[ADDENDUM] Since I am/was certain there were gonna be mistakes or unclear bits scattered throughout this 3 hour video, I figured I would address any mistakes or questions in this comment! Expect it to be edited repeatedly in the future lol: - Merry Hills does not play A Verdant Wind Blows (no idea how I got this one in my head), and Agnea's chapter 1 is where At Your Back plays for the first time (I just remember it more in Castti 2). - Prayer of Plenty doesn't go party wide from Seal of Diffusion, it's Sealticge's Seduction that does it. - I think I forgot to talk about Osvald’s Latent Power, because I kept forgetting about it. That said, being able to make one AOE spell become single target and do even MORE damage is always good.
Ot2 is one of my favorite videogames of all time, and I agree with you, this game will have been considered a hidden gem in the future, it's really a shame how overlooked it was during 2023, anyways, this is probably my favotite video of your channel, not because it was an octopath review, but you managed to make it interesting and fun to watch across the almost 3 hours of review, and that's a thing not anyone can do, congratulations Red!!!
I’m right there with you! I just finished everything, aside from the extra battles and the secret boss on the Sundering Seas and I love it. I love the messages that are found within each character’s story, with Agnea being my #1 ❤️
Octopath 2 my beloved, thank you for the awesome review, you can tell how much passion went into creating this game, I hold it close to my heart even if it got sidelined by other big releases. For me, it's goty 2023
Have not played OT2 yet for the same reasons you hesitated. But watching this triumphant celebration for the game which you call a review I'm convinced I need to play it. Cheers Red, awesome work! And let's hope for a bright future for Team Asano!
The second time through that chorus-ish section at 35:12 through 35:26 gets me every time. The counterpoint is so well done. So many simultaneously well written lines. The vocal is swelling into the stratosphere. A beautiful secondary dominant C7 (with an achingly pretty b13 on top) leads us to this desperate F minor chord, but a burst of hope right after with the ii-V back to Db. So many colorful chord changes that takes you on a roller coaster of emotion. Don't know why but that specific section gets me emotional almost instantly, every time. I can be in the best mood and it'll still get me misty eyed. It's that beautifully written.
What an incredible video! OT2 is such a brilliant game, with a vibrant world, beautiful OST, engaging combat, and wonderful characters. As someone who adored the first Octopath Traveler, it was like seeing Team Asano improve upon perfection. It's been a journey seeing you share progress updates on this video, and to see it finally released is amazing. Easily some of your best work to date, Red!
The way I clicked so fast when I saw this; your Octopath 1 review was so sincere, with a lot of valid complaints that held you back from truly loving it, outside the typical “story seperate” complaints most people had. I’m really excited to hear what you thought of a so obviously improved entry in the series! I think you liked the original enough that this’ll be quite a treat for you.
I feel the big thing that makes me like Solistia's continent better to explore besides the better dungeons and aesthetics is also the layout. It actually FEELS like a proper continent in layout and design. It isn't a big donut around a central lake with the final chapters bringing you to the edges of the map, the final chapter really can by anywhere from returning to the starting area to a new part entirely, with the more fluid chapter design making it much harder to know when the story will end for a traveller. I think the only thing I kinda miss are the multi-chapter sidequests, while they were annoying to keep track off they did make it feel like some NPCs had their own stories they went on. But I can see why they moved away from those to make sidestories easier to follow.
I don’t normally leave comments on even my favorite YT videos, but this is an amazing review on an amazing game. It’s evident that you wanted to embody the amount of effort Team Asano put into Octopath 2 into this video. I’m very glad you liked Octopath Traveler 2, and I’m deeply grateful to have been able to be there watching you play it on stream, as someone who had played the game prior, I was very excited to see your reactions to plenty of memorable moments. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Red, for giving one of my favorite videogames of all time a try!
Octopath Traveler 2 is a game that is very important to me. From the moment it was announced at a random Nintendo Direct some Tuesday morning before my classes it has set up a permanent living space in my brain and I don't see it leaving anytime soon. Leading up to the game's release and watching all the new trailers and weekly twitter posts and discussing them with the community formed core memories for me, not to mention the ~80-100 hours I put into the game for my first playthrough and had an absolute blast doing so. All this to say, this review means a lot to me, as I'm sure it does to the larger Octopath community as a whole. With the lackluster launch compared to the first game many of us believe, as you do, that the game will be forgotten by many people and probably only recognized for its brilliance in the years to come. I truly hope that your review will help to fight against that future, to bring this game to more people's attention and to share the absolutely fantastic experience that comes with playing it, and I believe that it will. Thank you for putting the time and effort into this lengthy review and thank you for giving Octopath Traveler 2 a chance. Oh and good luck with new Galdera, that fight sure is a doozy ;)
I absolutely adore this Octopath 1 and 2. As a musician and composer, I got into the Octopath Traveler games from the absolutely incredible work of Yasunori Nishiki after being recommended the osts by fellow composers and music theorists. And holy, it does not disappoint. I listen to the tracks all the time. Got the first and second games in December of 2023 and fell in love with them. I played both games through multiples times when I got them just because I enjoyed the combat system and building diversity so fun. (Random character ramblings start here) Started with Castti in my first ever Octopath game and yeah, what a powerful first character. Absolutely adore her character and her musical theme. Also I really enjoy darker stories so enjoyed Throne's significantly more and didn't like Partitio's and Agnea's as much (but that is totally me just not liking uplifting stories in general lol). But Ochette is the best. I quote so many of her voice lines all the time lol. "The Tenderizer!" (Aggressive Slash) is a personal favorite along with "I'M STARVING!!!" Also, somewhere in the video you mentioned Osvald's warrior voice lines. When you use vengeful blade he says "For every action..." when using the ability, and "There's a reaction!" for when you counter attack. It's so stupid but I love it lmao. Also "Thinking time" was also a meme with my friends as well LMAO Temenos is peak. I love his character so much, especially the dynamic with Crick. Hikari is very cool as well but I don't have much to say about him, I don't use him as much because Warrior Ochette is hilarious even if I'm sacrificing how broken Hikari can be lol. Also 2:24:37 According to Yasunori Nishiki's notes on this piece, that is actually a Chinese vertical flute called a Xiao; not a Japanese Shakuhachi! Also the use of Erhu, one of my favorite instruments, to take over the melody on the second iteration of the initial figure of Hikari's theme just exudes so much color, especially with the strings doubling the figure. (Small edit here, the "flute" you mentioned here is the Erhu actually! A Chinese string instrument. I assumed you were talking about the B section, where the solo Xiao is played with light string entries and swells) And to speak more on the music, as a composer; Octopath 1 and 2 have been so helpful with my string writing personally. A lot of technical stuff and just a lot of analysis of his pieces has greatly improved my own writing which is awesome. Whether that be voicings or counterline ideas in the 1st violin parts, there's so much I've learned from his pieces and I frequently listen to the tracks for casual enjoyment or analytical purposes. I could name so many of my favorite tracks but I would end up naming half of the ost lol. Very rambling comment but yeah, this game is awesome :)
I struggled so hard in the Vide fight, i wiped twice and my third run was almost also completly overrun if it wssnt for Castti, my beloved Castti who held the line all on her own and with only a sliver of hp left took out Vide with her poison axe, your are not alone in thinking she is the best character of the game, or atleast has best story man I love Castti and all of the cast in this game so much and I think your breakdown of each of their stories has truly done them justice in your analysis and reverence to this game. Thank you truly its great to see someone else love and adore this game.
I recently finshed everything in the game aside from the two last extra battles. Ive been dying to hear an indepth review of the story (especially Castti's) because of how much I love this game. Amazing video!
Also spoiler! Ori is actually still alive, and iirc you can find them at the crackridge, Inn on the bed unconscious. You can also spot them at the far back right of the theater at the end of the epilogue!
Octo 2 is my 2nd favorite game of all time! I'm currently translating the game to PT-BR, a already finished 3 times (but I didn't defeat True Vide the Wicked yet) and every playthrough always makes me feel happy... I love all the 8 characters and their conclusions ❤❤
This was so nice to listen to (all 3 hours lol) I appreciate the detail you were able to put into this project. The music is the biggest thing about this game for me. I completely agree that this is a masterpiece of musical work in the industry. The character themes, battle themes, area themes, etc. all move me in a way that a lot of OSTs can't. As a rookie composer, Yasunori Nishiki is one of the biggest inspirations for me. Also with Tsuki and Yomi. Combine their names and you get Tsukuyomi which is the Shinto god of the moon. The moon plays a BIG role obviously.
OTII is what we get when you combine caring, meticulous development teams with a necessary time-frame to complete a project. I felt like I was dying while knowing this game was in development, yet I'd still have to wait. Even more so with every trailer released, teasing a few more details. By far, the worst part was when the team teased part of the character themes. I fell in love with those 20-second clips, and I desperately wanted to find sheet music for Critical Clash II for me to play the trumpet line. In the end, I'm so very thankful that the OT team had the time to release not just a complete game, but a thought-out, detailed game. I look forward to seeing what's next for the series, and will dance in my little corner while waiting for even more music!
Ah, a fellow recognizer of the best video game soundtrack ever made.... God I love this game and love its soundtrack If you haven't, I REALLY recommend checking out any of the optional fights, especially the ones they added in the patch in... late May or early June? Cause those bosses really have hands, and exemplify what you're capable of with this battle system. It should be mentioned that there is a bug that allows you to use boss level monsters (like Tera and Glacis) with Provoke Beasts. The sequence I believe is max boost, select Provoke Beasts, press the button to trigger Ochette's Latent, then press it again to cancel, and finally go into the normal Provoke menu wherein you will be able to select 6 monsters as if you were using Provoke Beasts... All this said, it's not necessarily that great for damage because it will summon the beasts as if you used no BP (normally impossible for the boss monsters) so their damage is terrible... But for utility, it's amazing. Scourge of the Seas, for example, will deal 5 shield damage to whatever it hits. So if it's being used 5 times... Yeah. I actually needed that to beat one of the superbosses they added in the patch. And I'm just going to say it, the official order of the protagonists is wrong. And I feel the devs admitted it when the artwork they released with patch that flipped Osvald/Ochette and Temeneos/Throne Oh, and did you spot Ori in the back of the crowd during Agnea's speech in the epilogue? I love that Partitio is so good of a guy that he saves a girl from a suicide cult
The moment I saw the trailer for Octopath II, I was so fricking hyped I'm pretty sure I almost cried. Tried to restrain myself because I was currently in class at that time lol. I bought it Day fucking One, so excited to play the sequel of what was one of my favorite games of all time. After only playing three times, I knew it was gonna be one of my favorite games ever. It was fucking gorgeous for being on the switch, the gameplay was better, the characters was better (Castti main here), it was everything I wanted. Tho it was at the time I had a pretty controlling girlfriend that monitered the games I played in case "there were sexy women in it" or something. I started info dumping on it because that's what you do when you're an autistic nerd with an obsession with JRPGs and, as she does, when I hyperfixate on a new thing, she goes look it up. It took only her seeing the Throné official artworks to prevent me from playing it. And oh boy was I sad. For respect for her, I accepted and turned the game down. Until one day I just couldn't anymore. I opened the Switch, re-installed the game, AND OH MY GOD WAS IT WORTH IT. OT2 is now (by far) one of the S-Tier game I've ever played, and I know I'm kinda generous with what I put in my S-Tier of Games but this one truly deserved it (my other S-Tier Games are Persona 3, OMORI, UT/DR, FE 13 and 14, Demons Roots, One Shot, Super Paper Mario, Grimm's Hollow and Malcatra's Maiden). Now I'm way happier because I neither have a toxic girlfriend and played Octopath Traveler II as god intended. And oh my god this video explains perfectly all of my points with why this game is God Tier (excepted Agnea, I don't like Agnea)
On provoke beasts: there is an expolit with it where you *can* summon once per battle monsters (including creatures of legend) multiple times. Making a broken skill absolutely busted beyond belief.
Have a fun tale myself i played through Octopath 2 with 3 friends, we each had a different main traveler (I Casti, one Partitio, & Last Ochette), specifically we challanged outselves once we reached chapter 2 to ensure we had every party member in one of our 3 parties, so we managed experience every Travel banter voice acted by our silly selves. In addition once we got to the Finale we noticed our chosen say their line, a nice touch unnoticed often. Since we had to diversify our stratagies with different party members often, it was quite a thrill c: As an extra fun fact, i managed to 100% the game with achivements which i am proud of
I love this game more than any other and Castii is like 5/8 for me. But just hearing that music and a brief description of the climb up that mountain. I had to step back and take a deep breath, I was helping a customer in service and mid sentence I just froze. She might not be my favorite story in the game but from a less bias prospective Castti is the best use of the amnesiac device I have ever seen and given the innate advantage of gameplay story integration I don’t think I could ever see anything even rival her.
OT2 my beloved! We may have different takes on OT1 but in general yeah the sequel improved/built a lot on the first game. Agree with most of the problems you had, specifically about the part where in the endgame you oneshot everything left and right and the meta of A Step Ahead leading to bosses not even getting a single move out which is a shame. At the very least that support skill should have been the last one you unlock and not the very first for some reason. Granted the Extra battles and Galdera aren't as easily nullified and True Vide/True Vide the Wicked especially are stupidly hard. Another thing I so tremendously love about the game is: 1. The custom running animations for the travelers reflecting their personalities and 2. A very subtle reference that I believe almost nobody notices or at least I haven't really seen it discussed anywhere. I only noticed it when I was watching another hour long OT1 review. Agnea begins her final speech by reading from a book before going onto the phrase "I once went on a journey" and the text she reads is almost the exact same you get from beating Galdera in the first game "For Life is a journey... The places you go... The deeds you do... The tales whos hero you become... Every road is yours to take." And the last part after that "So journey forth, friend, into this great world we live in... and find an adventure all your own" gets left out because that is exactly what the OT2 cast did. Could write a whole lot more but I feel like it would just end up in me rambling a lot ^^ Anyway great video and a like from me
I'll put it out there for anybody who might get a bit mislead on how Octopath works (Including Red Nova himself), but in both Octo 1 and 2, the stat gains you get from levels won't make a significant difference, unless you gain 10 or so levels (outside of the first 20 or so that makes the most of the relevant gains for moving to different tiers of areas). A late game equipment or a good strategy can easily replace said thing (there's a reason why there is a Tressa Single Story Speedrun that finishes Tressa's story at like level 13-17, and they don't even grab every possible gear and chest they could find). The only real difference levels make is for: Being Ambushed by higher level enemies, Run chance from encounters (which won't even max out at 100%, yes I have failed to run from Level 10 enemies being 30+ levels above them, it's kinda stupid), Level Based Path Actions (The % changes are not directly tied to each level, but rather at certain Levels much like the more hard required levels for certain ones, you will get the updated chances), and the minimal stat gains you get each level. It doesn't help matters that getting 10 levels for a boss that is of "Danger Level 40" and above, will maybe at best let you survive one additional hit, since they hit pretty hard, even to the characters with 700+ Defence/Magic Defence. To put it into perspective, Osvald at Level 1 Starts with 200 HP. In 8 Levels, he gains 200 HP, and at level 20, he has 1040 hp with no modifiers to his equipment or passive abilities. 2 empowering Bracelets (+500 HP each) would make up for 19 levels worth at level 1 alone. Sure you spent 13000 Leaves to replace gaining 19 levels, but the option is very much there to ignore gaining levels (outside of getting JP for Job skills). Now having levels for the more Difficult bosses do help, but they're not as significant as say, Most Final Fantasy Games, where you will notice a fairly obvious power growth over the course of the game. Meanwhile Octopath's Power scaling mostly relies on how quickly or slowly you end up getting powerful gear & skills online.
As soon as you hear "Fierce Confrontation", you know you're in trouble lol other songs I love that weren't mentioned are Crestlands (both), all the character songs, Hineouma (both), Cropdale (both), Bygone Days. Everyone needs to hear these songs.
I share so many thoughts and opinions about OT2 with you. Some of the story beats hit me in ways that I'm not used to feeling, especially in games. The soundtrack is just a 10/10 masterpiece. I personally think that as time goes on, Yasunori Nishiki could sit alongside some of the all time great video game composers. I had to do 2 attempts at the final boss and my first one was just kind of a test run to see where i was at. I didn't make it fsr enough to get to my 2nd party. After some adjustments, I made it to phase 2 and eventually phase 3. When phase 3 started and that message showed up, my level of hype, excitement, and intensity just went to the Moon. Having your entire party there all at once, acting together, and giving buffs to everybody was such an incredible feeling. Out of the 20+ years of that I've been playing games, it's by far the best final boss fight I've ever experienced, and I hope so many games can learn from it. For this one final battle, you as a player are given the ability to break the rules of the game that's been aer for you since the start, and it just feels awesome. I absolutely loved the review, and here's hoping team Asano can continue to cook for both Bravely and Octopath going forward.
Great video, Red. I love this game! Provoke beasts is definitely the best skill in the game. Have you ever done its exploit? There's an exploit where you can use provoke beasts, including legendary beasts, multiple times per turn without using up the legendary beast, so Ochette can basically flatten everything.
As someone who's finished this game but not the first Octopath, I agree with what you said about all this. This game is what Bravely Second should've been for Bravely Default. Improves the gameplay but nothing else whereas Octopath II improves on everything. And based on what you described about the OG Octopath throughout, I'm now going in with some lowered expectations. You're also right on this game going under the rug despite its relative critical & commercial success. The unfortunate side of coming out in one of the best years of gaming. Overall, this is a well-made & interesting video man. Lastly, I picked Castti as my first Traveler.
I hear you on the difficulty aspect, and yeah it’s, uh, rough. What someone I watched (who does OT1 speedruns and challenge runs so admittedly very experienced) did for their blind playthrough was put on Makeshift Weapons, ban a couple specifically overpowered skills and consumables like jams, and then minmax everywhere else. They did end up seeing the majority of attacks, and only died once to Dolcinaea 2. (Vide took an absurd amount of time though.) Now of course considering his experience it’s not completely reasonable to copy, but something like only makeshift weapons and none of the other restrictions? Could be doable, and without limiting yourself in any of the other ways would potentially allow you to keep up with the snowballing effect of the bosses without snowballing yourself. At least an idea for repeat playthroughs if you ever do them. Anyways, fantastic review! Only found this a few days ago but I love the passion, and am most of the way through. Have subbed and am looking forward to whatever else you might be making.
I actually loved the story and character of Temenos the most hahaha. I love hearing more people discuss this game :) I suspected the "real" baddie of Temenos's story from the end of the first chapter. I loved the subtle clues and how his story ties a bit all of the other's together (such as his friend and mentor being in Ochette's first chapter). I chose his first based on his musical theme, and it felt just RIGHT to have him face the endgame as protagonist.
I just finished this game recently and clocked in 150+ hours. I am glad to see others have the same amount of appreciation for the series especially for this particular game. Top notch game and masterpiece of a soundtrack. Looking forward to Octopath Traveler 3 in future.
Throne I felt was written to include snippets of backstory of the world. Lostseed in general had an intricate but not explicitly told story. Every mention of the kingdom was made through story of a myth, of a kingdom made by a runaway prince and princess. It then lets the player add in the remaining bits of the story, the potential of both kingdoms refusing to trade or besieging the kingdom, a potential civil war that tore the kingdom apart, the isolation and need of a hidden town made up on a prince/princess and their people potentially causing a supply shortage. It feels out of place but it feels perfectly out of place. It causes your mind to run all these storylines that could have happened to the town. And we all know what ended up with the place, the literal breeding ground of a corrupted individual, potentially signaling that Lostseed was where the Archmage D'arqest was born or lived in.
Good game and good review. I also think Hikari's story, especially his final chapter, and themes are top tier, and he's far from being my most used character in the game. My main Temenos is the best though, not biased.
I'm glad to hear that someone else feels the same way as me. I was hesitant to get this game at first and then finally did. After two chapters of some of the stories, I almost put it down. I liked Osvald's, Ochette's and Hikari's early story but nothing quite grabbed me (maybe because of my initial hesitation). But then once I got to chapter 3 of the stories, things started really making sense. I started really liking it. A week or two later, I beat the game and knew I fell in love. All the stories are top notch (In my opinion Agnea's is the weakest but the later chapters and battles are great), the gameplay is awesome, the combat is perfect. It took me 40 tries but I beat Galdera and got platinum too lol My favorite thing about the game is the music - hands down the best OST ever in a game. I still listen to it in my car all the time. One of my favorite games of all time, if not my favorite.
Imagine how I feel about OT 2 if OT 1 became my favourite jRPG ever back when I played it despite me playing those games for over almost 20 years back when I played OT 1. I absolutely adore almost everything about OT 2 and I am livid that it got so overlooked. EDIT: Albeit I seems I am not as high as you on some specific regards in 2 and especially compared to 1. I think I did more things better than 2 than you think.
OT2, my fav game, OT1 was my first JRPG, OT2 my secund. First games best point beyond the visuals is the music, still have like half of all the ost tracks of BOTH games on my music playlist. Secund game, so MUCH MORE THEN JUST THE MUSIC. At this point I just like to hear people adore it has much as I do. I have finished the game TWICE in 9 months, never have I felt so compelled to replay a game so fast, god I love it. : ) : ) First game is nostalgic for me and OT2? Well I still think about it regually. If there is one game I want to hear announced it's OT3 Btw the time were I beat Galdera's secund phase the first time, my party got wiped... exept Hikari and with one last big hit I GOT IT! Also also also, where is the OT CotC review? I have been looking for a reveiw of the game since I don't know if I want to play another Gacha since Nikke already takes all my time...
Im such a blockhead, im like an hour and some change into the video like "hmmm why do they keep calling it ot2?! Shouldnt it be called op2 at the very least?.. " lmao .. ugh at least i *eventually* remembered the second half/word in the title 😑🤦
I am 4 minutes in and I´m interested in your reasoning how OT 2 fixed anything and why it´s great. For me it´s definetly a step up, but being better than OT 1 is not really hard. I will edit my comment because I watch this in bursts: The Visuals are a little better and the effects in combat are good. It´s a small step up in comparison with OT 1. The gameplay has not changed to much and that is a good thing. You have more skills, different classes and the lisence mechanic was a really cool thing, even though I never really used it. I can´t recall having each job more than one time in a party. Since the combat was the only thing that kept me going in OT 1, this was great. The difficulti was ok. I had only one wipe at Hikaris last boss. I was pretty surprised by the phasechange and severly underhealed. Had I played a little bit more safe this wouldn´t have been a problem, but like you say, most bosses you can burn down. That does not mean, they were too easy. I think they did a pretty good job this time. I am not really good at figuring out broken combos. Most of the time I consider the broken skills bad, like step ahead. It´s just one turn and then the talent is just dead in the water. I used it to grind for Galdera, that was it. I did not know, how the nuts work that gave you statboosts, never used them. I learned in a guide how OP they are. Galdera in part one was really tough for me. I got him 3rd try, but it was really close. Galdera in part two was unbeatable for me. I could not lay a finger on him Stopped after the fourth try and then searched a guide. I did not try him tho, I don´t like using guides. It´s like others have beaten him, but not me. I am sure I will come back for him. The stories were as boring as in OT 1. There were more peaks tho. Some parts were really cool. My favorite part was figuring out who wrote the diary you found with Hikari in chapter one (which was not that hard) and the Galdera questchain of cause. Soundtracks, like visuals, are something everyone has to make their own opinion. It´s a really good soundtrack, but far away from my favorites. The crossed paths were a nice idea and they are different. But not really interesting. I was intrued by Thrones first chapter of the joined quest, but it lost me. I don´t even remember the ending. It´s really nice to see someone is happy with a game and found something he will be replaying and have good memories about. While OT 2 is a good game and certainly way better than 1, it´s not that kind of game to me.
Imo Throne has the best story, but I haven't seen Octopath 1 with Primrose's story yet. I personally don't think you gave it enough credit all things considered. Sure you can call throne's chapter before that one fight(for spoiler sake) a filler but both of mother's branched chapters were amazing imo and father's final chapter was also just cinema. With the child that begged throne not to do anything to mother because she was the only mother that she had. I love Castti's story just as much as the next guy, and it also had me in tears but I think it's super disingenuous to downplay a story because of mentions of child abuse and because the character is similar to another character. Also could never understand how this story can be called "bland". Off of the Throne topic though, Castti definitely was my second favorite story though, no question.
That's a perfectly fine opinion - it's why we have all these different stories after all, to find something we each like! I just wanted to clarify; I don't think Throne's story is bad just because it had child abuse, I don't really think that at all. The dark twists were the thing that kept making me double take, after all, and I'm not really perturbed by darker themes like that, just surprised that they actually went THAT far with the story haha. My more major issues were yes, the feeling that she was a blended byproduct of Therion and Primrose's plots, on top of having a rather rigid story structure that didn't compel me as much as some of the others. That said, she still has some CRAZY moments that do impress here and there, but not enough for her to beat out the others for me.
@@RedNovaTyrant I'll have to play the first game to see what you mean here but fair point. I haven't seen Octopath 1's story structure to know what you mean for comparison either. Fair opinion, but I guess I just misunderstood.
16:37 the radar spoils a lot 16:47 dungeons are not great, the music is always the same and they are quite basic and uneventfull. 18:17 i didnt feel it specially combat wise and the availability of monsters 18:46 still the option to change the party wherever shoul be there from the start 19:17 a bad call that makes it day/night system feel gamey on difficulty: game is not hard. the open world aspect of it means that i ended being to strong for some dungeons and bosses, trivializing content. My first character fial chapter( agnea´s was the thoughtest boss for me). Also you can become so broken my mid/late game that random battles become a waste of time. Music: Quality music and song but they get used again and again, losing their uniqueness. voice acting: clearly one the aspects that needs improving. That will help elevate the storytelling. 01:03:00 banter misses the mark imo. I think they should pop up for every character you already recruited. Seing them via the menu may sound good but it is actually a correction. 01:11:37 basic storytelling is my biggest gripe on the game. It has potential but doesnt reach the ceiling. Ochette: is Goku: pure of heart, loves to eat and to fight. The pokemon gameplay was great and usefull all the way through. You can focus on item collection and usage, collecting broken LV10 monsters or lower LV one and use Provoque beast. Her provoque path action is reduntant. Casti: Broken character, the story didnt do much for me. Villain makes little sence. Has a "mother" character but the banter shows another side to her. Throné: strange story , from very grounded to supernatural out of nowhere. My boss figth experience was the same as yours, killed him to quickly. The theme of Freedom does not have a good resolution. The metaphor of " the colour" is a weak one. osvald: stealing as a a path action doesnt suit him. Deserved happier ending. Partitio: great music, love the sax. He has a strange archtype, the good minded business man. Agnea: would be interesting to have this type of character in a game with more party interactions. Temenos: was my main. The investigation thing was not very well done, neither does it show much of Temenos inteligence( i guess he is suposed to be Sherlock?). Carrick cool character, was not expecting him to die ad in such a stupid way. Hikari: In my eyes His story has the most potential to be greatest. It has the greatest stakes and scale, connecting mundane and superatural. Intro was great but things ended disapointing. 02:31:14 glad i am not the only one noticig this.
Shame Castii's villain is the weakest out of all of them. The "life is suffering so to end suffering I have to end life" villains are always annoying and lame.
(SPOILERS) I mean, most ot2 main villains think the same, not necesarry final bosses but the masterminds, it's really the game's theme, a conflict between the ones who want a new dawn vs the ones who deny them, I think Trousseau's problem is more related to the game not telling us how he falls into madness, is really weird how he was a kind character and next cutscene he is a mad plague doctor, watching his fall into madness would be so much better, I know the game tells he read the book of night and such but it's like a boring way to explain it, I'd like more cutscenes about he losing more and more the hope in the world by experiencing things related to his job and finally reading that book, I think that's the problem with him
To be fair with, Trousseau though, his descent was somewhat more subtle? I agree that it feels like it comes out of nowhere but some of his dialogue does suggest there's more to it. Also to be more precise, he didn't read the book of night, what happened was that, he specifically encountered, Claude who we see has a knack for breaking peoples minds.
I absolutely adored octo 1, just something about its 'simplcity' and finesse of what it was. Tbh i felt like octo2 didnt have a clear enough direction, so many mechanics that just didnt click with me, everything was more, but i truly didnt feel like it was better.
[ADDENDUM]
Since I am/was certain there were gonna be mistakes or unclear bits scattered throughout this 3 hour video, I figured I would address any mistakes or questions in this comment! Expect it to be edited repeatedly in the future lol:
- Merry Hills does not play A Verdant Wind Blows (no idea how I got this one in my head), and Agnea's chapter 1 is where At Your Back plays for the first time (I just remember it more in Castti 2).
- Prayer of Plenty doesn't go party wide from Seal of Diffusion, it's Sealticge's Seduction that does it.
- I think I forgot to talk about Osvald’s Latent Power, because I kept forgetting about it. That said, being able to make one AOE spell become single target and do even MORE damage is always good.
Ot2 is one of my favorite videogames of all time, and I agree with you, this game will have been considered a hidden gem in the future, it's really a shame how overlooked it was during 2023, anyways, this is probably my favotite video of your channel, not because it was an octopath review, but you managed to make it interesting and fun to watch across the almost 3 hours of review, and that's a thing not anyone can do, congratulations Red!!!
I’m right there with you! I just finished everything, aside from the extra battles and the secret boss on the Sundering Seas and I love it. I love the messages that are found within each character’s story, with Agnea being my #1 ❤️
This is one of the best games I've ever played. I can't wait to see how Octopath 3 tops this one.
Octopath 2 my beloved, thank you for the awesome review, you can tell how much passion went into creating this game, I hold it close to my heart even if it got sidelined by other big releases. For me, it's goty 2023
Have not played OT2 yet for the same reasons you hesitated. But watching this triumphant celebration for the game which you call a review I'm convinced I need to play it. Cheers Red, awesome work! And let's hope for a bright future for Team Asano!
The second time through that chorus-ish section at 35:12 through 35:26 gets me every time. The counterpoint is so well done. So many simultaneously well written lines. The vocal is swelling into the stratosphere. A beautiful secondary dominant C7 (with an achingly pretty b13 on top) leads us to this desperate F minor chord, but a burst of hope right after with the ii-V back to Db. So many colorful chord changes that takes you on a roller coaster of emotion. Don't know why but that specific section gets me emotional almost instantly, every time. I can be in the best mood and it'll still get me misty eyed. It's that beautifully written.
Just finished this game tonight after concluding one of the most difficult periods of my life. Thank you for making this review.
I don't want to spoil myself but I am really excited to hear your thoughts! Congrats!
What an incredible video! OT2 is such a brilliant game, with a vibrant world, beautiful OST, engaging combat, and wonderful characters. As someone who adored the first Octopath Traveler, it was like seeing Team Asano improve upon perfection. It's been a journey seeing you share progress updates on this video, and to see it finally released is amazing. Easily some of your best work to date, Red!
The way I clicked so fast when I saw this; your Octopath 1 review was so sincere, with a lot of valid complaints that held you back from truly loving it, outside the typical “story seperate” complaints most people had. I’m really excited to hear what you thought of a so obviously improved entry in the series! I think you liked the original enough that this’ll be quite a treat for you.
I feel the big thing that makes me like Solistia's continent better to explore besides the better dungeons and aesthetics is also the layout. It actually FEELS like a proper continent in layout and design. It isn't a big donut around a central lake with the final chapters bringing you to the edges of the map, the final chapter really can by anywhere from returning to the starting area to a new part entirely, with the more fluid chapter design making it much harder to know when the story will end for a traveller.
I think the only thing I kinda miss are the multi-chapter sidequests, while they were annoying to keep track off they did make it feel like some NPCs had their own stories they went on. But I can see why they moved away from those to make sidestories easier to follow.
I don’t normally leave comments on even my favorite YT videos, but this is an amazing review on an amazing game. It’s evident that you wanted to embody the amount of effort Team Asano put into Octopath 2 into this video. I’m very glad you liked Octopath Traveler 2, and I’m deeply grateful to have been able to be there watching you play it on stream, as someone who had played the game prior, I was very excited to see your reactions to plenty of memorable moments.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Red, for giving one of my favorite videogames of all time a try!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s one of my absolute favorite games of all time.
2:43:33 yasunori actually felt the same, being a bit disappointed that the song he made here didn't get to play for an extended period of time
Octopath Traveler 2 is a game that is very important to me. From the moment it was announced at a random Nintendo Direct some Tuesday morning before my classes it has set up a permanent living space in my brain and I don't see it leaving anytime soon. Leading up to the game's release and watching all the new trailers and weekly twitter posts and discussing them with the community formed core memories for me, not to mention the ~80-100 hours I put into the game for my first playthrough and had an absolute blast doing so. All this to say, this review means a lot to me, as I'm sure it does to the larger Octopath community as a whole. With the lackluster launch compared to the first game many of us believe, as you do, that the game will be forgotten by many people and probably only recognized for its brilliance in the years to come. I truly hope that your review will help to fight against that future, to bring this game to more people's attention and to share the absolutely fantastic experience that comes with playing it, and I believe that it will. Thank you for putting the time and effort into this lengthy review and thank you for giving Octopath Traveler 2 a chance. Oh and good luck with new Galdera, that fight sure is a doozy ;)
Thank you for your thoughts on this game, and taking the time, to inform of us it, and I am happy over you found great joy in the game.
Aw yessssss a 3 hour review about my favorite game from a guy with good opinions ❤
I absolutely adore this Octopath 1 and 2. As a musician and composer, I got into the Octopath Traveler games from the absolutely incredible work of Yasunori Nishiki after being recommended the osts by fellow composers and music theorists. And holy, it does not disappoint. I listen to the tracks all the time.
Got the first and second games in December of 2023 and fell in love with them. I played both games through multiples times when I got them just because I enjoyed the combat system and building diversity so fun.
(Random character ramblings start here)
Started with Castti in my first ever Octopath game and yeah, what a powerful first character. Absolutely adore her character and her musical theme.
Also I really enjoy darker stories so enjoyed Throne's significantly more and didn't like Partitio's and Agnea's as much (but that is totally me just not liking uplifting stories in general lol). But Ochette is the best. I quote so many of her voice lines all the time lol. "The Tenderizer!" (Aggressive Slash) is a personal favorite along with "I'M STARVING!!!"
Also, somewhere in the video you mentioned Osvald's warrior voice lines. When you use vengeful blade he says "For every action..." when using the ability, and "There's a reaction!" for when you counter attack. It's so stupid but I love it lmao. Also "Thinking time" was also a meme with my friends as well LMAO
Temenos is peak. I love his character so much, especially the dynamic with Crick.
Hikari is very cool as well but I don't have much to say about him, I don't use him as much because Warrior Ochette is hilarious even if I'm sacrificing how broken Hikari can be lol.
Also 2:24:37
According to Yasunori Nishiki's notes on this piece, that is actually a Chinese vertical flute called a Xiao; not a Japanese Shakuhachi! Also the use of Erhu, one of my favorite instruments, to take over the melody on the second iteration of the initial figure of Hikari's theme just exudes so much color, especially with the strings doubling the figure.
(Small edit here, the "flute" you mentioned here is the Erhu actually! A Chinese string instrument. I assumed you were talking about the B section, where the solo Xiao is played with light string entries and swells)
And to speak more on the music, as a composer; Octopath 1 and 2 have been so helpful with my string writing personally. A lot of technical stuff and just a lot of analysis of his pieces has greatly improved my own writing which is awesome. Whether that be voicings or counterline ideas in the 1st violin parts, there's so much I've learned from his pieces and I frequently listen to the tracks for casual enjoyment or analytical purposes. I could name so many of my favorite tracks but I would end up naming half of the ost lol.
Very rambling comment but yeah, this game is awesome :)
ot2 is absolutely goated. three hour video? fantastic fr thanks
I struggled so hard in the Vide fight, i wiped twice and my third run was almost also completly overrun if it wssnt for Castti, my beloved Castti who held the line all on her own and with only a sliver of hp left took out Vide with her poison axe, your are not alone in thinking she is the best character of the game, or atleast has best story man I love Castti and all of the cast in this game so much and I think your breakdown of each of their stories has truly done them justice in your analysis and reverence to this game. Thank you truly its great to see someone else love and adore this game.
I'm so so glad you loved this one! I wasn't sold on 1 but 2 is one of my absolute favourite games of all time
I recently finshed everything in the game aside from the two last extra battles. Ive been dying to hear an indepth review of the story (especially Castti's) because of how much I love this game. Amazing video!
Also spoiler!
Ori is actually still alive, and iirc you can find them at the crackridge, Inn on the bed unconscious. You can also spot them at the far back right of the theater at the end of the epilogue!
Octo 2 is my 2nd favorite game of all time! I'm currently translating the game to PT-BR, a already finished 3 times (but I didn't defeat True Vide the Wicked yet) and every playthrough always makes me feel happy... I love all the 8 characters and their conclusions ❤❤
This was so nice to listen to (all 3 hours lol)
I appreciate the detail you were able to put into this project.
The music is the biggest thing about this game for me. I completely agree that this is a masterpiece of musical work in the industry. The character themes, battle themes, area themes, etc. all move me in a way that a lot of OSTs can't. As a rookie composer, Yasunori Nishiki is one of the biggest inspirations for me.
Also with Tsuki and Yomi. Combine their names and you get Tsukuyomi which is the Shinto god of the moon. The moon plays a BIG role obviously.
OTII is what we get when you combine caring, meticulous development teams with a necessary time-frame to complete a project. I felt like I was dying while knowing this game was in development, yet I'd still have to wait. Even more so with every trailer released, teasing a few more details. By far, the worst part was when the team teased part of the character themes. I fell in love with those 20-second clips, and I desperately wanted to find sheet music for Critical Clash II for me to play the trumpet line.
In the end, I'm so very thankful that the OT team had the time to release not just a complete game, but a thought-out, detailed game. I look forward to seeing what's next for the series, and will dance in my little corner while waiting for even more music!
Ah, a fellow recognizer of the best video game soundtrack ever made.... God I love this game and love its soundtrack
If you haven't, I REALLY recommend checking out any of the optional fights, especially the ones they added in the patch in... late May or early June? Cause those bosses really have hands, and exemplify what you're capable of with this battle system.
It should be mentioned that there is a bug that allows you to use boss level monsters (like Tera and Glacis) with Provoke Beasts. The sequence I believe is max boost, select Provoke Beasts, press the button to trigger Ochette's Latent, then press it again to cancel, and finally go into the normal Provoke menu wherein you will be able to select 6 monsters as if you were using Provoke Beasts... All this said, it's not necessarily that great for damage because it will summon the beasts as if you used no BP (normally impossible for the boss monsters) so their damage is terrible... But for utility, it's amazing. Scourge of the Seas, for example, will deal 5 shield damage to whatever it hits. So if it's being used 5 times... Yeah. I actually needed that to beat one of the superbosses they added in the patch.
And I'm just going to say it, the official order of the protagonists is wrong. And I feel the devs admitted it when the artwork they released with patch that flipped Osvald/Ochette and Temeneos/Throne
Oh, and did you spot Ori in the back of the crowd during Agnea's speech in the epilogue? I love that Partitio is so good of a guy that he saves a girl from a suicide cult
Omg 3 hours if OT2 talks? I‘m so ready! XD
The moment I saw the trailer for Octopath II, I was so fricking hyped I'm pretty sure I almost cried. Tried to restrain myself because I was currently in class at that time lol.
I bought it Day fucking One, so excited to play the sequel of what was one of my favorite games of all time. After only playing three times, I knew it was gonna be one of my favorite games ever. It was fucking gorgeous for being on the switch, the gameplay was better, the characters was better (Castti main here), it was everything I wanted.
Tho it was at the time I had a pretty controlling girlfriend that monitered the games I played in case "there were sexy women in it" or something. I started info dumping on it because that's what you do when you're an autistic nerd with an obsession with JRPGs and, as she does, when I hyperfixate on a new thing, she goes look it up. It took only her seeing the Throné official artworks to prevent me from playing it. And oh boy was I sad.
For respect for her, I accepted and turned the game down. Until one day I just couldn't anymore. I opened the Switch, re-installed the game, AND OH MY GOD WAS IT WORTH IT. OT2 is now (by far) one of the S-Tier game I've ever played, and I know I'm kinda generous with what I put in my S-Tier of Games but this one truly deserved it (my other S-Tier Games are Persona 3, OMORI, UT/DR, FE 13 and 14, Demons Roots, One Shot, Super Paper Mario, Grimm's Hollow and Malcatra's Maiden).
Now I'm way happier because I neither have a toxic girlfriend and played Octopath Traveler II as god intended.
And oh my god this video explains perfectly all of my points with why this game is God Tier (excepted Agnea, I don't like Agnea)
On provoke beasts: there is an expolit with it where you *can* summon once per battle monsters (including creatures of legend) multiple times. Making a broken skill absolutely busted beyond belief.
Have a fun tale myself
i played through Octopath 2 with 3 friends, we each had a different main traveler (I Casti, one Partitio, & Last Ochette), specifically we challanged outselves once we reached chapter 2 to ensure we had every party member in one of our 3 parties, so we managed experience every Travel banter voice acted by our silly selves.
In addition once we got to the Finale we noticed our chosen say their line, a nice touch unnoticed often.
Since we had to diversify our stratagies with different party members often, it was quite a thrill c:
As an extra fun fact, i managed to 100% the game with achivements which i am proud of
I love this game more than any other and Castii is like 5/8 for me. But just hearing that music and a brief description of the climb up that mountain. I had to step back and take a deep breath, I was helping a customer in service and mid sentence I just froze. She might not be my favorite story in the game but from a less bias prospective Castti is the best use of the amnesiac device I have ever seen and given the innate advantage of gameplay story integration I don’t think I could ever see anything even rival her.
I actually really enjoyed primrose honestly in the first game like her personality really stole the show for me
maybe you should do a music review of the game too
Three hours? Wow.
I will watch the review of OT 1 first and than come back to this.
OT2 my beloved! We may have different takes on OT1 but in general yeah the sequel improved/built a lot on the first game. Agree with most of the problems you had, specifically about the part where in the endgame you oneshot everything left and right and the meta of A Step Ahead leading to bosses not even getting a single move out which is a shame. At the very least that support skill should have been the last one you unlock and not the very first for some reason. Granted the Extra battles and Galdera aren't as easily nullified and True Vide/True Vide the Wicked especially are stupidly hard.
Another thing I so tremendously love about the game is:
1. The custom running animations for the travelers reflecting their personalities and
2. A very subtle reference that I believe almost nobody notices or at least I haven't really seen it discussed anywhere. I only noticed it when I was watching another hour long OT1 review. Agnea begins her final speech by reading from a book before going onto the phrase "I once went on a journey" and the text she reads is almost the exact same you get from beating Galdera in the first game "For Life is a journey... The places you go... The deeds you do... The tales whos hero you become... Every road is yours to take." And the last part after that "So journey forth, friend, into this great world we live in... and find an adventure all your own" gets left out because that is exactly what the OT2 cast did.
Could write a whole lot more but I feel like it would just end up in me rambling a lot ^^ Anyway great video and a like from me
Yes, the "Octopath creed" from the very first trailer I believe! It was very nice to see that return
I'll put it out there for anybody who might get a bit mislead on how Octopath works (Including Red Nova himself), but in both Octo 1 and 2, the stat gains you get from levels won't make a significant difference, unless you gain 10 or so levels (outside of the first 20 or so that makes the most of the relevant gains for moving to different tiers of areas). A late game equipment or a good strategy can easily replace said thing (there's a reason why there is a Tressa Single Story Speedrun that finishes Tressa's story at like level 13-17, and they don't even grab every possible gear and chest they could find).
The only real difference levels make is for: Being Ambushed by higher level enemies, Run chance from encounters (which won't even max out at 100%, yes I have failed to run from Level 10 enemies being 30+ levels above them, it's kinda stupid), Level Based Path Actions (The % changes are not directly tied to each level, but rather at certain Levels much like the more hard required levels for certain ones, you will get the updated chances), and the minimal stat gains you get each level. It doesn't help matters that getting 10 levels for a boss that is of "Danger Level 40" and above, will maybe at best let you survive one additional hit, since they hit pretty hard, even to the characters with 700+ Defence/Magic Defence.
To put it into perspective, Osvald at Level 1 Starts with 200 HP. In 8 Levels, he gains 200 HP, and at level 20, he has 1040 hp with no modifiers to his equipment or passive abilities. 2 empowering Bracelets (+500 HP each) would make up for 19 levels worth at level 1 alone. Sure you spent 13000 Leaves to replace gaining 19 levels, but the option is very much there to ignore gaining levels (outside of getting JP for Job skills). Now having levels for the more Difficult bosses do help, but they're not as significant as say, Most Final Fantasy Games, where you will notice a fairly obvious power growth over the course of the game. Meanwhile Octopath's Power scaling mostly relies on how quickly or slowly you end up getting powerful gear & skills online.
As soon as you hear "Fierce Confrontation", you know you're in trouble lol other songs I love that weren't mentioned are Crestlands (both), all the character songs, Hineouma (both), Cropdale (both), Bygone Days. Everyone needs to hear these songs.
My Friday night is sorted 😂
I share so many thoughts and opinions about OT2 with you. Some of the story beats hit me in ways that I'm not used to feeling, especially in games. The soundtrack is just a 10/10 masterpiece. I personally think that as time goes on, Yasunori Nishiki could sit alongside some of the all time great video game composers.
I had to do 2 attempts at the final boss and my first one was just kind of a test run to see where i was at. I didn't make it fsr enough to get to my 2nd party. After some adjustments, I made it to phase 2 and eventually phase 3. When phase 3 started and that message showed up, my level of hype, excitement, and intensity just went to the Moon. Having your entire party there all at once, acting together, and giving buffs to everybody was such an incredible feeling. Out of the 20+ years of that I've been playing games, it's by far the best final boss fight I've ever experienced, and I hope so many games can learn from it. For this one final battle, you as a player are given the ability to break the rules of the game that's been aer for you since the start, and it just feels awesome.
I absolutely loved the review, and here's hoping team Asano can continue to cook for both Bravely and Octopath going forward.
Great video, Red. I love this game! Provoke beasts is definitely the best skill in the game. Have you ever done its exploit? There's an exploit where you can use provoke beasts, including legendary beasts, multiple times per turn without using up the legendary beast, so Ochette can basically flatten everything.
As someone who's finished this game but not the first Octopath, I agree with what you said about all this. This game is what Bravely Second should've been for Bravely Default. Improves the gameplay but nothing else whereas Octopath II improves on everything. And based on what you described about the OG Octopath throughout, I'm now going in with some lowered expectations. You're also right on this game going under the rug despite its relative critical & commercial success. The unfortunate side of coming out in one of the best years of gaming. Overall, this is a well-made & interesting video man. Lastly, I picked Castti as my first Traveler.
I hear you on the difficulty aspect, and yeah it’s, uh, rough. What someone I watched (who does OT1 speedruns and challenge runs so admittedly very experienced) did for their blind playthrough was put on Makeshift Weapons, ban a couple specifically overpowered skills and consumables like jams, and then minmax everywhere else. They did end up seeing the majority of attacks, and only died once to Dolcinaea 2. (Vide took an absurd amount of time though.)
Now of course considering his experience it’s not completely reasonable to copy, but something like only makeshift weapons and none of the other restrictions? Could be doable, and without limiting yourself in any of the other ways would potentially allow you to keep up with the snowballing effect of the bosses without snowballing yourself. At least an idea for repeat playthroughs if you ever do them.
Anyways, fantastic review! Only found this a few days ago but I love the passion, and am most of the way through. Have subbed and am looking forward to whatever else you might be making.
Castti Ch.2 [Winterbloom Route] really got me bawling, she's may main and man what a game OT2 is my GOAT game.
I actually loved the story and character of Temenos the most hahaha. I love hearing more people discuss this game :)
I suspected the "real" baddie of Temenos's story from the end of the first chapter. I loved the subtle clues and how his story ties a bit all of the other's together (such as his friend and mentor being in Ochette's first chapter). I chose his first based on his musical theme, and it felt just RIGHT to have him face the endgame as protagonist.
I just finished this game recently and clocked in 150+ hours. I am glad to see others have the same amount of appreciation for the series especially for this particular game. Top notch game and masterpiece of a soundtrack. Looking forward to Octopath Traveler 3 in future.
Looks like there's another full octopath 2 playthrough to watch the next few days at work
Throne I felt was written to include snippets of backstory of the world.
Lostseed in general had an intricate but not explicitly told story. Every mention of the kingdom was made through story of a myth, of a kingdom made by a runaway prince and princess.
It then lets the player add in the remaining bits of the story,
the potential of both kingdoms refusing to trade or besieging the kingdom,
a potential civil war that tore the kingdom apart,
the isolation and need of a hidden town made up on a prince/princess and their people potentially causing a supply shortage.
It feels out of place but it feels perfectly out of place. It causes your mind to run all these storylines that could have happened to the town. And we all know what ended up with the place, the literal breeding ground of a corrupted individual, potentially signaling that Lostseed was where the Archmage D'arqest was born or lived in.
Good game and good review. I also think Hikari's story, especially his final chapter, and themes are top tier, and he's far from being my most used character in the game. My main Temenos is the best though, not biased.
I'm glad to hear that someone else feels the same way as me. I was hesitant to get this game at first and then finally did. After two chapters of some of the stories, I almost put it down. I liked Osvald's, Ochette's and Hikari's early story but nothing quite grabbed me (maybe because of my initial hesitation). But then once I got to chapter 3 of the stories, things started really making sense. I started really liking it. A week or two later, I beat the game and knew I fell in love. All the stories are top notch (In my opinion Agnea's is the weakest but the later chapters and battles are great), the gameplay is awesome, the combat is perfect. It took me 40 tries but I beat Galdera and got platinum too lol My favorite thing about the game is the music - hands down the best OST ever in a game. I still listen to it in my car all the time. One of my favorite games of all time, if not my favorite.
Truly a fantastic game. I wholeheartedly agree that this will be looked back on as one of the greatest of the decade.
🙏 amazing
Teminos and his story was like Raul Julia and Street Fighter: The Movie.
I love octopath traveler 2
Octopath traveler 2 was amazing
Imagine how I feel about OT 2 if OT 1 became my favourite jRPG ever back when I played it despite me playing those games for over almost 20 years back when I played OT 1. I absolutely adore almost everything about OT 2 and I am livid that it got so overlooked.
EDIT: Albeit I seems I am not as high as you on some specific regards in 2 and especially compared to 1. I think I did more things better than 2 than you think.
And it is a greatly underappreciated game I really love octopath 2!!!!
Hikari felt like playing through a Fire Emblem game.
OT2, my fav game, OT1 was my first JRPG, OT2 my secund. First games best point beyond the visuals is the music, still have like half of all the ost tracks of BOTH games on my music playlist. Secund game, so MUCH MORE THEN JUST THE MUSIC.
At this point I just like to hear people adore it has much as I do. I have finished the game TWICE in 9 months, never have I felt so compelled to replay a game so fast, god I love it. : ) : )
First game is nostalgic for me and OT2? Well I still think about it regually. If there is one game I want to hear announced it's OT3
Btw the time were I beat Galdera's secund phase the first time, my party got wiped... exept Hikari and with one last big hit I GOT IT!
Also also also, where is the OT CotC review? I have been looking for a reveiw of the game since I don't know if I want to play another Gacha since Nikke already takes all my time...
Im such a blockhead, im like an hour and some change into the video like "hmmm why do they keep calling it ot2?! Shouldnt it be called op2 at the very least?.. " lmao .. ugh at least i *eventually* remembered the second half/word in the title 😑🤦
Is there a two hour plus review on the first one?
@@trebenjamin sorry, only 40 minutes :) th-cam.com/video/9-lbcZgO71w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=W300hsK7hA4FkvAQ
lets go
This game is a god damn masterpiece!
I really hope they make a 3rd game
Great video about great game
Jw have you played metaphor refantazio?
@@joshakins4923 Not yet, but thinking about it :)
So good
critical clash 2 glaze.....
10/10 review
I am 4 minutes in and I´m interested in your reasoning how OT 2 fixed anything
and why it´s great. For me it´s definetly a step up, but being better than OT 1
is not really hard.
I will edit my comment because I watch this in bursts:
The Visuals are a little better and the effects in combat
are good. It´s a small step up in comparison with OT 1.
The gameplay has not changed to much and that is a good thing.
You have more skills, different classes and the lisence mechanic
was a really cool thing, even though I never really used it. I can´t
recall having each job more than one time in a party.
Since the combat was the only thing that kept me going in OT 1,
this was great.
The difficulti was ok. I had only one wipe at Hikaris last boss.
I was pretty surprised by the phasechange and severly underhealed.
Had I played a little bit more safe this wouldn´t have been a problem,
but like you say, most bosses you can burn down.
That does not mean, they were too easy. I think they did a pretty good
job this time.
I am not really good at figuring out broken combos. Most of the time
I consider the broken skills bad, like step ahead. It´s just one turn
and then the talent is just dead in the water. I used it to grind for
Galdera, that was it.
I did not know, how the nuts work that gave you statboosts, never used
them. I learned in a guide how OP they are.
Galdera in part one was really tough for me. I got him 3rd try, but it was
really close.
Galdera in part two was unbeatable for me. I could not lay a finger on him
Stopped after the fourth try and then searched a guide.
I did not try him tho, I don´t like using guides. It´s like others have beaten
him, but not me.
I am sure I will come back for him.
The stories were as boring as in OT 1. There were more peaks tho.
Some parts were really cool.
My favorite part was figuring out who wrote the diary you found with
Hikari in chapter one (which was not that hard) and the Galdera questchain of cause.
Soundtracks, like visuals, are something everyone has to make their own opinion.
It´s a really good soundtrack, but far away from my favorites.
The crossed paths were a nice idea and they are different. But not really interesting.
I was intrued by Thrones first chapter of the joined quest, but it lost me. I don´t
even remember the ending.
It´s really nice to see someone is happy with a game and found something
he will be replaying and have good memories about.
While OT 2 is a good game and certainly way better than 1, it´s not
that kind of game to me.
Imo Throne has the best story, but I haven't seen Octopath 1 with Primrose's story yet. I personally don't think you gave it enough credit all things considered. Sure you can call throne's chapter before that one fight(for spoiler sake) a filler but both of mother's branched chapters were amazing imo and father's final chapter was also just cinema. With the child that begged throne not to do anything to mother because she was the only mother that she had. I love Castti's story just as much as the next guy, and it also had me in tears but I think it's super disingenuous to downplay a story because of mentions of child abuse and because the character is similar to another character. Also could never understand how this story can be called "bland". Off of the Throne topic though, Castti definitely was my second favorite story though, no question.
That's a perfectly fine opinion - it's why we have all these different stories after all, to find something we each like! I just wanted to clarify; I don't think Throne's story is bad just because it had child abuse, I don't really think that at all. The dark twists were the thing that kept making me double take, after all, and I'm not really perturbed by darker themes like that, just surprised that they actually went THAT far with the story haha.
My more major issues were yes, the feeling that she was a blended byproduct of Therion and Primrose's plots, on top of having a rather rigid story structure that didn't compel me as much as some of the others. That said, she still has some CRAZY moments that do impress here and there, but not enough for her to beat out the others for me.
@@RedNovaTyrant I'll have to play the first game to see what you mean here but fair point. I haven't seen Octopath 1's story structure to know what you mean for comparison either. Fair opinion, but I guess I just misunderstood.
No worries!
@@RedNovaTyrant Kakunoshin Futsuzawa said that he wrote Throne story to be Primrose’s but darker so you’re right about that point.
did you beat the post game bosses?
Not yet! Hope to some day, maybe on a stream
16:37 the radar spoils a lot
16:47 dungeons are not great, the music is always the same and they are quite basic and uneventfull.
18:17 i didnt feel it specially combat wise and the availability of monsters
18:46 still the option to change the party wherever shoul be there from the start
19:17 a bad call that makes it day/night system feel gamey
on difficulty: game is not hard. the open world aspect of it means that i ended being to strong for some dungeons and bosses, trivializing content. My first character fial chapter( agnea´s was the thoughtest boss for me). Also you can become so broken my mid/late game that random battles become a waste of time.
Music: Quality music and song but they get used again and again, losing their uniqueness.
voice acting: clearly one the aspects that needs improving. That will help elevate the storytelling.
01:03:00 banter misses the mark imo. I think they should pop up for every character you already recruited. Seing them via the menu may sound good but it is actually a correction.
01:11:37 basic storytelling is my biggest gripe on the game. It has potential but doesnt reach the ceiling.
Ochette: is Goku: pure of heart, loves to eat and to fight. The pokemon gameplay was great and usefull all the way through. You can focus on item collection and usage, collecting broken LV10 monsters or lower LV one and use Provoque beast. Her provoque path action is reduntant.
Casti: Broken character, the story didnt do much for me. Villain makes little sence. Has a "mother" character but the banter shows another side to her.
Throné: strange story , from very grounded to supernatural out of nowhere. My boss figth experience was the same as yours, killed him to quickly. The theme of Freedom does not have a good resolution. The metaphor of " the colour" is a weak one.
osvald: stealing as a a path action doesnt suit him. Deserved happier ending.
Partitio: great music, love the sax. He has a strange archtype, the good minded business man.
Agnea: would be interesting to have this type of character in a game with more party interactions.
Temenos: was my main. The investigation thing was not very well done, neither does it show much of Temenos inteligence( i guess he is suposed to be Sherlock?). Carrick cool character, was not expecting him to die ad in such a stupid way.
Hikari: In my eyes His story has the most potential to be greatest. It has the greatest stakes and scale, connecting mundane and superatural. Intro was great but things ended disapointing.
02:31:14 glad i am not the only one noticig this.
you sound a lot like matt mcmuscles
Shame Castii's villain is the weakest out of all of them. The "life is suffering so to end suffering I have to end life" villains are always annoying and lame.
(SPOILERS)
I mean, most ot2 main villains think the same, not necesarry final bosses but the masterminds, it's really the game's theme, a conflict between the ones who want a new dawn vs the ones who deny them, I think Trousseau's problem is more related to the game not telling us how he falls into madness, is really weird how he was a kind character and next cutscene he is a mad plague doctor, watching his fall into madness would be so much better, I know the game tells he read the book of night and such but it's like a boring way to explain it, I'd like more cutscenes about he losing more and more the hope in the world by experiencing things related to his job and finally reading that book, I think that's the problem with him
To be fair with, Trousseau though, his descent was somewhat more subtle? I agree that it feels like it comes out of nowhere but some of his dialogue does suggest there's more to it. Also to be more precise, he didn't read the book of night, what happened was that, he specifically encountered, Claude who we see has a knack for breaking peoples minds.
I absolutely adored octo 1, just something about its 'simplcity' and finesse of what it was. Tbh i felt like octo2 didnt have a clear enough direction, so many mechanics that just didnt click with me, everything was more, but i truly didnt feel like it was better.
It feels so weird for me to see everyone loving octo2 so much when I loved the first game but for some reason i just cant love the second XD
Oh and the digital release of the soundtrack is in 96hz/24bit which is very nice. I wish octo 1 had that too