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  Music: Octopath Traveler II (Main Theme) Octopath Traveler II released on Steam, Switch, and PS4 on February 24, 2023. It is the sequel to Octopath Traveler, a JRPG that featured eight characters exploring a large world together while following their own stories in a beautiful graphical style of mixing sprites with 3D elements dubbed "HD-2D". Many of the things that made OT1 great, like its beautiful graphics, excellent soundtrack, and cast of eight distinct characters all return in OT2, but it also greatly improves on OT1's weaker areas. While OT1 cutscenes lacked a lot of action, OT2 has more dynamic camera work and better cutscene design to make the big moments really shine. There's more of a focus on character interaction, between the return of party banters (this time even showing up in the journal so you can't miss them!), the introduction of four new two-part quests featuring two specific characters, and tons of battle lines having the characters supporting each other during fights. There's a day/night cycle that's thankfully as simple to change as the push of a button. NPCs may show up only at one time, and now each character has both a day and night Path Action they can use to obtain information, items, allies, or just the pleasure of knocking someone out. Likewise, random encounters are generally more dangerous at night, though a couple of characters make up for that by buffing your party or debuffing your foes. And speaking of battles, the battle system returns mostly unchanged, with the main new addition being Latent Powers, which are basically limit breaks that give characters another unique option in battle. The eight main jobs return with slight tweaks, with four new jobs hiding out in the world. There's even EX Skills, which are two character-exclusive skills that each character gets. Foes have a lot more animation this time around, and are just as intimidating as ever. Overall, OT2 is a huge improvement over OT1, and considering how much I loved the former, it's no surprise I'm LPing this game as well. ----- Once again, my focus will be on showing off as much content as possible using the screenshot format. I will have videos of important cutscenes (unlike OT1, everything in story cutscenes is voiced, but I'm only going to show off stuff that doesn't benefit from the screenshot treatment) and boss battles. GIFs and the like will likely be used sparingly due to size constraints, but I'll still have plenty of music links and screenshots to show off the game. Structurally, this game is a lot more loose with progression than OT1, so besides everyone's Chapter 1's, I'll be doing a lot more jumping around, which means there won't be as much voting going on, and likewise some Side Stories will be split up due to how they're set up. Even with less side stories overall, I'd expect to surpass OT1's massive 208 updates pretty easily. But hey, more to enjoy! Tag Minor Spoilers, No Major Spoilers. I'm still on Twitter while it's burning down. I may add other ways to follow updates later. ----- UPDATES                                       
Mega64 fucked around with this message at 22:30 on Dec 20, 2023 |
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Jul 13, 2023 19:53
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FeyerbrandX shows us how Agnea would approach the party after some self-defense training. Mega64 fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Sep 28, 2023 |
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Jul 13, 2023 19:53
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 Music: Octopath Traveler II (Main Theme) Video: Octopath Traveler II Opening Video   New continent, new people. It's time to meet our new batch of Octopathers!  There's an apothecary wandering along the coastline...  ...while a dancer tries to entertain the locals, with mixed results.  A scholar is walking the frigid wastes near a massive wall...  ...and a merchant is conducting business upon some minecart tracks.  A thief strolls across a massive glitzy city...  ...as a warrior marches alone among the sands.  A hunter runs off from a large, presumably friendly beast to hunt some quarry...  ...and a cleric pontificates over the Sacred Flame.  So, ready to choose our protagonist? No? Maybe this will help: Video: Octopath Traveler II Opening Video (Night)Still not ready? Let's get to actually learn whose these characters are first, starting as before in OCTOPATH order. Music: Main Theme (Night)   Name: Ochette Age: 20 Job: Hunter - Physical job with a focus on debuffs and attacks utilizing bows and axes. Day Path Action: Provoke - Use monsters to attack NPCs. Will lose town reputation if you lose the battle. Night Path Action: Befriend - Give a townsperson items (usually Jerky or other monster meats) to have them follow you as a companion. Talent: Capture/Prepare - Able to capture up to six enemies and use their abilities in combat. Also has a passive chance to capture a foe after battle. When releasing an animal, can turn that animal into meat. Latent: Animal Instincts - Lets Ochette choose one of three abilities to attack foes. You may remember H'aanit's talent being subpar in OT1, but they buffed it quite a bit in OT2. Ochette has unlimited uses of any monsters she catches, and even when she gets rid of them she still gets an item out of it. This gives her some added versatility when coupled with the slightly-revamped Hunter job and her good Latent. She's a powerhouse with a lot of options available, especially later in the game. Ochette is a Beastling, a new race for this game, and her story is about protecting the island she lives on with her race and her giant cat mentor. She's a skilled hunter who loves to eat and to provide food for anyone she can. Being a beastling, she's a bit simple-minded when it comes to human affairs, but that usually serves to be a boon in her case. Personality-wise, she's pretty excitable and eager, and doesn't let many things slow her down. Also, she can have one of two companions in this game, either a jackal or an owl, depending on what the player chooses.    Name: Castti Florenz Age: 29 Job: Apothecary - A healing class focused on healing, inflicting poison, and axe attacks. Day Path Action: Inquire - Ask NPCs for information and possible item locations. Most NPCs require a minimum level to be Inquired. Night Path Action: Soothe - Can knock out NPCs by offering them medicine. Requires having the items to use. Talent: Concoct - Mix two or more items to achieve a variety of healing or attacking effects. Using Boost Points increases the max amount of items that can be mixed up to five. Costs ingredients. Latent: Every Drop Counts - Can use Concoct without using up any items. Still requires having the items first. Concoct has been reworked from OT1's iteration, but it's still just as busted as ever, and even easier to abuse now when combined with Castti's latent. Apothecary is still a bit underpowered compared to most jobs, going for utility and an incredibly useful Divine Skill over sheer power. Still, Concoct alone is enough to make Castti a powerful healer and engine enabler, and she has the flexibility to fill any other role as needed. Castti starts off with the usual amnesia stuff, but she manages to have one of the more intriguing stories of the bunch as she has to fix the various maladies she encounters in the towns she visits while unlocking parts of her memories. Castti is wholly dedicated to healing and saving others, but that doesn't stop her from getting her hands dirty when necessary. She's also basically the party's mom and often gets teased over it by others, particularly Ochette. Castti is motivated above all by her compassion for others.    Name: Throné Anguis Age: 23 Job: Thief - Utilizes debuffs and sword and dagger attacks to incapacitate enemies. Day Path Action: Steal - Percentage chance of obtaining an item from a NPC. If failed, you lose town reputation. Night Path Action: Ambush - Knocks out a NPC. Requires a minimum level for most NPCs. Talent: Blessing of Darkness - Boosts the speed and both attack stats of all party members for the first three turns of battle if fighting at night. Latent: Leave No Trace - Gives Throné an additional turn. As in OT1, Thief is a terror against single-target foes, but not as effective against larger groups until you unlock their Divine Skill. Their debuffs are great in slowing down physical powerhouse bosses, and it's always handy to steal items from foes. Throné in particular serves for great utility between her high speed and her incredibly useful Latent, considering how important turn economy can be in this game. Definitely a useful companion to have. Throné has no qualms being a thief, being raised as such her entire life, but she is sick of all the killing and other nasty things her group has to do, so she's willing to get her hands a little more dirty to gain the freedom she so desires. Throné is smart and calculating, but also loyal and friendly with the rest of the party, making for a capable and welcome companion. She's also got a soft spot for animals.    Name: Osvald V. Vanstein Age: 38 Job: Scholar - Utilizes elemental magic as well as buffs to enhance said magic. Day Path Action: Scrutinize - Study an NPC to learn information about them. Has a chance to fail, which costs town reputation. Night Path Action: Mug - Fight a NPC. If you win, you obtain all of their items. Talent: Study Foe - Reveal one weakness of a new foe, or two weaknesses of an already-encountered foe. Latent: Concentrate Spells - Makes all multi-target spells single-target, but doubles the power in exchange. Scholar is still the elemental attack powerhouse it was before, but it's got added versatility now. This means it takes a bit more to set up the more powerful magic attacks, but between the new options Scholar has and Osvald's latent, Scholar can still deliver a ton of elemental pain. Osvald's been rotting in prison for the past five years, motivated to escape to get revenge on the man who killed his family and framed him for murder. As you may expect, Osvald is very serious, though he does show a soft side and even a sense of humor at times with the rest of the party. He deeply loved his family, and possesses an unrivaled level of intelligence that fuels his desires for vengeance.    Name: Partitio Yellowil Age: 24 Job: Merchant - Has a variety of skills to buff both themselves and the rest of the party, plus can spend money for powerful attacks. Day Path Action: Purchase - Can spend money to buy items from NPCs. Night Path Action: Hire - Can pay money to NPCs to follow around as companions. Talent: Business Partners - Any companion that follows Partitio will have an effect on Partitio's business dealings. This ranges from discounts to free inn visits to more money from Collect and so on. Latent: Hoot and Holler - Partitio's BP is immediately maxed out. Between his ability to distribute BP to others and his Latent, Partitio makes for a great BP battery, and he also has some good firepower available if you're willing to pay the cash. Otherwise, Merchant is another job that lacks power but more than makes up for it in sheer versatility. Partitio grew up working hard and perfecting his craft up until the town he helped built went to poverty. His goal is to use his skills as a merchant to ensure nobody else ever has to go through what he did, wanting to use the powers of capitalism to enhance the world and spread wealth and information everywhere. Partitio is very friendly and trusting, but also has a natural talent in the ways of merchantdom and seeing the value of things others skim over. He's the party's cheerleader, and between his can-do attitude and general enthusiasm, he's able to accomplish the most impossible of tasks.    Name: Agnea Bristarni Age: 18 Job: Dancer - Utilize dance moves to grant buffs and inflict various attacks. Day Path Action: Allure - Convince an NPC to join you as a companion. Has a percentage chance to fail, which lowers town reputation. Night Path Action: Entreat - Ask NPCs to give you items for free. What items you can receive is based on level. Talent: Dance Session - Any companion with Agnea will do a specific effect whenever Agnea uses a dancing move. This varies by NPC, and usually involves either healing the target or giving them a buff. Latent: All Together Now - All single-target abilities become multi-target. This does not apply to Divine Skills or self-targeting moves. Dance is the usual buffing machine, and yes, Bewildering Grace is back and as crazy as ever. Dancer's skills are as versatile as ever, even having a move that can damage shields directly. Combine that with Agnea's fantastic latent, and you can really power up your party to do huge damage with ease. Agnea's dream is to follow her late mother's footsteps to become a dancer, and her journey takes her on a path to stardom. It's by far the most lighthearted and low-stakes of the stories, but that's also what makes it so charming. Agnea herself is enamored with the dream of becoming a star and brightening the lives of others with her passion for dance, and her determination and friendships with others (including her fellow party members) help propel her forward. She's also willing to fight to protect others, and believes in seeing the hidden potential others may be reluctant to show.    Name: Temenos Mistral Age: 30 Job: Cleric - Specializes in healing, buffs, and light damage. Day Path Action: Guide - Encourage a NPC to follow beside you. Requires a minimum level to guide most NPCs. Night Path Action: Coerce - Interrogate NPCs in battle, learning information about them by breaking their shields. Talent: Moonlight Judgment - During battles at night, inflicts Blindness on all enemies for one turn, as well as decrease both attack stats for three turns. Latent: Judgment - Breaks shield points with attacks regardless of weaknesses. Cleric is your usual panic button healer, able to heal for large amounts and revive the party in emergencies. Access to light magic and SP recovery helps keep the job contributing even when HP is full, and Temenos in particular is great for breaking shields with the right abilities thanks to his Latent. Having a Cleric is never a bad thing, and Temenos is great at it. Temenos is basically a detective in cleric's clothing. Though a religious man, he's not above poking holes at his own faith, and in general is a very skeptical man when it comes to the motivations of others. That general sense of doubt is what both motivates him and also keeps him somewhat safe, as well as his foremost desire to uncover the truth. He can be a bit aloof to deal with, often being in his own world when pondering a mystery, and his sense of humor can be odd to some, but regardless he's still as compassionate and loyal as any.    Name: Hikari Ku Age: 21 Job: Warrior - Utilizes self-buffs with sword and polearm attacks. Day Path Action: Challenge - Duel NPCs in combat. Requires a minimum level to duel most NPCs. Night Path Action: Bribe - Pay NPCs to learn information about them. Talent: Learned Skills - When defeating an NPC in combat, you can learn one combat skill from them. Hikari can have a maximum of six Learned Skills at a time. Latent: Shadow's Hold - Unleash the darkness inside Hikari to utilize powerful attack skills. Warrior's your bog-standard physical damage dealer, focusing on self-buffs to act as a tank or to buff damage output. The job itself is not very versatile, but that's where Hikari's Learned Skills come in, letting him hit more weaknesses and utilize other abilities. Between this versatility and Warrior's sheer strength, Hikari is one of the most powerful allies around. Hikari is the kind-hearted prince who wishes to bring peace to a nation trained in war. Of course, things happen that lead to his journey to bring about such change. Hikari himself is an idealist, but also measured enough to know the world around him isn't so simple. He finds strength in his allies and readily works with others to accomplish his goals while helping them with theirs. He is truly a strong trustworthy ally to have in this world. ----- And there we go! That's our cast, so you know what time it is now... CHOOSE OUR MAIN CHARACTER! This person will be our party lead and remain in our party until we finish their final chapter. Don't worry about battle stuff, go with whichever character you like the most and/or want to see the most. I'll give it until Sunday morning before I pick a winner and start recording their chapter. Hope you're all ready for another journey! Mega64 fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Jul 15, 2023 |
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Jul 13, 2023 19:53
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Also, today is the five year anniversary of Octopath Traveler 1. Figured this LP would be a nice way to celebrate. As usual, please correct me on any errors, whether gameplay-wise or just typos or grammatical errors. I always appreciate feedback on stuff to improve and am always open to suggestions!
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Jul 13, 2023 19:55
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Ochette for main character, because monster collecting is usually a wonky afterthought in most games unless its the core mechanic. Let's have a nice look at it. I'll also be curious to see if Octopath 2 is mechanically "deeper" than Octopath 1, where I was pretty unimpressed by the actual gameplay.
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Jul 13, 2023 20:04
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I have a straw poll in the end of the post, use that for voting. Makes things easier on my end and lets me count votes from people viewing from my web site. Also it should be multiple choice, so you can vote for more than one person if you want.
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Jul 13, 2023 20:09
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there are four things someone arriving from Octopath 1 needs to know 1. purple chests only the thief can open are dead, and nobody misses them 2. hunter has gone from an absolute afterthought of a class to a solid competitor with Warrior 3. scholar got a tap with the nerf bat 4: missed inter-party conversations can now be listened to from a screen in the pause menu
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Jul 13, 2023 21:13
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It's interesting that they're using the exact same classes, but they're recontextualizing their origins in order to do a different take on them. Especially the decision to make the Cleric into an inquisitor, since it means that he might have more of an air of menace compared to the fairly traditional depiction of a healer from the first game. That's the one I'm most curious about, just based on first impressions.
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Jul 13, 2023 21:57
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Square missed the perfect opportunity to call the game Octwopath Traveler, but I guess that would ruin the naming scheme of the heroes.
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Jul 13, 2023 22:47
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Just about wrapping things up on reading the first LP, so glad to see this is kicking off.Blastinus posted:It's interesting that they're using the exact same classes, but they're recontextualizing their origins in order to do a different take on them. Especially the decision to make the Cleric into an inquisitor, since it means that he might have more of an air of menace compared to the fairly traditional depiction of a healer from the first game. That's the one I'm most curious about, just based on first impressions. Likewise, was a bit surprised to see the exact same classes back, in a slightly different roll of the dice, but I suppose there's something to be said for refinement and reuse as opposed to reinventing the wheel.
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Jul 13, 2023 22:59
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How important is it to have read the OT1 LP? I missed it before, but what you wrote of OT2 sounds quite interesting. I'll try to follow this LP.
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Jul 13, 2023 23:33
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Torrannor posted:How important is it to have read the OT1 LP? I missed it before, but what you wrote of OT2 sounds quite interesting. I'll try to follow this LP. not at all. OT2 is one of those sequels where the cost of having not played the original is that you'll miss about three references that don't really add much.
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Jul 13, 2023 23:37
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OT1 is definitely not required reading for this one. Everything is different besides one or two small things, and if anything is somehow relevant to OT1 I'll go into detail about it in the LP anyway. It's basically Final Fantasy rules.
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Jul 13, 2023 23:40
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Oh boy! I've been waiting for this!
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Jul 13, 2023 23:58
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Your LP of Octopath Traveler 1 got me into Octopath in the first place. I bought OT1 on sale a while back, and this game the day it came out, and I really enjoyed it. Thanks so much for the LP, I'm very much looking forward to it!!
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Jul 14, 2023 01:59
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I just wanted to thank you for doing this LP, Mega. Firstly, thank you for doing a screenshop LP, because video ones take *forever* to digest, and also just because I want to know about this game. It's currentl 25% on all platforms, but I have OT1 on Switch and have never played it, so I can't justify buying the sequel.
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Jul 14, 2023 02:11
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Oh boy, here we go! I can't wait to start reading the LP as it updates.
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Jul 14, 2023 03:33
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I voted to start with Throné because I wanna make the entire early game significantly easier for you
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Jul 14, 2023 03:53
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After playing OT1 for the first time early year, I've been on an Octopath bender that still hasn't ended. I am ready for this LP.
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Jul 14, 2023 04:19
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An LP of the sequel to Octopath, this is a treat. I loved the first game. I'll be looking forward to reading this!
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Jul 14, 2023 04:25
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Very nice, thank you for this.
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Jul 14, 2023 05:32
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I don't want to spoil anything but I think Tenemos is best in an LP format specifically because there's an element of his story that is just so different and unexpected that I think it creates a really compelling hook for him.
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Jul 14, 2023 12:34
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 One day in, and the votes are pretty close! Still plenty of time to vote! Meanwhile I'm still doing a lot of prep work behind the scenes, mostly making sprites and adjusting the music, but it should all be done by the time the vote ends. And even if not, it's not like it'll hold the LP back any.
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Jul 14, 2023 19:21
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My votes were Temenos and Hikari. Temenos because as Mr 20 says, there's a bunch of elements to his story that make it particularly good for him to be the "main" character for LP purposes. Hikari also has some (completely different) elements to his story that make it good for the format, and he probably has the most "typical anime protagonist trying to get a motley crew together to kick rear end and save the world" vibes of any of the characters.
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Jul 14, 2023 22:14
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yeah but partitio says yeehaw
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Jul 14, 2023 22:18
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 I kinda want to go ahead and start recording today so Temenos wins! Funnily enough this is the second time I expected the Merchant character to win only for the detective archetype to take the protagonist role. But hey, I'm not complaining, Temenos is fun and having a Cleric for most of the game works for a great panic button. Hopefully I'll get the first real update up tomorrow!
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Jul 15, 2023 19:04
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Mega64 posted:
drat. I really wanted Partitio to win. 
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Jul 15, 2023 19:12
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Kinda glad you got Temenos, his Path Actions are both solid and worth having on hand at all times. Partitio's are kinda bad comparatively.
JT Jag fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Jul 15, 2023 |
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Jul 15, 2023 22:37
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Mega64 posted:I kinda want to go ahead and start recording today so Temenos wins! CERO MIEDO
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Jul 15, 2023 22:44
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Mega64 posted:Funnily enough this is the second time I expected the Merchant character to win only for the detective archetype to take the protagonist role. But hey, I'm not complaining, Temenos is fun and having a Cleric for most of the game works for a great panic button. Should have subverted your expectations, after all, doubt is what you should do.
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Jul 16, 2023 05:29
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I guess the game is afoot.
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Jul 16, 2023 08:04
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Definitely gonna be following this - the lack of connection between the characters in the first game killed my interest, so I'm curious to see how this one deals with that criticism. And after all the praise this has gotten, I want to see just what makes this game so impressive to everyone.
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Jul 16, 2023 18:51
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WizardOfWhispers posted:Definitely gonna be following this - the lack of connection between the characters in the first game killed my interest, so I'm curious to see how this one deals with that criticism. And after all the praise this has gotten, I want to see just what makes this game so impressive to everyone. the biggest thing they do is give all the characters a series of co-op missions featuring stuff relevant to both of them. i am particularly fond of Temenos and Throne's, because the inquisitor and the thief get up to some delightful Da Vinci Code bullshit
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Jul 16, 2023 19:08
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WizardOfWhispers posted:Definitely gonna be following this - the lack of connection between the characters in the first game killed my interest, so I'm curious to see how this one deals with that criticism. And after all the praise this has gotten, I want to see just what makes this game so impressive to everyone.
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Jul 16, 2023 19:32
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Yeowch!!! My Balls!!! posted:the biggest thing they do is give all the characters a series of co-op missions featuring stuff relevant to both of them. i am particularly fond of Temenos and Throne's, because the inquisitor and the thief get up to some delightful Da Vinci Code bullshit
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Jul 16, 2023 19:32
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JT Jag posted:Also, the characters call out eachother in battle way, way more than they did in Octopath 1, at least it feels that way And the skits and tavern dialogues being replayable from the options menu helps a little too. You don't actually need to have a guide on hand and have exactly the right combination of people in the party at exactly the right time to see all the party dialogue.
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Jul 16, 2023 19:37
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  And with that, we have our protagonist, the Cleric Temenos! Now let's finally begin the game!   So naturally, we're going to begin with a battle that will determine the fate of the entire world. Torrent of Evil  Vide...is wicked...   Rest well, my fellow gods... I shall put an end to Vide's wickedness.   So naturally we begin as the god Aelfric the Flamebringer, patron god of Clerics and the focal point of the Church of the Sacred Flame, and are tasked to destroy the dark god Vide the Wicked. You know, standard fare.  Fortunately it's a simple climb to reach the wicked god. Video: The Wicked God, Vide  Do you truly mean to enshroud us in shadow!? I...guess so.   ...devourer of all life in this world! Even you... Foolish gods. You have made your choice, Vide.  And so the climatic battle between good and evil begins. Yeah, I guess we're just gonna jump right to it.  Aelfric is pretty formidable, as you'd expect from being the last god standing.   Vide has some powerful magic as well, however.   Aelfric has a couple of very powerful abilities to help.   ...but Vide can simply hide behind The Shadow and render itself immortal.  Enough of this foolishness... I shall devour you as well! You cannot possibly hope to best me. See how the light fades from this world. ......  The flame has been entrusted to me. From its humble light shall a fire be lit...   Aelfric unleashes seven elemental attacks with the combined powers of the gods.  Even Vide the Wicked is no match for such power.  I will...engulf this world... Through the malice of the people... From our hearts... From...our hearts...   ----- Video: Temenos and the Children  "From...our hearts..." Hm? What was the next line? Carefree Days  Everyone knows how that part goes, Temenos! At least get your own performance right! Ahem! Now then, with that foible behind me... ...and disaster was averted. The eight gods, their power drained, fell into a long slumber. They then became the Sacred Flame that keeps the darkness at bay. And thus the people continued to live in light and warmth. The eight gods and the Sacred Flame are one of the few things carried over from OT1, though it's a bit different here. Namely, Vide the Wicked never comes up in OT1, and four of the gods from OT1 are missing in this story, namely the ones that give you the secret jobs. Otherwise, Aelfric and the other gods are the same ones from OT1, and still represent the eight main jobs. Likewise, the Sacred Flame remains the holy symbol of this religion.  Except for the lines you forgot--again! Hah! You're quite a demanding audience...  Do get ahold of yourself, Inquisitor. I shall, Mindt.In case you're curious, this story was a paper play designed by Temenos himself. This does come up a few times later, though mostly through chatting with our future companions. Oh, and yeah, Temenos is an Inquisitor. He's a good fit for the role, honestly.  Let their warm glow illuminate every corner of your souls. Thanks, Sister Mindt! I like your hair ornament. Why thank you. Shadow manifests in our worst instincts: anger, hatred, resentment, and jealousy, to name a few. But the Sacred Flame drives these shadows away, leading us to the light. Ah, Your Holiness. Please forgive the unruly scene. Haha... I pray that is the case. Might I have a word, Temenos? Gladly, Pontiff.Flamechurch, Sacred Light This is the town of Flamechurch, nestled in the Crestlands in the middle of the Eastern Continent of Solistia.  It does, at a glance. But shadows lurk around every corner. And that, my son, is why I've a job for you. We've had no major incidents since I appointed you to the Inquisition. However... ...... I know your position as Inquisitor keeps you plenty busy. But I beg you to aid me, Temenos. I know I can trust you. You shower me with undue praise, Pontiff. Hoho. Oh yes, Mindt. Grave secrets. Now then, I must take my leave. I've others waiting on me, you see. Understood, Your Holiness. It's not easy to be an organized religion in the world of Octopath Traveler. There's always some sinister force out there trying to overthrow the church and bring about an age of darkness. But hey, that's why good things come in bunches of eight. As the Pontiff leaves for the cathedral, he stops to chat with someone in the rather hard-to-see southwest corner...  I believe that was Lucian, a theologian from the western shore. What brings him all the way to meet with the pontiff, I wonder.  At any rate, this is our next destination.  (Perhaps a stroll through the town is in order.)Or will be a little later. For now, let's start playing a bit.  The radar is very convenient for many things when exploring.  For now, the main menu. Inventory shows items and gear, which we don't have much of. Misc. is settings stuff, and Journal recaps story stuff and other stuff. World Map is how we use fast travel.  Each character can equip one or two weapons, with secondary jobs allowing you to equip more based on the job. Otherwise, any character can equip anything. As for stats, most of them are self-explanatory. I'll go into more detail later, but one thing worth mentioning now is that healing is not based on E.Atk, but Elemental Defense. This means Temenos's most important stat is E.Def to boost his healing and guard against magic, followed by E.Atk for his Light spells.  Status will give a stat summary and also summarize path actions and other things.   They have asked us to be on guard against the rising number of heretics these days.Makes sense the Pontiff is rather concerned about external threats right now.  Considering this is something that Temenos seems to do in his spare time more than his actual job here, I think you could cut him some slack. Though you'd think he'd have this stuff down by now, but hey.   Still, at least not everyone is a critic.  Just you wait.  Apprehension  The church uses the Sacred Flame to deceive us! But the truth shall be exposed! The purge begins here and now!  A Sanctum Knight, are you!?  Why do you rage against the Sacred Flame? I beg you, look inside yourself and repent.  Aaahhh! Y-you cowards! Oh? You'll see that the Sacred Flame protects no one! How dare you! But while we're here, allow me to ask... You're a heretic, are you not? ...What?  Ah... Aaaggghhh!Flamechurch, Sacred Light  Ah, you saved us, Temenos! Thank him, not me. I think it was a tag-team effort. At any rate, this fellow doesn't seem to represent the heretics' best and brightest.  Are...are you the inquisitor!? That I am. My word... It is an honor to meet you! I...I hope to one day join your ranks! O-our history? Indeed. What is your name? Well now. I can certainly vouch for your swordsmanship. Indeed. The Sacred Guard increases its defenses as we speak. Peacetime is no time to be lax in your duties. The very gods you inquisitors are messengers for!? There is such a thing as trusting too much, Crick. I daresay even our gods would be relieved at hearing such a frivolous comment from me.  ......  P-please. I've only just been assigned. Goodness. I must admit I fear for you.  Temenos and Crick have amazing chemistry together. Every scene with the both of them is delightful.  This is also a good excuse to bring up the first of Temenos's path actions, Guide.   When you are near a NPC, a prompt will show what path actions you can do with that character. For Guide, it's a matter of being at the right level.   And of course lots of NPCs have different lines for specific path actions.  You can also press a button to dismiss companions without having to replace them with another companion.   Naturally, the townspeople know Temenos well enough to understand just what he's capable of.   Just collecting your tithe ahead of schedule. Carry on.  It's a bit of a trek between Flamechurch and the Cathedral.  When the camera rotates, it's time for a battle! Normal Battle I Just a regular ol' Mountain Ape. Pretty common up in the Crestlands.  The meat of Octopath's battle system is breaking and boosting. There are six weapon types and six elements, and enemies will be weak to some variety of them.   Monsters start out with no weaknesses exposed, so you have to smack 'em with different stuff until you expose them. Hitting a monster with a weakness depletes their shields.  To start with, Temenos has a basic heal-all spell and a single-target light spell. We'll unlock more after we finish this chapter, because I forgot to grind to unlock skill access first.  Once you deplete the foe's shields, it's broken and loses its next turn (as well as its current turn if it hasn't acted yet, making turn order management very valuable).  Boosting gives you more attacks and powers up your skills. Boosting is a great way to shred through shields, as with regular physical attacks you can do up to four hits with one attack. Of course, that's generally wasteful.   The flow of combat encourages saving up your boost points until a foe is broken, then use them to deliver a powerful attack. Of course, this is a lot easier said than done, especially for boss fights, but then that's part of the fun of this system. Victory Fanfare You get little bonuses based on how well you do in combat. EXP is for levels (and leveling up is a full heal for that character, handy early on), JP unlocks skills, and leaves is your money. The Crestlands We can ill afford to dawdle. The beasts grow in number at night. Then we must steel ourselves and proceed with caution. Haha... You're a stalwart companion. The Sanctum Knights are handpicked from among the church's best.   Hm... Did my eyes deceive me? During that last fight, I was certain... Wha--! Why, that's preposterous! Then my eyes deceived me, and I meant no disrespect. V-very good! You'll not catch me hiding, sir. Haha... Now then, let us be off. So Crick basically went from a NPC companion to a full-fledged party member. There's a few such party members that will show up for some Chapter 1 stories, though after those it'll just be the main eight.  These characters generally aren't exciting, having several skills and generic equipment. Crick serves as a physical tank and complements Temenos well in battle.   The devs really upped their game for OT2. The scenery is much more dynamic and willing to show large views and varied landscapes. OT1 looked great, but most of its environments were very samey, which was especially noticeable in dungeons. These screenshots can't really do it justice, though that's certainly not going to stop me from trying.  Nuts give permanent stat boosts. It's a percentage increase based on a character's base stats, so you'll get more bang for your buck if you give, say, a E.Def-boosting nut to Temenos than a P.Atk one. Of course I just forget to use them and I'll likely forget to use them again for this game.  Crick attacks with a sword, and his abilities include a powerful sword attack that gives a debuff to reduce Elemental Defense (which again, works great with Temenos), a skill to buff Crick's Physical Defense, and the ability to intercecpt a physical attack targeting Temenos.   They look pretty nice, too!  There's now little docks scattered around the world.  It just shows where you can move in water. Your characters have boats just pop out of thin air because, hey, why not.  A lot of accessories boost stats. "Ring" is the first tier of this type of accessory, and "Stimulating" boosts Max SP, in this case by 30. Very nice for Temenos to have.  I also run into a Rockadillo. Nothing exciting, though.  It's not that long a trek, and soon enough we reach the Cathedral. SILENCE  I beg you, cease calling me a lamb of any sort! My name is Crick, and you would do well to remember it! My apologies, Crick. As I said, here we are. The Order of the Sacred Flame's cathedral. Sure why not  ...... ...... Hm? This is certainly strange... It's locked. Would you be so kind as to open the door? I fear I shall catch a sickness. I must say, I'm beginning to doubt you're the inquisitor at all! And yes, he himself told me to meet him here this evening. Perhaps something's gone wrong.  Oh dear... But so be it. We'll just have to think of another way to get inside. Have you hit upon one? ...Hm? Can you hear me? ......  Is everything quite all right? You looked dead on your feet! My apologies. I cannot help but concentrate quite deeply when I ponder a problem. A bad habit, I admit. Haha. ...... The cathedral underwent significant repairs two years ago. Surely those who assisted with the repairs still live here. Interrogating!? What are you planning to do to them?  Yes, Temenos's night action is to beat the information out of people.  This man seems rather knowledgeable about the cathedral.  Let's beat him until he sings.   Unlike most battles with NPCs, our goal is not to defeat them. In fact, we can't. Instead, we have to break their shields.  Fortunately, this historian has a weakness to bludgeoning.    Alas, he's just an ordinary historian of religious studies. I guess we didn't need to beat that information out of him after all! Oops!  Soulstones deal damage of that element to the entire enemy party. There's bigger varieties that do solid damage as well. Handy for breaking a weakness in a pinch, or to take out certain enemies that may flee before you have time to really do some damage.     Looks like we've obtained the information we needed!  Oho, the smaller building east of the cathedral hides a subterranean passage no longer in use. Blessings of the Sacred Flame unto you, Vados, for this gift.Truly a kindness Vados has paid us this fine evening.  The path is open, Crick! The path...  I did as the scriptures bade, Crick. I used the flame vested in me to open the way forward.  ...... The pontiff chooses us. It's quite simple, really.  What...? I am overcome with unease...  Also I am glad I can properly back up my saves now. Granted I had no issues with OT1, but you never know when you'll want to revisit a previous update to check something or whatever. At any rate, this seems like as good a place as any to end the update. We've certainly obtained enough information for one day!  ...Alright just one more.   OK now we're done.   Next time, we infiltrate the cathedral and visit who I'm sure will be a safe and relaxed Pontiff.
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Jul 16, 2023 22:38
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I thought this was Octopath II, not Strangers of Paradise.  It's a little surprising to see an inquisitor who isn't just a "Kill everyone and let God sort it out later" type.
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Jul 16, 2023 23:25
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Crick's name is actually a weird, esoteric joke. See, Temenos is a detective, so obviously Crick is his 'Watson' role. The name Crick isn't relevant to any notable Sherlock Holmes story, it's generally understood in the history of science, meanwhile, that the fathers of the modern understanding of DNA were James Watson... and Francis Crick. Or so a friend tells me is the idea. It's a bit of a stretch, but it is kind of a silly name. Do you think Crick gets cricks in his back from all that armor?
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Jul 16, 2023 23:26
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Mega64 posted:There are six weapon types and six elements, It's probably for game balance reasons but it feels like a missed opportunity to not have eight of each
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Jul 16, 2023 23:55
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