Octopath Traveler (Nintendo Switch) was recently released and had very good reviews from critics around the world. It was such a surprise to Square Enix on how well it was received that they underestimated sales of its physical version and had to put out apologies in Japan for selling out its units. Twice. After putting a chunk of hours into the game myself, I can honestly say it is one my favorite RPGs, next to such classics as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6.
What I want to talk about in this post is the music, which is absolutely amazing. Music in video games play such an important role in setting the tone and mood, that without it, or if poorly composed, can essentially make the gameplay experience worst. One of my most beloved music tastes stem from RPGs, particularly JRPGs. Yasunori Mitsuda from Chrono Cross and Nobuo Uematsu from the Final Fantasy series to name a few composers whose music I adore. What makes Octopath Traveler so special is that it's roots is heavily influenced by music from the 16-bit / 32-bit era of JRPGs, with an update of modern flair.
Octopath's composer is Yasunori Nishiki, and Octopath Traveler is his first game to compose for. I'd say he's off to a great start and his future looks very bright.
Here I would like to go through each song in its official soundtrack that came with the Wayfarer Edition. I'll update as I go along and will not go in any particular order. I may not even go through the whole list. Because of, well, you know, stuff... and reasons.
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As the title implies, this is the main theme of the game and just oozes of what this game is all about. Adventure. Or rather, Octo Adventures. The moment the title screen came on and this track hit my speakers, I knew how amazing the soundtrack was going to be. I literally left the game playing on the title screen for 20 minutes so I could listen and absorb all its music glory. What made it better was the scenes it played of all the heroes traversing in a field of multiple backgrounds, from the green vegetation of an open field to the majestic sight of an icy snow land.
The song puts you in a state of emotion to depart and start a grand adventure. And it does just that when you press the start button.
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The standard battle music usually needs to be outright fantastic because chances are it will be the most played song during a play through. Luckily, Octopath Traveler does have 3 different standard battle songs that gets the player pumped up and provides a different beat at certain parts of the game. Battle 1 is my favorite, but just barely.
It's orchestral which focuses a lot of violin play. I like how it opens with a burst of flare as the enemies and heroes come on to the battlefield and eases itself in when the command menu starts. It's very reminiscence of the battle music in the SNES Final Fantasy games. It continues at a mellow pace and builds up to a great violin chorus that just makes my ears scream with joy. It never gets old for me and makes me look forward to battles just so I could listen to the music as I tactically make battle command decisions. It sets up epic battles with even the most mundane of enemies.
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