Square Enix had a pretty major presence at the recent Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase. The company announced not one, but two brand-new titles that featured the HD-2D art style. One of the games was an isometric RPG with real-time combat called The Adventures of Elliot: The Millenium Tales, and the other was an all-new entry in the Octopath series called Octopath Traveler 0. Out of these two projects, Octopath Traveler 0 probably received the most attention from the gaming community, because it seemed to be considerably different from the previous games in the series.
Octopath Traveler 0 is, as its name suggests, a prequel to the first Octopath Traveler game. Unlike Octopath Traveler 2, which is set in a completely separate region known as Solistia, Octopath Traveler 0 and the original Octopath Traveler both take place in the medieval fantasy-inspired region of Orsterra. The game follows an unnamed protagonist (referred to as the Ringbearer) who lives in the town of Wishvale, which — during an annual holiday known as the Day of Reverence — gets attacked by a group of enemies and becomes engulfed in flames. Octopath Traveler 0 handles the gameplay implications of this premise in a couple of interesting ways.
If It Plays Its Cards Right, Octopath Traveler 0's Best Feature Will Be a Surprise
A new Octopath Traveler entry will be arriving later this year, and one mechanic it'll introduce could end up being its more rewarding.
Octopath Traveler 0 Strays Away From the Series' Established Formula
Octopath Traveler 0 Has a Customizable Protagonist and a Distinct Party System
In Octopath Traveler 0, the character that players assume the role of, the Ringbearer, is completely customizable. Right upon starting the game, players can choose their Ringbearer's appearance, motions, voice, and favorite food dish using the new character creation mechanic. Octopath Traveler 0 differs considerably from its predecessors in this regard. The previous mainline entries in the series each had eight protagonists, all of which had their own set appearances, stories, and names. The protagonists' stories were, for the most part, not directly connected with each other, so they could be experienced in any order.
The decision to get rid of the eight-protagonist format in Octopath Traveler 0 seems a bit odd, considering that the octo- prefix in Octopath’s name means eight, which literally refers to the fact that the series features eight characters. Fortunately, the eight motif does appear in the game in another manner. As players progress through Octopath Traveler 0, they can encounter over 30 allies that can be added to their party. Each party, as one might expect, can comprise up to eight characters. For comparison, Octopath Traveler 1 and 2 only allowed players to have up to four characters in their party at any given time.
Octopath Traveler 0's eight-character party system is taken directly from the 2020 mobile spin-off game, Octopath Traveler: Champions of The Continent.
Although Octopath Traveler 0 is Unique, Future Octopath Games Should Stick to What Made the Series Unique to Begin With
The implementation of a customizable protagonist and party system in Octopath Traveler 0 is an interesting design decision, but it admittedly risks sacrificing what made Octopath special in the first place. The mainline Octopath games stood out from many of the other JRPGs on the market primarily because of their anthology-like nature. The fact that Octopath Traveler 0 has removed that part of the series' formula to put more of an emphasis on customization for its playable characters is a bit disappointing, in that sense.
If Octopath Traveler 0 becomes a big success, Square Enix will likely want to make a new mainline entry in the Octopath series at some point. Regardless of how good Octopath Traveler 0 ends up being, though, it would be great if Square decided to go back to the series' old formula with its next installment. Octopath Traveler 3, or whatever it would potentially be called, should have eight protagonists with their own unique story arcs, not a customizable character without a proper personality.
- Released
- December 4, 2025
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood, Fantasy Violence, Language, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- DOKIDOKI GROOVE WORKS, Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Franchise
- Octopath Traveler
