Popverse's top stories

• Why The Conjuring is Hollywood's most conservative horror movie franchise
• Simon Kinberg on writing X-Men movies, producing Glenn Powell's The Running Man remake, and co-creating Star Wars Rebels [Popversations]
• Netflix's Stranger Things season 5 culmination of the Hopper & Joyce storyline is "very big" says David Harbour

I’ve been playing JRPGs for a very long time, so it takes a lot to overwhelm me in a game. After playing through an early demo at PAX West 2025, I can honestly say that Octopath Traveler 0 pushed me to the limit of how many systems I could successfully manage. Between remaking one of the most beloved strategy RPGs from scratch, Square Enix has added layer upon layer to the turn-based combat in Octopath Traveler 0 to the point where it is almost unrecognizable from what we’ve seen before without feeling overwhelming.

The first part of the Octopath Traveler 0 demo that I played through at PAX West 2025 was focused on the town management system that has been added to the game. There is a decent amount of resource and space management here that you’d expect from a system like this. You have to rebuild your hometown following its destruction, which opens up new shops and potential allies that can join your party. I didn’t spend a huge amount of time with this new addition to the series, but it seems like it will factor into the plot of Octopath Traveler 0 going forward.

The bulk of my time with the game was spent working my way through a dungeon infested with lizardmen in the hopes that clearing them out would help my silent protagonist recruit a merchant to the aforementioned town. Fights play out as random encounters on the map in a system that will be familiar to anyone who has played any JRPGs over the years. However, once combat started, I was nearly overwhelmed with the different systems at play in Octopath Traveler 0.

The party included eight characters, four of which actively took part in battle while the other four rested in the back row. Characters have physical attacks with different weapons, ranging from swords, staves, tomes, and fans along with techniques and magic attacks that cost SP to use. Hitting enemies with a damage type that they are vulnerable to will not only deal more damage but can also break their guard, stunning them and allowing you to deal greater damage for a few turns.

On top of that, there is the Boost system to juggle. Each attack a character lands builds Boost points, which can be unleashed to enhance attacks or to lay greater healing upon your allies. Picking and choosing how you use this resource is the biggest way that players can control the flow of battle.

Finally, characters can be swapped in and out of the front row of battle. Sending them to the back row takes them out of combat but heals their HP and SP for a certain amount each turn. Especially in the demo’s boss fight, there is a constant juggle of characters in and out of the front lines, trying to keep your party healed without leaving your strongest fighters out of the battle.

See? There is a lot to keep track of, especially when you’ve been thrown into a mid-game dungeon with a full party equipped with powerful attacks and weapons without getting eased into the systems. But, at its heart, the gameplay here is still a turn-based combat system, something that JRPG fans will know very well. You can control the pace. You can take your time to weigh your options, even if it feels like there are almost too many options at a moment.

Even with all that going on, I never felt completely overwhelmed by combat in Octopath Traveler 0. There was a lot, sure, but it was still manageable. Picking up the flow of combat, keeping characters slipping in and out of the fight, and managing your Boost points alongside your items and weapon types is tough but doable. In fact, I would say that this is the joy of the game. Square Enix has managed to deliver a combat system that is complex enough to feel fresh while being familiar enough to still be accessible, making Octopath Traveler 0 one of the more unique JRPGs coming out this year.

Octopath Traveler 0 is out on December 4, 2025.

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

• All upcoming games in 2025 and beyond
• Gamify My Life, our weekly gaming column designed
• Popverse Picks: The best Assassin's Creed protagonists
• How to play every GTA game in order
• Why the GTA 6 budget isn't as crazy as you think
• The Magic: The Gathering x Spider-Man crossover set wouldn't exist without the Spider-Verse

And be sure to check Popverse regularly for the latest gaming news.