Octopath Traveler 0 Review in Progress – A Masterclass In Villany

Although its popularity doesn't reach the heights of other established series like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, the Octopath Traveler franchise is proving to be rather seminal for the JRPG genre as a whole, mainly thanks to its HD-2D visual style which has been employed to great success in other titles, including the tactical role-playing game Triangle Strategy, the upcoming action role-playing game The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, and remakes of classic games such as the first three entries in the Dragon Quest series and in Star Ocean: The Second Story R, remake of the second entry in the series created by tri-Ace.

The HD-2D style, which combines 2D sprites with 3D environments bridged together with pixel-art aesthetics, also made its debut a few years back on mobile platforms with Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, a free-to-play RPG set in the world of the first entry in the series, which also serves as its prequel. This mobile game is also the basis upon which Octopath Traveler 0 has been built to deliver some of its features and story, as well as gameplay that's closer to the first two entries in the franchise.

Unlike the first two entries in the series, Octopath Traveler 0 doesn't feature eight different protagonists with their own individual stories, which sort of blend together in the final act, but a single protagonist. This player-created protagonist, whose appearance, Job, and more can be customized before the start of the game, is a resident of Wishvale, a town in the continent of Orsterra which is burned down during the town's annual festival by three nefarious individuals - the witch Hermania, the hero Tytos and the playwright Auguste - in the bid to acquire Aelfric's Ring, an artifact of immense power related to the Flamebringer said to have concluded the war between the twelve other gods and Galdera, saving the world, over one thousand years before the events of the game which fatefully made its way into the hands of the new Ringbearer.

Sometime after the destruction of Wishvale, however, the Firebringer emerges from hiding and together with another survivor of the fire, the apprentice architect Stia, sets out to restore the village, rounding up any other survivor scattered all over Orsterra, setting out to find new people to populate the place and take revenge on the villains that have reduced Wishvale to ash.

Although the Octopath Traveler 0 story moves on two somewhat distinct directions - the Wishvale restoration and the revenge directions - it is a much more focused effort than previous entries in the series, which I felt suffered not only from excessive fragmentation, but also uneven quality between tales - in the original game more than in its sequel. The main quests are still separated in different chapters with different minimum level requirements, so it's not possible to pursue a single questline from beginning to end with no interruption, but this setup is way less forced than in the other games, feeling more natural and organic.

The introduction of a single playable character is a huge departure from the rest of the series, but Octopath Traveler 0 handles the challenges of having a silent protagonist with its compelling cast of supporting characters, which include over 30 other travellers that interact with each other in special party chat events, and characters with central roles in the "Master of" quests. Despite a relatively limited screen time, these characters quickly become memorable, as their own motivations for going against the Masters of Wealth, Power, and Fame are clear from the get-go, and their backstories are masterfully woven into the individual villain stories to deliver some gripping tales.

The stars of the show in Octopath Traveler 0, however, are the Masters themselves. Designing the main questlines around them, rather than around the heroes, gave the development team all the time needed to paint a complete picture, and do a great job to highlight how much these people are, simply put, monsters in human form. Their actions at the beginning of the game are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg: they are much worse than they appear. Saying precisely why would be entering into heavy spoilers territory, which I won't do, as the beauty of the Octopath Traveler 0 story is learning the heinous acts these villains are capable of. Suffice to say that it is very difficult to remain unmoved when learning of the physical and mental atrocities these individuals are capable of.

As such, the story is often very dark, and with the villains remaining utterly unapologetic until the end, Octopath Traveler 0 is a breath of fresh air for the genre. True, there are times these villains are slightly made to look like victims of fate as much as other JRPG villains, but their actions say it all: they act the way they do due to the complete disregard of everything that isn't their heinous goals. To make a comparison, one of the villains, the Master of Fame Auguste, reminds me of Final Fantasy VI's Kefka Palazzo, a character that has entered the collective memory of JRPG fans mainly because of his completely unhinged destructive tendencies.

The twists and changes to the formula established by the first two entries in the series aren't limited to the story setup in Octopath Traveler 0. Though still very similar to what we have seen so far, the new entry in the series twists gameplay in a competent way that makes the whole package more compelling.

In Octopeth Traveler 0, the player travels all over Orsterra, exploring towns and dungeons as quests dictate, interacting with NPCs via Path Actions to learn more about them, acquire items, hire them for combat, or invite them to Wishvale, and fighting enemies in a classic turn-based combat system enriched by the Break and Boost systems. The first allows players to "break" enemies by hitting their weak points with the appropriate weapon or element a number of times determined by their shield value, leaving them stunned and defenseless for an entire turn. The second, on the other hand, allows characters to attack more than once with their equipped weapons or power-up skills dictated by the character's Job by spending the BPs that are naturally accumulated every single turn.

While traversal and exploration continue to be one of the weakest element in the series, as the excellent Path Actions interactions are offset by an uninspired field and dungeon design which basically consists of a series of corridors with nothing of relevance besides the occasional treasure chest, the combat system and character progression have seen some small yet significant improvements that have a significant, positive impact on the entire experience.

With over 30 travelers available, expanding the combat system to include eight characters instead of four was a natural choice. Divided into front and back row, it is possible to switch between pairs at will at the start of a turn, giving access to a bigger selection of attacks and skills each turn, which makes Breaking enemies easier and faster than ever. The larger party also opens up some effective strategies that significantly improve the pace of combat.

For example, a front row character can spend their BPs to quickly break an enemy, which can then be attacked with everything the back row character has, boosting their abilities using the accumulated BPs and with the full SP granted by the back row automatic restoration mechanics. Some travelers also come with special abilities that can make them switch back to the back row automatically upon use, or that are more effective if used from the back row, opening up a lot of synergies that weren't available in the first two games.

Character progression has also been heavily overhauled to accommodate the much bigger character roster. The series' Job system, which allows players to assign a Job between eight choices - Warrior, Thief, Hunter, Merchant, Apothecary, Cleric, Danger, Scholar - is back in Octopath Traveler 0, but only the Ringbearer can switch between different Jobs after unlocking them. Every other traveler comes with a pre-assigned Job which cannot be changed. Although these Jobs are based on the eight base jobs, they are slightly different variations that either combine skills from two different Jobs, or are altogether unique Jobs with unique abilities.

While this, by itself, greatly helps make these characters unique, Octopath Traveler 0 goes the extra mile by offering skill customization options via the Masteries system. By obtaining Mastery items, it is possible to assign up to three Action skills and two Passive skills to any character, which can further differentiate between travelers, even if they belong to the same general Job archetype. This very simple addition, in my opinion, elevates the Octopath Traveler 0 experience significantly, providing a granular upgrade system that is a significant step forward from the basic Job system of the previous entries in the series, allowing players to come up with skill combinations to empower a traveler's set skills and Ultimate Attacks, only partially restrained by the main Job of each traveler.

Besides introducing these changes to combat and character progression, Octopath Traveler 0 introduces some brand new mechanics for the series, with the town-building mechanics that allow players to directly influence the restoration of Wishvale. These town-building mechanics are rather straightforward, allowing players to place a certain number of facilities on the available locations and change their appearance, but they are central to the experience, as getting more facilities up and running, upgrading them and inviting more villagers unlocks essential features, including a monster arena that offers rewards for pitting captured monsters against others, and a Museum where it is possible to listen to collected music scores and display special treasure hidden all over Orsterra.

The town building mechanics are expanded organically throughout the Wishvale restoration-focused quests, and never feel like a distraction. On the contrary, they provide a nice variation from all the adventuring, which doesn't change a whole lot during the course of the adventure, due to the aforementioned average level design.

While Octopath Traveler 0 represents a solid step forward for the series in terms of story and gameplay, the visuals have taken a step back from the second entry in the series. While the HD-2D aesthetics still look gorgeous, locations don't feel as lively as they did in the previous game, and even assets seem to be of lower quality, closer to the original Octopath Traveler. This isn't a major issue per se, but striving for at least the same level of quality as the franchise's current peak would have been a better choice. However, given that the game is based on a mobile platform, this isn't too surprising.

Thankfully, the same hasn't happened to the other core element of the Octopath Traveler series presentation: music. Series composer Yasunori Nishiki delivered another beautiful soundtrack encompassing pieces that evoke emotions from across the spectrum, moving from high-quality sad, evocative pieces to epic combat themes effortlessly. The voice acting is similarly good, with great performances across the board that make the story more involving, and characters more engaging.

Review in Progress Verdict

Time Played: 30+ Hours

I have completed the main 'Master of' quests, but I have not yet reached the conclusion of the story. Based on the compelling narrative, the excellent eight-character combat overhaul, and the meaningful addition of the Masteries system, the game currently sits as my personal favorite entry in the series. The ultimate score will depend heavily on the payoff of the final narrative act and whether the combat holds up against the toughest challenges.

We will update this review with a final score and complete verdict after finishing the game.

PC version tested. Review code provided by the publisher.

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