


These games are the blueprint that they worked off of to create Octopath Traveler. Play Trials of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 3) or Live a Live. If you’re looking for an RPG with multiple character storylines: I also suspect that a lot of my gripes with this game will be addressed in the sequel, but it’s hard to tell with Square Enix. Just know that the sequel is a standalone title and doesn’t require any knowledge from the first game. However, I can see why you would want to try it, since Octopath Traveler 2 is launching soon. When we originally published, I suggesting passing on Octopath Traveler. It’s on a variety of platforms at this point, so it’s easy to get ahold of. If you absolutely have to scratch a JRPG itch, it’s an option, but there are better RPGs out there. Is Octopath Traveler worth playing in 2023? This isn’t much of an issue in cities, but it’s downright annoying in wild areas, because every wasted step just puts you that much closer to another annoying random encounter. There were a lot of times that the environments were harder to traverse than I would have expected, leading me to get hung up on ledges or corners instead of stairs or paths. I also think the maps would look better if they didn’t have the filter over them that turned everything brown or grey. The sprites for people follow one scheme, the enemies follow another, and neither mesh well with the environment. When it comes to art, this game is a mess. While most RPGs will have X amount of party members all along for the same story, this is the opposite: it’s 8 unrelated characters with different storylines who only see each other during random encounters. Eight paths that don’t come togetherĮach narrative is self-contained, and there isn’t much overlap, except in occasional skits (think Tales series). Whether it’s random encounters, save scumming to get through areas, or resetting to steal rare items, progression is largely linked to your patience. If you approach this game like a normal RPG you’ll quickly hit the wall of uneven difficulty. Don’t fret, as that will likely happen anyway, since your off-team won’t gain experience and JP unless you rotate them in. Keep in mind that rushing through areas might end up in your characters being underleveled. I suggest getting Cyrus (the Scholar) quickly, as his evasive maneuvers skill drastically reduces their occurrence. What could Octopath Traveler do better? Random Encounters This is clearly intentional design, because if the developers didn’t want you to be able to steal rare items, they would have given them a 0% steal chance, as in the case of the “Forbidden” weapons. Many high-tier and endgame items are right in plain sight, and the only limiting factor is your patience. Piggybacking off the previous entry, you can gear up really quickly in this game through efficient exploration and theft. If you can dodge, escape, or save scum through high level zones, there’s nothing stopping you from exploring the whole world as soon as you finish your first chapter. While you can use skills or a certain character to automatically reveal some weaknesses, you can also fish for weaknesses with relatively little risk. This isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, but it leads to some strategy and planning so that you can maximize your damage. You can deplete a gauge to send them into a stunned state so that they take more damage.

Every enemy has up to several weaknesses. What does Octopath Traveler do well? Battle System If you find that upsetting, just be glad it wasn’t developed in 2022, or else your gacha pulls would be minted on the blockchain. Instead, it meant that Square-Enix would immediately begin to milk the IP with a mobile gacha game. The success of Octopath didn’t mean that it would get a sequel, of course. Octopath Traveler sold like gangbusters largely because the Switch was low on RPGs at the time and because people are still hoping that Square-Enix can still crank out something magical. It’s non-linear, and you can recruit the characters in any order, at any time. You recruit them all and finish their stories. The basic premise is that there are 8 characters, all with their own storylines. It strives to mimic old JRPGs, and largely does. If you’re looking for a challenging RPG.If you’re looking for a modern turn based RPG.If you’re looking for a classic-style JRPG.If you’re looking for an RPG with multiple character storylines:.Is Octopath Traveler worth playing in 2023?.What could Octopath Traveler do better?.
