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[Mister Wolf]

I'm waiting to play it in stereoscopic 3D next year.

 

[MaxwellParrish]

Acquire is a good developer and should get more recognition for Octopath Traveler (since most people seem to think it's developed by Square Enix itself). They also made the game where my pfp comes from.

You, on the other side, make it sound as it is a game developed by Acquire and published by SE, wich is even more misleading. For what I can see, the game is co-developed by Acquire and SE Business Unit 11. I'm sure most of the work as been made by Acquire, but all the biggest role ( producer, writer, main artist, composer) are either SE personal or external artist usually collaborating with SE

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I thought Live A Live was overrated and really barren myself but I'd STILL say it was better than FF XVI for the Cube story alone.

Star Ocean 2 was a fucking FIRE sub 40 hour RPG with really good replay value so if Octopath 2 is similar I'll play it soon... Which I was planning too anyway.

 

[OuterLimits]

OP, please rank these for me (I can only afford one this month)

- Octopath Traveler II
- Triangle Strategy
- Live A Live

All of these are great choices honestly. Granted, I'm biased and prefer strategy rpgs(Triangle Strategy) over traditional jrpgs because they usually offer more of a challenge. If you like strategy games, also consider Tactics Ogre Reborn by Square-Enix as well.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

Not hard to be better than FFXVI. A turd sandwich is better than FFXVI.

But yes, Octopath 1 and 2 especially are awesome.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Op reminding me I've got another game to add to my pile of shame.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[BrunoCoel]

The Octapath franchise is just one of those cases where not that many people played it but the ones that did try to oversell it so it can be part of the conversation or no one else would give a damn about the games.

That said, Final Fantasy XVI is a much better game than both OT.

 

[Klosshufvud]

Octopath 1 was a "fine" game. I beat it, but it wasn't super compelling, but 2 is so much more - pretty much the game 1 should have been. That said, there's still some QoL things that Octopath needs, like being able to drop pins on the map to mark areas to come back to, and less obtuse side quests where you'll just never find the people to speak to unless you go round every single town to see if that's the quest person you need to find.

Also, I was super over leveled and the end boss still kicked my butt so hard that I never actually finished it, and just watched the ending on YouTube. I don't need someone to tell me to git gud, or whatever, but that end boss was such a jump in difficulty that it lowered my game euphoria significantly. I did watch some YouTube videos on how to win, and yeah - you can mega win if you're one of those crazy theorycrafting gamers who knows how to just "make things work," and some of these guys literally beat the end boss without taking a hit.

For us normal gamers, naaaaaa. Anyway, fantastic game, marred by a far-too-difficult end boss.

That final boss has to be one of the toughest story bosses in any JRPG. The conditions to win are either to exploit a specific very broken trick or grind like hell and optimize the shit out of your crew.

 

[Doom85]

Best since 2006?

A-HEM:

Also I have trouble believing OT 2 would surpass Dragon Quest 11 or Final Fantasy VII Remake for me.

Also checking real quick, The World Ends With You and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (I haven’t played 3 yet) came out since 2006. Some other strong hitters.

Like, it’s fine to praise a game, but throwing out a massive “best in SEVENTEEN years”? Ease up on the overhype there.

I do respect the fact that it seems like they listened to feedback from people, as I personally do not care for turn based if there’s only one party member, and IIRC from what I’ve heard there’s far more of OT 2 where you have a proper party.

 

[LimanimaPT]

Final Fantasy ended for me when they dropped turned based combat. I miss those blue rectangular menus. This was what made FF great.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

I maintain that they should have gated the start of everyone's chapter 2 storyline behind recruiting all the characters. My biggest complaint with the first games is that nobody interacted with each other.

FFS Star Ocean 2 R just came out last year, a remake of a 25 year old game, and it runs laps around either of the Octopath games in this department.

 

[nial]

You, on the other side, make it sound as it is a game developed by Acquire and published by SE, wich is even more misleading. For what I can see, the game is co-developed by Acquire and SE Business Unit 11. I'm sure most of the work as been made by Acquire, but all the biggest role ( producer, writer, main artist, composer) are either SE personal or external artist usually collaborating with SE

Producer, art, technical staff, etc. are pretty common roles in assisting external development, there is always any sort of co-development when you hire a studio to make a game for you. Nintendo does it, Sony does it, but in most cases, there is a primary developer doing most of the job, and for what I see, Business Division 11 only worked with external partners, so there it is.
BTW, the director, sound designer, programmers, artists (AND lead artist) and battle/level designers all come from Acquire.

 

[Fabieter]

It seems you didn't play alot of sqaure games like dragon quest, nier etc but I agree it's a good game.

 

[wvnative]

I personally did not enjoy OP1 very much story-wise and quest wise, something tells me the second is similar.

I also do not care about secret bosses and all that jazz, so I skipped all of that endgame stuff.

OP1 was so disappointing to me.

i keep waiting for people to explain in specific detail why 2 is better and a masterpiece but i've yet to hear a solid response.

i thought live a live was way better at the concept.

 

[hybrid_birth]

Soda tastes better than water but it's bad for you.

 

[Labadal]

I understand why some people don't like the game, but for me, it just "clicks". It consumed me. I love both this one, and the first game. Not 10/10s, but at least 9/10 for me.

 

[LordOcidax]

OT1 is better than FFXVI and OT2 is way better than OT1… So, its no even a fair comparison. But, if you like TheGraphics more than RPG, you know the answer…

 

[LakeOf9]

I thought Live A Live was overrated and really barren myself but I'd STILL say it was better than FF XVI for the Cube story alone.

Star Ocean 2 was a fucking FIRE sub 40 hour RPG with really good replay value so if Octopath 2 is similar I'll play it soon... Which I was planning too anyway.

IMO Octopath is better but you should be aware that it is almost double the length (if not more). Just don't expect it to be short

 

[LakeOf9]

It seems you didn't play alot of sqaure games like dragon quest, nier etc but I agree it's a good game.

I've mentioned Dragon Quest and Nier in this thread, and I mentioned I like OT2 better than those lol

 

[Metnut]

I feel like the Octopath games are less than the some of their parts. The exploration/towns/dungeons just feel off.

 

[LakeOf9]

I feel like the Octopath games are less than the some of their parts. The exploration/towns/dungeons just feel off.

Your mom is less than the sum of her parts

 

[GreetingsMortal]

Yes, but that's underselling the game because FF16 is cheeks.

Octopath 2 is in my top 5 rpgs of all time.

 

[ByWatterson]

There's a bunch of JRPG's that are better than that beautiful looking slogfest

Surprised there isnt a poll attached as per usual

Didn't play the second, but "slogfest" is a very accurate description of the first.

If it's true of the sequel, and CLIVE FOOKIN ROSFIELD is in FF16, the OP is inherently wrong.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

Ackchyually

It was developed by Acquire, not Squeenix

Octopath Traveler II credits (Nintendo Switch, 2023) - MobyGames

The official game credits for Octopath Traveler II released on Nintendo Switch in 2023. The credits include 1,025 people.

www.mobygames.com

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

Best since 2006?

A-HEM:

Also I have trouble believing OT 2 would surpass Dragon Quest 11 or Final Fantasy VII Remake for me.

Also checking real quick, The World Ends With You and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (I haven’t played 3 yet) came out since 2006. Some other strong hitters.

Like, it’s fine to praise a game, but throwing out a massive “best in SEVENTEEN years”? Ease up on the overhype there.

I do respect the fact that it seems like they listened to feedback from people, as I personally do not care for turn based if there’s only one party member, and IIRC from what I’ve heard there’s far more of OT 2 where you have a proper party.

That was Platinum Games though

 

[Poppyseed]

That final boss has to be one of the toughest story bosses in any JRPG. The conditions to win are either to exploit a specific very broken trick or grind like hell and optimize the shit out of your crew.

Agreed. I was significantly over-leveled and I got battered so hard I was in disbelief. It felt like a slap in the face after playing nearly 100 hours.

 

[Doom85]

That was Platinum Games though

OP only said Square Enix (with no further clarification), who did publish Automata, so still counts.

 

[Zephyranthes]

I had two pretty major problems with Octopath 1:

1) Party members hardly ever interact with one another, and about half of them are pretty bland individually.
2) Benched party members receive no EXP, which made the game really grindy if you wanted to complete all 8 character stories.

Does Octopath 2 fix these?

 

[Bruno_Arrais85]

octopath 2 is better than lots of things.

 

[StereoVsn]

Star Ocean R2 remake is another one that’s brilliant. Game itself was best in series and remake spruced it up.

But yeah, Octo 2 was a great game and much improved from the first one.

 

[Klosshufvud]

Agreed. I was significantly over-leveled and I got battered so hard I was in disbelief. It felt like a slap in the face after playing nearly 100 hours.

Yup, I was likewise ridiculously over-leveled from just running around doing stuff. The funny thing is that the optional boss fights all melted instantly. They really wanted the story boss to be the actual final boss of the game.

I had two pretty major problems with Octopath 1:

1) Party members hardly ever interact with one another, and about half of them are pretty bland individually.
2) Benched party members receive no EXP, which made the game really grindy if you wanted to complete all 8 character stories.

Does Octopath 2 fix these?

Interactions happen and there are stories where they team up and do stuff. It's not going to be like Final Fantasy though where the party chemistry drives the story. They're all still in it for their own goals.

It's like that here too but it's often not a problem since gear matters more than levels and you can blaze through an entire storyline by just equipping a character with late game armors and weapons. Leveling goes pretty fast aswell. Never felt it was a problem.

 

[Dvidus]

The game is boring as hell

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I went into the game expecting to enjoy it, but I was not ready for how damn excellent it was. Probably one of my favorite RPGs over all time at this point - it just checked every box for me. Great gameplay, surprisingly great writing and story, and an incredible soundtrack. And there was a lot of meat to the game - it's a super long playthrough, but it didn't feel needlessly padded.

But yeah, final boss was extremely fucking difficult. I'm sure there's some 480lbs dork who's going to brag about how easy it was for him, but fuck that guy.

 

[nordique]

Nah OP, nah

Yes a great game

No, S E has had other great games and games myself I prefer to OPT2 since 2006

 

[Dr_Ifto]

Strongly disagree. OT2 just felt disjointed and small.

 

[delfrickintree]

I have both Octosnatches on my wishlist for whenever there's a sale. Do I need to play OT1 before 2? Or is it recommended to skip? I really liked Sea of Stars so this should good.

 

[LakeOf9]

I have both Octosnatches on my wishlist for whenever there's a sale. Do I need to play OT1 before 2? Or is it recommended to skip? I really liked Sea of Stars so this should good.

Second one is standalone, you can jump right into it

 

[Kings Field]

It was the best game last year.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

OP only said Square Enix (with no further clarification), who did publish Automata, so still counts.

 

[Ozzie666]

I was about flip my desk over, then I realized FFX is 23 years old and before 2006 and the remasters don't count.

When is Square going to understand the smaller projects seem to generate decent profits with much less risk. Even the FF Pixel remasters did very well. Go back to the old stuff.

 

[Hardensoul]

Star Ocean 2 Second Story R is better than OT2 just saying.



I see we have a problem.

P.S NieR Automata, FF16 and FF7R I'd also put ahead of OT2 from S-E.

Thanks for the reminder! Amazon has some crazy over priced copies. Thankfullly found cheaper copy from Bestbuy!

 

[Corian33]

Octopath 1 bored me to tears even though I really wanted to like it. The concept is cool, the visuals are great, but the execution was just lifeless. I maintain that the game should have been presented as an anthology you could play in any order, with a final chapter that brings the characters together in a real way. Would have been so much better than how they did it.

Can’t be bothered to try OT2 unless I get it really cheap.

 

[DoktorCoktor]

But is it better than Final Fantasy X-2?

 

[Days like these...]

Obviously but that's like saying Steak is better than month old deli meat.

 

[Poppyseed]

I have both Octosnatches on my wishlist for whenever there's a sale. Do I need to play OT1 before 2? Or is it recommended to skip? I really liked Sea of Stars so this should good.

The issue is you don’t really want to play 1 after 2. So if you’re ever going to play 1, play it first. They’re unrelated but the gameplay, mechanics, polish etc is off the charts in 2 compared to 1. I’d say skip 1. It’s not bad but 2 is the real deal.