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aestivalis) wrote2021-07-25 04:44 pm
aestivalis) wrote2021-07-25 04:44 pm
baby tiger cub, 0 years old
I have been playing Octopath Traveler!
Octopath Traveller is a Nintendo Switch JRPG modelled in a "HD-2D" style reminiscent of video games from the late 80's and early 90's. Combined with a modern turn-based battle system and a wonderful soundtrack and it's honestly just been a delightful recipe for nostalgia. You would have though I might have played it sooner! But unfortunately, my first experience with Octopath Traveler wasn't ideal.
Just to quickly clarify a central conceit of the game, Octopath Traveler is framed as the overlapping journeys of eight different characters: Olberic, a former knight; Cyrus, a scholar; Therion, a thief; Ophelia, a cleric; Primrose, a dancer; Alfyn, an apothecary, Tressa, a merchant, and H'annit, a hunter. IT SPELLS OCTOPATH, WINKY WINKY WINKY. At the beginning of the game you choose which character you wish to start with, and after completing their i
introductory story you are free to travel around and recruit the other seven in whichever order you desire.
My first exposure to Octopath Traveler was playing a demo that allowed you to play the introductions for Olberic the knight and Primrose the dancer. Primrose sounded like the more compelling character to me (she's secretly out for revenge on the people who killed her family!), so I decided to play through Olberic first and save the better option for second. Which I suppose was a mistake on my part, because I was so so deeply underwhelmed by everything poor Olberic had to offer that I pretty much forgot about the game entirely for months and months.
It was only with the release of Project Triangle Strategy's playable demo, designed by the same team as Octopath Traveler, that I found myself thinking about the game again.shinsengumi (Fel) loved Triangle Strategy and it seemed natural that she might enjoy Octopath Traveler as well—and if it was gonna be on the Switch anyway, we might as well both play it!
AND SO WE HAVE BEEN.
Fel chose to start with Therion, because of course she did. He is a rogue, a loner, a lonely, and exactly her character type. I started a few weeks after her, and I went with Tressa! Because of course I did. She is a merchant, a sunbeam, cheeky and earnest, and exactly my character type. And so far I have had no regrets about my choice! She feels like quite a traditional starting character for a JRPG, but I find that that's suiting me quite well. She actually seems like the type of character who would cheerfully and unrepentantly get herself involved in the business of seven other travellers contending with seven completely disparate goals; I don't have to suspend my disbelief about why she's bother to jump in and involve herself. NO SLIGHT INTENDED TO FEL AND THERION, but that boy spends a lot of time talking about how trust is for fools and working with others only gets you betrayed in the end and honey you got a line of seven people following around behind you, you are not the misanthropic antihero you think you are.
There's loads of really good things I could say for this game! I love the sidequests, and how they can often be solved through a variety of different options depending on which characters you have with you. This guy in the prison cell says he's innocent! Should we inquire about town to try and find witnesses able to attest to his version of events? Or should we steal the key from the uncooperative prison guard and set him free without contest? These sorts of things happen all the time, and the game never really spells it out for you. It makes me wonder how many quests I've completed so far where I've completely missed an alternative solution. It really encourages playing around with a variety of different party members, as only some characters are able to perform certain actions. Tressa can purchase items from NPCs, while Therion can steal them. SO USE THERION, RIGHT?? Except Therion has a limited chance of success (anywhere from 3% up to 100% from my experiences so far), and if you're caught in the act you can suffer penalties in that local area. Tressa will never fail to make a purchase... so long as you actually have the funds in question. And now and then you'll have items that an NPC just straight up isn't willing to sell, or items that Therion just isn't able to steal. There's always times where one of them is preferable over the other.
The entire party functions this way. A lot of people like to complete the game by splitting the core eight into two groups: OCTO (Olberic, Cyrus, Tressa/Therion and Ophelia), and PATH (Primrose, Alfyn, Tressa/Therion and H'annit). With those combinations, you'll always have someone able to fulfill the broad criteria of the four major NPC actions: Challenging to a duel, Acquiring an item, Gleaning information, and Leading the NPC somewhere. Personally, though, I'm enjoying playing with everyone all mixed together and just swapping people in and out as I see fit. After all, like I outlined above, there are a few little things that are truly unique to each individual. They all deserve some time in the sun! (yes, even you, boring olberic. eventually.)
Right now I'm still in the recruiting phase, but the journey is well under way. Primrose and Olberic have unsurprisingly ended up as my last two characters left to be encountered, but that's okay. Once I have everyone together it'll be completely 100% uncharted territory going forward. Who knows, maybe Olberic will become my super best favourite character by the end! IT COULD HAPPEN. there is always a chance.
So far, excluding the two I just mentioned, I think my favourites to least favourites goes something like... Tressa, Alfyn, Cyrus, Therion, Ophelia, H'annit. But honestly? After Tressa and before H'annit, it's fairly interchangeable. None of them are exceptional or exceptionally deep, but they're all pretty cute and charming. And H'annit is fine too! I like her aesthetic a lot, and her storyline seems interesting enough for what it is! But... that Ye Olde English She Speaketh Begrinden At Mine Own Gears. It's a shame how much it distracts me from her and the characters around her, but it is what it is. Sorry H'annit.
The only thing about the game that really makes me sad compared to other JRPGs I've enjoyed is that the party of eight characters don't really interact much at all? I've seen that, as the game progresses, certain characters will jump in to voice opinions about the things going on in an individual characters personal story, ie. Primrose might have something to say about Cyrus's storyline quest, for example. But outside of those little asides, the game really is eight individual storylines that just happen to be taking place concurrently. It's interesting in that I've never really seen anything else quite like it! But I do find myself missing that sense of camaraderie, and kind of feeling the need to fill in those blanks myself. Give me another few days and I'm sure I'll be able to tell you exactly who is friends with who, canon interaction be damned! I know what I'm about, son.
Octopath Traveller is a Nintendo Switch JRPG modelled in a "HD-2D" style reminiscent of video games from the late 80's and early 90's. Combined with a modern turn-based battle system and a wonderful soundtrack and it's honestly just been a delightful recipe for nostalgia. You would have though I might have played it sooner! But unfortunately, my first experience with Octopath Traveler wasn't ideal.
Just to quickly clarify a central conceit of the game, Octopath Traveler is framed as the overlapping journeys of eight different characters: Olberic, a former knight; Cyrus, a scholar; Therion, a thief; Ophelia, a cleric; Primrose, a dancer; Alfyn, an apothecary, Tressa, a merchant, and H'annit, a hunter. IT SPELLS OCTOPATH, WINKY WINKY WINKY. At the beginning of the game you choose which character you wish to start with, and after completing their i
introductory story you are free to travel around and recruit the other seven in whichever order you desire.
My first exposure to Octopath Traveler was playing a demo that allowed you to play the introductions for Olberic the knight and Primrose the dancer. Primrose sounded like the more compelling character to me (she's secretly out for revenge on the people who killed her family!), so I decided to play through Olberic first and save the better option for second. Which I suppose was a mistake on my part, because I was so so deeply underwhelmed by everything poor Olberic had to offer that I pretty much forgot about the game entirely for months and months.
It was only with the release of Project Triangle Strategy's playable demo, designed by the same team as Octopath Traveler, that I found myself thinking about the game again.
shinsengumi (Fel) loved Triangle Strategy and it seemed natural that she might enjoy Octopath Traveler as well—and if it was gonna be on the Switch anyway, we might as well both play it!AND SO WE HAVE BEEN.
Fel chose to start with Therion, because of course she did. He is a rogue, a loner, a lonely, and exactly her character type. I started a few weeks after her, and I went with Tressa! Because of course I did. She is a merchant, a sunbeam, cheeky and earnest, and exactly my character type. And so far I have had no regrets about my choice! She feels like quite a traditional starting character for a JRPG, but I find that that's suiting me quite well. She actually seems like the type of character who would cheerfully and unrepentantly get herself involved in the business of seven other travellers contending with seven completely disparate goals; I don't have to suspend my disbelief about why she's bother to jump in and involve herself. NO SLIGHT INTENDED TO FEL AND THERION, but that boy spends a lot of time talking about how trust is for fools and working with others only gets you betrayed in the end and honey you got a line of seven people following around behind you, you are not the misanthropic antihero you think you are.
There's loads of really good things I could say for this game! I love the sidequests, and how they can often be solved through a variety of different options depending on which characters you have with you. This guy in the prison cell says he's innocent! Should we inquire about town to try and find witnesses able to attest to his version of events? Or should we steal the key from the uncooperative prison guard and set him free without contest? These sorts of things happen all the time, and the game never really spells it out for you. It makes me wonder how many quests I've completed so far where I've completely missed an alternative solution. It really encourages playing around with a variety of different party members, as only some characters are able to perform certain actions. Tressa can purchase items from NPCs, while Therion can steal them. SO USE THERION, RIGHT?? Except Therion has a limited chance of success (anywhere from 3% up to 100% from my experiences so far), and if you're caught in the act you can suffer penalties in that local area. Tressa will never fail to make a purchase... so long as you actually have the funds in question. And now and then you'll have items that an NPC just straight up isn't willing to sell, or items that Therion just isn't able to steal. There's always times where one of them is preferable over the other.
The entire party functions this way. A lot of people like to complete the game by splitting the core eight into two groups: OCTO (Olberic, Cyrus, Tressa/Therion and Ophelia), and PATH (Primrose, Alfyn, Tressa/Therion and H'annit). With those combinations, you'll always have someone able to fulfill the broad criteria of the four major NPC actions: Challenging to a duel, Acquiring an item, Gleaning information, and Leading the NPC somewhere. Personally, though, I'm enjoying playing with everyone all mixed together and just swapping people in and out as I see fit. After all, like I outlined above, there are a few little things that are truly unique to each individual. They all deserve some time in the sun! (yes, even you, boring olberic. eventually.)
Right now I'm still in the recruiting phase, but the journey is well under way. Primrose and Olberic have unsurprisingly ended up as my last two characters left to be encountered, but that's okay. Once I have everyone together it'll be completely 100% uncharted territory going forward. Who knows, maybe Olberic will become my super best favourite character by the end! IT COULD HAPPEN. there is always a chance.
So far, excluding the two I just mentioned, I think my favourites to least favourites goes something like... Tressa, Alfyn, Cyrus, Therion, Ophelia, H'annit. But honestly? After Tressa and before H'annit, it's fairly interchangeable. None of them are exceptional or exceptionally deep, but they're all pretty cute and charming. And H'annit is fine too! I like her aesthetic a lot, and her storyline seems interesting enough for what it is! But... that Ye Olde English She Speaketh Begrinden At Mine Own Gears. It's a shame how much it distracts me from her and the characters around her, but it is what it is. Sorry H'annit.
The only thing about the game that really makes me sad compared to other JRPGs I've enjoyed is that the party of eight characters don't really interact much at all? I've seen that, as the game progresses, certain characters will jump in to voice opinions about the things going on in an individual characters personal story, ie. Primrose might have something to say about Cyrus's storyline quest, for example. But outside of those little asides, the game really is eight individual storylines that just happen to be taking place concurrently. It's interesting in that I've never really seen anything else quite like it! But I do find myself missing that sense of camaraderie, and kind of feeling the need to fill in those blanks myself. Give me another few days and I'm sure I'll be able to tell you exactly who is friends with who, canon interaction be damned! I know what I'm about, son.
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Agreed about H'aanit. Every time she says something, I am just very tired.
I think Primrose is probably my favourite. Her trope of subjecting herself to years of abject misery and (unconfirmed) sex work and just getting the people around her killed because of her thrall to her personal quest is just completely my jam.
I also really like Therion, although that comes with a bit of discomfort considering his English VA's abuse allegations; but I think that in cases like that, it's important to remember that video games have teams of hundreds of people and I should not judge the content based off one involved person's unrelated misdemeanors.
The only thing about the game that really makes me sad compared to other JRPGs I've enjoyed is that the party of eight characters don't really interact much at all?
Yeah, I agree! I've been replaying Final Fantasy XII recently and have had the same thought with that game. I miss Tales-style skits, or even all of XV's hours of miscellaneous flavour dialogue.
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It really is a beautiful game, isn't it! At first I felt like the whole thing had a sort of 'overexposed' look, as though the colours were just a bit washed out and bled together somehow, but I adjusted my in-game brightness setting and it's been fine ever since, haha! And the soundtrack is just so gorgeous in parts, it really makes me want to wander around towns and explore different terrain just so I can keep listening.
I am saved right next to Primrose now! She is the last one of the Octopath Eight that I need to grab and then my travelling party will finally be complete. And everything I've heard about her storyline, combined with what little I remember, tells me that I'm going to enjoy her as well. I really hope so!
I just went and looked up Therion's EN voice, and oof. I heard of that chap after he was dropped from voicing Byleth in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, but I wasn't really familiar with what else he's done. Dezel :( I do agree with you, though, about the number of people involved in the creation of something like a video game—and particularly, I would hate for the actions of one tangential person to prohibit the story someone else has tried to tell.