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Octopath Traveler: Preview Thread

What rating do you think this game will get?

  • 90+

    Votes: 98 12.2%

  • 80+

    Votes: 475 59.2%

  • 70+

    Votes: 99 12.3%

  • 60+

    Votes: 13 1.6%

  • "Garbage like Xenoblade 2"

    Votes: 117 14.6%
  • Total voters
    802
  • Poll closed .
Totakeke

Totakeke

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,678
dharmapolice said:
I'd be happy with Final Fantasy VI level interaction... IE in large gatherings the 8 interact with one another, make decisions together, spar or develop relationships. I think it would be a missed opportunity to essentially have them act as shells around one another for the whole game and instead have interactions with the NPCs in their respective chapters. I mean, there are many, many games which have the narrative flexibility to handle 8+ playable characters, NPCs and antagonists... (the Trails series comes to mind).

What I am curious about is, will there come a point in the game when there is a forced single narrative? Think of Final Fantasy VI when the characters had to go on separate adventures (Terra and Edgar go in one direction, Sabin goes off in another and Locke on another- this was fantastic for character development, relationship building and narrative exposition... and it's rarely been done that well since!).

If this is a true spiritual successor to Final Fantasy VI, I hope it's not just in graphics and mechanics only, I hope there is some tribute to the inspired narrative structure of VI.

Then again, this is modern day Square Enix, where story is either vacant, convoluted or a tagged on afterthought. At some point the company will need to wake up and see how much people crave a well made story in JRPGs- the tremendous affection for Trails games and WRPGs like Witcher and God of War.
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FFVI works because there's a singular story driving things along and characters go in and out. Characters are there to serve the story, the story doesn't serve the characters when they're not involved with the bigger conflict.

And again, the spiritual successor quote is a misquote and the producer was talking about mechanics only.
 
Guaraná

Guaraná

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,008
brazil, unfortunately
https://gonintendo.com/stories/3131...ells-out-of-octopath-traveler-prior-to-launch

JAPANESE RETAILER SELLS OUT OF OCTOPATH TRAVELER PRIOR TO LAUNCH

Well this is a bit of good news for Square-Enix. Yodobashi Camera, a rather large game retailer in Japan, has completely sold out of their Octopath Traveler online allotment. If you want to snatch up the game in Japan from an online retailer, Yodobashi Camera is no longer an option. I can't wait to see what this game pulls in for its first-week sales.
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Westonian

Westonian

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,194
Just to confirm, but there appears to be no official guide book for this game?

If so, that's a shame, as I've collected all of the FF books, and I was looking forward to getting the book for Octopath for the amazing artwork and maps.
 
Zedark

Zedark

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,719
The Netherlands
Periodic Amazon update:

US - 1st
Canada - * Out of stock *
Mexico - 1st
Germany - 6th
France - 1st
UK - 3rd
Spain - 1st
Italy - 7th
Japan - 1st

I'm quite curious to see what it will sell in the end. All signs are positive (this, and the fact that a Japanese online store stopped taking preorders due to excessive preorder numbers), so that's looking good.

Considering the current JRPG situation where those games are selling really well worldwide (for example Persona 5 and Xenoblade Chronicles 2), as well as the great reception for the game so far, and the precedence set by Bravely Default that games of a retro style can sell really well (it sold 1 million worldwide), I think this game can sell way over 1 million, and I personally think it will reach 2 million. Here's hoping it will happen!
 
dharmapolice

dharmapolice

Member
Oct 25, 2017
273
Totakeke said:
FFVI works because there's a singular story driving things along and characters go in and out. Characters are there to serve the story, the story doesn't serve the characters when they're not involved with the bigger conflict.

And again, the spiritual successor quote is a misquote and the producer was talking about mechanics only.
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Ah I see.. I'm still happy with the structure myself, and interested to see how it plays out.
 
Guaraná

Guaraná

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,008
brazil, unfortunately
Zedark said:
Periodic Amazon update:

US - 1st
Canada - * Out of stock *
Mexico - 1st
Germany - 6th
France - 1st
UK - 3rd
Spain - 1st
Italy - 7th
Japan - 1st

I'm quite curious to see what it will sell in the end. All signs are positive (this, and the fact that a Japanese online store stopped taking preorders due to excessive preorder numbers), so that's looking good.

Considering the current JRPG situation where those games are selling really well worldwide (for example Persona 5 and Xenoblade Chronicles 2), as well as the great reception for the game so far, and the precedence set by Bravely Default that games of a retro style can sell really well (it sold 1 million worldwide), I think this game can sell way over 1 million, and I personally think it will reach 2 million. Here's hoping it will happen!
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the fact that Nintendo is the publisher outside Japan, helps too.
 
Shoichi

Shoichi

Member
Jan 10, 2018
10,540
Last edited:
Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,577
Phonzo said:
Whats the point of Alfyn when i can just use healing items?
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Alfyn's Concoct is unique in that you creatively combine lesser items (separate from normal consumables) into greater ones with varying effects. He can basically heal anyone or everyone, cure any ailment, inflict status ailments, revive people, restore SP, restore BP, use weak multi-hit attacks of any element to break foes' shields, etc.

He's a tanky, hard-hitting swiss army knife.
 
Scar

Scar

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,688
Title Town
Games selling out?

I wonder how many copies Square/Nintendo is sending out initially?

I got scared and had a lapse, forgot if I had preordered this or not.

Thankfully, I did. This bad boy should be at my house when I get home from work Friday.

Can't wait!
 

Mattersnotnow

Member
Jan 15, 2018
1,003
I'm fine with no overarching story. As long as I care about each story, I'm in.
Actually it's kinda refreshing If the structure really is that different.
 
Opa-Pa

Opa-Pa

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,810
I thought this was going to be like Legend of Legacy where you can pick any character and they all have slightly different stories but you don't miss out much by beating only one of them, but I'm reading here you can change focus to another character mid-game so you're actually encouraged to beat them all? Is that right?
 
Plum

Plum

Member
May 31, 2018
17,321
Opa-Pa said:
I thought this was going to be like Legend of Legacy where you can pick any character and they all have slightly different stories but you don't miss out much on beating just one of them, but I'm reading here you can change focus to another character mid-game so you're actually encouraged to beat them all? Is that right?
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They're 8 (mostly) different stories with different side characters, villains, etc.
 
Opa-Pa

Opa-Pa

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,810
Plum said:
They're 8 (mostly) different stories with different side characters, villains, etc.
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I get that, but I read a comment saying you can "switch whose character's story you're actively following at a tavern" or something along those lines, what's that about?
 
Plum

Plum

Member
May 31, 2018
17,321
Opa-Pa said:
I get that, but I read a comment saying you can "switch whose character's story you're actively following at a tavern" or something along those lines, what's that about?
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Yeah, that is essentially what it's about.

So, say you're midway through one character's Chapter 2 and then decide halfway through that you want to go and do another character's Chapter 3, going to a tavern lets you switch between the two. Because your party will always require the protagonist of that story to be present, when you change between different character's stories you're changing both your party composition (though only 1 character and only if they're not already in the party) and what quest you are focusing on at that time.
 
Opa-Pa

Opa-Pa

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,810
Plum said:
Yeah, that is essentially what it's about.

So, say you're midway through one character's Chapter 2 and then decide halfway through that you want to go and do another character's Chapter 3, going to a tavern lets you switch between the two. Because your party will always require the protagonist of that story to be present, when you change between different character's stories you're changing both your party composition (though only 1 character and only if they're not already in the party) and what quest you are focusing on at that time.
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Whoa that sounds super interesting.

Is there any preview or anything where I can read more about this? I have a lot of questions but thread moves pretty fast and I don't want to be a bother lol.
 
Dreamboum

Dreamboum

Member
Oct 28, 2017
22,955
NotLiquid said:
I think I like the idea of eight separate stories with little overlap more than I do eight travelers learn to work as a team and band together to stop some evil puppetmaster behind the scenes, which is how every JRPG ever ends up. Makes the world seem a little "bigger" and as if all these things occur by happenstance. As long as all the stories individually are good and that it has some semblance of a satisfying payoff, I think I'll enjoy it. Seems like a substantial breath of fresh air.
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K' Dash said:
Not every RPG should be about saving the world, small personal stories sound cool, lets see where this is headed.
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Extreme Kiwami said:
People make really a big fuzz out of the 8 separate stories. The prologues in the demo already gave me more depth of a story compared to 90% of the generic JRPG stuff whithin the last 2-3 years. If the stories continue to be nice standalone parts, I don't have any problems with it and don't need a Deus Ex Machina ending where a demon overlord is integrated through a surreal twist at the end of the game.

Also really appreciate that there is no hardcore tutorial. The 10 hour tutorial and insane hand holding in Persona 5 still prevents me from digging in furhter into the game.
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I'm catching up on this thread but I find incredibly dishonest that the only way you can defend Octopath Traveler is to imply that the genre can only go from one extreme to the other.

1. This dismissive attitude towards the genre just makes you look like you're ignoring 18 years of history to prop up Octopath.

2. An overarching story doesn't mean that you have to defeat a god. This is just incredibly malicious to pretend this is what JRPGs are about.

3. Octopath having eight independent stories does NOT mean that the eight stories will not be generic and tropey or whatever you use to negatively connote the genre.
 
Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,577
Opa-Pa said:
I get that, but I read a comment saying you can "switch whose character's story you're actively following at a tavern" or something along those lines, what's that about?
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Just whose quest you're on, essentially. If you're in the middle of, say, Primrose's Chapter 2, she'll be locked in your party regardless of whether she's your main character. Until you switch whose tale you're following at a tavern.

You can beat all eight characters' stories in one playthrough, or however many you want to. There are recommended levels that increase steeply with each Chapter, so you're softly encouraged to play through at least several before moving on to the next tier of a character's chapters.

For instance: If you choose Primrose first, you might complete her prologue at level 5. Her chapter 2 will show up on the map, but it'll be recommended level ~20, so you're given a reason to explore, recruit other party members, and play some of their stories before moving on with Primrose's. Other characters' chapter 1s will scale up to your level, so you won't get bored by one-shotting their chapter 1 bosses as you level up.
 
Plum

Plum

Member
May 31, 2018
17,321
Opa-Pa said:
Whoa that sounds super interesting.

Is there any preview or anything where I can read more about this? I have a lot of questions but thread moves pretty fast and I don't want to be a bother lol.
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If you've got a Switch you can download the Prologue demo right now which is essentially the first 3 hours of the game (which, because there are 8 stories, can differ greatly depending on who you choose first), if not then the previews linked in the OP should get you up to speed on what the game is about. The main 'gist' of the game (as in, what sets it apart from most other JRPGs), though, is:

- You start out picking 1 of 8 characters to be your "protagonist," who's a permanent member of your party
- You complete their "Chapter 1" and then, if you want (though there's level requirements so you're gonna want to do so), travel the world to recruit the other 7 characters and do their first chapters
- Most (or all, we don't know yet) of the rest of the game is you going through the 8 different stories, picking and choosing who you want to focus on at that point
 
NotLiquid

NotLiquid

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
34,867
Dreamboum said:
I'm catching up on this thread but I find incredibly dishonest that the only way you can defend Octopath Traveler is to imply that the genre can only go from one extreme to the other.

1. This dismissive attitude towards the genre just makes you look like you're ignoring 18 years of history to prop up Octopath.

2. An overarching story doesn't mean that you have to defeat a god. This is just incredibly malicious to pretend this is what JRPGs are about.

3. Octopath having eight independent stories does NOT mean that the eight stories will not be generic and tropey or whatever you use to negatively connote the genre.
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Obviously it doesn't have to be. But conventional wisdom suggests that's more likely to happen than it isn't considering who we're dealing with, so under that pretense I'd rather take this approach and see what it has to offer by straying off the beaten path. As long as these individual stories are all decent, I'll gladly give it a shot.
 
Opa-Pa

Opa-Pa

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,810
Disclaimer said:
Just whose quest you're on, essentially. If you're in the middle of, say, Primrose's Chapter 2, she'll be locked in your party regardless of whether she's your main character. Until you switch whose tale you're following at a tavern.

You can beat all eight characters' stories in one playthrough, or however many you want to. There are recommended levels that increase steeply with each Chapter, so you're softly encouraged to play through at least several before moving on to the next tier of a character's chapters.

For instance: If you choose Primrose first, you might complete her prologue at level 5. Her chapter 2 will show up on the map, but it'll be recommended level ~20, so you're given a reason to explore, recruit other party members, and play some of their stories before moving on with Primrose's. Other characters' chapter 1s will scale up to your level, so you won't get bored by one-shotting their chapter 1 bosses as you level up.
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Thanks a bunch, I think I get the gist a bit better now. Game sounds even better now and I was already beyond excited for it.
Plum said:
If you've got a Switch you can download the Prologue demo right now which is essentially the first 3 hours of the game (which, because there are 8 stories, can differ greatly depending on who you choose first), if not then the previews linked in the OP should get you up to speed on what the game is about. The main 'gist' of the game (as in, what sets it apart from most other JRPGs), though, is:

- You start out picking 1 of 8 characters to be your "protagonist," who's a permanent member of your party
- You complete their "Chapter 1" and then, if you want (though there's level requirements so you're gonna want to do so), travel the world to recruit the other 7 characters and do their first chapters
- Most (or all, we don't know yet) of the rest of the game is you going through the 8 different stories, picking and choosing who you want to focus on at that point
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I'm currently playing the demo yeah and I get most of it, but I think I've been stupidly dropping characters to switch to different prologues before I get to the points where I can switch protagonists haha. I'll read all of them now and be more thorough with the demo so I don't miss anything, thanks!
 
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