Octopath Traveler 0

Genre: Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

Octopath Traveler 0 is a frustrating game to review, for various reasons, but the main one is that it both is and isn’t an original game. After the success of Octopath Traveler, but before the release of Octopath Traveler II, we saw the release of another Octopath Traveler game in the form of the 2022 mobile release of Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. That game recycled assets from the first Octopath Traveler in a new game filled with mobile-style microtransactions.

Now in 2025, we’re seeing the release of Octopath Traveler 0 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, and anyone who has played Champions of the Continent will likely be doing a double-take, because even though this isn’t exactly a port of that game, it is eerily similar in numerous ways.

Once again, we have a lot of recycled content here, with this game reusing a lot of the art and music from all three prior Octopath games. And I have to be honest, there’s definitely some “copy of a copy of a copy” issues going on here – a lot of the environmental and atmospheric elements that help to make the “HD-2D” games look so impressive are missing here, resulting in a game that looks noticeably worse than the first game in the series, released 7 years ago.

I should note that the soundtrack here is still good, but it’s not quite as impactful as the prior games in the series. However, there are still some good orchestral tracks here, including the Main Theme, Chronicles of the Guardians of Light, Wishvale, and Wishvale Trail.

The story here, much like Champions of the Continent, takes place prior to the original Octopath Traveler, and even features the same trio of villains, though their role here is a bit different, with one of these enemies destroying your hometown and with your custom-created character aiming to remove the villains from power while working with survivors to rebuild your village.

This presents itself as a Management Simulation element where you can build houses and other structures in your hometown as you progress through the game, using materials you find along the way. This gameplay element is derived from a similar mechanic from Champions of the Continent, though the “gacha” mechanics tied to this part of the game have been removed here – you won’t be paying for materials via microtransactions here.

In addition to collecting materials, you’ll also be collecting party members, as well as non-combat residents to reside in your village, with these additions helping you more as you build your village back up in the way you see fit. Your party has now been expanded to 4 frontline combatants and 4 supporters, though your main character remains far more customizable than any of the others, so customizing the rest of your party must instead come through trading out these other party members for the 30 or so you’ll recruit as you play through the game.

As a gameplay mechanic, this works well enough, and is an interesting departure from what we saw in other Octopath games. However, as it pertains to the story, the shift from 8 primary protagonists to 30 side-characters makes your party come across as a bit bland, especially with your main character being a silent protagonist with little personality of their own.

Beyond this, much of the gameplay remains similar to prior entries in the series, with a few nice quality-of-life improvements, such as your character now being able to perform all available “Path Actions” to interact with people in various ways, without having to swap to the character with access to that action. Otherwise, you’ll find the return of many of the franchise’s recurring game mechanics, such as the battle system derived from Bravely Default’s Brave/Default combat system.

I do genuinely like many of the changes and additions that have been made here, and I hope that we see some of these mechanics return in future Octopath games. However, it’s hard to get past how much of this game feels recycled and lower-quality than other games in the series. I strain to see Octopath Traveler 0 as anything other than a cheap and lazy attempt to recycle content for a quick buck, and while it’s still a truly enjoyable RPG because the material it’s recycling is such high-quality, it’s sad to see those products of love and care be treated with such callous disrespect here.

tl;dr – Octopath Traveler 0 is a Turn-Based JRPG that acts as a prequel to the series, and delivers similar gameplay with some nice new elements, such as some Management Simulation elements and quality-of-life improvements. However, it’s hard to ignore how this game is a somewhat lazy recycling of prior games in the series, particularly the mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, and the result is something that, while still highly enjoyable, lacks the loving care the series is generally known for. If you’re an RPG fan or a fan of this series, this game is still worth playing, but don’t expect it to meet the same high standards as other Octopath games.

Grade: B+

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

Octopath Traveler 0 (Nintendo Switch 2)

Genre: Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

In my review of the Nintendo Switch version of Octopath Traveler 0, I complained that this seemed like a lazy product, recycling assets of past games in the series without the sort of care we’ve come to expect from this series. The same seems to hold true for the Nintendo Switch 2 version of that game. To be clear, much as with the Nintendo Switch version of the game, I’m not saying it’s bad. Rather, that it’s frustrating in the way it refuses to meet a bare minimum of expectations.

Case in point: there is no upgrade path from the Nintendo Switch version of the game to the Nintendo Switch 2 version. If you own both platforms, you’ll need to decide which one to get the game on, or buy the game twice. If you don’t own a Nintendo Switch 2 yet but intend to upgrade in the future, you need to decide whether you want to get this game for your Nintendo Switch or wait until you can get the upgraded version on Nintendo Switch 2.

Now, just to be clear, this is indeed an upgraded version of the game compared to what Nintendo Switch owners are playing. The improvements to resolution and framerates are extremely noticeable, making for an overall much smoother experience that looks a great deal better on Nintendo Switch 2.

Interestingly, this cleaner, nicer-looking experience also throws the game’s visual shortcomings into the spotlight. Because much like the Nintendo Switch version of the game, this game lacks many of the atmospheric effects that the Octopath Traveler series is known for. This makes for the odd circumstance of Octopath Traveler 0 on Nintendo Switch 2 looking both better than and worse than Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler II.

There is one other improvement here, and that’s the loading times – on Nintendo Switch, it takes 30 seconds to start the game, and another 9 seconds to load a game save. On Nintendo Switch 2, those times have been reduced to 17 seconds and 5 seconds.

So, is the Nintendo Switch 2 release of Octopath Traveler 0 an improvement over the Nintendo Switch version? Absolutely. But despite this, it remains something of a disappointment, a result of a game that seems like it received less care than its predecessors, even though it’s benefitting from running on more powerful hardware. If you’re a fan of JRPGs, I still recommend this game, as it is still a delightful entry in the genre, but I can’t help but feel disappointed at how it fails to reach the high bar set by other games in the series.

tl;dr – Octopath Traveler 0 is a Turn-Based JRPG that acts as a prequel to the series, and delivers similar gameplay with some nice new elements, such as some Management Simulation elements and quality-of-life improvements. However, it’s hard to ignore how this game is a somewhat lazy recycling of prior games in the series, particularly the mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, and the result is something that, while still highly enjoyable, lacks the loving care the series is generally known for. If you’re an RPG fan or a fan of this series, this game is still worth playing, but don’t expect it to meet the same high standards as other Octopath games.

Grade: B+

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