Octopath Traveler Review
Despite a couple flaws, the spiritual successor to Final Fantasy VI is one of the best JRPGs in years.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Square Enix
Release Date: July 13, 2018
Reviewed by: John Phipps (@mistermegative)
Anyone who knows anything about me knows my favorite game ever is Final Fantasy VI. I can recite the game’s scenarios by heart. I can rattle off every enemy and spell in the game. I can talk you about Locke’s character motivations, Celes’s hesitance to live in a world beset by ruin, and describe in great detail the religious themes in the numerous stages of Dancing Mad, the final boss theme. So when Square Enix first revealed Octopath Traveler, I was immediately dialed into it’s striking evolution of 16-bit visuals and apparent channeling of old school Super Nintendo-era JRPGs. My interest turned to intrigue when I learned the game would focus on eight separate stories between eight separate characters, a storytelling method reminiscent of classic JRPGs like SaGa and Live-A-Live. And my intrigue turned to palpable excitement overdrive when Square Enix stated Octopath Traveler was “a spiritual successor to Final Fantasy VI.”
So, considering my pedigree as someone who cut his teeth on games like FFVI, Chrono Trigger, and Secret of Mana……does it live up?
As indicated in it’s rather silly title, Octopath Traveler focuses on eight separate stories involving eight separate characters with very little overlap (until the very end; more on that later). You can tackle each story in pretty much any order you wish, with the only caveat being: the character you pick first must remain in your party until you finish their particular story; you can then swap them out for someone else. I went with Therion, the roguish thief, but really from a narrative standpoint it doesn’t really matter who you start with (at least in MOST cases; more on that later); every character’s scenario is well-written, interesting, and has solid voice work. And with four chapters for every character, you’re looking at about 32 hours minimum for completing all stories. When you tack on exploring, sidequests, grinding, optional bosses, etc my playtime eventually hit 105 hours so bear in mind: this can be a really meaty experience. The game’s battles, especially its bosses, can be quite difficult and some grind will absolutely be required. Luckily I didn’t mind, as Octopath Traveler boasts one of my new favorite JRPG battle systems ever.
At first glance, everything looks like a classic SNES Final Fantasy battle: character sprites on the right, enemies on the left. However, under each foe you’ll notice a shield level along with any number of question marks. Well, those are weaknesses to be discovered through experimentation. For example, an enemy with a shield level of 4 might be weak to spears, swords, and fire magic. In a mechanic very similar to Bravely Default, you can build power (boost points) over several turns to unleash a chain of attacks, up to five. If your character has a spear equipped and you’ve built up a chain of four attacks, you can bring that shield down to zero and cause your foe to enter a staggered state, in which they temporarily cannot act and are much more susceptible to damage. It’s a really compelling risk/reward system that forces you to think tactically and decide whether blowing your entire chain on damage output or shield-breaking is preferable to healing or curing status afflictions, and it kept me engaged for my entire playthrough.
Another wonderful aspect of the game is it’s take on the job system. Much like Final Fantasy V or Bravely Default, you can find different jobs throughout the world and create some really interesting combinations. Want a warrior/apothecary? Go for it! How about a dancer/thief? Sure! Maybe a cleric/merchant? Nothing stops you! Figuring out which jobs mesh best with each other is just as important as figuring out the combat system, and you’ll eventually find numerous go-to combinations that will become your mainstays. There are also four special job classes locked behind four optional superbosses, which constitute some of the most challenging, well-designed boss fights in the entire game. You’ll suffer for them, but those job classes are more or less a requirement to take on the endgame/post-game challenges.
Special consideration must be given to the audio and visuals, both of which are some of the most incredible I’ve experienced in a long time. Octopath Traveler’s aesthetic is clearly inspired by SNES RPGs like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, but presented in a stunningly beautiful, HD package with shadows and depth, making it all look like a beautiful pop-up storybook. Yasunori Nishiki’s incredible orchestral score has wonderful range, from low-key and moody pieces to rousing, pulse-pounding boss themes that change depending on which chapter you’re in (shout-out to one of the most epic final boss themes I’ve ever heard). Some of my favorite moments in each chapter were confronting the various villains and listening to tense variations on the character themes weave right into the big boss confrontations, which made each fight feel appropriately epic and impactful, regardless of story progression.
Speaking of story progression, I mentioned earlier that it almost doesn’t matter what order you tackle each tale in. There’s one big exception in my opinion, and I’ll do it without spoilers: save one character, Primrose, for the end. Each story has only the most perfunctory connections to the rest, but there are themes that make the most sense if you save Primrose’s story (and main antagonist) for the end. Because what you’ll discover is there IS in fact a greater narrative and conspiracy weaving everything together at the end, capped off by an incredible final boss fight that ranks among the genre’s best. But for narrative purposes it just feels the most complete if you save Primrose for the end.
And therein lies what I would consider the biggest of the game’s few weaknesses: there’s really not much character interaction within each story. Although your entire party is present for battles, the actual story cutscenes in each chapter only reflect that particular character. There IS party interaction outside of major story beats in the form of vignettes which involve them conversing about their travels together (among other things), but it can be a bit jarring to see, for example, Olberic the fighter talk about a story moment with Therion that he didn’t appear in at all outside of battles. Hell, when the characters meet each other it’s basically, “Oh hey! You need help, right? Let us fight and travel together, new best friend!”. If you’ve played games like SaGa Frontier you’ll be familiar with this particular method of storytelling, but if not, I can’t blame you for thinking this wasn’t the best way to go about telling a coherent story. However, this is a forgivable flaw, and it really didn’t affect my enjoyment whatsoever.
I absolutely loved every hour of the over one-hundred I poured into Octopath Traveler. It’s beautiful, sounds amazing, has a killer battle system, tells multiple interesting stories in a unique manner and hits all the right nostalgic notes while providing a cool evolution of classic JRPG gameplay. It’s one of my new all-time favorite games, and one I know I’ll revisit numerous times in the future. If you love JRPGs like I do, don’t sleep on this one.
