Octopath Traveler Series Thread - Octopath Traveler II Out Now!

[Jinn]

I know I can't be the only one who was eyeing this game up when it came out on Switch, but was wondering if I'd ever get to play it because I'm not one to buy consoles.

Lo and behold! 2019 is a nice to to be a PC gamer. A lot of people are upset about the pricing. Either way, I've wanted to play it for so long I would have payed full price for it regardless. If this is the direction successful JRPGs are going for Square-Enix - with the likes of Dragon Quest XI and Nier: Automata - I want to support that, particularly when they are released on my platform of choice.

I know there was another thread made around the time of the Switch release, but it's got a bad name and seems to get lost in the shuffle quite easily. Weeaboo forum is very lightly moderated these days, but if any staff sees this and feels like merging the old thread into this one, it would be much appreciated.

Anyway, hoping to get some discussion going about this when it comes to a whole new group of players. Anyone planning on grabbing it right away? My greatest hesitation has been concerns about lack of difficulty, but it seems as long as you're not grinding excessively, exploiting things like high-level equipment stealing through save-scumming, or playing the character chapters using meta-knowledge, it can offer a decent challenge. From what I've seen of the combat, it reminds me quite a bit of the Shin Megami Tensei series in terms of weakness exploitation and turn-pushing, which is absolutely just fine with me. Also, I know it's a fair amount different, but the SaGa vibes got me hooked too.

Very much so looking forward to Friday. Been waiting for a nice relaxing and lengthy JRPG to sink into for awhile now.

 

[Vorark]

Was really looking forward to it but:

a) Ridiculous price, even with the GMG discount;
b) Denuvo crapware -- Octopath isn't DQXI or MHW (and even then I regret buying the latter, such a letdown port-wise);
c) Square-Enix ports are either good (DQXI) or godawful (Nier). Maybe it'll turn out decent since it's powered by Unreal Engine...

Gonna pass on this one.

 

[Jenkem]

I have it on the Switch, it's OK. It's very repetitive.

 

[Steamboat Willie]

I have it on the Switch, it's OK. It's very repetitive.

My feelings as well. I don't think this is worth $60.

 

[Jinn]

What do you guys mean by repetitive though? JRPGs are kind of repetitive by nature. From what I've seen, it could hardly deviate much from the repetitious nature of something like DQ XI, which I enjoyed greatly for 100+ hours.

 

[Tigranes]

Depends on your tolerance levels. You don't really need to deliberately grind in Octopath (I was fine with zero such grinding until the optional boss at the end), but the way they broke it up into 8 little stories that all run on the exact same formula does make it into a bit of "talk to 3 guys, walk through 3 very similar maps, fight the boss, rinse and repeat".

It's a good, charming game, but it does run its formula dry.

 

[Martyr]

let me know when Denuvo has been cracked. I was looking forward to Octopath, but I'm not paying 60€ for it.

 

[Jinn]

Depends on your tolerance levels. You don't really need to deliberately grind in Octopath (I was fine with zero such grinding until the optional boss at the end), but the way they broke it up into 8 little stories that all run on the exact same formula does make it into a bit of "talk to 3 guys, walk through 3 very similar maps, fight the boss, rinse and repeat".

It's a good, charming game, but it does run its formula dry.

Yeah, my tolerance for this kind of thing is very high when it comes to JRPGs. Some of the best JRPGs in history have been very formulaic in their core gameplay loop. Not saying I'm expecting this to be one of the best JRPGs ever or anything. It just seems like it'll suit my tastes fine, as I very much so like the vignette approach to storytelling in this genre, which is kind of why I made the comparison to Dragon Quest XI. That also has a very formulaic gameplay loop for the most part which tends to be travel to new town -> have new characters introduces -> have new vignette introduced -> travel to dungeon and fight boss, etc., yet was extremely well-received on the codex and one of my favorite games of the past few years. Dragon Quest XI has very traditional gameplay, but - like I said - you can find a very similar loop in a ton of great JRPGs.

Anyway, I'm curious to form my own opinions on it and maybe see why it has such a reserved reception around here. My guess is a lot of people have yet to play it. To me, it sounds just like what I'm looking for in a modern JRPG with classic gameplay with a twist.

 

[Jenkem]

What do you guys mean by repetitive though? JRPGs are kind of repetitive by nature. From what I've seen, it could hardly deviate much from the repetitious nature of something like DQ XI, which I enjoyed greatly for 100+ hours.

DQ propels itself forward by visiting new areas, has an engaging overall story that propels your adventure and the classic DQ style vignettes gives self-contained questlines that have resolutions, varying towns based on different cultures, and the battles are well-paced.

Octopath mainly has you visiting the same areas, there is no variety to the style of towns everything looks/feels the same with slight differences, there is no overarching narrative, each chapter for each character is mainly just about them and there is nothing more than brief surface level interactions between party members. the individual characters' stories are not even as fully fleshed out as DQ vignettes, and they take 4 chapters to conclude them. you never really have to change your battle style once you figure out the system, you will be using the same exact tactics for 90% of the battles, and boss battles have increasingly ridiculous HP bloat.

Dragon Quest XI also has a very formulaic gameplay loop for the most part which tends to be travel to new town -> have new characters introduces -> have new vignette introduced -> travel to dungeon and fight boss, etc., yet was extremely well-received on the codex and one of my favorite games of the past few years. Dragon Quest XI has very traditional gameplay, but - like I said - you can find a very similar loop in a ton of great JRPGs..

DQ being formulaic and following the DQ formula doesn't mean it is repetitive.

DQ- you go to a new town, it looks completely different and the people are vastly different from the previous town. -> meet new characters and have a new vignette -> the vignette is actually a self contained story with its own conclusion and character growth while also adding to the main plot and/or propelling the story forward-> go to dungeon that is themed around the current scenario you are in. along the way you gain more party members, do side quests that add to the flavor and worldbuilding, there are various side things to do in towns like horse racing, the casinos, etc.

OP- you go to a new town, it looks basically like the other towns you've visited but the layout is different -> talk to random NPCs and find the person who starts that character's chapter -> short 16-bit style cutscene involving only the main character and a couple NPCs-> go to dungeon, it's a cave -> fight boss -> short 16-bit style cutscene with that chapter's character and a couple NPCs -> oh i guess we need to go to this town now, huh? -> go to other town, talk to the npc that starts that character's chapter -> go to dungeon, it's a cave! etc.

then repeat that exact same formula in the similar looking generic towns and the similar looking generic caves. if you are feeling adventurous you might go to the tavern and get a short dialogue between the character involved with the quest you did and another party member that amounts to "wow so that happened, huh?" it's fucking nothing. anything potentially interesting in the character's stories is undermined by the fact that each of their chapters is usually 10 levels higher than the previous one, so it's not necessarily incentivized to stick to one character and see their story from start to finish.

 

[flyingjohn]

What do you guys mean by repetitive though? JRPGs are kind of repetitive by nature. From what I've seen, it could hardly deviate much from the repetitious nature of something like DQ XI, which I enjoyed greatly for 100+ hours.

Octopath mainly has you visiting the same areas, there is no variety to the style of towns everything looks/feels the same with slight differences, there is no overarching narrative, each chapter for each character is mainly just about them and there is nothing more than brief surface level interactions between party members. the individual characters' stories are not even as fully fleshed out as DQ vignettes, and they take 4 chapters to conclude them. you never really have to change your battle style once you figure out the system, you will be using the same exact tactics for 90% of the battles, and boss battles have increasingly ridiculous HP bloat.

Is there at least any variety in the combat options and good enemy variety?

 

[Steamboat Willie]

OP- you go to a new town, it looks basically like the other towns you've visited but the layout is different -> talk to random NPCs and find the person who starts that character's chapter -> short 16-bit style cutscene involving only the main character and a couple NPCs-> go to dungeon, it's a cave -> fight boss -> short 16-bit style cutscene with that chapter's character and a couple NPCs -> oh i guess we need to go to this town now, huh? -> go to other town, talk to the npc that starts that character's chapter -> go to dungeon, it's a cave! etc.

Yep. Every chapter is essentially the same Mad Libs sheet filled in with different nouns. I lost interest and stopped sometime while doing everyone's third chapter.

 

[newtmonkey]

Sounds like the typical 16/32 bit JRPG formula, so no thanks. Especially not for 70 FUCKING DOLLARS plus Denuvo, which is the price here.

 

[Sam Ecorners]

OP- you go to a new town, it looks basically like the other towns you've visited but the layout is different -> talk to random NPCs and find the person who starts that character's chapter -> short 16-bit style cutscene involving only the main character and a couple NPCs-> go to dungeon, it's a cave -> fight boss -> short 16-bit style cutscene with that chapter's character and a couple NPCs -> oh i guess we need to go to this town now, huh? -> go to other town, talk to the npc that starts that character's chapter -> go to dungeon, it's a cave! etc.

Yep. Every chapter is essentially the same Mad Libs sheet filled in with different nouns. I lost interest and stopped sometime while doing everyone's third chapter.

You got further than me, I didn't even finish second chapter

 

[Jinn]

I've been on the codex for 12+ years now. You'd think I'd have learned.

Repeat mantra, do not forget, become wise with your age - "Do not discuss or start threads concerning games you're excited about on the codex."

Well, I'll maybe be back sometime to let you know how bad or not bad it is.

[/endthread]

 

[Tigranes]

The original Octopath thread is actually a good deal more positive, and many folks seemed to enjoy the game. I finished it and enjoyed it, and don't regret my near-full price purchase on Switch. It's just that the formulaic aspect of it is probably the number one talking point when you want to assess it.

For most people who enjoy JRPGs in general I'd think it's a worthwhile purchase.

 

[Azalin]

60 euros lol,I wanted to play this but it will have to sit on my wishlist until it gets a 75% discount

 

[Abu Antar]

I enjoyed the game well enough. I do not regret my purchase at all. Whoever tells you grinding is a must is lying. Equipment, classes and skill assignment is much more important. You can steal and purchase more and better gear. You can challenge or recruit NPCs. You can even capture strong side bosses and use them as summons.

Sure, the formula might be samey. You have 8 characters that have 4 chapters each. Very formulaic. But the side quests are mostly fun and I like the world. Music is also very solid. Was it worth the €45 I paid on Switch? Yes, yes it was. $60 is a bit much for a later PC release, and Denuvo makes the purchase less worth it. What could be cool with the PC version is if there will be a modding community or not.

 

[Jinn]

Got a chance to play for an hour or so before work today. It seems to be a pristine port on my system anyway. All the performance options you need, nice clean GUI for button displays and the like, and of course very smooth performance.

Seems like fun. I like that each character can use multiple weapon types based on their job, and the skill system in general - while quite traditional - seems like it'll be a lot of fun to play around with once you get into dual-classing.

EDIT: My god this game is so much more beautiful with the Depth of Field effect disabled. I kind of get what they were going for stylistically with it, but it just didn't work out. PC version +1. If anyone wants to disable it go to

C:\Users\username\Documents\My Games\Octopath_Traveler\Config\WindowsNoEditor\Engine.ini

open it and add the line

[SystemSettings]
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0

I can see all the lovely pixel art now.

 

[LESS T_T]

Looks like this PC release will be relatively successful.

3,817 peak players. Positive reviews.

There's a very small guerrilla (buy-review-refund) review bomb by Chinese because of the price. (For some Square reasons this game practically doesn't do regional prices, so Chinese price is only 2 dollars cheaper than the US price. That must be an absurdly high price for Chinese.) But even with that, most Chinese reviews are positive (80%). (The price is both cause and deterrent, think about it.)

 

[StaticSpine]

There's a very small guerrilla (buy-review-refund) review bomb by Chinese because of the price. (For some Square reasons this game practically doesn't do regional prices, so Chinese price is only 2 dollars cheaper than the US price. That must be an absurdly high price for Chinese.) But even with that, most Chinese reviews are positive (80%). (The price is both cause and deterrent, think about it.)

The Russian price looks even higher (~$70). AAA games in Ru Steam segment usually cost ~$30.

 

[Jinn]

After about 6 hours of playing, I can say without a doubt that I'm having a great time. Really surprised and impressed with the writing/localization so far. The characters I've played with have been very interesting and likeable. Love how open it is right from the beginning: go anywhere, recruit who you want, explore what you want even if it's way beyond your current abilities. The towns and cities seem very dense in content when you take into mind character talents, how they play into sidequests, and all the different combination that can be achieved through these things. I've actually been enjoying the exploration a lot, both in towns and outside. There's a lot of fun things to find, steal, fight, and interact with. Combat is fun, but definitely a bit easy, but there is still a lot of nice tactical depth involved as far as a JRPG goes. I can excuse this because when you're assembling your party, it's mostly introductions to their initial classes and abilities. What I'm planning to do to mix things up a bit difficulty-wise is playing the game through with two distinct parties. I'm going to gather all the different characters, then stick with one four person party until all of their four chapters are complete. After that, I'll move onto the next four characters and their chapters. After that, move onto endgame stuff.

As far as the visuals go, I love it. The spritework is excellent, particularly where enemies are concerned. Reminds me a lot of the superb spritework in Final Fantasy VI, which I'm sure is intended. The soundtrack is AMAZING, but everyone knows that already.

A reduced first impression would be this is the perfect mix of the SaGa and Final Fantasy series for me. I can see how the formula will get a bit repetitive as I progress, but it's almost repetitive like a lot of great CRPGs are when persuing their main questlines. Just having a ton of fun.

 

[Jenkem]

What I'm planning to do to mix things up a bit difficulty-wise is playing the game through with two distinct parties. I'm going to gather all the different characters, then stick with one four person party until all of their four chapters are complete. After that, I'll move onto the next four characters and their chapters. After that, move onto endgame stuff.

BTW You can't switch out the character you choose at the beginning of the game, they will always be in your party.

 

[Jinn]

TW You can't switch out the character you choose at the beginning of the game, they will always be in your party.

As far as I understand it they'll be in my party until I finish their fourth chapter, which is why running two separate four person parties makes the most sense to me. Finish all four chapters for one party, then do the same for the other. Keeps everyone more abreast in terms of level and power.

 

[Garbage]

TW You can't switch out the character you choose at the beginning of the game, they will always be in your party.

As far as I understand it they'll be in my party until I finish their fourth chapter, which is why running two separate four person parties makes the most sense to me. Finish all four chapters for one party, then do the same for the other. Keeps everyone more abreast in terms of level and power.

It's a good idea to keep everyone somewhat evenly levelled if you're looking at doing the optional final boss/dungeon which requires using everyone to fight. I used my strong characters to carry the shitty ones (H'aanit) and got fucked over when it came to the final challenge.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Depends on your tolerance levels. You don't really need to deliberately grind in Octopath (I was fine with zero such grinding until the optional boss at the end), but the way they broke it up into 8 little stories that all run on the exact same formula does make it into a bit of "talk to 3 guys, walk through 3 very similar maps, fight the boss, rinse and repeat".

It's a good, charming game, but it does run its formula dry.

It seems it has similar problems as Braverly Default then.