Octopath Traveler: New Demo, Hype, and Concerns

I’m pretty sure every Switch RPG fan at this point is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Octopath Traveler, which is due out in a little less than a month from now (July 13th, to be precise). In case you have been steering clear of E3 announcements, a new demo for Octopath Traveler will be released on the eShop this Thursday, June 14th. If you are worried about losing your progress when the full game launches, fear not! Your save, including the decisions you make that will shape things to come, will 100% transfer over to the final game according to the developers.

Personally, I will not be partaking in Square Enix’s offer this time around, even though I loved the first demo to pieces. While I’m just as anxious to play it as anyone, I feel like the experience as a whole will be dampened a bit despite the nifty save feature. I don’t want to get invested in this world for a second time, only to set it down for a month before finally being able to play it again. I want to be able to enjoy this game from start to finish without a break (maybe I’ll eat though), as it seems like Octopath Traveler is shaping up to be a title of epic proportions.

And I want for it to succeed more than anything. There’s no doubt in my mind that it will be a success, but to what degree of success will it experience? I’ve heard horror stories about games being a financial success on paper, but not necessarily doing well enough to justify a new game in the same IP. In the case of Octopath, it is slightly concerning because its sales (and to a greater extent, the actual success brought by those numbers) will apparently impact future support for the Switch from Square Enix. That is because they created a new division within Square Enix that is to spearhead the development of Switch-specific titles. An article from Nintendo Life goes in a little more detail about it here.

Although in recent years Square Enix has had a tendency to mildly disappoint me rather than wow me like they used to in the early days of Final Fantasy, I still wholeheartedly believe in the company. I want to see both new and old games from Square Enix on the Switch, which is why Octopath Traveler has me excited and nervous at the same time.

Now, I turn this over to you. Are you going to play the new demo on Thursday, or do you want to keep it a surprise for the official release? Do you have any thoughts on the potential success (or failure) of Octopath Traveler, or on Square Enix in general?