Octopath Traveler II - In Pursuit of Everything / Critical Clash 2 | Reacting To Video Game Music! 

It's funny how you praise Nishiki here, cause oh boy do I have things to tell you. When composing Octopath 1, Nishiki ran into a problem with (story) boss music. You see, he had two things he wanted to be able to achieve simultaneously: 1. He wanted each character to have their own boss themes for their own stories- one that felt like it was just for them. 2. He wanted there to be a progression of boss music as a character progresses through their story. Either of these individually would not have been much of an issue. However, both together creates a monumental task. There are 8 characters, and to give them all a progression with a "beginning", "middle", and "end", it would have required at least 24 boss themes to be made JUST for character story bosses. So instead, Nishiki got clever, and created something which he dubbed "Battle Extend" The idea is as follows: for each character, create a short-looped song derived from their theme music. This piece would play during any cutscene right before a character's story boss battle. When the player ends the final text box before the battle begins, the loop would exit into a transitional section, which would then lead into boss battle music. In this way, he could create just three boss battle pieces for the actual battles, and then by creating any combination of pre-boss intro with only 3 actual boss pieces (in Octopath 1 they were Decisive Battle I, Decisive Battle II, and Battle at Journey's End. In 2, they're Critical Clash I, Critical Clash II, and For the Dawn), he, in a way, created 24 boss battle themes as desired. Now it all sounds well and good on paper, but in practice it created compositional challenges. In particular, how do you make sure that it sounds seamless and not jarring for every one of the 24 combinations? Well, to do this, he had some restrictions on his compositions for the boss music. In particular, all of the boss music has the exact same tempo (162 BPM) and (according to Nishiki at least) the same key (though I'm having trouble finding information on exactly what key that is). By doing this, he always had the same targets, so that that transitional section of the intros would always be able to slow down or speed up to the correct tempo, and what key he needed to modulate to, and it was always an incredibly seamless transition that sounds like the intros and boss music were only one song. To go along with that, here's some fun facts: 1. The tempo of the boss tracks in both Octopath 1 and 2 are 162 BPM. Unfortunately, he used a different key between the two games (again, I'm not sure what it is, but this is according to his composer notes), so while people have tried to create "new" tracks by taking the intro tracks from one game and the boss music from the other, it's not as seamless. 2. He used the same restrictions for some other songs he composed for the games, despite the fact that they would never require it in game. For example, They Who Govern Reason from the first game (which you have reacted to) is also 162 BPM AND in the same key as the other Octopath 1 boss music. I believe some of the normal battle music in Octopath 2 (maybe all of them?) are also 162 BPM, though I'm unsure about the key. There is one thing that changed going from Octopath 1 to 2. In Octopath 1, Nishiki truly wanted you to be able to break into the transitional track at a moment's notice. But in order for this to not be jarring, the loops had to be exceptionally short (10-20 seconds) and couldn't really use the melodies of the character themes, because an interrupted melody would have been rather jarring. In Octopath 2, he decided to relax that restriction. Now, the logic is "when the player closes the last text box, finish the current loop, then proceed to the transitional section". Because of that, he was able to add melodies to the intro tracks, and it makes it more obvious that they belong to the characters... Also, I'm not sure if this was so much his choice, or an effect of some small changes to the structure of the game, but there's no longer a linear progression in the boss themes. While For the Dawn is used for each characters' final boss, Critical Clash I and Critical Clash II are both used throughout every characters' story Now as for specifically what you listened to... First of all, the visuals lied to you a bit. This particular channel used that scene and boss fight for all of its videos to avoid Square's takedowns, and because that chapter in particular has a more musical theme. Visually, yes, it was Agnea, but the intros were given to you in the same order that you heard the character themes (it is the official order of the characters). Anyway, In Pursuit of Everything is essentially just every character's intro track (including the transitional section, which is part of why it seemed so seamless) edited together. Here are the official names of the individual intro tracks you just heard, in the order you heard them (and in parentheses, the character to whom it belongs): In Pursuit of Legends (Ochette) In Pursuit of Memories (Castti) In Pursuit of Freedom (Throne) In Pursuit of Revenge (Osvald) In Pursuit of Happiness (Partitio) In Pursuit of Hope (Agnea) In Pursuit of Truth (Temenos) In Pursuit of Kingship (Hikari) Based on those names, you can probably guess how they got the name "In Pursuit of Everything" (also, in Octopath 1, the corresponding tracks were called "For _____", and in similar fashion, the fan name for the collective medley of them all was dubbed "For Everything"). The titles of them also give you an idea of what each characters' story is mostly about- their chief goal or what they're striving for Okay, I don't think any of my future comments about Octopath will be this much of an essay... Well, maybe a bit of an essay. Just not as much of one

Each character theme is its own, there's no actual " Everything" version where they're all together in game. Anytime you get a large swell and the tone of the song has a major shift, you've moved down character themes in the order OCTOPATH. Themes in order(Timestamps relative to Jesse's video): Ochette - In Pursuit of Legends 1:44-2:36 Castii - In Pursuit of Memories 2:37-3:35 Throné - In Pursuit of Freedom 3:36 - 4:33 Osvald - In Pursuit of Revenge 4:34 - 5:55 Partitio - In Pursuit of Happiness 5:56 - 6:59 Agnea - In Pursuit of Hope 7:00 - 8:01 Tememos - In Pursuit of Truth 8:02 - 9:08 Hikari - In Pursuit of Kingship 9:09 - 10:12 Critical Clash II 10:13 - 16:20

"Feel my wrath, Harvey!!"

Each of these character tracks are pre-battle tracks intended to loop indifinitely until the player presses the button to go from dialogue with the boss to the actual boss fight. There's actually three tracks for each boss fight : one of eight character themes, the transition made for that specific theme (it's pretty short, and is triggered when the player presses the button), and then the actual boss theme (there's a few different ones in the game). In that purpose, they needed to adapt the original character themes to fit the key of the battle tracks, hence the transitions. In that matter, they also had to make the character themes fit the boss tracks BPM. There's a whole video on the subject on Game Score Fanfare's YT channel if you're interested! Sorry for my terrible explanation and horrendous english, I hope it was somewhat clear (and I know it won't) (EDIT : There's a demo for OT2 on PC, Switch, PS5 if you want to try it on your own or on stream! To me it might be the best turn based mechanics we got in any RPG, the OST is just fantastic and story is good)

Ah man, Jesse you need to do a playthrough of OP2, it's amazing. Also I hope someone pays for the final boss from this game, it's something special

Yeah, one of the big things Yasunori Nishiki is praised for in his work for this game are the transitions. The pre-battle themes not only draw from the character lietmotifs, but they're designed to seamlessly transition into the battle themes. The medley doesn't really play like this in-game, though. How it goes is that when you play through one of the character's stories and you get to a boss, that specific character's pre-battle music plays in the cutscene before the boss, then transitions into Critical Clash 2 when the battle begins. And the reason why the medley is called In Pursuit of Everything is that each character's pre-battle theme follows the naming scheme of "In Pursuit of _____." The word in the blank relates to the ultimate goal each character has in their story. In fact, the order the themes play in this medley is the exact same order the character themes play in the previous OT2 video you watched (or in other words, OCTOPATH order): 1. In Pursuit of Legends (Ochette) 2. In Pursuit of Memories (Castti) 3. In Pursuit of Freedom (Throne) 4. In Pursuit of Revenge (Osvald) 5. In Pursuit of Happiness (Partitio) 6. In Pursuit of Hope (Agnea) 7. In Pursuit of Truth (Temenos) 8. In Pursuit of Kingship (Hikari) Personally, I like In Pursuit of Revenge the best. Osvald was in prison at the start of his story, so I like to imagine the thundering beats in his pre-battle theme to be his prison chains shaking and quaking the ground in a show of absolute rage. Agnea's, Temenos', and Hikari's aren't far behind, though. As for Critical Clash 2, the drums have always been my favorite part, too. Something about them really sells the boss fight as an extremely critical and earth-shattering moment in the characters' stories, and not coincidentally, Critical Clash 2 tends to play during the more plot-significant and exhilarating boss fights. Critical Clash 1 is in Octopath Traveler 2, but it seems to play during either the less plot-significant fights or the more serious, somber fights. Either way, both boss themes are incredible and worth listening to. For the record, the two regular boss themes in Octopath Traveler 1 are called Decisive Battle 1 and 2.

Man, I love Osvald's theme. It has this 'prison march' feel to it. But nothing beats out Partitio's up-beat, jazzy feel!

The intros in the video go in order to spell out "Octopath", so the order is Ochette (01:43), Castti (02:36), Throne (03:35), Osvald (04:34), Partitio (05:55), Agnea (07:00), Temenos (08:01), and Hikari (09:09). Each character's intro theme also have their own names: "In Pursuit of (Legends/Memories/Freedom/Revenge/Happiness/Hope/Truth)" The editor of this definitely put them all back to back, which is NOT how it is in game, but at the end of each character's intro song where it swells it'll lead seamlessly into ANY battle theme in the game. In an ideal scenario, you'd hear one character's battle intro and it would flow straight into a battle theme, but this is the more compact way to listen to them. Doing character theme then battle theme over and over 8 times would take forever... but I do recommend doing it if you have the free time! It's very interesting to hear how each theme uniquely goes into the battle theme. An example of how to look for it would be "In Pursuit of Revenge + Critical Clash II" This is something Yasunori Nishiki did in Octopath Traveler I as well. They really wanted the moments leading up to a battle to feel epic and unique to the character who's story it's about.

Critical Clash 2 is a boss battle theme and SUCH a banger. Gets you so hyped up despite being a turn based style game. As for the "In Pursuit of X" songs. One of the really cool things about how the boss battles go is like. Let's say you're doing a chapter of Partitio's story. When you're confronting the boss before the fight starts it'll play his "In pursuit of..." song, then the game will transition to the battle screen with that song still playing. A few seconds go by until the song reaches a natural transition point and then it leads into those sharp hits at the start of Critical Clash 2. It feels so good every time.

Man, I just beat this game recently and GOD ALMIGHTY am I happy i finally took the time to do so. It was much better than my time with the original game. A much more well paced experience.

Said it on the other Octopath 2 video... but man... when Jesse hear's Vide The Wicked... His ears will fall in love

No soundtrack gives me goose bumps like Octopath Travelers does, everytime i revisit it.

Yasunori Nishiki is a musical magician. Classicish music crossed with rock is amazing❤

Song of Hope from OT2 is probably my favorite tune of the year, in a year of amazing game music. Hope it shows up here along the road. :> Also, the order is Ochette, Castti, Throne, Oswald, Partitio, Agnea, Temenos, Hikari. Just take the first letter in each name :>

It's a crime he hasn't reacted to "The one they call the witch" and "Vide the wicked" yet...

Now all that's left is the final boss music of each characters, which are also variations of their main theme

Coming back to this video because I love these themes so much. So fun 😊

Played so many releases this year but I have to say this game blew me away from the get go! My game and soundtrack of the year!

Remember starting the game and hearing Critical Clash 2 for the first time. My bro came in from the other room to tell me to STFU because I was vibing, drumming on my chair's armrests and humming way too loud. 😂 So yeah, I kinda love this theme and the soundtrack as a whole. This game and it's soundtrack BETTER get some regocnition at the Game Awards this year!

To help explain cause the video doesn't give the timestamps: The name "In Pursuit of Everything" is a naming scheme based on the lead up for each character themes: each character has a specific "goal" and the lead up to their boss fight is named "In Pursuit of X". The video just shows one of the boss fights that Agnea does, but it plays through every player's theme. All of the Pursuit themes have lead-ins to the same song "Critical Clash 2" and will lead in essentially no matter when you start the fight. Each of the Pursuit themes uses the character's melody and an instrument related to them (thought not necessarily the woodwind/string specifically related to them) In order that they play in the video: In Pursuit of Legends - Ochette (Wood Flute typically) In Pursuit of Memories - Castti (Flute) In Pursuit of Freedom - Throne (Viola) In Pursuit of Revenge - Osvald (Cello) In Pursuit of Happiness - Partitio (Sax, though his pursuit theme uses Guitar mostly) In Pursuit of Hope - Agnea (violin) In Pursuit of Truth - Temenos (Harpsichord) In Pursuit of Kingship - Hikari (Shakuhachi flute) Critical Clash 2 It's honestly crazy how hard the music goes, and i never get tired of just listening to the track while reading before i fight the boss. I'll often let it repeat once or twice before i do. Ochette, Throne and Hikari's are easily my favorites.

OMG!! Finally!!!! Been waiting for this one so long! Love ya Jessie love the content!!

OH BOY MY MUSICAL HYPERFIXATION. I genuinely love the octopath traveler osts so much. Both are fantastic and I recommend listening to them! My favorite thing about these songs is all of the parts of for everything go into each other as well as every boss battle theme individually meaning when a characters theme plays it will seamlessly transition into whatever boss theme regardless of which character or boss theme it is.

These character theme lead-ins are amazing. A couple of my favourites are still the same as the character themes; Ochette and especially Agnea; they took her theme of pure joy and went "what if we made this also sound super triumphant?". But a standout to me is Throne's lead-in theme; that violin, the tone of it and the melody, man I get goosebumps. It's triumphant but has a sting of sadness and desperation, it sounds incredible. Castti's is one of the most contrasting in comparison to her regular theme; hers is very gentle to reflect her caring nature, but it's dialed up to 11 for her lead-in, that melody slaps you in the face rather than gently sweeping you away, maybe this time to show you how strong she is even though she's a gentle person. Top tier composer, man.

Ahhh Jesse, I have to notice some things :D 1. While watching this video we both took a sip of coffee (?) at the same time ☕ 2. It is not a coincidence that you mentioned Chrono Trigger, these two games are my ALL TIME favorite games. You really have a good ear for talent and music, because as you say, both composers outdid themselves with these two games, and both have a lifelong fanbase that will forever praise those games as one of or the best ever. I can guarantee you, as every song of the Chrono Trigger soundtrack is just great, it is the same with Octopath Traveler I/II. You will enjoy every single request. :) 3. You have the same admiration for Nier and the music of it as I have, so much that you decided to play it - please do yourself the favor and play Octopath Traveler I and II as well! (And Chrono Trigger while we're at it) I looked so much forward to this video when I saw you uploaded it, as I will in the future when anything from Octopath Traveler I/II/X... will come up. It makes me happy that someone who can appreciate VGM so much, is now officially a fan of Octopath Traveler as well 💖

Love the videos always a great day when i see a video from Jessie. im really surprised no-one has requested a RuneScape 3 song from you. they have amazing VGM, and its legit shocking that at least from what i have seen lately no-one has requested it. would love to see your reaction to RuneScape 3 The Glory of Combat.

"the drums are really underrated" he says as i sit there tapping my desk to bits following along

One of the best boss themes I have heard in a long time, A wonderful evolution from the first Octopath Traveler soundtrack.

If you’re curious about the order of the transitions, the creator of this video put them in order of the characters’ names to spell the game’s title: Ochette, Castti, Throne, Osvald, Partitio, Agnea, Temenos, and Hikari. If you want to know the names of the transitions, feel free to scroll down but it might be spoilers for their motivations? They make those pretty clear in their prologue chapters though. Ochette - In Pursuit of Legends Castti - In Pursuit of Memories Throne - In Pursuit of Freedom Osvald - In Pursuit of Revenge Partitio - In Pursuit of Prosperity Agnea - In Pursuit of Stardom Temenos - In Pursuit of Truth Hikari - In Pursuit of Kingship

i wasn't expecting it to come again so soon

Critical Clash II gives me chills each time i hear it. It hits so hard during the actual boss fights.

I cant wait til you get to "For The Dawn"

Octopath is a great game with amazing Musik. If you like this theme you have to hear Decisive Battle II from the first game

The tracks are compiled here in the order they spell out Octopath; so Ochette into Castti into Throné and so on. But you’re right, the tracks as they’re layed out in the video don’t appear in the game like this, but the intros do all transition into the various boss tracks in the game in-game. This video is moreso to showcase the brilliance of the song writing in the game where Nishiki composes these tracks in the same key and tempo where they can all feasibly transition into the same boss tracks without a hitch and therefore can all transition into one another by extension. If Nishiki gets robbed at the Game Awards again I will personally show up at Geoff Keighley’s house and give him a piece of my mind.

dammmmmn... still waiting patiently on the one they call the witch + daughter of the dark god :(

No spoilers. Octopath Traveler 2 is a great game. All the stories are amazing for how much of a personal journey they are, and you especially become invested in your character. You choose 1 of the 8 travelers at the start and you can't remove them from the party until you finish their final chapter. The True Ending also ties everything together in an interesting way, but the music start to finish is amazing. All the background pieces work well for every location. Sometimes you want to just idle in locations. My personal favorite character was Throne` who was my main character. Her story had me the whole way through, though Osvald, Temenos, and Castti are also up there. Out of all Religious character in video games, Temenos is probably my single favorite cleric type ever. But the stories REALLY get you. And the music enhances the story start to finish. The way that everything works in the game is ONE of those character themes play and seamlessly transitions into Critical Clash 1/2/whatever other boss themes there may or may not be. The build up happens in the dialog that leads into the fights.

I'd say Octopath 2 has the Best OST of 2023! 4:11 Ayy that's me at the top!

If you ever happen to react to The Journey for (Everything) Ends, which is a boss theme with like 50% of the song having variations for each character, gotta be aware that that video/videos will most likely have a lot of spoilers

This is basically a compilation that showcases how the pre-fight themes are designed to seamlessly transition into the next song when they play in-game. That's also why they're all in the same key.

I hope you get to one of the For Everything / Boss Theme mashups which are the Octopath 1 equivalent. Well, after a compilation of each characters theme like you have for 2. Each characters chapter has their individual theme leading into their boss. Someone just did a REALLY good job mashing them up into a pre-boss compilation. For example that fight you watched would have In Pursuit of Hope leading right into Critical Clash 2. Also CC2 is the theme for the Chapter 2 bosses. Every character has their own story divided into chapters.

The battle shown is an early boss so it's not really all that spoiler-y. Granted, with eight characters you may end up there kinda later on but it's early for a specific character's story.

Oh, and in case you didn't find it, the drums seem to be credited to Yoshinori Imai

Nishiki doesn't miss, man. If you *are* interested in checking this game out, there should be a demo for it on Steam and Nintendo Switch both, so a low-commitment way to dip your toes in right there, should you find the time. It's a really solid game! You don't need to have played the first game, either, and it's a marked improvement over that one in pretty much every way.

pleaase do jouney's end and for the dawn nextt!!! and final boss of course

I know this would have been explained already but Basically all the “everything” are all the character themes one after each other but composed in a much more heroic version (all there are official btw) and yasunori nishiki does this insane thing where he combines them all to converge into the actual boss theme at literally any of the theme but this video just splices them into one after another then finally into the actual boss theme

Octopath 2 has an outstanding soundtrack. My favorite is the final boss theme.

u did got patitio correct 😂

This is still my game of the year and favorite video game ost period.

React to the entire OST. It’s so good! XD

What are the chances of this lmao, I just started the game yesterday!

I still prefer Critical Clash I But this one is nice too

!!!!!!!!!