Octopath Traveler is a role-playing video game developed by Square Enix, in collaboration with Acquire. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch in July 2018, for Windows in June 2019, for Stadia in April 2020, for Xbox One in March 2021, and for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in June 2024. It received generally favorable reviews, with praise for its presentation, music, and battle system, while its story received more mixed responses. The game had sold over 3 million copies worldwide by September 2022.

A prequel, Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, launched for Android and iOS in 2020 in Japan, followed by a worldwide release in 2022. A sequel, Octopath Traveler II, was released in 2023. Octopath Traveler is set in the land of Orsterra, which was created by thirteen deities. One of them, the fallen god Galdera, was sealed away within the afterworld by the other deities after he refused to relinquish what they created. The Order of the Sacred Flame, the continent’s dominant church, formed to worship the leader of the non-fallen gods, which continue to preside over Orsterra.

The player follows the stories of eight heroes as they journey through Orsterra. After progressing through all the characters’ various stories, the heroes’ quests become intermingled as Ophilia’s enemy Mattias, Cyrus’ enemy Lucia, the Obsidians, and Olberic’s enemy Werner are all revealed to have been under the employ of the immortal witch Lyblac. Revealed to be Galdera’s daughter, Lyblac orchestrated the acquisition of From the Far Reaches of Hell and the dragonstones to unseal the Gate of Finis in order to access the afterworld; she also orchestrated the fall of Hornburg, as it stands atop the Gate.

Using the Obsidians as her personal army to eliminate threats like Primrose’s father, Lyblac also attempted to use Graham Crossford, the man who wrote Tressa’s journal and saved Alfyn as a boy, as a vessel for Galdera to gain corporeal form due to his bloodline’s ties to the god. Graham escaped from her clutches, but was mutated into H’aanit’s enemy Redeye. This forced Lyblac to seek out Graham’s only living son Kit to complete the ritual. Octopath Traveler features a graphical aesthetic known as “HD-2D”, defined by the developers as combining retro Super NES-style character sprites and textures with polygonal environments and high-definition effects.

Players start the game by choosing a protagonist from one of eight adventurers, each of whom begins their journey in different parts of the world. Once a protagonist character is chosen, they cannot be removed from the active party until their story arc, which consists of four chapters, is concluded. Characters not chosen as the protagonist may be recruited at their starting locations. Each character is paired with a distinct character class (“job”). It cannot be altered through gameplay. However, players can unlock the ability to assign a different character’s class as a “subjob,” which can be changed at any time but can only be assigned to one character at a time.

Each player character has a unique “Path Action” command that can be used when interacting with NPCs: The Warrior Olberic and the Hunter H’aanit can challenge characters; the Apothecary Alfyn and the Scholar Cyrus can inquire about certain bits of information that can be used for completion of quests or in the form of hidden items; the Merchant Tressa and the Thief Therion can acquire items directly from NPCs, one via commerce and the other via pickpocketing; and the Cleric Ophilia and the Dancer Primrose can guide NPCs and use them as guest summons.

In all cases, the first action is a “Noble” Path Action: the ability’s effectiveness dependent by the character’s level or amount of in-game currency. The others are “Rogue” actions, which can be used on anyone but carries a risk of its user losing credibility with other NPCs. When the player loses enough reputation in a given town, they can no longer use any Path Actions in that town until a fee has been paid to restore the party’s reputation. The game features a turn-based battle system. All characters can attack with weapons, use abilities, use consumable items, and flee. The battle system is oriented around two features, “Break and Boost”.