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OT | Octopath Traveler | Octopus Thread [Now on Steam!]
- Thread starter kuroneko0509
- Start date
Enjoying the game, but since I selected Therion first I'm afraid the game will be easier due to him being able to just steal stuff from everyone. For those that have played with him first. Is this the case?
Finished all chapter 2's of team noble in my "new game +" mode and it's going smoothly. The bonus exp/jp skills make it so there's no grinding needed at all, which is nice. It's almost too easy with all the stuff these guys have but it's all good. Just want to get through these last four stories at this point and then build my dream team to do all the side quests + endgame.
Not even remotely. Yes, stealing will be slightly easier because you are a higher level, but you, like, get all 8 characters. Starting doesn't matter that much unless you're doing a limited-cast run.
Tressa gets access to basically everything Therion does, and probably gets a lot of it easier?
Yeah, If feel like people were way off base in absolutely demanding Exp Share. Low Level + High Level Gear is vastly better than High Level with Low Level Gear, and knowing more about the game makes battles feel so much smoother. There's a lot going on, and this is one of the more "knowledge is power" open-world games.
I feel like such a dumb with Alfyn in that I had to YouTube his concoct ability as I feel like a monkey behind a typewriter whenever I use it now.
You can hold the B button to run but it'll raise the rate of random battles.
Once you concoct something one time, when you go to concoct it again, the game will give it a name and tell you what it does. It helps.
Piece of shit dungeons that make persona 5 dungeons look decent.
Other than that I love it
Persona 5's dungeons were the best thing about the game though?
Totally different design philosophy. Here, they're mostly inspired by FF4, with trying to figure out how to get chests. I think they're pretty well designed to make use of the DoF and camera angle. I don't think simple is necessarily bad for dungeon design, as I really don't want to spend my times hitting a switch then backtracking, or dragging blocks around, etc.
I really disliked the 5/6/7 Palaces in Persona 5, and mostly disliked Mementos. They went for a stealth thing that didn't really work most of the time due to the backtracking and narrow corridors. The 2nd and 3rd dungeons actually felt like they used the mechanics and exploration design well.
Yeah. Nintendo published, unexpectedly high demand, generally long game length, and very positive reception will keep the used market from driving down the price.
So what's the most damage you guys have done in one move? So far, for me, it's about 350k (~57k * 6), although it was just against normal mobs to test how high I could get. They obviously didn't survive the first set of 57k * 3, but the second set was coming if they had survived, so I'm counting it.
Technically this is true but you will still get around faster running. The encounters aren't that much more common than normal speed
I think game is a 8.8/10. Pretty good battles, open structure that makes it easy to replay, wonderful music. I guess the story is the weakest part, but I think the story is still pretty good (especially Primrose / Alfyn / Olberic's stories.) The stories really pick up after Chapter 2.
This is also one of the few RPG's I have actually made another file on (in fact, I've made two new files!). The open structure makes it a lot easier to replay than other RPG's.
Would be a 9/10 if there was a bit more variety in the story structure, and if there was a hard mode (game felt too easy for me for the most part, besides the very end).
This is also one of the few RPG's I have actually made another file on (in fact, I've made two new files!). The open structure makes it a lot easier to replay than other RPG's.
Would be a 9/10 if there was a bit more variety in the story structure, and if there was a hard mode (game felt too easy for me for the most part, besides the very end).
I think calling the dungeon design "simple" gives them too much credit. There is no design at all. There is no difference between field exploration and dungeons, for example. Once you leave a city, it's all the same. I think the structure of the game wouldn't feel so repetetive if, you know, it wouldn't be all the same.
I actually really like the dungeon and environment design. It's always beautiful to look at. Environments feel very different atmospherically. It's simple but doesn't feel ridiculous or convoluted like some JRPGs. Like, some environments could never exist and just feel labyrinthine for the sake of it. This whole game feels cohesive in a really nice way from the paths between cities to the cities and then the dungeons. Everything feels like it goes together and serves the environment.
Oh come on. That's ridiculous. Of course there's design.
Oh come on. That's ridiculous. Of course there's design.
Good lord I can not make up my mind on who I want my main 4 to be, or what I want their subclasses to be. Cyrus is my starting character though.
Leaning:
Cyrus
Alfyn
H'aanit
Therion
Do subclasses allow me to do a new special skill on townsfolk, or is it strictly combat skills?
Leaning:
Cyrus
Alfyn
H'aanit
Therion
Do subclasses allow me to do a new special skill on townsfolk, or is it strictly combat skills?
A path that splits off to dead ends with a treasure chests is not level design. There are like, 50 dungeons in this game man. Could it have killed them to do something interesting with at least a couple of them? If the only thing that changes after entering a dungeon is the background graphics, you've made a bad dungeon.
- The Battle System is great and many of the boss fights are well executed and challenging if you aren't over leveled.
- The various stories are hit or miss (more misses imo) all of which play out in similar ways which can feel very repetitive after awhile. Not as big of a problem if you aren't playing the game for long sessions.
- The lack of character interaction sucks and feels like a hugely missed opportunity. It's less about having an interconnected story for me (Although thats also something that would have been nice) and more that I have a hard time beliving this is a group of people actually working together to accomplish their various goals.
- Every dungeon is a small maze, doesn't really take long to clear thankfully but really could have used some puzzles or game mechanics to keep them interesting. There are a ton of dungeons you'll go into at least 1 per character chapter plus a bunch more optional ones. 40+ of them that all are just empty caves/mansions/tunnels/ect with some chests to find and enemies to fight. It gets really boring after awhile.
- The character chapters feel rather short without much of note really happening in them, maybe they get better later on but I didn't think anyones chapter 2 really stood out for me and I'm guessing that won't change much in the later chapters either.
Overall: Theres a lot to like about the game but I think it certainly has its faults. If you care about story and character development like I do then you likely won't enjoy the game all that much. Personally I'm struggling to get through it and at the 40 hour mark even the battle system is starting to feel repetitive as most encounters are boiling down to hitting enemies with AoE attacks to discover weakness>hammer down on those weaknesses to break all enemies>use max BP to use strong AoE attacks to kill everything with maybe an attempt to use the Dancer ability that can randomly give you a JP/Exp bonus. Most enemies only have 1 or 2 pieces of armor you have to break with a weakness so its really not hard to just AoE them down, if you've got Cyrus and another person with Scholar as a subjob its super easy to just AoE down most normal encounters without much trouble. Bosses can be more entertaining but a lot of them play out the same way you just generally kill adds via the AoE for normal battles then focus on using more powerful single target abilities to kill the boss.
I've enjoyed the game but it certainly feel like its dragging now and is getting harder and harder for me to stay invested when I don't feel like these characters are developing in much of any way and the lack of group interaction makes it hard to be invested in the story as a whole. Path actions I found really fun at first but it generally boils down to going into a new town and using path actions to grab as many items/information as you can before you do any optional quests or whatever characters main story for that town. I thought they'd have a bit more going on with them then what they ultimately do.
I would skip on Alfyn because his path action is similar to that of Cyrus. I would go for Ophilia in this setup.
Finished the last two character's final chapters. Impressions:
My overall ranking of the eight stories:
Ophelia Chapter 4: It was surprisingly... not terrible/boring? I mean the bar is pretty low here, plus the merchant guy being a baddie was obvious from Chapter 1 (He never explained why he preferred Lianna to be the flamebearer though?), but everything in the finale plays out OK in terms of logic and character motivation. Ophelia, true to character, does everything she can to pull Lianna back from the brink; you get why Lianna does what she does, even if it looks dumb from the outside. Matthias is your generic power-hungry villain, but I always like that life/death stuff as motivation. On a storytelling level, I think it would have been MUCH better to not reveal Lianna's motivation for drugging Ophelia during Chapter 3; it would have been a nice little cliffhanger. I do like the bit of role-reversal at the end between the two sisters, and how post-chapter Lianna continues to experience the fallout from her actions. It's all good, all fine. Except for Lianna saying "Phili" as dialogue like a dozen times. Such a terrible nickname.
Therion Chapter 4: Therion, Therion, Therion. I FINALLY get my Locke stealing clothes off enemies sequence, even though it was kinda lame. I kinda wished Disguise was a whole path action mechanic instead of a one-off. It wouldn't make any sense in a party system, but then it didn't make sense in the finale either, so whatever!
Therion is such a strange character, both a cliche and a contradiction. He's supposed to be a loner, but it's not because of his personality or that his trade demands it, but because he was burned before, so now his arc is about trusting others again. (...OK?) He's supposed to be the best at what he does, but he always gets caught doing really dumb things, like walking directly into enemy territory without scoping out the place first or being trapped by a butler. (Yes, yes, he's an old thief, but this really diminishes Therion's credibility right off the bat.) We don't see what exactly transpired between him and Darius - we just see the scene where the betrayal happens. (Was it after a big heist? A clash in opinion? What was the last straw? How did Therion survive falling off the cliff? Don't tell me. Show these things so I care!) I still don't know why Cordelia (who's barely a sketch of a character) or Heathcote (a bit better but not much) are so drawn to this unlikeable, charmless lump of a man. Maybe I'm being overly harsh because I mained a thief in Skyrim Switch and played through a great arc that did betrayal and brotherhood right. Anyways, things I liked: The look of the final dungeon, Darius' boss sprite (easiest Chapter 4 boss btw), his constant usage of the term "tea leaf" instead of thief.
Therion is such a strange character, both a cliche and a contradiction. He's supposed to be a loner, but it's not because of his personality or that his trade demands it, but because he was burned before, so now his arc is about trusting others again. (...OK?) He's supposed to be the best at what he does, but he always gets caught doing really dumb things, like walking directly into enemy territory without scoping out the place first or being trapped by a butler. (Yes, yes, he's an old thief, but this really diminishes Therion's credibility right off the bat.) We don't see what exactly transpired between him and Darius - we just see the scene where the betrayal happens. (Was it after a big heist? A clash in opinion? What was the last straw? How did Therion survive falling off the cliff? Don't tell me. Show these things so I care!) I still don't know why Cordelia (who's barely a sketch of a character) or Heathcote (a bit better but not much) are so drawn to this unlikeable, charmless lump of a man. Maybe I'm being overly harsh because I mained a thief in Skyrim Switch and played through a great arc that did betrayal and brotherhood right. Anyways, things I liked: The look of the final dungeon, Darius' boss sprite (easiest Chapter 4 boss btw), his constant usage of the term "tea leaf" instead of thief.
My overall ranking of the eight stories:
H'aanit > Olberic > Cyrus > Tressa > Primrose > Ophelia > Therion > Alf
Completely ridiculous and you know it. Come on. If every dungeon were "the same" and not designed then you'd just be moving forward and that's it. The only thing that changes isn't the graphics. The paths, lengths, and everything is changed. Paths are also intimately informed by the graphics and style. And also making something simple is a design, too. There's a lot of design choices happening throughout the game's dungeons. That's design. A path that splits off to dead ends with treasure chests is level design.
You don't like them, that's cool. You think they should have done something more complex. Also valid. Saying they're not designed is just bunk. It's a slap in the face of the actual designers that worked on this game.
It's a decent rpg with great gameplay 8/10.
I found the characters and story to be lacking even when putting the eight point of view style into consideration. The dungeons while many are pretty much just short mazes with little interaction and no puzzles. Biggest disappointment for me.
The game does a good job of giving you this old school feel while being modern. The music is very good although got repetitive near the end.
the whole world feels like a dungeon in this game you are fenced in on many sides just little path loose shaped like a maze
it is just different
I wish there were no areas blocked off with a stupid wooden post telling my I can go there yet :/
Eh, I'm actually okay with plot chapters being locked until you do that Chapter. Completing a dungeon early, and then having to redo it later when you actually get the plot there, would be lame.
All 24 towns, ~40 map chunks, and 30 optional dungeons are open at the very start of the game with no meaningful gating. I'm totally fine with some of it being actually plot related. I'd also be okay with a handful of the side dungeons being "locked" until you get a quest that actually spawns the boss there.
Yeah, I was never into exposition and there's a decent amount of it in Chapter 1, lol. Stories pick up later though.
The one thing I wish they did implement right out the gate instead of waiting to be unlocked after you complete your first Chapter 4 is the tavern travel banter between your team. Would have helped build the illusion of team togetherness a lot earlier.
But having beat the game completely, without any spoilers, the story was way better than I expected and really appreciate how it was laid out.
But having beat the game completely, without any spoilers, the story was way better than I expected and really appreciate how it was laid out.
I honestly recommend skipping a bunch of the Chapter 1 scenes, and watching them later. Only the scenes leading up to the boss and after the bosses are super vital. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back RPG Opening Cutscenes and starts is by far my largest complaint about the game, as the biggest thing that pushes me to say that adamantly trying to get all 8 immediately from the start without doing exploring/questing in-between is a bit of a mistake. The recruitment chapters need to be broken up slightly, and even making them more dynamic or setpiece-based wouldn't help the underlying problem.
Also, Ophilia's Chapter 1 is just bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad, yet somehow not as bad as her Chapter 2.
Yup. Should have also had some general scenes start immediately upon recruitment. There's about 200 banter scenes in the game, but having closer to 300 and filling in some massive gaps would have been a big improvement.
Yeah, the 8 opening chapters is the biggest hump of the game.
One of the reasons I proposed removing levels in this game in the other thread (they have to put other systems in place) is that people look at level recommendations and follow that strictly. If you varied the zone levels more and include another danger indicator in it's stead, it would encourage exploration and freeform gameplay a lot more. That would fix some of the repetition on this game.
However, removing levels itself is a really big departure from JRPGs and I'm pretty sure there will be significant disinterest or backlash because of that as well. Sometimes making a game clearly very different from its predecessors help set expectations straight though.
One of the reasons I proposed removing levels in this game in the other thread (they have to put other systems in place) is that people look at level recommendations and follow that strictly. If you varied the zone levels more and include another danger indicator in it's stead, it would encourage exploration and freeform gameplay a lot more. That would fix some of the repetition on this game.
However, removing levels itself is a really big departure from JRPGs and I'm pretty sure there will be significant disinterest or backlash because of that as well. Sometimes making a game clearly very different from its predecessors help set expectations straight though.
Without real levels, the game would review like 20 points lower like the SaGa series. Open-world and related story/pacing concessions to that are I think just about the right deviation from a "normal" JRPG while still having it innately understandable and digestible by the common audience.
I absolutely think they made the right call to give some numeric measure of Danger. I think the Chapter icons should have used the vague "Danger Level" terminology rather than Level, though. People have been totally ruined by how MMOs and the SMT series use level in their combat algorithms, and think of them as distinct cutoffs or within a few levels of a distinct cutoff, while that really isn't the case at all here.
EDIT: More people should play the SaGa series! It is a far more drastic departure from JRPG norms than Octopath is, including the battle and leveling mechanics. I feel like the less popular parts of that series helped dictate what not to do with Octopath's structure, but some people will certainly take a liking to how that series handles being an open-world or non-linear-chapter-based JRPG.
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This is my main gripe I think. I just got my 8th character last night though. So ideally I will pick my 4 and stick with them.
It's great. I'm still playing it daily, 3-5 hours on average.
For what it's worth, I noticed the Metacritic user score actually went up a little.
I like H'aanit much more but yes her Provoke ability is shit compared to Olberic's Challenge
I don't know if 51 hours in is still a honeymoon or not, but I'm ready for another great 30ish hours while I beat the game and post-game stuff!
Skyrocketing up my GOTY list.
I had to laugh regarding the dungeon design in the chapter 1's. I started with Olberic and had to go rescue the kid from a bunch of bandits, whose hideout was at the end of a dangerous cave. Makes sense. Then I headed north to Tressa, and I had to go teach some pirates a lesson, whose hideout was at the end of a dangerous cave. Ok, that makes sense too.
Then I head up to get Cyrus and I have to go confront one of his professor peers in his laboratory in the middle this regal, high class academy. This peer's lab is of course... at the end of a dangerous cave. What?
Then I head up to get Cyrus and I have to go confront one of his professor peers in his laboratory in the middle this regal, high class academy. This peer's lab is of course... at the end of a dangerous cave. What?
H'aanit is great if you spend time throwing Poké balls and getting high level mobs. Most people don't do that, so Olberic will be better.
There are other environs, like mansions and churches and forests but yeah, there are a disproportionate amount of caves. Just ideal baddie hangout spots?
My Olberic seems stronger but H'annit is funner to use (some triple attack monsters are crazy strong) and is a better breaker (arrowstorm + good accuracy is ridiculous).
I barely understand this thinking. I guess it's a kind of completionism and even-leveling urge.
The game plays great with just four characters! You have a large amount of flexibility in how you play.
I've recruited my main party: Alfyn, Therrion, H'annit and Ophilia. The team first set out for H'aanit's Chapter 2 because her quest seemed most urgent, but was stopped by the bodyguard.
They then diverted to Ophelia's Chapter 2, collected three secondary jobs along the way. After that, they were ready to completed H'aanit's Chapter 2 & picked up Olberic along the way.
Now they are headed to the coast for Ophelia's Chapter 3 and probably Alfyn's Chapter 2.
They tried to explain it, but when I read the explanation I thought to myself "that's just a excuse to use a cave!"
Wow, paths of different length, level designers sure went all out. And it's supposed to be a slap in the face, maybe they start actually working on area and scenario design in dungeons for their next game if you slap them enough.
I think the dungeon design in OT is substantially better than the bulk of FFG's or BD's dungeon design. They were just copy-paste tedium. Like, exact layouts reused, and then revisited.
Not going all out doesn't mean it isn't designed. This is just blatantly stupid. There's legit criticism and then there's this. Simple things are designed.
I thought so. I remember BD had the exact same design issue with paths that lead to chests that were pointless. There's a case for trying to adhere to past JRPG conventions. This is not one of them.