Octopath Traveler: Preview Thread

Deleted member 4090 · Jul 6, 2018

Some comments, questions:

- Do all zones scale, or only the starting ones? Demo made it seem like the latter.

- There almost definitely is some type of endgame or endgame boss other than just final chapters of the character plots. The soundtrack totally makes it seem like there is a genuine, specific endgame boss. No idea whether it is always available, or you need to beat a character quest before unlocking it. There's obviously overlaps between character backstories, just based on what is in the demo.

- I find it baffling that there's none of the skit scenes in the starting towns. I get why character interaction is mostly in those scenes, but how they are divvied up is weird.

- Interested in knowing if there's really a lot of the skits, or only a handful per character pair, and if there's ever 3 or 4 person scenes.

- I wonder if there are any chapters that require several specific characters.

franklyshankly · Jul 6, 2018

Curious why we're getting previews a week before release instead of just releasing reviews.

NSESN · Jul 6, 2018

jschreier said:
Yes, Xenoblade 2 is garbage.

....

jschreier said:
who don't worship at the altar of hyperbole

I guess it only counts as hyperbole when it is positive

Deleted member 249 · Jul 6, 2018

Interfectum said:
Jason's like or dislike of Xenoblade 2 has nothing to do with this specific complaints on Octopath. It feels like a very defensive tactic to outright dismiss his critiques because he didn't like a game you liked. There is a lot to not like about Xenoblade 2 btw.

It doesn't have to be a "defensive tactic", it can also be a way of aligning your own tastes with his. Which, you know, you're supposed to do for a critic. If a critic dislikes a lot of games I like, and I like a lot of games they dislike, then it's clear their preferences and mine do not align, and that therefore I should place less weightage on their critique, valid and valuable though it is.

Minsc · Jul 6, 2018

Interfectum said:
Jason's like or dislike of Xenoblade 2 has nothing to do with this specific complaints on Octopath. It feels like a very defensive tactic to outright dismiss his critiques because he didn't like a game you liked. There is a lot to not like about Xenoblade 2 btw.

I think it's also possible some people might be putting TOO much weight on there being character interaction as well (and I'm very confused at whether they are saying it's not in the entire game at all, or not in the first chapter). BD had tons of character interaction, and I saw people tearing it apart for that, saying it was just endless chatter between the characters and they couldn't stand it.

Ouroboros · Jul 6, 2018

franklyshankly said:
Curious why we're getting previews a week before release instead of just releasing reviews.

Generating hype.

Vesper · Jul 6, 2018

"There's no story in Octopath Traveler" is the new "There's no dungeons in Breath of the Wild"?

Anon27 · Jul 6, 2018

jschreier said:
Yes, Xenoblade 2 is garbage. I like Octopath from what I've played so far - it's just not striking me as an all-time classic or much like FFVI in any way. It's more like a new SaGa game.

Hey Jason, you described Octopath as more open than typical JRPGs in Splitscreen but I'm assuming you're still in Chapter 1 when you said that. Is it still nonlinear after Chapter 1? Based from the preview, it seems you can choose which storyline to follow since there's no overarching plot

Plum · Jul 6, 2018

So it seems like my prediction of a low 80s MC score is looking to be much more likely than anything much higher. The slow-ish start and lack of party interaction during that time is going to put some people off big time.

DNAbro · Jul 6, 2018

Vesper said:
"There's no story in Octopath Traveler" is the new "There's no dungeons in Breath of the Wild"?

i don't think anyone is saying that first one lol

It's the question of how much does the party interact and if and when does a story involving everyone appear.

Comic Obsessed · Jul 6, 2018

Interfectum said:
Jason's like or dislike of Xenoblade 2 has nothing to do with this specific complaints on Octopath. It feels like a very defensive tactic to outright dismiss his critiques because he didn't like a game you liked. There is a lot to not like about Xenoblade 2 btw.

That doesn't stop it from being great.

ASilentProtagonist · Jul 6, 2018

I'm really not sure about this game. Seems overhyped to me. I'll be holding off until I read through the Reset impressions thread further down the line.

Deleted member 249 · Jul 6, 2018

Plum said:
So it seems like my prediction of a low 80s MC score is looking to be much more likely than anything much higher.

Yeah, although 88 is the dream (for obvious reasons), I think a Xenoblade 2 style 82-84 is likeliest for this game.

jschreier · Jul 6, 2018

Anon27 said:
Hey Jason, you described Octopath as more open than typical JRPGs in Splitscreen but I'm assuming you're still in Chapter 1 when you said that. Is it still nonlinear after Chapter 1? Based from the preview, it seems you can choose which storyline to follow since there's no overarching plot

Yes, not only can you choose which chapter to go through in any order you'd like, you can pause each one, go do something else, then continue where you left off.

So you can either do all the Chapter 1s, then all the Chapters 2s, etc. Or you could do a couple of Chapter 1s, grind for levels, then do a couple of Chapter 2s. Or you could hypothetically just do Chapter 1 and 2 and so on with only a single character.

Xenoblade 3 · Jul 6, 2018

JRPGs always have the part where the group of friends kill a demon god, so I'm sure Octopath will have that.
The final bosses in the Bravely series were hype af.

Phonzo · Jul 6, 2018

Vesper said:
"There's no story in Octopath Traveler" is the new "There's no dungeons in Breath of the Wild"?

Like who even said this at all?

Dyle · Jul 6, 2018

Sounds like they're confirming my fears that the 8 characters don't interact in many interesting ways. I suppose it's somewhat inevitable when a game is given an open world structure that bespoke events will suffer. Oh well, I enjoyed the demo a lot but I'm not interested if it continues to be more of the same throughout as these previews indicate

Vesper · Jul 6, 2018

jschreier said:
Yes, Xenoblade 2 is garbage.

mob21 · Jul 6, 2018

Man. My biggest concern from the start was how the stories will play out. I just can't imagine all 8 of the stories will be quality enough to carry me through, I much prefer a traditional overarching story.

Still hoping for it to all come together. Still a day 1 for me because the game is so relaxing to play, but if the stories pan out it will be one of my favorites in recent memory

Deleted member 4090 · Jul 6, 2018

Phonzo said:
Like who even said this at all?

Lots of people. "Traditional" usually is used to clarify or move the goalposts.

BlueManifest · Jul 6, 2018

jschreier said:
Yes, Xenoblade 2 is garbage. I like Octopath from what I've played so far - it's just not striking me as an all-time classic or much like FFVI in any way. It's more like a new SaGa game.

Could you say it's the best saga game you have played then? :)

Minsc · Jul 6, 2018

ASilentProtagonist said:
I'm really not sure about this game. Seems overhyped to me. I'll be holding off until I read through the Reset impressions thread further down the line.

Impressions will be very very polarizing I bet, like most other things here. You'll see a lot of people hate it (many already do), and a lot who really enjoy it (assuming it's even half-decent).

daybreak · Jul 6, 2018

jschreier said:
Yes, Xenoblade 2 is garbage.

jschreier said:
At least wait for proper reviews -- ones from people who don't worship at the altar of hyperbole.

jschreier said:
don't worship at the altar of hyperbole.

Bernd Lauert · Jul 6, 2018

I didn't want to spend 60 bucks on this. I will spend 60 bucks on this.

Bufbaf · Jul 6, 2018

Dear lord, that Gamespot video is the most pseudo hipster thing I've seen all.. week?
Is this how they review/preview now? Boyo, that's not for me.

Elven_Star · Jul 6, 2018

Switch's killer app?

Hours Left · Jul 6, 2018

Everything I'm reading sounds amazing. I'm not bothered by the fact the the eight stories start off isolated from each other, or the possibility they may remain that way.

Minsc · Jul 6, 2018

Winterreise said:

So if some people think a game is garbage, and other people think it's the best JRPG they've played of the generation, how can they both be right? This is the problem with impressions, and this kind of divide exists for nearly every game I feel, from Horizon to BotW to Mario Odyssey to you name it.

mutantmagnet · Jul 6, 2018

If this clears a 91 average on opencritic I will get the physical copy instead.

Deleted member 36622 · Jul 6, 2018

Interfectum said:
Jason's like or dislike of Xenoblade 2 has nothing to do with this specific complaints on Octopath. It feels like a very defensive tactic to outright dismiss his critiques because he didn't like a game you liked. There is a lot to not like about Xenoblade 2 btw.

The problem with JRPGs is that i noticed there are some really bad reviews out there from people who just want JRPGs to be like western RPG but that doesn't make any sense, so you don't really understand what to trust.

Grinding for instance has always been part of JRPGs, like it or not.

Like i remember people saying that the first demo was already difficult, but i didn't find it difficult at all, so i can imagine those people really struggling 20-30-40 hours into this game.

mrmickfran · Jul 6, 2018

Pepin said:
Targeting a weakness interrupts queue and removes enemy turn - feels real similar to Press Turn to me!

Yeah, you're right. I just didn't think about it at the time :P

daybreak · Jul 6, 2018

Minsc said:
So if some people think a game is garbage, and other people think it's the best JRPG they've played of the generation, how can they both be right? This is the problem with impressions, and this kind of divide exists for nearly every game I feel, from Horizon to BotW to Mario Odyssey to you name it.

Not commenting on whether or not he liked XBC2 (obviously personal opinion is fine), but instead that he criticizes these early Octopath Traveler previews for being hyperbolic in their praise, while then two posts later being extremely hyperbolic in his criticism of XBC2. So...

Anon27 · Jul 6, 2018

jschreier said:
Yes, not only can you choose which chapter to go through in any order you'd like, you can pause each one, go do something else, then continue where you left off.

So you can either do all the Chapter 1s, then all the Chapters 2s, etc. Or you could do a couple of Chapter 1s, grind for levels, then do a couple of Chapter 2s. Or you could hypothetically just do Chapter 1 and 2 and so on with only a single character.

Thanks! I guess that's part of the reason why there's no character interaction. It's impossible to guess which characters the user have since there's no required characters to continue. I'm guessing the story will suffer unless they require you to have certain characters in later chapters

TheFuzz · Jul 6, 2018

Noppie said:
Remember that an overarching storyline is confirmed and even teased in the first chapter. One of the people Primrose is after showed up in, I believe, Cyrus' opening chapter, where he gazed upon him after leaving his town. But I'm guessing that's for later in the game, the beginning focusses on individual storylines.

In Ophilia's opening chapter, a stranger shows up in the church and interacts with her and bails quickly when the story starts. I forget what he said but this definitely sounds like this dude ties them together.

Kanann · Jul 6, 2018

Stop harass Jason!

Oh, yeah, he likes FFXV....

Keep harass him.

Good previews tho.

Deleted member 21858 · Jul 6, 2018

Xenoblade 2 is indeed trash. Horrible characters, horrible quests, terrible voice acting, runs like shit, the list goes on and on.

Octopath seems like a way better game when it comes to JRPGs. Yeah, not expecting amazing scores, but at least the combat was fun in the demo, which is one of the most important things in a game like this. Hope that each personal story becomes better in the later chapters. Was really impressed by Primrose´s story in the first demo, it was well written and made me care about the character (more than every other character in the 6 hours of Xenoblade 2 I played before I deleted it).

srtrestre · Jul 6, 2018

NSESN said:
....

I guess it only counts as hyperbole when it is positive

Hahaha yeah, hypocrisy at its finest.

No Depth · Jul 6, 2018

Phonzo said:
Just watched the entire Gamespot video and it confirms many of my fears. however i think the pros outweight the cons.

It sounds like they will give this game an 8.

Yea, listening to them discuss a lot of early complaints and positives, I was thinking "my backlog is already insane, this doesn't quite seem like the 16-bit throwback I was hoping for, maybe I'll hold off for now"...then they show clips with the incredible music and I'm like nah, I'll buy it next week!

lowlifelenny · Jul 6, 2018

Vesper said:
"There's no story in Octopath Traveler" is the new "There's no dungeons in Breath of the Wild"?

Jokes aside, BotW's unorthodox design mandate isn't a bad comparison. Square-Enix are clearly trying something structurally very different compared to the usual turn-based RPGs they're known for. And it sounds pretty tasty imo. If the lack of a rigid storyline and all the character interaction that comes with it is the sacrifice they've made to enable a more sophisticated approach to character-specific choices, then I'm ok with that. I didn't really like the OT demo much but if the impressions remain strong I'll pick it up.

jschreier · Jul 6, 2018

Anon27 said:
Thanks! I guess that's part of the reason why there's no character interaction. It's impossible to guess which characters the user have since there's no required characters to continue. I'm guessing the story will suffer unless they require you to have certain characters in later chapters

Yes, exactly. I'm going through Chapter 3s now and so far they've all been self-contained stories. It's possible that some of the stories overlap in Chapter 4 or later - I'll find out soon enough.

Parshias · Jul 6, 2018

Saint-14 said:
So people have to go through 20 hours just to get some party interaction?

I got through three characters and was halfway to picking up my fourth in the three hour demo. If there are people out there taking 20 hours to get through the chapter 1s then I wonder if they're just really struggling with the combat system.

Deleted member 4093 · Jul 6, 2018

Dont worship hyperbole! lol

good one.

For the record, I wouldn't take nintendolife seriously about any preview/review/article anything. Them boys been fishing for clicks like a touch light

Tibarn · Jul 6, 2018

Meelow said:
I appreicate your opinion but I am loving Xenoblade 2 so I have a good feeling I will love this to, but hey that's what makes games. Not everyone loves the same game, doesn't mean it's the end of the world.

TBH I don't think that "Yes, Xenoblade 2 is garbage" is an opinion, or at least is not the kind of opinions I respect.

Bunkles · Jul 6, 2018

jschreier said:
Yes, exactly. I'm going through Chapter 3s now and so far they've all been self-contained stories. It's possible that some of the stories overlap in Chapter 4 or later - I'll find out soon enough.

How many chapters per character?

Vesper · Jul 6, 2018

Tibarn said:
TBH I don't think that "Yes, Xenoblade 2 is garbage" is an opinion, or at least is not the kind of opinions I respect.

this

mob21 · Jul 6, 2018

jschreier said:
Yes, exactly. I'm going through Chapter 3s now and so far they've all been self-contained stories. It's possible that some of the stories overlap in Chapter 4 or later - I'll find out soon enough.

You know, since they announced the open 8 different storyline aspect I just couldn't wrap my head around how they could possibly all come together given that you don't have to find the rest of the characters. Only now im realizing their reluctance to talk about that part of the game might just be because they couldn't figure it out either lol.

Still holding out hope though. Story aside, any comments on the gameplay (that we don't already know from the demo), locations, music, etc.?

ScreamingMadden · Jul 6, 2018

Read the Nintendo Life preview and that has me giddy with excitement for OT to come out! Though reading about the lack of overarching story, sounds like it will eventually kick in since I believe the devs confirmed there is a main story at the E3 Treehouse streams. Also hearing that the characters interact at Taverns seems accurate to the promo art they've shown where all 8 are drinking and conversing with each other. Hopefully there are more interactions between the characters though.

tiebreaker · Jul 6, 2018

Sounds like a 90's JRPG allright. Will get it whenever I buy another Switch.

Deleted member 249 · Jul 6, 2018

Yeah, Nintendo Life isn't someone whose opinion I necessarily put much stock in, games get 9 or 10 on there for simply existing on a Nintendo platform.

TL;DR- guys, you've played hours of this game already. Form your own opinions.

DrDeckard · Jul 6, 2018

So gutted that I didnt get the pre order promise at smyths. I had it in the basket...it's my own fault!

Octopath Traveler: Preview Thread

What rating do you think this game will get?

90+

80+

70+

60+

"Garbage like Xenoblade 2"

▲ Legend ▲

User requested account closure

Unshakable Resolve

User requested account closure

Press Sneak Fuck

One Winged Slayer

One Winged Slayer

Don't F5!

User requested account closure

User requested account closure

One Winged Slayer

Press Sneak Fuck

User requested account closure

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account

User requested account closure