DISCLAIMER: A review copy was provided by the publisher.
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Nintendo
MSRP: $59.99
When Nintendo revealed the Nintendo Switch last year, one of the games they announced alongside it was a JRPG known only as Project Octopath Traveler, probably one of the goofiest titles with no context. Of course, now we know the title is in reference to the 8 playable characters but when gameplay was shown, most concerns were dismissed by fans.
The gorgeous visuals really struck people as something that mixes old 2D, pixel JRPGs like Final Fantasy with a bit of 2018 gloss painted over it. Luckily, that’s the not the only thing about Octopath Traveler that really makes a significant impression in terms of its uniqueness.
When you start the game, you’re given the option to pick 1 of 8 characters, all of which you will play at some point, but the choice may actually hurt the game rather than help it. All of the characters are located within the world, so as you play and move through the world, you’ll gather new characters but it has this janky way of introducing them.
You just simply transition over to the next character without any sort of story threads weaving together. It’s 8 different characters that end up together… without having any connection or links, it feels fundamentally mishandled and breaks all the flow of the game. This could be forgiven if the characters were enjoyable but they’re very two-dimensional, literally and figuratively.
They feel like archetypes we’ve seen before with nothing innovative done to them, just ticking off checkboxes we’ve come to expect. There are some character moments that stand out but not enough to give the game the weight it needs to feel like a must-have RPG in 2018.
Perhaps if the characters had any way of building chemistry, they’d be more enjoyable, but all of the characters in your party are just… there. They don’t have tons of banter between each other, there are no relationships growing between anyone, it’s all very lifeless and feels more like a group of people who hate each other rather than a group that’s growing closer to each other.
Octopath Traveler finds some redemption its combat but only somewhat. The turn-based combat is pretty run of the mill, it all works as you’d expect but there are a few cool twists to make sure it’s fairly fresh and new. For starters, you have Battle Points which allow you to deal extra attacks during a turn. You have to be conservative with these because if you spend them fast, you might paint yourself into a corner with no way to get out of them.
To further the tactics and strategy, almost making it a game of chess, Octopath Traveler gives you tips on enemy vulnerabilities and you have to exploit them to your advantage and figure out some more specific details to tear them down. It feels more tactical, like there’s more thought than standard turn-based combat which usually has you thinking just a bit. Octopath Traveler feels more calculated and has more elegance in its combat, adding an interesting layer to a decades-old genre.
If you’re looking to invest in a particular playable character, you can take on “jobs” in the world to help build up skills and gain rewards. It’s basically what your class is and it determines the gear you can build your character with and the skills you can unlock, it’s a vital way to ensure your characters are always up to snuff when they enter battle. There’s enough variety and enjoyability to be had with them that it doesn’t feel like an extreme grind, it feels organic and fun like a natural piece of the game rather than meaningless fat.
Where the combat falls flat is in its difficulty. Sure, games are meant to be challenging but there are battles that take dozens of minutes to complete and it feels like it’s just dragging you along, becoming relentlessly tiring to play. When combat begins to feel like it’s there just to artificially extend the game’s length, that’s not a great sign. It’s good that the game is on Nintendo Switch and you can pop in and out of the game whenever you want but combat can feel like more of a chore than a fun way to progress as the game unfolds.
RPG fans will also appreciate the great depth Octopath Traveler has in its world not only through its eye-popping visuals which have this almost child-like quality, as if you’re playing with toys, but with world-building and activities. NPCs feel more fleshed out than say something like The Elder Scrolls where everyone looks, sounds, and acts the same, there’s personality to be found here and it’s a rich world that’s worth exploring. It’s almost ironic that there may be more to enjoy in the NPCs than the main characters themselves.
The Verdict:
While it’s disappointing that Octopath Traveler doesn’t fully succeed on delivering a meaningful narrative or giving us any characters that will be remembered throughout gaming history, the game has enough meat on its bones to prevent itself from being below average.
The combat is engaging but only to a point, sometimes battles drag on far too long and feel like they’re intentionally wasting your time and it becomes rather frustrating. It feels like you’re digging through filler in order to progress and like the game is trying to find ways to extend itself to feel like it was worth its price point but truth be told, the game doesn’t need to be extraordinarily long to feel valuable. It just needs to be fun, which it is when it isn’t putting you through 20-minute turn-based combat sequences.
