Octopath Traveler 0 Review, Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Features

Octopath Traveler 0 from Square Enix is a bold endeavor for one of gaming's most well-established and respected RPG series since 2018.

Narratively a prequel to Octopath Traveler and still equipped with its remarkable art style and fun turn-based combat, Octopath Traveler 0 mixes up the storytelling formula and goes on some unexpected base-building routes alongside its always-deep and excellent gameplay.

As a disclaimer, Octopath Traveler 0 draws much from Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, a prior free-to-play mobile game with gacha elements. The word gacha will understandably drum up anxiety for many, but this is largely a narrative-based thing and Octopath Traveler 0 promises a deep expansion of the ideas there. It's more normal console Octopath Traveler game than it is mobile game, by far. 

Those important notes out of the way, Octopath Traveler 0 vibes like one of those gambles that pay off for a beloved series. If so, returning and new players alike will find it a hit late in this calendar year.

Graphics and Gameplay

A breathtaking HD-2D design that looks like watercolor paintings come to life again takes center stage in Octopath Traveler 0. 

One glance at the gameplay in motion confirms little about the description is hyperbole. There's a nostalgic aura to the whole thing, yet the vast array of colorful locales and little tricks of the perspective that give the world and its inhabitants depth is both distinctive and could only be possible on modern horsepower. 

From the stunning battle effects to combing along what is very obviously a lovingly painted world map, the environments to the user interface (UI) feels like interacting with a piece of art tucked safely behind glass at a museum. 

It's a tough task by comparison, but the soundtrack and a fully voice-acted experience mesh nicely with the visuals, too.

Octopath Traveler's enthralling gameplay loop of recruiting characters, then forming an eight-party team returns. Deep experimentation isn't strictly required per se, but it becomes an inevitable thing, to the game's credit. 

In combat itself, veterans of past games in the series or even Bravely Default will feel right at home with the break and boost systems. The in-battle formation will feel familiar, too, with offensive characters going up on the frontline and defensive-minded characters behind them. 

While fighting, players will benefit greatly from targeting and exploiting enemy break points (elemental and weapons weakness or others). Other standard-fare items like abilities and even ultimate techniques enter the mix of fantasy RPG goodness. 

The standard (great!) Octopath Traveler class system returns, too. Characters are one of those eight, be it a warrior, a merchant, thief or something else with specific traits, strengths and weaknesses. 

But Octopath Traveler 0 makes an effort to deepen these systems through jobs. Characters encountered might have a unique job, in addition to the class, that makes them more robust. Think, a warrior capable of providing buffs or a support class, who can wield weapons they normally could not. It makes for a more in-depth party-building environment and, frankly, one heck of a dopamine boost when a character with a rare combo shows up.

Expanding more on the combat loop would keep folks here all day. But enemies can eventually target a player's back row of characters, tough encounters are more memorable than frustrating and eventually, skills such as being able to buff a back row to attack for free, is just one example of how strategic things get. 

Players spend a bulk of their time building up a town and sustainable things like plots of farmland. It's a grid-based system that permits a downright stunning number of buildings and areas of control. 

It's all very refreshing and time-consuming in a great way. The fact recruitable characters actually function as settlers who help around the blossoming town if they don't accompany the player in battle is just a cherry on top, to get cliche for a moment. 

That said, the town-building aspect of the game is a little tough to grasp at first and it would be easy to overlook just how important it is. But the feature is rich, well worth exploring and a welcome addition to the series' gameplay loop. 

Story and more 

Octopath Traveler 0 features the stellar storytelling of the series, with some unique, if not bold decisions that help it blend into the gameplay. 

That blend narratively pushes the player into those mentioned engrossing town-building and farming features. It's the usual RPG stuff to start: Players create their own character (a series first), whose town quickly goes up in flames. Again, typical, but a vehicle to get into the town and farming aspects. 

Boasts of 100-plus hours of story content before launch aren't much in the way of exaggeration, either. It delves deep beyond the story and even impressive worldbuilding, too, by including some stellar characters' backgrounds for players to absorb, which only helps to deepen immersion and attachment to specific characters. 

Side quests vary between rote and enthralling. Some simply reward materials for the town. Others, new recruitable characters. The latter and some others manage to pepper in some serious world-building, too. 

Granted, veteran players might not love the shift away from the series' anthology-like structure that featured many main characters along a lengthy tale. This is a different vibe, based around the player's character and three main selectable story paths. 

Progression, by and large, centers around the expected skill trees and upgrades. But it is also more than happy to use some of the newer developments to its full advantage. 

This immersive bit of progression that keeps players engaged extends to the town feature. Exploration and experience uncovered out in the world helps players improve town structures over time. 

The feedback loop really is impressive. Some of it is basic: Ultimate abilities only unlock once players construct a training ground in the town. Rest assured, there are more synergies to uncover. 

Available on mobile platforms like the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck, Octopath Traveler 0 is largely an impressive feat in how well it runs. Like past efforts, there's a robust list of options to tweak in the menus, too. 

Conclusion 

Octopath Traveler 0 is a stellar JRPG and addition to the series. 

While 2025 is probably far too dense in GOTY contenders for Octopath Traveler 0 to make noise in that way, what it does have is critical: Longevity. 

This is an RPG for RPG-lovers and newcomers alike, both to the genre and series. It's got eye-popping art, deep, varied systems, hummable tunes and unforgettable characters and scenes. 

It's impressive, too, for the way it takes the traditional loop of the series, smashes it together with some of the very underrated elements of a mobile gacha game and comes up with, well, this. 

This isn't dethroning Octopath Traveler 2 by any means. But it is perhaps a more important point for the series, as the risks Octopath Traveler 0 takes pay off, feel like a great sign for the future and, if nothing else, have produced one of the best RPGs in a long time. Given the renaissance for the genre of late, that's saying something.