Octopath Traveler is a beautiful game that somehow never gets tired. It has a labyrinthine plot that bravely attempts to give eight characters the same scope and development as eight sole protagonists would get in lesser games. It’s also a game that bravely makes the story all about those characters, with the world, harsh as it can be, almost secondary to the insular unit and their individual arcs. That sheer ambition is all the more impressive because Octopath Traveller uses sprites. Little 2D characters made up of even littler squares. People need to play this game if only to realise that not everything spectacular needs to be photo-real.

Octopath Traveler is an extremely satisfying storytelling experience vastly different from other traditional JRPGs out there. The eight stories followed over the course of the game are all compelling in different ways, and each is engrossing in different ways. The combat is simple, yet nuanced, and building party compositions never stops being a fun exercise as the adventure presents each new challenge. The pacing does have some small missteps here and there, especially as the world opens up between each major act, but it's a tiny hurdle in an otherwise magnificent experience.

While not the perfect JRPG, Octopath Traveler has too many merits and good qualities that it's impossible for me to not recommend it.

Octopath Traveler manages to remain faithful to the glorious past of the JRPG genre without feeling outdated.

Octopath Traveler is a grower, and one which takes a good while to reach full swing. The reward for the perseverance is a beautiful world and enough story to shake a stick at, but not a wonderfully satisfying conclusion.

Octopath Traveler is not a perfect title, the fragmented narrative and certain predictable mechanisms in the progression system could make many people turn up their noses. Nevertheless it remains a unique RPG, able to combine the nostalgic charm of the classics with a modern and captivating writing.

For a game whose title seems to promise a winding journey of deep and dangerous discoveries, Octopath Traveler goes out of its way to put you on the most predictable and comforting of paths.