
Square Enix's Octopath Traveler launched on Switch last week, seeing tremendous levels of success right from the off. The game has been selling out all over the world, actually forcing the developer to issue an apology to fans who have missed out, and it even managed to go straight to number three in the UK charts. So how do you make a game that is so instantly adored?
Well, a recent Nintendo blog post saw the game's director Keisuke Miyauchi explain the development team's thinking. He noted that three points were focused on, in particular, all aiming to create an experience in which players could really enjoy their own journeys.
"The first is the glorious visuals rendered in "HD-2D." We took inspiration from the pixel art of the RPGs we ourselves used to play, updating them with modern technology to create rich and varied landscapes that we believe players will find to be both nostalgic and freshly beautiful."
We have to agree with Miyauchi on this one; while graphics are usually less important than gameplay in our eyes, the art style of Octopath Traveler is staggeringly lovely to behold. In our review of the game, we said: "on the presentation side of things, Octopath Traveler manages to amaze, employing a unique art style that seems to capture how you remember 16-bit RPGs looking, rather than how they truly look." That's one out of three already in the bag, then.
"The second is the interactivity, with each character able to interact with the residents of Orsterra through their Path Actions. We hope you'll enjoy getting to know the people, with their sometimes tragic, sometimes heartwarming stories and pasts."
"The last point we paid special attention to was freedom. From your starting character to the course you chart across the realm, the choices are in your hands. We encourage you to spin a tale of adventure all your own."
So a fantastic level of presentation, heartwarming character interactivity, and the idea of freedom being used to evoke feelings of an epic adventure - all coming together to create a lovingly crafted game. It's a recipe that seems to have worked very nicely indeed, and one that will no doubt please players all around the world.
Have you been playing Octopath Traveler? How have you been finding it so far? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
[source nintendo.com]
Comments 42
Yeah, but I wish they would have realized just how successful it would be. This game is supposedly doing amazing in sales!
I'd say the constant advertising and demos had something to do with it. I know I grabbed it because of the demos
How pleasing is it to prove once and for all that these types of retro throwbacks can still work even when they are not short length indie games. This game is brilliant and i'm not even a fan of the genre. It makes me wonder why on earth Nintendo themselves are not making games like this with Zelda and Metroid etc to tie us over before the triple A releases, wouldn't have to wait years on end for new games that way!
Should have been:
1. Preying on nostalgia.
2. Not restarting development to take it in a new direction.
3. Releasing the game in a reasonable amount of time. Actually releasing the game.
You know, the exact things Squeenix can't seem to do well with Final Fantasy.
@Bruh Maybe Square thought it wouldn't do well because people didn't have to wait a decade in anticipation.
Love the game, hate the battery life. 1% per minute is abit much
A fantastic game indeed. Now if they would only continue the Final Fantasy series from before it went to ****. Final Fantasy VII on nintendo where it belongs with everything that made it great from the start.
I love the game. The only thing I find deficient is the lack of interaction between our cast. If there was more connection between our lovely 8 heroes I'd say easy 10/10. As it is, 12 hours in, it's still at least an 8.5/10
I've been a little low on funds for $59.99 games recently, so I have to give up some, choose better, refine my choices, dig a little more and so on, so this is a game that I've left behind for a while. But I plan to get it in the future
@Bunkerneath Really??? That's a real turnoff for me because I only play handheld. That's a ridiculous consumption rate!
@Heavyarms55 I agree they could interact a lot more, but at least the travel banter conversations are decent, even if they are short.
@John_Deacon @Bunkerneath I'm not gonna comment on the general quality of battery life on a Switch, but my last playsession lasted 3 hours and 41 minutes from 100% to 1%. Fully handheld mode, roughly 30 minutes spent with minimum brightness in bed.
I'm not sure why Bunker's Switch drains THAT much per minute... Because mine definitely doesn't. I'd say avg 200 minutes per full charge in handheld mode. That's about what me and my friends get in Octopath.
EDIT: With flight mode turned on. Idk if it makes a difference, but I always play single-player-only games with Flight mode on.
A game about a long journey in short trips- which is what you want for a handheld platform.
@Blizzia Ok. 180 min is what I generally expect. I always play single player with airplane mode on and yes, it really helps save some battery too. So, maybe @bunkerneath has got some kind of problem, who knows
Seems to me like 10-15-20 years from now we'll be getting rereleases and remakes of Octopath Traveller. I doubt we'll ever see a straight sequel.
@Savino hope you are right!
I ultimately didn't buy the game, a lot of reviews talked about bad connection between stories, incongruencies and stuff. But gave it good rates anyway. I didn't like reading that stories weren't so good either. But after that everybody seems to love it.
Anyway, I don't need another time consuming 60€ game. I'll wait. I just resumed Super Mario Odyssey after months and it's a shame that backlog does that to me.
@GraveLordXD Happened to me too when I booted the game up the first time. I did notice a heavy battery drain too on my first little hour of playing, then I turned my Switch off, charged it to full, and never had the issue since.
Then again, between my first boot and second boot, a patch had been released bumping the game from 1.0.0 to 1.0.2. Not sure if it changed anything major.
@John_Deacon seems like it. About 180 min is probably fairly accurate, a bit more with flight mode constantly on.
@John_Deacon Thanks for the update on your finances.
@NoxAeturnus Lost Sphear and I Am Setsuna both meet all the criteria that you laid out but apparently have not done nearly as well as Octopath.
Joke
@roboshort's head.
This is one of my fave games ever. Really enjoying it and enjoying the stories. Really hope they make octopath 2 with 8 new stories
Bravely Default looks more impressive in Stereo 3D. Octopath Traveller uses depth blur to compensate the lack of 3D depth, while it looks pretty it still didn't surpassed what they did with BD.
@Savino yep imagine you are right there, although if this is the result of underfunding can we have an underfunded 2d snes looking zelda, mario or metroid game (or the multiple other franchises I could name)? sonic mania and octopath have opened a door that I hope nintendo walk through!
The sequel will be called Icosapath, they expanded into 20 paths.
Well, I've seen a decent amount of TV ads for Octopath Traveler lately so I think that definitely contributes to the fantastic sales. Nintendo has been pushing this game hard lately.
@NoxAeturnus Good one
@Moroboshi876 If I had read these as well I prob waited till a sale. Its a good game but after getting 6 Heros its kinda dull. I skipped storys because they were so obvious. Hope it gets better after I have all but for the next days I´m getting back to Battle Chasers...
If they had any sense they'd immediately start a remake of FF6 with this art style. That'd be a massive seller.
@SteveF See? You're not the only one that complains about that. But almost all reviewers tip toed around it and gave it 8s and 9s because of all the other good things. And if a reviewer pointed these problems out, he was called a hater.
After playing the demo I was under the impression that there was something wrong with stories and its connection, and it has been confirmed, but only by a minority. What bothers me most, though, is dullness. I can't stand it after investing my money and my time.
@Bunkerneath I’m getting close to 4 hours continuous play on handheld. Haven’t adjusted any settings/brightness, but I do use headphones. There might be an issue with your machine if you’re only getting 100 minutes.
I haven't played this game, just don't like the art style, but that aside some of the appeal has to be because of the lack of real games for the Switch. And a lot of gamers gave it a try for that reason.
@JohnQuixote Well i have just turned it off (proper shutdown) and will power it back on when i get home from work.
See if that does anything, if not maybe i just got a faulty battery.
@SmaggTheSmug Octopath Traveler: Prefix.ReEmagined: Enlightened Edition (definitive collection) (Preorder ship date est 12/2024. Proderder now and receive Olberic origin story DLC free (A $14.99 value!))
My crystal ball says to please look forward to this announcement at the next Square-Enix E3 demonstration.
@peanutbuttercup I totally agree. Because they had a great first demo and listened to everyone's responses it most likely increased interest and sales. Honestly o was on the fence until the second demo which got me really excited so I picked it up. I think this is a near flawless game, my only real complaint being that their adventures don't seem to tie together, and it makes no sense that over and over again they talk about doing things on their own... While they're in a party of 8, or 4 depending on the perspective.
So many wonderful RPGs, so little time.
...And I haven't even moved onto the Switch yet. With this, Ys, XC2, etc....RPGs will keep me busy for years to come.
@Dezzy it's the FFVI remake we all deserve after that insulting mobile version
@Tyranexx Switch has no gaemz!!1!
@NEStalgia: Nintendoomed!
I haven't got to play real far in yet, but definitely agree on the graphics and the freedom. Just glad to see a Switch game shock Square like it did.
They also did a good job of not giving the player too much freedom like in "Zelda: Breath of the Wild" or many Western RPGs. As far as I'm aware, the game is still pretty structured. You just have the ability to choose the order in which you follow the structure, somewhat like choosing the order of most of the levels you play like in a classic Mega Man game or "Gunstar Heroes," except with the added ability to mix and match the progression of the "levels" as much as you like.
On the other hand, it unfortunately makes sense that the characters and their individual stories don't have much cohesion together, as it would take a storytelling genius on the level of Greg Weisman to pull that off to a good degree no matter which way you play when you have the freedom to advance the stories in any order like this.
@djfuts Um, Nintendo released a Metroid throwback just last year with "Samus Returns," and they did a Zelda throwback a few years ago with "A Link Between Worlds."
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