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In a year where turn-based RPGs are getting a whole lot of love – largely thanks to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – I've been eagerly awaiting the release of Octopath Traveler 0. Octopath is one of my favorite JRPG series of all time, and after more than 20 hours playing the latest entry, I'm having more fun than ever with its excellent combat system. But I can't help but feel like it's lost something that made its predecessors special.
Octopath Traveler 0 is largely rebuilt from the mobile title Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent – a title I admittedly skipped due to its release platform. That's a decision that over three years on from its global launch, I'm now feeling rather silly about, since it introduced what I now see is the best possible version of one of my favorite turn-based battle systems. In Champions of the Continent – and now, OT0 – you fight with eight characters in your party, using four on the front row and four on the back, all of whom can be freely swapped around during combat.
For numerous reasons, this just works. One of the key mechanics of Octopath's battle system sees your party members charge up Boost Points (BP), used to power up skills and use regular attacks multiple times in one turn instead of just once, tying into the JRPGs' other main system of 'breaking' enemies by hitting them with attacks they're weak to enough times. In Octopath Traveler 0, your back row accumulates BP each turn, meaning they can build up their power as your frontline fighters handle the enemies ahead of them – strategically switching your characters around to quickly break a foe and then unleash a fully-charged skill when they're weakened is so satisfying, and never gets old.
Eight's company, 30+ is a crowd
Given that the whole point of the first two mainline games was having eight distinct characters with their own journeys to follow, it was always a bit odd that parties were limited to just four in the first place. While still amazing games, it's like Team Asano only went halfway in with the gimmick, and with Octopath Traveler 0, that perfect balance is finally found. Except not quite, because there are no longer eight total characters to work with.
Unlike Octopath Traveler 1 and 2, there are over 30 characters to add to your party in Octopath Traveler 0 – not so 'octo' anymore. In addition, the JRPG follows a more overarching, central storyline rather than pursuing eight separate individual tales, with your own personalized, silent protagonist being your conduit through the whole thing. So far, I can certainly see the virtues of this – the plot feels far more cohesive from the get-go, something the previous main games struggled with, especially the first. However, the removal of focus on the cast also means that many of your party members feel significantly more shallow, and I'm struggling to get over it.
While exploring the bustling city of Theatropolis, I encountered a scholar named Alexia. As the first magic-focused party member I came across, I was excited to get a quest to recruit her onto the team, and it was a very quick process – after simply asking her to give my protagonist a book she was holding, she was eager to join my ranks. Great!
Except, more than 15 hours on from this, pretty much all I know about Alexia stems from the few lines of dialogue seen in this interaction. A keen researcher fascinated by the history of the land, she seems like an interesting person, but so far, that's seemingly where her story ends. The same goes for the apothecary, Macy – after a slightly longer (but still brief) quest to recruit her by helping her heal an ailing child, she's had absolutely no impact on the actual story, nor has she had any further story about herself.
You sometimes see some extra dialogue thanks to the occasional Party Chat – short, optional, and non-voiced interactions between characters – but these obviously don't give the cast the same level of depth as in the previous main games, where you had multiple chapters to focus on each individual character, giving time to expand on their personalities, backstories, and quirks.
"Everyone currently feels a lot more like a chess piece than an actual person with a personality to fall in love with"
For me, Octopath Traveler was always about, well, the travelers. Although the NPCs you meet throughout the plot in OT0 are great, and certain party members tied to the ongoing narrative to restore your silent protagonist's destroyed hometown (like Phenn and Stia) are far more notable thanks to their extended screentime, I don't feel attached to the majority of the folks in my party. That's especially the case given that you can't customize their jobs (classes) in this entry, meaning that everyone currently feels a lot more like a chess piece than an actual person with a personality to fall in love with.
Don't get me wrong: 20 hours into Octopath Traveler 0, I'm having a lovely time, and I don't intend to stop before completing its 100+ hour main story. And hey, perhaps some of these unremarkable characters will eventually get a bit more time in the spotlight, too (although having to wait so long for any character development is certainly a choice, if so). But to make the most of this, I think I need to learn to love it as a JRPG epic in its own right, not just another entry in one of my favorite series, even if its name would suggest otherwise.
You can read our full Octopath Traveler 0 review to find out why we still consider it one of the best JRPGs of the year.
