Octopath Traveler Review - Analog Stick Gaming

"If titles such as Yooka-Laylee and Bioshock are considered love letters to their respective gaming inspirations, then Octopath Traveler is the full-on romance novel of the JRPG. Steeped in combat mechanics and visuals of JRPG's from a long-passed era, SquareEnix's latest is a return to the greatness of classic role-playing adventure games." Jeff Young - Analog Stick Gaming

[NecrumOddBoy]

"I'm also going to discuss one more thing that frankly, I might be the only reviewer to even mention this as I've yet to see this talked about anywhere; play this game on a 3D TV. If you have one of these tv's, turn on the 3D mode and prepare to see this game in a whole new light. The 3D enhances the diorama look even more by adding a depth of field that makes the environments and characters pop off the screen. As much as I wanted to sink time into this game via the portable nature of the Nintendo Switch, which still looks incredible I might add, I couldn't wait to get home and play as much as I could via this 3D option. Now, the game doesn't actively support 3D, but 3D TV's allow you to convert anything you watch to a faux-3D format. I've tried this with numerous games before and the effect is hit and miss. Regardless of 3D or not, Octopath Traveler is stunning as both a handheld experience or a big screen adventure."

I'd like to hear more from others about this.

Review isn't story spoiling but details lots of spoilers in general. Also, it's apparent that Square should have gotten this into the hands of reviewers a lot sooner because these reviews are based on very limited amount of time with the game. I have nearly 60 hours and then I have not completed anyone's main story yet let alone even started for characters chapter 2s. It's that big.

[AnalogStickGaming]

The 3D effect is really solid. I hardly see anyone talking about this tech as they don't really make too many 3D tv's anymore. At least in the numbers they used to. The last game to really wow me with its 3D was Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, mainly at the location later in the game that features an outdoor winter area. (which I might add is the same type of environment here that has the best use of 3D) It was fantastic. I'll pop the 3D on for a few games, but I usually don't remember to do it on all of them. Given the nature of the Diorama look that Octopath has, it was one of the first things I did with the game and it looks really good.

I did my best to be cautious about spoiling story elements and tried to be as vague as I could with trying to explain my issues with certain aspects of the story-telling. It's easy enough to call out these moments I refer to if you've already experienced them, but for those that lack the context behind them, It's a very different thing. At least to me.

I buy my games at the same time they are available to the public, plus I also work a full-time job. I would have loved to have received a review copy to get it out earlier, but that just isn't the case here. I wrapped up the game at around 82 hours of game time, which includes the 4 additional jobs and the 'final' battle, which I wrapped up just this morning.

[NecrumOddBoy]

1. Thanks for the update on it. I don't have a 3DTV anymore but I would agree, I bet the depth with how this game's world is laid out looks great.

2. Just was giving heads up if people are going in blind. I commend you man, it's super story driven for the characters so anything beyond "merchant" on "chapter 3" etc etc lets out deets.

3. No worries, it's just a big game so I see a lot (to include IGN and Kotaku, who had to write a rereview apology basically) of site handing out scores and opinions pre-end game and such that seems to take a negative attitude towards it for things they said weren't in the game, but are.
Good review tho!

Questions: Do you like the 4 bonus jobs? I am over lvl50 with 4 party (found 3 but haven't went into them), so I went for one just to see and the task needed to receive the job was beyond what I could handle at the moment. I will beef up to level 65 I think before reattempting or some back when I am a little better geared up. I am working through a lot of side quests and such. Did you like the "Final" which I am 100% unspoiled so.. :) and are you enticed to completed all the stories of the rest?

I have the map about 85%+ open (minus areas locked by wooden signs) but am making good progress. I have completed 8x Chapter 1s, and 4x Chapter 2/3s. Going to knock out the party remaining stories.

Oh last Q, Do I need to CHP4+ on all characters for the final? I planned on completeing all 4, then keep 2 for muscle, while I work through another 2, then the last 2, sort of like 1 full and 2x faster playthoughs.

thanks!

[AnalogStickGaming]

I think people that want to "go in blind" will mostly ignore reviews as there is almost always some sort of discussion about certain aspects that people can claim as spoilers. So it's a fine line to walk and you are always going to find people that claim one or the other. So I tried to be as vague as I could. I had someone mention something about my Ys VIII review (via an email) that I spoiled something fairly big and then told him to check out the back of the game case as it clearly shows what I referenced..

Some of your questions could come off as spoilers, so let me very careful here and be as vague as I can be:

I didn't attempt the 4 sub-jobs until I hit I think level 60 or something like that. I tried the weapons-based boss and got owned in seconds and then I read that going in with Runelord via Tessa was the way to go and yup it totally was. It helped a ton. I read a lot of guides on how to go about the fights since they are far harder and longer than the main story ones. The 4 additional jobs are great and grant far more flexibility due to them being very different from the main set. I wanted to use a screenshot with one of them where the attack looks amazing, but left it out due to again, spoilers. It's also nice to see new attacks and skills after some 50+ hours. I have a co-worker who beat everything in the game in less than 45 hours and I was in awe. But it was also his 2nd time through the game and he skipped all the cutscenes on that playthrough. According to a guide I have bookmarked, I have 14 side quests left to do, but frankly, I wish they were more than fetch quests. (tho some are more than that.. )

I reccommend tracking down as many NUTS as possible and using them to raise your stats. For like the first 15 hours I didn't even know I had them, haha.

The final fight is very fun but SUPER hard. I died probably 8 or 9 times before I finally beat it. I barely did tho. I had to stop the fight and go and level up a bit more as a few characters were just not high enough to be that effective. I also had a few tips offered by my friend and it helped a bit. When you beat all 4 chapters with each character, you need to do a few more quests to unlock this fight. It structured in a very different way than the previous fights and done in such a way that I wish more fights had been staged the same way. It's very fun.

[michellelynn0976]

A 10 from me. I can't get enough of this game. It is a true gem.

[AnalogStickGaming]

Glad you enjoy it!