I have over 100 hours in Octopath Traveler, and I honestly find it difficult to recommend it.
Before I explain why, let me start with who I do recommend it to.
If you've already played a lot of mainstream JRPGs and are curious to see where Square Enix's HD-2D style began, I think it's worth checking out.
Who wouldn't I recommend it to? Anyone who cares a lot about storytelling, anyone who is still new to JRPGs since there are many better games that deserve your time first, and anyone who gets annoyed by repetitive music. I'll come back to that later.
[h1]The Positive: [/h1]
The combat system is excellent. It's simple, easy to understand, and very satisfying. It mostly revolves around exploiting enemy weaknesses. Once you've discovered an enemy's weaknesses, the game remembers them and displays them whenever you encounter that enemy again.
Exploiting those weaknesses enough times breaks the enemy's shield, giving you a turn where they cannot act. That's the core of the combat system, and I really enjoyed it. Combined with the Boost system and other combat mechanics, battles remain engaging throughout the game.
The game also includes a job system influenced by Final Fantasy V. I think it has a few flaws, but they aren't significant enough to spend much time discussing.
Probably the biggest strength is the visuals.
Square Enix's HD-2D style didn't impress me at first. Some of the visual effects felt overdone. The heavy bloom, dark vignette around the screen, and random light sparkles all seemed excessive.
However, the longer I played and the more towns and locations I visited, the more I appreciated what this art style is capable of. Some areas are genuinely beautiful, and the HD-2D presentation creates scenes that would be difficult to achieve with a more traditional visual style.
what about Grinding? it depends.
If you play the game the way it naturally encourages you to, by gradually progressing through the characters stories and completing side quests along the way, you'll probably reach the recommended levels needed to avoid most encounters becoming overwhelming.
That said, grinding is always an option for players who enjoy it. The game also does a good job of showing the recommended level before entering a new area. If you follow those recommendations, the game provides a decent challenge while remaining manageable. If you enter areas underleveled, the difficulty can increase significantly.
[h1] The Negative: [/h1]
The biggest issue is the story.
The game follows eight protagonists, while your active party consists of four characters at a time. Many people have already pointed out that the characters' personal stories barely connect to each other. That's partially true, and it's not actually my complaint.
[b]My real problem is that most of the stories simply aren't very good. The writing is pretty bad. Even the stories that start with interesting ideas never really reach the level they could have. [/b]
Overall, the game maintains a very family-friendly tone, even when it tries to explore darker or more mature themes.
My second complaint is one I never expected to have about a Square Enix JRPG.... The music.
Not because the soundtrack is bad. Quite the opposite. There are some fantastic tracks here.
The problem is that one particular calm, emotional theme is used over and over again. Every time the game shifts into a warm or emotional moment, whether it's during a character's story or one of the countless side quests, that exact same piece of music plays.
It would be one thing if this only happened during the main stories. Instead, it happens constantly.
The side quests are where it becomes especially annoying. You exchange a few lines with some NPC, complete a simple objective, the screen fades to black, and suddenly there's an "emotional" scene where the character reflects on their life or thanks you, while the same track you've already heard hundreds of times starts playing again.
Eventually, instead of creating an emotional moment, the music completely loses its impact.
[h3] So, why don't I recommend it?[/h3]
You might say - you've played over 100 hours, you've mentioned plenty of things that sound good, and maybe the negatives aren't actually that significant. So why don't you recommend it?
It's simple. Every time I shared my experience about this game with friends, the conversation would somehow end with me telling them, "Despite everything, I still think you'd be better off playing this game, or that game, instead."
That's ultimately what made my recommendation so difficult.
This isn't the first time I've wished Steam had a third option: "It depends."
But between the options that are actually available, I lean more toward not recommending the game than recommending it.
