Octopath Traveler 0 Review: A Solid JRPG Dragged Down by Forgettable Characters

When Octopath Traveler launched in 2019, it was something similar to but ultimately felt entirely different from the traditional Japanese turn-based role-playing game that Square Enix was known for. The series made innovative changes to the formula, from the roster of eight playable characters to the Boost system. But with Octopath Traveler 0we have the impression that the prequel did not move forward and, on the contrary, took a small step backwards.

Octopath Traveler 0 acts as a prequel to the first two entries in the series, and instead of playing as one of eight unique characters with their own storylines, you play as a silent protagonist seeking revenge. If that sounds boring, well, it kind of is.

If there’s one saving grace to the game, it’s its class and combat systems, which offer a nice mix of standard RPG fare with enough new twists – including some deliciously evil villains – to keep you playing.

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Players can choose one of eight protagonist professions: warrior, hunter, merchant, apothecary, cleric, scholar, dancer, or thief. As expected, each class has its own unique traits, and classes like warrior, cleric, hunter, scholar (black mage), and thief have the standard fare that RPG fans should expect. It’s the other classes that are unique to the game. I started out as a merchant who was able to use weapons with powerful attacks, as well as skills to earn a little extra money in battles. Then there’s the Apothecary, a unique class that heals and heals teammates’ ailments while also being able to deal high damage with an axe.

As you progress and unlock more job skills and level up, there will be an option to get another job. This means that the hero can take skills from a profession – like spells and physical attacks – and use them with a class that normally wouldn’t have them. This can allow a warrior, for example, to use the powerful spells of the scholar class to create a unique battlemage. With eight jobs to choose from, there are plenty of options available for creating different combinations to use in battle.

But despite all the new ground covered by the class system, the plot is pretty generic territory.

Boring traveler

The real selling point of the Octopath Traveler series is the travelers. The first two games featured eight playable characters, each with their own story to learn. This was the game’s selling point that set it apart from the sea of ​​traditional JRPGs.

This time around, Square Enix decided to do something a little different and a little boring, making the hero a silent protagonist. Not only is the hero silent throughout every conversation in the game, but get this, he’s on a revenge mission, like that’s never been done before in a JRPG (snark intended).

Yes, the hero is a silent protagonist whose village was wiped out by this evil duo in search of a magical trinket. The hero survives and is trained in secret until it is time to take revenge on the three people who condemned his house: Tytos and Augustus, responsible for the attack on the village, and Lady Hermina, a wealthy heiress who gave them the information on the trinket’s location.

This lackluster origin story of the hero and his motivations really dampens any interest I had in playing the character. The same goes for allies who join the hero throughout the game. They have their stories, some a little sad, but for much of the game they are just one member of the team.

Fortunately, the real heroes of the game’s story are the villains. After the long introductory sequence, once the hero embarks on his quest for revenge, players can choose to take on one of the three previously mentioned villains. Each has their own story arc, and they’re just deliciously dark. The characters are truly evil, with the most interesting context and developments, giving an almost Game of Thrones vibe. My favorite was Augustus the playwright, nicknamed the Master of Fame. At the end of his story, there are just a series of these seemingly ordinary people who show their complete devotion to him by sacrificing their own family members and themselves for Augustus’s pleasure.

There’s something refreshing about seeing real villains. There’s no moral dilemma or philosophical debate about whether the people you’re fighting against are horrible people or whether they’re just misguided and with good intentions. No, these people are horrible and they must be stopped. It’s just a shame that it’s the boring, silent protagonist who has to do the heavy lifting to defeat them.

Octo-Mazing

Where Octopath Traveler 0 really excels is in combat. It’s a turn-based game, but to liven things up, the series has the “Break and Boost” system.

Each enemy has a shield number that depletes when attacked, and once it reaches zero, that enemy is “broken” and unable to attack for several rounds. To speed up this process, characters have boost points that increase with each round of combat. When a character has three BP, he can use powerful attacks or simply perform multiple attacks at once. As each enemy has multiple weaknesses to certain weapons and spells, this system adds an extra layer of strategy to determine whether you’re biding your time to take them down or rush them. Sometimes you’ll find yourself in a situation where a tough enemy is defeated and you’ll notice that all of your characters are loaded with BP, leading to a satisfying thrashing against the bad guy, raining down powerful attack after powerful attack.

And yet, the depth of the strategy does not stop there. New to Octopath Traveler 0 is a whole second row of characters in the team. These backup fighters can be integrated throughout the fight to create slight confusion in strategy. You can keep your physical warriors in the front while letting the mages hang out in the back and switch as needed. Or rotate within the same character type if necessary, so that when a healer is low on health, they can swap with another healer. Pair this dynamic of changing characters on the fly with the “Break and Boost” system, and you have some very active turn-based combat.

Obtaining these additional characters in the team involves rebuilding the hero’s village, Wishvale. The Burned Town starts with a house, but as you progress you have more options to expand. Other towns have people looking for new places to live or adventures to take part in, and these choices can be explored through Path Actions, a recurring feature from previous games in the series.

When talking to particular NPCs, there is an option to learn a little more about them by searching using a path action, which simply involves pressing a certain button (the X button for the Xbox version, Square for PlayStation, and Y for Nintendo Switch). This will then give you some information about the character and some options. Some NPCs will happily join your party to fight with you for a price, while others will have items to give to you by selecting the Entreat option and a success rate will be displayed for each item they possess, with the lowest success rate set for the most valuable items. There is also the Contend option to fight the NPC, which is not wise early on, as it seems like everyone in town has been fighting dragons for generations, so fight them early on at your own risk. If you fail to obtain an item from an NPC or lose to them in combat, your reputation takes a hit. Take too many hits to your reputation while in a town, and none of the NPCs will offer these path actions again until you visit the tavern and pay a fine to restore it.

The presentation of Octopath Traveler 0 isn’t much different from previous games. The graphics are the HD-2D art style that Square Enix used for this series and the Dragon Quest remakes, a retro mix of 2D sprites on 3D backgrounds that evoke the nostalgia of games of yesteryear with modern refinement. Octopath Traveler 0’s soundtrack and voice acting also live up to the premium quality the series is known for.

Like other games in the series, Octopath Traveler 0 can easily take players 100 hours to complete, especially if they delve deeper into the city building aspect. While I wish there were more interesting heroes to play as, once players get past the generic premise of the plot and immerse themselves in the meaty combat, there’s no doubt that this game is a worthy entry into the franchise and a choice for those looking for a new JRPG to spend all their time with.

Octopath Traveler 0 is now available on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and PC.