WMG / Octopath Traveler

Pre-Release Theories

If all eight travelers are cleared, there will be a ninth that will tie all story arcs together.

• A stretch, but the travelers are arranged in a circle when selecting them, meaning one could be present in the middle.
• Each traveler has a different story at the same time and location as each other, meaning it isn't out of the question for their problems to be traced to one Greater-Scope Villain.
  • And it's not like Squeenix (well, Square) didn't pull that one once already.
    • Or something more like Treasure Of The Rudra (or to some extent, Romancing Sa Ga) as in Live A Live, the main characters don't live in the same place nor at the same time.
• I bet all eight travelers will all come together to become party members during the ninth story as well.
  • The May 2018 trailer shows that all eight characters can meet up and join the party long before the endgame.
• Confirmed; there is a True Final Boss that connects all eight arcs, as well as some sidequests.

"Octopath" is an allusion to the Buddhist "eightfold path" to enlightenment.

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• The travelers may not line up with these perfectly in the beginning, but the Buddhist eightfold path to enlightenment means adopting the right perspective, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration (meditation). Primrose may eventually align with the ideal of "right speech" per her ability, while Olberic may represent "right action" with his dutiful decisiveness. Bonus points if the eight travelers have to join forces with each other in order to reach some sort of spiritual purity in the endgame.

In the final game, perhaps after the final boss, Olberic will be able to visit a village, and challenge a certain man and woman to a duel, as this game's superboss.

• It will be a dual boss between the couple. That couple of course being Tiz Arrior and Agnès Oblige.
  • Or Edea Lee and Ringabel. A bonus would be if the town in question is Caldisla.

It's actually a new game in the Bravely Default universe...

• Square Enix keep insisting Octopath Traveller is a working title, and the font, some of the graphical style and the development studio all evoke Bravely Default vibes.
  • Going with this, It releases as Octopath Traveller. You get to a point in the first path you're doing, and the game glitches in some way, and that path abruptly doesn't work any more. Once all eight paths are done, the working title disappears, and the real game begins...

The game's release date will be October 8, 2018

• In keeping with 8 as the Arc Number.
  • Alternatively, August 8, 2018, making it 08/08/18.
• Jossed: The release date has now been confirmed as July 13.

One of the playable characters will turn out to be one of the crow men.

• Either he was betrayed by his companions somehow, lost his memory or was inducted into their group without being fully aware of what kind of people they are.
  • All evidence seems to point to Therion, given how he's a thief, giving him an unsavory edge, he dresses similarly to the three Crow-Men and appears with a crow in his artwork.
• Jossed; the Crow Men are all NPCs.

Speculation on the remaining classes.

• So far, we have Warrior, Dancer, Merchant, and Apothecary. My guesses for the remaining classes, based on art showing the eight characters:
• Hunter: A class specializing in archery. May have a path action involving taming monsters to serve as allies.
  • H'aanit is a Hunter with shades of Beastmaster, with taming monsters to use in battle being her Talent rather than a Path Action.
• Thief: A pickpocket ability that lets you steal items/gold from NPCs seems like an obvious call for a path action.
  • Therion is confirmed to be a Thief, and his path action is spot-on and complimentary to Tressa's Purchase.
• Cleric: May focus on healing and light-elemental magic.
  • Her path action might be some sort of "conversion" or "preaching" ability that lets her recruit NPCs to her side, as a compliment to Primrose's ability.
  • Ophilia is confirmed to be a Cleric.
• Wizard: The Apothecary appears to be a red mage type focusing on both healing and attack magic. There seems to be a niche for a dedicated elemental mage.
  • His path action might be an information-gathering skill like Alfyn's. Perhaps a "Lore" skill focused more on worldbuilding information than personal information, or a "Telepathy" skill that gathers information from NPCs by reading their minds.
  • Looks like Cyrus is actually a Scholar, not a Wizard. But hey, three out of four isn't bad.

The last two characters will have their names start with O and C.

O, C, Tressa, Olberic, Primrose, Alfyn, Therion, H’aanit. What does that spell?

• Confirmed. Their names are Ophelia and Cyrus.

Therion's client is going to turn out to be an Ungrateful Bastard and tell authorities he was the one who stole the stone, as well as turn out to be the actual antagonist in his story.

Because that's how these stories usually go.

• Jossed; Cordelia Ravus and Heathcoate never backstab Therion after conscripting him.

The White Mage is a Hidden Backup Princess of the king that was murdered in Olberic's backstory.

In that one Twitter post that teased the jobs of the cast with symbols behind them, she stood in front of a crown. In the second artwork that showed all of the cast, she walked in front of Olberic and glanced back at him. We see her walk in front of what looks like a Cathedral in one of the trailers and it would typical for a Hidden Backup Princess to live in a cloister.

Future voice actors in the game

So far we have Patrick Seitz and Laura Post.

• Matthew Mercer or Liam O'Brien, since they tend to lend their voices to fantasy games.

The names of each route's primary antagonist, taken backward, will spell out "TRAVELER"

Because "traveler", like "Octopath", is an eight letter word and Olberic's main villain seems to be Erhardt, it's possible for the names of the villains of each path to spell out "TRAVELER", with H'aanit's antagonist starting with a T and going backward through the protagonists, ending with Ophilia's antagonist having a name starting with R.

• Being flexible with the name used and potentially Captain ‘L’eon Bastralle and Lady Cordelia ’R’avus will be the antagonists for Tressa and Therion respectively.

• Jossed; some of the primary antagonists include Mattias and Darius.

There will be a Relationship Values system between the eight heroes

In gameplay, this translates to stat bonuses. In story, this unlocks unique chats between characters. At the end of the game, each pair of opposite-gender characters with the highest values for one another get married.

• Jossed; there is unique "party banter", some of which could be interpreted as romantic, but no relationship system.

At some point during Primrose's storyline, she'll start a Dance Sensation.

• Jossed; Primrose's story focuses entirely on vengeance against the Crow Men.

Kit will be the ninth playable character

Kit appears outside of the starting town of every playable character, requesting a healing grape and stating that he is searching for his father and that their paths may cross again. Perhaps he is a ninth playable character?

• Kit seems to more be a sidequest tutorial for the demo, although it doesn't rule out the possibility that his questline is a lot more intertwined with the main story than it seems.
  • The demo's data can be carried over to the main game, and it is almost certain that everything that happens in the demo will also be in the main game. It's doubtful that they added a character solely to show off sidequests in the demo, especially when there are still a number of sidequests that can be done.
• Jossed; there are only eight playable characters in the final release. However, Kit's sidequests are still important to the overall story.

Therese falls victim to, or is the Big Bad of Cyrus's storyline.

Her lying to the Headmaster during the first chapter is Foreshadowing something deeper.

• Falling victim to, Confirmed. Being the villain, Jossed.

The protagonists we are playing in the prologue not really the main characters

This troper has only played three heroes' paths so far but he each character so far has been seen with a kid who aspires to be the same job as them and that leads him to believe they will be the real main characters.

• Jossed; the eight selectable characters remain the protagonists throughout the game.

Leon will sell you some of the best weapons in the game. Alternatively, Leon will give Tressa her ultimate weapon, which will be his blue spear

• Confirmed; using the Purchase/Steal path action on Leon gets you the Battle-Tested Spear, the best weapon of that type.

Post-release Theories

The travelers that aren't the protagonist of their particular chapter only exist in the protagonist's head.

Not a very serious theory, but it'd explain why the other travelers never show up in that chapter's cutscenes yet still act like they were there in party chats, as well as some of the more nonsensical teamups (especially Therion accepting any allies during his first chapter).

Harald and Therion are brothers

This is a theory I've seen floating around the Internet, and there are a few points which support it.

• They have some similarities in their appearance
  • Both have white hair with an almost similar hairstyle
• They are of almost similar age
  • Therion is 22 while Harald is 23
• Harald's backstory would complement Therion's mysterious past
  • The power struggle between Werner and Harald's family could have led to the separation of the brothers
• Most of the enemies in Werner's mansion (Lord's Manse) are weak to Therion's starting arsenal
  • Werner's henchmen (Werner's Man I, II, and III) are all weak to the entirety of Therion's starting arsenal of Sword, Dagger, and Fire, while the Fire and Dark Guardians Mk. II are both weak to Swords and Daggers. Perhaps Therion picked up on and trained with those weapons/magic given what has happened in his past?
• Interesting idea, but there's a small hole with this theory: Werner couldn't have taken over Riverford any more than 8 years ago, as he went there after Hornburg fell, and Therion was already on the streets at least 10 years ago (as this is when he met Darius). Unless perhaps there were other power struggles against Harald's family previously, and Werner merely stoked them for his own needs?
• Another possibility is that Harald's father had a wandering eye and Therion was the result.

There's something to do with dreams

• The phrase "Always the same dream..." is said at the beginning of Primrose's and Olberic's chapters, by those said characters after their backstory flashback. Ogen also says it in Alphyn's chapter 4. Something's up here... well, maybe it's just a common enough phrase...

What Primrose will be doing after her story ends

Well, the narration says that she will eventually find happiness after dancing awhile. However, by 'dancing', I think it may mean that she returns to House Azelhart and starts the process of rebuilding it, just like how her father envisioned it. And in the process of rebuilding or once she's done, Primrose will use her influence to eventually hunt down and dismantle/destroy the Obsidian (the group as a whole, not just the heads), so it will no longer become a menace to Orsterra. Many Obsidians (may include Esmeralda from Tressa's story) will be arrested, converted or killed if they prove to be stubborn. Primrose will find her happiness in continuing her beloved father's legacy and bringing back his beloved rulership spirit back to Noblecourt, her targeting the Obsidians has more meanings than just avenging her father.

Therefore, she's further dancing on the restoration of House Azelhart and the end of the Obsidians.