Nintendo has been hyping Octopath Traveler for quite some time and now the game is finally out. It is by no mean the most graphically intense or maybe even original game they have but Aquire and Square Enix might be on to something.
Don't Judge This Game By Its Graphics
One thing will immediately surface on the onset of Octopath Traveler and that is its graphics or perhaps lack of. When you see a game with pixel sprites you would immediately conclude that this game is nothing more than an indie game that shouldn't run over a $20. The thing is, this game is being sold at a full retail price. The question becomes, is the gameplay worth the price tag in place for the graphics you are obviously not getting?
I played the first demo of this game and that is when I fell in love with it. The art style is 2-D but the landscape is more 3-D. This was confusing at first but I either have played it enough or they have made enough tweaks to make it possible to perceive distance. What is slightly fascinating about the game, is even though the graphics are pixelated, they are displayed in a quality way. The background is pretty detailed, the town looks good, and the animations are solid. Yet it still is pixel graphics.
This is where the first impression is going to break down a little because I only have a few hours into this game so I am not 100% sure that the gameplay is going to make up for the graphics but it feels like it. While I like the graphics, I want to consider this on the angle of an RPG fan that has more than enough content out right now that they can skip this game. In a classic sense, this game has everything that you expect from an RPG. With some improvements here and there. Turn-based combat, highly specialized classes, and a plethera of secondary class abilites to fit the occasion. It's like the Devs took all the things that made the classic RPG good and put it into Octopath.
The weakness of enemies is no longer hidden but proudly displayed rewarding you for discovering it. On top of this is a brake system that allows you to interrupt enemies attacks to deliver even more devastating attacks. All of this is important as fights are made or broken by you paying attention, not just spamming attacks in a reasonable battle time.
Still Not Convincing?
All of these features are cool but it's still hard to fully justify the full price tag till we get to what I think will be the bread and butter of this game if it can continue down its current path and that is the story. I played the first part of Primrose's story in the demo and I was captivated enough that I wanted to know the rest of what is going on in her world. She is the dancer and the game begins with a sad tale of revenge as she sees her father slain at a young age. In order to seek vengeance, she becomes a dancer in a town she believes the men responsible will visit. This is just one of eight stories we will get and so far the writing has been pretty good.
What is also interesting is that you can pick which stories you want to pursue by visiting the towns of the other potential allies. When you show up you will find them and be given the option to play their chapter one stories, after which you can add them to your party. This ability to choose your own path is pretty cool to me as you can decide which stories you want to experience. For me, its all of them. It doesn't hurt the voice isn't bad either.
I can't say for sure if the price is right but for someone like me who is very story driven it's feeling good so far. The gameplay, the pacing, the combat is all falling into place in a way that I see myself being engrossed in it for as long as it lasts. The graphics might not be for everyone but it hasn't hampered my experience yet. I am excited to keep going.
TL;DR:
Is Octopath Traveler worth the price tag? It's hard to say with just a few hours in but the story and gameplay mechanics are making a strong case for it.
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