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adelle-ein · 1 year

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lace's oc2path review

Disclaimer: I am deeply critical of this game and of Octopath 1, and I very much loathe COTC, so there will be a lot of negativity in this post. Don't like don't read!!!111 Also explicit spoilers for everything duh, and game typical content warnings.

Octopath and I have a…complicated relationship. It was my first Switch game. I had fond memories of it, even if it was never my favorite, I found it very hard, I really only cared about Primrose and Cyrus as characters, and I never even got all the secret jobs, let alone beat Galdera. Then the mobile game COTC came along, bringing with it a clusterfuck of horrific misogyny, racism, and frankly terrible grimdark story writing, severely souring my relationship with the franchise. I tried to replay it in 2022 and couldn’t even get to a chapter 2 — the grind was awful, the world was bland, the stories were just insufferably boring at best and misogynistic at worst. The lack of relationships or even acknowledgement between the characters made the whole thing feel stilted. Therion works alone, don’t mind the seven other people walking behind him! Now let’s explain the ways all the stories connect in a diary info dump locked behind a boss rush!

Octopath 1 has staggering design flaws and, as more and more JRPGS come to the Switch, those flaws become strikingly pronounced. Party dynamics are important to me, and without them, most of 1’s cast remained stubbornly boring. The game was hard, but not fun enough for me to want to grind OR learn advanced strats. Every chapter of every story follows the same basic plot beats and the layout of the world is boring and predictable, with even the scenery getting old eventually.

So I had mixed feelings when Octopath 2 was announced, especially when I saw they hadn't changed a single one of the main 8 classes and that the Crossed Paths would only be between four duos of characters. Still, the game went on sale for $40 in mid-April. Split the price with a sibling and here we are.

For starters: The graphics in this game are fantastic. I’m still not in love with HD-2D, mostly because of the lack of expressiveness in the tiny character pixels. Watching them flop over dead in a pile of blood in Triangle Strategy was only ever hilarious, and most emotional scenes fall flat. Strangely, Asano continues insisting on using this style for really drama-heavy, emotional games. Luckily, they’ve made some strides forward with OT2. The bigger human sprites are drastically more dynamic and expressive, move more fluidly than ever before, and have ample opportunity to demonstrate both emotion and personality. Everyone’s unique walk cycles and Bewildering Grace dances really bring character to the game. We can get a clearer look at job outfits and have animations for all kinds of things like dancing and character interactions. And HD-2D, as always, continues to shine in the backgrounds, special effects, and enemy sprites. The game is very pretty, and while I still don’t think HD-2D is the best choice for any character-driven game, the sprites don’t feel nearly as rough and awkward as they do in their predecessors. I hope Team Asano retains this style in future HD-2D installments, especially interpersonal ones.

The world is huge, sprawling, and genuinely FUN to explore this time, with various nooks and crannies to dig into. The day/night cycle and added path actions really add a lot of fun and variety to gameplay. The world not being a perfect circle moving outwards really makes things more exciting and less tedious, and the towns, cities, and dungeons had so much variety. I genuinely had fun on the journey this time, while in 1 i was just dragging myself from town to town. The bonus bosses, latent powers, hidden classes, sidequests, and various new game mechanics all felt like upgrades from the first game to me.

The music is banging, no criticisms here. I’ve gotten the impression before that Revo and Nishiki have been influenced by and learning from each other and I think this really shows it. Super fun, loved that we have more theme variants now. VA work was solid, with some very fun moments but nothing I was super amazed by. That's not a problem, though, it's really all I ask for in a game. Loved the added voice lines, the unique voice lines for certain bosses (I don't wanna fight no doggy-dog…), and how the characters interact with each other in battle as the game proceeds.

I’ll continue with my thoughts on the eight characters/stories one by one and then give some overall opinions on the “main plot” and game itself.

Ochette:

The constant food talk gets old fast. Seriously, every conversation this girl has ends up being about food or similar. I also think her voice acting may have been mixed oddly, sometimes it's quiet and sometimes at too high a volume, she ends up sounding REALLY loud and grating a lot of the time. Overall, she really doesn't feel as fleshed out as every other character, and it's a shame. That being said, she does have some very fun travel banters and brings a fun "kid of the group" energy, it's just…she's twenty goddamn years old.

Story-wise, had a lot of potential but constant food talk and the weird fantasy racism (why do they all speak broken English) were huge drags. I thought the stuff with the unchosen starter was a really good idea, but there just wasn't enough time lent to it, and overall the first and last chapters felt completely disconnected from the middle ones. Oh well.

Castti:

No mercy, only pain. She's just a great character who ended up with so much depth and felt like a twist on the kindly, maternal healer. "Do harm when necessary to save lives" is a great archetype for doctor characters and Castti plays the role fantastically. She has been through so much and still chooses to be gentle when she can, but if she has to she'll bring the axe down. She has a talent for making do. She has so many fantastic scenes and lines and flips the "mom friend" character around on its head. I really love her, she's great, she's up there with Primrose for me forever.

Her story was also my favorite, and her boss the toughest to beat by a comfortable margin (what worked in the end was no strategy just hikari, throne, and their knives). Sure, some beats are always predictable in Octopathland, but chapter 3 was beautifully done, and the use of game mechanics and the interface to play with the effects of Castti's amnesia were really enjoyable. Nothing groundbreaking, but a strong and solid story that felt emotional and meaningful as well as unique and independent from the stuff all three games have done and rehashed. Castti herself is of course a huge part of that, but this is one of the rare Octopath stories that didn't feel like it was being fully carried by the strength of the MC.

Throne:

Throne herself, I adore. She's fun, she's determined, she's witty, she's like Primrose in some ways but firmly different in others. She doesn't want to kill, but it's all she knows. She has some fantastic travel banters. I laughed out loud at her first "Bravo, Temenos." And the little "tada…" when she uses Disguise. She's great, she has endless potential, and boy does she have fun path actions.

Warning for discussion of incest, abuse, and rape in the following paragraph :(

Unfortunately, her story is the classic edgy Octopath misogyny fest. What was with that random sex slave and what the hell happened to her??? We don't care, she only exists to show that Bad Guys Evil and that Throne Can't Be A Hero Because She Is Tainted. Everyone wants to rape Throne and that is made way too clear. Some of those people are her fucking brothers, because why the fuck not. And the ending with the "but was it worth it?" tone was phenomenally stupid. Octopath asking the quintessential question: is it okay to escape slavery even if you have to kill your slavers? What if your slavers love you (even though they keep you in a collar and whip you and offer you up as a rape victim and force you to kill people?) What if your slavers are your parents or siblings? Also not loving any of the Marietta story, anything that involves "she killed our baby" is going to set my hair on end in this day and age and I just did not like the way any of that was portrayed and handled. Even if Claude didn't rape Marietta, it's clear he raped several of the other mothers including a few of the ones we meet, and they're all forcibly separated from their babies and left to die — it's just too much. It's too disgusting. The huge conspiracy itself fell flat due to the general creep factor and tried way too hard to be edgy. Throne cannot be happy within her story for even a second and it's way overdone. I'm sick, absolutely sick, of this type of story and COTC trying to play with "but she loves her abuser" stuff and doing a frankly disgusting and often fetishizing job. Overall, it felt like a COTC plotline, and that is very much a bad thing for me! I'm glad that the postgame sidequest cleared up the Mira plotline and actually had some "breaking the cycle" themes, but the fact that we've just apparently left the residents of Lostseed to suffer and die instead of even attempting to bring them to the Garden or somewhere they can get help is pretty gross.

But again, I adore Throne herself. Get her out of this game. Put her in Animal Crossing or something.

Osvald:

And now we flip around! Talk about pleasant surprises! I was not expecting to like him or his story at all, it felt so Octopath edgy and woman-in-fridges-y. And to an extent, it is, but the game is actually self-aware of this and gently pokes fun at it to a degree that makes it more bearable. Osvald is an Edgy Man and the other travelers can and will be confused by it. That's really fun. Being able to save Elena flips everything about the story on its head in a good way, and The Answer being The Power Of Love is both so funny and so sweet and fitting. Just a genuinely heartfelt and optimistic story in the end despite where it begins, I really liked it despite another dead wife on the pile. The antithesis to Throne's story.

My main complaint is that the story pacing ends up really off due to two out of five chapters being at the very start and about the prison escape. I really think he could have benefited from another chapter between his 3 and 4. I wish the ending was more emotionally satisfying, but it does feel in character and leave on a hopeful note. Would have enjoyed, if not a reunion scene between him and Elena, something more significant about them and their relationship than the tiny nod we got at the end. All that being said, liked both him and his story a lot!

Partitio:

He really is very funny. Those voice lines are a hoot, every Scent of Commerce is just ridiculous, and his determination to stop That Devil Called Poverty by having a polite meeting with the CEO of capitalism and giving him some $$$ is just absurd. As a character, I can’t say I find him as interesting as Castti, Throne, or Osvald, but he’s entertaining if nothing else, and his first chapter pacing is creative. He was my MC and spent tons of time running Arcanist Sidestepper or Latent Power Catapult Inventor, so of course I got pretty attached. Yeehaw let's do it catapult go-go-go

But let’s be real here. Any story about a merchant “helping the poor” by doing more capitalism is going to be kind of a mess. It wasn’t a harmful mess, but it felt like the story was deliberately skirting around making any meaningful commentary. None of this is surprising, but I spent a lot of chapter 4 rolling my eyes. Roque illegally modifying a contract after signature on multiple occasions is just completely brushed aside, and Partitio happily SIGNS a contract with him KNOWING Roque has a habit of violating and editing them. It’s all just very…dumb. Seize the means of production Partitio! Don’t just give The Man eighty billion leaves! Also, Roque apparently KEEPS all that money in the postgame even though he’s allegedly reformed, soooooo (I know he's using it on the railroads but like….Yeah)

But yeah, while it was a silly story, it wasn’t much else. He's a fun guy though. I wonder if octopath 3 will bring us our first edgy merchant MC.

Agnea:

She’s sweet and fun. I don’t really feel like I have a lot to say about her, which isn’t a negative? I enjoy her theme, I love all her dance animations, I think her constantly-slipping accent is pretty funny (I’m genuinely not sure if the premise is that Agnea hides her accent and occasionally slips into it by mistake, or if the VA keeps forgetting that Agnea is supposed to sound Southern and only remembers when Agnea says “oh my stars” or something lol. It’s funny though.) But like I said, I enjoy her, she’s not as grating as some of the other “goodhearted, happy go lucky” characters from 1.

Similarly, while I don’t have much to say about her story, that’s not to say I disliked it. I thought it was sweet. Dolcinea and her gf are some of my favorite NPCs in the game, the final battle kicked my ass in a fun way, and most of all I love how ¾ of Agnea’s bosses are just her going “I want to speak to the manager!!” and it actually working. I liked it a LOT better than tressa’s, which it’s constantly compared to, since it felt like an actual coherent story. She’s a star!

Temenos:

Fandom made me dislike Temenos before I set foot in the Crestlands. In those early days especially, every woman in this game was ignored in favor of an AVALANCHE of fanart of him and crick. People say weird shit about Temenos being a twink, some of which is frankly homophobic and/or creepy. I pretty strongly disliked his predecessor Fandom Favorite Man, Therion. Man had a lot riding against him. All that being said, once I got to know him I liked Temenos just fine! He's a priest who can't remember the Lord's Prayer and calls the scripture boring at every given opportunity. Also enjoys beating the shit out of people for information and can barely be contained by those around him. It's a fun character type.

His story, though, is honestly just blah. I guessed the big murderer about as soon as they appeared on screen, and by the time I finished the story I was pretty confident I knew who was manipulating them too…and I was right. As funny as it is that Temenos can use his "special powers" to just, like, see something lying on the floor, the investigation/mystery is really lacking and dull, which is disappointing. Particularly since his story is the "main" one that reveals the ultimate final boss, and the only one that gets a full follow-up cutscene in the extra chapters — it ended up just being a big pile of text dumping, which is not a fun way to do a mystery/whodunit!

Also Crick is boring.

Hikari:

Hikari is Just Fine. He's sometimes fun, largely unremarkable, just another member of the crowd. The same is pretty much true of his story as well — it's just Fine. Has a pretty hilarious mom-fridging as horses whinny loudly in the background, which I think was iconic. Dunban levels of "bad at making friends" (and while it's not "Therion works alone" levels of stupid by any means, does feel a little awkward that he keeps talking about needing his Allies and True Friends while seven people he camps with are standing right there…) I really just don't have a lot to say about him or his story, which isn't a bad thing! It was fine, he's fine. My only real complaint is that I don't love that his overcoming his Evil Blood was tied to him also having Good Blood on his mother's side — that detail seems irrelevant to everything, and I would have preferred his overcoming the Shadow and taking back his Hidden Power just be framed as him having willpower and a good, kind heart. But I am nitpicking here, since I think that was the intention — just wish blood hadn't been brought into it, y'know? Anyway yeah Hikari's fine.

Together Now:

The Crossed Paths are SO short (other than waiting for that insanely long lute performance to be over) and that's a shame. I wish there were more of them, between more characters, that they were longer…I hope any future Octopath games play with these concepts. Overall, I mean, it's a huge meaty game and it's not that I wanted to be playing it longer, I was satisfied by the length. I just really would have appreciated more character interaction. I'm glad that you can view the travel banters freely and easily from the menus now, and that there are more of them. But I do wish that the characters emoted during them instead of just standing there staring blankly at each other. Huge improvement over one, just not quite there yet!

I will say the Extra Chapters/final boss were also huge improvement over 1's, with actual cutscenes, some character interaction, more consistent foreshadowing, and finally, a boss with no boss rush leadup whose level of challenge is more "difficult but doable" than "haha fuck you." My hopes for this game had been that they would lower the final boss difficulty and make a bigger, harder bonus boss for hardcore players to enjoy, and I'm really happy that they did so! I beat Vide :)

That being said, most of the Extra Chapter reveals were entirely contained in heaps of diary entries again. You guys expect me to remember who Tanzy was or care?? Other than the Arcanette cutscene/battle, things never got that emotional or exciting. A few travel banters tried to fill in the blanks, but there just wasn't enough emotion or stakes put into the scenes. That being said, I enjoyed the Vide battle and it was the perfect difficulty level for me, and I enjoyed the ending and epilogue a lot! It just didn't quite do everything I want from a JRPG ending (which…has been my tune with almost every newly released JRPG I've played in the last couple years :( we need better endings in these things.)

Will also say that the Osterra nods don't really make sense, but I'm personally subscribing to Osterra and Solistia straight up being parallel worlds (I suspect COTC will be confirming this one way or another in the JP version shortly, but like, eh).

Overall, it was a good game, I liked it, it's hands down my favorite Octopath and probably my second favorite Asano game after BD2. Despite my complaints, wishes things had diverged further from the original game, and generally feeling like this series is a bit overrated in JRPG circles, Oct2path is solid, fun, and a big upgrade from its predecessors. Stan Castti

#lace reviews #txt #octopath traveler spoilers #octopath traveler 2 spoilers #octopath 2 spoilers #octopath traveler ii spoilers

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postalninja · 5 months

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ask meme! :D

favorite character to write about this year a fic you didn’t expect to write

Just answered the "fic you didn't expect to write," but as for favorite character I wrote this year? My heart says Osvald V. Vanstein. He was my main character for Octopath II, and yes I will admit that I am slightly in love with him, but something about him just gives me the warm fuzzies, so I really enjoyed writing him (even though his role in the two fics I wrote were vastly different from one another)

#answering asks #end of year ask game #tinygigas #2023 fanfic year in review #osvald v. vanstein #octopath traveler 2

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nintendowife · 6 months

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My Nintendo Switch Year in Review 2023 is here!

My first game played in 2023 was Jump Rope Challenge.

I played 14 total games.

I played 433 total hours.

I played the most in January (62 hours).

My most played genres this year

RPG (51%)

Training (16%)

Narrative Adventure (13%)

Action (9%)

Boxing (6%)

Adventure (5%)

My most played games this year

Octopath Traveler II (129 hours)

Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea DX (83 hours)

Piofiore: Fated Memories (57 hours)

Overall it seems like I haven't played that much on Switch this year. I find the hours I've spent on Octopath Traveler II hilarious - I've played it for over 120 hours and I've only finished 4/8 of the characters' stories. I've tried to solve all the side quests on my own and I haven't consulted guides, I've just gone with the flow and explored, so that might explain it.

#nintendo switch year in review #nintendo switch #octopath traveler #atelier series #otome game

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coeursetcolores · 11 months

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H’aanit, the Hunter: Chapter 2

WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Chapter 2 of H’aanit’s story in Octopath Traveler!

Why are all of these Chapter 2 stories so dark?! Even Tressa’s showed the scary reality of monopolies!

We made it to Stonegard, searching for any sign of Z’aanta we could get. Hägen leading us, we found...we found out things.

Stonegard...lives up to it’s name. Lots of rocks. Everything is rocks. I get the point is that everything is carved out of rock, but the gray monochromatic color scheme is kind of dreary. The foggy lighting doesn’t help either. Sure there’s a lot, but a little paint in a few places could have helped.

I really like the emphasis this chapter puts on H’aanit’s relationship with Z’aanta. It’s clear the two care about each other, even if he annoys her at times. And I can understand, man needs to get his vices under control. But the fact that he spends his time away from her talking about her shows how devoted he really is. It’s a sweet, relatable relationship. Which makes the end of this chapter all the worse.

Natalia was cool. It’s nice to learn about some of Z’aanta's life outside of the village. And I give credit to a widow in medieval times just trying to live her life and trying to deal with being harassed (But what is with all the entitled rich people? I’m starting to see a pattern). Also, it was nice she let a direwolf and a snow leopard hang out in her house.

I know we have British accents in this game for some people, but now we’re throwing in southern American ones? Just where is Orsterra based off of, medieval Europe or colonial America?

Spectrewood is a scary forest just like out set out to be. Dark, foggy, could easily be used in a production The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Pretty standard. Until you meet the inhabitants.

The Lord of the Forest...is objectively terrifying. Seriously, look at a picture of it, it is scary. The worst part is it’s scary in the way only nature can be: fearsome but accepted as the way it goes and somehow beautiful. The majesty of a wooden stag is offput by the way the branches trail off to look like it’s flowing, like it’s a ghost. Also it EATS the monsters it summons! Ugghhh....

That’s not the dark part, though.

We find Z’aanta.

And he’s been turned to stone.

All this time, I just thought he was going to be dead. But, that glimmer of hope of turning him back...kind of makes it worse.

With how dark these chapters are getting, there’s a chance whatever Susanna advises won’t work. If she does have a solution.

More than dark, this chapter is just...sad.

H’aanit finds her father figure, and she can’t even reunite with him.

And the monster that did this is still out there. And I do not feel strongly about the Knights Ardante’s chances.

As for the other travelers...

Cyrus: Knowledge! And it’s about wolf facts! I want to hear his lecture...

Primrose: Okay, Prim; not all men are jerks. And you can’t just divide them into groups, people are complex. The guys in the party are pretty alright. H’aanit, you’re fine, she’s just had bad experiences.

Tressa: Aww, cute childhood anecdote. Write your parents, Tressa! You’re lucky enough to have parents, most of your companions don’t! But yeah, parents can get...creative with punishments. Hope she didn’t have a dentist appointment after that.

Therion: Listen to Therion, cut Z’aanta some slack! Let him have a break, he works hard! ...Just limit his spendings.

Olberic: ...She needed that. And Olberic’s right, your true character often only comes out in dire situations. At least Z’aanta gave them a direction to start at. I hope they get to talk one day.

Ophilia: Aww, they bonded! You’re both beautiful girls, and I’m sure Eliza would agree!

Alfyn: Alfyn is too good for this world. Best support.

Well, our only chance is in Stillsnow.

Let’s hope it works out.

#Octopath Rambler #H'aanit #Chapter Two #Review #Octopath Traveler

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vikktoriouxgames · 1 year

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Octopath Traveler 2 is one of the best JRPGs I've played in my life.

Octopath Traveler 2 is an instant classic, monumentally fantastic JRPG, and I recommend it on the same level that I recommend Final Fantasy 6 and Golden Sun. It is Amazing, however I can see that there is still room for improvement.

Octopath traveler 2 is better than Octopath traveler 1 in every single aspect. Dialogue, voice acting, writing, combat, exploration, items, world building and cohesion, connective plot, Characters, the literal only thing I can't bring myself to say Octopath 2 did better is the music because the music is absolutely amazing in both titles.

Most of the character's stories (Hikari's sucks) are actually interesting and compelling plot lines that made me want to see them through to the end. The connective tissue between these character's stories is much more present and makes them feel more tied together. There are a lot of very subtle references to things that occur in other character's stories or the places they go that make them feel like they're actually happening in the world. There much more character interaction, having 4 additional mini stories featuring groups of 2, and a lot of travel banter that is actually quite relevant and worth paying attention to. Towards the end of the game however we get to see all 8 of the characters interact and sadly it made me realize that if they could have had something of that level throughout the rest of the game it would probably be the best RPG I've ever played.

The combat is similar to the first game and you'll find no complaints from me there, I loved the flow of combat in the original. However, to freshen it up there is this new layer of strategy with some more mechanical depth that is very welcome. Every character in the game is given something unique to them and it just works, it's great!

The first game left me with a sour taste in my mouth at the ending because of how unresolved everything felt, but thankfully they were able to wrap things up in a MUCH better way. When I finished the first game I never wanted to play another game made by this studio again. I'm not quite sure what got me so excited for this one, but I'm glad I decided to give them another chance, because now I can't wait to see what they make next.

#game review #octopath ii #octopath traveler #octopath 2 #8path #jrpg review #I'm real fuckin happy this exists #been itching for a good JRPG for years and this finally scratched that itch GOOD

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dyzzythedemon · 1 year

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My thoughts so far on Octopath Traveler 2, a game I've been binging for 3 days straight:

Overall, it's an improvement in every way.

In the original's story(not that I'm done with all the stories in the sequel yet,) there wasn't really anything tying the characters together. They all had separate paths, and the "travel banter" was laughable at best. That stays true in this game, apart from the addition of Side Quests, where two of the 8 will pair for a sort of mini-joint story, and though there are only four thus far, I really wish there were more. I like seeing our protags interact.

The battle mechanics are improved as well, adding a new fun gauge for super moves, and individual weapon sprites, which as McBeanss pointed out, is very well done. I do feel the difficulty spike is exhausting once you get to the level 45-55 range, as nearly everything will OHKO you immediately if you're not careful. For this reason I have Throne AND Ochette(multiclassed into thief) in my party, and I suggest others do the same.

As for jobs, it's strange to me that shrines no longer give you jobs, as now you'll have to hunt NPCs down for "Job Lisences", but it's not too big an issue for me. I like that there are new secret jobs, though am a bit confused as to why they're so hidden. The inventor in particular is easy to find, hard to actually get skills for, as it requires you to search for random items in the world to progress the class. Haven't gotten any others yet.

This game thrives in it's new,(better, in my opinion,) characters, it's soundtrack, and it's ability to show real growth since OT1. I sincerely hope we get a third entry in this franchise, and I hope beyond all hope for 3 that they will WEAVE PEOPLE'S STORIES INTO EACH OTHER. I cannot stress enough how they can come up with really great individual character arcs, but all the side convos amount to is "can I touch your tail."

As for the characters themselves, I started with Ochette and thank god. she doesn't talk like jar jar binks. I love her sincerely, massive improvement for the Hunter rep. I like that you gain monsters along her route that don't leave you, as well. Temenos has to be my favorite, given that he's a WELL-WRITTEN CLERIC??? He's snarky. He's a bastard. He's hyperintelligent. He can go into the Sacred Flame Shadow Realm and Investigate your ass without even going into the building. He's written like a danganronpa trickster wasn't stuck in a franchise written by Kodaka and GOD it shows. Can't gush enough about Temenos.

For the other two whose stories I've... actually played(I'm playing this in halves.), Throne's story was a TRIP, and legit as uncomfortable as I think it was meant to be, and I haven't finished Osvald's yet, but I've done chapter 4 and it's shaping up to be something truly terrifying in the final entry.

I like Partitio, but I wish the acquisition of a ship wasn't A. locked behind a paywall and B. Locked behind him. As for the guy himself, he's great! has to be one of my favorite voices so far(except temenos, obviously.). Hikari is shaping up to have HUGE ramifications later down the line, which I'm excited for. Agnea... I'm gonna be real, she's adorable, but I don't really see what she adds? I'm sure hers will be the spiritual successor to Tressa OT1's route; sweet as sugar and spice and... pretty low on stakes, but who knows! they could easily subvert my expectaions. And as for Cassti, she's gay! I hope she finds her girlfriend soon, and I like that you can find her in another town simply labeled "Apothecary" in Partitio's route. really helps make the game feel like home.

But yeah, this game has been quite a ride. Can't wait to see how it ends! A few stories seem to be lining up lore-wise, like how Temenos' deity and the inciting force behind Ochette's story is the same; a large blue flame. I'm crossing my fingers for a big final boss including everyone once all 8 stories have been completed, but I'm not holding my breath, seeing as how the octopath devs don't really want to write ONE story, as opposed to eight(or more, if you count side missions.) I respect the style but the characters are too good not to use together. Solid 9/10 game for me so far. Idk WHAT'S up with that boy in Gravell though.

#octopath 2 #octopath traveler #ot1 #ot2 #octopath #square enix #gaming #game review #games #nintendo #switch

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less-than-three-3 · 1 year

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octopath traveler 2 - a masterclass in developing a sequel and an instant classic

I think that in games, when developing a sequel, it’s not uncommon to see a team take feedback and make changes that try to make it more widely received. Often, I feel that in that endeavor it’s easy to lose sight of what made the original game uniquely tick or feel like it did. Don’t just take my word for it (though what games I feel fall into this category can be controversial), it’s something that Sakurai has often mentioned before, for example.

Octopath Traveler II is a master class in how not to fall into that pitfall, and not just one of the best sequels (most improved award), but I think one of the best turn based RPG’s to date, at least by modern standards. I think it’s probably not a game that’s for everyone’s taste, but if you go in without expectations, I think it’s hard to ever really be let down. Likely spoilers below (especially end-game spoilers), but I’ll try to leave them to the end.

Before digging into the sequel though, I just want to briefly touch on octopath 1 in 2023. Something that I think about a lot is Scott’s retrospective on 3D World (I ain’t timestamping this one sorry), specifically, that 3D World was given a good bit of flack on release because it felt like it was “taking 3D mario into a bad direction” when, in a post-Odyssey world, we can really look back and really appreciate 3D World for what it is, and not judge it for what it isn’t (watch the whole video, it’s a great retrospective).

All this to basically say, I think a lot of the flack that octopath 1 got was kind of in the same vein. People really wanted it to be what it wasn’t. It’s not a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, where you get a ragtag team of misfits banded together on a big journey, maybe with small individual branches along the way. It’s 8 very differently motivated individuals who just kind of pick each other up and just happen to help each other do their thing. The exp sharing and party system I can get being annoying, but I don’t think it’s really more than just a minor annoyance at worst, and I can get behind it being good to push the player to experiment with team composition (your leader gets somewhat overleveled but I really never found it that much more broken than synergies you get by mid-game). In another game that I love, Ruined King, they do have full party exp share, and while I loved experimenting and moving parts around to make different comps, I definitely felt that is very self-motivated, and the game doesn’t have too much in place to force you to move people around besides required character segments. Random encounters... I get complaining about it, but again it feels like idiot-proofing the level curve, because so often I see people in games with “walking encounters” just never ever fight them and then complain about being underleveled and having to “grind”.

This might feel like an odd rant to go on, and yeah it is partially just me getting on my damn soapbox and saying “octopath 1 was good actually”, but it’s important as context for why I find octopath 2 to be such a brilliant game (and because octopath 2 gives a new appreciation for these elements). I love the RPGSite review because it sums up this angle really well:

“As I mentioned previously, Octopath Traveler is meant to be a structurally open game that values player freedom. The overall arrangement of eight individual characters with eight distinct storylines may not fit the more traditional and expected structure of a unified JRPG party and a unified goal, thus some concessions are made in order to fit that vision in terms of character dynamics. Maybe it took falling in love with the SaGa games - which share some common components - for me to begin to understand what Octopath was trying to do all along, but I think this was the right direction to take the sequel in. I'd rather not see Octopath change dramatically and risk its identity in order to conform to expectations it doesn’t try to meet. If you’re looking for linear, story-driven, party-centric RPGs, there are an abundance of them.”

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying the original is perfect. I found some of the stories not that interesting (or maybe I just never gave them a chance!), and certainly the character interactions were a little sparse and unimpactful. But that’s where octopath 2 really shines beyond its origins, because I think the entire cast is absolutely wonderful, and their interactions, both in their paired quests and side-banted, ooze character. There is certainly a disparity between characters because they are all such different people, but as you get through chapters you can definitely feel them warm up to each other and get to understand each other’s perspectives. It’s such a breath of fresh air because in the original I felt like a lot of them were kind of just, one character asking the other for advice, and then they give it? And the structure of the chapters is so varied in the sequel, including how and when to use path actions (the night/day system helps a lot), when in the original it definitely felt a bit cut and paste.

I don’t even know where to start with the characters and their stories. I guess, like with Live-a-Live, I’ll just list them from my least favorite to favorite, but just know that I loved all of them.

8. Agnea - her motivations really kind of felt the most octopath 1 out of everyone, and not necessarily in the best way? I mean, she’s pretty much like Tressa, who I love don’t get me wrong, but it is just strange to me that, throughout every single chapter, it never really, like, felt like there should really be conflict? It’s a weird way to put it, but she is pretty much just going to become a star, and that sure is the journey she goes on. I don’t even really think she has many foreshadowing moments, but I might have just missed those? She’s super adorable and lovable and brings everyone cheer, and her story is very much the lighthearted one, so I suppose it fits. I don’t know, it just didn’t fully click for me. Great member of the party, I just wasn’t the most invested. Part of it may also just be that it feels like so different from Prim, who was easily one of the best characters from 1.

I think that is literally the only vaguely negative one I have, and I didn’t even really dislike her story, I just was least invested in it lmao

7. Throne (I will be leaving out the accent sorry I’m lazy) - I think the premise and split path and internal and external qualms are interesting, but I just kinda felt like it was Therion-lite. The final twist... sure is a twist of all time. I’m not in love with her story in retrospect, but it was like good enough moment to moment. Kinda like Lycoris Recoil, thinking about it.

6. I guess Osvald is 6th? These rankings past 8 are definitely pretty wishy washy. His character and story and motivation is just. anguish. Everything sucks (for Osvald). Harvey sucks. At every step you think you cannot get more upset at the situation and it just keeps on getting worse. How. Incredible.

5. Ok I fucking love Partitio but I would be remiss to rank his story too highly, because he is just god’s gift to mercantilism. He can do no wrong. There is no growth. But he’s really fucking charismatic and funny so it totally makes sense. It’s also really funny that he is the most socialist merchant ever, and he takes down the chains of capitalism and their absurd contracts and loopholes and then that final boss fight is just so awesome. I love Partitio.

4. Hikari also goes in the middle for just being A Political War Drama (I love those). He’s pretty much simba. But like, a dark, fucked up version of simba. I don’t know if I have that much else to say about it, that pretty much is everything.

3. Castti is really really interesting. Piecing together lost memories felt a little cliche to start, but the story being put together and the final few turns of the story were absolutely gut wrenching and my god what an incredible story. She is the mom of the group, and I don’t know if she was really that much more.

2. Temenos is a really interesting cleric character, and a huge departure from Ophilia (for the better). He is pretty much just Sherlock, from Sherlock. He can really be an asshole, and it’s really interesting to see this kind of angle, and not in a “church bad” trope, but in a “church good? but we need to fix the church?”. I would probably be mobbed for not mentioning Crick. So I have. I cannot talk about Crick without massive spoilers. If you finished his story you know why. Great character, great story.

1. Ochette may not belong up here but she is by far my favorite character what a fucking idiot I love her dearly. Just too stupid to live. There are like, a maximum of two things on her mind, ever. Her arc is great. She is voiced by Yuffie Kisaragi, the best character in FF7R. I am biased. This is my write-up. What are you gonna do about it.

Speaking of Live-A-Live, I can’t help but think Team Asano working on that remake helped reinvigorate some notable improvements in this sequel. Obviously the Octopath games have a lot of flesh and blood from Live-A-Live to begin with. But the final chapter of the game felt very reminiscent of that of LAL, both in terms of literal story structure, but especially with the worldbuilding and foreshadowing dropped throughout the game. I will spare many of the details, but I really liked the way that the foreshadowing is much more apparently integrated into events, major and minor, in each character’s story.

The combat system being pretty much the same, but with an extra new gauge, is great, because the original combat system was already really great. I truly think that if you have complaints about the break/boost system, the game probably just is not for you. I vibe with it, I get it, I love it. Latent powers just add a new extra layer to how to approach turn planning and break timing. Such a small change that adds so much.

Class rebalancing/skill changes were also very noticeable for the better. I feel like a good amount of people must have complained about access to aoe because good aoe is pretty much a premium now, unless your name is ochette (and even then you really have to look for it) or osvald (scholar privilege, ig). Support skills shifting around makes for different dynamics in approaching battles, and I especially love the new hidden classes, specifically Inventor, though Arcanist and Conjurer are neat too (though Arcanist gets really broken... but it’s ok because merchant is a pretty weak class otherwise?). My only real complaint is that I wish you could refund/re-allocate JP in some way, and that’s just because I love experimenting with class combinations.

The day/night system giving pretty much 2 of every “ability” per time of day makes pretty much any comp good for just roaming around town stealing getting to know the townspeople. Having time-specific passive abilities is a neat function, but I think there is definitely a good amount of room to build upon this. A very great seed planted for a future game. There will be a future game, right?

Being up to level curve was only really a struggle for one level jump, I think it was right before chapter 3, but I think they make patching up those last couple levels really easy with all of the exp boosting tools they give you, and really early (I had not equipped them because I thought it was only for the equipping character - no, they’re bonuses for the whole active party - and that’s probably why I got a little behind). Otherwise just going through chapters, traveling from one place to another, exploring the side dungeons, the natural leveling pace felt, well mostly unnoticeable, which I think is the best place for a leveling curve to be?

Dungeon design strictly in terms of explorability is nothing mindblowing, but it more than makes it up with the visual and sound design. Even now 2DHD still looks fucking wonderful and I wish so badly for the DQ3 remake to come out and other 2DHD games to come out. And yes, the music is incredible. I feel like often people just mention the battle themes, and yes, they go hard, but with both Octopath 1 and 2 every single environment has such unique sonic character. I don’t necessarily know if the best town themes come close to my favorites from the original (Orewell my beloved), but just the sheer variety in character, instrumentation, and composition is very much still ever-present, and I wish Yasunori Nishiki many many more opportunities in the future because he is genuinely one of the greats. Even better, though, like in any good musical design, is when the sound just cuts out. There is nothing more unsettling, especially in a game with such a lush soundtrack, than silence. Every such moment is incredible. I could literally make an entire separate essay on the sound design of these games (I have), but I won’t gush on and on here.

Octopath Traveler II is a game that really really plays into its strengths, and even while it successfully patches up most of of its original’s actual weaknesses, it is very much its strengths that continue to really shine. It is an RPG experience unlike any other out there, and if it’s one you are keen to experience, you will have a wonderful time. This is one of my favorite turn-based RPG’s, followed closely by Team Asano’s own Triangle Strategy, and I think it still has incredibly high potential to continue to iterate on its niche. I absolutely think this will be one of the more influential games of the genre for the future - a modern classic, while still feeling solidly rooted in its inspirations from the SNES golden era.

#octopath ii #octopath traveler #jrpg #jrpg review #octopath spoilers

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