18 Jun An Eight-Headed Storyteller: Your Look at the Octopath Traveler Map

With eight storylines to play with eight different characters, Octopath Traveler from Square Enix is proving to be a fun and innovative new experience for many gamers across several platforms.

Beautiful style, beautiful world

Octopath Traveler is a beautiful homage to classic Super Nintendo games. The character sprites might be 2D, but you move them through a brilliantly designed world in 3D, tilt-shifted for an extra cinematic feel, a cool added touch.

The lighting effects are a sight to behold, and the entire experience of travelling the map is like moving through an artistic wonderland.

This JRPG hits the nail on the head with its aesthetic for sure.  It’s a fresh take on something that feels familiar, but is new content at the same time. It’s a rare thing to get.

Do you have to play Octopath Traveler 8 times?

Now see here, you don’t have to play anything. Play it and see if you enjoy it. Once you finish one character’s storyline, try another. If you like it, keep going.

One criticism is that the eight characters and their storylines are not even very connected, which is, in this author’s opinion, a huge missed opportunity.

You can play for as long or as little as you like. Once you’ve played 50 hours and have perhaps finished one character, there will still be areas of the map that are way too hard for you to tackle at your level. The game is meant for you to keep playing.

Why are they not interconnected though?

When I learned about this game I was intrigued. However, when I learned that the 8 storylines are not intertwined, interconnected, interwoven… I was aghast.

Maybe it’s because, while I’m into games, I’m a writer and not a game designer, but wouldn’t it have just been the icing on the cake if somehow all eight characters were somehow part of something larger? Each a piece of one another’s puzzles?

If your instinct is to weave things together, Octopath Traveler seems to fly in the face of your sensibilities.

How many hours does it take to complete Octopath Traveler?

You can finish the main story in around 50 hours, a little longer if you take your time. If you do the main story plus the extras, you’re looking at closer to 80.

If, however, you are a Hardcore Gamer and play the story to completion, taking you to every place on the map, you’re looking at anywhere between 100 and 200 hours, depending on your playstyle. Get the best bang for your buck by playing how you enjoy playing.

Playing Octopath Traveler to completion can feel a little repetitive to some players, but fulfilling to others. The different world map regions go a long way to mix it up for each character, as each of the storylines will take you to new locations.

The beautiful art style of each area is really cool; you can clearly see the game designers put a ton of work into the look, which is enchanting.

Also factoring in to play time is your approach to side quests… are you the kind of gamer who burns through the main storyline A to Z, or do you prefer to explore and see what else there is, finding yourself racing Chocobos or playing poker in a saloon?

How many side quests are there in Octopath Traveler?

Side stories become available by using certain action paths, or by defeating enemies along the way.

Just how many are there really though… They are broken up into series, with 8 side stories per series (one in each region of the world map) that take place in a three-part arc. Each series starts at the region’s Chapter 1 towns, continues in the intermediate ones, and finishes at the Chapter 4 ones.

There are 101 side stories total.

Whatever region you choose to start in, your first side story will always be Kit, The Traveller.

The Octopath Traveler Map

Orsterra, the world in which Octopath Traveler takes place, has 8 regions. The “lands” (just tack “lands” onto the end of these words to get the region names) are High, Sun, River, Coast, Cliff, Flat, Wood, and Frost.

Each region has a major town and two minor towns, and each of those three towns has its own dungeon.

Each land has its own look and feel, and truly the art is one of the defining qualities of this game.

See also:

This interactive Octopath Traveler world map is extremely well done and easy to explore. Mouse-over any icon and it will tell you the title, danger level, special loot, and more. It’s the best.

Use the custom layers on this map to filter locations by danger, by character, or by location type (caves, cities, forests etc).  Click here to explore the interactive map.

For a high res static version of the full map (unlabeled) pulled directly from the game itself, click here.

For a list of side stories, check out this page on the Octopath Traveler fan wiki.

If you’re into RPGs, definitely have a look at Octopath Traveler on Steam,   here.

Stavros