Explore and Uncover the Land of Orsterra
Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent is a turn-based RPG with charming HD-2D graphics that will bring you back to the 90s of 16-bit Japanese role-playing games. This game is a prequel to Octopath Traveler. Square Enix does an excellent job making a colorful world to explore, rich with lovable characters, an intriguing story and an effective battle system.
The player controls are easy to understand for a mobile game with the ability to swipe for auto-running throughout towns and other landscapes. I’m a control freak and not in the sense that I like to be a controlling person but rather that the video game I’m playing better have easily understandable controls or it’s going in the garbage. I’ve played far too many games that lack good controls, especially when it comes to mobile games since those touch screens can be so touchy. In most cases just drop a controller in my hands and I’m good to go for playing a game but with Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, the controls work extremely well for those touchy phone screens and control freaks like myself. The controls are very responsive and I didn’t find any display of lag.
What Path Will You Choose?
Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent starts with a short tutorial explaining that you are the Chosen One to fight off the darkness that plagues the land. Then the player chooses between three different paths: Wealth, Power and Fame. Don’t worry about what path you choose because you can complete the other paths at a later time. I found the game introduction to be slow and I would like to have a skip button to speed things up. There are cutscenes throughout the game and these will slow down your gameplay, which can get annoying. The developers could add a skip feature for the intro and cutscenes so the player does not have to sit through them.
I really was enjoying the smoothness of the gameplay and spectacular battle sequences that brought back memories of the classic Final Fantasy turn-based games. I much prefer turn-based battles over a real-time action battle system. The amount of exploration is rather enjoyable and will keep you playing for a while. The meticulous artwork and in-game sprites are beautiful.
Something that stood out as hardcore to me was at the beginning of the game there are certain areas that elite enemies are guarding. If you choose to battle these enemies with your low ranked party, you will find battles extremely difficult if not impossible to beat. So, my suggestion to you is to avoid these elite enemies until you have a stronger party.
Gathering Loot and Building Your Team
Opening chests will give you items that you can bring to the blacksmith and sell in order to buy better equipment. If your mobile game experiences have slow grinds then fear not because the grind is not so bad in Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. With the ability to have eight characters in each battle, you can spread experience points among more characters.
There’s a satisfying quality to the game music, which is relaxing and very enjoyable for listening while you play through the landscapes. However, there is no English voicing, which I found somewhat disappointing. The in-game text is English but the available language for audio is Japanese. I’m not exactly sure why a game meant for an English audience would have Japanese voicing. That didn’t make sense to me and I felt it was a poor mistake by the developer.
Final Verdict:
I would recommend playing Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent for the fact that it is a game with stunning visuals and an interesting storyline. The controls are excellent and easy for anyone to learn. The game characters are genuine and very likable. I really enjoy exploring the different landscapes, engaging in battles and leveling up my party members. I also like the auto save feature that lets me resume my game right where I left off. The in-game music is peaceful and something nice to help you relax. If you’re like me and you enjoy the small things in games, you will appreciate the nod to Final Fantasy 7 when you meet the flower girl who tries to sell you a flower for a whopping 10,000 leaves. I much prefer paying 1 gil for a flower. Inflation, I guess…
