Octopath Traveler is a beautiful game that somehow never gets tired. It has a labyrinthine plot that bravely attempts to give eight characters the same scope and development as eight sole protagonists would get in lesser games. It’s also a game that bravely makes the story all about those characters, with the world, harsh as it can be, almost secondary to the insular unit and their individual arcs. That sheer ambition is all the more impressive because Octopath Traveller uses sprites. Little 2D characters made up of even littler squares. People need to play this game if only to realise that not everything spectacular needs to be photo-real.
Octopath Traveler lovingly embraces old-school RPG conventions while offering its own refreshingly modern take. Through placing sprites in 3D environments, incorporating a separate storyline for each party member, and spicing up battles with fist-pumping turn-based combat, Square Enix makes bold choices to reinvigorate the genre. Thankfully, many of them pay off, resulting in a game that has tugged at my heartstrings and fully engaged me to follow the paths of these eight wayfaring travelers.
An absolutely awesome throwback JRPG that might’ve been in the Chrono Trigger/Final Fantasy III (aka- VI) group had it been released in the 1990’s.
I absolutely love the way it’s laid out, the unique character abilities, the battle system, graphics, the way the map unfolds, the diverse deep characters, and the individual narratives. It might be a little quirky for some but I absolutely loved it. It’s right up my alley as a person who’s had a 30+ year love affair with the JRPG genre and wished the genre had a greater presence in today’s gaming landscape.
Too many modern RPG’s have been ruined or dampened by going away from the tried and true turn based combat system. There’s just something I love so much about the strategic, peaceful, patient playing out of a turn based battle. I don’t enjoy button mashing live combat RPG’s and especially 1st person RPG's nearly as much. I also love the traditional Final Fantasy II/III like equipment/item system. There’s nothing more exciting than finding a new town and upgrading your equipment which this game delivers in spades. There’s roughly 25 towns. I also love spending hours doing nothing but leveling up characters and collecting items/currency. It’s another lost part of the JRPG past time. I live for finding an XP honey hole that I can exit and re-enter to my heart’s desire.
The graphics are a bit grainy but they’re absolutely fantastic and somehow feel both old and new. The depth of field is amazing and really leaps of the screen. The combo of polished pixelation and 2020’s shine make for an incredibly authentic and mesmerizing visual experience. They couldn’t have done a better job aesthetically. The visuals are 1/2 homage and 1/2 something entirely new. So, it’s not simply a game with 90’s graphics for the sake of having them but something entirely new.
Octopath Traveler captures what I love and miss about 1990’s JRPG’s (aka- the heyday of the genre). It feels both timeless and new and is absolutely one of the best JRPG’s of the 21st century. If only more game makers would deliver faithful yet modern adaptations of the 90’s JRPG like Octopath does. It’s a better version of 90’s inspired JRPG’s like Sea of Stars that graphically replicates the decade rather than perfectly evolves it. Some might complain about the non-binding narrative but I find it refreshing.
If you enjoy 1990’s JRPG’s, Octopath Traveler is an absolute must play that will win your heart over several times over. It’s a modern masterpiece that hasn’t gotten the credit it deserves because it’s incorrectly viewed as a novelty of a long gone era rather than a modern masterpiece of the role playing game genre.
Octopath Traveler may not be the new Final Fantasy VI, but it is no doubt a great game. With an astounding presentation and a fantastic combat system, fans of traditional JRPG should not look any farther.
It weaves poignant tales you’d likely hear from travelling dramatic troupes, ones often expressing lament, in fantasy books of old and directs them into a new format for the modern gaming age.
You're treated to one of the most interesting and effective re-imaginings of a retro aesthetic around. Octopath will likely be a divisive game due to its fractured storytelling, but it's one worth playing despite its lesser qualities. Its high points are simply too good to ignore.
For a game whose title seems to promise a winding journey of deep and dangerous discoveries, Octopath Traveler goes out of its way to put you on the most predictable and comforting of paths.
Still one of my favorite JRPGs to this day, if not purely due to the path action and combat mechanics. The "grindiness" of this games is vastly overstated, if anything, a problem with this game is that every battle becomes too easy if you understand what things do. If you set up buffs and debuffs and take advantage of the tools they give you to break regularly, most fights in this game shouldn't be that hard except for some very specific ones. I can understand why some people would be annoyed with random encounters though.
A good game, but in my opinion the story is lacking by not really linking all the character's story together properly. And in a RPG, this is a serious flaw. The final (optional) boss comes almost literraly out of nowhere, making you wonder if you missed somethin. Yeshe is hinted during the last parts of some character's story but nothing major to make you think you are gonna have to fight it.
The rest is good, great even: graphics, music (the last boss music is so damn good), and battle mechanics, althougI think some of the bosses are ridiculously overpowered. They can act up to 4 times in a turn, dealing very high damage plus inflincting status effect...
Some difficulty spikes are not balanced very well, I hope they have corrected that in the sequel.
JRPGs have really gone down the drain since the demise of Squaresoft. Octopath traveler tries to revive them by divorcing the genre with all the changes and quality of life that have happened over the past 2 decades. What is ultimately presented is a pretty sharp, decent, game. But the problem with JRPGs isn't that they changed, its that they changed in a negative way. Octopath Traveler doesn't address any of the problems JRPGs have, it doesn't borrow game design from new masterpieces. Its a very uninspired game in terms of design, and also falls short of the old JRPG masterpieces such as Chrono Trigger and FF7 in the music, storytelling, and characters aspect.
Furthermore, its always overpriced.
Octopath traveler, they haven't worked enough on it and ask for 60€ for it. Made on Unreal Engine for quick development I think for commercial reasons. Below I break down the different aspects of the game.
Fantastic music, sound track is the best of the game. Each character has his own music theme, maybe too melancholic but is a 10/10.
The plot is too simple and linear, cliche characters, there is no evolution in them over time. Too Manichean, evil and good well separated. A noble girl becomes a prostitute seeking for vengeance for no reason, instead of using her money and inheritance for it. Anyways narrative is ok, it is ok even if it is full of topics and empty of plot twists. It is a game for kids, not a book. Hire a Jewish screenwriter to review it before starting though, Square Enix 6/10.
Gameplay is horrible, it is a typical 90's RPG game, but dynamics are too slow.
They made a weakness point counter system which stuns and weakens enemies when they came to 0. But there are not any strategic but this in the game. In addition, they made an initiative point system, these points increase if you do not use them, and they boost your skills and attacks.
Both systems combined make combat so tedious as you have to wait turns taking enemies weaknesses points as you wait to your initiative points to increase for making massive damage.
Boss fights long the same as common fights. And skills are limited, attack, heal, low, and increase defense and attack. Enemies can blind, sleep, etc. you but it is very limited to you to do these things. You have very powerful ultimate skills at your disposal that end a combat after gaining some initiative points.
These long fights appears each two steps on map, so you can't walk at all, unless you have a mage on team who provides of an extension walking longitude before fighting. Game is hardly bearable even with this mage's skill, it is unplayable if u don't have this.
You do not need to properly manage your items, you are full of healing things and other things, you will never run out of them, even resurrection items.
There is not any puzzle on map, just walking, taking treasure chests (some are hidden by 2D vision perspective) and fighting.
The interaction of the NPCs is the 90's RPGs and they added that, depending of which character is in your team, you can steal or trade items with them, even fight a duel or investigate them, which improves skills or shows you the positions of hidden items, which is a great thing, but the plot is linear so when you get to a village you just examine, steal or trade with everyone to get new items and upgrade skills, you can also have an NPC character following you and help you in battles, you cannot control them .
You cannot make any decision, there are not dialogues which spread a list of answers, plot is linear.
3/10
Talking about graphics, all goods things and effects came from Unreal Engine basics, so they didn’t have to work so much on it, they made low quality sprites for characters, and cartoon textures for the 3D maps and a static camera angle imitating 90's RPG quality, Low-cost graphics which did not provide budget for extending other game features.2/10
In conclusion this game is just an experimental game made by Square Enix for commercial researches.
Using a very portable graphic engine, great music, cute story, bad game development and cheap graphics budget. 4/10
SummaryEmbark on a vast new role-playing adventure as one of eight travelers, all with their own origins, paths, and goals. The producers of the Bravely series at Square Enix have brought a new world to life through a mix of CG, pixel art, and "HD-2D" visuals. Embark on a vast new role-playing adventure as one of eight travelers, all with their...