Octopath Traveler - They've Got a Good Thing Going

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Harlock: Jan 15, 2006; Tap "A" to drink!!!

Some quests are only able to be completed at that point iirc. The changes aren't always super perceptible. Might be a new NPC that shows up somewhere.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 17:31

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# ? Jun 6, 2024 13:36

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Phenotype posted:

Yeah, but what's all this post Ch4 stuff? I've done 3 of them and I haven't seen anything obvious that opens up.

None of the Battle-Tested weapons are obvious. There are new NPCs that show up in certain towns after you finish a character's chapter 4 and sell the weapon.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 18:10

avoid doorways: Jun 6, 2010; 'twas brillig; Gun Saliva

You can sort of, kind of, guess which story NPC has each one and where that person might be. Except the dagger, everything about that one is just weird.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 18:20

redreader: Nov 2, 2009; I am the coolest person ever with my pirate chalice. Seriously.; Dinosaur Gum

I have a copy of bravely default that I've never touched, that I borrowed from a friend. This is a decent game. How does it compare to BD?

# ? Aug 13, 2018 19:00

Barudak: May 7, 2007

redreader posted:

I have a copy of bravely default that I've never touched, that I borrowed from a friend. This is a decent game. How does it compare to BD?

Its massively better than BD if only because the second half of BD is basicaly copy pasting the game and make you rebeat it 3 times before it lets you progress

# ? Aug 13, 2018 19:05

Harrow: Jun 30, 2012

Honestly I still kinda like Bravely Default better, mostly because I enjoy its job system a lot more. I like Octopath Traveler a lot more than Bravely Second, though. I think it's just because I really didn't like Bravely Second's combat balance--it was really tough to find a satisfying level of challenge in that game without constantly riding the difficulty slider, and that annoyed me. I'm glad I had the option to do that, but I wish that I could've just set it to one difficulty and had a good experience.

Incidentally, I'd rank their soundtracks in the same order (Bravely Default > Octopath Traveler >>>>>>> Bravely Second)

They all share the same weakness, too: all of them have very boring dungeon design. It's something I really wish this particular team would work harder on.

Barudak posted:

Its massively better than BD if only because the second half of BD is basicaly copy pasting the game and make you rebeat it 3 times before it lets you progress

This is technically correct but isn't quite fair.

Yes, the second half of the game really suffers from making you go through the same dungeons several more times. But each time you do it, there are new special bosses to fight, and those special fights are some of the most fun boss battles in the game. By the final loop, they're these awesome 4 vs. 4 battles where you're up against some nasty job combinations, and it's really fun. Plus, you can always turn off random encounters entirely, which makes going through dungeons again really quick.

I agree that it's dumb that you have to do it at all, but it's worth noting that there's new side content with each time you go around and that there are ways to make the whole process a lot smoother.

Harrow fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Aug 13, 2018

# ? Aug 13, 2018 19:15

Natural 20: Sep 17, 2007; Wearer of Compasses. Slayer of Gods. Champion of the Colosseum. Heart of the Void.
Saviour of Hallownest.

redreader posted:

I have a copy of bravely default that I've never touched, that I borrowed from a friend. This is a decent game. How does it compare to BD?

Default is better.

Second is better than Default.

Octopath is good.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 19:17

No Dignity: Oct 15, 2007

Also, as mechanically sound as all three games are none of them can hold a candle to the storytelling of the classic FF games.

BD is bad melodrama

BS is bad comedy

OT is comprised entirely out of FF14 sidequest chains

# ? Aug 13, 2018 19:24

The Black Stones: May 7, 2007; I POSTED WHAT NOW!?

I did all the Ch.4�s. I�m not too concerned about new side quests, but I�m reading that there�s a new dungeon. Is it worth doing? Does it add anything to the story? I�ve sunk 75 hours in and was pretty content at what I thought was the end. I�m sure it wouldn�t take me much longer to do one dungeon tho.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 21:05

Bombadilillo: Feb 28, 2009; The dock really fucks a case or nerfing it.

The Black Stones posted:

I did all the Ch.4’s. I’m not too concerned about new side quests, but I’m reading that there’s a new dungeon. Is it worth doing? Does it add anything to the story? I’ve sunk 75 hours in and was pretty content at what I thought was the end. I’m sure it wouldn’t take me much longer to do one dungeon tho.

You can. fight harder chp4 bosses and get good good lore then fight the real final boss which is the part you have to grind for

Do that first spoiler and it will be challaging and fun at how strong you are right after chp4s. The second one depends on how much you want to grind for a single thing...up to you

Bombadilillo fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Aug 13, 2018

# ? Aug 13, 2018 21:12

qbert: Oct 23, 2003; It's both thrilling and terrifying.

I found the final boss fight challenging, but really fun! There's unique mechanics in it that don't really appear anywhere else in the game.

The biggest mistake the devs made with it was not having a save point right before it. Having one would not meaningfully affect the difficulty of the fight in any way, just make losing way less tedious. I hope they patch one in or something in the future.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 21:18

Bombadilillo: Feb 28, 2009; The dock really fucks a case or nerfing it.

qbert posted:

I found the final boss fight challenging, but really fun! There's unique mechanics in it that don't really appear anywhere else in the game.

The biggest mistake the devs made with it was not having a save point right before it. Having one would not meaningfully affect the difficulty of the fight in any way, just make losing way less tedious. I hope they patch one in or something in the future.

If there was a save point I would def try it a few times with different strategies being underleveled.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 21:30

100YrsofAttitude: Apr 29, 2013

I haven't played the Bravely's but I'm sure to do so now, but I know what put me off of them is exactly what drew me to Octopath.

I was never super fond of the Job systems in FFIII and V. I mean they are great, but I was always a bit lost when faced with all the choices. I was way more into FF IV and my favorite remains VI, which give each character a traditional class, but that's it. I like how Octopath gives you secondary jobs but the characters still represent their main jobs thoroughly. It adds to their development a lot more as people, and goes to great lengths to mitigate the weak plots, which I do like, but they are far from being the melodramas of the aforementioned Final Fantasys.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 21:37

Natural 20: Sep 17, 2007; Wearer of Compasses. Slayer of Gods. Champion of the Colosseum. Heart of the Void.
Saviour of Hallownest.

100YrsofAttitude posted:

I haven't played the Bravely's but I'm sure to do so now, but I know what put me off of them is exactly what drew me to Octopath.

I was never super fond of the Job systems in FFIII and V. I mean they are great, but I was always a bit lost when faced with all the choices. I was way more into FF IV and my favorite remains VI, which give each character a traditional class, but that's it. I like how Octopath gives you secondary jobs but the characters still represent their main jobs thoroughly. It adds to their development a lot more as people, and goes to great lengths to mitigate the weak plots, which I do like, but they are far from being the melodramas of the aforementioned Final Fantasys.

I think the thing Bravely does incredibly well is introduces its jobs at a pace that is fast enough that you're always progressing, but slow enough that you're able to get used to what you do and don't like. Once you have the majority then it finds more and more creative ways to encourage you to explore that system further. It's a lot more accessible and less intimidating than FFV is from my perspective.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 21:55

Your Computer: Oct 3, 2008; Grimey Drawer

Natural 20 posted:

I think the thing Bravely does incredibly well is introduces its jobs at a pace that is fast enough that you're always progressing, but slow enough that you're able to get used to what you do and don't like. Once you have the majority then it finds more and more creative ways to encourage you to explore that system further. It's a lot more accessible and less intimidating than FFV is from my perspective.

FFV is a 26 year old game. It has a lot of cool ideas and the job system is amazing for when it came out but it's not even comparable to Bravely when it comes to ease of use and accessibility.

e: or when it comes to absolutely gamebreaking potential for that matter :getin:

# ? Aug 13, 2018 22:06

Phenotype: Jul 24, 2007; You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.

100YrsofAttitude posted:

I haven't played the Bravely's but I'm sure to do so now, but I know what put me off of them is exactly what drew me to Octopath.

I was never super fond of the Job systems in FFIII and V. I mean they are great, but I was always a bit lost when faced with all the choices. I was way more into FF IV and my favorite remains VI, which give each character a traditional class, but that's it. I like how Octopath gives you secondary jobs but the characters still represent their main jobs thoroughly. It adds to their development a lot more as people, and goes to great lengths to mitigate the weak plots, which I do like, but they are far from being the melodramas of the aforementioned Final Fantasys.

I thought VI was the absolute worst as far as choices go. I remember loving that game in high school but I don't know that I'd ever be able to play it again with even my mild OCD. As far as I was aware (in the SNES era, anyway), you had to constantly open the menu and check on everyone's EXP after every battle or two and make sure to equip the correct Esper for the ideal level-up bonus when they were close to leveling. If they were learning certain spells and you just left them with that Esper, they'd get whatever crappy level-up bonus that Esper gave out.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 22:27

Mega64: May 23, 2008; I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

As far as FF5 goes, There's always the Four Job Fiesta, which makes you focus on four jobs and beating the game with them, which helps with all the overwhelming choices. Still has a couple weeks left to run, too!

I need to give BD another chance at some point (I wasn't really digging the story and got bored early on), but I'm intrigued to see if anything in BD matches FF5's Chemist, which can give everyone boss immunities, level everyone to L255, and Berserk everything regardless of immunity, including the final boss, which in the earlier versions means you completely skip the second form of the final boss. Bard owns too for casting all-Stop/all-Confuse/Raise Speed/Strength/Magic/Level to 99 with minimal effort, but that's probably easier to replicate. Having both lets you beat the final boss without it getting a single turn.

I really love FF5, so I'm sure I'll love BD/BS once I give them a better go of it.

Phenotype posted:

I thought VI was the absolute worst as far as choices go. I remember loving that game in high school but I don't know that I'd ever be able to play it again with even my mild OCD. As far as I was aware (in the SNES era, anyway), you had to constantly open the menu and check on everyone's EXP after every battle or two and make sure to equip the correct Esper for the ideal level-up bonus when they were close to leveling. If they were learning certain spells and you just left them with that Esper, they'd get whatever crappy level-up bonus that Esper gave out.

FF6 is crazy easy, you don't need to worry about any of that when there's a half-dozen ways to break the game at any given time.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 22:28

Phenotype: Jul 24, 2007; You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.

Yes but I don't know about them and I don't want to break the game, I want to build the best party and the stat screen is the most visible part of that. That's what OCD is. Everyone has to get that +2 Str at level up.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 22:34

avoid doorways: Jun 6, 2010; 'twas brillig; Gun Saliva

I'm coming up on 70 hours in Octopath. I dug up my 3DS and my save in Bravely Default was just over 3 hours. I probably didn't give Bravely a fair chance but it never dragged me in like Octopath's "just one more chapter" did.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 22:48

Bombadilillo: Feb 28, 2009; The dock really fucks a case or nerfing it.

Octopaths map is so great for making me want to play more. The explicit locations and what I can do there is great. Zoom in and you can see obvious side dungeons and stuff. But the GO HERE FOR THIS STORY. Is great feeling and you can do what you're in the mood for.

Just got done with some sweet sweet Tressa? Maybe go assassinate someone with ~~prostitution~~ dancing.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 22:53

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

So I've got the best hats, armor and shields the spreadsheet says exists, I have the full suite of Battle-Tested weapons and a bunch of back up weapons for everyone else. I'm starting my grinding in the Forest of Purgation (pretty fast, actually). I think I have my final jobs figured out, but I'd like to check in with the thread to ensure I'm not over thinking it.

Runelord Tressa
Warmaster Therion
Sorcerer Primrose
Starseer Cyrus
Cleric Alfyn
Scholar Ophilia
Hunter Olberic
Warrior H'aanit

I honestly don't really know what to do with H'aanit and to a lesser extent Olberic, because H'aanit doesn't really do anything and Warrior is most of what Olberic needs.

Thoughts?

# ? Aug 13, 2018 22:54

qbert: Oct 23, 2003; It's both thrilling and terrifying.

Some Numbers posted:

So I've got the best hats, armor and shields the spreadsheet says exists, I have the full suite of Battle-Tested weapons and a bunch of back up weapons for everyone else. I'm starting my grinding in the Forest of Purgation (pretty fast, actually). I think I have my final jobs figured out, but I'd like to check in with the thread to ensure I'm not over thinking it.

Runelord Tressa
Warmaster Therion
Sorcerer Primrose
Starseer Cyrus
Cleric Alfyn
Scholar Ophilia
Hunter Olberic
Warrior H'aanit

I honestly don't really know what to do with H'aanit and to a lesser extent Olberic, because H'aanit doesn't really do anything and Warrior is most of what Olberic needs.

Thoughts?

Two suggestions: I'd make a different character besides Alfyn a Cleric, as you're basically going to want to use his Concoct every single turn the whole battle (that group BP thing should just be his default action unless something else is more urgent), so you want a different character on Cleric to either be spamming the Divine skill or healing everyone or Reflecting. Secondly, I would suggest having someone as a Merchant secondary class (probably H'aanit if you're not using her as Warmaster). Having another BP battery in the group is more useful than anything the Warrior subclass has.

The most important things to get right on that fight besides job assignment are the party split and the passive skills. Raw levels don't actually matter that much, relatively.

# ? Aug 13, 2018 23:07

Some Numbers: Sep 28, 2006; "LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"