Octopath Traveler 0 Review – From Zero To Heroes

by

Octopath Traveler II builds on the success of the original, continuing Square Enix’s innovative “HD-2D” style – a beautiful blend of retro pixel art and modern visuals. This style first revitalized classic RPGs and has become a hallmark of the series. Having established its own unique identity, Octopath Traveler II confidently evolves the formula, refining some elements while boldly introducing new ones. It’s a fresh take on what an Octopath game can be, and ultimately, a fantastic RPG experience.

Octopath Traveler 0 breaks from the series’ tradition by starting with character creation. Previous Octopath Traveler games told eight separate stories, each following a pre-defined character. This new game lets you design your own main character, who will be with you throughout the entire adventure, joined by companions you meet along the way. While the character creation options aren’t overly complex – you can customize things like hair and eyes – they’re presented in a charming retro pixel style, offering a surprising amount of personalization.

The game continues to use the same pixel-art style as its predecessors, which isn’t for everyone. While playing on the Switch 2’s handheld mode, I found the lighting effects on the characters to be a bit distracting and faded, but it looked much better on a larger screen. Overall, I think the artwork is a little dull and lacks bright colors, and I wish the game included more vibrant moments.

/videos/octopath-traveler-0-everything-to-know/2300-6466555/

You live in Wishvale, and your life is turned upside down when two outsiders, Tytos and Auguste, attack while the town is celebrating. They’re searching for a powerful magical ring, and their search quickly escalates into a devastating fire that forces everyone to flee. Returning home, you find Wishvale completely destroyed and most of the elders dead. One survivor entrusts you with the relic the attackers sought – a divine ring – making you its new guardian. It turns out Tytos and Auguste aren’t acting alone. A wealthy woman named Lady Herminia orchestrated the attack, and she, along with the two attackers, also possesses a ring. This conspiracy, and their desperate hunt for the ring you now have, immediately sets the story in motion and creates high stakes.

The three villains in Octopath Traveler II perfectly showcase one of the game’s biggest strengths: its wonderfully over-the-top antagonists. Each villain embodies a different way that power can corrupt. Herminia is driven by greed and lives a life of extreme indulgence, earning a fearsome reputation through her ruthless pursuit of wealth. Auguste is a celebrated playwright who secretly abuses people to fuel his creative process, keeping his cruelty hidden from his admiring audience. And Tytos is a war hero who uses his political and military influence to control others. Across all their stories, and the game as a whole, the central idea is that wealth, fame, and power inevitably lead to corruption.

Octopath Traveler II tackles mature themes, though not always with perfect execution. The villain, Auguste, is convincingly cruel, using torture, murder, and endangering children – all of which effectively establish him as a terrifying figure. His design, with a pale, vampiric appearance, cleverly links to his habit of exploiting others’ pain for artistic inspiration, making him a memorable antagonist reminiscent of Kefka from Final Fantasy 6. However, the story involving Herminia includes references to prostitution, and its depiction of sex work feels outdated and insensitive by today’s standards.

Octopath Traveler II, like its predecessors, tells its story in separate chapters for each character. The game encourages you to progress through these chapters one step at a time, completing a chapter for one character before moving on to the next. While this structure is familiar, it can sometimes disrupt the flow of the story. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger or reveal, making it feel a bit jarring to switch to a completely different storyline. This pacing felt particularly noticeable in Octopath Traveler II because the game begins as a personal revenge story, and it’s strange to interrupt that narrative thread.

The best part of Octopath Traveler 0 is definitely its combat system – it’s a significant improvement over the previous games. It seems familiar at first, reminiscent of classic 16-bit RPGs like Final Fantasy 4-6, but it’s been cleverly expanded. The name ‘Octopath’ now refers to your party of eight characters, rather than eight individual storylines. You can recruit dozens of characters throughout the game, some essential to the story and others found through side quests.

While this expanded roster is exciting, it means each character isn’t as deeply developed as the original eight protagonists. Even the most important characters in Octopath Traveler 0 don’t receive quite the same level of focus as the main characters in Octopath Traveler 2. A small group of characters central to the main story get the most attention, and others have shorter, self-contained stories. You’ll often need to leave some party members behind, which can lead to them falling behind in levels and becoming less effective in battle, making them feel more like tools than fully realized characters.

The game features many characters, each with a unique job and skills – like healers or those who boost your stats. Each character can also use two different weapon types. Your main character is special because they can change jobs and learn skills from anyone, letting you build a really flexible team. This creates a fun challenge: you’ll want a diverse range of skills and weapon types to exploit enemy weaknesses. When you match the right weapon or spell to an enemy’s weakness, you can ‘Break’ them, stopping them from acting and dealing extra damage. Your back-row characters are generally safe and earn points to perform multiple actions, and you can switch them with front-row characters whenever you like. This swapping mechanic adds a new layer of strategy to the already well-known strategic depth of the game, making it even more engaging.

As someone who’s loved Japanese RPGs for years, this game is incredibly enjoyable. It feels both nostalgic and completely new at the same time.

While the number of options might seem overwhelming, the game eases you in nicely. Octopath Traveler II gradually introduces more challenging situations, pushing you to refine your tactics and build your team effectively, then puts your skills to the test. The battles are genuinely difficult, making victory incredibly rewarding when you discover a boss’s weakness and finally take them down. Combat isn’t just about button-mashing; it’s a fast-paced puzzle where you constantly switch between characters to heal, attack, inflict status effects, change weapons, and more. It’s incredibly enjoyable, especially for fans of classic Japanese RPGs, because it feels both familiar and innovative.

This game is a traditional RPG, so expect to spend a lot of time battling to level up. Even while completing all quests and never avoiding fights, I often found myself underleveled for the challenges ahead, and even underpowered during boss battles. While the slow leveling is intentional – it prevents you from becoming too strong too quickly – it might frustrate some players. The game seems designed to encourage you to master the combat system instead of simply overpowering enemies with high levels.

As you make new friends, you’ll also work on rebuilding your hometown. The people you meet become shopkeepers in Wishvale, and you can invite villagers from other towns to move in and help gather resources. Building is done on an easy-to-use grid, letting you place and rearrange structures however you like. It’s a relaxing break from fighting, but the town and combat are connected – a better town means better items and training for your characters. Stronger battles give you materials to upgrade your buildings. While it’s not as in-depth as games like Animal Crossing, it’s rewarding to see Wishvale restored to its former glory when you need a moment to rest.

As a big fan of the Octopath Traveler games, I always loved the ‘Path Actions’ – those little interactions you could have with townspeople. In the first two games, each of your eight characters had a unique way to interact with NPCs, like persuading them or stealing from them. It added a fun puzzle element to exploring. This time around, it’s a bit different. Since you mostly play as one main character, the game changed how Path Actions work. You always have access to all of your character’s actions, but each person in town only has three possible reactions. Usually, you can get info from them, recruit them to help your town, or battle them for a reward. It’s a decent system, considering everything else going on, but honestly, it doesn’t feel quite as engaging as before. Once you’ve explored all the towns and recruited everyone you can, there’s not much point in using Path Actions anymore, which is a little disappointing.

After completing the main quests focused on defeating the initial villains, the story shifts to a larger conflict between kingdoms. I wasn’t immediately drawn in—I’d already gotten my revenge and was focused on rebuilding my home, so a royal dispute didn’t seem important. However, the gameplay remained so engaging that I gradually became invested in the characters and the ensuing power struggle. Ultimately, I ended up really enjoying this part of the story and caring about everyone involved.

I thought I was getting a handle on Octopath Traveler II, but just when I did, it kept surprising me with new things to discover! I also started unlocking Mastery Skills around this time, which added a whole new level to the combat. Basically, once you’ve learned everything a job has to offer, you can keep earning Job Points and use them to buy copies of those skills for other characters. It’s crazy how many different combinations you can make, and I’m still just beginning to understand how deep the strategy can go. It’s really exciting!

Playing Octopath Traveler II feels like getting lost in a cycle of increasingly difficult battles and clever strategies that unfold gradually over many hours. I’ve technically finished the main story, but there’s still a huge amount to do and discover. It’s the kind of game that feels limitless, and I’m honestly considering continuing to play it indefinitely.

Read More

2025-12-03 14:11