(O)lbric, the Warrior (C)yrus, the Scholar (T)ressa, the Merchant (O)philia, the Cleric (P)rimrose, the Dancer (A)flyn, the Apothecary (T)herion, the Thief (H)'aanit, the Hunter I LOVE this game!
I feel like the big detailed sprites for the enemies and the cute tiny sprites for your characters is an intentional throwback to the old school Final Fantasy games where that was a thing.
True, but Final Fantasy 4 and 5 had slightly larger and detailed sprites for the player in battles. That said, this game's art style for the sprites is definitely inspired by FF6... which didn't do that.
It is a throwback but still I always found it stupid. If they could make all these big and detailed sprites for the enemies why not for the *characters that fight in every battle of the game*
Claudio Lluberes The bosses and enemies are huge in this game probably to show how overbearing/strong they may be to the player. If you were fighting a boss that was as small as your party, it wouldn't feel as overwhelming or powerful. Same thing if your party was as large and detailed as the boss sprites.
Allegryan Agreed. It's meant to make the enemies look more intimidating, and (in my opinion) it's fun to see the attacks from your tiny characters have giant, booming visual effects.
The characters do interact..but not too great. I really enjoyed the banter feature, but it only starts chapter 2 onwards. I kinda wish they were somewhat involved in the story beyond that. It never really explores the characters motivation to following these people when it doesnt really benefit them.
it would be great if there was plot cross over and the like, but since the selling point of the game is 'choosing the path you want to travel' the devs would have to account for every permutation of choices you made. Assuming banter continues up through ch4, that's already almost 200 dialogues. Anything more in depth than that is practically impossible on this scale.
8:40 i agree. Once in chapter 2 (for any chatacter) at some points, there is an option that says: press + for travel banter. And in it the characters in your party do have some what of a conversation
I'm sure someone else has mentioned this, but after all the chapter 1s a "press + to hear travel banter" pops up and a bit of relevant dialogue between the character of that chapter and someone else in your party occurs.
Yep, which is all the more important to play a full game and not a demo before doing a review piece. Characters also will appear in the bar occasionally when they're not in your current party, and you can chat with them then, too.
One of the characters gets a passive skill that drastically reduces the random battle rate, you just need to play for a bit and if you don't like that character you eventually get to share that skill with other characters. Another detail that wasn't mentioned in the vid is that all of the music is extremely amazing, if you are on the fence about buying this game I recommend going through the ost.
6:32 Arlo, your brain may be the size of a fist, but you're still one of the most intelligent TH-camrs I've ever had the pleasure of watching. So glad I found you early on in your career
Snek o good =\= memorable. I go back and listen to the ff6 OST constantly. I will not be doing the same for Octopath where the music is just good for the scenes
Octopath Traveler I find to be something really special, from its graphical style, to its wonderfully immersive--bob-your-head-to soundtrack, to its "simple to understand-ramps up and gets complex" battle breaking system, to its relatively novella style story telling of archetypal characters going on heroes journeys not so much as a team but as a collective unit of individuals, its a JRPG that has captured some of the love that I've lost for the genre over the years. While I'm nowhere near completing the game, I found myself just diving headfirst into a game I initially was only passively observing until I saw say my brother playing it on the TV and in an few short hours I was hooked. I was immediately just sucked into the world, curious about where each of these characters stories are going to take them, and while they might not interact as much as I was hoping, at the very least each of their stories thus far have been at the very least captivating. All 8 of the main stories all sort of follow the classic narratives of JRPGs of old (sudo-spoilers?) with examples such as "collect the 4 colored mcguffins" to stories of revenge, to the "I just wanna explore the world," all of which have characters that fit those stereotypical RPG characters from a lone wolf thief to a bookworm mage to a warrior seeking purpose, while also introducing some fresh takes which ultimately I feel are the strongest in terms of character growth such as the dancer and merchant. All and all, if you are looking for a 60+ hour RPG where there is no rush to finish the objectives (and is very easy to pick up thanks to the Switch's Sleep Mode) and just wanna get enveloped in the world, this game is for you, especially if you love classic turn based combat which I feel has been kind of put to the way side amidst a sea of action RPGs, and thankfully also includes mechanics that can quell some of those JRPG gripes of old like lowering enemy encounter rates or fast traveling between cities you discover. I'm in love with a game I at first was only enraptured by its graphical style only to see even come about from under the surface, and am very much looking forward to completing it and seeing what more it has to offer!
I literally cannot stop playing this game. This is the exact type of game I needed in my life right now. While I am disappointed about the characters not interacting too much, every story is really unique and I find myself loving every single character more and more every time I progress through the different stories. I can see this being my personal favorite game of the year.
Don't worry. Chapter 2 on, party banter will occur between cutscenes to bring it together. The end of the game also finally shows how all the stories are connected.
Nick Ando Call me the dumbfuck when he CLEARLY says what happens at the ending... Now I know exactly what to expect, and it won’t be a surprise at all. Why the fuck do I need to explain this? Lmfao. Edit: And also, next time you decide to be a random asshole on the internet like our friendly neighborhood spoiler from above, at least try to be aware of what’s actually being said.
Nick Ando Lol are you really making that shitty of an argument? The element of surprise is what fuels a video game. Take, for example, the Witcher 3, Which I still have not finished. It’s mainly about Geralt trying to find his “Daughter” Ciri. Since we know that she’s such an important character, she’s bound to be found. Like watching an intense fight between a main protagonist and a bad guy in the beginning of an action film, we know that the main guy can’t die. The movie just started. THAT SAID, controlling the element of surprise and waiting for that gasp moment where the climax occurs and a whole lotta “You knew it was coming” shit happens, the moment is only made more special. Now, since the ending’s been clearly laid out for me, I have no reason to be hyped to finish this game. Discovery is what makes such story heavy games like OT fantastic. Sure, it may be obvious, but in a situation where the ending’s foundation is not laid out in front of you, the ending becomes a lot more self-achieved. You get it?
I've been incredibly pleased with Octopath so far, it's been a far bigger deal than I expected (and I preordered it without playing the demos) It perfectly encapsulates what I loved about old school final fantasy, with the sole exception of the story/writing not being anything special. Great Job Square, this has been a very pleasant surprise.
"I'm sure there are people out there, but rarely do I see the whole community get so unanimously hyped for a game" 2:54 Well, I was one of those people that didn't like it at first glance. In fact, I thought it looked kinda dull and incoherent, though the art style was surprisingly fresh and unique (which I am a big fan of). However, when the demo launched, I gave it a try (I mean, this game was shown in every Direct, it sure must have some value to Nintendo). I played as Cyrus and it was so good I played in one day right through a second exposition (Tressa). I then looked the price up and thought "I'll pick it up for 20€" (I thought it was some kind of short Indie Experience), but the price tag of 60€ scared me off. Yesterday, (due to Coronavirus social distancing,) I bought it as it was on sale 50% off - One of the best decisions so far. What I wanted to say: Those people who weren't hyped might have been right (for themselves), but for me, it simply wasn't the case. What a great game!
7:53 I actually like this, because it makes the enemies seem much more menacing. It makes it feel like your backed into a corner and facing a real challenge on a level above what the characters are used to. It seemed cool to me.
The big sprites for bosses is actually a small nod/reference to old JRPGs where bosses always had overly complex battle sprites, despite having simplified overworked sprites, and the player characters still have their small overworld sprites in battles. It's just a silly little touch that I really appreciate.
Here in 2022, I’m still playing this game. It’s so good. ❤️ It’s no longer exclusive, being on Xbox and PC with Game Pass. But that doesn’t matter because more people need to experience even a little bit of it.
mubly snubly Shut up lil whiny ass boy I can smell shit when it's there and that video was garbage I don't mind it if he didn't like it I mind it when he tries to pass off that video as a review or even entertaining
Ersan You don't have to react that way. Reviews are, like most things people say, subjective. I don't know who this guy is, so I'll just say you sound dumb when you say other opinions are dumb.
The word you’re looking for when referring to the foreground + background blurring is “tiltshift”. It’s a technique used very commonly in miniature photography, where you’re photographing tiny figurines and models up-close and then applying the tiltshift effect onto it to give it a larger than life feel. It creates the sense that there’s way more depth and space in the image than there actually is. I’m impressed at how well it works in this game, great call by their art direction team 👏👏👏
No Alias Check his Twitter and scroll a bit. Back in June, he layed out his plans for it. I can't really remember every detail, but I do clearly remember him saying it'll be split into 7 parts
This game is the best thing to happen this year. It’s as if the creators perfected the Bravely Default formula and made better characters. Cyrus is the best by the way👍🏻
For your disconnected story complaint. In the full game, there's travel banter. This is where the stories main character and one of your active party members talk about the current event. They have interesting conversations. I really like the ones between the merchant and the thief really interesting!
Plus, the post-game is full of sidequests involving NPCs from all the different stories. The world really feels connected by the end. And yes, LOTS of travel banter. Enough to feel overwhelming at times, heh.
Yo, Arlo. The cast start chiming in after you start each person's Chapter 2. You can hit the + button at prompted times to hear party dialogue of certain members of the cast responding to currently-ongoing plot details. Also, randomly, you can get little vignettes of the cast when you enter a Tavern the same way. Also, without going into spoiler territory, the plots have convergence points near the end. So yeah.
Yeah, I had one where in the second chapter Prim had to go to a brothel for plot reasons, and Tressa asked what a Brothel is. I've also heard that there are also 4 person banters but I can't say for sure, as I haven't experienced one yet.
I thought the best prologues were: 1. Primrose the vengeful dancer 2. Theron the shortsighted thief 3. Cyrus the history teacher with the best path action ever 8. Tressa. Being a merchant was my first choice, but I found the introduction to her consumed with everyone telling her how great she is at the expense of everything else. except the art.
Honest I've been ignoring octo path because it didn't look interesting. Then there were so many videos of it I decided to try the demo. ( Of course I pick the thief) and I loved it! Now I can't wait to get my (hands) on a physical copy!
To Be Fair, having Characters interact would probably require Square to delay the game if they were to put in Olberic, Alfyn into Pimrose's story. With 8 travelers and adventures they take, having every traveler interact with each other in a cutscene might have taken longer for Square to finish.
Well, that can be a good strat, but mostly just for when the boss is charging up a major attack and you need to break him before the next turn to stop it.
so side note arlo, past each characters chapter 1 you can hit your + sometimes at a prompt to have someone "chime in" and comment on the story, really ties things together without interupting the cut scenes and really starts tying things together a lot better
Funny to watch this in 2024 when the Switch is poised to become the best selling console of all time. Seeing Arlo beg for more good games on the switch makes me remember that era when people were complaining that most games were ports and there wasn't enough true first party exclusives. Nintendo completely knocked this entire system out of the park.
I'm kind of regretting buying Crash 'n' sane trilogy as I'll likely not be able to get Octopath until Christmas due to saving for Smash Ultimate. Like you and many others I was sold by the January presentation and, honestly, I cannot wait to play this game!
+Sigils, ETHEC They did... *TWICE!* SE dropped the ball really damn hard with this game. I'm really pissed at them. I wanted OT to sell no less than 2 million worldwide but I really want it to reach 5 million. With the game being sold out *IN THE ENTIRE WORLD* right now, it may become a lost dream. Peopl want physical media. It is the most popular media still. People will wait but if you make them wait too long, they will lose interest. Especially considering the fact how packed next month is. SE fucked up so fucking hard! This is not even the first time they have done this!! SE don't give a single FUCK about anything that isn't DQ, FF & KH. Anything that isn't those three will get a half assed focus. Efforts to expand DQ popularity in the west have been fully half assed for 30+ years now. SE needs to get their head of those game's ass for fucks sake. Bravely Default got fucked by a massive stock issue. EVEN THE DAMN SEQUEL got massive stock issues too! How the fuck can you fuck up your stock on a sequel of a very successful game? I don't fucking understand that.
During some chapters, if you have a certain character in your party, a sound will play and in the top of the screen will show the message “press + to hear travel banter”, these travel banters are interactions between the characters
Its like every single reviewer played for 3 hours and never once noticed that other characters do indeed comment on ongoing stories and talk amongst each other. But worse than that everyone seems to be clamouring for a cliche mcguffin based story when Square Enix was trying to do something DIFFERENT. Being character driven instead of plot driven appears to be Octopath greatest sin. Jesus H Christ....
Yeah, I find it silly too. It's been years since I've played a JRPG with a truly unique story anyways, so I would definitely prefer one that experiments with a more unique structure than one that's about saving the world from an ancient evil again.
Except the characters aren't in any way interesting. Just very bland, cliched, very little depth to them. I can predict how their chapter storylines before they play out. And it's not concise - huge amounts of cutscene to hammer home a simple story point that could have been covered in half the time. It's a shame as everything else about this game is excellent
Seacliff Tell me about it. If you're looking for original stories, you're not going to find much but that's not a bad thing and people need to realize that. You can have two stories that when cut down to the bone, are the same thing yet they are told in very different ways. Octopath was designed around the player immersing themselves within the story and using their imagination. It's role-playing at it's core and I find that very refreshing considering jrpgs are constantly trying to one-up each other with these grand stories that the player can't immerse themselves in.
Your comment at around 8:25 just kept reminding me of Seiken Densetsu 3. It's like octopath for the SNES. You choose 3 of 6 characters to be in your party throughout the game, and you follow a story, level up, etc. However. Each character has their own lines for when a supporting character is supposed to say something, making it feel like the effort put into the game is a lot more than it really is. For instance, My main character, Lise, the princess and warrior Amazon, was reflecting on the journey at a certain point, crying about her kidnapped brother, and my second party member, a 13 year old knight ace, Duran, tried to cheer her up but couldn't. So my thief party member, Hawk, went up to her and shared a couple stories about his past as a Robin Hood kind of thief for a Robin Hood kind of thief faction called Navare. It's a really great game, it isn't all that long, (story ends at around level 35-40) and it has tons of replay value. But Octopath...Looks GORGEOUS! I'm interested in the different characters, and I love how there are 8 characters as opposed to only 6. The battle system in octo looks really, really satisfying too, and isn't an action RPG like Seiken is(though there is nothing wrong with it). Overall, Seiken will keep me occupied until I get the game, but when I do, Octopath will take most of my time.
Honestly, I didn't understand the hype from the trailer I saw in March (I think that direct showed some?). I saw more and more about it, and it slowly drew me in as a game I would buy, but not like as much as others. The second I turned on the game, I was hooked 100%. The backstories, the unique art style, I couldn't put it down. I definitely recommend it for anyone wanting a superb unique experience on the Switch.
I personally enjoy the characters being 3X your size. It intimidates you in the early parts of the game and makes you think “I’m gona be here awhile” plus if they did that for every character than the screen would get completely covered when each side has 3+ people
Arlo, in the 2nd chapters of character’s stories, characters will sometimes initiate “travel banter” with other characters based on the chapter they’re in. You have to get farther in the game to initiate it, but I can see why you’d initially think they didn’t interact at all.
People keep saying that the characters do interact at points with the + button... but I can't help but think that is incredibly weak compared to other games in the genre. Part of the fun of party JRPGs is having characters with different motivations and perspectives come together, and watching the story find its way to keep every character invested. It's one of the things that make Tales games so interesting since the party frequently splits up for varying reasons. It makes it actually feel like an adventure with a cast of characters and not just a few disconnected stories clumped together, and then on top of that you'll get dozens of skits that involve more than a one-on-one conversation. These could range from fleshing out character backstories, watching characters bond, or sometimes it's comic relief. Even JRPG classics like Chrono Trigger, which is over 20 years old now, make more effort to have character stories and motivations tie together. When you look back at older JRPGs like Final Fantasy VI or Tactics, the degree of animation used for the cutscenes is far and away more expressive, squeezing what little they can out of their sprites. From what I played of Octopath, characters just stand around in idle animations most of the time, with a few little movements like holding a hand out and such. More complicated things like picking up a pebble and tossing it into a river from FFT just won't happen. Forget trying to compare Octopath's rigid cutscenes to more modern JRPGs like the amazing choreographed fight scenes in Xenoblade Chronicles! I think people really want Octopath Traveler to be a success, and are willing to ignore (or maybe don't know) that the genre has been better, and has shown more cohesive and detailed effort in the past, all while dealing with memory and graphics limitations. It has a cast of characters but doesn't commit to the concept of interweaving motivations and stories. It uses pixel sprites but doesn't do anything with them aside from evoking nostalgia. I want to like Octopath Traveler but I see these issues and think, "they can do better than this."
I need a megaphone so I can loudly shout "THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS." Hell, even Bravely Default (the first one, never bothered with the second) by the same team seemed like a better effort.
^This shit needs to be pinned.^ I find it amazing how many people (kids maybe) are so... aw struck by this game. Shit, even from the trailers this game doesn't seem to want to show (if it can) that it has anything NEW to bring to the table for the genre. Final Fantasy 3 introduced the job system, Chrono Trigger had combo attacks, and Bravely Default... had me default. Can anyone please tell me what OctoTraveler did that set it apart from other jrpg's than being developed using UE4 and having... 8 different protagonists...? You know what, I'd rather just play FFT at this point...
I understand the disappointment for this, but I don't really mind. I love each character individually, some less than others, but I can't deny that each of them have character and a good story. Also it's combat system is amazing. Also I believe that there is an overarching plot at the end of each of the 8 stories. Also I think the path actions are what is new, but I'm not sure about that.
To be fair, though, the way Octopath Traveler is designed makes character interaction, not impossible, but really damned difficult. The fact that you can complete the chapters in literally any order and, heck, even the fact that collecting all the characters isn't even a necessity to complete each individual character's story would mean there may well be a lot of plotholes.
The reason why the first chapter story sequences disclude other characters is because they all happen simultaneously. When you meet them for the first time, they explain their story that’s already happened in a past sense, and you experience it like a flashback
Arlo, the other characters do interact with eachother during their stories. They have little “banter” moments like fire emblem where it just adds some interaction between the 2 characters. It starts to happen after chapter 1
Great goodness I love this game. I didn't think much of it when it was revealed. The I played the first demo, which made me like it a lot more, though I was still skeptical with all the random encounters and whatnot. Then the second demo came and sold me on the game. And finally, when it was released, all my expectations very even surpassed. I personally don't mind just having 8 small stories instead of a big, cohesive one, since they're all so good by themselves anyway. I also feel like the banter between characters (it's a tad like in Paper Mario, where other party members give little comments and insights on the current situations) is enough character-interaction, at least to me. I also feel like they did a fantastic job on the voice acting. I love Cyrus and Kirbopher as Therion especially. Although I've never been a fan of random encounters, so there's a point I'd criticise. My biggest gripe with the game is probably that there aren't any puzzles inside dungeons. It's always just navigating through a bit of a maze while finding chests and fighting monsters. They could've done more with characters' individual abilities to solve puzzles like they did with partner-abilities in Paper Mario, but oh well. Again, I absolutely love this game, even more so than I expected to, and it could even by my personal GotY (though there's still Smash Bros.). Also notice that this comes from a guy, who is usually rather cautious when it comes stepping out of his comfort-zone when buying new games. This game certainly has a bit of magic in it, that much is sure.
If you don't mind, would you explain what's so good about it? I'm interested but I don't want to buy it without seeing a good reason. Usually the only good things everyone says about it is how much they love it without any explanation. You mentioned the voice acting and stories were good, which don't sound like enough to make someone think the game is as good as you were describing. Arlo liked the visuals, but I don't. The only other thing he mentioned was that the gameplay was simple and satisfying. I just can't help but think there must be something I'm missing that's making everyone go bonkers over this game.
I think the greatest strength, besides the fantastic battle-system is the fact that the game allows you so much freedom. You can pick whatever character at the beginning, let's you do any chapters you'd like and lets you go anywhere. Than there's also a ton of cusomisation options so you can play the game however you'd like.
One thing I really liked about Square's other recent Nintendo-exclusive RPG franchise, Bravely Default, was how much you could customize your gaming experience. You can change the difficulty settings at any time, and you can even change your random encounter rate, which is great because you can raise it up to max when you're trying to grind, and turn them off altogether when you're trying to explore. I haven't played Octopath yet, and only really broke open the demo, so I don't know if this is a thing in Octopath, too, but I hope it is, and if it isn't, I really hope it makes a return and honestly becomes a mainstay in JRPGs from here on out. It just made the experience so much more enjoyable for me.
Grinding? I get by with every encounter that shows up while traveling. What I mean is that I never have to go out of my way to grind the enemies come, I beat them, and that's it.
youtube's comment section doesn't actively update which means you would have to refresh the page to see changes so in the first few moments of a new video release all those people probably thought they were first because they didn't see anyone else. although I'm sure plenty are just trolls.
To say about random battles: You gotta love Cyrus. Evasive Maneuvers turns the encounter rate down like, 75% and makes travel/exploration 100 times easier. Plus, since he's really the only viable elemental attacker, you always have him on your team. MY FOCUS IS UNPARALLELED!
In the full game there is between-character interaction, but only during each character's main questlines from the second part of their story onward. It's nice that it's there, but it would be much better if there were more of it.
There is a equivalent ability that reduces the random battles. That definitely helps when I’m going from place to place. Also my favorite character so far is Cyrus and when you boost him all the way he proclaims “My focus is unparalleled”. Epic!
There actually is party banter between the characters at times. They kind of work like the skits in Tales Of games, where at certain points you press the + button during a character's chapter and one of the members in your current party will talk with whoever the current chapter is focused on about the current situation. Sadly, there's no replay option, and if you want all the party banter possible, you have to switch out your party members constantly to see if they have something to say as well after each event in a given chapter. Oh, and none of them are voiced.
I'm about 25 hours in and still have a couple Chapter 2s to go through for the cast (I think about three or so?) and I must say that even though the game gets very grind heavy after you finish every character's Chapter 1, the game rewards you all the time with Job Points to make combat an even more unique puzzle than it was from when you first start the game. I haven't played in a couple days due to the Mega Man X Legacy Collections coming out this past Tuesday, but once I've had my fill of Mega Man X4 for the umpteenth billion time, I'll head back to this and continue to enjoy it. It makes me happy to see such a high quality JRPG exclusive from Square Enix do so well. Maybe someday then we'll get those Kingdom Hearts HD compilations on Switch, maybe? Hopefully? No? Yeah, sounds about right. Great video as always.
Characters do communicate with each other. When roaming around, sometimes a text will appear on the top left corner telling you to press "+" for dialogue.
Love your content usually but to talk so extensively about the game and then admit you haven't even purchased it yet, two weeks post launch, is a bit bad. It comes across as wanting to pump out a quick video for ad revenue rather than put time into the game before giving some more thorough and considered impressions.
I think one of the biggest takeaways from octopath traveler's success is its effective use of its generous demos and I just wish more games could follow suit. It definitely got me to buy my own copy :)
I'm glad you are enjoying it! i dont have a switch yet so i can't play it myself but from what i've been seeing i had a feeling it was going to be very similar to bravely default in the sense that if you arent a really big JRPG fan you... probably wouldn't be having fun.
In terms of JRPG's, I hoped this one would grab me as hard as Xenoblade 2 did but it didn't even come close. I see it getting praise all around but after 20 hours, I can't say anything more than, "It's alright." I'm not a visual gamer, I'm not sold on graphics nor are they the main draw for any game I play but the more I see people talk about this game, it's all they go on about. I'll agree that it's very pretty, feels like a more detailed version of 3D Dot Game Heroes. That said, the core game is painfully average. Glad people like it though.
Okay this is a weird call out but there is a turn based RPG on steam called "Cthulhu Saves the World" which handles random encounters really well. Each dungeon or area has a set amount of enemies and once you fight them all, random encounters are turned completely off, but it doesn't stop you from having battles. At any point, even when random encounters are off, you can choose to just fight a few of the enemies in that area.
It is unfortunate you aren't giving us a full review, but I understand. The game is huge. I am glad to hear you chime in on it some and having at least played the demo. I also like that you were upfront about it. I will say this, chapter 2 and onward the characters do interact with each other with quick little conversations involving the one going through the story. The stories are still on their own, but you get interaction and the other characters' perspective on things. I think the reason why they don't do it in chapter one is so you don't feel like you are really missing out on conversations since you start with one character before you pick up the others. I really like this game. I love the art style and graphics. I also really love the music. I will sit there in one spot listening to soundtrack from time to time for a bit. I do find the grind a little long at times with my "B team" as I call them, but it isn't as bad as it could be. I think it has to do with how leveling is setup in this game that makes it as little of a chore as possible. The only way it could be better is if they all leveled up even if they aren't in the active party, or at least the lowered level people got a huge xp boost until they were like a few levels behind the main. It still does work really well as it is and doesn't seem to take too long for the others to catch up, but it does still take some time especially if they are leveling from 11 to 27ish for their next chapter.
So... -Underwhelming story (in a genre where story means a lot) -Cliche fantasy dialogue (with mediocre voice acting) -Lots of random battles (which Arlo doesn't like) -Potentially a bunch of other little problems that he decided not to cover because this is an impressions video And this is all based just on the demo, for a game that he has no intention of buying. But he still thinks it's *awesome* and apparently worth everyone _else's_ money because: -It looks nice -It got a lot of hype before release -The Switch needs more indie exclusives -There won't be any first-party story-based games from Nintendo this year This is the kind of thing that makes people cynical about reviews. What matters is whether or not the game is worth buying, something that Arlo has clearly decided in the negative for himself even though he's determined to boost it on this channel; what _shouldn't_ matter to a gamer is how profitable game development is or whether or not a console can attract the best talent. That's what _Nintendo_ needs to worry about, and fans shouldn't be made to feel responsible for a company's success.
He said the gameplay and strategy is fun. The most important part of games to most people, if you remember, is gameplay. Good lord, cry me a river buddy.
While I agree with you mostly, I think that gamers should be concerned at least somewhat about the sales of certain games, as they affect the games that are produced in the future. If you enjoy a series or genre of game, you should care about whether or not they keep getting produced.
gddmn this is an rpg, gameplay dosent matter as much as story dose. Would you play bravely default if it had a weak story with no character interaction? I doubt it. This has a unique art style and had hype. I was hyped, I like the combat, its very bravely default and I like that. But as for a main story, its nonexistent.
No first this isn't an indie it's an aa game from a billion dollar making company Square Enix. 2 arlos video is half baked he should buy the game. And watch a review from someone who at least bought the game. And switch has tons of indie support and enough third party (which this is,) but people will not be satisfied ever
(O)lbric, the Warrior
(C)yrus, the Scholar
(T)ressa, the Merchant
(O)philia, the Cleric
(P)rimrose, the Dancer
(A)flyn, the Apothecary
(T)herion, the Thief
(H)'aanit, the Hunter
I LOVE this game!
tetsuonabiki I never noticed this it's awesome
..............WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT.
Ophilia should be first
it doesnt really matter
Going clockwise, Ophelia is first as in the opening animation. But it's not a big deal. *shrug*
"Octopath probably won't sell anything close to Let's Go numbers..."
*OCTOPATH PROCEEDS TO SELL OUT LIKE THE SWITCH*
but Let's Go is Pokémon, & pokémon either makes or breaks a Nintendo handheld console
IT still didnt do Pokemon numbers
JoaoG R no.....just no it doesn’t
@@jgr7487 i would argue that any of the big three make or break a nintendo console. and in this case, 2/3 are knockouts.
I literally read your comment for the first time at the exact moment that he said those words. I let out an audible laugh
“I don’t like releasing a review months after the fact”
Still hasn’t released the breath of the wild review
"But I'm fine doing it more than a year after the fact"
Not actually Arlo
I know
Sernanion _01 I'm honestly worried that he won't ever do it.
Like A Grape: Yeah, he won't. Just expect him to not do it, and be surprised if he does; not the other way around.
Like A Grape I mean do we really need a botw review now? Everyone played it allready anyway.
Extreme frustration when Arlo uses a Max Boost for a Level Slash BEFORE the enemies defense breaks.
To top it off, he was talking about the importance of boosting well.
Do you have any videos to recommend to a new player? The combat system is new to me
He’s a fucking scrub noob. I AM the Octopussy Traveler
@@tha3immortals just either use your bp to break the shield through normal attacks or use it once they're broken to do massive damage
@@tijn0770 i played this game like 20 minutes and already figure out you need to break the enemy first before boost 😂
I feel like the big detailed sprites for the enemies and the cute tiny sprites for your characters is an intentional throwback to the old school Final Fantasy games where that was a thing.
True, but Final Fantasy 4 and 5 had slightly larger and detailed sprites for the player in battles.
That said, this game's art style for the sprites is definitely inspired by FF6... which didn't do that.
It is a throwback but still I always found it stupid. If they could make all these big and detailed sprites for the enemies why not for the *characters that fight in every battle of the game*
Claudio Lluberes The bosses and enemies are huge in this game probably to show how overbearing/strong they may be to the player. If you were fighting a boss that was as small as your party, it wouldn't feel as overwhelming or powerful. Same thing if your party was as large and detailed as the boss sprites.
Allegryan Agreed. It's meant to make the enemies look more intimidating, and (in my opinion) it's fun to see the attacks from your tiny characters have giant, booming visual effects.
It is, but I really wish they had gone more Chrono Trigegr and less FF6. FF6 is just sort of an ugly game by comparison.
Square Enix: 'Gasp' PEOPLE WANTED OLD SCHOOL JRPGS!?
'Fans turn to Bravely Default and raise their eyebrow in confusion.'
And... Octopath is selling out everywhere. This is a really good sign and I hope the Switch gets more third party exclusives from now on.
The only exclusive I know atm that’s being developed is Shon Megami Tensei, we need more exclusives !
Tommy Ruggeri timed exclusive*
Liberty Prime What do you mean timed exclusive? Nothing suggests Octopath is going to any other systems...
Liberty Prime idiot. The devs confirmed it's permanently Switch only.
Machiru konami has said they are also developing an exclusive game for switch
I'm not going to review the game. So here's my review of the game.
😂
To be fair, he only reviewed the demo. Not the entire game.
The characters do interact..but not too great. I really enjoyed the banter feature, but it only starts chapter 2 onwards.
I kinda wish they were somewhat involved in the story beyond that.
It never really explores the characters motivation to following these people when it doesnt really benefit them.
Tip: Use your imagination! It helps create a unique story for each player
Not to spoil too much, but the stories are all connected by the end of it
it would be great if there was plot cross over and the like, but since the selling point of the game is 'choosing the path you want to travel' the devs would have to account for every permutation of choices you made. Assuming banter continues up through ch4, that's already almost 200 dialogues. Anything more in depth than that is practically impossible on this scale.
Toadfanatic Not really
Nothing like being a thief that works alone... BUT HEY THESE RANDOM STRANGERS WANT TO TEAM UP? WHY NOT?
8:40 i agree. Once in chapter 2 (for any chatacter) at some points, there is an option that says: press + for travel banter. And in it the characters in your party do have some what of a conversation
I'm sure someone else has mentioned this, but after all the chapter 1s a "press + to hear travel banter" pops up and a bit of relevant dialogue between the character of that chapter and someone else in your party occurs.
Marc Scattolin I was thinking the exact same thing!
Yep, which is all the more important to play a full game and not a demo before doing a review piece. Characters also will appear in the bar occasionally when they're not in your current party, and you can chat with them then, too.
Have you seen the bar chats? They can be really funny at times. There's one with Tressa, Cyrus, and Olphilia playing a card game - pretty funny :)
+jdub87 I got that one not too long. I enjoyed it. Pretty funny indeed.
+jdub87 Actually not yet sounds cool!
One of the characters gets a passive skill that drastically reduces the random battle rate, you just need to play for a bit and if you don't like that character you eventually get to share that skill with other characters. Another detail that wasn't mentioned in the vid is that all of the music is extremely amazing, if you are on the fence about buying this game I recommend going through the ost.
Sounds like, "Arlo's hype is unbending!!"
I WREAK HAVOC UPON THEE!!!
AH, THE THRILL OF THE FIGHT!
"With each review, my sub count grows stronger!"
Executer 66 ARLO'S HYPE IS UNPARALLELED!!!!
ARLO GOT MORE THAN HE BARGAINED FOR!
6:32
Arlo, your brain may be the size of a fist, but you're still one of the most intelligent TH-camrs I've ever had the pleasure of watching. So glad I found you early on in your career
Surprised you didn't comment on the music. I mean, wow, one of the best OSTs that I have heard since Super Mario Galaxy.
an ost you "seen"? xD
Xenoblade 2 and Octopath have my all time favorite osts
NaNo22705 Eh, seen as in experienced, but I changed it to heard for my comment to make more sense.
Devilcraft 42 I just wish the ost was more memorable
Snek o good =\= memorable.
I go back and listen to the ff6 OST constantly. I will not be doing the same for Octopath where the music is just good for the scenes
Octopath Traveler I find to be something really special, from its graphical style, to its wonderfully immersive--bob-your-head-to soundtrack, to its "simple to understand-ramps up and gets complex" battle breaking system, to its relatively novella style story telling of archetypal characters going on heroes journeys not so much as a team but as a collective unit of individuals, its a JRPG that has captured some of the love that I've lost for the genre over the years.
While I'm nowhere near completing the game, I found myself just diving headfirst into a game I initially was only passively observing until I saw say my brother playing it on the TV and in an few short hours I was hooked. I was immediately just sucked into the world, curious about where each of these characters stories are going to take them, and while they might not interact as much as I was hoping, at the very least each of their stories thus far have been at the very least captivating.
All 8 of the main stories all sort of follow the classic narratives of JRPGs of old (sudo-spoilers?) with examples such as "collect the 4 colored mcguffins" to stories of revenge, to the "I just wanna explore the world," all of which have characters that fit those stereotypical RPG characters from a lone wolf thief to a bookworm mage to a warrior seeking purpose, while also introducing some fresh takes which ultimately I feel are the strongest in terms of character growth such as the dancer and merchant.
All and all, if you are looking for a 60+ hour RPG where there is no rush to finish the objectives (and is very easy to pick up thanks to the Switch's Sleep Mode) and just wanna get enveloped in the world, this game is for you, especially if you love classic turn based combat which I feel has been kind of put to the way side amidst a sea of action RPGs, and thankfully also includes mechanics that can quell some of those JRPG gripes of old like lowering enemy encounter rates or fast traveling between cities you discover.
I'm in love with a game I at first was only enraptured by its graphical style only to see even come about from under the surface, and am very much looking forward to completing it and seeing what more it has to offer!
Where’s my Octodad Traveler mod at?
The Arlo Fan Community aaand OctoDad expansion for Splatoon 2
If I knew anything about coding, I’d make that right now.
I literally cannot stop playing this game. This is the exact type of game I needed in my life right now. While I am disappointed about the characters not interacting too much, every story is really unique and I find myself loving every single character more and more every time I progress through the different stories. I can see this being my personal favorite game of the year.
Don't worry. Chapter 2 on, party banter will occur between cutscenes to bring it together. The end of the game also finally shows how all the stories are connected.
Carter Erickson Oh hey! Thanks for fucking ruining the ending.
John Stewart he didn't ruin anything dumbfuck lmfao I bet when people tell u a movies really good you tell them they spoiled that for you too
Nick Ando Call me the dumbfuck when he CLEARLY says what happens at the ending... Now I know exactly what to expect, and it won’t be a surprise at all.
Why the fuck do I need to explain this? Lmfao.
Edit: And also, next time you decide to be a random asshole on the internet like our friendly neighborhood spoiler from above, at least try to be aware of what’s actually being said.
John Stewart you do realize literally everyone was expecting the stories to come together anyway? that's what happens in a game with many characters
Nick Ando Lol are you really making that shitty of an argument?
The element of surprise is what fuels a video game.
Take, for example, the Witcher 3, Which I still have not finished. It’s mainly about Geralt trying to find his “Daughter” Ciri. Since we know that she’s such an important character, she’s bound to be found. Like watching an intense fight between a main protagonist and a bad guy in the beginning of an action film, we know that the main guy can’t die. The movie just started.
THAT SAID, controlling the element of surprise and waiting for that gasp moment where the climax occurs and a whole lotta “You knew it was coming” shit happens, the moment is only made more special.
Now, since the ending’s been clearly laid out for me, I have no reason to be hyped to finish this game. Discovery is what makes such story heavy games like OT fantastic. Sure, it may be obvious, but in a situation where the ending’s foundation is not laid out in front of you, the ending becomes a lot more self-achieved.
You get it?
Me: “im on the fence about this game,,, should I buy?”
Arlo: *drops this video*
Now I’m downloading the demo
I've been incredibly pleased with Octopath so far, it's been a far bigger deal than I expected (and I preordered it without playing the demos) It perfectly encapsulates what I loved about old school final fantasy, with the sole exception of the story/writing not being anything special.
Great Job Square, this has been a very pleasant surprise.
"I'm sure there are people out there, but rarely do I see the whole community get so unanimously hyped for a game" 2:54
Well, I was one of those people that didn't like it at first glance. In fact, I thought it looked kinda dull and incoherent, though the art style was surprisingly fresh and unique (which I am a big fan of). However, when the demo launched, I gave it a try (I mean, this game was shown in every Direct, it sure must have some value to Nintendo). I played as Cyrus and it was so good I played in one day right through a second exposition (Tressa). I then looked the price up and thought "I'll pick it up for 20€" (I thought it was some kind of short Indie Experience), but the price tag of 60€ scared me off. Yesterday, (due to Coronavirus social distancing,) I bought it as it was on sale 50% off - One of the best decisions so far.
What I wanted to say: Those people who weren't hyped might have been right (for themselves), but for me, it simply wasn't the case. What a great game!
Damn 50 percent off I bought it for 50 USD loose
(Loose means only cartridge)
8:16 every now and then you get an option to hear banter between your characters (press + when prompted).
7:53 I actually like this, because it makes the enemies seem much more menacing. It makes it feel like your backed into a corner and facing a real challenge on a level above what the characters are used to. It seemed cool to me.
This SHOULD show Square Enix that classic JRPGs on Nintendo portables sell good
Just like what Bravely Default and Bravely Second
The big sprites for bosses is actually a small nod/reference to old JRPGs where bosses always had overly complex battle sprites, despite having simplified overworked sprites, and the player characters still have their small overworld sprites in battles. It's just a silly little touch that I really appreciate.
Been waiting for a video on this game, so excited!
Also still waiting on that breath of the wild review.
Stranger Danger YESSS BOTW REVIEWWW
Lol what else is there to say about botw? ( I have over 400 hours in the game)
Hylian Eclipse idk but I have 450 and still play it
Stranger Danger Im still playing as well. I'm trying to beat it without the help of the Divine beast
I've been messing around and trying master the bow spin, daruks perfect gaurd, ect.
Here in 2022, I’m still playing this game.
It’s so good. ❤️
It’s no longer exclusive, being on Xbox and PC with Game Pass. But that doesn’t matter because more people need to experience even a little bit of it.
Happy this is a thing cause I really disagree with Dunkey on this one. It's like a love letter to fans of classic RPGS.
MrWanton16 Dunkey made a shitty review it just left a sour taste in my mouth after finishing it
Ersan because it disagreed with you? Poor soul, whatever shall we do?
mubly snubly Shut up lil whiny ass boy I can smell shit when it's there and that video was garbage I don't mind it if he didn't like it I mind it when he tries to pass off that video as a review or even entertaining
Jeff Bays but KNACK 3 baby
Ersan You don't have to react that way. Reviews are, like most things people say, subjective. I don't know who this guy is, so I'll just say you sound dumb when you say other opinions are dumb.
Octopath has been incredible. It’s taken some heat from people who didn’t know what is was, but it’s so good.
Arlo is so chill.
but also delightfully energetic.
Yeah speedwagon you should learn from him
He has such calming videos.
The word you’re looking for when referring to the foreground + background blurring is “tiltshift”. It’s a technique used very commonly in miniature photography, where you’re photographing tiny figurines and models up-close and then applying the tiltshift effect onto it to give it a larger than life feel. It creates the sense that there’s way more depth and space in the image than there actually is. I’m impressed at how well it works in this game, great call by their art direction team 👏👏👏
Arlo, any news on your BotW reviews? Also AMAZING video
No Alias Check his Twitter and scroll a bit. Back in June, he layed out his plans for it. I can't really remember every detail, but I do clearly remember him saying it'll be split into 7 parts
I Can't Think of a Good Name Why thank you. I really need to get a Twitter
This game is the best thing to happen this year. It’s as if the creators perfected the Bravely Default formula and made better characters. Cyrus is the best by the way👍🏻
Good choice.
Antonio Morales *MY FOCUS IS UNPARALLELED*
Pita is that you?
Cyrus is best girl for sure
Nope. That's Smash.
For your disconnected story complaint.
In the full game, there's travel banter. This is where the stories main character and one of your active party members talk about the current event. They have interesting conversations. I really like the ones between the merchant and the thief really interesting!
Agent Eight oh yeah definitely. Therion and Tressa are really funny
I just love anything that has Tressa in it period.
Tressa is great and all but have you ever considered H'aanits ass?
Plus, the post-game is full of sidequests involving NPCs from all the different stories. The world really feels connected by the end.
And yes, LOTS of travel banter. Enough to feel overwhelming at times, heh.
Agent Eight it's the banter that forced me to ship alfyn and ophilia.
FORCED ME.
Yo, Arlo. The cast start chiming in after you start each person's Chapter 2. You can hit the + button at prompted times to hear party dialogue of certain members of the cast responding to currently-ongoing plot details. Also, randomly, you can get little vignettes of the cast when you enter a Tavern the same way. Also, without going into spoiler territory, the plots have convergence points near the end. So yeah.
Yeah, I had one where in the second chapter Prim had to go to a brothel for plot reasons, and Tressa asked what a Brothel is. I've also heard that there are also 4 person banters but I can't say for sure, as I haven't experienced one yet.
An OCTOPATH video! I love Octopath. I'm really excited for the next game.
I thought the best prologues were:
1. Primrose the vengeful dancer
2. Theron the shortsighted thief
3. Cyrus the history teacher with the best path action ever
8. Tressa. Being a merchant was my first choice, but I found the introduction to her consumed with everyone telling her how great she is at the expense of everything else. except the art.
William Fellows Alfyn has the same path action as Cyrus so I love him more
what tressas my fav one i started out with her
seems I'm 4 years too late, hopefully I can find a proper physical copy since I want to try this
Honest I've been ignoring octo path because it didn't look interesting. Then there were so many videos of it I decided to try the demo. ( Of course I pick the thief) and I loved it! Now I can't wait to get my (hands) on a physical copy!
Oof
To Be Fair, having Characters interact would probably require Square to delay the game if they were to put in Olberic, Alfyn into Pimrose's story. With 8 travelers and adventures they take, having every traveler interact with each other in a cutscene might have taken longer for Square to finish.
7:05 "and proper boosting is key to victory." *Proceeds to use 4 boost on unbroken enemies to break them* mfw
Well, that can be a good strat, but mostly just for when the boss is charging up a major attack and you need to break him before the next turn to stop it.
7Seraphem7 But he was using level slash, a move that can only break one layer of shield no matter how much it's boosted.
7Seraphem7 plus he didn't even break the boss only the goons in the back.
Am I the only one who thought sonic haters?
Flomp Mc Domp wat?
Thank GOD this wasn’t a Switch exclusive! I would have never played it
so side note arlo, past each characters chapter 1 you can hit your + sometimes at a prompt to have someone "chime in" and comment on the story, really ties things together without interupting the cut scenes and really starts tying things together a lot better
5:59 They knew what they're doing, when they included a pop-up book in the compendium edition.
Octopath was producerld by Nintendo worldwide it's basically in the Bayonetta 2 position. I don't even think they can put it out on anything else.
Funny to watch this in 2024 when the Switch is poised to become the best selling console of all time. Seeing Arlo beg for more good games on the switch makes me remember that era when people were complaining that most games were ports and there wasn't enough true first party exclusives.
Nintendo completely knocked this entire system out of the park.
Let's see if they can do it again.
the switch is still mostly ports though
Travel banter is the closest thing the game gets to having the characters interact, but it's an optional thing
Arlo I feel the same way there are so much amazing games I find myself overwhelmed
The story is cohesive. There are hints in the chapters, and there is a final champer that is VERY VERY satisfying in putting it all together.
Octopath Traveler...
I'm super mega ultra giga interested!!!!
Executer 66 a
Octopath Traveler is super mega ultra giga awesome! I've been making my way through 100% since launch.
Top two comments, you must be happy
Daniel Heidenreich what do you mean don't buy new weapons? don't get stronger?
Daniel Heidenreich not buying new weapons might be why ur ass got hammered by lvl 15s?
I am SO glad to see that you like Octopath!
I will gladly wait for a review from you when ever you can do it!
This game is so good, I love the art style, and just the enjoyment of playing through the game is just so good.
I was playing octopath while listening to this video. I'm on a two week vacation taken partially just to play this game. I can't get enough. :D
0:47 How about that Breath of the Wild Review, am I right?
The characters have side banter and remark on each other's quests
Arlo did not get far enough to see this
I'm kind of regretting buying Crash 'n' sane trilogy as I'll likely not be able to get Octopath until Christmas due to saving for Smash Ultimate. Like you and many others I was sold by the January presentation and, honestly, I cannot wait to play this game!
Jack Weaver honestly buy this instead of smash
Huh, I really thought that this was my little game, didn't know that so many people love it.
+Sigils, ETHEC They did... *TWICE!* SE dropped the ball really damn hard with this game. I'm really pissed at them. I wanted OT to sell no less than 2 million worldwide but I really want it to reach 5 million. With the game being sold out *IN THE ENTIRE WORLD* right now, it may become a lost dream. Peopl want physical media. It is the most popular media still.
People will wait but if you make them wait too long, they will lose interest. Especially considering the fact how packed next month is. SE fucked up so fucking hard!
This is not even the first time they have done this!! SE don't give a single FUCK about anything that isn't DQ, FF & KH. Anything that isn't those three will get a half assed focus. Efforts to expand DQ popularity in the west have been fully half assed for 30+ years now. SE needs to get their head of those game's ass for fucks sake. Bravely Default got fucked by a massive stock issue. EVEN THE DAMN SEQUEL got massive stock issues too! How the fuck can you fuck up your stock on a sequel of a very successful game? I don't fucking understand that.
When I first stumbled on previews and stuff that's how I felt, I'm glad to see how popular it became.
Do you use the internet?
So loved that is basically impossible to get a physical copy in some countries; even Amazon had problems.
No problem getting it in Belgium :P
During some chapters, if you have a certain character in your party, a sound will play and in the top of the screen will show the message “press + to hear travel banter”, these travel banters are interactions between the characters
Its like every single reviewer played for 3 hours and never once noticed that other characters do indeed comment on ongoing stories and talk amongst each other.
But worse than that everyone seems to be clamouring for a cliche mcguffin based story when Square Enix was trying to do something DIFFERENT.
Being character driven instead of plot driven appears to be Octopath greatest sin. Jesus H Christ....
Yeah, I find it silly too. It's been years since I've played a JRPG with a truly unique story anyways, so I would definitely prefer one that experiments with a more unique structure than one that's about saving the world from an ancient evil again.
Except the characters aren't in any way interesting. Just very bland, cliched, very little depth to them. I can predict how their chapter storylines before they play out. And it's not concise - huge amounts of cutscene to hammer home a simple story point that could have been covered in half the time.
It's a shame as everything else about this game is excellent
nope
Seacliff Tell me about it. If you're looking for original stories, you're not going to find much but that's not a bad thing and people need to realize that. You can have two stories that when cut down to the bone, are the same thing yet they are told in very different ways. Octopath was designed around the player immersing themselves within the story and using their imagination. It's role-playing at it's core and I find that very refreshing considering jrpgs are constantly trying to one-up each other with these grand stories that the player can't immerse themselves in.
Your comment at around 8:25 just kept reminding me of Seiken Densetsu 3. It's like octopath for the SNES. You choose 3 of 6 characters to be in your party throughout the game, and you follow a story, level up, etc. However. Each character has their own lines for when a supporting character is supposed to say something, making it feel like the effort put into the game is a lot more than it really is. For instance, My main character, Lise, the princess and warrior Amazon, was reflecting on the journey at a certain point, crying about her kidnapped brother, and my second party member, a 13 year old knight ace, Duran, tried to cheer her up but couldn't. So my thief party member, Hawk, went up to her and shared a couple stories about his past as a Robin Hood kind of thief for a Robin Hood kind of thief faction called Navare. It's a really great game, it isn't all that long, (story ends at around level 35-40) and it has tons of replay value.
But Octopath...Looks GORGEOUS! I'm interested in the different characters, and I love how there are 8 characters as opposed to only 6. The battle system in octo looks really, really satisfying too, and isn't an action RPG like Seiken is(though there is nothing wrong with it). Overall, Seiken will keep me occupied until I get the game, but when I do, Octopath will take most of my time.
Honestly, I didn't understand the hype from the trailer I saw in March (I think that direct showed some?). I saw more and more about it, and it slowly drew me in as a game I would buy, but not like as much as others. The second I turned on the game, I was hooked 100%. The backstories, the unique art style, I couldn't put it down. I definitely recommend it for anyone wanting a superb unique experience on the Switch.
I personally enjoy the characters being 3X your size. It intimidates you in the early parts of the game and makes you think “I’m gona be here awhile” plus if they did that for every character than the screen would get completely covered when each side has 3+ people
I'm extremly hyped to play this game!!
But I don't own a switch.
(cries quietly)
easier said than done
Arlo, in the 2nd chapters of character’s stories, characters will sometimes initiate “travel banter” with other characters based on the chapter they’re in.
You have to get farther in the game to initiate it, but I can see why you’d initially think they didn’t interact at all.
People keep saying that the characters do interact at points with the + button... but I can't help but think that is incredibly weak compared to other games in the genre. Part of the fun of party JRPGs is having characters with different motivations and perspectives come together, and watching the story find its way to keep every character invested. It's one of the things that make Tales games so interesting since the party frequently splits up for varying reasons. It makes it actually feel like an adventure with a cast of characters and not just a few disconnected stories clumped together, and then on top of that you'll get dozens of skits that involve more than a one-on-one conversation. These could range from fleshing out character backstories, watching characters bond, or sometimes it's comic relief. Even JRPG classics like Chrono Trigger, which is over 20 years old now, make more effort to have character stories and motivations tie together.
When you look back at older JRPGs like Final Fantasy VI or Tactics, the degree of animation used for the cutscenes is far and away more expressive, squeezing what little they can out of their sprites. From what I played of Octopath, characters just stand around in idle animations most of the time, with a few little movements like holding a hand out and such. More complicated things like picking up a pebble and tossing it into a river from FFT just won't happen. Forget trying to compare Octopath's rigid cutscenes to more modern JRPGs like the amazing choreographed fight scenes in Xenoblade Chronicles!
I think people really want Octopath Traveler to be a success, and are willing to ignore (or maybe don't know) that the genre has been better, and has shown more cohesive and detailed effort in the past, all while dealing with memory and graphics limitations. It has a cast of characters but doesn't commit to the concept of interweaving motivations and stories. It uses pixel sprites but doesn't do anything with them aside from evoking nostalgia. I want to like Octopath Traveler but I see these issues and think, "they can do better than this."
I need a megaphone so I can loudly shout "THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS."
Hell, even Bravely Default (the first one, never bothered with the second) by the same team seemed like a better effort.
^This shit needs to be pinned.^ I find it amazing how many people (kids maybe) are so... aw struck by this game. Shit, even from the trailers this game doesn't seem to want to show (if it can) that it has anything NEW to bring to the table for the genre. Final Fantasy 3 introduced the job system, Chrono Trigger had combo attacks, and Bravely Default... had me default. Can anyone please tell me what OctoTraveler did that set it apart from other jrpg's than being developed using UE4 and having... 8 different protagonists...? You know what, I'd rather just play FFT at this point...
I understand the disappointment for this, but I don't really mind. I love each character individually, some less than others, but I can't deny that each of them have character and a good story. Also it's combat system is amazing. Also I believe that there is an overarching plot at the end of each of the 8 stories. Also I think the path actions are what is new, but I'm not sure about that.
To be fair, though, the way Octopath Traveler is designed makes character interaction, not impossible, but really damned difficult. The fact that you can complete the chapters in literally any order and, heck, even the fact that collecting all the characters isn't even a necessity to complete each individual character's story would mean there may well be a lot of plotholes.
The reason why the first chapter story sequences disclude other characters is because they all happen simultaneously. When you meet them for the first time, they explain their story that’s already happened in a past sense, and you experience it like a flashback
“I don’t like releasing reviews months after the fact”
Released the Mario Odyssey video in December
Tommy Ruggeri - 2 months isn't TERRIBLE by any means, could've been worse y'know?
.
.
.
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BOTW on the other hand...
Arlo, the other characters do interact with eachother during their stories. They have little “banter” moments like fire emblem where it just adds some interaction between the 2 characters. It starts to happen after chapter 1
Great goodness I love this game. I didn't think much of it when it was revealed. The I played the first demo, which made me like it a lot more, though I was still skeptical with all the random encounters and whatnot. Then the second demo came and sold me on the game. And finally, when it was released, all my expectations very even surpassed.
I personally don't mind just having 8 small stories instead of a big, cohesive one, since they're all so good by themselves anyway. I also feel like the banter between characters (it's a tad like in Paper Mario, where other party members give little comments and insights on the current situations) is enough character-interaction, at least to me.
I also feel like they did a fantastic job on the voice acting. I love Cyrus and Kirbopher as Therion especially.
Although I've never been a fan of random encounters, so there's a point I'd criticise.
My biggest gripe with the game is probably that there aren't any puzzles inside dungeons. It's always just navigating through a bit of a maze while finding chests and fighting monsters. They could've done more with characters' individual abilities to solve puzzles like they did with partner-abilities in Paper Mario, but oh well.
Again, I absolutely love this game, even more so than I expected to, and it could even by my personal GotY (though there's still Smash Bros.).
Also notice that this comes from a guy, who is usually rather cautious when it comes stepping out of his comfort-zone when buying new games. This game certainly has a bit of magic in it, that much is sure.
If you don't mind, would you explain what's so good about it? I'm interested but I don't want to buy it without seeing a good reason.
Usually the only good things everyone says about it is how much they love it without any explanation. You mentioned the voice acting and stories were good, which don't sound like enough to make someone think the game is as good as you were describing.
Arlo liked the visuals, but I don't. The only other thing he mentioned was that the gameplay was simple and satisfying.
I just can't help but think there must be something I'm missing that's making everyone go bonkers over this game.
I think the greatest strength, besides the fantastic battle-system is the fact that the game allows you so much freedom. You can pick whatever character at the beginning, let's you do any chapters you'd like and lets you go anywhere. Than there's also a ton of cusomisation options so you can play the game however you'd like.
oh ok, that's sounding pretty good. Reminds me of Trails in the Sky the third
One thing I really liked about Square's other recent Nintendo-exclusive RPG franchise, Bravely Default, was how much you could customize your gaming experience. You can change the difficulty settings at any time, and you can even change your random encounter rate, which is great because you can raise it up to max when you're trying to grind, and turn them off altogether when you're trying to explore. I haven't played Octopath yet, and only really broke open the demo, so I don't know if this is a thing in Octopath, too, but I hope it is, and if it isn't, I really hope it makes a return and honestly becomes a mainstay in JRPGs from here on out. It just made the experience so much more enjoyable for me.
I love the battle system, but there is too much grinding
The Ulmitter there really isn’t if you’re playing the game properly
Grinding? I get by with every encounter that shows up while traveling. What I mean is that I never have to go out of my way to grind the enemies come, I beat them, and that's it.
Just found the channel and i'm loving the narration style.
Is the full Breath of the Wild review still coming ever?
About random battles, there's an ability you learn later on that decreases the amount of battles you enter. Making exploration less of a hassle.
Do the trial of the sword again its way harder on the middle trials
It truly is hard its like a shrine
I actually found the middle trials the easiest of the thee
Flomp Mc Domp well there is a guardian
theshady mage an easy guardian
Flomp Mc Domp well yeah but i did not have much food to heal me so lets agree to disagree
I think the voice acting -- including the non-matching, short parts -- is brilliant. One of my favorites parts of the game.
How can 44 people all be first
L-That and what’s the biggie anyway? Bragging rights? Some sort of prize? Just a big goose egg...I’ll pass.
youtube's comment section doesn't actively update which means you would have to refresh the page to see changes so in the first few moments of a new video release all those people probably thought they were first because they didn't see anyone else. although I'm sure plenty are just trolls.
To say about random battles:
You gotta love Cyrus. Evasive Maneuvers turns the encounter rate down like, 75% and makes travel/exploration 100 times easier. Plus, since he's really the only viable elemental attacker, you always have him on your team.
MY FOCUS IS UNPARALLELED!
Plus, concerning "the paper mario way" of chiming in eventually, that does happen. In the Chapter 2s and onward.
*yOuR eXcElLeNcY?!*
In the full game there is between-character interaction, but only during each character's main questlines from the second part of their story onward. It's nice that it's there, but it would be much better if there were more of it.
Its like a diorama
There is a equivalent ability that reduces the random battles. That definitely helps when I’m going from place to place. Also my favorite character so far is Cyrus and when you boost him all the way he proclaims “My focus is unparalleled”. Epic!
Veeeeery nice more octopath trav... oh
There actually is party banter between the characters at times. They kind of work like the skits in Tales Of games, where at certain points you press the + button during a character's chapter and one of the members in your current party will talk with whoever the current chapter is focused on about the current situation.
Sadly, there's no replay option, and if you want all the party banter possible, you have to switch out your party members constantly to see if they have something to say as well after each event in a given chapter.
Oh, and none of them are voiced.
Pretty mediocre JRPG but it's nice to see that the switch is getting exclusives
I'm about 25 hours in and still have a couple Chapter 2s to go through for the cast (I think about three or so?) and I must say that even though the game gets very grind heavy after you finish every character's Chapter 1, the game rewards you all the time with Job Points to make combat an even more unique puzzle than it was from when you first start the game. I haven't played in a couple days due to the Mega Man X Legacy Collections coming out this past Tuesday, but once I've had my fill of Mega Man X4 for the umpteenth billion time, I'll head back to this and continue to enjoy it. It makes me happy to see such a high quality JRPG exclusive from Square Enix do so well. Maybe someday then we'll get those Kingdom Hearts HD compilations on Switch, maybe? Hopefully? No? Yeah, sounds about right. Great video as always.
I think you’re overselling the amount of hype. I’ve seen a good amount of hype, but you talk about it as if it’s the next Odyssey.
EPM 101 eh, it’s a hyped third party exclusive. That’s important for the switch
I prefer this over Odyssey 👀 and it's not even as good as XC2 imo
Characters do communicate with each other. When roaming around, sometimes a text will appear on the top left corner telling you to press "+" for dialogue.
Love your content usually but to talk so extensively about the game and then admit you haven't even purchased it yet, two weeks post launch, is a bit bad. It comes across as wanting to pump out a quick video for ad revenue rather than put time into the game before giving some more thorough and considered impressions.
Agreed. It's ok to be a fanboy but to hype this game at this point without having played more than a demo is.... odd?
I pretty much stopped there, lol.
It's an impressions video, not a review. I don't understand how you missed it.
I think one of the biggest takeaways from octopath traveler's success is its effective use of its generous demos and I just wish more games could follow suit. It definitely got me to buy my own copy :)
"Your Excellency"
I'm glad you are enjoying it! i dont have a switch yet so i can't play it myself but from what i've been seeing i had a feeling it was going to be very similar to bravely default in the sense that if you arent a really big JRPG fan you... probably wouldn't be having fun.
In terms of JRPG's, I hoped this one would grab me as hard as Xenoblade 2 did but it didn't even come close. I see it getting praise all around but after 20 hours, I can't say anything more than, "It's alright."
I'm not a visual gamer, I'm not sold on graphics nor are they the main draw for any game I play but the more I see people talk about this game, it's all they go on about. I'll agree that it's very pretty, feels like a more detailed version of 3D Dot Game Heroes. That said, the core game is painfully average. Glad people like it though.
Okay this is a weird call out but there is a turn based RPG on steam called "Cthulhu Saves the World" which handles random encounters really well. Each dungeon or area has a set amount of enemies and once you fight them all, random encounters are turned completely off, but it doesn't stop you from having battles. At any point, even when random encounters are off, you can choose to just fight a few of the enemies in that area.
Butternut squash? Yes please!
Never forget!
It is unfortunate you aren't giving us a full review, but I understand. The game is huge. I am glad to hear you chime in on it some and having at least played the demo. I also like that you were upfront about it. I will say this, chapter 2 and onward the characters do interact with each other with quick little conversations involving the one going through the story. The stories are still on their own, but you get interaction and the other characters' perspective on things. I think the reason why they don't do it in chapter one is so you don't feel like you are really missing out on conversations since you start with one character before you pick up the others.
I really like this game. I love the art style and graphics. I also really love the music. I will sit there in one spot listening to soundtrack from time to time for a bit. I do find the grind a little long at times with my "B team" as I call them, but it isn't as bad as it could be. I think it has to do with how leveling is setup in this game that makes it as little of a chore as possible. The only way it could be better is if they all leveled up even if they aren't in the active party, or at least the lowered level people got a huge xp boost until they were like a few levels behind the main. It still does work really well as it is and doesn't seem to take too long for the others to catch up, but it does still take some time especially if they are leveling from 11 to 27ish for their next chapter.
Your Excellency Your Excellency Your Excellency Your Excellency
Yes?
always such smart commentary from you! this is why you are one of my favorites!
So...
-Underwhelming story (in a genre where story means a lot)
-Cliche fantasy dialogue (with mediocre voice acting)
-Lots of random battles (which Arlo doesn't like)
-Potentially a bunch of other little problems that he decided not to cover because this is an impressions video
And this is all based just on the demo, for a game that he has no intention of buying. But he still thinks it's *awesome* and apparently worth everyone _else's_ money because:
-It looks nice
-It got a lot of hype before release
-The Switch needs more indie exclusives
-There won't be any first-party story-based games from Nintendo this year
This is the kind of thing that makes people cynical about reviews. What matters is whether or not the game is worth buying, something that Arlo has clearly decided in the negative for himself even though he's determined to boost it on this channel; what _shouldn't_ matter to a gamer is how profitable game development is or whether or not a console can attract the best talent. That's what _Nintendo_ needs to worry about, and fans shouldn't be made to feel responsible for a company's success.
He said the gameplay and strategy is fun. The most important part of games to most people, if you remember, is gameplay. Good lord, cry me a river buddy.
While I agree with you mostly, I think that gamers should be concerned at least somewhat about the sales of certain games, as they affect the games that are produced in the future. If you enjoy a series or genre of game, you should care about whether or not they keep getting produced.
gddmn this is an rpg, gameplay dosent matter as much as story dose. Would you play bravely default if it had a weak story with no character interaction? I doubt it. This has a unique art style and had hype. I was hyped, I like the combat, its very bravely default and I like that. But as for a main story, its nonexistent.
No first this isn't an indie it's an aa game from a billion dollar making company Square Enix.
2 arlos video is half baked he should buy the game.
And watch a review from someone who at least bought the game.
And switch has tons of indie support and enough third party (which this is,) but people will not be satisfied ever
altoid345b rpg gameplay matters a lot.
A whole lot.