An Octopath Traveler prequel for iOS and Android has been announced by Square Enix—and it’s going to be a free-to-play game. Titled Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, it will be set several years before the story of the smash hit Nintendo Switch version of the game. It looks like the Japanese company decided to follow up on their notions of bringing it to another platform.
Although a port would have been entirely sensible, Square Enix has elected to mix things up instead. The Octopath Traveler prequel will be changing up the core formula a bit by allowing eight characters in combat simultaneously. Each of these eight characters will have their own story arcs, just like the original game. The heroes from the Nintendo Switch version will appear in some fashion, although it isn’t entirely clear whether or not they’ll be playable.
Further departures from the original include the format and the price. Although the Octopath Traveler prequel will launch with eight characters, the developers plan to add more as post-launch content. This upcoming throwback RPG will also be a free-to-play title rather than a premium purchase. It isn’t entirely clear what the monetization model would look like; presumably, players will be paying to unlock some of the additional content. The controls have also been adapted to better suit mobile devices with the implementation of an on-rails movement system and a simple touch interface.
A website for the Octopath Traveler prequel is already available, although it’s only in Japanese for the moment. Pre-registrations are open if you can navigate your way past the language barrier, although there may be some kind of regional restrictions in place.
We don’t know exactly when we’ll get the Octopath Traveler prequel (or if it will even come to the West) or what the free-to-play model will look like. For now, a trailer has been released which you can see below. Whether or not we’ll be able to get the game on Xbox One, PS4, or PC is another matter.
[via Twinfinite]
