Octopath Travelerreleased in 2018 with a strong fan response. The game was initially only available on the Nintendo Switch, owing to Square Enix’s decision to premiere public betas for its smaller throwback games.Octopath Travelermight not have spearheaded this initiative, but it was the first Square Enix game to use an HD-2D art style that involves using modern graphical technologies to render backgrounds which characters move through as pixelated sprites. This visual technique madeOctopath Travelernotable, and was replicated inOctopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent.
The presence of HD-2D visuals in the upcomingTriangle Strategyis well-known, andDragon Questfans are looking forward to theHD-2D remake ofDragon Quest 3. However, another HD-2D game is due out this year in North America.Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continentis a mobile free-to-play title released in Japan in 2020 that serves as a prequel toOctopath Traveler. The game was just announced to be coming to the West with a beta sometime this spring, soOctopathfans should prepare themselves for the new installment.
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Champions of the Continent Carries On What Made Octopath Traveler Great
Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continentis a fairly similar game to the original with some key differences. The game still plays out as a traditional JRPG, with players able to walk around the world, get into random battles, and talk to NPCs. The Path Actions from the first game make a return, enabling deeper interactions with NPCs and the world around them. On a whole,Champions of the Continentprovides asimilar experience to the originalOctopath Traveler.
The battle system is similar as well.Octopath Traveleruses standard JRPG combat with some additional wrinkles thrown in. Players will gradually accrue Boost Points that can enhance actions, and an enemy’s shield counter can be lowered using its weakness to stun them. The battle interface has been simplified to make room for touch controls inChampions of the Continent, but it is otherwise the same. Characters arelocked to one job and one weapon typeinChampions of the Continent, but there are enough characters that variety is not an issue. The largest difference from the first game is that all eight party members are present at once.
What Champions of the Continent Does Differently
The presence of all eight characters in both battles and the plot is an interesting development forOctopath Traveler,and one that remedies some issues with the original game. One of the main complaints aboutOctopath Travelerwas that the eight characters’ stories felt repetitive and closed off from each other, meanwhile party interaction felt minimal because the game did not know what combination of characters players would be using. Even thoughChampions of the Continentis a gacha game, it remedies this issue with the core party and allows players to pursue one of three routes before tackling a larger story and character-specific tales. The fame, wealth, and power story paths all have different antagonists that feed into the main narrative.
One concern Western fans have is thatOctopath Traveler: Champions of the Continentis afree-to-play live-service game, actively receiving new content, characters, and equipment in updates. Its microtransaction elements are limited to its gacha system and continuing failed battles, with no energy system restricting users from playing through all the content. Some characters can also be obtained by taking on challenges in the Arena or grinding certain dungeons, lessening the strain of character acquisition. Harder content may still need better fighters, but usually players are free to interact how they want.
Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continentis available now, but scheduled to release in 2022 for Android and iOS users outside of Japan.
