First Ys VIII, now Octopath Traveler – guess I’ve lately been feeling an itch to revisit JRPGs I played back in 2018. However, I don’t actually think nearly as highly of the latter as I do of the former; in fact, Octopath Traveler is a game I typically tend to criticize whenever I bring it up. That said, I’ve had something of a tumultuous relationship with this game ever since it was first announced: my initial impression, when the game was shown off during the very first Nintendo Switch presentation, was not all that favorable due to me just really not liking the HD-2D style, though a brand new Square Enix JRPG was still of at least SOME interest back then – especially if the low-effort graphics translated into a budget price release (lolno!).
I must have been at least SOMEWHAT intrigued by the game, because when an Octopath Traveler demo was eventually made available, I made sure to try it out – and it instantly won me over! Pretty meaty for a demo, it provided you with Chapter 1 of both Olberic and Primrose’s campaigns, and quickly got its hooks into me. While the graphics still failed to win me over, I remember being impressed with the storytelling, writing and voice acting, as I very quickly became invested in these two stories and characters. And obviously, the music was excellent! Because of this, I got the game at launch – and while I did come away thinking it was quite good, I also didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I had expected to based on my time with the demo. And ever since then, Octopath Traveler has for various reasons become a game that has kept falling in my estimation over the years.
A big reason for this has to do with game’s defining hook: Instead of the game’s 8 main characters coming together to form a traditional JRPG party going off on one, great adventure, they’re essentially 8 heroes that each has his or her own standalone story, each consisting of 4 Chapters. The closest thing that Octopath has to an overarching story is relegated to the post-game, and that requires some serious level grinding if you want to tackle it. This actually makes for a bigger change from traditional JRPGs than you’d might expect, but usually not for the better.
However, let’s start off with some positives: Octopath’s approach does mean that all of its 8 characters are given equal attention (you can choose any of them to be your de facto Protagonist, who cannot be removed from the active 4-person party until their story is completed), unlike in many regular JRPGs where at least a couple of party members usually get the short end of the stick. Speaking of short – the compressed nature of these stories (I’d say each individual story campaign is like 7-8 hours long) does cut out most filler and fat storywise, each individual Chapter advancing the plot in meaningful ways.
Moreover, Octopath boasting 8 standalone stories does result in a lot of variety not just in terms of main characters and scenarios, but even tone and outlook: Olberic’s classic JRPG tale of revenge and redemption leaves a very different impression than Primrose’s much darker and more twisted take on a revenge story. And of course, both of these stories stand in sharp contrast to Tressa the Merchant’s lighthearted romp. Then there’s Alfyn’s story, which starts off optimistic and cozy, but ends up truly pushing its protagonist’s medical ethos to the breaking point.
So far, so good – but now it’s time to get into the downsides of Octopath’s particular approach, which are numerous. For starters, there’s no real JPRG party here at all! Oh sure, you technically do end up with a 4-person party made up of your chosen combination of heroes, with some restrictions (again, you Protagonist *always* has to be included, as well as the character whose story chapter you’re currently tackling) - but there’s barely any interactions between these characters at all, let alone real relationships, save for some optional and missable bonus dialogue outside of the story segments, which feels extremely shallow and superficial – because it is.
Let’s be real here – these characters helping each other out throughout their adventures is almost certainly non-canon, because the story always treats them as tackling and overcoming obstacles on their own – which means that not only do you miss out on all those great character interactions and relationships that are standard in other JRPGs, basically every single battle you engage in after the game’s opening section is immersion-breaking, since what’s going on the battlefield does NOT reflect what’s going on in the story.
Then there’s the downside to the short length of the 8 stories featured – it just greatly limits the kind of stories that can even be told, as well as the impact they’re able to have. Limited buildup limits the payoff – even if you dislike long-running Shonen anime series, you have to admit that something like Vegeta’s character development absolutely NEEDED an epic scope to work. And in an old-school JRPG (where much of the time is eaten up by turn-based random battles), 8 hours is NOT a lot of time to tell a truly memorable story. I found the 8 heroes of Octopath (Ophilia, Cyrus, Tressa, Olberic, Primrose, Alfyn, Therion and H'aanit, geddit??) likable, and their storylines satisfying, but none of them truly stayed with me for long after I was finished with the game, nor did I feel strongly enough about the story to go through with the necessary grinding for the post-game and its True Ending.
By contrast, traditional JRPGs are much less limited when it comes to how they can tell their stories – with their massive size and lengthy story campaign, they can absolutely afford giving even lesser party members notable storylines and character arcs. Sharla is almost universally considered one of the weakest Xenoblade party members, but her story of battling the Mechon who destroyed her Colony 6, and later on her quest to find her missing fiancé, easily has enough meat on its bones to be able to sustain an Octopath-tier campaign. Only in Xenoblade, this storyline is part of a much, MUCH bigger overarching story, that Sharla’s own little storyline both contributes to and is elevated by. You just never get that in Octopath.
Looking back at what kind of game Octopath is, it makes sense the demo left a better impression than the full game: not only does it showcase two of the stronger story campaigns, but it literally gives you access to 25% of each campaign! And while I wouldn’t say that these stories peaked with their opening Chapters, they don’t really advance much past that early level of quality either, the way regular JRPGs do. As such, Octopath’s highs don’t come close to matching the highs of most other high quality JRPGs.
