Octopath Traveler 0 closed out this morning’s Nintendo Direct, and long-time fans immediately clocked that, despite the new name, the prequel RPG seemed to draw heavily from the 2022 mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. It turns out that yeah, the new RPG is “inspired by” that game, but retools its story and turn-based RPG combat for a more traditional Octopath Traveler experience. But that brings up one question: Is the gacha system through which you recruited its dozens of characters still intact? Turns out, no, and that’s part of the game’s major story overhauls.
In a statement to Kotaku, a Square Enix representative confirmed Octopath Traveler 0 is reworking Champions of the Continent to let you recruit new party members throughout the story, rather than through a gacha system.
“Octopath Traveler 0 restructures the story of Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent with new interpretations, but it is a new core entry in the series without gacha or other common mobile game mechanics,” the statement reads. “The game mechanics work for players to encounter allies in various ways throughout the story and the journey.”
So it sounds like while 0 will adapt parts of Champions of the Continent’s story, it is being retooled to strip out some of the more frustrating free-to-play trappings. Square has already said the game will have “more than 30” characters to recruit, which is the most in the Octopath Traveler series. It remains to be seen just how much the original story will be tweaked to accommodate all of them, but at least you won’t have to cross your fingers and hope you unlock your favorites in a gacha pull.
Octopath Traveler 0 is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S on December 4.
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