Octopath Traveler was the first of Square Enix's HD-2D games and could be argued to be THE reason for the revival of 2D games in the AA space.
At its core it is a turn-based RPG in which you play groups of up to 4 (of a total of 8 characters).
In combat this is turn-based, your characters presented on the right side of the screen, the enemies on the left. No movement here. All combatants take their action in a turn (order according to their speed and actions taken last turn), then the next turn starts. Bosses may have several actions per turn. All enemy types have certain (initially unknown) weaknesses against weapon or magic types. Hitting an enemy with one (or several) of their weaknesses often enough "breaks" them. Meaning they skip the rest of this and the next turn, also their defenses are severely reduced during that time. Also during any turn you do not use them you gather BP. BP can be spent to allow multiple attacks during a turn or strengthen your skills and magic. Perfect to break an enemy or strike while they are broken. The fighting system appears simple
overall but all the small moving parts can be very interesting to balance and get the maximum out of.
Only if you are forced into mindlessly increasing your levels through grinding (which can happen) you might get frustrated by the slow combat.
Story-wise Octopath Traveler has an interesting twist. Instead of telling one single overarching story, every character you have has their own goals you can pursue seperately. In fact, the game is perfectly content to just let you play with one or two characters and never recruit the rest. Also, all the stories have different flavors. Ophelia's religious pilgrimage, Cyrus' detective story, Therion overcoming his shame, Olberic seeking closure after tragedy, Primrose's pursuit of revenge, Alfin broadening his mind through travel, Tressa going on an adventure, H'annit ending her apprenticeship. This keeps the stories pretty fresh.Also there are several side quests you can pick up along the way. Many can be solved in two different ways even. But the solutions to sidequests are not always obvious and may lead you way off the beaten path for certain solutions. Which can be frustrating for completionists who refuse to use a guide.
But overall story-telling has a much bigger issue. It's fragmented nature makes it very shallow. There just is not enough there for proper character development, or a deeper plot. Also, while you in gameplay collect a party of people, in story this is never acknowledged. There are a few easily missable and entirely optional fluff dialogues, but that is it.
One other thing is: sometimes the gameplay undermines the story. I should not have to deal with so many random encounters when the story says that you are on a sneaking mission. An apothecary picking herbs should not need to confront a boss. Things like that. Maybe this is me, but I noticed this problem.
Overall I like Octopath Traveler, but it is definitely a flawed game.
