When my quaint little village finally reached Level 8 after more than 70 hours, and the music turned into a swelling championing theme — I was surprisingly emotional. I hadn’t realized how attached I’d grown to my version of Wishvale, and the more I played, the more that attachment grew.
In some ways, Octopath Traveler 0 is a befuddling game. It’s a wild experiment to transform a mobile gacha game into a single-player RPG, and at times, you can see the bones of that mobile experience shine through, and not in a good way. But taken as a whole, Octopath 0 is the most compelling game of the series — masterful storytelling and a wonderful little town-building system that integrates into every facet of the game. There were multiple times I’d find myself hooked on Octopath 0, playing for eight hours straight, but unable to exactly put my finger on why I was enjoying it so much. Uneven but ambitious, far too long but packed with systemic depth, Octopath 0 is a game that consistently punches above its weight — and it’s, by far, my favorite Octopath game yet despite all that.
