Octopath Traveler

Mr E

Famitsu's reviews for the week are out, including Octopath Traveler, which got 9/9/9/9 (36/40).
Bodes well for the game - looking forward to getting it.

https://nintendoeverything.com/famitsu-review-scores-7-3-18-octopath-traveler/

I secured the Special Edition last night

Retr0gamer

Mr E wrote: »

Famitsu's reviews for the week are out, including Octopath Traveler, which got 9/9/9/9 (36/40).
Bodes well for the game - looking forward to getting it.

https://nintendoeverything.com/famitsu-review-scores-7-3-18-octopath-traveler/

Take that review with a pinch of salt. Good Famitsu reviews can be bought, something which Square Enix does regularly. This isn't some weird conspiracy theory, Famitsu have come out and said so themselves saying the magazine is for advertising not journalism so they don't see any issue with this. Also Western previews haven't been so hot from trustworthy sources, many noting the excruciating pace of battles which can take over 5 minutes for standard encounters.

manual_man

Anyone recommend a YouTube tutorial for Octopath Traveler combat? I'll be going in to it pretty fresh regards turn-based combat

WithTheRanks

Retr0gamer wrote: »

many noting the excruciating pace of battles which can take over 5 minutes for standard encounters.

Yikes, that sounds off-putting. I find the dullness of random battles my least favourite thing with JRPGs as a I get older. Bravely default let you speed them up at least

Retr0gamer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Take that review with a pinch of salt. Good Famitsu reviews can be bought, something which Square Enix does regularly. This isn't some weird conspiracy theory, Famitsu have come out and said so themselves saying the magazine is for advertising not journalism so they don't see any issue with this. Also Western previews haven't been so hot from trustworthy sources, many noting the excruciating pace of battles which can take over 5 minutes for standard encounters.

Source for the western previews?

I've played the demo and don't see these problems with standard encounters.

Rhyme

Fred The Red wrote: »

I've played the demo and don't see these problems with standard encounters.

Same here. Quick flash, battle begins, a few quick smacks of whatever weapon is most appropriate and the end-screen appears. Most of the random battles I've fought are less than a minute, some only 20 seconds.

Tougher enemies require some strategy and may take a few minutes but subsequent battles are easier as you know the enemies vulnerabilities and attack patterns.

Boss battles go for a while but that's expected, they're very tough but rewarding once the battle is over. Do bosses have set HP or is it about hitting them enough in a short space of time that they flash faster and faster and then die? I feel like the battle with the pirates as Tressa took wayyyy too long even though Olberic was kicking lumps out of them (but alternating between the two).

Xenji

Fred The Red wrote: »

Source for the western previews?

I've played the demo and don't see these problems with standard encounters.

In battles though, the amount of options leads to long runtimes—I'm talking seemingly 10 or so minutes long—even of the small, random encounter variety while just traversing a dungeon. Whether you've figured out enemies' weaknesses already in previous encounters or not, even the battles that feel like they'd be a breeze for grinding or exploring in other games is a brutal challenge in Octopath Traveler.

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/in-octopath-traveler-every-battle-takes-a-lifetime

Corholio

I read somewhere on another site that Famitsu have apparently tightened up their reviews the last while and don't give high scores like they used to, but that's just something I read.

Mr E

Not sure what game he was playing because other than the boss, battles took less than a minute each in the demo (even with multiple enemies).

Rhyme

Mr E wrote: »

Not sure what game he was playing because other than the boss, battles took less than a minute each in the demo (even with multiple enemies).

The mental image I've got is one of shrieking wildly while slapping the Switch in panic with one hand and writing the review with the other.

TitianGerm

Mr E wrote: »

Not sure what game he was playing because other than the boss, battles took less than a minute each in the demo (even with multiple enemies).

Maybe he was just useless and not attacking the enemies weakness :pac:

Maxpfizer

Mr E wrote: »

Not sure what game he was playing because other than the boss, battles took less than a minute each in the demo (even with multiple enemies).

More than likely he just didn't understand how to play the game properly.

It's not just about figuring out the enemies weakness but also about saving up enough boost to be able to "break" their defense and leave them stunned.

Sure, if you just go hit for hit with then enemy while healing yourself then it would take some time maybe.

The first battle between Olberic (at level 5) and the 3 bandits should be easily over in less than a minute.

I can't imagine many of the dungeon encounters would last more than like 30 seconds if you are using boost correctly.

The first boss battle for Olberic shouldn't take more than 3 minutes. Stun the henchmen on your 2nd turn and then take them out in the next 2 turns. Find the bosses weakness and then go on the defensive for a couple of turns. Then use the boost you've built up to stun him and finish him off. Between 2 and 3 minutes easily.

Someone saying it takes 10 minutes is either lying or has no idea how to play the game.

It's crazy that so many people writing about games to a quite large audience seem to have no idea how to actually play the games they cover.

Kind of frustrating when something like that could make you decide not to play a game that you might otherwise enjoy.

Xenji

Maxpfizer wrote: »

More than likely he just didn't understand how to play the game properly.

It's not just about figuring out the enemies weakness but also about saving up enough boost to be able to "break" their defense and leave them stunned.

Sure, if you just go hit for hit with then enemy while healing yourself then it would take some time maybe.

The first battle between Olberic (at level 5) and the 3 bandits should be easily over in less than a minute.

I can't imagine many of the dungeon encounters would last more than like 30 seconds if you are using boost correctly.

The first boss battle for Olberic shouldn't take more than 3 minutes. Stun the henchmen on your 2nd turn and then take them out in the next 2 turns. Find the bosses weakness and then go on the defensive for a couple of turns. Then use the boost you've built up to stun him and finish him off. Between 2 and 3 minutes easily.

Someone saying it takes 10 minutes is either lying or has no idea how to play the game.

It's crazy that so many people writing about games to a quite large audience seem to have no idea how to actually play the games they cover.

Kind of frustrating when something like that could make you decide not to play a game that you might otherwise enjoy.

It was a demo given by a Nintendo representative, not the demo we got, some battles could be as much as 45 minutes long and that is coming from an official source.

Combat flows well, and the party members play off each other in strong fashion. However, battles can be lengthy, even when you’re over-leveled. Of the two bosses I faced, one low-level creature took around 10 minutes to vanquish, while I lasted about 15 minutes against a high-level boss before being wiped out. The Nintendo representative giving me the demo explained that the boss could take upwards of 45 minutes to defeat.

https://www.gameinformer.com/feature/octopath-traveler/a-tale-of-intertwined-destinies

Retr0gamer

Rhyme wrote: »

The mental image I've got is one of shrieking wildly while slapping the Switch in panic with one hand and writing the review with the other.

It's a she and she also works under and was hired by Kat Bailey who knows more about RPGS than most people. She is a regular on Kat's on the active time babble podcast. So she is very experienced with rpg games.

Sounds like a Noob

Git Gud Scrub

Rhyme

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It's a she and she also works under and was hired by Kat Bailey who knows more about RPGS than most people. She is a regular on Kat's on the active time babble podcast. So she is very experienced with rpg games.

Then I am confused as to how their experience and mine is so different (I never guessed at the person's sex either).

Reading what Xenji posted above, it sounds as if the journalist was shown boss fights or that the Nintendo rep didn't know how to play the game. They should have picked up the truth in either of those scenarios and not just blurted out that ordinary battles take 10 minutes.

I keep a high bar for journalists that is, to be honest, rarely met. Regardless of the situation with the above journalist, the article is misleading and may turn some people away from the game. Shame really, I can't wait until next week

CiDeRmAn

Or maybe.... No, I got nothing...

Maxpfizer

Xenji wrote: »

It was a demo given by a Nintendo representative, not the demo we got, some battles could be as much as 45 minutes long and that is coming from an official source.

https://www.gameinformer.com/feature/octopath-traveler/a-tale-of-intertwined-destinies

Well, we'll find out over the next few weeks I guess so I'll be sure to check in. Maybe there really are 45 minute battles in the game.

Even in the likes of FFVI I don't think you'd even have any boss battles that would go over 10 minutes or so?

In other RPGs of this type 10 minute battles against "low-level" creatures wouldn't be the norm considering you often have to fight many of these battles throughout the game.

You'd be talking about 4 hours of game time just to battle 20 low-level fights.

So, I call bull****.

However, I will leave it open and we can see next week when the game is released.

On the Game Informer article you linked there they have a video titled "Watch Us Play The Demo For Project Octopath Traveller".

The lads seem to be breezing through the random encounters in less than 2 minutes but they are complaining about the length of the battles anyway.

"I don't like random encounters"
"I don't like it when enemies don't have health bars"

Jesus.

Maxpfizer

Rhyme wrote: »

Then I am confused as to how their experience and mine is so different (I never guessed at the person's sex either).

Reading what Xenji posted above, it sounds as if the journalist was shown boss fights or that the Nintendo rep didn't know how to play the game. They should have picked up the truth in either of those scenarios and not just blurted out that ordinary battles take 10 minutes.

I keep a high bar for journalists that is, to be honest, rarely met. Regardless of the situation with the above journalist, the article is misleading and may turn some people away from the game. Shame really, I can't wait until next week

The guy that wrote the article played the game himself though. There's a video of them playing the game embedded in the article.

At 28:37 they encounter a low level enemy and they've finished the fight by 30:00. So, 1 minute 23 seconds and they managed to find time to complain that the enemy has too much health.

It looks like they are not using Boost (one of the core mechanics) AT ALL. In the top right it looks like they have maxed out the boost because they aren't using it.

They literally aren't playing the game correctly.

Rhyme

Maxpfizer wrote: »

The guy that wrote the article played the game himself though. There's a video of them playing the game embedded in the article.

At 28:37 they encounter a low level enemy and they've finished the fight by 30:00. So, 1 minute 23 seconds and they managed to find time to complain that the enemy has too much health.

It looks like they are not using Boost (one of the core mechanics) AT ALL. In the top right it looks like they have maxed out the boost because they aren't using it.

They literally aren't playing the game correctly.

That makes me a bit sad. I watch Let's Play videos on SomethingAwful of games I am awful at or can't play due to not having the appropriate console and the majority of these people are very good at games from practice and intuition. The majority of those people make their videos in the evenings or at the weekends around their full-time job. Gaming is their hobby and passion.

Then there are people who play games for their job and are bad at them. I don't know.

Back to Switch Games New and Releases. Pre-ordered Okami HD last night, very reasonable price. The game downloaded and it tore me apart as I knew, tucked away in my Switch is the game but I can't play it. My wife couldn't help but laugh at my (childish) sad face.

Debating between playing the Octopath Traveller demo again over the weekend or buying Crash Bandicoot. Anyone experience any input lag on the latter? That would be the main thing that would make me not buy it.

Maxpfizer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It's a she and she also works under and was hired by Kat Bailey who knows more about RPGS than most people. She is a regular on Kat's on the active time babble podcast. So she is very experienced with rpg games.

That may be so but "I'm talking seemingly 10 or so minutes long—even of the small, random encounter variety while just traversing a dungeon" is not representative of the game at all.

It's bad form, I think, for a games journalist to present a negative view of a game when they are just flat out wrong. Fair enough if you don't like the story or the music or the art style. It's not an opinion that basic dungeon fights are 10 minutes long.

This: There are ways to make battles go by faster though. Perhaps most similar to the 3DS game Bravely Default, Octopath Traveler is a game about managing weaknesses and acting accordingly. Once an enemy's weakness is hit, there's potential for them to Break—leaving them particularly vulnerable to additional attacks.

Dude, that's not "making battles go by faster" that's how the game is supposed to be played.

It's like saying visceral attacks in Bloodborne or adding fire or poison to weapons is a way to make the fights go faster. That's just how the game is played!

Mr E

Good "first impressions" piece on Octopath Traveler (based on the first 20 hours)

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tech/gaming/714375/Octopath-Traveler-REVIEW-First-ratings-are-in-for-Nintendo-Switch-s-next-MASSIVE-hit

From our 20-or-so hours with the game so far, we are happy to say that Octopath Traveler could be an instant classic: a true RPG gem in the Switch's already gleaming crown.

With mechanical elements that cherry-pick the best bits from Shin Megami Tensei's 'Press Turn' system, Final Fantasy's class-based setups and Chrono Trigger's multi-faceted world map, Octopath Traveler has every chance of being one of the best RPGs available on any platform right now, let alone Switch.

Mr E

Mod: N&R thread was getting a bit chatty so I split the posts. This game deserves its own thread anyway.

super_furry

USgamer know their stuff more than nearly any other site when it comes to RPGs and JRPGs in particular, so I'd take their word on this, although it could be an earlier preview.

Incidentally, anyone with an interest in RPGs and JRPGs should listen to their Axe of the Blood God podcast.

Mr E

Just watched a preview on GameXplain's youtube channel. Looks like the review embargo is up next Thursday.

I'm confident it's as per the recent demo. Lot of people it seems looking for this to fail

My most anticipated this year so far

Not long till we find out

Xenji

Fred The Red wrote: »

I'm confident it's as per the recent demo. Lot of people it seems looking for this to fail

My most anticipated this year so far

Not long till we find out

It is more that people think it could fail because Acquire who have not produced a good game in 18 years are the team mainly behind it's development, while S-E have taken on more of a supervisory role.

Looking forward to playing it next week, but hoping it is not a case of style over substance, god knows Asano made some misteps with Bravely Default and in particular its pacing, the mid game ruined it for me.

ERG89

Xenji wrote:

Asano made some misteps with Bravely Default and in particular its pacing, the mid game ruined it for me.

For me that's the worry.
Demo was good(but I already sense it's nowhere near the likes of FF VI) but for me a lot JRPG's seem to plateau or dip around the 12-15 hour mark. Even though it's a genre I have tried to get into.
I'll definetly keep an eye on reviews tho.

Sephiroth_dude

When will argos put this up on the site?

Mr E

Early Friday morning I think.

I would say that Smyth's will be the cheapest B&M.