The Eightfold Path

Say what you like about Square Enix but you can't say they don't keep you informed. Sometimes it seems like I get an email from them every day. Of course, it's not that often, really. It's every other day. 

I guess they have a lot to talk about. They seem to produce an astonishing quantity of games. This month alone they've told me about Final Fantasy VII, Life is Strange 2, Tomb Raider Reloaded, Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, Paranormasight and Final Fantasy XI. Just about the only game they haven't mentioned is the one I might actually play, Final Fantasy XIV. I haven't had an email about that one since last year.

The game Square are keenest I should try right now isn't anything I've mentioned. It's the follow-up to a game I've heard a lot about but never thought of playing: Octopath Traveller. The sequel goes by the unimaginative but commercially canny title Octopath Traveller 2. It launches next week and  and they've sent me three emails about it in the last six days.

Okay, now I know what to look for, I guess that could be a tail. I thought it was a pony-tail!

As I say, I very rarely open any correspondence from Square. The most I ever do is scan the title. More often than not I don't even do that. I don't look at any emails I don't think will interest me, which is why I currently have nearly 18,000, unopened, in my Inbox. I almost never delete emails, either. You probably guessed that.

What Square were so keen to tell me is that there's a demo for Octopath Traveller 2 on Steam. As it happens, I already knew. I found out somehow, while I was looking up something for the recent Next Fest. The OT2 demo wasn't part of the event but it got a mention somewhere in despatches.

I probably still wouldn't have bothered downloading it if it hadn't been for one thing; the demo is actually a three hour limited free trial. You can make a character and play the game just as though you'd bought it, within certain restrictions, until Steam registers that you've been playing for a hundred and eighty minutes.

Make your minds up! Is it "Beastling" or "Beasting"? I know which I'd go with.

 

You don't have to do it all at once, either, which is just as well. Three hours is a long time. Most demos I play take less than an hour. Three hours is a whole evening. Anyway, it seemed like an offer worth checking out, so I did. 

At this point, I probably ought to explain that even though I've read quite a few blog posts about Octopath Traveller, I've never had a very clear idea what sort of game it is. People seem remarkably unclear about it when they recount their experiences. I had the sense it was some kind of turn-based card battler, maybe along the lines of Slay the Spire, not that I have much of a clue what that one's about, either. 

If the original is anything like the sequel, I've clearly been under a great misapprehension. About the only thing I got right was the turn-based part. Other than that, it seems to be some kind of open world, story-led RPG, done in pixel graphics. 

All we need now is a little lens-flare.

I'm not going to go into great detail about how the game looks or plays. I've played for just over two hours so far, which is hardly enough for more than a First Impressions piece, if that. What I will say, though, is that the graphics are extremely effective and evocative, the characters charming and delightful and the story well-written, well-acted and involving. On the whole I had a good time.

My big problem - and it's a huge one - is the combat. It's unnutterably tedious. I generally enjoy turn-based combat but it always has the same drawback; it takes forever. When I enjoy the mechanics, as in Wizard 101, for example, that's not much of an issue but when I find them dull beyond description, it really, really is.

I can name three very specific reasons why I didn't get on with the combat in OT2.

1. The icons are far too small and difficult to make out.
2. There's far too little feedback on what's happening.
3.  The menu system is fiddly and annoying.

Literally. Stuff one of these kebabs in your face during a fight and whoosh! Full health.

There's more that I didn't like about it but those were the worst bits. Even then, I could have put up with it if it was just the battles in the storyline and there weren't so many random encounters. The whole concept of an open world becomes moot if you can't go ten paces without something challenging you to a duel.

That's why, despite enjoying the story, liking my character and wanting to know what happens next, I gave up before my three hours were at an end. I just couldn't take another pointless battle. 

I imagine I'll go back at some point to claim my final fifty minutes. I understand the structure involves eight playable characters that eventually come together to form a team (At least I think that's how it goes...) so I might give another a try. You can play any of them in the demo. 

I chose Ochette and Ochette chose Akala. He's a fox so it wasn't really much of a choice. More of a racing certainty.

I picked the Beastling, Ochette for my first run. Surprise, surprise, you might well say but I swear I didn't even know she had a tail when I picked her. I only chose her because I wanted someone who used a bow.

Just selecting a character at all was a major achievement. If there's anything in the demo that tells you you need a controller I missed it so I was flummoxed when the keyboard didn't work at all. I couldn't even use the menus. 

Fortunately, I have a controller plugged in all the time these days so I swapped to that and with a little experimentation soon got to grips with the controls. The game felt very comfortable with a gamepad after just a few minutes, which is a massive plus for someone like me, who rarely uses one.

Not so much the end as the end of the beginning.

After that everything went very smoothly. I liked the rest of the game so much, I'd be very happy to play Octopath Traveller 2 all the way to the end if only there was a version with no combat at all. I'd be more than satisfied to toddle around the neon-lit jungle paths and sail the pixel seas in search of adventure, just so long as I didn't have to fight anything.

Unfortunately, fighting seems to be the main point of it all so I'll have to give this one a miss. Shame, though. It was fun while it lasted.