Octopath Traveler Series Thread - Octopath Traveler II Out Now!

[Grunker]

Yeah the second game is apparently way better

I also think the storytelling in the first game is not very good, at least at the start which is what I played

The storytelling is nothing special, but it is miles ahead of a lot of jRPGs (not that that's saying much) in the sense that is concise, consistently decent, legible and there's at least a few believable twists here and there. I'm only halfway into the game, mind.

 

[Abu Antar]

Grunker Both OT 1 and 2 are pretty formulaic in their design. Main scenarios are pretty straightforward affairs, designed in the same way. OT2 changes it up somewhat, but not to a great extent. What OT2 has, that OT1 doesn't have is "crossed paths". There are four stories where two set characters have a common scenario.
In OT2, the merchant's story is designed a bit differently, and one of the mages also has a somewhat different scenario. The thief has two objectives, and you can choose which to tackle first. Nothing major, to be honest.

What I really liked about both games, besides the shallow parts (graphics and music), was finding optional areas and bosses. In OT1, it was fun fighting the extra job bosses, and doing side quests. In OT2, it was finding all the super bosses, and doing side quests. Main stories are neither overly offensive, nor masterfully written.

I also liked playing around with the jobs, even if you will inevitably find ways to break the game, in both entries. To me, the fun is finding that stuff out on your own, but I see a lot of people who said the games are super easy, but looked online for strategies. (Main stories are very doable without much knowledge.)

 

[Ryan muller]

Yeah the second game is apparently way better

I also think the storytelling in the first game is not very good, at least at the start which is what I played

The storytelling is nothing special, but it is miles ahead of a lot of jRPGs (not that that's saying much) in the sense that is concise, consistently decent, legible and there's at least a few believable twists here and there. I'm only halfway into the game, mind.

Its really not, even cringeworthy final fantasy games have more going on

Octopath is really generic

 

[Grunker]

After finishing the game I'm inclined to agree. The setups to most stories were decent, but man their third and fourth acts were a massive snoozefest for the most part.

 

[Yosharian]

After finishing the game I'm inclined to agree. The setups to most stories were decent, but man their third and fourth acts were a massive snoozefest for the most part.

Is this the 2nd game you're talking about?

 

[Grunker]

After finishing the game I'm inclined to agree. The setups to most stories were decent, but man their third and fourth acts were a massive snoozefest for the most part.

Is this the 2nd game you're talking about?

No, the first. I haven't started the second game yet.

 

[Reinhardt]

so there is new collaboration story in another eden - this time with octopath. i know cyrus from first game, who is this partitio nigga from second? is he cool?

 

[Yosharian]

Oh ok

 

[Ryan muller]

so there is new collaboration story in another eden - this time with octopath. i know cyrus from first game, who is this partitio nigga from second? is he cool?

He wants to solve poverty with capitalism, basically

 

[Artyoan]

I'm about halfway through the second one. Enjoying it just as I did the first. I see it as slightly improved in most ways except I preferred the OT1 character aesthetic design and stories more so far. The music is once again incredible.

One aspect of both games that I'm most impressed by is just basic world building aspects of the NPC's in each town. Finding a new town and reading each NPC's backstory is weirdly amusing and gives each town and its people a sense of place.

Two downsides are carried over from OT1 to OT2:
-Characters are still considered alone during their story events. But battles involve the party. It's an odd aspect of the games that I accept but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't harming immersion. They added additional story events where two characters talk to each other for a small side story. Nice, but that still clashes with the fact that those characters aren't there for the core story, and yet are, simultaneously. It is just bizarre.
-NPC's do not react to the path actions much. Want to mug a guy and take his shit? Do it and nothing changes in his dialogue. Steal all his stuff? Same. Why would Partitio accept Osvald mugging people? Or Throne stealing? Because he is both in the party, and not, at the same time I guess.

As much as I like these games I'd prefer the party acknowledge each other in their core stories, even if that means it ends up in a much more linear design.

 

[Zero CHAR]

Right now I'm playing Bravely Default, but after I'm done with it I might check out Octopath 2, I dropped the first one but if this one's better, I might pick it up.

 

[Artyoan]

Finally completed OT2 so I'm going to ramble some thoughts out here. After finishing all the character chapters there is a few hour long 'extra' ending sequence that explains connections, ties up loose ends, and actually allows for the entire party to be both present in combat and story. It also has an ending boss that was interesting as it involves all eight party members simultaneously. Usually I'd be critical of throwing a new mechanic at the player in the final battle but it worked here.

Getting a taste of the ending sequence where the entire party is present just solidifies my stance that they need to move it towards a more traditional jrpg in terms of story-telling. Keep the battle system, keep the npc 'path' actions, keep the graphics, continue making top tier soundtracks. But ditch the 'character acts alone' story structure.

I've got some gripes about the plot. Nothing that really ruins the experience but there are some odd choices here and there. Throné has an ending chapter that is one of the most 'WTF?!' moments I've seen in a jrpg. Some characters are not explained to a satisfying degree and the motive of the villains is less than stellar. That said, there are some great moments with foreshadowing and story elements that aren't explicitly stated but can be pieced together in a satisfying way. Most of the characters were interesting enough and had a diversity in tone to their individual journeys to keep it interesting. Some are more relevant than others as to overall narrative though.

The battle system is better than average for a jrpg but the game is quite easy to break. If you are exploring a lot, and being thorough, you'll out-level and out-gear everything by about the mid-way point. Eventually, random encounters were over in the first character movement, as I had Hikari use one move that killed everything 99% of the time. It's still interesting on bosses but even those crumble when you can hit obscenely hard. A boss may have 150k health but I'm shaving 80k off with one character on one move.

I'll give the game an 8.5 / 10 and a good recommendation.