Launching on Dec. 4 for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC, Octopath Traveler 0 adapts the story and combat of the mobile gacha game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent into a premium console RPG. Focused on the continent of Orsterra, where the first Octopath Traveler game took place, Octopath Traveler 0 plays like it was developed under the presumption that “more means better” and that the quality of its parts would make a great final experience. Far from hitting the spot, Octopath Traveler 0 ends up being a meaty RPG, but not necessarily a great Octopath Traveler game.

The story in Octopath Traveler 0 is structured around small narrative arcs that unfold into more intricate ones. You start pursuing one of three “Masters of” routes. They take you to different regions of the continent to see the different problems affecting the citizens of Orsterra. From social, political, to divine issues, there is a beautiful complexity in Orterra’s society.

After completing the three chapters of the initial arcs, a new storyline called “Master of All” (also divided into multiple chapters) begins. Just when you think it’s all heading to the climax, no, you’re wrong — there’s more to the story. Each arc is self-contained, but they’re connected by a macro plot involving magical rings. Even with a common narrative thread sewing them together, the sequencing of it all is offbeat. The overall experience plays like a musical piece conducted by someone who has no idea when the concert is actually ending, and it’s time for the orchestra to put down their instruments.

Octopath Traveler 0 comes with another significant change to the storytelling design that made the series known for. It abandons the traditional “eight-character” narrative structure to centralize the adventure around the mythologically cliché figure of the Chosen One. While following eight different routes didn’t necessarily turn the first two games into better RPGs, the “octopaths” gave them personality. This time, instead of playing the role of a common protagonist of epic stories, Octopath Traveler 0 puts us in the shoes of a unique individual who’s only an observer. Your character, which you customize, does have a background story, but it is leagues away from what the rest of the series offers in terms of quality and depth.

Although it has problems, Octopath Traveler 0 can still tell good stories. Individually, each arc presents memorable characters, like the head of a small mafia family, Bargello. They are RPG heroes, but as grounded as they can be, there’s no room for idealized heroism in their stories. They choose to make the world better, because, to some extent, they have been hurt by it. The villains are the real stars in most arcs. They are introduced as flat, evil characters, but as the narratives develop, we learn the depth. Like other citizens of Orsterra, the three initial villains were regular people, but they eventually changed due to the cruelty of the world they lived in.

While short, the companion missions introduce new, as well as fan-favorite, characters with stories that highlight their personalities and traits. Alfyn, the apothecary, has you helping him to prepare a potion for his mom, while Celsus, a sexy priest bodyguard, is introduced by throwing knives at those disturbing the tavern he’s been working on. They have strong identities, making every interaction a treat, whether they are discussing private topics or just fooling around. As we recruit more companions and complete the arcs, the story of Orsterra is told by those who matter: the people who live in it.

Octopath Traveler 0 loses the sparkle that made the series special by adopting a single protagonist, a decision that might have worked for Champions of the Continent, but turn Octopath Traveler 0 into an ordinary RPG by comparison.

The game still wears the series’ foundations on its sleeves. Tension can be found in combat, although a modification has been inherited from the mobile game there too. The turn-based battle system is, along with the narrative structure and visuals, a signature feature of the Octopath Traveler series. The goal stays the same in Octopath Traveler 0: Discovering and exploiting an enemy’s weaknesses to break their defenses, preventing them from acting. Doing so right when a boss is about to unleash their ultimate attack is fulfilling, and it is capable of making every turn feel tense.

To sprinkle a layer of novelty over the experience, Octopath Traveler 0 increases the number of party members you can bring into a battle up from four to eight, allowing you to put together a small battalion to fight whatever comes your way. The possible party compositions are endless, and there’s a bit of safety that comes with having four extra characters. Individually, characters’ skillsets were designed to represent their identities and unique fighting styles and allow for a wide range of strategies. There are characters focused on elemental damage, buffing the party, reducing the enemies’ stats, and so on.

The addition of four characters is hardly justifiable in the game’s design. There are no “all-out attacks” or any kind of special abilities that would invite us to consider which characters to use in the party. Fights haven’t become more complex or presented new mechanics that would require additional characters to be resolved, either. While it’s a nice touch to allow players to have individuals representing the different regions in Orsterra, Octopath Traveler 0’s eight-character party existence boils down to the game’s gacha DNA rather than to the actual battle design in this version of the game.

While the narrative and combat are adapted from Champions of the Continent, Octopath Traveler 0 brings a completely new feature too: a town management system, which is a highlight. Tied to a particular questline, this system leads you through the mission of rebuilding your character’s hometown, Wishvale. For that, you need not only to find new citizens to populate the place, but also to help those who have left to find their way back home. The rebuilding of Wishvale is a tale about people’s capacity to find force in community, to persevere after hardships. As it lays the ground for the new town to bloom, the story doesn’t shy away from the past. Most quests force the character to face the reality and the pain of losing their loved ones.

When it comes to actually building the city, there is a good variety of cosmetic options to choose from and decorate the town, although the system and its building mechanics are limited. You must build houses for citizens to live in and activate their skills. There are crops to take care of, a small farm to fill with new animals, and a store to supply with products from all the places you visit during the game. You can’t, however, remodel the space by changing the terrain, creating ramps, a lake, or any structural modification at this level. Rotating buildings is not a possibility, and the farming elements are too simple compared to other RPG-farming series like Rune Factory. Even so, watching my Wishvale grow, placing tables and characters around it, and imagining the kind of conversations they would have had led me to spend more time making the place feel cozy than I expected I would.

When taking its narrative, combat, and town management separately, Octopath Traveler 0 can make for a perfectly enjoyable RPG experience. But when you consider how all of those elements come together to form a whole, the cracks become more explicit. Below the dysfunctional amalgamation of a questionably transposed narrative structure, an unjustifiably large group of characters, and an underused town-management system, there’s still RPG gold to be mined.