The Octopath Traveler hype is very real. Developed by Square Enix, in collaboration with Acquire, this turn-based RPG is quickly becoming a cult classic (or perhaps just as classic in of itself) among Nintendo Switch owners. Everyone who has picked it up has raved that it plays like a classic JRPG which begs the question: why is this game not on PS4/PS Vita? Every console has its niche and for Sony, JRPGs have always been one of its selling points. It seems like Octopath Traveler would be right at home on the platform. So is there any hope of this dream becoming a reality?
Perhaps. At the very least we have a shot at getting some games from this team in the future. In a recent interview with Eurogamer, co-producer Masashi Takahashi had this to say:
As you may know at first the team was just the Bravely Default team, it was just a development team and not a division. But because the game did well and sold well we became a special division. Yes, we worked on Octopath Traveler and we’re working on Switch titles, but that doesn’t mean we’re only working on Switch titles.
So maybe the PS4, or the fabled/future PS5, will see something from this team, whether it’s a new work or a port of this critically acclaimed RPG.
If you’re still looking for a way to resolve your RPG angst, here are the two reasons Takahashi listed for why the chose Nintendo Switch:
There are two reasons for Switch. We already had experience with Nintendo with Bravely Default, and we’d decided to have Octopath as a worldwide experience. When we had to search for a partner for that, we had real confidence in Nintendo for that. And it’s an RPG – that means you have to play a long time, and because our target audience was adults – like us – it’s hard for us to be seated on the sofa for so long. Our lifestyle, you want to play in bed before you sleep for an hour.
It’s a sound reason, and while the PS Vita does support crossplay with the PS4 it’s a underutilized feature. Plus, not everyone owns a Vita (clearly). Regardless of what happens, the success of Octopath Traveler will mean good things for this team which in turn gives us some hope.
