Late to the Party Review: Octopath Traveler
Developer: Square Enix, Division 11, Acquire
Publishers: Nintendo, Square Enix
Director: Keisuke Miyauchi
Designer: Kota Osaki
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: July 13, 2018
In North America games that were published by Square Enix was enjoyed by a small niche audience. It was possible to run into someone else who had played the original Final Fantasy back when the Nintendo Entertainment System was the reigning champ in home consoles. But it never really caught on here as it did in Japan, and because of this only a handful of games Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPG) have dared come over to the west. There still has been more than plenty that has sneaked its way over, but we still missed out on our fair share. Skip forward to our current-gen Nintendo console, the Switch and how there has not been too many JRPGs. You could find them mostly in the eShop as an indie title and maybe one or two by bigger developers but none that really stood out. That is until Square decided to throw its hat back into the ring.
When this game, Octopath Traveler, first came out people instantly starting comparing it to an old Final Fantasy game, number six in the series to be specific. The game's art style pixel sprite set in a three-dimensional area and for some, it sparked a nostalgiac trip. The gameplay is similar to Final Fantasy Six, but with a few changes here and there to keep itself separated. The game follows eight protagonists on their own adventures as they travel the lands to either find their peace or make something of themselves.
The thing that keeps the stories moving is just how alive the world can feel with tiny subtle movements scattered about. There are cats lazily laying on stairs, bugs zipping around tall grass that is fluttering in the wind. The water can reflect light from the sunny sky as you walk away, the land is just as magical as the spells your cast of characters can use. It's almost as if the designers discussed among themselves that they wanted to do as much subtle cinematography effects as they could in a game.
The one unique aspect of this game is that there are eight stories in one, none of which are completely original for a JRPG but they are all at least well written. When this game was first announced people expected intertwining stories, something along the lines of the Romancing Saga series that Square used to publish. However, that's not what you get, as each character's story acts as if they are doing this mission alone. You can choose whose story you want to progress, but of course, there is a recommended level so it allows you to hop from one story to the other. One of the two things that may turn a player off from picking up a copy of this game is that none of the stories tie together. Like, there is no reason for any of these characters to get together at all. All of a sudden you have a dancer, a priestess, an apothecary, and a merchant altogether in a party with nothing uniting them other than you found them in their respected town.
The one feature of the game that can at least keep things interesting is the battle system. It's your typical turn-based combat system that everyone is familiar with. Each enemy has their own weaknesses that you need to exploit to destroy their defenses. Each enemy has their own defense level and can only be brought down by attacking them with whatever they are weak against (swords, spears, wind, ice, etc.). Each character is their own class (thief, apothecary, merchant, etc) and can do various skills that are unique to them. A thief can steal items, health, and special points, while the apothecary can make strong medicines from items you find across the lands.
Around each character's second chapter of their story, you can get secondary jobs for your characters; you can equip these secondary jobs to your characters to learn and get the special skills the other characters have. For example, if you equip Cyrus the scholar with Primrose's dancer class for his secondary class he'll be able to use what weapons she can and learn all her dances. Though to learn all these skills your characters need to earn job points through battles. Battles normally do not take long, however, to really get your characters ready for the next chapter the gameplay can get a little grindy (the second thing to turn off some players). However, it never feels like a chore when the payoff is normally a good experience.
While there are a few blemishes on the game, there's more than enough polish to really help the game shine. It feels like a loving tribute to when JRPGs were basic and straightforward while trying to make it feel new and exciting. There is plenty of fresh ideas, like adding battle points to the game which gives you a boost to your attacks. The game is a genuine blend of some old classic ideas set inside of a beautiful looking game. This is one of the must-have titles if you own a Nintendo Switch.
In North America games that were published by Square Enix was enjoyed by a small niche audience. It was possible to run into someone else who had played the original Final Fantasy back when the Nintendo Entertainment System was the reigning champ in home consoles. But it never really caught on here as it did in Japan, and because of this only a handful of games Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPG) have dared come over to the west. There still has been more than plenty that has sneaked its way over, but we still missed out on our fair share. Skip forward to our current-gen Nintendo console, the Switch and how there has not been too many JRPGs. You could find them mostly in the eShop as an indie title and maybe one or two by bigger developers but none that really stood out. That is until Square decided to throw its hat back into the ring.
When this game, Octopath Traveler, first came out people instantly starting comparing it to an old Final Fantasy game, number six in the series to be specific. The game's art style pixel sprite set in a three-dimensional area and for some, it sparked a nostalgiac trip. The gameplay is similar to Final Fantasy Six, but with a few changes here and there to keep itself separated. The game follows eight protagonists on their own adventures as they travel the lands to either find their peace or make something of themselves.
The thing that keeps the stories moving is just how alive the world can feel with tiny subtle movements scattered about. There are cats lazily laying on stairs, bugs zipping around tall grass that is fluttering in the wind. The water can reflect light from the sunny sky as you walk away, the land is just as magical as the spells your cast of characters can use. It's almost as if the designers discussed among themselves that they wanted to do as much subtle cinematography effects as they could in a game.
The one unique aspect of this game is that there are eight stories in one, none of which are completely original for a JRPG but they are all at least well written. When this game was first announced people expected intertwining stories, something along the lines of the Romancing Saga series that Square used to publish. However, that's not what you get, as each character's story acts as if they are doing this mission alone. You can choose whose story you want to progress, but of course, there is a recommended level so it allows you to hop from one story to the other. One of the two things that may turn a player off from picking up a copy of this game is that none of the stories tie together. Like, there is no reason for any of these characters to get together at all. All of a sudden you have a dancer, a priestess, an apothecary, and a merchant altogether in a party with nothing uniting them other than you found them in their respected town.
The one feature of the game that can at least keep things interesting is the battle system. It's your typical turn-based combat system that everyone is familiar with. Each enemy has their own weaknesses that you need to exploit to destroy their defenses. Each enemy has their own defense level and can only be brought down by attacking them with whatever they are weak against (swords, spears, wind, ice, etc.). Each character is their own class (thief, apothecary, merchant, etc) and can do various skills that are unique to them. A thief can steal items, health, and special points, while the apothecary can make strong medicines from items you find across the lands.
Around each character's second chapter of their story, you can get secondary jobs for your characters; you can equip these secondary jobs to your characters to learn and get the special skills the other characters have. For example, if you equip Cyrus the scholar with Primrose's dancer class for his secondary class he'll be able to use what weapons she can and learn all her dances. Though to learn all these skills your characters need to earn job points through battles. Battles normally do not take long, however, to really get your characters ready for the next chapter the gameplay can get a little grindy (the second thing to turn off some players). However, it never feels like a chore when the payoff is normally a good experience.
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