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[Gamer79]

These are new to me and holy shit are they a blast. They are a throwback to the goldenage of rpg's with a 16 bit style enhanced with modern flair. The game is very smartly done while the stories are very interesting. It has a challenging but fair battle system. This is just pure RPG love in a game. If you don't know about these gems (I just learned of them recently) and love rpgs, you owe it to yourself to look into them.

This guy sums it up but there are plenty of youtube videos. Blew me away.

 

[Hrk69]

Baldurs Gate 3 says hi.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I won't play the first one but II is on the list. I own it.

 

[Punished Miku]

I won't play the first one but II is on the list. I own it.

It's so good. So many cool characters. Great battles. Fantastic visuals.

Osvald, Temenos, Partitio, Throne' are all great. The kind of memorable cast members I'd rank above the best in FFVI.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

It's so good. So many cool characters. Great battles. Fantastic visuals.

Osvald, Temenos, Partitio, Throne' are all great. The kind of memorable cast members I'd rank above the best in FFVI.

This I or II?

 

[Danjin44]

I personally LOVED both games!

 

[Punished Miku]

This I or II?

2. I also enjoyed part 1 a lot, but 2 is an improvement while staying very similar to part 1.

One thing I appreciated about both games is having main character storylines for healers. I was a career White Mage in FFXI for years, and it's always been my favorite class.

 

[Arsic]

I don’t know. They suffer from pacing issues big time.

I think both games I dropped off after gathering 4 or 5 characters. Combat is fairly auto pilot.

Not sure what I would dub better aside from BG3.

 

[Mister Wolf]

 

[Punished Miku]

I don’t know. They suffer from pacing issues big time.

I think both games I dropped off after gathering 4 or 5 characters. Combat is fairly auto pilot.

Not sure what I would dub better aside from BG3.

I agree that the 1st half is always more fun than the 2nd half in both games. And they should figure out a new way to differentiate the characters. They're all really unique, but after you unlock the subjobs they can start to blend together.

I'd rank part 2 a 9/10 [EDIT, maybe 8/10 or 8.5], but I think they actually still have many areas they could still improve on. Next one could be a true masterpiece if they remain ambitious.

And Triangle Strategy surpasses both of these.

 

[Arsic]

I agree that the 1st half is always more fun than the 2nd half in both games. And they should figure out a new way to differentiate the characters. They're all really unique, but after you unlock the subjobs they can start to blend together.

I'd rank part 2 a 9/10, but I think they actually still have many areas they could still improve on. Next one could be a true masterpiece if they remain ambitious.

And Triangle Strategy surpasses both of these.

Triangle strategy is incredible.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I'd say JRPGs aren't RPGs.

 

[Danjin44]

 

[StereoVsn]

I found the first Octopath lacking with disjointed and not very connected storylines. Second game greatly improved on all aspects basically and is very good.

I still enjoyed Star Ocean 2R more I think, but both were excellent and so was Triangle Strategy.

Edit: Xenoblade 1&3 were good, but 2 was just terrible from character design to story to horrible UI, stupid blade gatcha with field and technical performance (especially in handheld).

 

[BennyBlanco]

This is better IMO because the job system is so good here

 

[Punished Miku]

I'd say JRPGs aren't RPGs.

As for best retro style RPG this gen (excluding SRPGs), my vote goes to Sea of Stars. Probably Octopath 2 runner up.
Best RPG overall, my vote is Starfield this gen. Runner up right now, probably Stranger in Paradise. Maybe Remnant 2 (still playing it).
Best SRPG this gen, Triangle Strategy. Probably Fire Emblem Engage runner up.

 

[Gamer79]

Baldurs Gate 3 says hi.

Not for me. I take octopath over that

 

[A.Romero]

I really liked the demo (played it on Switch) but it really pains me that it is so expensive. I haven't jumped in because of that.

I could play it on PC (it is expensive too but at least it might be on sale) but it feels like the perfect game for portable...

 

[Belthazar]

The games are quite good, but they really need to improve on the formula by making the stories come together and feel more connected. II was a disappointment to me in that regard.

 

[MagiusNecros]

I like the music. Bravely Default and Octopath barring Granblue is the new Final Fantasy for me. If you want a classic FF experience BD and OT are probably as good as it'll ever get.

 

[nordique]

Just came to post

xenoblade says hold my beer

 

[eNT1TY]

Nah, they are decent but each character quest is copy pasted how they play out and characters have little awareness of each other despite selling the idea that the ensemble matters. As for the gameplay it is bog standard turn-based combat with stagger mechanics. Visuals and music are great however.

 

[mayham2199]

The games are quite good, but they really need to improve on the formula by making the stories come together and feel more connected. II was a disappointment to me in that regard.

This is my issue with the games. I couldn't get through one while my character acted like the other characters didn't exist.

 

[IAmRei]

The best series for me, funny, at first i dont like the 2, but tried to stay for 15 hours, and hooked so hard. Now i am fan. Seen all three, often discussing with my boss (who plays after i see the 2 to end) and now we spread it to our new friends or intern who works in my studio.

 

[Diddy X]

OT still 60€ on steam tho, what's up with that

 

[IAmRei]

This is better IMO because the job system is so good here

Same though <3

 

[Elios83]

No FF7 Rebirth and Baldur's Gate 3 currently are but the Octopath games are still great. They drag a bit too much and the individual stories are not that strong though.

 

[Labadal]

Two of my favorite modern jrpgs.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Xenoblade is the far superior franchise. OP is lost. Octopath has incredible visuals and music, with a lackluster story.

Xenoblade has Mitsura, visuals and story.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I loved the first one, got basically addicted to it for a couple of weeks.
I couldn’t give two shits if the characters’ stories aren’t interconnected. The game was a joy, great fun, great exploration, great graphics and outstanding music. And yeah, I loved the characters. The only real flaw was that the grind to beat the final boss was insane, and the reward for doing it was complete shit (I gave up and watched it on YT. JFC what a disappointment). Also, every secret boss was basically a gimmick boss requiring specific strats that bordered on cheating.

I’ll surely play the second game one day.

 

[Black_Mamba]

The first one was original and had a great battle system, with some challenging battles. Second one is a very lazy copy of the first one with marginal improvements in some aspects, but with zero challenge.

 

[Matchew]

Man, these are some of the most overrated games of all time. Huge empty worlds with nothing to do. XB2 has one of the worst open worlds in any game that is awful to explore. Although better in XB3, the character designs are atrocious.

 

[ChoosableOne]

Wow, a secret "completionist" pr? After all those charity thing?

 

[sigmaZ]

One felt mediocre AF and unbalanced in the later game. Two they really upped their game and the game has just the right amount of grind and exploration, a more exciting battle system, and a fantastic soundtrack with some of my favorite songs of recent memory. Unfortunately the way that the stories are broken up between eight characters just hurts the pacing of a story which is not horrible but often lacking in oomph. I hope if they do a third one, they take a different approach to the storytelling (Spoilers:

Spoiler

They won't

)

 

[PixelatedBeast]

These are new to me and holy shit are they a blast. They are a throwback to the goldenage of rpg's with a 16 bit style enhanced with modern flair. The game is very smartly done while the stories are very interesting. It has a challenging but fair battle system. This is just pure RPG love in a game. If you don't know about these gems (I just learned of them recently) and love rpgs, you owe it to yourself to look into them.

This guy sums it up but there are plenty of youtube videos. Blew me away.

You could have posted a better source than this charity scaming mofo...

 

[sigmaZ]

Yeah, no. I mean I like that these games exist because they are their own thing, but some of the design is just awful offline MMO design. The first one started off amazing with really good plot action, but once you get to a certain city you get the fanfic overexposition the series is unfortunately filled with. Two is just bland, but I liked the setting and didn't mind the character designs. I really liked the concept of the blades of whatever they were called, but making it gatcha and such a slog to access them all was ridiculous. Three has an amazing soundtrack and I like some of the character interactions early on and towards the end but overall but it's written as if all the characters are idiots and have to state the obvious all the time like they are the Planeteers or something. The exploration doesn't really bring anything new and it still has those garbage MMO quests though admittedly less. Hopefully if they make a fourth one they will liven up the exploration and lose some of the MMO elements.
Spoiler:

Spoiler

They won't.

 

[Power Pro]

I love JRPGs, but the writing in these games was....meeeehh. So damn boring I found it. I feel like Live A Live was the game the Octopath Traveler games wish they could be. That game actually pulls off the multiple characters/story arcs much better.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

This is better IMO because the job system is so good here

Visual style is complete fucking garbage but if you're shilling that the battle system is good I might play it.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

The first one is good if for some reason you don’t know the second one exists. The structure of the first game is extremely repetitive and boring. 2 takes all the issues and largely resolves them, and greatly expands the enemy variety as well. It’s an excellent game.

 

[bender]

Baldurs Gate 3 says hi.

Looks like we got ourselves a bear fucker.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Visual style is complete fucking garbage but if you're shilling that the battle system is good I might play it.

It’s nowhere near as good as the first one

 

[StereoVsn]

This is better IMO because the job system is so good here

Eh… I will agree to disagree. The game just didn’t hit for me for whatever reason.

Compared to Octo 2, Star Ocean, Triangle Strategy, Unicorn Overlord, etc… I liked it quite a bit less. Never could even get myself to finish the game.

 

[German Hops]

Thank you OP for contributing to my already extensive backlog.

 

[StereoVsn]

I love JRPGs, but the writing in these games was....meeeehh. So damn boring I found it. I feel like Live A Live was the game the Octopath Traveler games wish they could be. That game actually pulls off the multiple characters/story arcs much better.

I will throw a couple games for folks to check out on Steam, especially if you like Wuxia genre.

Wandering Sword - Octopath traveler like graphics but a lot more expansive game with a more regular JRPG party setup. It’s based on Chinese mythology/martial arts genre and it is a very meaty title.

Second game is similar and it’s called “Hero’s Aventure - Road to Passion”. Despite completely name, it is a pretty good game. I liked Wandering Sword better but there is a lot to like here. Again, this is going to be especially so if you line Wuxia movies/novels.

And of course there are Sea of Stars and Chained Echoes which are both great. I did like the latter a bit more as it had a lot better variety in combat and overall story setup.

 

[hemo memo]

Persona 5 Royal says hi.

 

[Investor9872]

Just finished OPT2 today, and it's MY favorite game of the year so far!

 

[darrylgorn]

BG3, Chained Echoes and Xenoblade Chronicles (Definitive Edition)

 

[jshackles]

I absolutely loved both Octopath games, but have to agree with my man Mister Wolf above and say that Xenoblade Chonciles trilogy was better.

 

[Mister Wolf]

I absolutely loved both Octopath games, but have to agree with my man Mister Wolf above and say that Xenoblade Chonciles trilogy was better.

Octopath isn't even better than Trails.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

As a JRPG noob, I really need some serious recommendations. I came in here looking for some, and with every other discussion I've found, there's major disagreements on whether certain jrpgs are amazing or not worth playing.