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frederickwiddowson · 4 years ago

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The writings of Luke the physician starting with his version of the gospel - Luke 24:13-35 comments: The Lord is risen indeed

Luke 24:13 ¶ And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 19 And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34 Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

A Greek stadion from which the translators used a more common measure to them, a furlong, was 606 feet 9 inches. So threescore or 60 with a score being twenty would equal a journey by foot of a little less than 7 miles.

Verse 21 is another one of those indicators that the Jews were not expecting their Messiah to suffer and die and then be resurrected. They were expecting Him to somehow restore Israel to a position of prominence, free of the yoke of Roman rule. See what they ask the risen Christ in Luke’s book entitled The Acts of the Apostles which we call simply Acts.

Acts 1:6 ¶ When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

As I noted previously in my comments on Luke 7 and 18 I read in a study entitled A History of Messianic Speculation in Israel from the First through the Seventeenth Centuries by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver that there was an expectation of two messiahs at times, one; Messiah ben Joseph and, two; Messiah ben David. One is a conqueror and one suffers for the people of Israel and dies fighting the enemies of God and Israel. Jewish tradition also refers to, “The Four Craftsmen.” The Dead Sea Scrolls also speak of something like a war-messiah from the tribe of Ephraim dated to the first century before Christ, a suffering Messiah, and a priestly Messiah figure. There is some question about when these interpretations came about but it is interesting to consider. All of the prophecies were fulfilled in one man; Jesus Christ.

This makes it quite clear that the Jews, unlike what most evangelical preaching says, were not looking forward to the Cross, the death, burial, and resurrection of their Messiah. They had no clue.

This is reinforced throughout the gospels.

Mark 9:9 And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10 And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean…31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. 32

But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

John 20:9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

Peter had no previous knowledge or understanding of this prophetic event to come.

Matthew 16:21 ¶ From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said

unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

This is why Paul, in his argument with the Jews at Thessalonica had to first teach them from the Old Testament that the Messiah had to suffer and die before he could preach that Jesus was indeed that very Christ.

Acts 17:1 ¶ Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in

unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, 3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and

that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

Again, in his letter to the Hebrews he makes it quite clear in the context of the Old Testament sacrifices in Hebrews 9:23-28 which I will quote fully in a minute.

But, Jesus told them that the things that are about to happen to Him were written of in the books by the Prophets. First, there is the most famous passage in Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12.

Also regard this important prophecy made by Abraham just before a ram is found in a thicket for his sacrifice in place of his own son.

Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

The entire Psalm 22, the first verse of which Jesus quoted from the Cross, is a prophecy of Christ. There are many others. Notice this reference in Hosea.

Hosea 6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

I could go on from the Prophet Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 18 and referenced in Acts 3 through Job’s acknowledgement in Job 19 that he would see his Redeemer, who is God, in the flesh in the latter days though Job’s own body was consumed away. But, what is clear is that the Jews did not get it, did not understand what was to happen. Don’t think badly of them as I recently spoke to a person who considers themselves to be a Christian and is active in their church who did not know that Jesus quoted the first verse of Psalm 22 from the Cross. There seemed to be no clear teaching on the Messiah to come in first-century Judea. Tying together all of the threads of the Old Testament regarding the Jewish Messiah was left up to Christ before His Crucifixion and after His Resurrection as in Luke 24 here on the road to Emmaus.

They thought the Christ would come as a king first and this is what Satan was trying to accomplish in His temptation of Christ in chapter four, trying to get Jesus to take the Crown before the Cross and subvert His mission. Here is another verse about His suffering.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

But from the time of Christ’s birth even to His execution the powers that be even referred to Him as being a king, which in the first place greatly concerned them and in the latter gave them a source of spite at the Jews and mockery. First, Herod the Great.

Matthew 2:1 ¶ Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

Then, at the end, Roman governor Pontius Pilate.

Mark 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?

The people, at points, wanted to make Jesus king.

John 6:15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

Even after His Resurrection His disciples wondered when He would restore Israel’s lost glory.

Before, though, Christ assumes the role of a king over a physical kingdom He must suffer for the sins of the world. His disciples did not understand this. As Paul will say;

Hebrews 9:23 ¶ It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

These disciples report back to the eleven remaining Apostles what they have seen and how the risen Christ revealed Himself to them. Again, we have one of the great statements of the Bible we should remember at all times, The Lord is risen indeed. It is on this statement of fact that our faith is based. Without it, Christianity is just another philosophy as people like the news commentator Bill O’Reilly appears to believe, that Christianity is just a philosophy and that there is no need to believe that Jesus was God in the flesh as the Scriptures insist.

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salfordelim · 5 years ago

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Hi everyone

Here’s this week’s resources looking at Acts Chapter 4 1-31. As usual there is videos with me going through most of the content, but links to the video have to be accessed here due to copyright faffs that mean we can’t add them into mine! There’s a few daft ones this week for those that like them!

If following on Sunday, you will need:

Printed colouring/activity sheets

If you want to make the dancing puppet man craft, as well as the template printed off, you will need: Paper Cup, Craft/lolly Sticks, Card, Clear Tape, Crayons or Coloured Pencils, Wool, Heavy Duty Thread, Hole Punch and Scissors.

Game/Activity

Have a few rounds of ‘Would you Rather’ and tailor your suggestions to suit your household. Make each choice one that would require a certain degree of bravery, boldness or confidence! For example, for a younger child who you know doesn’t like insects, you might ask ‘Would you rather let an ant crawl on your hand or a ladybird?’ For older children you might ask ‘Would you rather sing in front of people at school or dance?’. Obviously you know your children and so will pick things relevant to them!

The link with the passage is that Peter and John were gifted a new level of boldness by the Holy Spirit to speak out not just the name of Jesus, but all that He offers.

Bible Bit

Here is the passage from the International Children’s Bible:

(It’s quite a long passage again this week so you might want to read it yourself and re-tell to younger children

)

Peter and John at the Council

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, a group of men came up to them. There were Jewish priests, the captain of the soldiers that guarded the Temple, and some Sadducees. 2 They were upset because the two apostles were teaching the people. Peter and John were preaching that people will rise from death through the power of Jesus. 3 The Jewish leaders grabbed Peter and John and put them in jail. It was already night, so they kept them in jail until the next day. 4 But many of those who heard Peter and John preach believed the things they said. There were now about 5,000 men in the group of believers.

5 The next day the Jewish rulers, the Jewish elders, and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander were there. Everyone from the high priest’s family was there. 7 They made Peter and John stand before them. The Jewish leaders asked them: “By what power or authority did you do this?”

8 Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. He said to them, “Rulers of the people and you elders, 9 are you questioning us about a good thing that was done to a crippled man? Are you asking us who made him well? 10 We want all of you and all the Jewish people to know that this man was made well by the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth! You nailed him to a cross, but God raised him from death. This man was crippled, but he is now well and able to stand here before you because of the power of Jesus! 11 Jesus is

‘the stone that you builders did not want.

It has become the cornerstone.’ (Psalm 118:22)

12 Jesus is the only One who can save people. No one else in the world is able to save us.”

13 The Jewish leaders saw that Peter and John were not afraid to speak. They understood that these men had no special training or education. So they were amazed. Then they realized that Peter and John had been with Jesus. 14 They saw the crippled man standing there beside the two apostles. They saw that the man was healed. So they could say nothing against them. 15 The Jewish leaders told them to leave the meeting. Then the leaders talked to each other about what they should do. 16 They said, “What shall we do with these men? Everyone in Jerusalem knows that they have done a great miracle! We cannot say it is not true. 17 But we must warn them not to talk to people anymore using that name. Then this thing will not spread among the people.”

18 So they called Peter and John in again. They told them not to speak or to teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “What do you think is right? What would God want? Should we obey you or God? 20 We cannot keep quiet. We must speak about what we have seen and heard.” 21-22 The Jewish leaders could not find a way to punish them because all the people were praising God for what had been done. (This miracle was a proof from God. The man who was healed was more than 40 years old!) So the Jewish leaders warned the apostles again and let them go free.

The Believers’ Prayer

23 Peter and John left the meeting of Jewish leaders and went to their own group. They told them everything that the leading priests and the Jewish elders had said to them. 24 When the believers heard this, they prayed to God with one purpose. They prayed, “Lord, you are the One who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in the world. 25 Our father David was your servant. With the help of the Holy Spirit he said:

‘Why are the nations so angry?

Why are the people making useless plans?

26 The kings of the earth prepare to fight.

Their leaders make plans together

against the Lord

and against his Christ.’ (Psalm 2:1-2)

27 These things really happened when Herod, Pontius Pilate, the non-Jewish people, and the Jewish people all came together against Jesus here in Jerusalem. Jesus is your holy Servant. He is the One you made to be the Christ. 28 These people made your plan happen; it happened because of your power and your will. 29 And now, Lord, listen to what they are saying. They are trying to make us afraid! Lord, we are your servants. Help us to speak your word without fear. 30 Help us to be brave by showing us your power; make sick people well, give proofs, and make miracles happen by the power of Jesus, your holy servant.”

31 After they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke God’s word without fear.

Here are some daft videos! The first one recaps what we heard last week:

The next one continues and looks at this week’s passage:

This is a more serious recap of last week and this week’s passage:

Ages 3/4 -7: The main thing to help your child/ren to understand from this passage is that there is power in the name of Jesus, it is through Him the lame man was healed and that no one, even the most powerful people should ever stop us saying His name or telling others about Him. Ask:

Have you ever wanted to tell someone something but you were asked not to tell? Or maybe you helped plan a surprise for someone and you had to keep it secret so as not to spoil it! Was it easy to keep quiet?

For Peter and John they knew something about Jesus that they couldn’t wait for others to know about. But it wasn’t a surprise that would spoil anything, it was the opposite! It would let everyone know that Jesus has the power to do anything! The power to heal really sick people, the power to save. They couldn’t just keep quiet about that and even when the priests in charge at the temple told them they had to stop, they said they wouldn’t because God had told them to do it and they didn’t want to disobey Him! Even though they were put in jail, they didn’t let that stop them wanting to tell anyone about Jesus.

Can you make a list of all the powerful things that Jesus can do?

Ages 7-11: The main points we are going to consider from today’s passage are that Peter and John continued with this new-found boldness in telling anyone who asked or would listen of who Jesus is. It wasn’t just that they had confidence, but the Holy Spirit gave them the words that made them sound like they had been educated and studied the law, when they were just ordinary tradesmen. And let’s not forget it wasn’t too long ago that Peter denied knowing Jesus but look at him now!

After reading or watching the videos, ask:

What strikes you from the passage? Anything odd? Anything you don’t understand?

Do you know what a ‘Sadducee’ is? (It was a member of a Jewish sect or party at the time of Jesus. They didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead, life after death or in the existence of spirits or angels. They were often priests in the Temple.)

When God is working in people’s hearts and doing great things, the devil doesn’t like it, so we shouldn’t be surprised that efforts are made to silence those telling the good news of Jesus resurrection.

Have you ever wanted to share something with someone and another person has asked you not to tell? I don’t mean a secret, but something else. Maybe you arranged to go the park with a friend and you want to invite someone else but your friend asked you not to. You can’t see why they wouldn’t want an extra person to play at the park with, in fact you think it would be better! Did you invite them anyway or did you feel a pressure to please the other person?

Have you ever been told not to do something by a teacher, parent, carer, grandparent or another adult? Is it always easy? Have you ever been told not to do something but you can’t see why you shouldn’t? Often when we are told not to do something it’s because those who have asked us not to know more than we do about why it would be a bad idea, or simply because it is a naughty thing we were doing. This was different. Peter and John were being told not to preach about Jesus because the priests and religious leaders didn’t like that so many people were becoming Christians after hearing (and seeing) the power of Jesus name and they knew that if loads more people started following Jesus, then they wouldn’t be following them any more. And they didn’t like that idea.

Peter and John went to jail for a night in this passage for speaking the truth about Jesus. They weren’t afraid of those in power and said they would always obey God over anyone else, even if that meant prison. The boldness they had from the Holy Spirit wasn’t just the courage to speak up, but it was courage to keep going even when they knew it might mean difficulties for them.

What would you risk in order to tell others about the good news of Jesus?

Read verses 23-31. After spending a night in jail and then being told not to speak of Jesus again, does this prayer surprise you? What might you pray if it were you?

Craft

Print off the colouring sheet below for an easy craft!

Download the colouring sheet

Open the Lame Man Cup Puppet Craft and it has all the instructions and a template to make one of these:

Open the Lame Man Cup Puppet Craft

Song

Here’s another song with Ian

#Salford #Elim #Church

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terryblount · 6 years ago

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Octopath Traveller – PC Review

I am one of those weirdos who loves to buy JRPG’s off the Android store rather than taking refuge in the haven of emulation. Many frown when I tell them this, and some check if I remembered to take my medication that morning. Fact is, the store has built up an excellent collection, and these days I can often be found curled up on the couch, working my way through the classics on my tablet.

Through sheer luck, I just finished Dragon Quest IV, and it was fresh off this experience that I fired up my review copy of Octopath Traveller. After making my way through close to fifty hours or so in Octopath’s unforgettable world, I kept noticing the striking similarities it shares with the fourth Dragon Quest game, but also with many JRPG’s of the mid-nineties in general.

Initially I thought the developers, Square Enix and Acquire, had intended to pay homage to their successes in the early scene. After playing Octopath Traveller for myself, however, I realise this game is something more. It has everything we loved about the early days, but with a few tweaks, refinements and innovations that turns the experience into a ‘love letter’ for the genre as many have said.

If this does not impress you then I am done trying!

This game is truly exceptional, and now that we finally have a chance to play it on our favourite platform, I feel like no collection will be complete without it. I finally get why Nintendo insisted on Octopath Traveller as a timed Switch release since I know people who bought their console just to play this game. This is a stellar and accessible JRPG, and you should go try it as soon as you can.

Octopus caliper

I wasn’t being cute when I mentioned there are some hilarious resemblances between DQ IV and Octopath Traveller; one could easily write a whole article just comparing the two. Basically, Octopath Traveller takes the character driven chapters from the opening sections of DQ IV, and inflates it to fill an entire game. As such, this is certainly a JRPG driven forwards by its protagonists rather than its narrative.

When the game opens, you are asked to pick your first-in-command, who from then on represents the hero/heroine in your party. I measure a game’s consistency by opting for unconventional characters, so I selected Primrose, the dancer and former noblewoman (and nearly an exact copy of DQ IV’s Meena, but that’s another story). Turns out she is also an escort with the ability to ‘allure’ people… definitely a first for me.

Be that as it may, Octopath’s wholehearted committed towards developing its characters is clear from the start. As the story of Primrose’s life began to unfold, it was a heart-braking tragedy of seeking her father’s murderer. She has to descend to the lowest, most sordid pits of society to gain clues about the killer. Dignity means nothing in her task, nor does the appalling abuse from her handler.

Each character’s story has this deep, evocative writing.

Okay who was cutting onions in here, dammit!? In any case, the player then takes over her story when she finally makes a break in her search, and I helped her to escape the crummy pleasure house. From there, you can set off to any of the nearby villages to encounter seven other heroes and heroines that match Primrose’s story of ambition and self-completion.

This is the modus operandi for Octopath from there on in as you will steadily take each of the eight protagonists through the story of reaching their main obsession. As you probably guessed by now, this little companionship eventually begin to recognize how their paths are intertwined. The gang of misfits soon figure out that they are being set on a course by higher powers in order bring about the resurrection of a powerful force, and the destruction of the world.

Better get going!

The side-missions are rather dull, though. They mostly involve talking to one NPC, and then going through a trial and error system of trying each character’s unique ability on another NPC. For instance, the thief can steal something off them, the merchant can buy something off them, or the warrior can duel them.

While it was strangely hilarious challenging a bent-over old woman to a sword duel, I feel like these little side tasks could have been cut altogether. The payoff for their completion was rarely worth the squeeze.

En guard, you old bat! Give me the recipe for that potato pie or I stick you!

It all comes together

When protagonists themselves have to carry the show, they had better be interesting. While I agree that the eight narrative threads are not the most unique – bordering on cliché even – they have all the heart and depth to match Primrose’s tale. Each character has been given a well-written and interesting story that the player will complete over four chapters for each.

This is how Therion’s story begins.

This had the pleasant upside of keeping things fresh narrative wise. RPG’s tend to make the player work to keep up with their narratives and lore which is nice when it works, but there is always the risk of shattering the player’s immersion in the game’s central plot. By moving the story forwards one character at a time, Octopath finds a welcome alternative to this hazard. By the time the player has filled up the gang, they will know each character like an old friend.

Unfortunately, it is here where Octopath also makes its biggest mistake. Namely, characters feel almost completely isolated and at odds with one another. They never appear in each other’s cut scenes, and your party will be limited, in most cases, to four players at a time. Jason Schreier in his Kotaku review made the remark that the game might as well be called ‘Quadpath Traveller,’ and I feel inclined to agree.

I get that having eight people crowded together on screen might not have worked, but the interactions between the heroes themselves are far too sparse. The game gave absolutely no reason for why a thief, merchant, apothecary, exotic dancer and a hunter would want to work together.

You might wanna stay home in that case, Tressa. Also, you can see the resemblance to Torneko’s story in Dragon Quest IV.

Worst of all, the experience you get from completing quests and defeating enemies is not shared with idle party members. I can imagine many players will find themselves swinging around a broad sword with a level 50 fighter who has to babysit a level 18 merchant or apothecary towards the home stretch. At least this compels the player to circulate more often between party members, which prevents sinking into that grinding slump where the same attacks are used over and over again.

These are few of my favourite things

I do not own a Nintendo Switch, so up until now I had to get by with play-throughs on YouTube. I never realised how these videos utterly failed to translate the beauty on display in this game. Perhaps it is the fact that my modest PC can run it in 4K at buttery-smooth frame rates, but now that I actually have it playing out in front of me, I must say I have never experienced anything quite like this.

Damn this game is pretty!

Octopath really is a landmark game in terms of how modern tech can fuse 2D sprites with 3D visual effects. The characters and in-game assets are virtually indistinguishable from what was on our screens in the late nineties, however the shadows, depth of field and lighting effects are all in 3D. It makes that old, pixel art style come to life in a way that dropped my jaw, and when you add the vignette effect on the edges of the screen, the overall look is almost dreamlike.

Then there is the audio. Boys and girls read this carefully because I do not say this lightly: This is the best music I have ever experienced in a role-playing game. It ranges from enthralling, up-beat, folk style guitar jingles matching the lawless cliff side landscapes, to lonesome, harp-infused overtures in the mystical forests scenes. Then there are full, orchestral symphonies to heighten the more sharp and intense moments during battles and dramatic plot moments. It makes for a stunning, aural backdrop to your gameplay, and it is worth the price of admission alone.

youtube

I should point out that I found the cast far too chatty during battles, though. Perhaps this would have been more bearable if not for how often they said the same thing. I can only hear Olberic yell “My blade is UNBENDING!” so many times, and the same goes for that awkward giggle Therion makes every time it comes to his turn to fight. Just turn down the dialogue I guess, which is a shame in light of the solid voice acting.

The combat

There is no need for me to go into the specifics of how the combat mechanics work as it is bog-standard, turn-based battles. Players attack enemies with either a melee weapon or a selection of abilities, and then wait for the opposition to make a move. The developers have gone through considerable lengths to make the menus and sub-menus streamlined, which I found to be a nice touch.

Typical combat scenario. Notice the little blue shield indicating how many hits until the enemy breaks, and that the vulnerabilities of each character has been displayed underneath.

What is actually worth explaining are the three distinct layers Square Enix and Acquire have built into the combat encounters. One layer is the offensive or defensive moves you act out towards enemies, the second is the boost points.

In Dragon Ball Z style, you can boost offensive or defensive moves by ‘charging up’ a character very much like Goku. Every turn grants you a free boost point for a maximum of five, and you can augment your character’s abilities up to a maximum of three levels. Whereas a sword attack or a lightning strike attack might normally do 20 damage for instance, it might do 35 at a level two boost, or 45 at a level three boost.

Little small, sorry, but the yellow dots in the top right corner show boost point available to that character.

Then there is the ‘break’ system which is the game’s strategy to familiarise the player with enemy weaknesses. Each enemy appears on screen with a shield displaying a number. When the player attacks this enemy’s weaknesses directly, this number drops steadily to zero. This is when the enemy experiences a resistance ‘break,’ meaning that they are stunned for a whole round of turns.

All three layers add up to a really engaging combat experience that ensures skilled turned-based veterans can refine the protagonists into a death squad without the risk of newcomers being overwhelmed. I just wish that battles were somehow not random since they occur just a tad too frequently. I would be hard pressed to call Octopath grindy, but repetitive certainly springs to mind.

One of the classics

I never intended to make Octopath Traveller sound like the perfect game. It’s not, but I must say that I think its first reception back in July 2018 was overly harsh. ‘Squeenix’ and Acquire have done a great job with bringing the unforgiving and cryptic JRPG’s of the early nineties forward a few generations. Best of all, they have somehow kept the essence of these games alive in a palpable way.

Boss battle. Bet you cannot tell which one the boss is…

Octopath Traveller looks absolutely gorgeous, is a musical masterpiece and never tries to overcomplicate things. It is rare that the hard-core Final Fantasy and Persona fanboys can sit at the same table as the more casual players who only dabble in this genre from time to time. In this case, Octopath makes one heck of a conversation piece, and it only weighs in at 3.5GB!

Beautiful music

Unique visuals

Character development

Overall simplicity

Somewhat repetitive

No character exchanges

Lackluster side quests

Experience only affects active party

Playtime: About 54 hours . Admittedly this was a bit of a rushed playthrough, and I would recommend investing in leveling up

Computer Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an Xbox One Controller

Octopath Traveller – PC Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

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ask-an-earwig · 8 years ago

Note

Quietly peeks over his shoulder to see what he's doing.

As it happened, Erwick was currently sitting at the desk in his shoddy little apartment, sketching something in his journal; he seemed to be marking out designs for some kind of device... Refining that strange portal thing he was always carrying around, maybe?

Blinking, he raised his head; the Englishman had the sudden weird feeling he was being watched. Probably because he was.

He looked over in surprise, and spotted the young homunculus... Then breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, hello. It’s been a while, huh..?” He managed a small smile... It’d been a while since he met up with Pride. He wondered how the guy had been doing... Erwick must have avoided giving him a mental breakdown at least, considering he’d come back.

#v; fire in those eyes #it's been a while~!#I kept meaning to ask if I should resurrect one of our old threads #and then forgot because I have the memory of a braindead goldfish #edwards-shadow #Ask an Earwig

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terryblount · 6 years ago

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Octopath Traveller – PC Review

If this does not impress you then I am done trying!

Octopus caliper

Each character’s story has this deep, evocative writing.

Better get going!

En guard, you old bat! Give me the recipe for that potato pie or I stick you!

It all comes together

This is how Therion’s story begins.

You might wanna stay home in that case, Tressa. Also, you can see the resemblance to Torneko’s story in Dragon Quest IV.

These are few of my favourite things

Damn this game is pretty!

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The combat

Typical combat scenario. Notice the little blue shield indicating how many hits until the enemy breaks, and that the vulnerabilities of each character has been displayed underneath.

Little small, sorry, but the yellow dots in the top right corner show boost point available to that character.

One of the classics

Boss battle. Bet you cannot tell which one the boss is…

Beautiful music

Unique visuals

Character development

Overall simplicity

Somewhat repetitive

No character exchanges

Lackluster side quests

Experience only affects active party

Playtime: About 54 hours . Admittedly this was a bit of a rushed playthrough, and I would recommend investing in leveling up

Computer Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an Xbox One Controller

Octopath Traveller – PC Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

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frederickwiddowson · 6 years ago

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Acts 1:6 ¶ When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

This makes it quite clear that the Jews, unlike what most evangelical preaching says, were not looking forward to the Cross, the death, burial, and resurrection of their Messiah. They had no clue.

This is reinforced throughout the gospels.

But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

John 20:9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

Peter had no previous knowledge or understanding of this prophetic event to come.

unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Acts 17:1 ¶ Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in

unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, 3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and

that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

Again, in his letter to the Hebrews he makes it quite clear in the context of the Old Testament sacrifices in Hebrews 9:23-28 which I will quote fully in a minute.

But, Jesus told them that the things that are about to happen to Him were written of in the books by the Prophets. First, there is the most famous passage in Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12.

Also regard this important prophecy made by Abraham just before a ram is found in a thicket for his sacrifice in place of his own son.

Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

The entire Psalm 22, the first verse of which Jesus quoted from the Cross, is a prophecy of Christ. There are many others. Notice this reference in Hosea.

Hosea 6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Then, at the end, Roman governor Pontius Pilate.

Mark 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?

The people, at points, wanted to make Jesus king.

John 6:15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

Even after His Resurrection His disciples wondered when He would restore Israel’s lost glory.

Before, though, Christ assumes the role of a king over a physical kingdom He must suffer for the sins of the world. His disciples did not understand this. As Paul will say;

Hebrews 9:23 ¶ It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24

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