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

When Octopath Traveler launched in 2019, it was something that looked similar to yet ended up being totally different from the traditional turn-based Japanese role-playing game Square Enix was known for. The series made some innovative changes to the formula, from the roster of eight playable characters to the Boost system. But with Octopath Traveler 0, it feels like the prequel didn’t move forward, and if anything, took a tiny step backwards. 

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

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

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Players can pick one of eight jobs for the protagonist: warrior, hunter, merchant, apothecary, cleric, scholar, dancer or thief. As expected, each class has its own unique traits, and classes like the 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 off as a merchant who could use weapons with powerful attacks, along with skills that earned a little more money from battles. Then there’s the apothecary, a unique class that heals and cures the ailments of their teammates while also being able to do heavy damage with an axe. 

As you progress and unlock more job skills and level up, there will be an option to obtain another job. This means the hero can take skills from one job — such as spells and physical attacks — and use them with a class that wouldn’t normally have them. This can result in a warrior, for example, being able to use the powerful spells of the scholar class to create a unique battle mage. With eight jobs to choose from, there are plenty of options available to create different combinations to use in battle. 

But for all the new ground that the class system covers, the plot is pretty generic territory.

Boring Traveler

The real selling point of the Octopath Traveler series is, well, the travelers. The first two games featured eight playable characters, each with their own background story to learn. That was the selling point of the game that made it stand out from the sea of traditional JRPGs.

This time around, Square Enix decided to do something a little different and a little dull, making the hero a silent protagonist. Not only is the hero quiet throughout every conversation in the game, but get this, they’re on a revenge mission, as if 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’s time to exact revenge on the three people who doomed his home: Tytos and Auguste, who were responsible for the attack on the village, and Lady Hermina, a wealthy heiress who gave the two the info on the location of the trinket. 

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

Thankfully, the real heroes of the game’s story are the bad guys. Following the drawn-out intro sequence, once the hero sets out on their revenge quest, players can choose to go after any one of the three previously mentioned villains. Each has its own story arc, and they’re just deliciously dark. The characters are truly evil, with the most interesting background and developments, giving an almost Game of Thrones vibe. My favorite was Auguste the Playwright, referred to as the Master of Fame. When completing his story arc, there is just a series of these seemingly regular people who show their utter devotion to him by sacrificing their own family members and themselves to Auguste’s delight.

There is something refreshing in seeing true villains. There is no moral quandary or philosophical debate on whether the people you’re fighting against are horrible people or if they are simply misguided with good intentions. No, these people are horrible and need to be stopped. It’s just a shame it’s the boring, silent protagonist that has to do the heavy lifting to defeat them. 

Octo-Mazing

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

Every enemy has a shield number that depletes when attacked, and once it reaches zero, that enemy is “broken” and unable to attack for multiple rounds. To help speed up this process, characters have Boost Points that increase with each round of a fight. When a character has three BPs, they can use powerful attacks or simply do multiple attacks at once. As every enemy has multiple weaknesses to certain weapons and spells, this system adds an extra layer of strategy to determine whether you bide your time to beat them down or rush them down. Occasionally, you’ll end up in a situation where a tough enemy gets broken and you notice that all of your characters are loaded up with BP, which leads to a satisfying beatdown on the bad guy, raining down powerful attack after powerful attack. 

And yet, the depth of strategy doesn’t end there. New in Octopath Traveler 0 is a whole second row of characters on the team. These backup fighters can be tagged in throughout combat to provide a bit of a mix-up in strategy. You can keep your physical warriors up front while having the mages hang out in back and switch when needed. Or rotate in the same character type when needed, so when a healer gets low on health, they can swap out with another healer. Couple this dynamic of switching out characters on the fly with the “Break and Boost” system, and you have a very active turn-based combat. 

Obtaining these extra characters on the team comes with rebuilding the hero’s village, Wishvale. The burned down town starts off with one home, but as you progress, you’re given more options to expand. Other towns have people looking for new places to live or adventures to partake in, and those choices can be explored via Path Actions, a recurring feature from earlier games in the series. 

When talking to particular NPCs, there is an option to learn a bit more about them by inquiring using a Path Action, which is just a matter of pressing a certain button (the X button for the Xbox version, Square for PlayStation and Y for Nintendo Switch). Doing this will then give you some background on the character and some options. Some NPCs will gladly join your team to fight with you for a price, while others will have items to give you by selecting the Entreat option and a success rate will be shown for each item they possess, with the lower success rate set for the more valuable items. There’s also the Contend option to battle the NPC, which isn’t wise to do early on, as it seems all the townsfolk have been battling dragons for generations, so fight them early on at your peril. Fail to obtain an item from an NPC or lose to them in a fight, and 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 anymore until you visit the tavern and pay a fine to restore it. 

The presentation of Octopath Traveler 0 is not much different than the previous games. The graphics are the HD-2D art style Square Enix has been using for this series and the Dragon Quest remakes, a retro mix of 2D sprites amid 3D backgrounds that evokes nostalgia for the games of yesteryear with some modern polish. Octopath Traveler 0’s soundtrack and voice acting are also on par with the higher quality the series has been known for. 

Like other games in the series, Octopath Traveler 0 can easily take players 100 hours to complete, especially if they delve deep into the town-building aspect. While I wish there were more interesting heroes to embody, once players get past the generic plot premise and delve into the meaty combat, there is no question that this game is a worthy entry into the franchise and a pick 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.