Octopath Traveler 0 is set to release on December 4, 2025, for various platforms including PC, PS4, and Switch.
The game introduces a character creator mode, allowing players to customize their hero’s appearance, name, and voice.
Octopath Traveler 0 retains the classic turn-based combat style with the addition of a party of eight characters per battle.
It makes sense for Square Enix to announce Octopath Traveler 0 now, because the first game is tied to the original Switch’s announcement. It wasn’t a launch game, but it was close, as it was released a year later in 2018. It was the first game to get the HD-2D look and retained the classic turn-based combat style of older Final Fantasy games.
With several games getting successful HD-2D remakes, it opens the door for the following open-world titles to receive their own upgrade.
Since then, it has received one console sequel and a mobile game. Fans of the series won’t have to wait long as Octopath Traveler 0 is set to release on December 4, 2025, for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S. Here’s everything else players should know.
You Can Create Your Hero
Become a Pixel Artist
Square Enix has had character creator modes in their RPGs before, like in Final Fantasy 14, most prominently. However, this will be a first for the Octopath Traveler series. Players can choose the appearance of their hero using the pixel art editor, which is unique as not a lot of pixel-based games have character creator modes.
Players can also name their hero and choose their voice, which is something not typically done in a lot of JRPGs. Unlike the other games in the series that let players choose their starting hero from eight, players must begin with this custom character. As of now, it’s not known whether this character will always have to be in the party or not.
Recruit Your Party
It’s More Than Eight This Time
As the name suggests, Octopath Traveler games typically feature eight characters to play with, which is more than a lot of classic turn-based games. Players can start with any of the eight and then recruit the other seven. As previously mentioned, the hero character in Octopath Traveler 0 is who players will begin with, and Square Enix has promised there will be over thirty more characters to recruit past the hero.
The lore, difficulty spikes, and over-complicated controls make these JRPGs hard to recommend to beginners to the genre.
In the trailer, there were three characters shown who could be the first three linear selections. There’s Stia the Architect, Phenn the Hunter, and Laurana the Cleric. Every character that players find will have a Path Action (not shown off in the trailer). However, past examples include the ability to bribe or steal from NPCs, so players can probably expect to see some returning Path Actions since there will be over thirty characters.
Returning to Turn-Based Gameplay
A Classic Battle System
The two main console games in the series followed a turn-based path that was a bit of a cross between the Persona and Bravely Default games. In battle, players could bank up points to then act multiple times in a row in an act called Boost. The games are very challenging for modern turn-based RPGs, so players had to Break enemies, which would stun them and leave them vulnerable.
Octopath Traveler 0 still uses turn-based combat with Boosts and Breaks, but there is an additional twist. Players can create a party of eight to bring into battle. On each turn, they can only act with the four characters in the front or back rows, so players are a bit limited there. This is a good strategy on Square Enix’s part, as commanding eight characters per turn might feel a bit overwhelming and drawn out.
Build Homes
How Deep Will Progression Get?
The game takes place in the world of Orsterra with the custom-created hero hailing from the town of Wishvale. After witnessing it get destroyed, players can then use resources throughout their journey to rebuild Wishvale. The trailer shows players being able to build buildings and place them on a grid-based system.
It’s not known exactly how these will factor into gameplay, like whether the more houses players have, the stronger they will become. This is not the only Switch 2 RPG wherein players have to rebuild a destroyed city. It’s a big part of Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster’s gameplay loop, which is where Square Enix might have retained the idea for Octopath Traveler 0.
By Land and by Sea
A Classic World Map
How open Octopath Traveler 0 is going to be is uncertain. In the trailer, the hero is traveling between many places like towns, deserts, and wintery plains. At max, it looks like three characters can travel behind the hero on land, even though eight characters can join battles.
These Square Enix games may start out slowly, but the more time you invest, the better they become, with some turning into absolute classics.
One of the coolest details shown in the trailer for a brief second is a ship. How far into the game players will have to wait to drive a ship is unknown, as is whether or not there will be more vehicles for world traversal. The ability to sail in Octopath Traveler 0 is still pretty interesting.
It’s Based on a Mobile Game
Not the First Mobile Remodel
Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent was released on mobile devices in Japan in 2020 and not in the West until 2022. It had typical free-to-play microtransaction elements, but it played like the console games. There were recruitable characters and turn-based battles.
Octopath Traveler 0 is actually based on Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent from a story perspective, although it’s a reworking of the core narrative. New voices and dialogue options will be added to the game. The eight-party battle system was originally created for the mobile game, but the base-building idea is entirely new. So, even if players did check out Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, Octopath Traveler 0 looks like a whole new experience (devoid of microtransactions, most importantly).
