Technologies

Octopath Traveler 0 Review: A Solid JRPG Dragged Down by Forgettable Characters

The Octopath Traveler prequel is so close to being a fantastic RPG.

When Octopath Traveler launched in 2019, it was something that looked similar to yet ended up being totally different from the traditional turn-based Japanese role-playing game Square Enix was known for. The series made some innovative changes to the formula, from the roster of eight playable characters to the Boost system. But with Octopath Traveler 0, it feels like the prequel didn’t move forward, and if anything, took a tiny step backwards.

Octopath Traveler 0 acts as a prequel to the series’ first two entries, and instead of playing as one of eight unique characters with their own storylines, you step into the role of a silent protagonist who is seeking revenge. If that sounds boring, well, it kind of is.

If there’s a saving grace to the game, it’s its class and combat systems, which offer a good mix of standard RPG fare with enough novelty — including some deliciously evil villains — to keep you playing.

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Players can pick one of eight jobs for the protagonist: warrior, hunter, merchant, apothecary, cleric, scholar, dancer or thief. As expected, each class has its own unique traits, and classes like the warrior, cleric, hunter, scholar (black mage) and thief have the standard fare that RPG fans should expect. It’s the other classes that are unique to the game. I started off as a merchant who could use weapons with powerful attacks, along with skills that earned a little more money from battles. Then there’s the apothecary, a unique class that heals and cures the ailments of their teammates while also being able to do heavy damage with an axe.

As you progress and unlock more job skills and level up, there will be an option to obtain another job. This means the hero can take skills from one job — such as spells and physical attacks — and use them with a class that wouldn’t normally have them. This can result in a warrior, for example, being able to use the powerful spells of the scholar class to create a unique battle mage. With eight jobs to choose from, there are plenty of options available to create different combinations to use in battle.

But for all the new ground that the class system covers, the plot is pretty generic territory.

Boring Traveler

The real selling point of the Octopath Traveler series is, well, the travelers. The first two games featured eight playable characters, each with their own background story to learn. That was the selling point of the game that made it stand out from the sea of traditional JRPGs.

This time around, Square Enix decided to do something a little different and a little dull, making the hero a silent protagonist. Not only is the hero quiet throughout every conversation in the game, but get this, they’re on a revenge mission, as if that’s never been done before in a JRPG (snark intended).

Yes, the hero is a silent protagonist whose village was wiped out by this evil duo in search of a magical trinket. The hero survives and is trained in secret until it’s time to exact revenge on the three people who doomed his home: Tytos and Auguste, who were responsible for the attack on the village, and Lady Hermina, a wealthy heiress who gave the two the info on the location of the trinket.

This lackluster origin story of the hero and their motivations really dampens any interest I had in playing as the character. The same goes for the allies that join the hero throughout the game. They have their stories, some a little sad, but for much of the game, they’re just a member of the team.

Thankfully, the real heroes of the game’s story are the bad guys. Following the drawn-out intro sequence, once the hero sets out on their revenge quest, players can choose to go after any one of the three previously mentioned villains. Each has its own story arc, and they’re just deliciously dark. The characters are truly evil, with the most interesting background and developments, giving an almost Game of Thrones vibe. My favorite was Auguste the Playwright, referred to as the Master of Fame. When completing his story arc, there is just a series of these seemingly regular people who show their utter devotion to him by sacrificing their own family members and themselves to Auguste’s delight.

There is something refreshing in seeing true villains. There is no moral quandary or philosophical debate on whether the people you’re fighting against are horrible people or if they are simply misguided with good intentions. No, these people are horrible and need to be stopped. It’s just a shame it’s the boring, silent protagonist that has to do the heavy lifting to defeat them.

Octo-Mazing

Where Octopath Traveler 0 really excels is the combat. It’s turn-based, but to liven things up, the series has the “Break and Boost” system.

Every enemy has a shield number that depletes when attacked, and once it reaches zero, that enemy is “broken” and unable to attack for multiple rounds. To help speed up this process, characters have Boost Points that increase with each round of a fight. When a character has three BPs, they can use powerful attacks or simply do multiple attacks at once. As every enemy has multiple weaknesses to certain weapons and spells, this system adds an extra layer of strategy to determine whether you bide your time to beat them down or rush them down. Occasionally, you’ll end up in a situation where a tough enemy gets broken and you notice that all of your characters are loaded up with BP, which leads to a satisfying beatdown on the bad guy, raining down powerful attack after powerful attack.

And yet, the depth of strategy doesn’t end there. New in Octopath Traveler 0 is a whole second row of characters on the team. These backup fighters can be tagged in throughout combat to provide a bit of a mix-up in strategy. You can keep your physical warriors up front while having the mages hang out in back and switch when needed. Or rotate in the same character type when needed, so when a healer gets low on health, they can swap out with another healer. Couple this dynamic of switching out characters on the fly with the “Break and Boost” system, and you have a very active turn-based combat.

Obtaining these extra characters on the team comes with rebuilding the hero’s village, Wishvale. The burned down town starts off with one home, but as you progress, you’re given more options to expand. Other towns have people looking for new places to live or adventures to partake in, and those choices can be explored via Path Actions, a recurring feature from earlier games in the series.

When talking to particular NPCs, there is an option to learn a bit more about them by inquiring using a Path Action, which is just a matter of pressing a certain button (the X button for the Xbox version, Square for PlayStation and Y for Nintendo Switch). Doing this will then give you some background on the character and some options. Some NPCs will gladly join your team to fight with you for a price, while others will have items to give you by selecting the Entreat option and a success rate will be shown for each item they possess, with the lower success rate set for the more valuable items. There’s also the Contend option to battle the NPC, which isn’t wise to do early on, as it seems all the townsfolk have been battling dragons for generations, so fight them early on at your peril. Fail to obtain an item from an NPC or lose to them in a fight, and your reputation takes a hit. Take too many hits to your reputation while in a town, and none of the NPCs will offer these Path Actions anymore until you visit the tavern and pay a fine to restore it.

The presentation of Octopath Traveler 0 is not much different than the previous games. The graphics are the HD-2D art style Square Enix has been using for this series and the Dragon Quest remakes, a retro mix of 2D sprites amid 3D backgrounds that evokes nostalgia for the games of yesteryear with some modern polish. Octopath Traveler 0’s soundtrack and voice acting are also on par with the higher quality the series has been known for.

Like other games in the series, Octopath Traveler 0 can easily take players 100 hours to complete, especially if they delve deep into the town-building aspect. While I wish there were more interesting heroes to embody, once players get past the generic plot premise and delve into the meaty combat, there is no question that this game is a worthy entry into the franchise and a pick for those looking for a new JRPG to spend all their time with.

Octopath Traveler 0 is now available on Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Technologies

Trump warns ‘we’re going to hit them hard’ after Iran targets U.S. forces in Jordan: Report

The latest attacks prompted oil prices to climb above $90 a barrel, as energy market participants monitored the prospect of renewed supply risks.

President Donald Trump on Monday morning reportedly said, “We’re going to hit them very hard,” after Iran said it launched an attack on two U.S. bases in Jordan in response to an American strike on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

“There will be a response,” Trump said on a call to Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst, according to Yingst.

The president also reportedly told Fox that U.S. air defense systems intercepted all but one of the missiles launched at the bases by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and that the remaining missile was allowed to pass through after it was determined that it would not strike anything significant.

The Guard said the U.S. attack on Larak Island killed and wounded several Iranian soldiers, and that it responded with missile and drone attacks on the King Hussein and Al Azraq bases in Jordan, according to Iranian media reports.

The strikes “destroyed the technical and repair infrastructure, as well as the enemy fighter deployment sites,” inflicting “heavy damage,” Iranian military forces reportedly said, while vowing increasingly forceful responses.

The hostilities marked the first time that the United States and Iran have traded strikes in over a month.

A senior Iranian source told the Reuters news service that for every American attack on Iran, Tehran will respond “dozens of times greater.”

“No target in the region is beyond Tehran’s reach,” the source told Reuters.

The source also said that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz will worsen for vessels that violate Tehran’s rules for passage through the strategically critical waterway.

American forces hit two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island on Sunday after the U.S. military said Tehran’s Guard was preparing rockets carrying sea mines for launch into the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command confirmed to MS NOW.

“Earlier today U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz,” Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said in a statement to MS NOW.

“Last week, CENTCOM completed clearing sea mines from the strait’s international shipping routes. U.S. forces are monitoring the area closely and remain prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through this essential waterway,” he said.

Larak, a small Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, has become a key military and shipping control point for Tehran, used by the Guard to monitor vessel traffic through one of the world’s most important maritime routes.

Sunday’s attack was the first publicly acknowledged U.S. strike on Iranian positions since late July.

The back-and-forth strikes come as the U.S. Defense Department on Monday announced that it had reached seven-year procurement contracts with General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin to increase production quantities and speed up delivery schedules for “critical subcomponents” for systems used to intercept ballistic missiles.

The systems are Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement.

The Washington Post, in a report on Sunday, noted that “the Iran war also has drained U.S. supplies of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors — vital not only to the protection of American assets in the Middle East but to regional allies as well — and long-range Tomahawk missiles.”

“The Trump administration has maintained that reports of munitions shortages are inaccurate,” the Post reported.

The war has dragged on for six months and sharply disrupted vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments.

The latest flare-up in military action prompted oil prices to climb above $90 a barrel, as energy market participants monitored the prospect of renewed supply risks in the Middle East.

International benchmark Brent crude

Trump on Monday extended his military threats against Iran to Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export terminal.

Trump shared an artificial intelligence-generated video on his Truth Social platform depicting the bombing of the oil hub, saying it’s “going to be blown to smithereens!”

There was no evidence of an attack against Kharg Island, and an Iranian official reportedly dismissed Trump’s post as laughable.

On Monday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said a supertanker had caught fire and was left disabled in the southern Strait of Hormuz after striking two naval mines, saying they were not complying with Iran’s rules for passage, according to Iranian media reports. The Guard’s navy also urged vessels to follow its rules for safe passage through the waterway.

Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that the U.S. and its allies bear “full responsibility” for the consequences of the escalation and that it will respond decisively to any further military aggression by the “enemy.”

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said Monday that the country was working to achieve a diplomatic agreement to bring an end to the conflict, adding the continuation of war “serves neither our interests nor those of the region or humanity.”

Speaking alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kyrgyzstan, Pezeshkian said Monday that the U.S. side “has not fulfilled its commitments,” state media reported.

The U.S. Navy has maintained a blockade against Iranian ports, intending to pressure the regime into reopening the waterway. Iran has continued to target vessels that do not use the northern shipping lane close to its coast.

Another tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting inbound in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, using the southern lane along the Omani coast, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre. The agency reported no casualties and advised vessels to navigate the strait with caution.

Technologies

Brent crude exceeds $90 following U.S.-Iran hostilities flare-up

Oil prices jumped after U.S. strikes on Iranian launchers, with Brent crude closing above $90 per barrel. The escalation has heightened tensions, disrupting energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices surged Monday after U.S. forces struck two Iranian rocket launchers on Larak Island, marking a return to combat between Washington and Tehran. Brent crude futures for September delivery gained 2.7% to close at $90.49 a barrel, while front-month U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures added 2.8% to settle at $85.76 per barrel. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, confirmed in a statement that U.S. forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. According to the Associated Press, Sunday’s attack was the first publicly acknowledged U.S. strike on Iranian positions since late July. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps reported that the U.S. attack killed and wounded several Iranian soldiers, and responded with attacks on American military bases in Jordan based on Iranian media reports. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump extended his military threats against Iran to Kharg Island, the country’s main oil export terminal, posting on Truth Social that it’s “going to be blown to smithereens!” Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments, has been severely disrupted by the Middle East conflict, which has entered its sixth month. “Supply risk will persist and oil inventories will continue to deplete in the coming weeks and months,” said Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM Oil Associates, adding that “the Iranian crisis has likely changed the security status quo in the Middle East.” “Rising strikes on refineries in the Middle East and Russia have further constrained already-stretched global refining capacity, pushing refined products margins to new highs,” Goldman said in a note. —Verum’s Anniek Bao contributed to the report.

Technologies

Trump warns ‘we’re going to hit them hard’ after Iran targets U.S. forces in Jordan: Report

The latest attacks prompted oil prices to climb above $90 a barrel, as energy market participants monitored the prospect of renewed supply risks.