Leaderboard

1. Pokemon Violet 2. :snes: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 3. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage 4. Octopath Traveler I FINALLY DID IT! I 100%'d the whole game. Beat all the side stories, beat all the main stories, and went to the Gate of Finis and whooped Galdera's ass. Not after he fucked me up two times prior. I loved this game so damn much. It has just about everything I would ever ask for in a JRPG. Multiple characters, can start as any of them, they're not necessarily mandatory, and all the secret optional stuff to find. Optional dungeons and bosses, hidden equipment, engaging stories and characters, a real difficulty curve that is only easy if you learn how to break the game - which is kind of the reward. By the time I was strong enough to beat the first Chapter 4, the rest of the final bosses were relatively easy (Simeon sucked, though), but that also gave me more incentive to swap up my team a bit. I also loved the job system. It's a bit annoying not being able to double up with the secret jobs, and I would love if you could add one command from the other jobs(ala FFV), but it forces you to think more carefully about your setup, and keeps the 8 characters more unique. Only Alfyn can concoct, and while that was annoying to me because I really wanted Tressa to be my Alfyn, it made me develop them into their own personalities that could even work in conjunction with each other. I started with Therion because I love thieves and wanted to be able to steal and open up all the chests from the get-go. If I ever do a replay, I feel I'd struggle to pick a different character, but it would probably be Ophilia, because she's a monster. My primary party was basically Therion, Olberic, Ophilia, and Alfyn, though I also liked swapping Olberic with H'aanit and liked the cut of Tressa's jib. Part of me wishes I gave more attention to Primrose early, but after a bit of grinding, she was pretty essential in the final boss. An ultimately minor, but should-be-addressed complaint is the formulaic structure of the stories and the fact that the stories aren't really interwoven. There are small connections that have huge implications in the final boss story, but the lack of important interactions between the characters hindered the immersion for me a bit. The Travel Banter and especially the Tavern Banter was a novel way to include, but the lack of voice-acting and actual scenes makes it feel more tacked on than profound, which is a shame since most of these characters have interesting backstories and personalities that deserve more of a highlight. Some of the dialogue during the banters only confirms this. The formulaic feel can also be said for the dungeons, which very few felt notable or significant from the others. The ones in the forest or inside a building were always the most engaging, but the myriad caves all blurred together. And the shape of them all gives little but "find the boss fight and get the loot, maybe a cutscene." I think something like that could be at least masked by putting some of the dungeons in your way. There is no actual dungeon you have to go through to reach a town or settlement, and I think having some areas like that - where the area has a transient, but significant plot connection - would help in making the chapter-locked dungeons feel less repetitive. I don't know if this specific idea has been implemented, but from what I've heard, the sequel does a lot to fix the formulaic feel and the lack of real party interaction. The last complaint I have is the final dungeon, which I guess I'll put in spoilers just in case. I also ramble a lot here about my specific strategy, so you know, if ya wanna skip: So yes, the final dungeon is annoying, but I kind of liked that it forced me to really take my setups more seriously. I know there are ways I could have cheesed even more damage, but it involved strategies I didn't want to take the risk on or do the research to figure out how to safeguard them. I do think it's a big ask for people who don't want to get into math and hyper analyzing your setup, and I'm sure some would be upset that the one unifying element of the stories is locked into a boss like that, but then again, those who are looking for the optional dungeons are probably willing to put in that work anyway. Fantastic game. I can't wait to buy the second one. It only took me 4 years to beat it, but it happened.