Anniversaries are a big part of the gaming community. After all, they help us remember what “came before” and help us look back to see how much of an impact it had on the industry as a whole. An excellent example is happening right now, as the 5th anniversary of Octopath Traveler has come, and Square Enix is celebrating in many ways. But for those of you who haven’t played the title, you might wonder why this game is getting such love. The reason is that this game set a trend and tone that Square Enix has been following up for the last five years.
The game was initially announced to a lukewarm response. The reason being it was an “old-school RPG” that had a new type of visual style called 2.5-HD, and its core premise was that you could pick one of eight heroes, each of whom had their own adventures to partake in. You would bounce between each story at your leisure and flesh out the world and the party as you did so. It was a rather strange concept that had only been done in part a few times before.
It also didn’t help that the game was called Octopath Traveler, but that’s another story entirely.
Despite the strangeness, once Square Enix dropped a demo for the game on the Nintendo Switch, players realized the title’s potential and depth. This wasn’t your standard RPG story. It was one filled with depth, variety, nuance, and more. You had tales of revenge, discovery, hope, seeking one’s true future, and more.
That was on top of a very tight battle system that required strategy to overcome tough odds, great voice acting, and a visual style that made the world pop in a way never done before. Following up on that last note, the game was so successful on Nintendo Switch and later PC that Square Enix took that visual style and applied it to several other games, including an official sequel in February.
So given their love for the original game, it’s unsurprising that they had some custom art made for the anniversary. You can check it out below:
Seeing the cast again after so many years will be a treat for fans, and the team behind the game was interviewed recently to talk about the sequel and the games that inspired them over the years.
So if you haven’t tried either title, you should give them a shot. You won’t be disappointed.
