After waiting for a while, Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent is finally available in the West. In case you don't know, this is the latest installment of the successful Octopath Traveler a role-playing video game developed by Square Enix, in collaboration with Acquire.
This one is designed for iPhone and Android devices which was a mega hit in Japan and now is arriving to our continent with the hopes to conquering a larger audience.
For many fans Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent has one big problem: it is a mobile game and we understand, after all Octopath Traveler is a game that succeeded in console.
We can’t blame them as usually mobile games are associated with microtransactions and absurdly simplified gameplay. However, this is not the case! Recently at LEVEL UP we had the opportunity to interview Hirohito Suzuki, global producer of Champions of the Continent.
Mobile games don’t have to be awful
In our conversation, he revealed that they designed this new release with fun in mind.
We told Suzuki that many console gamers underestimate mobile titles. He told us that they took this into account when making Champions of the Continent, which is why they strived to deliver a quality product.
"We understand the concern that mobile games are often underrated. This is why we focused on maintaining a high quality experience and narrative.”
He shared about the performances during events, where the unique movements of the pixel characters are more elaborated than those in Octopath Traveler.
“Games should be fun; I think that's everything. Because it's a mobile game more people will have the opportunity to play it and so we spent several hours creating the story, systems, graphics, and music in order to deliver an experience comparable to a console game," Suzuki said before telling us that many gamers in Japan connect their cell phones to their TVs when playing Champions of the Continent.
Fun before money
Monetization is one of the most controversial topics in current releases, especially those that are free-to-play. A clear example is Diablo Immortal, a game that has been harshly criticized for having monetization systems that fans perceive as abusive.
So, how does Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent monetize in ways that respect the player? We asked Suzuki about it, who told us that it's a grueling style, but one that puts the player's enjoyment above all else.
Monetization revolves around gacha, which allows players to obtain characters. However, as mentioned above, this title is focused on delivering an RPG experience, so they haven't made any balance adjustments that require paying to progress the main story.
Instead of having a gigantic wall that requires a certain character that requires paying, they have gone for a type of design where players first get attached to the gameplay of the title and are also attracted to the monetization aspects due to the presence of engaging characters.
Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent is available now for iPhone and Android.
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