With Octopath Traveler 2 having been released in 2023, I did not expect to see a new entry in the series that made HD-2D popular anytime soon. Back in July, however, Square Enix surprised fans of the series worldwide with the announcement of Octopath Traveler 0, a new game which isn’t a proper sequel to its predecessors, but a sort of new and improved take on the story elements and gameplay ideas seen in the mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent as well as some brand new gameplay mechanics, such as town building mechanics that will allow players to rebuild their hometowns and customize it with a ton of visual customization options.

During Gamescom 2025 last month, I was given the chance to try out Octopath Traveler 0 before its release later this year, getting a taste of both the town building mechanics and the gameplay loop, which doesn’t seem to stray too far from the classic JRPG loop featured in the first two entries in the series. Unfortunately, a total of around one hour wasn’t enough to appreciate the finer details of the experience, and the few minutes I spent rebuilding the town weren’t particularly impressive, as, aside from placing some buildings here and there, I couldn’t experience how much choices would impact the development of the town and its inhabitants, although things seemed promising enough.

The second half of the Octopath Traveler 0 Gamescom 2025 demo, on the other hand, felt way more familiar and engaging. Set during one of the early story chapters, I was able to explore a beautiful and lively HD-2D town, interact with NPCs using the series’ trademark Path Actions, which can have widely different outcomes depending on a variety of factors, and eventually proceed to a dungeon whose design is in line with the design of dungeons of the previous two entries in the series – a few alternate paths, but a generally straightforward design that easily prevents players from getting lost. As I explored the dungeon, I got into quite a few battles which felt instantly familiar, as the turn-based combat system of new entry in the series hasn’t been changed a whole lot. As such, before long, I started hitting enemy weakpoints to Break and stun them, and Boost my characters to enhance the power of their skills to get rid of them in a single turn. The biggest change to the Octopath Traveler 0 combat experience is the bigger party size, eight members instead of four positioned in a front and back row, which I expect will open up a lot of interesting strategies and that is sure to influence enemy design considerably, since it will be easy to hit an enemy weakness with so many characters on hand. Having so many characters and widely diverse skills at my disposal, however, did not make the boss battle awaiting at the end of the dungeon any easier, so even those who mastered the previous two entries in the series should find plenty to sink their teeth into.

Thrown into the middle of the adventure with little to no knowledge of skills and synergies for eight different characters, playing the Octopath Traveler 0 Gamescom 2025 demo felt overwhelming, at times, but as soon as I got a little more acquainted with them, I was hooked once again. With the game’s Job system promising to deliver the usual excellent customization features the series is known for, and plenty of unknowns regarding story, characters and the town building mechanics, which still managed to show promise in a short one hour session, I cannot wait to sit down and spend more time with what it setting out to be a more than worthy new entry in the series when it launches on December 4 on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch.