Learning to Love Octopath Traveler 

I adore the way each character actually has a unique little line when you class them out of type. One example is if you make Tressa into a Thief and have her steal from an NPC, she will say "I'm so sorry..." Because she is an honest Merchant to her core.

I literally had this "Oh woops it's 5am" moment last night playing this game. (just got it last week.)

I feel like Octopath Traveler treats every battle like a puzzle boss. Figure out how to exploit the reveille enemies weaknesses and ai, and you beat them up. Then you get to bosses who change up their AI mid combat and suddenly you have to find a new solution. That’s what I love so much about this game.

I know it frustrated some people, but I really liked that the stories felt personal. It was a welcome break from the trope of the world being in jeopardy and a ragtag group of teenagers going to stop it.

I'm glad to see this game getting praise for once for it's disconnected storytelling of the characters. It's clear to see that the developers didn't want to have everyone's story change because you had [x] party member

Jeez, FINALLY, I’ve seen that there are other people that understand the separate storylines.

I get goosebumps from the boss battle transitions as well. This game does a lot of things right, but the thing it does perfectly is undeniably the sound design.

“Whoops it’s 5 am.” I was getting pretty irritated about having to go bed because of this game for a little while.

THANK YOU! So many people complained that the stories are disconnected and now some finally has shared my opinion that your imagination and Roleplaying are what makes this great! It's the first game I've ever played where it feels Like HunterXHunter, where the party can change based on the current objective and everyone has their own motives! It's great! I guess most people are just trained not to role play anymore in these role-playing games.

Thank you so much for highlighting the amazing boss theme transitions. It's such a small detail but it helps to add fluidity to big encounters

The opening tweet is iconic. Finally hearing the official dub is so fulfilling.

Octopath reminds me a lot of Breath of the Wild. The core frame of the game and the writing feel shallow and barebones but it is so loaded with self-driven adventure that I really can't bring myself to care. Just don't look at the game's formula too hard and it's amazing. There's so much that makes you go "I wonder if I can do this?"

"Octopath had me interested in random NPCs, which is a crazy feat" You should play the Kiseki games

First off, this is such a great breakdown of the appeal Octopath has on me that I couldn't place into words. The comparison to DnD campaigns is so spot on, and the justifications for some characters teaming up (like Therion) are perfect, man But now you're sayin Xenoblade's one of your fav games so I'm legally contracted to subscribe to you, badaboom badabing

Bravely Default/ Second are two of my favorite RPG's and you should play them if you havent

Oh wow! I'm happy someone else picked up on the DnD stuff! I feel a very similar vibe. Octopath Traveler is like a nice, warm cup of tea. As someone who plays a lot of competitive Splatoon, it's the perfect game to relax with after some rather stressful sets. That said, I understand why it's not everyone's, hehe, cup of tea. It's a slower paced game with a high fantasy vibe -- even stuff like the Primose section is written in a theatrical manner. That's something of an acquired taste these days (and there's nothing wrong with that!). My two main complaints are the random encounters and the lack of interactions between party members. I'll defend turn based combat until the day I die, but random encounters are an antiquated method of triggering said combat. Considering Dragon Quest 9 had enemies on the screen in 2009 (and even before that, Earthbound), I honestly feel like there's no excuse for games to not have enemies in the overworld. Yes, this game is a nostalgic throwback, but it also was willing to throw in a bunch of modern conveniences such as fast travel. They could've changed the formula. And the character interaction. I like each individual character and their respective plot lines. They all have goals, motivations, backstories, and 'voices' (even if H'aanit's 'ye olde english' is frankly ridiculous). I also like that there's not some generic save-the-world plot thrown in to justify them all being together. However, there's nothing to justify them being together at all. Since the game is character driven this seems like a major missed opportunity. I also disagree with the 'using your imagination bit'. It shouldn't be the reader's job to fill in the blanks for the writer. That's doing their work for them. I actually think the Thereon example has an explanation, though. If you go pick him up, he joins right after his encounter with the two thieves. He hears one call the other partner, reminisces about his own, and then steps toward them -- and they run away. Right after this he agrees to join your party. I feel like it's meant to be a turning point for him, it's just subtle. Despite that, I do like that there doesn't seem to be an omnipresent 'black hole sue' character like in, say, Person 4. It often felt like the tertiary characters revolved almost entirely around the main protagonist in Persona 4, and as much as I love that game, it was a little distracting. However, gripes aside, I find this game incredibly engaging! I love the BP system, I love the path finding system, I love the art (although I wish the party members got the same level of detail as the enemy sprites when in-battle), and I like the characters and their stories a lot. My final point is that the game seems to be trying to not-linear, which is probably what led to issues such as the lack of character interaction. It's also why the world feels so fun to explore, however, with new quests unlocking as you unlock new pathfinding abilities. I've found traditional narrative tends to suffer in the face of non-linear game design, but world building tends to flourish. The philosophy works for Zelda or Mario, which were never narrative heavy in the first place, but it makes things a bit more complicated for a game like this. I definitely hope to see them build on the ideas in Octopath Traveler! I just got it yesterday and I'm already having a blast. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I enjoyed them.

I'm finally playing this game and I'm also in chapter 2! When you bring up the whole music transition at 13:50, I get the same feeling every time.

I love the world map! I can't count the amount of times I thougt: "If I just push past this part I may find a new town or shrine!!" So addictive, really captures that explorer feeling!!

I'm so glad you liked it. I have plenty of gripes with the game but it warms my heart to see someone as critical as you getting into it.

I agree with this amazing perspective!! I, too, did not want Octopath for the very reasons you gave; but I learned to love it- just bought it and love it very much! Yes, I will need a guide for it, though!

Lurker here just wanna say you make good ass videos

"Oh whoops its 5 am" was my life from the day it came out till I beat it.

I love that you said there isn't a reason to grind. It's so true! All I heard all over the place was how the game forced you to grind between chapters...you don't have to do that! Just play each character and the game naturally levels you effortlessly

I remember downloading the demo back in December and I was immediately hooked, I instantly bought the full game and before I knew it I sank 90 hrs into this game. It's truly amazing and one of my favorite RPGs ever.

Love the editing on this video. How the epic music kicks in before you even finished saying "octopath is kinda genius". I love little jokes like that.

Somewhere there's an alternate universe where Octopath Traveler was a Critical Role-style D&D show, and god I wish I could watch that show and watch a group of eight players and a DM thread all these stories and characters together in a natural and organic way.

The same thing happened to me in picking Therion I just love the thief archetype and I went about collecting the travelers anti-clockwise given the banter between Alfyn and Therion I always saw him as the extrovert who adopts the introvert much to his own refusals

I also took Therion as my first character and I'm very happy about this. This game is just awesome and has so deep stories. I just love it!

Thank you ! As a fan your video has made me so so happy and im so glad you liked playing it ! Also, a common fan trope for Therion as a 1st pick is that he found Alfyn (who is right next to his area) and now whenever they meet someone Alfyn is the one asking them to join while Therion pretends to be grumpy about it

You did a great job expressing this games strengths while acknowledging that turn based JRPG's are not for everyone. I normally do not care too much for them either because the ones I played in the past were not nearly as complex and engaging as far as the combat, and lets be honest, I think most people are very worn out of kill X amount of monsters/ mindless fetch quests. The fact that I eagerly was looking forward to meeting every interactable NPC in each town/ city and enjoyed the puzzle solving/ actually having to use your brain themes of side quests. KingK, I would imagine you have come close to finishing the game completely if not already by now but I am very glad to hear you game this game a chance. The end of some of the main character's stories reveal more than I expected and yet there are things that are still a mystery which only really can be put together by not only beating the secret final dungeon, but even then you have to put some things together yourself. I was very surprised how each characters seemingly isolated story tie together at the very end. The combat, the side quests, the visual style, and oh my word the music is a work of art.

Damn.... For someone who doesn't like Turn Based RPG's, pretty much all of the things you said you loved about this game resonated with me. Turns out our tastes aren't so different after all.

I got Octopath Traveler at least 3 years ago, and played 1 hour and put the cartridge back in my switch game case. Years later, having learned what I love in RPGs, and conquering my Depression, I decided to try it again. I'm now in a juggling act of Splatoon 3, Octopath Traveler, and the cloud version of Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories. Definitely interesting not only how long I'm staying focused on 3 switch games, but how much I've preferred playing those games over games on my Chromebook (emulators) or my tower PC and the games I have from steam. Super hyped for Octopath Traveler 2, but I'm glad it's not out yet, because I'd want to finish this and the free mobile game first. I'm actually about to start it

Wow, you voiced literally every single concern and doubts I had with this word for word when you started this with the only difference being that I played the demo way back when (haven't played the new one) and, whilst thinking the game was good, I didn't think it would be good enough to hold its own on a battle system when, like you, unless it is something like the mario RPG's or the rare unique RPG that catches my interest I didn't want to spend money on it. Now i'm fully convinced to give this a buy as I didn't think the game would turn out to carry itself so well and i'm really glad you decided to make this video as I wasn't going to give the game a second glance until much much later.

I was like you at the start of the video and I have been for a while, but now hearing what everyone thinks I may end up getting it, so thanks for the video

Completely off topic, but I've been harping on this subject for a year now... i love how you perfectly placed the mid video add at the transition of your thought. I'm absolutely so fed up with idiots on here who randomly have ads thrown up in mid syllable of words in the middle of their thought, because they just blindly place a mid video ad at some random point, without taking into consideration how damaging that distraction is to the entire video. The ad placement was so organic, that it didn't even bother me that an ad started. Hats off.

HOLD UP. You took a break from playing to "go to the bathroom??" With the Nintendo Switch, potty time is GAMING TIME YO. Lol I'm dumb. Great video, man.

Thanks for this review. I have heard such mixed reviews on this game, but your words about it have made me want to try it out. I will now be getting the demo and see what happens from there. Thanks!

I've been playing this game non-stop since I just recently got it, and I am not really into turn-based RPG, but wow this game really hooked me up, I find like everything is perfect, amazing graphics and music (I literally get to dance in some chapters), the battle system is really fun and clever, and last but not least, the stories, they are very simple but also very touching!, it's good to have a game with a story that is not about save-the-world for a change, so I actually get to appreciate their simplicity, that without mentioning the clever humor in them. And you got it right about the battle system, you need to dominate the break and boost system, it can make the difference between having a 10 minutes or 40 minutes battle.

I just discovered you channel, keep up the amazing work

You won me over when you related the group to the Straw-hats!! ⚓️

LOVE the imagination point. The various character stories aren't as interesting as they could be and while the game as a whole could be more complex, I imagine the game would have taken much longer to complete and may have not been as free/open-world as it is now since you can start the game with any character and in turn choose which characters to recruit first. After 32 hours, I'm enjoying the game immensely. Good video.

This somehow reminded me how much I love the battle system in the criminal girl’s franchise. It’s simple but it works for a short RPG since it obviously wasn’t the focus on development. The idea of you picking who in the party has the best attack plan rather than full control and thus learning how each character will react to a situation for their plan is incredible to me

I agreed with all your points completely! At the end of the day, this game really is an example of why demos are great: instead of deciding on whether to give a game a chance based on...anything BUT a chance to play, a demo is as transparent as you can get, and makes buying the game EXCITING. I too am glad I gave this game a shot: I think it does key things AMAZINGLY, which is enough overall for sure

It is really good, I almost got all the side quests done yet I'm not even half way there to 100% as each town has extra requirements to 100% complete and still not done preparing for the final dungeon. My only gripe us my entire team doesn't get the Exp which us needed when you fight the final dungeon as you face it with all 8 members (or at least that's what I've heard don't quote me) but it really is such a good game. I've fallen for it like xenoblade before, though with that game series I still have a greater soft spot for.

Omg you have no idea how happy I am you did a video on Octopath Traveler

Thanks your video helped me fall asleep last night 😴

Virgin Dunkey vs Chad KingK

I love this game and am considered replaying with a different starting character! The music is the best ever!

Same thing happened to me when I played for the first time last month. 1 hour turned into all day 🤣 Almost 60 hours in now and loving everything about it. The music and characters. Can't wait for the next one next month 😁

You convinced me to get it thanks! I was on the edge because it looked so damn good but seemed like it could be disappointing.

Your patreon names are gold.

This was my GoTY for 2018. Cant wait for the second one

I really loved how the game wasn't that dialogue heavy. I did wish for more party interactions but I like what you said about using your imagination to fill in the gaps. Like with Tales of Arise (absolutely LOVE that game) I got so tired of all the 3-5 minute cutscenes everytime you went to a new area. I really preferred the simple yet effective 1 on 1 talks Octopath has.

Just a tip. Some characters will have the interactions in the bar later in story. Best is to take characters out and test every bar in every city as some are funny. But right now i am griding all my character to at least lvl 80 for final boss.

When I concluded this game would be similar to the Romancing SaGa series for SNES (this is basically a spiritual successor), I thought the same as you. This video certainly wants me to give it another good look. Maybe it's a good idea to look at Romancing SaGa and what Square thought of how American audiences would think of it.

One thing I haven't seen talked about too often in regards to character interactions, isn't that they during chapters but rather having 3 characters conversing together and the conversation having zero relevance to the story. I had one that involved Tressa, Cyrus and Ophelia playing poker and seeing how they talked about poker faces and how they deal with the hand they are given was just so refreshing. While I see a fair amount people gravitate towards Primrose for her story, I just find myself appreciating Ophelia so much more from these small skits. Also the contrast between Ophelia and Therion always makes me laugh. "I'm on my pilgrimage to restore this flame for the people but hold up while I help this thief steal these stones".

This game has the most beautiful overall OST I've ever heard. It covers every mood, and masters them all. I honestly can't do anything in the Riverlands at night, because the music is so peaceful and the visuals so dream-like with the focus and perspective, I literally just doze off. And I find myself just sitting there doing nothing for long stretches during battles, not wanting to interrupt my favorite parts of the combat music with annoying voices and sound effects. How could a single game's soundtrack be so good???

Honestly I love turn-based RPGs so much I will play just about any of them. The battle system doesn't even have to be that engaging. I just love them. I can't really explain it. I hate random encounters as well, which is why games like Chrono Trigger are so great for me. But I LOVE turn-based combat, especially if it is at least somewhat strategic, has a fun gimmick, and isn't the FF8 junction system. I LOVE most of the Final Fantasy games (probs favorite series) and I adore the Persona 5 combat. There's something so fun and gratifying to me about leveling up my team, granting my characters different abilities, and the methodical nature of turn-based combat that really connects with me. It's chill. And sometimes, in certain cases, on particularly challenging fights, it can be even more intense and nerve-wracking and hype than an action battle.

I honestly thought I wouldn’t really like this game as very few turn-based RPGs have captivated me. But this game completely enthralled me and I can’t wait to play more. This is my favorite Switch Exclusive thus far this year.

Even as an avid JRPG fan I too regularly don't talk to random townsfolk in them unless given some sort of incentive, it's definitely the right kind of way to go I think in future JRPGs. I've recently started watching your reviews (kingdom hearts drew me in) and seeing that you found you liked this game despite not thinking it was for you was very refreshing, as much of the talk about this game seems to be about JRPG fans loving it and those who dislike the genre being against it seemingly on principle.

Dunkey needs to watch this video.

Oh my gosh I love this game so much. It's one of those games where I see and I'm aware of the flaws, but I don't care at all because I love it so much

Ooh, someone else who loves Mother 3! Edit:”*M Y F O C U S I S U N P A R R A L E L L E D*”

I have a major problem getting into JRPGs. I don't care about stories, the random encounters and grinding are annoying, and the bosses almost always boil down to "hit guy and also heal when needed." But this? This looks good. The way you explained the battle system actually interested me and I'm seriously considering picking up Octopath now.

I’m coming at this video similarly on the fence. I’ve played some of the demo and paid attention to a few people’s reactions that I can relate to my own tastes - but that’s mainly left me feeling conflicted. Your points about world detail, using one’s imagination to fill in some of those little party interaction, and of course the visuals all seem like a really appealing game to play through. I still have my doubts about the world being less immersive due to how it’s laid out in typical jrpg fashion & if I’m ready for the long-haul of the battle system and it’s progression. That being said, I think based on this video I’ll at least finish the demo and see what I think then. And for you personally I’m happy that the game clicked with you so much :) sounds like it came at a time where a feelgood enjoyable game would really hit the spot. Cheers man, thanks for the awesome video work :) ~M

I really wasnt interested at first but my friend asked if we could try the demo because he was curious. We had a heckton of fun and I bought the game right when it released because I really fell in love with this game. Got about a hundred hours in and still find stuff I wanna do. This was my first turn based game but after some guidance by my friend who played turn based games before it was totally managable

Finally a good video describing the depth and enjoyment of the battle system. In contrast to Dunkey who seemingly doesn't understand it at all (ignoring weaknesses/breaks and fighting with brute force).

This is just how I feel about the game, thank you!

8:20 I just recently finished reading someones fancomic of their „duopath traveler“ run with tressa and therion… and yeah it‘s kinda this sometimes and it‘s precious xD

6:50 I think that's an advantage of games that are partially 2D-based in general. Your brain sort of automatically fills in the gaps when it sees pixels talking to each other and doing actions.

Loved this game but loved the soundtrack even more, my god I can gush over it all day, peak video game music right here

Like, seriously, the enemy AI can be total jerks sometimes

Didn't notice the boss music transition until this video but gosh does it make this game five times better.

I grew up on the Playstation 1 era where turned based combat games were in their prime (imo) and I love Octopath traveler! The battle system is fun and rewarding, boss battles don't feel like a turnfest where you just spam whatever strongest skill you have. I really recommend you try the game out or atleast try out the demo. The only thing that threw me off at first was the excessive use of blur but I got used to it after a few hours.

Lol your free demo journey is the same as mine. I ran out of time and I was like wtf I’m not stopping here?

I've never been a fan of turn-based RPG's that don't involve Pokemon, but decided to give this game a shot. I am so glad I did! I was initially put off that each character's story features only that character, but I'm beginning to really appreciate that aspect actually. It's fun to fill in the gaps with my imagination and then imagine each character bringing unique personality traits and struggles to create one bad ass team of fighters!

"Octopath traveler is kind of genius" - indeed.

I honestly felt the same. God I love this game, clocked in 70hours already and still havent been to final dungeon

Very good discussion. Excited for the prequel game for the mobile

Therion's inclusion is even funnier if you don't start with him. I rolled into town with goody two-shoes Ophilia and thief-hunter Cyrus on my team, and ten minutes later they're breaking into a mansion and straight up murdering guards to help Therion steal something. But yeah, this video echoes my thoughts pretty well. I've never really been a fan of turn-based RPGs that don't have Mario or Pokemon in the title, and I rank random encounters as one of my most hated game mechanics. Throughout the years, I've tried so many times to get into the genre, to give these games hailed as all-time greats or cult classics a chance. Final Fantasy 4/6/7/9/10, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Breath of Fire, Phantasy Star 4, Skies of Arcadia, Golden Sun - I tried to give them an honest shot, but found them all boring at best and irritating at worst. So at some point, I just decided it wasn't gonna happen, and haven't really paid attention to turn-based JRPGs in like 15 years (or really JRPGs in general, but _especially_ the turn-based ones). But I checked out the first demo they released last September because I wanted something to play on my Switch and its library hadn't reached "How do I hold all these games?" status yet, and it just clicked for all the reasons you stated in this video. That one just let you play the intros for Primrose or Olberic and then walk around a small unfinished part of the overworld for a bit, but that's all I needed to sell me on the game. In fact, it's more than I needed, because I just did Primrose's and it sold me on the game so well that I decided to go on media blackout before even playing Olberic's story.

Going to stream this. What a game I love it

Hey man, great video as always! I suppose you may know already, but there is a (unnoficial) mod for FF6 called Brave New World and its fantastic, it keeps all the cool characters and story but balances skills and difficulty in a "neat" way. It also, very respectfully, improves on the translation.

Heh, I honestly feel a bit easy to please. the Persona "once more!" system was always enough to entice me, and this sounds like a logical extension of the Bravely Default system. I always found the strength o JRPG's was in reacting to a bad situation dealt to you by an enemy, and using your resources at hand to essentially macguyver a solution to a nearly infinite number of puzzles. Unfortunately, the most popular RPG's tended to be super easy or super flexible - less Dragon Quests and more Final Fantasies - or have their difficulty come in enemy mobs or sudden unfair attacks Earthbound-style. This sounds like a really nice adaptation of having set enemies and expectations for levels, significantly more controlled due to the multi-story set-up. Whilst I always will feel that Persona 4 has the best pacing of any RPG (until Golden decided to ruin that pacing and make it super easy and then P5 was like "hey guys do you love super easy mindless games well have I a super stylish and fun system with no difficulty for you!" ), this style has always held some kind of appeal to me, and I'm really glad you're getting to enjoy it. If you're looking for an obscure, quick, and fun JRPG along the same lines as Octopath, Live-A-Live is like this concept mixed with Chrono Trigger. I only mention it because it's my best point of comparison, and because game's good and no one plays it. Great work on the video, please keep up the excellent content.

8:37 i was just thinking about one piece and some seconds later you just talk about it :D

I love this game so much, best game of 2018 for sure imo

I regret putting this game down for over 3 months after I got my second character,but now I am playing the hell out of it and loving it

I can't wait to see what you've gotta say about Octopath Traveler 2

hey this is exactly how i felt? my immediate reaction was to start drawing art of how i thought the party would interact and then i noticed other artists were doing it too

I can see my Twitter profile pic in the row of folks that liked the tweet at 12:41 (3rd from the right) Feels good man Anyways, really great video. Both this video and the one Clemps did have truly sold me on the game. I was already planning on picking it up when I had the extra money, but now I absolutely need it, that much I'm sure of. As for all the folks that are upset about the video Dunkey did, it's completely understandable why everybody is up in arms over it, on one hand he's just expressing his opinion and I can't fault him for it. BUT on the other hand he's gone on record before saying he's not a fan of RPGs, only having listed 2 or 3 that he actually liked so I went into the video with that in mind. As much as I like his content, I still think he shouldn't have done a video on an RPG, had a feeling he wasn't going to like the game and it felt like he came off as rather negative (I don't even recall him once mentioning the turn storing mechanic that the game borrows from Bravely Default/Second so he automatically fucked up there).

I fully agree, this game is a pleasant surprise. Even though some improvements could have been made, this is my favorite Switch game so far. Sequel when?

I remember trying the demo and dropping it after half an hour because it bored me. I am so thankful that I just randomly (and foolishly, in a way) bought it anyway. I just beat my main character's final chapter and am now doing others's chapter 3's I left behind, and I'm still having so much fun!

I just started working on the character's chapter 3's. Each character's story that I've played so far is working toward an intense climax for their story. I haven't been working on the side quests intently. Sometimes I happen to have the information or item needed to advance it, but mostly there are a lot of orange dialog boxes that will stay orange until the end of time. I had to put it down for a minute though because of Therion's Chapter 3 boss. He does a thing that I like Therion for and I didn't notice until it was too late and my party got wiped out because of it.

Try out The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky for more character interactions and interesting NPC dialogue (them having their own lives and stories to tell you that also develop on their own) that change constantly as you progress the game.

I love this game so much, I 100 percented it, AND I plan on doing another 100% playthrough with a different protagonist.

I would love to see a similar video on cotopath 2, maybe paired wiht a mini restrospective now that (I assume) youve finsihed this game and have discovered some of the endgame secrets

I love this game so much

*clicks video* "Spoilers up to the end of each second chapter." *hits pause* Damn, I just finished my third second chapter so..I'll be back in some number of days after finishing the other five >_

For revenge just always gives me chills

"I don't think turn-based games are doing something wrong..." Take some notes, Dunkey.

Oh man, that's how you beat the Tony quest!? I did it a different way and got a different ending. Now that I know the SIDE QUESTS have multiple ending, I can never stop replaying the game.