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Octopath traveler vs. xenoblade 212/2/2023 The tweet's caption (translated via Twitter) describes the game as the 'evolution of HD-2D', with these new graphics representing 'HD-2D series version 2.0'. The environments in the above video look stunning and, combined with the new dynamic camera work, it is clear that Square Enix is really spearheading a stylistic movement here. It looks like the HD-2D rendering has really come along leaps and bounds of late too - and that is considering the very strong position in which it started. The latest of these updates, posted by the game's official Japanese Twitter account ( gives us a closer look at Solistia, showcasing some of the game's Chapter End bosses and some crafty camera movements. But there’s a lot of good written about Octopath Traveller out there, you don’t need me to repeat it.While we are still a few months away from Octopath Traveler II's Switch release on February 24th, 2023, that hasn't stopped the team over at Square Enix from sharing a good helping of content - the game is supposedly 90% complete, after all. That’s another thing about classic RPGs, they have fewer battles… most of them, some of them (like FF5) have far more than necessary, FF4 is better than 5 in that regard and FF6 is much better. I was overwhelmed by the volume of battles and using the battle system over and over and over again. Of course, there are some pluses to Octopath Traveller which I haven’t mentioned - the graphics are really nice. Chrono Trigger is the perfect example of a game with a lot of diverse and fast paced strategy and very simple execution to achieve it. Rather than having simple execution to achieve complex results, they have complex execution to achieve simple results. Whatever the opinions (people can like what they want, they don’t have to agree with my tastes-that’s why it’s tastes), this design philosophy of these newer games is completely backwards from the classic RPGs they’re attempting to emulate. Also, usually the battles have rather simple strategies - attack them, it’s only that you have to attack them win different ways or with different combos. IMO, the complexity to execute an attack becomes a chore REALLY fast. ![]() The defenders say they found it more interesting to have a challenge or extra work to make an attack rather than simply hitting attack… it seems that’s changed to some extent. More recent RPGs that attempt to mimic the classic style RPGs (Octopath Traveller, Bravely Default, and Child of Light being some examples) usually add in a lot of extra interface requirements to achieve what amounts to nothing more but a simple attack or a special attack. Chrono Trigger is an excellent example of that. ![]() With game design for RPGs, the classic design was for battles to be as simple as possible to achieve the greatest amount of strategy. Years ago, I got shouted down repeatedly on this forum for calling Octopath Traveller bloated… basically more work than necessary to achieve the same results as a simple attack command… often resulting in much less strategic battles than it’s more efficient counterparts. So, IMO, play Mystic Quest or Adventures of Mana, but not Sword of Mana. There was an adaptation of it called Sword of Mana which attempted to make the story and gameplay more complex, and IMO it felt bloated in both - and a lot of the dialogue felt drawn out, losing the oomph of the original Mystic Quest. Mystic Quest, which is also known as Adventures of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 1, is a rather simplistic hybrid of an action adventure game and action RPG that manages to be a lot of fun. The FFL trilogy are decent for those who want to see very early RPGs, the first ones on handheld, but IMO Mystic Quest/Adventures of Mana aged way better than its contemporaries-although, fixing a few small things in FFL2 would make it the best aged of those early handheld RPGs. FF Legend 2 was a lot better, but the limited item stash was a bit frustrating-I’d recommend using Robots in that game. FF Legend 1 has some terrible gimmicks that render the game into a grind-fest (particularly humans). ![]() FF Legend 1-3 (SaGa 1-3) are the original versions ported to Switch. I’d recommend Romancing Saga 2 and 3 - they’re not for everyone, and will probably require a “read before playing” guide, but I really enjoy those two. If you’re looking for an experimental old school RPG, Square Enix dumped almost the entire SaGa franchise onto the Switch - many of them remastered. If you’re going for a classic RPG, go with a remaster of the real deal.įF6 Pixel Remaster fixes issues, such as the gimmicky Sword Tech and Blitz attacks that rendered them unappealing after some use-those are usable now without the gimmickry.
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