings that are imbued with divine power that have wound up in the wrong hands. People who are willing to exploit them for their own personal agendas towards wealth, power and fame. This never-ending desire for ultimate control, never-ending riches and infamy is the constant underlying narrative, and although it might be slightly familiar, it’s a narrative that has been relevant as long as humans have existed and will continue to be until the end of time.
The story of Octopath Traveler 0 takes place on the familiar continent of Orsterra a few years prior to the events of the first game and shares many narrative parallels with The Lord of the Rings. The obvious otherworldly rings, the hero who is forced to leave home on an unexpected adventure, good people coming together for the greater good in the face of evil, betrayal that constantly looms, people who aren’t who they appear to be and even a battle reminiscent of Helms Deep.
The caveat is that Octopath Traveler 0 isn’t a completely new experience, as it builds upon foundation of the mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. There is a completely new story in addition to the parts of the mobile game that have been reinterpreted to fit the new narrative of the solo hero, as well as the all new city building aspect of rebuilding Wishvale.
After a slow start, Octopath Traveler 0 gains momentum when your village is burned to the ground with many of your loved ones perishing in the destruction. This is the catalyst needed for average people to band together for retribution and revenge against those at the center of this evil, but also to restore the once flourishing city of Wishvale.
You are given the option between three different storylines and three different rings to reclaim from the hands of evil. There is the covetous Witch, Lady Herminia who is desires ultimate wealth, Lord Tytos, who desires ultimate power, and Prince Auguste, who desires ultimate fame. While the entire plot and every storyline might not have you on the edge of your seat, there were some unpredictable twists and enough compelling reasons to keep the player interested throughout.
Instead of eight different short stories, Octopath Traveler 0 is told through the lens of just one, while still retaining many core Octopath elements including having a party of eight. During your travels you will slowly find people to join your party and eventually have the potential to find over 30 different allies who will join your cause for justice. In Octopath Traveler 0, your hero will be the only one to change jobs, but with over 30 allies to meet, the strategy will be deciding who will be in your party based on their profession.
Outside of the HD-2D visuals, the crown jewel of the Octopath experience is the battle system that is built around boost and break mechanics, which isn’t about damage, but how to exploit weakness and strategize your attacks. Every time you face a new enemy you will have to discover their weakness. With eight different party members, eight different jobs, eight different weapons, and elemental powers, you must find the perfect combination to succeed in battle against the worst Orsterra has to offer.
Not only is discovering the weaknesses a fun challenge, but you also have to consider the boost mechanic where you gain a battle point each round, which increases the efficiency of your actions. The timing of boosted actions combined with the break mechanic, healing and shifting battle lines makes for extremely satisfying combat from the first battle to the last. Even though the game smartly remembers enemies weaknesses you have fought before, there are a plethora of regions and sub-regions, full of a seemingly never-ending supply of new enemies, which means gameplay will always remain challenging.
OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 CRITICISMS
Not having to do eight different stories and being able to create your own adventure was an exciting premise. The promise of being able to shape your destiny was a monumental shift for the series, but most of the decisions just appear to offer an illusion of choice as you are forced to experience the journey on a predetermined path.
You will often be provided what appear to be major decisions only to select one and then be forced to answer again in the way that the game wants you to. The story begins with three quests with the freedom to select which one you want to do, but you wont be able to finish a storyline unless you are doing the others in parallel as your level quickly becomes insufficient to continue on a single path.
Another illusion is selecting your characters voice at the beginning of the game because your hero doesn’t speak and all of the side quests that I attempted were also completely unvoiced. Both of these decisions, especially the main hero being silent was highly immersion breaking. Why offer the choice of deciding your voice in the character creator at the start of the game if it’s not implemented.
Octopath gives a suggested level you should be at, which should be taken seriously because being underlevled will humble you quickly. Staying within one or two levels will serve you well for most of the experience, however at the end of the game beginning with the penultimate boss, there was a massive spike of difficulty that demanded you grind a few levels to even the playing field, which severely derailed the momentum. This was a drastic shift from the rest of the experience, which kept the challenge constant throughout with sparing use of fast travel.
IS OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 WORTH IT?
When you combine the new additions including a singular tale of retribution that provides a tighter narrative focus and the rebuilding of Wishvale with an engaging city building aspect that never felt over-demanding with series pillars like the HD-2D visuals, large party managment, and the fantastic boost/break combat system, Octopath Traveler 0 feels fresh, familiar and worthy of the name.
