WARNING: This list will contain major SPOILERS for several traveler’s stories and post-game content.
Yes, I know I’m one week late to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Octopath Traveler’s release, but there was a WWE Pay-Per-View on, so I had to cover that instead. Regardless, I’m making it up to you with not just one, but two articles all about Octopath Traveler this weekend, one today and one on Sunday.
The first of these is the part of a game that always sticks with me the longest. Moreso than the story, the characters or even the gameplay, what sticks with me for the longest time after I’m finished with a game is the music. With each passing year, my Spotify playlist is becoming more and more filled with game OST’s and Octopath Traveler’s soundtrack is most definitely my overall favourite.
The soundtrack has just about everything you could want, there are touching slow tracks, exhilaratingly fast tracks and just about everything in between and as of right now, it’s the only game soundtrack that I own a physical CD of, I love it that much.
Naturally, picking 10 tracks was always going to be a tricky task that led to me leaving some great tracks off of the list like H’annit, the Hunter; A Settlement in the Red Bluffs and Battle II, which are all honourable mentions. Also, I know it’s obvious, but this is the internet so I still need to stress that these are my opinions. Music is one of the most subjective things out there in the world and naturally, this list will revolve around my tastes (loud and fast over soft and slow, generally) so don’t feel insulted if I left off a track you really like.
Anyway, let’s get on with it, shall we?
10 - Tressa, the Merchant
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The traveler’s themes were an absolute stroke of genius by the composer of this soundtrack, Yasunori Nishiki. The idea of having an instrument to represent each of the travelers is such a great idea and I think they nailed which instrument should be used for each traveler.
In Tressa’s case, we have the harmonica, which seemed odd to me at first, but I realised how well it fits a travelling merchant. A harmonica is the kind of instrument you can fit in your pocket and, as far as instruments go, it’s one of the easier ones to get a base level understanding off, which is exactly the kind of oddity a travelling merchant might pick up in their journeys. On top of that, it strikes in me feelings of youth an innocent and since Tressa is the youngest of the travelers, it’s perfect.
The melody encapsulates who Tressa is so well, there’s the chimes and violin in the background that hint at her inquisitive and slightly cheeky nature, with the harmonica there going through highs and lows to convey her desire to break free of the small little town she’s in and see the world. Even when the harmonica sinks into those lower notes, there’s still this cheerful tone to it, Tressa would love to get out of her little town but she’s still happy living there and is determined to make the most of every day and get the best deal possible.
This track invokes those feelings of optimism in me and brings out that cheerful and cheeky side that so often gets dragged down in life.
9 - They Who Govern Reason
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I’ll level with you, a lot of this list is going to be battle themes.
The advanced job bosses were definitely my favourite battles in the whole game, they struck that perfect level of challenge where, even when I was over-levelled, I had to go in with a strategy and change it on the fly when things went wrong, not to mention the rewards were so great that I wanted to get them as soon as possible, so I was usually under-levelled instead.
This music fits the idea of these battles so well, the track can almost be split into two halves, the first half with the violins seems almost jovial, with how the melody bounces along, which makes sense in a way. These beings aren’t threatening to destroy the world, or even trying to kill you, they’re just testing you to see if you’re worthy of wielding the power they’re going to bestow upon you.
Then all of a sudden the track flips and becomes a lot more threatening and sinister as the drums and deep trumpets come in to remind you that, though they may not be out to get you, these beings your fighting are still Gods of some description, they’re not going to go down easy even in a situation like this.
This track manages to cut a great balance between bringing both the fun and the intensity of the battles that it plays in and it’s able to switch between the two so seamlessly to boot.
8 - Olberic, the Warrior
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Olberic is an inherently tragic character, not quite as tragic as Primrose admittedly, but he’s still a man with a past that troubles him, with failures he feels he’s responsible for.
This track is able to capture that sense of tragedy that lies in Olberic’s character, the whole thing has an innate sadness to the whole track mostly thanks to the violins that start off the track, they create this very downtrodden picture in my mind of that deserted battlefield where Olberic met his downfall. Then the trumpets start playing alongside the violin the image changes.
The violins swell into much higher notes as those trumpets kick in and I can just see Olberic staring out over that long-dead battlefield that he used to call home. Those trumpets then become the main focus of the melody, representing Olberic as he stands tall, living to fight another day. Olberic is someone who takes a lot of pride in wielding his blade and I get that attitude when I listen to the trumpets in this song. They’re mighty and strong, but flawed and there’s this underlying sadness to them that hits me every time I hear this track.
7 - Battle III
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The random encounter themes in Octopath are all brilliant, but this is the one that stands out the most to me. Each one of the “Battle” tracks does such a good job of building and adding to the previous ones. The melodies aren’t the same of course, but the intensity and scale of the tracks slowly increase as you get into higher and higher levelled areas, culminating in this adrenaline fuelled piece of music.
First of all, the opening is my favourite opening to any track on the album, the quick lead in with the drums, the little taste of the main melody on the violins before everything stops so the trumpets can do their bit and then we’re right into the battle. The pace in this track is a mile a minute, which is exactly what it should be, because when you get to these high-level areas you start coming across some crazy enemies and you should have your strongest attacks to unleash by this point, meaning this is exactly what these battles feel like.
Not only that, but the track also does a good job of mimicking the ebb and flow of a battle through its melody. By the very nature of the turn-based combat, these fights have a lot of back and forth to them and I can feel that in the way the violins behave here. They’ll burst forth with energy for a few seconds before taking a quick breather and coming back in just as strong. I didn’t flee from many encounters while playing Octopath, and this music is one of the biggest reasons why.
6 - Cyrus, the Scholar
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Cyrus is an incredibly grandiose and joyous character. He’s bold and grand in everything he does, but he also takes a great deal of fun out of all of his work that’s exactly the emotions this tracks conveys to me.
I can imagine Cyrus standing there at the head of his class while this music plays, excitedly spouting all of the knowledge he’s gained over the years to these young people that sit before him because that’s what he loves to do. There’s an elegance to the track that completely fits with how I imagine Cyrus carries himself when teaching, how I imagine he reads and writes for days on end, buried in his studies so deeply that he barely even notices the passage of time.
The passion, the wisdom, the charm. Everything that makes Cyrus who he is is there in this track, elegantly gliding about the stage as the violins swell into those high notes, mimicking Cyrus’ many passionate (and slightly over the top) speeches he makes throughout the game of the value of knowledge and his desire to pass all his knowledge on to others.
Personally, I don’t think any of the other traveler themes capture the essence of who the character is quite as well as Cyrus’ track does here. Whenever this track hits my ears, I instantly think Cyrus and it makes the picture of him in my mind very clear.
5 - Daughter of the Dark God
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It was always going to be an opera singer, wasn’t it?
The final boss of Octopath Traveler always felt like a huge deal to me, after 50+ hours of bringing these travelers through to the conclusions of their journey’s, we’re faced with what all of the loose ends were drawing to, fighting the long-sealed away God of darkness Galdera.
As Lyblac steps into the darkness to unleash Galdera, I got that sense that everything had been building up this and what better music to back up this fight for the ages. That almost heavenly voice of the opera singer feels like it’s the soul of Galdera finally breaking free and being able to show the world it’s true power. I don’t know what the lyrics are, but I know there are words like “death” and “annihilation” scattered in there, it gives that sense of foreboding that this is Galdera’s time to shine, not yours, you’re just standing in their way.
Then, once the opera singer has finished the track moves into an epic crescendo, that is exactly what imagined the final boss battle of this game to sound like. The way those violins hit those high notes is that force of the travelers and their will to stop Galdera from wreaking havoc upon the world, only for the singer to come back in and the two fight each other for dominance in the track, mimicking the battle for the fate of the world you’re currently engaged in.
This is by far the toughest battle in the whole game and this music does a great job of capturing the menace of what stands before you, but keeping that sense of hope there throughout the fight.
4 - Decisive Battle II
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Decisive Battle II is a track that wastes no time in getting you pumped up for the boss battle ahead. While Decisive Battle I focuses more on being menacing, edition II of the track tries to intimidate you through sheer power and speed.
The track immediately hits you with sharp violin notes backed up by trumpets and cymbals, which is such a great intro for some of the boss battles in the game, it gets you straight in the mood for action while also being a shock to the system and somewhat intimidating. Then the orchestra kicks into full gear and we get another battle theme that is able to capture the ebb and flow of a battle, the main melody pushes back and forth between high and low notes so smoothly you can feel when the tide in the battle turns thanks to the movements.
Ever now and then the trumpets will kick back in, signalling those big power moves you can bust out in Octopath that do a crazy amount of damage. There’s also a slight elegance to the melody in between the grand moments with the trumpets, that I think really helps me picture what these battles would actually look like in real-time were this a film instead.
Decisive Battle II is a track that’s not afraid to go very big, very fast in order to capture the epic scale of some of the boss battles you face in Octopath, while still keeping a level of nuance in there that makes this soundtrack so great to listen to.
3 - Determination
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This track is most definitely the one that gets the strongest level of emotion out of me.
That’s partly thanks to how it generally plays during the most emotionally charged scenes of the stories, specifically when low characters are picking themselves up at long last. The melody is so simple and yet I find it incredibly powerful, the way the oboe slowly rises it’s notes until it transitions into the violins that carry on the melody as drums, and trumpets start to come in and back it up.
When it comes in at moments like when Primrose is standing on that stage, confronting Simeon I can’t help but well up as she makes her stand, not letting this horrible man put her down again and again. Drawing comparisons to movies, I can absolutely see this playing in the background as the protagonist makes their rousing speech to huge cheers from the audience.
I talk so much about how much I connected with the characters and stories in Octopath, but I don’t think I could’ve connected anywhere near as much without tracks like this.
2 - Main Theme
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This is the kind of track that I probably wouldn’t care that much for under any other circumstances, but the amount of emotion and connection that I now have thanks to this song makes it so wonderful to hear.
It starts off so peaceful and slow with the lone flute and the violins softly in the background and the whole thing slowly but surely builds up, looping the main melody three times throughout the track, but each time adding more and more to the orchestra, making everything feel so much grander, it almost mimics the pattern on the character’s journey. They start out on their own, setting off from their quiet home town, before slowly going out there and exploring the vast world, meeting so many new people and facing tougher challenges along the way.
Not only that, but I think this is the track that best encapsulates what the Octopath Traveler soundtrack is like, because as the track progresses and more and more instruments get added it really does seem to have a bit of everything. I remember listening to this music reach a climax as the credits rolled on my first playthrough of the game and it genuinely brought a tear to my eye.
This is the track that most resembles Octopath Traveler in my mind and listening to it brings back all these wonderful memories of the times I’ve had Orsterra.
1 - Battle at Journey’s End
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When Battle at Journey’s End begins to play emotions are always at the highest, this is the final battle, everything this traveler has suffered through in their journey has led up to this battle here where it’s all on the line (especially if you forgot to save beforehand), so these battles really needed a piece of music that captured that level of emotion so here we are.
Battle at Journey’s End is a closest a track from a video game comes to flawless if you ask me. The quick grand hits from the orchestra to start off the track gets us straight into the heat of things and then the violins that carry the melody instil the flow of the battle into the music while the bass guitar and drums in the background keep everything feeling extremely intense.
Then when the next section of the track hits, I always tear up because the raw power of the emotion behind this section is so strong that I can’t help but cry. The melody of the flute and trumpets as they reach their high notes click so well with me and when that melody repeats for a third time, with the lone flute hitting as high notes as are humanly possible as the drums and bass guitar in the background serve to emphasise it, I feel all of the emotions I’ve built up over the course of the journey pour out of me.
The track does an amazing job of capturing that sense of the final step in a journey, it’s always the toughest step of all, but it’s also the best one. This track manages to make the final battle feel epic, high stakes and threatening while keeping the emotions of everything that’s happened up until that point running high, truely investing me, in the journey’s end.
So that’s it! Those are my favourite tracks from the Octopath Traveler soundtrack. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article and let me know what some of your favourite tracks are, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo.
Make sure you come back this time on Sunday when I’ll be continuing the celebration by ranking all 8 travelers!
