The turn-based RPG secret sauce is that "you have time to engage on your own terms", Octopath Traveler 0's director tells me, which makes them perfect for "a wider age range"

As the year nears its end, I've been really enjoying playing Octopath Traveler 0, and relaxing into its freeform approach as I poke and prod at many quest threads, meet new characters, and get to grips with the battle system. With large enemies on the left, and a hefty party of up to eight heroes on the right, it scratches the old school itch (all while the boost-system allows me to feel like I'm breaking it apart just enough to shift the tide in my favor in tricky, almost puzzle-like boss encounters).

Octopath Traveler 0, and the rest of the series, carries forward the legacy of Square Enix's classics in this regard. The battle set-ups are just like the classic pixel-based Final Fantasy games, and even the somewhat episodic nature of questlines is reminiscent of Final Fantasy 6 and Live-A-Live. It's no surprise then that the developers reveal to us their affections for those iconic JRPGs.

Boosting ahead

"I've always been a fan of Square Enix's games, even since before I joined the company," says the game's producer, Hirohito Suzuki. "Looking at the teams who did the original pixel art Final Fantasy [games], things like Final Fantasy 4, 5, 6 – I've really got a lot of respect for those games, the teams that made them, how they made them. Those games are the real inspiration to me."

Likewise, Octopath Traveler 0's game director, Yasuhiro Kidera, carries a torch for Square Enix's classic run of RPGs. "I'm also a massive Square Enix game fan. I've always played everything that comes out – the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, the Saga series, the Mana series. Those games will have been a real big inspiration to me. Every single one of them," he says.

For fans of RPGs in this mold, it's easy for me to recognize what I like but tricky to quantify. "Turn-based, command-based games, what they do well is the fact that you've got that time to think. You really have to look at the situation, work out what the best thing to do is – optimize your strategy," says Kidera. "You really have that time to engage with it on your own terms, where maybe in an action game, you wouldn't have that. I think a lot of action games – it's really busy, very frantic, and you've got to focus and concentrate. [...] In that sense, I think turn-based games can very much appeal to a wider age range of people. They've literally got broader appeal."

Even so, with an adventure that can last something like 100 hours, Octopath Traveler 0 definitely isn't something you can get through without some commitment. Though it doesn't stop us from loving the game in our Octopath Traveler 0 review, drawing some material from mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent means there's a lot of JRPG packed in here, even if it is more of a reimagining than it is remake.

"We wanted to design the game to make sure the player didn't feel it was tedious," says Suzuki. "We designed specifically how you grow your characters to make sure that you can keep proceeding the story at quite a pace. You don't have to, for example, go and fight loads of really minor enemies and keep grinding there, or anything like that. Even though it's a long time you'll be playing, you can proceed quite smoothly – and you'll be having fun the whole way through!"

There is something about Octopath Traveler 0 that really feels like a balm to play right now, there's enough narrative stakes to hook me without overwhelming me with cutscenes ("The bosses are really, really bad people. They're just people you love to hate!" says Suzuki), and the freewheeling approach to pursuing quests means I can both potter around when I want to chill and target main progression when I want to push ahead. The perfect sort of RPG to fiddle with with a mug of hot cocoa.

On the other hand, mobile experiences – though I go through phases of playing a fair amount – often make me antsy to ensure I'm advancing optimally and getting my money's worth every step of the way. Maybe the zero, to me, means 'zero stress' – a JRPG I'm sure to be relaxing with throughout the holiday season.

Take a look at our best JRPGs ranking for more!