Octopath Traveler Features 80 - 100 Hours Of Content

Looking forward to playing this! Really loved the mood and atmosphere in the demo, and gameplay seemed fine too.

3 hours is quite generous of them, but I'm buying the game anyway

Sounds like they’re going to put in a lot of filler side-quests to extend the game’s length.

Sounds like it's going to be my most oft-played Switch game for the rest of the year...that and Monster Hunter GenU.

Preordered after playing the first demo for 30 minutes. The battle system is both old school and something new and the visual are stunning. I can't wait to get this one.

DAY ONE!

and outside of Aces, Hyper Light Drifter, Dead Cells, and Undertale the only games left this year I give a damn about

I wanted 105 hours of content. Preorder cancelled.

Seeing I'm going to buy it anyway, and it'll probably take an hour to download, I think I'll just wait for the full game.

Hoo boy, looks like I have to put summer vacation to good use. Can't wait!

Hopefully the story will be well paced.

Oh phew, at first I thought you meant the main game was 80-100 hours... I was all but ready to cancel my interest as that's way too long. Thankfully that was just referring to 100% completion and the main game is around 50-60 hours (though probably slightly less as they tend to exaggerate these things), which is still extremely long and still a bit of a slog, but at least not unbearably so (I mean, anyone who played Bravely Default knows how padded-out that game was). I still don't get why so many modern RPGs need to be so long when the "classic/golden age of RPGs" of the SNES era etc (which many of these modern ones seem to claim to "hark back to") were all around 25-30 hours.

Has YS VIII been at E3 at all? I know it's a port of last years game from PS4 but you would still think the company would be out there promoting it somewhere, it's out in 2 weeks. And with all the focus on this game the past few months Ys is really getting swept under the rug.

still on the fence about this game

Wait so each character only has a 6 hour story? Wow that's short. Although I guess the appeal is playing with all the characters.

This is going to be a killer game... can't wait to put my hands on it. I dig the setting, the art style, the gameplay... really, just can't wait!

Looks fantastic, hopefully I will find enough time to play through it all 😥

Hype!!!! This will probably be my game of the year and only the second retail game bought so far (on switch and ps4)!!

@DockEllisD Thanks for the trailer link. I have it in my cart on Amazon, where it says it will have both English and Japanese voices and that's a plus for me. Only reason I haven't pre-ordered it yet is that Sony has this habit of putting Switch ports on sale when the game releases on Switch. If it's not on sale on PSN next Tuesday I'll pre-order the Switch version. I've played the demo on PS4, it's right up my alley.

@rjejr Yep, was going to say the same thing. It is not anywhere.

Not even in the top 100 at amazon, 2 weeks away 🙁 Tales and Xenoblade 2 expansion are already charting

@rjejr Yeah I really don't know why it's getting so ignored, it's weeks away. I can see why the publisher/dev isn't participating....it's a pretty small Japanese outfit that I doubt even has any English speakers there. No point going to E3 for an already available game. But why Nintendo wouldn't promote it, since it's kind of a bigg-er game is beyond me.

All the JRPGs coming got swept under the rug, except Octopath. All of them are relatively big games (for the genre) and even freaking Microsoft highlighted one of them. I mean, it's not like there's a big JRPG audience on Switch or anything compared to XBox....but they could have tried?

Also, did you see the Octopath Treehouse coverage yesterday? The thief and beast tamer's stories? Do you still believe it looks like an SNES game? They're using way less blur effect than before (they were trying to use macro blur to make it look like filming a diorama but they backed off)...the visuals look way better than the first demo....more color added to the palate.

Can’t wait for tonight after work when I can sit my fat rear on the couch and get lost for a bit. I don’t even have a fat rear.

So the demo ends once you reach 3 hours? Not bad, though I did put in 6 hours 11mins into the original demo (maxed out the characters and gear) Looking forward to doing (half of) the same in the Prologue demo.

It certainly doesn't surprise me with all those playable characters.

@NEStalgia Somebody at NIS America must speak English. Amazon gave them their own page. 405 items.

https://smile.amazon.com/NIS-America/b/ref=bl_dp_s_web_3447717011?ie=UTF8&node=3447717011&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=NIS+America

But I still wouldn't expect them at E3, but they couldn't' have 1 representative show up at Treehouse live for 20 minutes over 3 days to talk about the game? I mean hopefully they did and I just missed it, but NL hasn't reported on that game in days. It's not even in the top 15 games list but XC2 DLC is.

Nintneod is promoting it, there are even 20 DCL eShop items. 20 too many as far as I'm concerned for a 6 month old port, should have been in the game, but oh well.

https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/ys-viii-lacrimosa-of-dana-switch

Purposely avoided the demos so I have little knowledge going in. Happy to hear it's a long adventure... Hopefully it sells well and we get some more support.

I wanted to just wait and experience the game fresh when it comes out but after the demonstration yesterday, it's too tempting...

yes yes yes!! cannot wait to play this!!!!!!!

@rjejr Ys is out that close to Octopath? Yikes, that’s not good.

@Agramonte Well at least it's on Amazon, it's not on the NL Top 15 Switch games list, they needed room for Fallout Shelter.

Xenoblade 2 expansion

The $40 empty box w/ a code in it for the $30 season pass is trending? You gotta be kidding me.

https://e3.nintendo.com/games/xenoblade-chronicles-2-torna-the-golden-country-switch/

Retail Version
New to the story? Get the stand-alone version of Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country.

Does not include the main Xenoblade Chronicles 2 game.
Retail version contains download code for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Expansion Pass. Expansion Pass only playable with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 game (sold separately).
Available on 9/21
Retailers: Coming soon

@imgrowinglegs Thanks, with your comment I feel I've officially derailed the thread, my work here is done.

3 hours demo is very generous, cannot wait fot this game. have really been after something like this for awhile and upto 100 hours content is insane! im normally pretty slow finishing games so this will probably take me even longer!

I dont really get how the story works. Will u play as each character individually then all come together for a final battle that you unlock at the end?

Sounds good. Xenoblade 2 is the same deal (except sidequests can go up to like 150 hours), so Octopath being the same sounds fantastic.

@rjejr The Xenoblade 2 DLC can be bought as a separate cartridge, so you can play it without the base game. It's basically a full game on its own. And apparently (not sure on this), it still comes with a code for the other bits of the DLC so if you end up buying Xenoblade 2 the full game, you can use that too.

@getyourak No Pillars of Eternity 2 for you?

Maybe. I want to see how the Switch version holds up or if I just play it on my Mac instead.

In the end though, I imagine I'll just hold out for Diablo III.

I mean its a JRPG, so not really that shocking that it can last a long time if you want to %100 it. If anything I prefer it to get along with things. I honestly find that measuring a game by hours of content to be pretty crude in the first place.

@EvilLucario "bought as a separate cartridge"

Thanks for your comment. Just minutes before reading it I was coming around to that same conclusion myself.

It really is a confusing thing for them to do. Put DLC on a cart as a stand alone game, confusing matters worse by selling the $30 season pass for $40 - Amazon and Gamepstop at least have it listed for $40 - and saying they are putting a code in the box for the season pass. So if you buy this cartridge for $40 you can just play it, but then use the download code on the main $60 game to get the same game again as a download. Doesn't really make sense to buy the same game twice.

I think they would have been better served by holding out for a "complete" version for $60, or even $75, both on the same cart. Less confusing that way than this way.

But I think you may be right, as stupid as it seems.

I've decided it can all be fixed by a simple sentence fix.

From the website in post #39 above, change:

"Retail version contains download code for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Expansion Pass."

to

"Retail version contains a cartridge containing a new stand alone story and also a download code for the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Expansion Pass."

Done.

I don't have time for it, and the graphics are kind of plain.

I avoided most 2D RPGs back in the day because they were all echoes of each other.

Don't need that type of game haunting me 20-years-later.

@rjejr Well, I don't expect NL to cover games anymore They just regurgitate press releases so if Ninty isn't bombarding them with promos for it, it doesn't get covered. I forgot NIS was doing the publishing here, I was thinking of Falcom. NIS probably is at E3. Which makes it more baffling.

Can't wait for this, should hopefully finish Battle chasers nightwar today - on last dungeon ATM.

Then I have banner saga 2, Saturday morning RPG and lost spear to tide me over for the month till release.

Just gutted that Ys VIII and Shining renosance refrain are so closely released to octopath as I can't afford them all or have time for them.

Wow, considering all the different characters that are playable I will admit that I was a teensy bit concerned about the ganes length but clearly that concern was unnecessary. This game is going to be epic.

@NEStalgia Falcom. NIS

Yeah, I really don't know much about either of those. I've seen NIS come up a lot but always on games I don't play, niche Japanese stuff, never heard of Falcom. But somebody should be promoting it. It's a $60 game coming out 2 weeks after E3. Why even bother making a $60 game if you aren't going to promote it at E3? It's all about indie Knights and free to play ports now isn't it?

The fact that Shining Resonance and Ys VIII didn't get shown off at all at E3 is annoying to me. They're certainly more worth promoting than some of the games that were featured in the sizzle reel.

Really looking forward to this game. Definitely something I'd feel inclined to replay too.

@Ralizah Shining Resonance is a remastered and Ys VIII is a port so Sega probably think people wouldn't be interested for both when they already shown them months before. Valkyria Chronicles 4 however should had been discuss more as that is a new game but I guess it's multiplat so Nintendo / Sega doesn't bother.

80 hours for this kinda of RPG is enough for me but over 100 hours that's killer. I hope it isn't like most of the Tales games where the story just keeps on dragging for hours. Dragon Quest VII was able to get away with this through a revelation mechanic, hopefully Octopath had a better way of moving the story without having to drag the story back and forth (like fighting the same bad guy we know nothing about 4 to 5 chapters until the story finally picks up).

@G-Boy Dunno. Recall the story features not one, but eight different playable character and every characters come with their own stories, main quest and individual goals.

So there may well be a lot of replayability from this angle alone.

@mailman Just judging by the downloads the original demo go, I'd say it is -very- much awaited by a ton of fans. Lots of other visible game's own demos wouldn't even get anywhere close to where Octopath's demo went.

@retro_player_22 A ton of the games Nintendo showed off were ports. And Shining is a remaster of a game we never got last gen making it, for all intents and purposes, a brand spanking new game for Western players.

This was a missed opportunity on Nintendo's part.

My heart, she is happy for so much Octopath!

...But my free time clock weeps.

When I played the original demo when it was released this was going to be a day one,but now I'm really unsure.I have a huge backlog and after playing Shining Resonance demo I'm more leaning towards buying that one.Besides like a few people have said I'm really confused by how this game works.You pick a character,play their story then finish and pick another?or do you just pick a character and end up playing the others as the story continues?I'd like to know this before I commit to it.
Looks fantastic though.

Octopath Traveller is one of my most wanted games this year and will be buying day one, they just need to hurry up with the demo in the UK. I was thinking about Shining Resonance too but the demo has out me off a little bit so will just wait for reviews before deciding

Do all the characters eventually team up? Or is it 8 stand alone plots?

Damn, that's pretty long... Dunno if I can be bothered a game of that length right now unless is it's Xenoblade related. Looks like I'll be picking up Ys VIII over this.

@Ralizah it's obvious that Nintendo show the ones they hadn't show before like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Monster Hunter Generation Ultimate regardless if they were just ports, Ys VIII and Shining Resonance were shown before on their direct so it makes sense that those were skipped. The World Ends With You were shown again cause that's an exclusive and Nintendo doesn't want their audience to miss those.

@Yorumi
Indeed. The video games industry seems to beautify length way more than other media. Films, books, albums, etc. get criticized if they're too long, but rarely with games (I get that games are more expensive and so people expect more bang for their buck, but there is a limit, plus a game's value shouldn't just come down to its length). It's mad to me that nowadays 60-70 hours is considered normal for an RPG. Isn't Persona 5 like 95 hours for just the main campaign? Who the hell has the time for that? Even though all the RPGs from the "golden age" that people apparently yearn for so much were all like 25-30 hours. I mean, you could watch every single James Bond film ever made, or all five seasons of Breaking Bad in the same time it takes to complete Xenoblade Chronicles. Something's up with that...

@Savino Not sure about the U.S. or Mexico but Canada had the collector's edition up for pre-order for a few weeks. It's since sold out. I'm looking forward to the game but I'm not going to pay full price for it, too many other things need my money right now. I'll be waiting for this to receive either an eShop discount or I'll find it used somewhere.

@Locke159 @Ludovsky @Alber-san https://www.gameinformer.com/feature/octopath-traveler/a-tale-of-intertwined-destinies
This article explains it pretty well. No matter who you choose, you'll still obtain all 8 characters and get to experience their story. Who you choose mearly changes the starting point and a few other things.

@rjejr yeah man... the one you can get with tons of extra stuff (and 2 weeks earlier) in the $29 season pass 😅

Ys8 even comes with free stuff - not great, but more than most 3rd party do on switch - if you pre-order.

Can't wait for this. It's going to be great by the sound of it.

I'm gonna ignore the Bravely Default padding precedent and pretend this is akin to Persona. Sign me up!

This is easily my most anticipated non-smash game of the year, and I love it when a JRPG gives me plenty to do! I'll probably download the demo simply to keep me occupied until Aces next week, which will keep me occupied until the full game releases in a month. This will be a good summer for me!

Im really looking forward to this one...this is going to be a real treat!

@Klunk23
Oh ok thanks for clarifying. Then it's the usual length for a jrpg. Great!

Time limit?noooooooo!

My most anticipated game of the year (next to smash) is almost coming!! Omg this cant come fast enough, the demo is truly amazing! 😁

@Agramonte "if you pre-order"

Not too worried about pre-ordering, even if they only made 3 of those packages they probably still have 2 left with all the press coverage that game has gotten. sarcasm

I'll probably pre-order though for the Amazon Prime 20% off, it's in the saved for later section of my cart. Just waiting on Sony next Tuesday to see if they'll match that price on their PSN store.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B079FGT22K/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

@rjejr And that one was bought by mistake by grandparents.

Yeah, that is a good idea. They love undercutting stuff - like how they gave RIME away for Free when the switch got the "fix" update.

Don't listen to me - I am shamelessly plugging this game here. I'm going to sell those 3 🙂

@Agramonte "RIME away for Free"

Yup, got that with PS+. Still haven't played it yet but it's there waiting.

I'm very excited for this and have the collectors preordered but i won't be playing till i finish horizon zero dawn

The first demo pushed me into pre-ordering the game, so I am looking forward to this one too!

Just got my hands on Xenoblade 2 for Switch off a guy for $35. Maybe by the time I finish it and some of my backlog, i’ll be ready to get this one on discount.

@rjejr It's a bummer to me that Ys VIII isn't getting more coverage. It was one of my favorite games last year, my 2nd favorite PS4 game behind Persona 5, and I've pre-ordered the Switch Collector's Edition from the NIS store. I found this video from Nintendo Everything of somebody playing the game in handheld mode. Looks great!

https://nintendoeverything.com/ys-viii-switch-handheld-footage/

@mauhlin12 Thanks for the video link. We'll be getting the normal edition on Amazon which sort of looks like a special edition w/ the map and cards.

Sat down and accidentally played all 3 hours of the demo last night. So excited for this to come out.

I played the first demo and couldn't beat the boss (I played as the dancer). Now I heard the game is really difficult. Maybe it will be to difficult for me, but we'll see.

@mauhlin12 @NEStalgia @imgrowinglegs @Agramonte @DockEllisD Re: Ys VIII

Not sure why it took me so long but I realized this morning YS VIII isn't on the Ntinedo Switch eShop and I couldn't find it searching on the eShop. I'm in the US., maybe it's in other regions, or I searched for it wrong, VIII instead of 8, Ys instead of Y's. Btu I tried a few combinations and nothing.

So I suppose it's not going to be available as a digital download at all, so Nitneod is just kind of sweeping it under the rug. There are 25 DCL items on the webpage, but you can't by the game digitally so it isn't on the Switch eShop to buy the DLC. It's so weird.

https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/ys-viii-lacrimosa-of-dana-switch

It's not on the main Switch games webpage. Even Wolfenstein 2 is at the bottom.

https://www.nintendo.com/games/switch

Maybe Square Enix has some Ocotpath exclusivity deal that keeps Nitneo from promoting YS VIII? I'm a part time conspiracy theorist.

I played the demo again last night on PS4. Besides not being able to climb up really ugly graphics vines - those are some N64 looking vines - b/c I coudlnt' find the turtle gloves I really enjoyed it. Music brought me back to the good ole days - 90's for me - and the Shulk, Fiora, Ryn "lite" trio were fun.

OK I'm done, just needed to get that off my chest.

@Klunk23 Nice!
I'm actually seeing this playing the demo right now. This said I like how the "journal" menu actually keep track of every main character's separate main quests.

Also, studying the world map more properly now, I can see why the game would have so much content. I originally thought the majority of the game world would be the section involving each of the 8 characters, with the tougher areas being in-between.... but it seem like the 8 startings areas are just that, the intro region of the world.

The world itself seem to extend well beyond each of the starting areas. And in fact, it seem like you'd have "at the very least" most of the playable cast before reaching the next main story segment of a character. As soon as I beat up the "intro boss"(the equivalent of Olberic's Gaston) for Cyrus, the first objective to reach in Cyrus' story once I leave the starting town.... is actually at the far side of the complete opposite corner of the map, whose marker even imply you need to be roughly around lvl24 before considering heading there(meanwhile, the recommended level for all of the other characters' intro areas is "lvl5", so you're most likely advised to seek out the entire cast before even thinking about attempting to head to the "chapter 2" of any single character).

@rjejr Yeah the graphics don't really push anyone's hardware to the limit. I'd almost call it "HD Dreamcast" graphics, which I don't mean as a putdown because I do like the art style of Dreamcast games and I have fond memories of that system. Still to this day the only console I've bought on launch day. Ys VIII graphics also reminded me that I'd love to see Skies of Arcadia 2, or even an HD remaster of the first one in the art style of Ys VIII. As for movement in Ys, it is an adjustment when you realize you can't climb everything, but you can get up to super sonic speed with your dash rolling, you get a double jump (a standard in the recent Ys games) and like you said you get the climbing gloves eventually.
Such a bummer that this game is getting almost no marketing though. I spent 55 hours to 100% on PS4 last year and I preordered the CE from NIS store (got an email the other day that my payment was processed and will be receiving it on launch day) and I even bought the soundtrack to listen to in my car because I'm such a nerd.
As for the topic of this news story we all clicked on- I played the 3 hour demo of Octopath and loved every minute of it. Also have that one preordered. So many great RPGs coming to Switch!

@rjejr not all games have preorders on the eshop, some appear on launch day. Not sure why, probably retailer deals. Either that or ys is quietly delayed.

@rjejr fwiw not even smash is on the eshop.....

Did you hear there's a new smash coming out? Must not be digital though

@rjejr Ys will definitely be available digitally. I’m surprised it’s not showing already, since it’s out so soon, but plenty of games have popped up on their release date without any prior fanfare.

Weird stuff, but not unprecedented.

@rjejr Oh wow... I just checked - didn't even think of it as going hard copy from day 1. No idea - but if a conspiracy - it runs deep. Even got skipped from a few "upcoming" lists.

Not on any of the Amazon top 100... JP, US, UK 😓

I also downloaded the PS4 DEMO again - Yeah, the graphics are "PS2 Retro" 😉

@imgrowinglegs "but plenty of games have popped up on their release date without any prior fanfare."

Really? $60 retail games and not just $12.49 indies nobody has ever heard of.

I'm not asking for it to be available as a pre-order, I don't see any point in pre-ordering digital games, it's not going to run out of stock, but it should at least be on there along with it's 20+ items of DLC. Maybe we need the eShop hacker brigade to find it.

And its' not only about being not on the eShop, it's about not being at E3 either. Or on the infographic that NoE tweeted out.

It's missing from more places than you can find it.

@mauhlin12 ""HD Dreamcast" graphics"

That's what I was thinking. Skies of Arcadia and Grandia 2 are in my "Top JRPG" list. Probably not top 10 but I've played a lot. My wife played a couple of Revolution games. Maybe they were Evolution, very simple chibi graphics, these remind me of.

Those vines those. Just sticking out there in the middle of nowhere. That's just awful. The characters remind me of a Star Ocean game on the PS3, so they are a little better than PS2 at times. Way better than Octopath to me, which is still just a ported 3DS game, even if it isn't.

@DockEllisD "BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battlr"

Thanks for the update. I agree w/ the political aspect but I guess it could just be business. The Woflenstein guys are probably willing to pay Ntinedo for a nice spot on the "Coming Soon" page where Falcom/NIS America probably weren't. NIS America probably should have paid for some E3 time though, get it in the Treehouse. Treehouse lasted what, 3 days? How much could Ntinedo want for 1 20 minute segment of people playing the game?

But it's Monday, time to move on from E3 and enjoy summer outside.

@rjejr Verrrry strange. The Ys series has always been extremely niche outside of Japan, so they should be trying a little bit to spread awareness.

@rjejr Ys VIII is in the Amazon U.S. top 100 overall. Currently at #66. We did it!

@mauhlin12 Is 66th above or below the Labo Robot?

@rjejr Labo Variety Kit is #93 and Labo Robot isn't even in the top 100. Most of the top 100 is dominated by Sony and Xbox gift cards, Game Cube Controllers and over 9000 versions of Fallout '76, which I was disappointed to find out is not a sequel to 90's vehicular combat game Interstate '76.

@mauhlin12 "not a sequel to 90's vehicular combat game Interstate '76."

This was the first thing I thought of when they announced Fallout '76.

Still one of the best video game theme songs.

@rjejr Look at all those groovy polygon people! BTW I just checked the link you had for all the Ys VIII DLC- waste of money. Everything they're selling are just potions, accessories and crafting materials that are easily found throughout the game world. Loot boxes for the lazy.

@mauhlin12 Loot boxes for the lazy

I really dont' like how every game has a season pass these days and I don't buy those games as much any more, btu the lame DLC for this game just looked like paying to get free stuff faster. Which is how I suppose a lot of younger people play their mobile games these days, but I don't. So I'm fine with them offering if and me not getting it. I'm not missing out.

Still not sure f I'm getting the game yet or not, may just play Kingdom Hearts 1-6 instead. Christmas gift I still haven't installed. I have played KH1 and half of 2 but oh so long ago.