After playing Octopath Traveler 0 for a single hour, I think it has one of my favorite turn-based combat systems ever, and that’s saying something in 2025. This new entry has brilliantly evolved the series’ already fantastic combat while providing some tantalizing new facets, like base-building. Square Enix’s HD-2D games have gotten progressively better over the last few years, and there’s every indication that Octopath Traveler 0 can continue the trend.
Octopath 0 is a bit of an odd beast — it’s not entirely a new game, but it’s not simply an upgraded version of one either. It functions as a prequel to the very first Octopath game, but adapts the stories of the mobile game, Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, into a single-player format. These stories have been entirely retooled, and any worries I had about translating them from the mobile game have evaporated. This is a fully-featured Octopath entry.
