Octopath Traveler is only two and a half weeks away! The highly-anticipated RPG hits Nintendo Switch on July 13, just a week before my birthday, if you'd like to know. It's one of the most unique projects -- both in concept and visually -- that we've ever seen, and Nintendo has pieced together a short and sweet commercial that you can enjoy above!

I've been previewing this game rather extensively lately, and you can too, thanks to an updated demo on the Nintendo eShop. The newer demo will let you explore the opening hours of any of the game's eight protagonists, and during that time, you will most certainly have an opportunity to meet and recruit another main character to your party. After you've played for three hours, the demo will wrap up and create a special save file that you can transfer over to the full version of the game, and all of your progress will carry over.

It's a bit confusing to understand at first, but you will only need one save file, even if you want to experience every single character's story. Whenever you meet a new protagonist in their respective area, you will have the option to play through the opening chapter of their story. Indeed, you must do this if you plan to recruit them to your party.

Once you've acquired a new character, you'll be able to swap out our party at any time, at any tavern, and play through any character's next respective chapter whenever you choose to. Of course, as long as you have a character in your party, his or her path action will be available to you at any time, so you'll want to consider whether, for example, you'll want Therion around to steal some extra coin or items as you explore various towns, or if you'll want Haanit on hand to tame powerful beasts to summon in battle.

All eight characters will have their own unique storyline that you can enjoy from beginning to end, and it is absolutely up to you when and how to engage with those characters. Perhaps now the name "Octopath Traveler" is beginning to make more sense! Eight unique characters, whose stories all intertwine in interesting, meaningful ways. It's something I haven't seen pulled off since SaGa Frontier on the original PlayStation, and I can't wait to see how Square Enix pulls it off.

We're almost there, guys! Stay tuned for all the latest on Octopath Traveler.