Let's talk about Octopath Traveler!

[Dr. Acula]

I've just started Chapter 3 and I'm loving this game (although admittedly it's a bit frustrating in places, and the battles are looooong).

Any fans here? Got any favourite characters or storylines? Any frustrations or annoying boss battles you want to moan about? What do you think about the game as a whole?

[Vyk]

I loathe to admit, but I fell off the bandwagon before even getting a chance to play. It was a Switch exclusive for so long, I watched everyone get past the honeymoon phase and then start hitting it with real legitimate criticisms that I can't help but feel like I'd end up agreeing with once I started digging in. I get the impression that the game was mostly a proof-of-concept that was fleshed out, but still has it's DNA as just a prototype for ... I dunno. The engine or art style or something. I remember there being questionable audio quality in the demo and then people said that was never adjusted in the final release. Some voice acting is apparently just phoned in. I hear the story starts to fall apart once you get everyone together and that some characters are written fantastically and some are barely written at all. That you get companions with questionable morals working with goody-two-shoes, but its never addressed in a believable way? Now, granted, I'm basing this on others' experiences, but I'm also extremely picky and if any of this is remotely true I have a feeling that I would burn out pretty quick on the game. I downloaded it on Game Pass but never got around to bothering and then just deleted it. But I do really appreciate it exists. I always thought the 3D.Game Hero concept should have been a staple at this point, I can't believe how long it took between that game and Octopath. Now it's becoming more common place and I can't wait to see what's done with all this punched up pixel art with 3D engines and surreal depth <3

[Wolf Kanno]

I was pretty excited for the game and was happy to get it with my Switch. I love the style of the game, and I don't mind the disjointed nature of the party since that's normal in the SaGa franchise, but the battle system is what ultimately kept me shelving it. I really don't like Guard Break mechanics in my RPGs because all it does is slow combat to a crawl. I hate fighting in this game because even a simple group of enemies feel like a chore. It's fun in boss battles but sucks when its used in regular combat.

I plan on getting back to it eventually, but it has not been a priority.

[Dr. Acula]

I hear the story starts to fall apart once you get everyone together and that some characters are written fantastically and some are barely written at all. That you get companions with questionable morals working with goody-two-shoes, but its never addressed in a believable way? Now, granted, I'm basing this on others' experiences, but I'm also extremely picky and if any of this is remotely true I have a feeling that I would burn out pretty quick on the game.

This is a fair criticism - I was expecting there to be more party interaction but there's barely any. Whenever you start someone's chapter it pretends like the character is alone. It bothered me at first but I love the game regardless.

[Del Murder]

I found it fun and innovative both in art style and battles. Some of the battles did drag on but it was a nice change from the very action oriented RPGs that flood the market these days. My main gripe is that the 8 character stories had almost zero overlap making it feel odd that you are using a single party to play 8 different storylines.

[Trumpet Thief]

I hear the story starts to fall apart once you get everyone together and that some characters are written fantastically and some are barely written at all. That you get companions with questionable morals working with goody-two-shoes, but its never addressed in a believable way? Now, granted, I'm basing this on others' experiences, but I'm also extremely picky and if any of this is remotely true I have a feeling that I would burn out pretty quick on the game.

This is a fair criticism - I was expecting there to be more party interaction but there's barely any. Whenever you start someone's chapter it pretends like the character is alone. It bothered me at first but I love the game regardless.

Seconding this. Party dynamics in an RPG are very key for me. I could tell the game was made with a lot of love and polish, but it really did feel like each character story was self-contained, with the rest of the party showing up just for battles. Made it really easy for me to fall out of the experience very quickly, whereas other recent SE outings like Bravely Default / Bravely Second were carried for me by the cast dynamics.