Each self-contained story is charming and works well in isolation, but it’s a little disappointing that the characters only overlap superficially, joining your party when you encounter them in one of the many villages and cities. There is no absolute evil against which our travelers must band together to battle, no ultimate weapon or looming, world-ending calamity.
“If there’s one thing missing from Octopath Traveler it’s a unifying thread tying all the stories together. (You can switch the voice acting to the original Japanese, if that’s your thing.) Progression through one has no bearing on the other seven, and switching between them isn’t a requirement, but I still partially played through each character’s story while concentrating on the satisfying ending to Therion’s tale. The eight different tales told in Octopath Traveler aren’t particularly original, but they do manage a few dramatic surprises and are both well-written and voice acted. During fights, spells paint the battlefield in light and throw realistic shadows on everything, adding another layer of beauty to an already gorgeous world. Beams of warm sunlight shine through windows and interiors are lit by torch or a warm candlelight.
Lighting effects make the world even more dreamlike. Individual grains of sand sparkle under the sun, and the snowy landscapes glimmer with life as light dances across individual snowflakes. Perhaps the most gorgeous places are the deserts, beaches, and snow-capped mountain areas. Everything in the world feels alive with subtle movement: pixelated trees rustle in the breeze blades of 16-bit grass sway under a changing sky shadows from passing clouds blot out parts of the landscape as they float, out of sight, in the skies above.
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