Introduction

Octopath Traveler. a role-playing game developed by Square Enix and Acquire, released on July 13th 2018. A miracle of modern turn-based glory. We cannot praise this game enough, we dedicated 130 hours, and let us tell you it was a truly fulfilling experience all through and through, here´s why. keep reading.

Gameplay

Let´s start with the basics, the gameplay. Are you an old-school fan of traditional turn-based RPGs? look no further, you´ll feel right at home. this is turn-based at its finest with a twist, you can build up charges that make your subsequent attacks that much stronger at the expense of sacrificing your turn. This deepens the turn-based strategy and it is not just a mash attack win strategy.

You have your equipment screen, weapons, armor, and accessories. There are also your typical character status screens, HP, MP, Experience points, affinities, etc. all wonderfully crafted for your viewing pleasure. Characters can take up Job roles and you can customize your party of 4 in battle.

And in any typical JRPG, you are given an overhead view of your surroundings; in towns, you get to talk to NPCs and even recruit them for battle (this thanks to the ability of one or two travelers) or even pilfer them for the goodies haha haha (ok yeah, the thief does that). but, go ahead and try, some of the better gear NPCs have will take Many attempts to strip them of their loot!

You also get a world map where you can learn the locations of many towns including your starting point for each traveler. It´s also helpful
to know where you´re headed next to progress in your quest. some places are well hidden, so we suggest you listen to every NPC and complete every sidequest you can do in order to get the whole experience out of the game.

Music

Many have been the Jrpgs that we have gone through and marveled at its Soundtracks, but few are the ones that have left us stupified. Such a soundtrack is that of Octopath Traveler.
Never have we encountered a game with such a rich Soundtrack, it simply blew our minds.

Composer is:
Yasunori Nishiki (西木 康智, Nishiki Yasunori, born July 10, 1985) is a Japanese composer and arranger, best known for his work on the soundtracks for Octopath Traveler and various music video game series developed by Bemani.

There is nothing more gratifying than doing battle with your favorite characters while enjoying a badass battle theme! and this game doesn´t have 1, not 2 but 3 battle themes! That is just brilliant!

Now ALL tracks on this game are superb, heartwarming, innocent, soothing, and cool. however, we want to share the ones that left a long-lasting effect on our hearts and minds; here they are:

Battle theme 1.
Battle theme 2.
The Riverlands
My Quiet Forest Home
Enveloped in Kindness
They Who Govern Reason
Tressa the Merchant
Decisive Battle 1
Decisive Battle 2

An intriguing thing is; Battle Theme 2. At first, we have to be honest with you folks, we didn´t like it. The problem was we were coming from Battle Theme 1 which is so awesome and boom! new and mysterious battle theme plays. we didn´t know what to think. But the more we battled, the more the theme grew in us, becoming one of the most beloved battle themes of this game! Ack! we can´t make up our minds! both are superb and we can´t stop listening to them. We would gladly listen to a 10-hour loop on YouTube.

Tressa the merchant theme takes up that much more meaning once you beat chapter 4 of her story arc, transmitting a sense of innocence and disregard for riches, but love for the journey that simply gets to you. We don´t know about you, but her ending was the best.

“What is truly precious to me is this Journey”

Then we have Enveloped in kindness, which portrays perfectly the Cleric Ophilia´s demeanor and personality. She´s such a kind soul, that you can feel her kindness through this soundtrack. Some Dialogues are so well thought out, that left an everlasting impression:

“If you frown all the time, even sweetcakes will taste sour”

Those Who Govern Reason. You´re going up against the strongest beings of the world. Imagine the scenario, an ominous-looking being that hits as hard as a brick wall, you´re trying to survive and emerge victorious, now add this piece of melodic wonder to the mix, what do you get? AN UPRECEDENTED BATTLE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS! (Sorry ´bout the caps, we got carried away.)

We could keep going but, by now we are truly convinced that what makes a game, Great, is by no doubt, its music score or soundtrack. when done so well, It simply creates an environment that transports your mind into the game and builds up emotion.

Go listen to The Riverlands and soothe your troubled soul…

Difficulty

It´s not hard at all. It´s perfectly balanced so that it won´t shy away newcomers but won´t bore old-school players either. If you are like us, been going strong at the genre of jrps for decades now, then you know: win your battles, grind an extra level or two if needed, then you may proceed. We played this game some years ago, but we do believe the game has an experience scaling system, therefore, you cannot get overpowered and one hit kills your boss. Correct us in the comments if this isn´t true.

This balancing makes battles so much more intriguing and engaging. Where the difficulty truly spikes is at the end of story chapter 4 for all of your characters. Also, every final boss arc really packs a punch! so be careful! Some mini-bosses can cause you some trouble if you don´t approach them with the right strategy or level… but, nah you seasoned players got this!. moving on…

Cast of Characters

We won´t delve much into each character as we have a separate category altogether dedicated to Character insights, but we´ll say that each character is beautifully crafted and well thought out. Let´s say their names shall we?

Olberic the Warrior A strong man who lost his way.
Cyrus the Scholar, is Always curious about learning the ways of the world.
Therion the thief Doesn´t really want to steal.
Ophillia the cleric
Primrose the dancer, a beautiful young woman seeking revenge.
Alfyn the Apothecary wants to heal the world
Tressa the merchant embarks on a journey of her own and wants to learn the trade of her family.
Haanit the Huntress Living in the forest with her people, sets out to hunt the ultimate prey.

All the initials of each traveler combined make up the OCTOPATH part of the games title…
O lberic
C yrus
T herion
O phillia
P rimrose
A Alfyn
T ressa
H áanit

While it´s true that some stories are more intriguing than others, we enjoyed every single last one of them and did not feel it as boring or had to struggle to reach the end.

Story

Here is where we see the game get some flack due to the almost non-existent interaction between the main 8 characters. And we all know that a good compelling story or plot line is what makes an RPG a rpg!

While this is true, it doesn´t take away from the overall experience. The way the game was made is that you get to experience 8 single stories of 8 travelers roaming the same world.
Eventually, they cross paths and start to travel together once you visit their respective starting points/town. Once you collect all 8 travelers to join your party, then they all work together for a similar cause, we won´t spoil it, so we´ll leave it at that! What´s that about a witch? hmm… never mind. 😉

Replayability

At the time of writing this review, there is still no post-game content of Octopath Traveler, meaning that you can experience everything the game has to offer in one single playthrough. That said, get ready to dedicate a good 100 + if you wish to see everything the game offers. In our case, as stated above, took a good 130 Hours to see everything through to the end.

And one of the reasons we adore jrpgs, is that you get a lot of bang for your buck, we mean, you get so much content and entertainment in exchange for, what, $50? $40? picked up at any major gaming retailer?

Even at that price range, years later, is testament enough of the games´ excellent development. You could definitely say, It´s already a timeless classic.

Graphics

The series’ HD-2D graphics, a fusion of retro pixel art and 3DCG have reached even greater heights. Trust us, we have played pixel base games before, but some games are just, well, “that ain’t it chief”. But here, oh man, this game is beautifully crafted. Maybe pixel art was meant for Jrpgs, who knows? The thing is it reminds us much of Final Fantasy VI on the Super Nintendo, remember that one? we certainly do.

Now this doesn´t mean we don´t enjoy the graphics of a good Final Fantasy XVI, but being more traditionalists we lean more toward old school. There´s this unwavering nostalgia feeling that wraps us all up.

Final Thoughts

Octopath Traveler has earned a place in our hearts. It ranks amongst the TOP 5 JRPGS Of all time on our list! We celebrate its classic turn-based gameplay and its godlike music score. we couldn´t be any happier with this game. thanks so much, Square Enix. Can we get Dragon Quest 12 soon? no? quit our yappin´ and sit down? oh ok…

Well anyway, character development is on point, even though there is not much interaction amongst them, but remember the idea is 8 unique and separate stories come into one. Three Cheers for the Pixel 2D graphics, that transport us back to the SNES days and make us feel like teenagers once more.

So if you, dear reader, are on the fence about starting it, maybe you already purchased it but it has been sitting on your shelf for a couple of years now, we urge you to give it a fair chance, you will not be disappointed, this game is special. This is a Masterpiece, a gem among excellent JRPG titles. This is Octopath Traveler.

https://www.square-enix-games.com/en_US/games/octopath-traveler

This isn´t an affiliate link, and it´s not always about making a commission, but we still urge you to pick it up and play it right now if you´re a true jrpg old school fan like us, then there is no way that you can go wrong.