Nintendo Switch

[MayImilae]

I may not complete Octopath Traveler. I really want to like the game, and it has a lot of charm and some neat mechanics, but the further I go into the game... the less I'm enjoying it. The game is SO stingy with plot, yet at the same time it is cranking up its difficulty rather much for me. And not in an interesting or fun kind of difficulty. Instead of having new mechanics or interesting challenges, the Chapter 2 bosses are just... cheaper. Like, one turn they'll do next to no damage, and the other the boss and its minions do 600 damage attack all moves one after the other and I just baaarely survive - and only because I was playing super cautiously, keeping my health at maximum and only using BP for breaking (which is not fun and draws the already spongey boss battles waaaay out).

The type of challenge in games is critical for me. Maybe it's just a quirk of my brain, but I don't get any enjoyment for overcoming arbitrary challenges in games; at the end I'm just glad the stress is over and I can go back to the fun bits. I do play games with challenge in them of course, but I'm only ok with it if the encounter is interesting in its own right. Like, if there is a challenging boss with interesting new mechanics, lots of ways for me to approach it, and a great story payoff waiting, I'll enjoy it despite the difficulty and have a good experience overall. It's still stressful, but options make it easier since I'm not always trying new strategies, and the reward compensates for the stress. Octopath Traveler... is not doing that. It's just getting harder to be harder, while the experience itself has not gotten better. It's still good-but-I've-played-better JRPG mechanics with totally isolated characters and no Big Plot™ yet even 30 hours in. Ugh.

Meanwhile I'm seeing lots of games I'm interested in coming to the Switch, like Iconoclast and Hyperlight Drifter. And I keep asking myself, why am I doing hour long boring boss fights with cheap attacks for five minutes of amusing but not amazing writing afterwards, when I could be trying those? For some hope that there is something interesting if I keep going, I guess.