Ever since Nintendo and Square Enix first unveiled Octopath Traveler, an “HD-2D” turn-based RPG for the Nintendo Switch, fans have had a few big questions. First, how long will it be? Second, is a single story with eight playable characters, or eight individual stories? Previously, they had confirmed that you can go through all eight characters’ stories in a single playthrough, but that still left questions about how the main story would be handled.
After Nintendo featured it during their second day of Nintendo Treehouse E3 live streaming, we might finally have answers to those questions.
First, if you go through all eight character stories, the main story is estimated to take 50-60 hours. If you do sub-stories and side content as well, you’ll have up to 80-100 hours of playtime. Second, they also referred to Octopath Traveler having a story of its own but also focusing on the characters’ individual background stories. This sounds as though it might have an overarching story after all.
A new Octopath Traveler demo is available now from the eShop. All eight characters are available and you can play through the first chapter for any of them, but the demo will end after 3 hours (based on the in-game clock). You’ll be able to transfer your demo progress to the main game.
In the demo, you begin with the first chapter of the character you started with, and then you can explore and recruit other characters. When you meet one of the other characters, you have the option to learn their backstory and play through their first chapter in order to make them a party member. The demo leaves it unclear as to whether or not the stories will intertwine and if there will be a larger overarching plot eventually, but the commentary from Nintendo Treehouse implies there might be.
Octopath Traveler will be out on July 13 for the Nintendo Switch.
