The much awaited for the full demo for Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler is, at this very moment, waiting for you in the e-shop to download and give it a whirl. Go download right now! It’s ok, I’ll wait.

Unlike in the previous demo where you were only given the option of playing as 2 characters, this demo gives you access to all 8 heroes. You are restricted to the starting area and are limited to only 3 hours of max gameplay for any given character, but the good news is that any save data you retail can be transferred to the main game when it releases.

I sat down with the demo for a couple hours this morning just playing around with things, and honestly, I can say that you are lucky I had the willpower to put it down long enough to come to write this.

After booting the demo up I took a quick look at the characters, but that was just a formality. I knew going into the game that Ophilia the Cleric was going to be my first character. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a healer.

The first 20 minutes of her story is all backstory. You learn, through exposition and flashback, that Ophilia was orphaned 15 years ago. The Arch-bishop Josef of the Church of the Sacred Flame took her in and raised her as his own alongside his trueborn daughter, Lianna. You also learn that every 20 years a pilgrimage must occur to take part of the original flame from this church to all the satellite churches in the land. The Kindling, as it is called, is dangerous but Lianna has been groomed her entire life to complete it.

At this point, you are allowed to walk around, and the game teaches you about Ophilia’s skill, “Guide”. With guide, you can have an NPC follow you. The game teaches you about it by having you escort a young boy back to his mother. Guide also has a combat application. During battle, you can summon the NPC that is following you and have them fight for you. Pretty nifty, but I’ll get more into combat later.

After exploring the town for a little bit you learn that your adopted father, Josef, has fallen ill. Lianna is beside herself with worry. She would like to stay with her father, but she has to leave for the Kindling the next day. Not wanting to let Lianna make this difficult choice, Ophilia undertakes the journey herself.

From here you are given free reign to set out on your journey to explore the world. The game tells you that there are seven other heroes out in the world and tells you to seek them out.

Graphics wise, the entire game is presented in this 2d-yet-3d world. The sprites are beautifully rendered and the sounds effects and music are just out of this world. I have no complaints on that score. (Music puns!)

Battle was by far my favorite part. It has been far too long since I’ve played a good menu-based RPG. Octopath delivers! Battles are random, in the same vein as older Final Fantasy games. You are walking and there will be a quick transition, then you are in the battle screen. Combat feels very similar to Bravely Default, another game by Square Enix for the 3DS. On your turn, you may select any of a number of actions. Ranging from attacking with Ophilia’s staff to casting clerical spells, using items, or summoning your guide to battle for a few turns. The attacks themselves will do little damage at first because every enemy has a shield gauge that will protect it. If you deliver an attack with a weapon or element the monster is weak to it will deplete the shield gauge by 1. If the shield gauge hits 0 the enemy is stunned, will lose a turn, and is susceptible to taking more damage.

Every turn you generate a battle point (BP for short), you can store up to 5 BP in a battle, but none carry over to the next battle. During your turn, you can spend anywhere from 0 to 3 BP in order to execute additional attacks or more powerful spells. So if the monster you are fighting is weak to staves, and has a shield gauge of two you could spend a BP to gain a second attack with your staff and take away both of the monster’s shield. Or you could spend 3 BP to give one of your holy spells a huge boost in damage. (around 600 as opposed to 60)

I plan on trying the other heroes out prior to the full release of the game on July 13, 2018, but I’m fairly confident Ophilia will be my starting character. Who do you plan on using and why? Let me know in the comments below.

Please look forward to the Next part of my review for Octopath Traveler.

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