Let’s cut to the chase: Octopath Traveler 0 is good. The latest entry in Square Enix’s HD-2D series of retro-inspired turn-based RPGs is a delight thanks to a solid mechanical foundation (that remains largely unchanged since the first entry in 2018) and smart iterations that clean up any rough edges the story and character work had in Octopath Traveler 1 and 2. As a work of adaptation (this is something between a remake and a port), Octopath Traveler 0 reveals that a fantastic experience was always underneath the gacha mechanics of the mobile title on which it is based. The monetization just needed to be stripped away. And yet, even if Octopath Traveler 0 was “bad” it would still be one of the most important releases of 2025. That’s because, beyond adaptation, Octopath Traveler 0 is a vital piece of preservation that the industry can learn from.
In 2020, Square Enix released Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent in Japan for mobile devices. A global release would come in 2022. Prior to Octopath Traveler 2‘s release in 2023, Champions of the Continent was the only sequel to the 2018 original that fans could play, but it was locked on a less than ideal platform and was plagued by the monetization systems inherent to gacha games. Writing for Kotaku at the time of the game’s global release, Sisi Jiang called it a “worthy sequel” and went as far as to say that Octopath Traveler was “even better on mobile than it ever was on the Nintendo Switch.” Despite this the two major hurdles of being a mobile title and a gacha game were too great for many players, even those who were die hard fans of the 2018 original. So while Champions of the Continent remains playable on mobile devices, Square Enix came up with a novel solution that would become Octopath Traveler 0.
The most crucial difference between Octopath Traveler 0 and Champions of the Continent is the lack of gacha systems. That alone is enough to give the former a leg up over the latter for many people, but the removal of those systems also frees Octopath Traveler 0 from the live service prison Champions of the Continent is still trapped in. This gives it a better chance at a sustainable future.
While Champions of the Continent is still in operation, the same can’t be said for many live service games, especially mobile gacha titles. Square Enix alone has ended support for two other live service titles this year (Dragon Quest of the Stars and Final Fantasy Brave Exvius) which add to the previous shutterings of Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, Echoes of Mana, and Nier Reincarnation. When these games get their plugs pulled, they are effectively wiped from existence, with no way to play them. Even attempts at fan preservation such as Accord’s Library, a repository for information on Nier Reincarnation, have been hit with cease and desists that lead to sites following in the footsteps of the games they seek to document: getting shut down.
In this seemingly anti-preservation state of live service titles, Octopath Traveler 0 offers something different. The essential experience of Champions of the Continent is now in a position where its complete erasure seems unlikely if it’s ever shut down. Even if Octopath Traveler 0 is delisted from digital storefronts—and disregarding less-than-legal means of acquiring it digitally—its physical copies will remain.
That isn’t to say Octopath Traveler 0 is perfect. As previously mentioned, this is not a one-to-one recreation of Champions of the Continent but rather a loose remake that smoothes and sharpens aspects of the mobile title into a more palatable package. In the context of adaptation this preening makes sense. Champions of the Continent is a live service title that has been constantly updated for half a decade. And while it’s a markedly good thing to be able to play Octopath Traveler 0 without the monetization mechanics that weighed Champions of the Continent down, it comes at the less easily brushed aside loss of entire characters (among other aspects). While that is offset slightly by entirely new content, it does mean that there is much lost in translation between Octopath Traveler 0 and Champions of the Continent.
This brings me to a central conundrum, the major question raised by the strange relationship between Champions of the Continent and Octopath Traveler 0. If Champions of the Continent was to disappear off the face of the Earth today, would I rather have no access to it or have access to an imperfect but tangible recreation? I already mourn the loss of amazing mobile titles like Nier Reincarnation, a vital chapter in a beloved series that is no longer available in any form, so I already know my answer. Any attempt at preservation is a step in the right direction for the industry, even if it is still imperfect.
When the reaper inevitably comes for Champions of the Continent—and it will come—Octopath Traveler 0 will survive. It’s not exactly the same, but it’s close enough. And given the alternative would be oblivion, that is what matters.
