Which Octopath Traveler Are You?

Octopath Traveler is a Japanese role-playing game with eight characters. Each of them has their own origin story. Each of those origin stories ends with that character deciding to leave their home and travel the world. You start by picking one character. Then you encounter all of the others during your journey. They each have traits that help one another out in different ways. You are free to mix and match party members to accommodate battle situations.
However: the character you choose first must always be in your party when you play the rest of the game.
Which of the eight characters will you choose? Which should you choose? Maybe those are different questions, and maybe both of them are impossible to answer. Well, here's a video dedicated to finding an answer, anyway.

[@crono7589]

Tressa is absolutely best girl. "Here player this is free money for dealing with a loading screen"

[@kotaku]

Bryan Truce yeah, i totally love it. she makes grinding a lot more, uh, maybe “fun” is the right word: instead of walking in circles, you just walk through entire zones in big long loops

[@capngeeoff]

It's not fair to the other characters. Tressa is best girl AND she's got OP strength. The only real issue is her dubious age

[@klauserji]

It's usefuo for the first half of the game, later on it's redundant. Cyrus best boi

[@alvinvalentino5797]

@@klauserji ophilia makes a better scholar than cyrus being a cleric though :v

[@klauserji]

@@alvinvalentino5797 end game i use ophilia cleric divine skill to boost cyrus damage tho

[@theyoutoo12]

"Hot girls are the pokemon trainers and the loser guys are the pokemon!" Jesus Christ I need this game.

[@SamC77]

you need some burn heal though

[@wildflame333]

I died when I saw that he had a save file for each prologue 😂😂

[@LaShoju]

Tim is my favorite octopath babbler.

[@gatotsu2501]

He took a linguistics class once, you know!!

[@Mrmder]

You had me at "O'Clocktopath Traveller".

[@samvandermeer7735]

"... cold-blooded Jar Jar Binksian Macbethism..."

[@danielbarron3379]

I had to screenshot that moment when it was on the screen lol

[@drewb1979]

Where's the 30 minute linguistic analysis of H'aanit's dialect???

[@Sesshomaru3700]

I chose Therion, because he looked awesome. Simple as that. 😂 I haven’t regretted my decision yet.

[@JPHarringtonJr]

I am completely all about "loose my bonkers"

[@callmesoul1468]

Jim Harrington “where’s my bonkers”*

[@Dzumeister]

why are your bonkers loose

[@Trizziewix]

Why doesn't Tim just start his own channel? I know I would watch it, who else would?

[@kotaku]

guaranteed salary

[@naheemquattlebaum2267]

He wouldn't be paid. He lives in Brooklyn. He needs to be paid.

[@Trizziewix]

@@naheemquattlebaum2267 so he can buy waffles.

[@ivangoh5619]

never heard of such a thing as 'guaranteed' salary. He does work you know.

[@calg]

@@ivangoh5619 and if he makes this video hes getting paid by kotaku and not just relying on views for Money. Also kotaku wrote that dude, its definitely guarenteed.

[@kaiser2625]

Also, take the first letter of all of the characters names and arrange them in the right order, you've got "OCTOPATH" Ophilia, Cyrus, Tressa, Olbreic, Primrose, Alfyn, Therion, H'aanit

[@jimmyrolls37]

I chose Primrose, simply because I wanted the challenge of feeling more like a delegator than a doer, as is the case with a buff/debuff type. Her story has made that choice worthwhile

[@XiongGou]

I really like the art style and graphics of this game. I can definitely get behind a FFVI remake in this fashion. Updated musical score, better graphics, give the battle system a few new tweaks and add voice acting! Sounds awesome!

[@FallenMonk55]

Alfyn was so badass with his ability to mix medicines/poisons. I couldn’t have overcome the difficult bosses without him.

[@PaperJass]

Ophelia Cyrus Tressa Olberic Primrose Alfyn Therion H'aanit It tells you the "correct" order to play the game? Anyway, it spells OCTOPATH. Cool tidbit.

[@sladey21]

FireHawk how do you know the o's and t's are the right way round?

[@PaperJass]

Because it's clockwise and if you switched them the order wouldn't go around like a circle

[@sladey21]

FireHawk Oh you mean on the map?

[@PaperJass]

yup.

[@sladey21]

FireHawk ahhhh. Its a pity the stories arent connected much and the order doesnt matter though.

[@handsoaphandsoap]

I started with H’aanit and she did not disappoint, she very quickly becomes an extremely heavy hitter with Second Serving, boosted crit ratio and attack type coverage with all the beasts

[@sparklywings2075]

I started as Therion and I LOVED his story. I never regretted it and enjoyed it til the end. :)

[@Pyraxian1]

You know, before watching this, I didn't really know anything about Octopath Traveler. I don't even own a Switch, though I thought I might get one sometime in the next year for something like BotW. This review/explanation has put this game on my "would buy first" list, and has reignited my desire to purchase a Switch. Awesome work as always, Tim.

[@thats4thebirds]

Didn’t expect “Triangle Strategy project” to be the next name but he was right. We should have let them off easier.

[@Kletian999]

As a catholic. Wanted to let you know protestants have bishops too, and some of them have married priests. Even Catholics used to have families for bishops. Loved the video.

[@kotaku]

ah, yes, i knew this, though the bishop in this game mentions a pope. i seriously meant to rewrite that part of the script!!!

[@irsshill4502]

Remember when the church entered the gates of hell to kick Galdera/Satan ass?

[@Kletian999]

@@irsshill4502 usually my faith ascribed that job to Jesus ;😉

[@drdoublec7642]

Choice isn‘t hard for me. My name is Cyrus and for once I can choose a character with my name :D

[@achooe5443]

You have a unique name, actually. I like it.

[@FFgamesftw]

I had an unfortunate time when playing DQXI for this reason. I normally name the hero my first name which is Eric. Of course the first character you run into in the game is named Erik so I had Eric & Erik as the two man party for a while.

[@TheKiburedo]

I'm glad that is Tim Rogers talking about this game, I couldn't expect anyone else.

[@thekiss2083]

Dear Tim Rogers, No video of yours could ever be too long for my taste. Sincerely, Four-fifths of the entire Internet

[@Diamoondust]

what about the fifth-fifth?

[@wertj3977]

@@Diamoondust They could only stand about 20 hours worth of tim

[@Diamoondust]

@@wertj3977 rookie numbers

[@mcdouble03]

I like these videos a lot lol. the delivery is so funny and weird

[@batayan_]

Played Therions prologue in the demo and was kinda disappointed, so I was gonna pass on it initially. After watching Tim's video, I preordered it right away and now have over 25 hours logged. This game is incredible. Thanks for not letting me die hungry Tim.

[@oswaldhurlem9811]

"Where's my bonkers" -- a new classic catchphrase

[@NeoTekka88]

Do you have the gift of foresight!? Just watching this in 2022 and two things: 1) He’s making fun of the next “title” and legit I feel like the developers heard him and said, “let’s call our next game… Triangle…. Strategy!” 2) He also called out Live A Live and lo and behold… we get a remake of it! The psychic abilities this one has 😝.

[@zeldaoot23]

The -en verbs in H’annit’s dialog seem to be mostly infinitives and present tense plural or imperative forms, which is definitely inspired by old/Middle English and some modern Germanic languages. I’m in the minority but I actually love it. Reminds me a lot of the English from Chaucer’s day actually: “And smale foweles maken melodye, that slepen al the nyght with open ye (so priketh hem nature in hir corages) thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages.” I think someone on the localization team enjoys linguistics :-)

[@xorpen]

The horror

[@osutinheizu8250]

Memorizing that bit of Canterbury Tales will always stay with me

[@_Qwerty_418]

Another thing about the name is that the first letter of every characters name is apart of the word Octopath

[@benjaminkoomen5993]

Considering the next game to use this art style was named 'Triangle Strategy', I'm guessing we kept making fun of the name.

[@kingvoxel6516]

You had me at Infinite Undiscovery! I've been wondering how they generate these modern RPG names for years now.

[@JK-xz1lt]

Bonkers? Like the candy from the 80s, or the Bobcat cartoon I used to watch when I was a kid? Hahahaha! 😂🤣😂🤣 Hands down one of the best reviews in a good long while!

[@ma276]

WHERE'S MY BONKERS?!

[@64242359]

newbie here, how do I actually continue to play from 1 character to all characters in the same group? do I need to create new game or what?

[@MariaRodriguez-hb4ix]

Nice to see more people had noticed what I knew from the start . This game looks and plays very similar to the SaGa series . Specially the SaGa Frontier and romancing ones . This is why some people are frustrating now to see all stories are not connected as they thought . But more of 8 individual stories that converge into a Final Big Boss at the end .

[@muchthink535]

I was planning on playing the prologues for every character because I too am indecisive but now I don't have to! Now I just need to decide between Ophelia or Olberic.

[@kotaku]

as jason told me yesterday, once you beat your first protagonist's chapter four, the game lets you just switch in whatever protagonist you want, whenever you want. so feel no need to dumbo it up a la me

[@muchthink535]

Kotaku good to know! I’m glad they’re apparently not locking players out of content based on that. I was concerned at first that I’d have to play the game 8 times to see everything

[@EdwardViaTomato]

I remember waking up on time on Saturdays when I was in middle school to watch The Vision of Escaflowne on Fox (Kids), and catching Outlaw Star after school on Toonami, (and Pokemon before school on WB). It made me who I am today. (Probably not a good thing. Debatable at best).

[@reyleon9008]

Haha this was hilarious, that apostrophe S part had me dying

[@Flackon]

Ok, that jab at cockney rhyming slang at the end was good.

[@namename.3.]

Best 20 minutes of my life. Tressa is my octopath traveler traveler.

[@Diamoondust]

YES I TOTALLY AGREE

[@eligamerman]

I started with Olberic when I played this game. Don't know why I'm just now finding this excellent video ;)

[@oneandonlyjark]

Kotaku does ASMR now?!?!??? (I haven't heard mention of many of these jRPGs in over a decade. Perhaps nearly two. That's how old I am and how old-school Mr. Rogers is). ((I am calling him Mr. Rogers because of that mellifluous voice)).

[@kotaku]

fun fact: mister rogers is actually my second cousin. i know that sounds ridiculous, and, well, it is, though its ridiculousness doesn't stop it from being true. also i am probably as old as you lol

[@PotmosHetoimos]

I've been falling asleep to Tim's FF7 translation vids and/or Persona 5 playthroughs for months

[@lemniscatefortunecanfinall2707]

mel·lif·lu·ous: /məˈliflo͞oəs/ adjective (of a voice or words) sweet or musical; pleasant to hear.

[@DavidWoods255]

Crazy Idea- take us unwashed mashes through the majesty of some of these underappreciated JRPGS you mentioned in this video. Whether it be a 10 min rundown or a 1-hour epic, I for one, will watch even second of it. And I will LOVE IT. I also won't die stupid., although I'm very hungry. I always say this - but you, Tim, are the very finest scholar of language and ewntertainment, I just want more.

[@kotaku]

Dee Dubya i’d LOVE to do an anearth video. i have it running in an emulator over here. i wish there was a fan translation . . . that’d make it easier to make a video for a wide enough audience lol

[@DavidWoods255]

Wow, a reply - incoming cringe... "Senpai noticed me!". Any one of those JRPGs you flashed on the screen getting their own video would be just gravy. I also do not own a switch and am a little tired of the coverage itr gets but Octopath is a HUGE reason to buy one. Also, I'm still waiting for the next episode of your FFVII series. Just do it live without the editing. The one you did in that format was perfectly fine.

[@zachindes]

Had to watch this again. Rogers is a treasure

[@davidalexander8947]

I actually started as Ophilia without realizing that little OCTOPATH bit.

[@nicholashildenbrand8632]

I picked Tressa as well and amazingly I left her for last when I was replaying the demo a million times.

[@Kirbstompification]

I picked Tressa because she’s the most relatable, since I work retail and my life story is the most boring in comparison to my peers

[@Jsunrise2thetop]

When I started this game I just randomly picked one of the characters.. it was Cyrus.. and I'm so glad I did. Dude is a power house in magic attacks. I also love Haanit. She can capture monsters of ALL weapon types or magic types. Super versatile and her regular physical attacks are super strong. And if they're weak to bows her skill that rains arrows down will break monsters super easily.. I'd go with either Cyrus or haanit as main character.. but gotta love stealing everything with therion... but he's not worth making main character..

[@MargaritoTrevino]

I'm picking this up after work and then I have all weekend to play can't wait.

[@jmr1415]

FYI: Bishop is an ecclesiastical title across a lot of christian churches not just the Catholic ones, in particular the Protestant Church of England uses them and they don't have a celibacy rule.

[@Seth_Hezekiah]

Let me save you some time. Pick Tressa then head for Cyrus. Tressa is best girl and makes early money easy. Cyrus gets u magic damage. Then after that you can move along however you wish.

[@HeroicMoron]

Therion is actually my favorite so far. XD

[@Honest_Grifter]

I'm genuinely shocked that you wouldn't play all 8 characters in the "o.c.t.o.p.a.t.h." order... all their names spell out the title, that's why my first character was an "o" and I made sure to meet them all in that order... had a blast walking around collecting party members in order even though it wasn't really necessary or all that special, lol

[@jeasteldr4524]

I did Not notice that and feel more than embarassed 😅

[@draconia9956]

I just picked Primrose because she had the best introductory story imo

[@jimmyrolls37]

Hers felt the most real I think

[@jeromegrossley8122]

Tressa = Best girl

[@demetergrasseater]

As a linguistics student myself, hearing that you studied linguistics gives me hope that I may actually do something with this degree besides rambling incessantly about the ethics of language planning to anyone who would listen.

[@Action_Sloth]

"I studied linguistics at University" I'm sorry comrade

[@soursteezel5119]

“He didn’t say nothing” hurt my ears. Well played sir, well played.

[@northstar1727]

Italian tunes? 18:10 I was hearing one of the music that pops up in that town and one of my friends commented that it sounded like music from a French restaurant and damn does it do sound like it's ripped out of a French restaurant (the music is "A sea breeze"

[@chiefnastygaming8485]

Lmfao. Dude. Humor on point. Sub sooooo hard. Nice work man.

[@laybackthunder4640]

No wonder this game never goes down in price. It is probably the only RPG that hears the echos of its processors generation with a touch of modernization visual effects. Wow! I guess I better buy it now. Love how Tim does his job to make me want to buy the game.

[@KelyxTheMage]

I started the Prologue demo with Alfyn. He definitely seems like one of the intended starting characters, of course not the true intended starting character. Alfyn's open ended Prologue leaves a lot of room for the whole Travelling aspect. While there might be story markers, there's really nothing that shouts "Hey you should probably go here first!" because Alfyn has no true goal at the beginning of his first chapter. Just "explore the world and help people!". I ended up finding Primrose first on the route I took.

[@karafuru7666]

PC release imminent and never heard about this game until recently. I would instantly re-buy FF6 if it came with octo's visuals. It would have preserved the original sprite art that many of us loved while also giving it a very beautiful modern visual aesthetic such as depth of field, god rays, and re-done attack animations.

[@ASquared544]

Tressa's my favorite too!

[@EdivanCamargo]

I'm curious about what happened to Tim Rogers.. I admire his work and I'm sure lots of people do too, but the guy has disappeared for 2 years I think. Does someone knows what has he been doing?

[@gt3racer2187]

Outside of maybe Inglorious Bastards, Kill Bill is the best Tarantino movie.

[@olischues]

I highly approve of the usage of "bonkers", hope it catches on! (Also, great video, has me excited about playing the game even though the stories aren't necessarily connected)

[@FaiLhappy]

Love when Tim Rogers is the voice over for Kotaku videos 💟

[@travelingbard1]

I loved the 7th saga reference you randomly made. Didn't see it coming and lost my shit you said I should pick Kamil lol damn that game was hard... only beat it with Lux.

[@omensoffate]

My favorite party i has was lejes with valsa

[@travelingbard1]

@@omensoffate the OP caster duo, i see you are a man of culture 🧐

[@Sheamu5]

I love how it starts with not a game of thrones reference to many game of thrones references. Is this going to be on steam?

[@neurohuman]

This is a Switch exclusive, there are no announced plans at this time to bring it to any other console/pc.

[@Sheamu5]

Thanks, picked up a switch on prime day, waiting to drive in once ups drops it off

[@LynSpoon]

Now it is on steam

[@BB-qr4qd]

I started with Alfyn, so the last bit from his "Which Octopath Traveler, Traveler Are You?" about the doctor and mom, hit a little close to home. lol I gave up on medical school. (Got into teaching. So I'm not a total disappointment).

[@marcgomes4193]

I studied linguistics in college as well...maybe that's why I appreciate your vidoes on an entirely different level.

[@wardm4]

Was this an FFVI ad? If so, it was awesome! I went right out and bought it after watching this.

[@MaskyFalle]

“Hi, I’m Tim Rogers” is all I needed to hear to like the video

[@michaeljijus980]

Nice video... Iam still not sure about this game... If you will finish it, let us know, please 😋😋😋

[@jonathanmatos714]

Olberic is my OT, but i’m liking everyones story so far.

[@ElijahFink]

Me: Hmmm... I wonder if Tim made this video.. (clicks on the video) Tim: Hello.

[@summerycast7936]

H'aanit because I wanted to capture monsters, skewer my enemies with the bow, and sick my monsters at villagers. Too bad her damage isn't too great, but those monsters sure are useful early on. Her dialogue? I can manage but it sure is hard to keep up at times.

[@sleepingforest3979]

I was born in 1993 I don't know any of these game references that he mentioned in the video XD.

[@drowningin]

Poor kids ): they missed out on the best games. It climaxed at Dreamcast/GameCube/PS2/Xbox so maybe you caught the tail end of greatness

[@sleepingforest3979]

mushy yeah that is true XD

[@SharkyKrunk]

Couple of points there What age are you if you are in second grade? I am into "Where's my bonkers", keep it up.

[@MaineMaineJr]

David Larkin 7 then 8 during

[@SharkyKrunk]

Much appreciated!

[@Avantime]

Initially I read it as "Osteopath Traveller"

[@MichaelPeterson1982]

I thought the untouched bonus was for money and the break bonus was for exp. Does that change later?

[@kotaku]

no, i just said the wrong thing. i definitely realized the error while editing this video. however, fixing it would have required me to go back into the audio recording booth-or put a subtitle on the screen. i figured, why not LIVE LARGE!!!!!

[@jesusdiedforoursins6894]

i just realized that if you paired them up in the order they're names like alfyn then cyrus then h'aanit then olberic and so on their path actions match up with the one that has the the same effect

[@FFgamesftw]

yeah the OCTO (Ophilia, Cyrus, Tressa & Olberic) have the same general skills as the PATH (Primrose, Alfyn, Therion & H'aanit) characters. So the characters on the opposite side have the most similar skill 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, & 4-8 respectively

[@Redpoppy80]

I don't think it is obvious that you are supposed to start with Ophillia. I was going through the 8 heroes and while I did choose Ophillia,(Cyrus and Olberic were my runners up) I chose her because orphans supporting adopted family always touches me from my experience watching Clannad as well as my own life where I would have died if not for my foster family.

[@SaruvaViolin]

0:59 joke's on you the demo for the next game is called Triangle Strategy

[@AngelBlueX7]

"I am a doctor not an engineer" 😂

[@schlafenkirsche]

i feel like im a slightly dumber cyrus

[@Hi_Jr]

never change Tim. Never change.

[@fahmitajjuddin9863]

i drink dornish wine every time you make game of thrones reference

[@fedechan6325]

1:37 i haven't finished the game yet, but there IS an octopus miniboss that you can miss of you don't do side quests, so there's that

[@lunanunesboreau54]

0:35. You're wrong. Chapter 2 and onwards the protagonists interact with each other in certain moments. There will be a clue on the screen asking for you to press +.

[@lunanunesboreau54]

Still, I don't know what I am doing here after 1 entire year.

[@Diamoondust]

@@lunanunesboreau54 Pretty sure he references it. Also why am I here as well lmao

[@deinonychusben]

Sseth called and wants his shtick back.

[@everben08]

If Tim made this video today I'm sure we would have gotten that 30 minute analysis on the early to mid english used by Ha'anit

[@OhSnapItzSam]

I just started the game, I happen to be posting gameplay on youtube! check it out if you want some more opinions on Octopath traveler!

[@simonbelmont65]

Hannit the huntress is my all time favorite Octopath traveler! Her Bowen arrow & hatchet are such great weapons! This is one of the best RPG games I have ever played! So much fun & great writing!

[@Huizar]

Tim is my spirit animal. We legitimately think alike.

[@Kuhan37able]

"This video would be 33 minutes longer." Threaten me with a good time.

[@eridanuskelpi3908]

Today I was ingame attacked by a squirrel with the attack "These Nuts". Suffice it to say: play this game!

[@RetepAdam]

The last frame of the video made me yelp out a laugh.

[@jedimaster12100]

Lol what did I just watch. I didn't like the video at first but it grew on me.