We Dare You, Square Enix, Put the Octopath Traveler Team on FFXVI, You Won't

Twinfinite Writes: Octopath Traveler may have its own set of problems, but it's a refreshingly original experience from Square Enix, and the team behind it should definitely be given another chance to shine.

[strayanalog]

Yeah, or we could dare the Octopath Traveler Team to make a Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars sequel...

[LiViNgLeGaCY]

Dude......you just spoke to my soul.

[strayanalog]

I'm grateful I could for someone. And you sir are a gentleman and a scholar.

[Evilryusam]

as much as i like to be the person that believes a man has the right to dream, we all know it's not happening, just like a good sequel to chrono trigger :( (oh and before anyone tells me chrono cross, that game isn't even a direct sequel. it's more like a spin-off.)

[strayanalog]

Sadly you may be right, but I am keeping the dream alive for all of us. It can be a heavy digital burden, but someone has to do it.

[Sirk7x]

That would be one of the greatest things that's ever happened in modern video gaming lol.

[strayanalog]

I wholeheartedly agree. I would preorder in a heartbeat and shamelessly cry at the announcement, like all those grown men crying when they saw Twilight Princess announced.

[Evaproject]

i don't own a nintendo system anymore but i must have cleared mario rpg at least 50 times, such a good game

[strayanalog]

Me too! After my first play through it became a yearly ritual to go through it again, and admittedly I would find new ways to challenge myself each time, like not being able to use any Pick Me Ups or handicapping my HP to certain levels; I tried all kinds of things really. I still consider it one of my top favorite games of all time.

[PhoenixUp]

Just because a team is adept at making one game doesn’t automatically make them pros with any type of game.

One of the greatest appeals of OT is that it’s not a big budget project.

[King_Noctis]

That’s why I keep wondering, what if it was a big budget title like FFXV? But we might not have to wait too long to see that happening though, since Octopath is selling very well you can bet that Square Enix (and possibly Nintendo) is gonna put a much much bigger effort and budget going into its sequel.

[IMissJimRyan]

It really sucks when Nintendo fans take a game an made it more than it really is. OT is an average nostalgia trip as I am Setsuna or Lost Odyssey were.

Final Fantasy should stay looking front, even making mistakes, an not to the back.

[King_Noctis]

“Nintendo fans take a game an made it more than it really is.”

That part I don’t understand. You supposed Nintendo fan shouldn’t buy a game that they like and shouldn’t praise a game that they think is good?

[Omnislashver36]

No, that they shouldn't blow it up and say it's better than it is.

It might be good but to compare it to the success of a real-time system game is disingenuous.

Like a burger. Might be damn good but it's not filet mignon stop pretending it is.

[King_Noctis]

“No, that they shouldn't blow it up and say it's better than it is.”

So in your mind, what should Nintendo fan have done? Not talk anything about this game at all? I don’t see anyone saying it is better than what it is, because if that’s the case, it would have gotten 100% on Metacritic and be called game of the generation.

The problem that I have with this site is, whenever Nintendo get good games, those games are always being called “overrated”. We have seen this with BOTW, Mario Oddessy, and now this game. The funny thing is, this game isn’t even highly rated to begin with. It just a good enough game that people enjoy.

[Omnislashver36]

No, not "in my mind". We're talking about success and statistics so sorry if you can't read or accept it.

[Eltortugagames]

Having played all three ot is way better then setsuna and lost odyssey man..

[bigmalky]

They should, and see if traditional RPG FF outsells modern FF, with the same budgeting and marketing for a turn based return.

Just don't do the story over multiple media platforms again. That was a joke.

[smashman98]

When you consider that xvi is probably well into development it just doesn't make sense to do that.

[Mr Marvel]

A new FF game done in the style of Octopath Traveller would be a dream for me.
Regardless of if this happens or not, Octopath Traveller 2 MUST happen.
OT is quickly becoming my favourite Switch game.

[Christopher]

Can't people just play the old FF games if they want that?

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

You can only play them so many times though and once you've done everything, the only thing you can do is do all of that again. A new FF in the vein of the older games would be well welcomed, and FF can sell on brand name alone so a turn based FF would still sell like hot cakes. The closest we get these days is Bravely Default or Octopath Traveler. With games like Lost Sphere and I am Setsuna, it seems that some part of Square-Enix wants to go back to it's halcyon days where their games were god-tier.

[Christopher]

I think asking FF to just be what you already have is preventing it from evolving beyond what it was while allowing games like Octopath to try their hand at it. Whether you like what FF has been over the years or what it is now, it's hard to ignore that millions and millions of people like the game and where it has gone. Just not always the same people.

I also think anyone calling SE past games 'god tier' and not 'nostalgia' or 'the type of game I prefer' is pretty hyperbolic.

And it's fine if some people at Square want to make those games, but that doesn't mean that the others should be forced to do it just because some people want to continue to make those sort of games. If this was all about profit and giving people what they wanted, they wouldn't have changed the formula at all and would be doing just that.

[Omnislashver36]

Sorry but I can't buy ATB being as good as ARPG in 2018.

We get the most important features like:
-use of magic menus
-playing as each character. Taking turns in real time
-more strategy with buffs/debuffs
-more strategy with magic

As well as ARPG only features like-
-more control over characters at any given time
-precision and technique based mechanics
-more moves

Sorry but after playing KH2.8 and looking at the trailer for FFVIIR every feature in ATB is now incorporated into ARPG systems(many of them better and more strategy based) and I'm not going back. Obviously they require larger teams and longer development time but I'd rather wait and pay more.

Hopefully FFVIIR and KH3 help solidify these systems so future titles come out in a more timely fashion.

[bigmalky]

Yeah... Precision, control and great magic happened in FFXV.

Are you sure about arpg is better?

[Omnislashver36]

FFXV was made on a crappy and unintuitive engine which Nomura disposed of.

Dissidia, KH2.8, KH-BBS, and KH2 are light-years better. KH3 looks to easily be the most advanced ARPG system in history.

You act like you can't tell FFXV was a patched mistake, rushed on a crappy engine and can't represent ARPGs they're producing but like I said are being pretty willfully ignorant of every single success they've put out.

Also we've already seen better magic strategy and precision in KH2.8, BBS, and KH3. We've already seen better precision and control in Dissidia. The battle planner from both of those games is on FFVIIR. Literally any and every other comparison disagrees with you and the fact FFVIIR has more in common with those successes is going right over your head.

[bigmalky]

Dissidia has a terrible combat system if it were to be implemented in a full RPG game. It's good for a vs fighting system, where you can pick up and play, but for a 50+ hour RPG it would get old pretty fast.

Kingdom Hearts is another story, it came out of the box ARPG. If I want to play KH, I'll play KH... I would like FF to somewhat stick to it's roots to differentiate it from KH.

Every system that has tried to make FF combat more streamlined since X, has had varying degrees of lesser quality than what came before, and that is just fact.

[Omnislashver36]

Good for you, I'd rather FF never be ATB based again.

And the point is that together Dissidia and KH have every feature in traditional Turn-based RPGs and more. And we're already seeing a setup that will allow for more intricacy than in FFX just from the single FFVIIR trailer. We've got All the same menus and will be able to take turns with characters.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I like both but highly prefer ATB, especially for JRPGs, FFXV was okay but the combat was flawed, magic grenades are OP. But FFXV had other major issues that made me dislike it hence why after I was finished dicking about I just hurried up and completed the game so I could shelve it.

WoFF was the best FF game this decade, WoFF was everything the newer games lacked and I hope they make a sequel to it since there were still loose strings left to explore. Story and characters were good and reminded me of classic FF and the combat was good, although I think they could have gone further with the stacking because once I got a good team, I stuck with it.

I, in all seriousness cannot play a FF game that has Dissidia NT's combat system, it's dog vomit, old Dissidia's combat is fine by me though, I'd still prefer ATB.

[Sirk7x]

How are you going to say that one genre of RPG is totally superior to another? You may like one better, sure, but if I'm in the mood to play an old-school, turn based RPG, Octopath Traveler is the best new game out there right now to play. One takes more thinking and strategy, ARPGs can mostly be played on mechanical skill. That's almost like me saying that Deus Ex is a superior series to Witcher because it's in first person and I have more control. They're both ARPG games, but also vastly different genres. Also, I don't understand your claim that year and current tech should determine how good a game is. There's probably only a handful of developers in the world that have ever made a game as good as Chrono Trigger, for example.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

True, with action RPGs I can kill opponents much stronger than myself with skill alone although it might bore me because of how long it'll take me to actually kill them. Like when I first booted up Skyrim and spent a shit ton of time killing a troll... The reward was not worth the effort.

[Eltortugagames]

Or just let them do octob2 or something new... I am really not hungry for more ff right now

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

After games like FFXV and NT, I'm reluctant to hand over money for a full priced game, and probably won't for FF7RB either despite it being my favorite FF entry. I'll happily fork out for Bravely Default and Octopath though.

[silkylove]

I'd rather they not be put on Final Fantasy. They can make more great small budget games like OT with a much faster turnaround time and much more freedom to experiment.

[littlezizu]

OT is 110k in japan, 10k uk, less than 10k in other countries in europe 1st week. Compare to FFXV 250k in japan, 150k in europe, 50k to 80k in other countries in europe 1st week.
OT mc is at 83, FFXV MC is at 87.
FFXV sales so far are at 8 million, 3 million in 1s month. OT is yet to reach 0.5 million in sales. It is expected to reach 250k in 1st month. There is really no comparison. Games llike OT are very niche but ffxv has broad appeal. SE will be supid to adopt OT route for fffxvi

[Omnislashver36]

Bingo. Statistics disagree but they're not having any of it.

[DrStronk]

OT is 84 now, but that hardly matters. Why don’t you try comparing their user score, despite OT being being bombarded with zeroes by angry Nintendo haters? OT has a huge lead. Either way, the sales say nothing about which game has the widest appeal at all. FFXV selling more has very little with the game itself to do actually. FFXV is the newest entry in the oldest, best-selling, and most well-known RPG-franchise out there, and it released on three platforms. Xbox One and Ps4 has an combined install base of over 120 million and god knows how many PC games there are. Final Fantasy VII and VIII sold over 8 million copies aswell: FF games sell like hotcakes, it is the sole IP that saved Square Enix from going bankrupt after all. OT is a new IP, and it released on the markets newest console, one that only has around 20 million units sold or so. We have the potential to get a game that captures the magic that FF lost a decade ago while getting a game that is better then FFXV in nearly every way if they takes notes of OT and i’m abselutely sure that it wouldn’t hurt sales. That’s my point I guess.

[Sirk7x]

That's marketing for you though. Everyone I know that games bought FFXV and forgot about it a week later.

[Omnislashver36]

Dr.Stronk

"oldest RPG"

As if you forgot Ultima, DQ, oh yeah, Dungeons and Dragons.

And no "Nintendo Haters" are putting OT on blast, it's a 2.5D game, you really think it's gonna score high? Rather Nintenhards like you are skewing results because people that didn't like it put it down and didn't vote on it.

Gimme a break. Everything about your comment is ignorant, assuming, and disingenuous. You're really just jealous Ninty isn't #1 with all of the non-successes they had with gamers over the years.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

To be fair FF can sell on brand name alone, it's far from an indicator of quality, whereas titles like Octopath Traveler are brand new IPs and don't have an established fan base.

[DrStronk]

@OmnislashV It’s the oldest RPG game to reach such a large number of sales, and to be so well-known. Read my comment in it’s entirety. Do you really think someone who played OT, or any other functional game, would give it a 0 in rating? Don’t make me laugh. Sure, someone can dislike it and give it a 5, or maybe even a 4, but a 0? A game would literally have to be broken beyond the state of being unplayable to receive a 0, and I have never ever played a game like that. 0 is a troll score, and that is a fact.

And yes, you’re abselutely correct: i’m jealous that Nintendo hasn’t developed the best and most critically acclaimed games this generation... oh, wait...

[Omnislashver36]

Dr Stronk. Then you obviously need to understand grammar, because your comment makes no sense. "Oldest, best selling" means that is both oldest and best selling, both of which are incorrect.

In no way would your comment ever make sense.

[DrStronk]

My grammar? Is that the only part of my post that you could come up with an answer to? GG.

[Sirk7x]

Yeah, and FFXV was steaming pile of crap lol. I couldn't bring myself to even try to finish it.
I guess I'm really starting to hate open world games in general though. Best games I've played lately are OT and Hollow Knight, lower budget yes, but crafted with love and great art direction.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Open World games are to this gen what the over saturation of FPS was last gen, it's like flavour of the month for gamers.

[Platformgamer]

please don't, i don't want a 6.5/10 final fantasy title