OCTOPATH TRAVELER
OUT NOW | SWITCH
Between spending megabucks on extravagant blockbusters such as Final Fantasy XV and forthcoming Disney crossover Kingdom Hearts 3, Square Enix is keeping its coffers ticking over by plundering its past. Hence games such as January’s Lost Sphear, a throwback with few new ideas to call its own. Octopath Traveler, however, isn’t the dewy-eyed homage that it first appears: it might borrow the chunky sprites and random battles of its 16-bit inspirations, but it uses them as a foundation to tell a very different kind of story.
Or, rather, eight of them. At the start, you’re asked to choose one from an octet of characters – whomever you pick, from brooding mercenary Olberic to mischievous thief Therion or curious scholar Cyrus, will be with you for the duration. And yet you can follow the other seven tales regardless.
In fact, your early travels naturally bring you into the orbit of at least three other heroes, rounding out your party of four – by which time you might well
be tempted to collect the rest. These are more intimate, personal tales: for once, there are no chosen ones, nor apocalyptic evils. Hunter H’aanit is simply searching for her absent mentor, while cleric Ophilia is a God-fearing young woman completing a pilgrimage on her sister’s behalf.
Playing through each of their opening chapters naturally gets you into fighting shape to tackle the various monsters you’ll face during the turnbased encounters. As per tradition, your four party members line up on the right side of the screen, stepping forward to take their turn against enemies drawn to an exaggeratedly imposing scale. But even here there are clever twists.
Enemy armour must be whittled down by identifying and then exploiting its weaknesses, which leaves foes temporarily stunned. And you can bank actions for subsequent turns, risking short-term pain to unleash vastly more powerful attacks. The game’s squat characters might be sparsely animated, but bold lighting and pyrotechnic effects make a real spectacle of it, while a lively orchestral soundtrack proves more than a match for the visuals.
They may work as a team on the battlefield, but your party feel like strangers outside of it, their motivations often actively conflicting with one another. But if Octopath Traveler never quite manages to weave its individual narrative threads into a cohesive tapestry, its blend of classical stylings and fresh thinking offers decisive proof that you can teach an old genre new tricks. Chris Schilling