Square Enix's Team Asano has gained a reputation for making modern RPGs inspired by the styles of older games of the genre. All great games, though what perhaps stands out all the more from their great games is their even greater names. Triangle Strategy, Various Daylife, and of course 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Octopath Traveler.
While the original was seen as a great proof of concept, if not a tad tedious, Octopath Traveler 2 is viewed by many as a worthy successor to the games that inspired it💦, if not one of the greats of the genre altogether. Each of its eight characters have their own start in this grand, interweaving story, though some make a stronger impression than others.
8 ꦰ Agnea Bristarni
Agnea's story starts off in the Leaflands, a simple town with simple ambitions. She stands out though, having spent years of her life gathering up money to follow her dreams - 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:to become a famed dancer, like her mother before her.
She faces her own obstacles, but they come more from within her family than a grand𓄧🐈 threat.
The issue with Agnea's prologue is that, though it is nice to see a simple character just existing in the world, it doesn't make for a particularly interesting section to play. She gets given her money at the beginning of the chapter, yet the rest is filled with tedious tasks to teach you her mechanics and pad its length.
7 ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ ✨ Castti Florenz
Many of the characters in Octopath Traveler 2 play off old tropes and archetypes, the joy being in seeing them all in one shared world. In Castti's case (her name, to the best of her knowledge), she is an amnesiac struggling to remember her place in the world.
Awakening on a ship bound for Canalbrine, she struggles to get her bearings in a town exceedingly hostile to her for reasons she can't comprehend. It's fun even in this short while watching the town's opinion shift, though it takes time for her story to really get into full speed.
6 Temenos Mistral ꧂ 🥀
An issue that can arise in writing protagonists is the difficulty of making them i⛄n any way abrasive. It can be hard to spend a whole game with a character that is just insufferable or in no way relatable.
Temenos is an interesting result, then, as he is a skeptical priest willing to question divinity, yet is also proudly a member of a religious inquisition with noꦫ shame in abusing his power.
His prologue focuses on the conspiracies floating around the church following the mysterious death of the pontiff, Temenos' Sacred Knight followers constantly aghast at his nonchalant interrogation of villagers and acts of pseudo-blasphemy. Another prologue that is wrapped in a mystery, though Temenos is an exceedingly enjoyable character to see interact with others.
5 Osvald V. Vanstein 🃏
Unlike most other prologues that offer players a good degree of freedom to explore their opening areas and catch their bearings, Osvald's tale has to give you a warning that the first two chapters are extremely guided. It makes sense, considering he is a life prisoner on an icy island with no means of escape for a framed crime.
Osvald has been imprisoned for years, and his magic muffled, rending him ineffectual in combat. His days are spent planning his escape, routines repeating for days until he can 🌸🐽finally make his escape.
Sections of this prologue can indeed be boring to play, but the dedication to the scenario is one that has to be appreciated, as well as the singular nature of Osvald's revenge.
4 Thron&eac🃏ute; 🔴Anguis
Throné's tale harkens back to Renaissance-inspired tales of quickly growing cities packed with wealth ripe for the pickings of organised families of thieves. Throné is one such thief, locked into a life of crime that she wants nothing but to be freed of.
A life in servitude to crime isn't one that's easy to escape, however, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:especially from 'family'.
After a crime goes wrong, she ends up having to face down her own friends in a bid to escape, conflicting interests tearing them apart. The final battle atop a stormy mansion caps off the sorrow of the tale, Throné's family in tatters.
The prologue also attempts to tackle aspects of sexism, and though you can't say it was entirely successful, even acknowledging it is a step further than expected.
3 𒅌 Partitio Yellowil
Partitio isꦓ a fascinating character, his prologue giving him a decidedly modern character that many may relate to in the current economic climate. His father and partner having happened up a silver mine, buy the rights to the land and build a bustling mine, prosperity making the land a hotspot ♛for commerce.
Seeing⛎ Partitio grow with the town in a series of time-lapses is a great stylistic choice, too.
As Partitio's father's partner remarks, however, capitalism is a stormy sea, and their times of wealth are about to crash. Here, we see Partitio age into an adult, his father falls into ill health and the town falls onto hard times due to the landowner manipulating their contract.
It is here that Partitio makes a shocking discovery - it is morally correct to remove your lan꧟downer from the equation, by all means necessary, if it reꦯmoves poverty from the world.
2 Hikari Ku
One of two prologues that take place in sections of the world far disconnected from all other nations, Hikari's tale begins during a battle between his clan and another. In fact, his prologue jumps immediately into combat, dashing from battle to battle until his clan emerges victorious.
However, Hikari☂ is getting tired of 𒁃all the bloodshed.
Years pass of peace in his home, his father the emperor having not sought further conquest in all that time. The people are uneaꦬsy, never having🎶 known such a time of peace.
A coup is staged with Hikari's half-brother killing his own father and declaring himself emperor. Hikari is exiled, beginning a slow tale of reclamation to end his home's imperial legacy.
1 Ochette
Ochette story begins with her as a child, choosing her destined companion beast. Unlike all other prologues, this is a choice that reverberates across the whole game as this companion remains by Ochette's side for the game and assists her in combat.
The other, however, is overtaken by some rage, attacks you, anꦆd then disappears.
We then jump years ahead, witnessing the rapi🧸d encroach of humans into Half-ling lands. Ochette, in hopes of shꦅowing that they can live in peace, offers to save a human child that went missing.
During this, however, she discovers a far greater threat and must set out from her home to find ancestral beasts of 💝the land in hopes they can stop the oncoming calamity.