#octopath traveler 2 analysis

[taoofshigeru]

The Evolving Nature of Keywords and Antagonists in Octopath Traveler II

Octopath Traveler II is a masterpiece. I find new ways to appreciate this fact all the time. I hit on one specific facet somewhat recently, so want to walk through each of the main quests and go over the extent to which the creators picked out powerful character-specific keywords which do heavy lifting on multiple levels.

I made a similar post about the keywords from OT1, if you're interested in reading that, but essentially, the "keyword" for a character is a single word chosen to represent their journey. It's used to in OT1 to denote the lead-in to Battle at Journey's End in the climax of a character's route, and in OT2 to fit into their "In Pursuit of _" route boss theme.

The keywords chosen for OT2 have had a lot of thought put into them, and represent not just the journey at a glance but how a character's objectives can change, and even how they relate to their primary antagonist.

(I recommend having the tracklist for the OT2 soundtrack beside you for this, if you're not already familiar.)

Ochette (For Legends)

Ochette is on a journey to find the creatures of legend in order to protect the island. Her journey also takes on meaning for her first chosen companion (Mahina/Akala) and Acta, who become legends in the final act of her journey.

In contrast, her opposite number Petrichor is trying to kill or incapcitate the creatures of legend. Cateracta is the only one that dies on account of her efforts, but Tera and Glacis both suffer at her hands. As does the darkling. Petrichor brings not just death, but suffering on those she seeks. It contrasts nicely with Ochette's first contemporary scene, which has her hunting a gator down specifically for eating too much of the local wildlife and disrupting the balance of the forest. There's a strong ethos about how death is faced, and why a hunt is undertaken. (i.e. to protect the larger environment versus for personal gain)

Hers is the storyline that deals most directly with the balance of life and death, and the importance of a good life and a humane death. In that sense, it's less important for Ochette to directly confront Petrichor because a good life and a humane death can be given regardless of what evils others inflict upon the world.

Castti (For Memories)

Castti, an amnesiac apothecary, is on a journey to restore her lost memories. She's also on her journey to extend a helping hand to those in need, in order to honor the besmirched memory of Eir's Apothecaries.

Her opposite number, Trousseau, was the one to taint Eir's Memory, and his poison has taken hers (either chemically or through trauma). Because his continued actions as a mass poisoner threaten to further sully the memory of Eir's Apothecaries, he needs to be confronted and put down directly for the memories to be laid to rest.

Also, the fact that non-evil Trousseau shows up in her last memory at the end is an indication that it's also a fight for Trousseau's memory in her heart. She can't remember the kind man he once was because it would lead her to hesitate about what needed to be done, but she does want to remember her lost loved ones fondly. Even Trousseau.

Throné (For Freedom)

Throné is fighting for her freedom from the Blacksnakes, and her opposite number, Claude, holds the keys to the collar literally wrapped around her throat. So he has to be fought, for obvious reasons. Fighting him also secures the kind of freedom Throné's never had for the nameless baby whose crying voice can be heard at the end of her route as the camera zooms out.

Still, we see that it's not just Throné suffering under Claude's thumb. We see her adoptive father lost the woman he loved to Claude, and orphans like Mira being raised to take the place of whatever snakes might lose their heads in any given heist.

And, despite the "Not my tits, not my problem" way she handles the power vacuum created by Claude's death, her actions do cause chaos that allows some other Blacksnakes and abused orphans like Mira to break free. Which is not to say they become good. They're still seen running rigged casinos and the like after her path is complete. But hey, freedom to be good implies one also has the freedom to be evil, or else it's not really freedom!

(Sidenote: The baby at the end of Throné's route is such a great narrative tool for pushing the readers to ask more questions. Did Throné originally have qualms about killing Claude due to the power vacuum that the need to free the child overrode? Did seeing the woman first, then her child with Claude, make her realize this would keep happening unless she killed him for real, despite her dislike for killing? Did Claude, a questionably suicidal immortal, engineer the whole setup to erase her doubts about killing him?)

Osvald (For Revenge)

Osvald sets out for revenge and gets his revenge at the climax of his route in a direct confrontation with Harvey, his opposite number and the number one object of his revenge.

This is only somewhat subverted, as Osvald's revenge succeeds in large part due to the power of love (as a father who loves and wants to protect his daughter). Really, revenge being the one goal that doesn't evolve as much fits with Octopath's general "revenge is actually pretty reasonable when you've been wronged to that extent" ethos.

Partitio (For Prosperity)

Partitio is on a journey to bring the world prosperity! Economic well-being! For all his friends. And everyone (save maybe a few shitty loan sharks) is his friend.

But he gets TWO antagonists. Roque is doing it For Wealth (choice of words mine), a similar but distinctly different and much more selfish end. One of the more obscure definitions of prosperity is "attainment of the object desired". Roque was fought because he needed it knocked into his noggin that trains can be good for more than warfare.

Ori has, like him, experienced extreme poverty and suffering (though her experience as a wartime orphan was more extreme) and wants to ease the world's suffering. She just initially prefers to do so by ending the world. However, Ori is never fought because Partitio was always fighting the battle for her heart, knowingly or not. And, at the very last, he reached her. ;_;

Agnea (For Hope)

Agnea Bristarni is on a journey to spread hope. And boy, does she ever!

But she also gets two antagonists. Dolcinea Luciel, the boss of Agnea's route, performs not For Hope, but instead For Applause (The first phase of her boss fight has theme music explicitly called called "In Pursuit of Applause"). It's a form of selfishness that does have to be confronted directly, albeit onstage rather than in an actual fight to the death.

Tanzy, Agnea's other opposite number, has already lost all hope. And that void in her heart was taken advantage of to make her a pawn of the moonshades (and ultimately, a sacrifice). Tanzy remains unfought, because the battle was for Tanzy's hope all along and Arcanette won that fight before the story began.

However, very much worth noting is that Agnea is the one character to not get a "The Journey for _ Ends…" theme on the soundtrack. Instead, her route boss track, juxtaposed squarely between "The Journey for Prosperity Ends" and "The Journey for Truth Ends" is the Song of Hope (which she sings herself!). I think this is a thematic choice that reflects that the hope Agnea strives to bring is more ephemeral as a concept. ("Like trying to grasp hold of a cloud", to paraphrase the ending of Hajime no Ippo.) I think this has a lot to do with why the game has the epilogue. Because while all eight travelers go on living and trying to better the world and themselves in their own way, Agnea's journey for hope continues.

Temenos (For Truth)

Temenos' quest is rather straightforward. He's a detective on a murder investigation. He's looking to discover the truth behind the pontiff's death, behind Roi's death, and eventually behind Crick's death as well.

But in a pretty heavy subversion, his "Journey Ends" track plays in the boss fight with Kaldena, well before he actually gets to the truth. He's the one character of the eight to directly fight his HTAPOTCO counterpart outside of his specific story arc. Because the track was incomplete and his journey for truth wasn't over yet. To add to the synergy, Arcanette was the one most responsible for concealing the truth from him, from the depth of the moonshades' duplicity to the truth of her own identity. And she's already succeeded insofar as her goal was to bring about the endless night, so by the time she's actually fought she's happy to spill all the beans, and you fight her not For Truth, but For The Dawn.

Hikari (For Kingship)

Hikari Ku wants the throne so he can govern with compassion.

He's also the third character to get two antagonists. His brother Mugen is a comically evil king who governs with an iron fist and sends his army to make war with their neighbors. He's fought directly in Hikari's final battle, Hikari becomes king, and he's able to begin repairing the damage and attempting to make a better, more compassionate world.

However, Hikari's opposite number in the moonshades, Oboro/Kazan, has a different view of kingship altogether. Arbuably the center-stage antagonist who gets dialogue prior to Vide's resurrection, Oboro rejects the notion that even a king truly can ease the suffering inherent in the world. It's impossible to change, no matter how hard anyone tries. (After all, he was a master strategist and he did his best strategic thinking to reduce war casualties, but it never did a lick of good.) So, throughout the story, he's helping Hikari's cause without believing in it.

He may be directly confronted in the climax of The Journey For the Dawn, but he's never fought because the battle here was not to gain the throne, but to convince Oboro that Hikari's rule could make a real difference once he was sitting on it.

---

And that's the eight. Wish I could say I could end it on a more profound point, but I don't really have one. I guess, writing this convinced me the story design in OT2 being spot on was very much by design. And the fact it was the result of intentional writer choices and not just an accident makes me feel a deeper connection to the game.

[legendaryandroid]

Funnily enough, this sounds like it fits well with lore that the OT gacha game tries to establish.

(spoilers for Bestower of All chapter 4, for the few who may care)

In the final arc, the main character for it, Rondo, has a story arc about not having enough conviction to his ideals. This is why he gets dismissed to inherit the Sacred Flame from the one who currently wields it (Sazantos). It's only when he's put in a situation where Aelfric tells him to kill a friend and Rondo continuously refuses, because it's NOT RIGHT, does Aelfric grant him the Flame.

In contrast, the Accurst Flame is found by those who waver in their ideals and lose them for selfish desires. Knowingly hurt others to get what they want.

Basically, 'May the Flame guide you' means 'stick to your ideals of being kind'. And with how I understand the Sacred Flame is featured in OT2's story (I haven't finished it and have seen only some spoilers) it fits. The travelers are chosen by the Flame because they either hold the conviction to help others, or change to do so.

(Addressing prev's tags here): The old world is definitely the western continent and the new one the eastern. When I stumbled upon that lore in game I made the throwaway joke of 'Vide swallowed the dawn, so of course Vide came from the east, then managed to destroy the east continent before the gods could stop them.'

🤔🤔🤔

also these

[loregoddess]

some more thoughts I had while reviewing a few banters, that I can't quite fit into the analysis I'm currently writing...

In the "New Paper Plays" banter between Temenos, Agnea, Castti, and Partitio, Temenos mentions that he wrote and illustrated his paper plays himself, noting that he specifically tailored them to be appealing to children. This got me wondering about all the "mistakes" he makes while reading these plays to children, which I've wondered about a lot because Temenos is clearly very familiar with all the scriptures (to the point where he can share certain stories at a moments notice when he feels they're fitting for the situation), so it seems strange that he would mess up the details.

And then it hit me--Temenos is probably making the mistakes on purpose. This would achieve three things: 1) It allows the children to have fun learning the scriptures because they can laugh and correct Temenos on the details he messed up, 2) It helps the children to build their confidence because they feel smart when correcting him and aren't afraid to speak up and correct him, and 3) It teaches the children not to blindly rely on and trust others for things they either know to be true or could otherwise investigate and learn the truth themselves, even when (or especially when) the information comes from someone who should "know what is correct"--which is the core of Temenos's approach to his faith. The third point I feel is what Temenos is specifically trying to get at with his mistakes, since he is an "authority" figure, and if the children aren't afraid to stand up and correct him, then they may become adults who likewise aren't afraid to question and investigate things for themselves.

It's rather clever really, since Temenos isn't outright saying "hey, you should doubt things that are presented to you as true and told not to question". Instead, he's modelling the actual actions for the kids by presenting them with something they know isn't correct from someone who should "know best", and allowing them to question and correct him.

It's a very "Temenos" approach to teaching the scriptures, and considering that doubt and questioning and coming to one's own conclusions can be a form of faith, it isn't even antithetical to his role as a cleric. It's a really neat bit of characterization that I didn't even notice until I realized that Temenos clearly put a lot of thought into how his plays were constructed, and that his purposeful and careful thought process is central to a lot of his characterization, so of course the "mistakes" he makes while reciting the plays would be thought-out and purposeful as well.

[botboyblitz]

apothecary temenos.

those shorts. (also *Aelfric but shhhh)

[cafeinnewdelsta]

Juvah: No humans in the village, Ochette. Sorry.

Ochette: What about Hikarin?

*they both look to Hikari*

Juvah: ...OK, I will make an exception because he looks very polite.

[unparalleledfocus]

Happy 1st Anniversary to peak fiction - Octopath Traveler II!

Finished my drawing of the first O of Octopath 2 (Ochette) for the occasion!

[sun-marie]

I don't have the energy to retype it but I'm replaying Ochette's story and my first impressions I shared on Twitter ages ago still hold true :/

[sly-s-n0nfusion]

The ot2 travelers don't feel like a found family as much as the ot1 travelers - an analysis

This is probably the boldest opinion I've ever shared on socials for this fandom and I am aware this take will probably get me some hate but I feel like I want to say this and compare the two games under this aspect also to know other people's opinions about this (I feel so brave right now) but I have to make a premise: I loved octopath traveler 2 to death as well as the ot2 travelers, this is not a hate post by any means. Also, the fact that the first game is still more dear to me doesn't make me blind to the fact that ot2 did improve its formula under almost every aspect and is overall of better quality than ot1.

So as I was playing ot2, I felt like it was somehow “missing” the same warmth of the first game. Naturally, my first thought was that it was just nostalgia for the first cast, until my boyfriend said the exact same thing to me some time after he started playing ot2. When I asked about it in a small octopath server, almost every response I got was similar to what we were feeling, and many of us pinpointed that the main reason is that the cast doesn't feel as a found family as much as the ot1 cast did, and I'll explain why.

/!\ Spoilers for both games! /!\

The group of travelers in ot2 doesn't feel as cohesive: on the contrary, it often feels like the travelers aren't involved in their friend's adventures as much. They often come off as a bit more individualistic and just casually sharing the same road together while pursuing their own goals. In their banters together, they rarely offer/actively seek each other's help and they generally feel more lonely in their paths

This is kinda ironic given how much more content together the ot2 travelers have, like the crossed paths or the journey for the dawn chapter. The one exception, at least regarding the crossed paths stories, are probably Throné and Temenos

The found family trope is more often than not shoved down your throat in a way that's just less effective and more annoying ex. Ochette calling Osvald and Castti mama and papa (or the general imagery of every traveler seeing Castti as their mom when she is just doing her job as a caregiver) or Osvald getting drunk and mistaking Castti and Agnea for his wife and daughter, when Osvald often shows fatherly instincts only towards his actual daughter Elena

The major issue we all agreed on: the travel banters. The main difference is that in ot1 every travelers had a chance to talk to all 7 travelers during each chapter of their story, which actually gave the impression of them traveling together and also the opportunity for a good balance between more lighthearted banters about disparate matters, and deeper banters that explicitly address what's going on in that moment. In ot2 we had the amazing opportunity to reread every banter without missing even one of them, but the amount of banters drastically reduced! Which left me kinda confused!! Because for every chapter, only a few travelers get to talk with the one progressing through a chapter. And that leaves place for an awkward silence on the other travelers' behalf, because it does almost deliver the vibe that they're just observing quietly, or that they don't care enough about what's happening to intervene. That silence takes a big toll on how believably the concept of found family is delivered, in my opinion. We don't really need 70% of the banters to be about card games, fashion, hobbies and food (why are there so many banters about food lol) when the actually deep/important matters barely get addressed by the other travelers.

An example: the apothecaries' chapters 3. They both are very emotionally heavy chapters, where both Alfyn and Castti are having a really rough time. Having the chance to talk to all 7 of his friends, Alfyn not only gets to talk about his job as an apothecary and joke with Therion about getting drunk at the tavern, but he also receives important advice and active help from his teammates. Like Olberic, for example, you can almost picture him holding Alfyn's shoulder in the attempt of getting him to calm down

Whereas in Castti's chapter 3, she goes through one of the most painful and heartbreaking moments of her life (remembering what happened to Malaya and the Apothecaries) and barely anyone comforts her. You only get Temenos saying "you can count of me" and Hikari, saying more or less the same thing. No Osvald talking to her about dealing with the grief of losing everything?? No Agnea and Partitio reassuring her, telling her she did what she could and that it was not her fault?? No Throné sharing with her the relief of freedom, of finally being free from her amnesia?? ... That does feel like a huge missed opportuniy and really makes it look like the other 5 travelers are just observing in silence, and that really ruins the immersion to me. They do feel more lonely and less of a family, no matter how many times Ochette calls her "mom" , she wasn't there for Castti when she needed it. She didn't say anything. The effort made by their crossed paths story isn’t enough to make up for it to me

Not only that, but ot1 is full of other examples of the travelers actively seeking each other's help: Olberic is constantly asking for his teammates' opinions because he trusts them (Olberic ch4, Cyrus banter) and offering his protection in return, Tressa and Therion often value each other's advice, and many other cases.

Final point: this is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but I couldn't help but feel my opinion reinforced by the promoting team's choices; in every piece of art for the first Octopath Traveler game anniversary, all 8 travelers were featured. As they should be! OCTO is in the name, after all. None of them is more important than the others, and it's crucial to me that in their anniversary art they ALL get featured. Well, for the first anniversary of the Octopath Traveler 2 release the official promotional art only featured Temenos and Crick. One (1) traveler and a npc. Well done, that's how you don't want to celebrate your game's 1 year anniversary when the main feature of the game in question is that it's a collective story that features 8 characters. Yes I am not blind I am aware of Temenos and Crick's popularity as both individual characters and as a ship (which by the way I am very neutral about so again, no hate), but my god that official art did leave a bitter taste in my mouth as soon as I saw it. Like really? What about the other 7 travelers? Aren't they supposed to be a found family?

So in the end I think the missing travel banters are what makes the ot2 crew feel a bit more distant and less of a family to me, and the crossed paths and Journey for the dawn really, really struggle to make up for this because the basics of the relationship between the travelers just aren’t quite there.

Now I know this game is dear to many, me included, and that many others may have the complete opposite opinion, and that's okay. We can talk about it! I love hearing different opinions.

Peace! ✌️

[typicalf001]

Been awhile since I've posted something on Tumblr. Gave up as trying to manage post here, my actual blog, Twitter, and other places is hard. However, I wrote this character analysis article of a whim and it's one of the most refreshing pieces I've done in a very long time.

Why Do I Like Hikari!? He's my favorite traveler in Octopath Traveler 2 and he's one of my favorite games characters alongside Therion from the first game. I appreciate all that Hikari is, but if we're talking about the most complex, nicest, or mature character in Octopath 2 he's probably not it. I've seen dozens of other fans argue the other travelers are better, and their reasons as to why are completely justified! However, Hikari is still my favorite and it's not just because I chose him as my starting character. No, there was to it for me.

So here's somewhat of an analogy as to why I love Hikari Ku, and also a reminder as to why the Octopath Traveler series lives rent free in my head. Maybe I should write more articles like this in the future.

[mageknife]

hi i’m elias i’m gay i like playing spellcasters in video games and my music taste is awesome

- currently deep into dragon age. i’ll also post about bg3, pokemon, octopath traveler 2, and various other pieces of media i forget that i enjoy until i see them

- here is my spotify. my playlists are mostly good

- allegedly i write. my ao3 is vampyreerotica. i use it sporadically at best

- i should make a tag for my writing too but i haven’t. i’ll get around to it

- i talk about my dragon age ocs a lot. it’s most of what i talk about. please ask me about them. i will never shut up

- other things i enjoy a lot are coffee, weird lit, gothic lit, vampires, linguistics, astronomy, leather, and mtn dew

- i love meta and lore analysis. i do my best to do thorough research and cite sources when i post, but please do fact check me if i’ve gotten something wrong

oc list under the cut:

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dragon age

primary worldstate (homosexual chantry haters)

they’ve all had sex. a lot. please look at the chart

laevis tabris: hunter archer rogue, zevran romance. he’s a faggot he’s a shithead and he’s never going to die. number one aristocracy hater forced to spend the whole game dealing with aristocrats and then made his best friend king even though neither of them wanted that. if you even so much as think about hurting the ones he loves you will become well-acquainted with several or many arrows. named his dog shianni and his blight wolf soris. loves to make friendship bracelets and gives them to the whole party. acts like this is completely normal for a 21-year-old man with a fear of vulnerability. has such good luck that it’s a little unnerving. maxed-out persuasion because he’s irritating enough that it inexplicably loops back around to being really charming

arum hawke: spirit healer mage, anders romance. loves throwing himself onto blades meant for other people. started purple and went blue almost immediately. 52 constitution. selfless to the point that he forgets he’s a human person with wants and needs. convinced he is responsible for all of his family’s deaths. is somehow on the friendship path with everyone. decided to try to fix his relationship with his brother but then his brother immediately got the fucking blight. got hard when anders blew up the chantry. lets himself get possessed by the spirit of compassion who guides his healing and becomes an even better healer and he was already pretty good. invents therapy

mullein lavellan: necromancer mage, dorian romance. unluckiest man alive. does not believe in the maker or the elven gods. is in for a rude awakening on that second one. stands at a very intimidating 4’11” if he really straightens his back, which he doesn’t. he is no one’s herald, no one’s hero, and really really wishes he were no one’s inquisitor. despises diplomacy but could not be less than polite if he tried. actively tries to ruin his public image but somehow people still respect and worship him and it makes him so annoyed. his whole clan got slaughtered and he coped by becoming a necromancer about it. controls the political climate of southern thedas with the power of his pathetic big wet eyes

vervain “v” mercar: evoker mage, emmrich romance. grew up on the dock town streets and taught himself magic by way of accidental murder. pissed off at all times. would suck dick for a cigarette but more likely for free like an idiot. wears rings to make his punches hurt more. is a long-range staff mage who never engages in melee. worst cook in the imperium. lets a bunch of children live in his apartment and teaches them how to pick pockets. is banned from the cobbled swan, does not remember why. it was probably for starting too many bar fights, though half of the fights he starts end in semi-public sex so maybe it was that. is gay. does crimes. cannot be left alone with his thoughts. is extremely good at chess and wicked grace. always cheats at both anyway

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secondary worldstate (not sure what the overall vibe is but i like these guys)

rori aeducan: berserker 2h warrior, alistair romance. won the provings in her own name and then went home and took a nap. practically begged duncan to let her be a grey warden just so she could stop being an aeducan. unkillable. unstoppable. unfuckwithable. was kind of just looking for a reason to kick her brother’s ass anyway. can and will carry alistair on her shoulders. can and will throw him across the room and knock a bunch of darkspawn over like bowling pins. cuts her own hair with a dull knife and a dream despite owning high-quality blades. a disgrace to her family and could not be more proud of it

hawke: tbd but probably a purple warrior fenrismancer just to round it out

kousa adaar: archer artificer rogue, iron bull romance. your best friend. cares more about the nice food at skyhold than anything the inquisition actually does. his heart is massive and his brain is the size of a walnut. loves giving hugs and is way too enthusiastic about them (definitely injured sera doing this). makes bombs for the love of the game. he’s like if a shounen protagonist was a guy who is 32 years old and 7 feet tall and kills people for money. trusts everyone he meets immediately for some reason. bull has to hold him on a leash to keep him from getting distracted and running off in the hinterlands but they’re both into it so it’s fine

asphodelus “ash” ingellvar: death caller mage, davrin romance. may or may not be undead, or he might just be anemic and vitamin deficient. wants to show you his bug collection and his mineral collection and his fossil collection and his bone collection and his taxidermy collection. accidentally burned some of his hair off with toxic alchemical sludge and then cut more of it off to prove a point to davrin. has done experiments on corpses of things you’ve never even heard of. just barely too hinged to pull a hezenkoss. has never had sex that wasn’t in a graveyard. stopped an entire war because it got in the way of his studies. has never told a lie in his life. turned on by his own blood; once again, is anemic

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third worldstate (what da hell is a mentally well person doing in kinloch hold) (still cooking)

cedric amell: blood mage/spirit healer, morrigan romance. wet. sad. never not crying. he’s like if a sheet of 1-ply toilet paper was a man. i don’t think he should be trusted with any responsibilities ever. the circles’ #4 hater (he’s a hater but not as much as anders rue or fel). a little bit in love with jowan but that’s not important

calla hawke: assassin rogue, merrill romance. has killed for bethany and will do it again. i was going to do an andersmance but arum poisoned my brain and now calla exists. in theory. i haven’t made her yet

rue trevelyan: knight-enchanter mage, cullen romance. had an awful experience at the circle and does not trust templars even a little bit. chronically pissed off. especially pissed off that they caught feelings for cullen

felandaris thorne: spellblade mage, neve romance. spent 24 years in the fereldan circle. finally escaped only for the circles to immediately get disbanded forever. anders’s worse narrative foil. doesn’t give enough of a shit about their life to be having a mid-life crisis. wishes they could just get themselves killed already but are half-assing even that. good enough with a dagger that they sometimes forget they’re a mage. named themselves felandaris while at the circle to spite everyone constantly warning them about demon possession; passed their harrowing through sheer force of commitment to the bit

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misc characters

castano de riva: spellblade mage, lucanis romance. what if a big sad affectionate dog was an assassin for hire who hated his job. dumb as rocks, somehow a skilled enough mage to not die in crow training. 3 months younger than viago and not allowed to forget it. walking inferiority complex. punched the first warden and cried. failed to talk mythal out of a fight and cried. bafflingly good at painting. puts the adhd in adhd. a little bit scared of blood. the scar on his face came from an incident that neither he nor viago will talk about but that apparently involved at least two cheesecakes. born to be a dogboy himbo trophy husband, forced to murder and kill

need further development: coryl mahariel, brya brosca, fig aldwir, scorpio laidir

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baldur’s gate 3

i have a really really long list of tavs but these are the ones i’m actually invested in and may post about

velutin lepaute: high elf tempest cleric of mystra, gale romance. what if we were both devoted to our goddess in extremely different ways. can we be weird about it can we have sex about it. velutin’s run is my wet run. please ask me about my wet run

aloysia: durge half-drow life cleric of selûne, shadowheart romance. has been trying to resist bhaal by secretly reaching out to selûne for years. woke up on the nautiloid only remembering selûne. has normal feelings about herself

lucilia nymanin: asmodeus tiefling white draconic sorcerer/evocation wizard, karlach romance. very small and sweet and polite. lawful good until karlach showed up. getting a good grade in chaotic alignment shift which is normal to want and possible to achieve

arramon blackthorn: wood half-elf swords bard/champion fighter, wyll romance. baldur’s gate street urchin turned accidental hero falls in love with baldur’s gate nobility turned hero on purpose. PLEASE ask me about my dual crossbow critfish build he soloed hm ansur in one turn

salix dian: durge wood elf swashbuckler rogue, wyll romance. edgy edgelord who turns out after his lobotomy to actually be a sweetie pie at heart. just doing his best. salix’s run is my all rogues run. please ask me about my all rogues run also

mullein lavellan: it’s mullein lavellan. multiplayer run with @tytoalbatross as edwin cadash. using the same ice sorcerer build as lucilia. he’s romancing halsin and the emperor dream guardian which i made into cartoonishly exaggerated dorian pavus

[viridescent-lance]

TOA Anniversary Munday!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

tagging whoever wants to do this!

Name: Pat Gem! Patrick is the full name but Pat is what I go by most often in this group.

Pronouns: he/they

Birthday (no year): September 15! Same as my beloved kitty Cassie.

Where are you from? What is your time zone?: I'm from California, PST! I was born in the Bay Area, moved to Alabama where I spent ten years as a kid, and moved back to California. That's the truncated version.

Roleplay experience: I started roleplaying on the Warrior Cats Forums in like...2010, I think? I also did private Skype rps with my best friend at the time. This lasted for 3-4 years until both fizzled out around the same time. I have some experience doing group nuzlocke rp on the nuzforums, but that also didn't last as long as I'd like. Other than some ttrpgs, I had a dry spell, and in 2019 I joined a Friends at the Table tumblr RP that would change my life. There I met Maddie and some other friends, and while the rp wasn't super active after I joined it, Maddie and I started doing rp ourselves! Finally, in late 2021, Lucius invited Maddie to TOA and I also got the invite and tagged along.

Got any pets?: Yep! Cassie and Oreo, my beloveds! Both cats, Cassie is the one with a hairdo and she's almost 4, Oreo's a year and a half and a tuxy baby.

Favorite time of year: I love when it is nice and cool but not too cold. Fall is my favorite season, personally, but really I especially enjoy not sweating to death.

Some interests and things you like: I'm a huge Pokemon fan, which I'll elaborate on later. Here though I'll say that I have a huge interest in competitive Pokemon, both singles and the official VGC circuit. I'm a big TTRPG guy! I have a lot of systems and games I like but I'll single out Fall of Magic, Jenna Moran games, the Forged in the Dark system, the Belonging Outside Belonging system, and It's Been A Long Long Time! I have an interest in speedrunning, I watch a lot of videos about it and it's fun. I love Discworld, the Terry Pratchett series. Tales of Vesperia is a game of all time. Yuri Lowell your problems disorders. Ace Attorney helped mold me as a person. Warrior cats will forever live in my heart. Bionicle also helped make me the guy I am today. 999 is a visual novel of all time. Play it and do not look it up. I actually have a huge interest in media analysis, it's something I really really enjoy talking about and researching. Splatoon my beloved. Octopath Traveler 1 and 2! I love birds and bats and lots of animals! Okay I'm running out of steam and also this is very long so I'll just stop here but there's definitely things I am forgetting.

Some funfacts & trivia about you: - I'm a library and women's and gender studies student, and hope to some day work as a librarian! For now, I'm an afterschool program associate, and I love working with the kids. - I have met Nancy Pelosi while wearing a Pokemon button up. - I've survived a tornado that started above my house. - I have finished 34 nuzlockes. - Marth was one of my first smash mains but I didn't get into Fire Emblem for years. - I have the cilantro soap gene but I like the taste of soap. - I'm physically disabled and use a cane irl! - My girlfriend used to have me blocked on Twitter. - I've made it to playoffs every single Pokemon draft league I've been in but never made it past semifinals - I was very isolated as a kid and rarely left the house. As a result, I learned my vocabulary mostly from books, as well as how I talk and emote from books and shows. I've been told I talk and act like a cartoon character, which I suppose is fair!

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play?: I play a bunch of Splatoon, probably one of the main games I play! It's very fun, and I'm a Sploosh/Custom Jr/Tentatek triple threat main who constantly hovers around S. Octopath Traveler 1 and 2 have me grabbed so hard. I am hopelessly a Pokemon guy. I play nuzlockes, casually, and competitively, and I have almost every single Pokemon and its learnset and viable competitive learnsets memorized. I am very normal about it. I also really love the Zero Escape series. I've been playing the warrior cats procgen sim ClanGen recently. I used to play a bunch of No Man's Sky, want to get back into that soon. Honestly I struggle to consistently play and finish games, and I've been trying to work on that.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: Bug; Flygon. Yes, you can combine these two to get the logical conclusion: Flygon should have been a Bug/Dragon type! It's based off the life cycle of a lacewing!!

How did you get into Fire Emblem?: I've got two stories here, one of how I almost got into Fire Emblem and how it got on my radar, and the other being how I finally got into it for real. So, in 9th grade, I had a crush on a boy who played Awakening at lunch every day. I'd talk with him and he actually offered to buy me Awakening, but I, one of the only poor kids in a rich school, was flabbergasted he would spent 40 dollars on me and felt guilty and was like are you sure? And he was like well okay if you don't want me to. I kind of wish I'd taken him up on the offer because he sucked as a person and his family was super rich but oh well. I then played the hell out of the demo. Flash forward to 2019. I'm scrolling twitter and see a friend of mine is streaming Fire Emblem Three Houses. I've seen it before, and it seems pretty fun. A lot of my friends like Fire Emblem. I watch the stream and fall in love with the characters and style of the game, and I impulse buy Three Houses. I then tell Maddie and sell them on Three Houses. Thus, it begun...

What Fire Emblem games have you played?: This is a fun and complicated question for me to answer because if you count me backseating Maddie, it's some of fe4, most of fe7, fe8, fe9, fe10, over half of fe13, some fe14, fe15, and fe16. If it's just me, that shrinks down to some fe7 and fe8, some fe9, over half of fe13, some fe15, and some fe16. I was an active participant in watching the games so it feels like a smidgen of playing them but not quite?

First Fire Emblem game: Either the Awakening demo or Three Houses.

Favorite Fire Emblem game: Shadows of Valentia, Sacred Stones, and the Tellius duology. Hard to specify a single favorite, especially depending on what we are defining favorite as.

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 : Where do I begin. I mean Lukas is like, perhaps one of my strongest ones. Though I'm also smitten with Forsyth and attracted to Python despite him being terrible boyfriend material. Recently I have been making eyes at Legault in Blazing Blade, and also playing Fates for the first time had me really surprised at how much Setsuna charmed me. Uhhh lemme think also. Christ Kent your problems disorders bewitch me. Claude you are my everything I will do anything for you. Shamir also if we are talking 3h, what a gal. Ranulf my beloved, he's got things together and he's playful and teasing and just has a great personality. Also Titania...pretty and strong and cool and just a fantastic character who I would not object to kissing on the mouth. I think i might stop here because if I keep going I am going to just take you on a tour of my numerous Fire Emblem crush tastes.

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Panne; I'd also S support Libra or Say'ri. I need to mention that my first awakening playthrough was in 2020 though so if I'd gotten it in 2013 like I almost did I'd probably have gotten married to like...Libra if I waited that long, Chrom if I messed up and got automarried, or like. Stahl or something bc he's really nice and a knight. - Fates: I have not S supported anyone in Fates yet but Setsuna and Silas I am Looking. - Three Houses: I actually never have S supported anyone in Three Houses, as I never actually finished my personal playthrough! However, my big choices are Shamir and Claude, though w the latter I just pretend that's me bc I don't do teacher/student. - Engage: Not enough experience to say who I might S support. Will get back to you.

Favorite Fire Emblem class: Do laguz/taguel/manakete count. I'm also weak for archers I shan't lie.

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class?: Oh I know I'd be one of those frail little mages who has explosive firepower and waning physical ability. Honestly being that but on a wyvern would be fun. My good friend my mobility wyvern.

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation?: Golden Deer 4ever baybee not even close.

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with?: I'll get back to this, I'm not sure if I have the info I need to make an informed choice. My first thought is that I would love to have Ike chilling with me though, Ike my good friend Ike.

How did you find TOA?: Lucius invited Maddie, and Maddie invited me! I was roleplaying Forsyth with Maddie's Python 1on1 at the time and the idea of a group RP was very appealing to me, despite me being swamped with work and school and health issues at the time. I'm so glad I made the leap!

Current TOA muses: Forsyth and Leanne!

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again?: Forsyth! I don't see myself dropping him unless his narrative here is done, really.

Have you had any other TOA muses?: Oh Ranulf...I had a very fun time with him, but I just was not in the state to handle three muses and having two muses has been much more manageable, so he's probably not coming back for a while.

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards?: I tend to write very earnest characters, especially in a group RP setting. I've pushed my comfort zone before, but characters who express themselves very openly and intensely are my bread and butter. Characters who wear their hearts on their sleeves, for better or worse.

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most?: Hard to say, but honestly I really enjoy writing relationships, and the ways in which they shift and change over time. I really like character-focused writing the most, emotions and thoughts and such, and exploring the connections between characters! This feels like a silly answer, but it's what I'm feeling!

Favorite TOA-related memory: Oh man this is a hard one. Hard to choose so I'll just pick one that came to mind which is Leanne and Vaida's bizarre adventure in Queen's Compass. What a good event that was, blows a kiss to the sky for Zyra. I'm also a huge fan of everything involving Forsyth's Jugdral meddling and the narrative impact of his deaths in KKE. There are so many funny little experiences and memories that stick with me forever, really.

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔: Tee-oh-ay! Pronouncing it as a word is the same as Toa from Bionicle and to keep them distinct in my mind I sound it out.

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day that you’d like to share? 😉: The world if I could handle three muses...Legault scratching at my door. Ranulf also scratching at my door. Blows a kiss to the guys I would enjoy playing but don't have the time and energy for.

[lozchic3]

"Which should I choose for my first character in Octopath Traveler 2?"

tl;dr: Any from the Eastern continent because of night path actions and easy access to Inventor from the start.

Longer version:

Any from the Eastern continent is ideal. #1 choice being Throné since her night path action gives a start of battle buff and combined with Temenos' enemy nerf is a great boon for early gain. Also out of the 3 on the Eastern continent, Throné is the closest one to the Inventor guild so she can easily get the class earliest out of the other characters.

The rest of the characters depends on playstyle. But personally... - Osvald might be the best if you want early auto analysis for all enemies. It's also wiser to take him early on since he tends to have low def/low HP at the start. So building him up early on ensures better survivability. - Ochette is a shoe in for first character spot given she starts off with high offense and her provoke grants so much early access to different weapon weaknesses and healing. The downfall is she needs 3k to get off the island afterwards and that amount could be used to buy better equipment. - Temenos is in an odd spot. I think out of the 3 on the Eastern continent, he gets better only mid to late game and kinda gets usurped early game by Castti who has far better healing options than him. Late game is also when his EX skill "prayer for plenty" really fires off and even then that's an option. But because of that knowing he'll sit in the party's first spot until you finish his story makes it hard sell for him at the start.

"What about the Western continent?"

Actually there's an argument to start there instead of the Eastern continent. Inventor early game is good but doesn't really fire off as a jack-of-all trades class until late game. and past the starting areas it falls off rather quickly.

Of the western crew, I think Castti and Hikari have the strongest argument for starting characters especially given the type of skills and abilities both can learn. Castti especially has both support skills and skills that ensure she just tanks a lot of enemy encounters from the start. Early game Partitio also has some hilarious investment early on and I feel could make for a fun challenge or speedrun.

Which leaves Agnea. I think out of the 8, she is the hardest first character to start with. She's situated in a position so far up north that she ultimately needs to summon at the start to compensate for party members. Her location also means you won't get healing until later unless you skip getting Partitio and Hikari, which in itself means you'll run into a lot of encounters without them. And early game with her is tricky until mid-game in general. She has her merits and I think is an S tier buffer overall. But she takes a lot of time to get there and that's the core of her problem versus the rest.

[lola-legendary]

TAG TAG TAG TAG

Last song: Du Hast by Rammstein. I’m listening to it right now. Don’t question my tastes.

Favorite colour: Ooh that’s a toughie. Yellow has permanently been my number 1, but I got a personality analysis that says my lucky colour is light blue.

Currently watching: Does YouTube shorts count?

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Sweet, definitely.

Current obsession: Octopath Traveler, 1 and 2.

Last thing you googled: “what parts are in a computer” for homework.

Tagging: …. Yeah I’ll leave this one open, all my friends are gone~

PEOPLE I WANNA KNOW BETTER

Thank you for the tag @rain-on-kamino !!!

Last song: Doomsday -Jared Benjamin

Favorite color: Blood red

Currently watching: Ahsoka

Last movie: Back to the Future

Sweet/spicy/savory: Spicy or Savory!

Relationship staus: Taken (fuckin finally)

Currently obsession: Crosshair. Not even all the bad batch. Just Crosshair-

Last thing you googled: Tup's CT number (CT-5385. Needed it for a fic)

No pressure tags!!

@staycalmandhugaclone @shadestepping @zoeykallus @fulcrum-7567 @kalykat @metalhusbands @arctrooper69 and whoever wants to!

[sociopath-analysis]

Sociopath Traveler

The world of Octopath Traveler has plenty of sociopathic characters to choose from. And thanks to the poll, I'll be looking into all of the ones I can find. Trust me, there are plenty of them to find.

Either reblog this one to share or any of the profiles found inside or the gallery below (Note: Not all of them will be complete when you see this.)

SPOILERS will be below for the whole franchise, so be careful if you haven't finished the games.

Galleries Part 1 and Part 2 can be reblogged to share as well.

Listed in alphabetical order:

Arcanette

Auguste

Claude, the Progenitor

Galdera, the Fallen

Gideon

Helgenish

Professor Harvey

Lucia

Lyblac

Miguel "Twinspears"

"Mother"

General Mugen Ku

Pardis III

Rufus, the Left Hand of the Crow

Simeon, the Puppet Master

Vanessa Hysel

Werner

[unparalleledfocus]

In Pursuit of Legends... and Growth

When pursuing the future we all look for different things – stability, companionship, happiness and so much more. Some may chase a particular goal, others go with the flow, while others simply drift, unsure of where to go and what to do. We also all have, at one point or another, experienced some form of hardship, perhaps even times where we felt as if we were engulfed by a dark abyss. But we continue onwards, as tomorrow shall always come and the night will pass, giving you the opportunity to climb out of the abyss and fight for your dawn in whichever way you can. Octopath Traveler II echoes these sentiments throughout its entirety.

This shall (hopefully) be the first part a series of analyses of the 8 Travelers of Octopath Traveler II, as a way to express my love for the game, for its (upcoming) first anniversary.

This time, I shall analyse Ochette, the Hunter.

(Contains spoilers for all of Ochette’s Chapters)

Your name is Ochette, and you are a hunter.

Your tale begins on the isle of Toto'haha alongside your fellow beastlings.

Despite your troubles with the human islanders, you live a carefree life. That is, until you learn of an encroaching calamity known as the Night of the Scarlet Moon.

“All right, Master Juvah. I'll do it. I'll find those Creatures of Legend and bring them back.”

Desperate to save your home, you set sail in search of those who can help…

Ochette’s journey is a coming-of-age story. It had begun on the day she had to choose her companion in order to start the next stage of her life – that of a Hunter, a Guardian of Toto’haha. Right at the start we are shown her immense compassion – after choosing one companion over the other, the other seemingly falls to despair, goes into a frenzy and then disappear… and after all of that, Ochette could only be heartbroken. Could there have truly been no way to save them that day? To still find a way to be friends? Even after 10 years this day haunts her, and she tries to shower her companion with as much love as she can „for both of them”.

Ten years later and Ochette has now grown – she is now a talented Hunter, looking after Toto’haha and its inhabitants. She adores her home – yet she also doesn’t feel like becoming the Guardian of Toto’haha. She wants a simple life – simply enjoying meals together with her loved ones is enough for her. This idea – that your dream can be just living a simple life with your loved ones and that it is also a lovely dream – is alluded to not only during the campfire in the Final Chapter, but in the stories of the other Travelers too, those being the ones who had experienced some of the worst the world had to offer to them – Hikari, Throné and even Osvald. In the end, the message carried here is that though it may seem trivial at first, a simple life, where you can live peacefully and enjoy meals with your friends and family, is a truly worthy thing to fight for.

Returning to Ochette growing to become a Guardian, though she is hesitant to the idea of becoming a guardian of her home, she still proves herself through her actions not only as a Guardian of Toto’haha, but a guardian of nature and life as well. No matter what, she stood her ground against whatever or whomever she faced. During her journey throughout Solistia, she’s heard of, witnessed and experienced many tragic and horrific events, yet she still pressed on to not only find the Creatures of Legend who could save her home, but help others out in need too.

Tera was harmed by the Dark Hunter, falling into slumber in order heal right after. Though Ochette had to give him a literal rude awakening, after the battle Tera shook off his drowsiness and quickly and eagerly joined Ochette’s cause to protect Toto’haha. Before this Ochette also managed to befriend a human, Pom, who was once saved by Tera. She ended up helping Pom, both with a favor and, especially after allying with Tera – inspiring him and his future.

Cateracta, despite being protected by humans, was outright murdered by the Dark Hunter due to being weakened after protecting Conning Creek from a great wave. In the end, before perishing, Cateracta left behind an egg to Alpione, the only human who survived the encounter with the Dark Hunter. Years went by and humans had greedily begun looting Cateracta’s corpse. Cateracta had protected the town for so long and alas, people forgot, leaving behind only weeping bones of a once mighty god of the ocean. And yet hope remained – Alpione guarded both Cateracta’s final resting place and the egg, and eventually Ochette and her companion arrived. Though their first encounter ended in Ochette’s beast companions knocking Alpione out, Ochette’s kind heart had won Alpione over in the end. And once Ochette embraced the lonely egg, it hatched right in front of her – a young Acta who wished to travel by Ochette’s side, who Ochette hopes to help grow, who could someday, perhaps, even fulfill the role Cateracta once had – a new symbol of hope for the seas and land.

Glacis’ fate was, alas, the opposite. Though Glacis survived, the egg of this legendary being did not. The Dark Hunter, alongside prideful humans, destroyed the egg during an attempt to hunt Glacis, destroying a fragment of Stormhail’s hope. Glacis was both heartbroken and enraged, and so was the hunter who lost their friends and family to Glacis, being the only survivor after that day. It became a cycle of hate with seemingly no end in sight. And so, someone had to find a way to break that cycle – this duty falling to Ochette. To stop the neverending snowstorm she once again extended her kindness to others, while also making sure to stay strong. Though they fought, she made sure to not only comfort Glacis’ broken heart (Legendary Creature or average traveler, everyone deserves love, hope and peace), but to help Glacis find a new resolve.

“You can’t get back what you lost. But it wasn’t the only thing that mattered to you.”

”I will never forget this sorrow… But you reminded me… that there is something else I must protect. […] Thank you, Ochette.”

“No, thank you, Glacis!”

After helping Glacis, Ochette then helped the surviving hunter, Heig, stand back up and move forward in his life too – telling him to leave behind spite and hate, and to also “respect life more. Both [his] own life, and the lives of others,” as she put it.

Finally we reach the end of her story, where she must confront the Darkling – the companion she didn’t choose that day, now a broken servant of the Shadow. She could feel how deep its pain and sorrow was, mourning what had happened to the poor animal after years of suffering and loneliness.

A bit earlier, through her and the beastlings’ kindness and determination they are able to prove the humans of Toto’haha wrong, and then work together in order to save their home from the Night of the Scarlet Moon, after which the humans and beastlings proceed to live peacefully together, forging a brighter future for all of Toto'haha.

Ochette proceeds to then receive the help of Tera and Glacis, aiding her in the fight against the otherworldly beings. She continues to rush forward.

This is where we get to see how much she’s grown over the course of her journey. In a desperate moment, she realized the reason she fights – she loves Toto’haha and those that live there, and wants to help in any way she can. And though she and her companion almost perish after being sent into the sea by the Darkling, the Sacred Flame itself acknowledges her warm heart and her deeds, saving them and lending them new strength, too. After returning to the surface, the two go back to fight the Darkling, and it seems that Ochette’s growth and kindness unlocked not only her companion’s potential, but little Acta’s as well, both of which assist her in the battle. In the distance, Ochette's teacher, Juvah, admires how strong her heart is, while the two Legends prepare to continue protecting Toto'haha once more.

But in the end, though there was a great struggle between them, she chooses to help the Darkling – to give it at least one last moment of peace and love. Ochette, after offering the Darkling the same Friendship Jerky she once gave to her companion all those years ago, proceeds to comfort it in its last moments.

“It’s alright. All the scary things are gone now. There, there. If you’re reborn into this world… let’s… eat something real tasty together.”

“...Good night.”

In the end, it is Ochette’s kindness that prevails, rather than brute force. Though a strong Hunter, her true strength lies in her earnestness and ability to extend her compassion to others. Her coming-of-age story ends with her deciding to become the Guardian of Toto’haha – she had seen so much of the world during her travels, both the good and the bad, and intends to use her experiences to guide her in protecting her home. She had grown into a great Hunter – the one who had gathered the Legends, a protector of life and the ‘dawn’ itself… and a wonderful friend.

“I love Toto’haha, and the people who call it home. […] And that means… I’m going to fight!”

Additional Notes/Interesting Things

The names of the two animal companions, Akalā and Mahina, are connected to the Hawaiian words for sun (lā) and moon (mahina). Sun and moon symbology is very heavy in Octopath II, connecting to the metaphor of „the dawn filled with light after a period of darkness”. The moon is also used in two different ways: as a source of light in the dark alongside the stars, and as an omen of the impending cold and darkness.

I feel like Ochette and Hikari parallel each other a bit. Both are pursuing someone specific to aid their homes from a disaster, and the greatest strength of both is their compassion rather than their battle prowess. I just find it interesting to think about, especially since Ochette’s O is the first letter and Hikari’s H is the last letter of OCTOPATH. Another parallel she has is to Castti though I'll leave that for Castti's analysis. Glacis' situation also seems to parallel Osvald's and, to an extent, Temenos' situations as well. Another possible parallel is Acta to Agnea – someone young who lost their parent yet remains a symbol of hope.

Ochette’s stained glass represents 4 things: the circle has a design representing the (Scarlet) Moon, while the rest of the design features Glacis’ wing, a wave representing Cateracta and finally - Tera’s domain (the earth) and/or possibly its head (it’s hard for me to make out the specific symbol for Tera).

Personal: Lost to her final boss a few times. On my successful attempt I somehow bypassed its final phase and thus never got to hear The Journey for Legends Ends in the game. I did, however, get the final blow with the beastling Hired Help so that was pretty neat.

[moqi2004]

OCTOPATH TRAVELER 2 Trailer breakdown analysis

An overview of sorts for the information I have gleaned from the new game's first trailer. Some inferences to story points are also made. I recommend you watch the trailer yourself before reading this post.

The graphics take on the more updated versions from Triangle Strategy and Live&Live, plus probably refined even more (hard to see from the trailer alone).

At 0:16, we can see Partitio telling a group of people to get away from a large brick building building, which explodes after they run. This seems to be related to the engine/motor/generator he seemingly breaks at 1:49.

You can sail in small boats, seen at 0:13, to get across bodies of water. A larger boat is shown sailing across the sea at 0:27 in a zoomed-out view, but it is unknown if players can actually control this boat.

The game takes place in a continent known as Solistia, so not Orsterra

Ochette seems to be able to run with animal companions. In the trailer she is seen with a fox and an owl

Hikari, the Warrior, is clearly dealing with a war within his story, and his home and his design seems to be heavily based off Japanese culture.

Agnea the Dancer seems to be motivated by her mother, who was a dancer before her. She can be seen on the stage at 0:42 in the trailer.

Partitio the Merchant wants to remove poverty from the world. We don't learn much more about him from his little snippet in the trailer, but his English voice is so blessed.

Osvald the Scholar is found guilty of murdering his wife and daughter, a crime we can infer he may have been framed for (shown at 0:52). He is sentenced to life imprisonment on Fright Isle.

Throné the Thief's section of the trailer doesn't reveal much, except for the fact that she has potentially had a painful experience involving injury or even murder, as she comments "not again" about the smell of blood.

Temenos the Cleric seems like a major contrast to Ophilia. While she believed in faith, he questions the world around him and potentially the teachings of the church. The Japanese version of the trailer confirms in a voice line that this is the Sacred Flame being worshipped (thanks to Mini for that information).

Ochette the Hunter seems to be a fox person? It's hard to tell for sure. We learn basically nothing else about her except for the fact her companion is also a fox.

Castti the Apothecary awakens on a ship. Not confirmed, but she might have some form of amnesia. She speaks about rediscovering who she is, so maybe an experience has left her questioning her role as an apothecary?

Steam power is a thing in Solistia. We see a steam train at 1:15

All eight travelers are pictured looking at the sea at 1:16.

Path actions have different effects depending on the time of day. In the day, Hikari can challenge people to a duel. At night, he can bribe people for information.

A castle merchant at 1:25 says to Hikari: "Ah, our Lord knows well in the ways of the world" after we see Hikari bribing a treasurer that looks very similar (seen above). Hikari may actually be a Lord, and this merchant could be praising him for his knowledge on fair trade.

Some paths can intertwine, although we currently have no idea how much this will impact each character's story.

Partitio and Osvald can be seen looking at the stars with another unknown NPC at 1:29.

Throné mentiones to Temenos at 1:31 that there is nothing left in the town they're in for them (potentially they were looking for answers to something?).

Not confirmed, but the person Throné clashes blades with at 1:35 might be Osvald (it does look like him).

Agnea and Hikari can be seen listening to someone play what looks like a lute at night.

At 1:38, Hikari is seen running through a burning village and crouching down next to someone. They seem to have the same colour hair as him, and they're collapsed on the ground. Maybe they're related?

You can see four NPCs (likely guided, allured, or something similar) following Temenos, Agnea, Partitio, and Ochette at 1:42.

At 1:45, Hikari and two unknown NPCs can be seen running through the desert towards a soldier on horseback standing in their way.

Combat seems very similar to Octopath Traveler 1, with four characters in a party and the break/boost system. So far, I see no hints towards giving travelers multiple jobs.

Shown only for a split second, but you can fight while in the small boats

It's hard to see and only for a split second, but at 1:51 two people dressed in red (one in a mask) seem to be fighting at an altar or throne of sorts. Maybe linked to Hikari's story due to the appearance of the location.

All eight travelers can be seen looking out at a woodland scenery around a fire at 1:54.

The game comes out on the 24th of February 2023.

And that's about it! Anything else you think is important to mention please mention it in the reblogs or comments! I hope everyone else is as exited as I am for this game :)))

EDIT: Not sure how I missed this, and big thanks to Latte on the Orsterra's Tavern discord for pointing this out, but you can clearly see secondary jobs being used in the trailer.

Throné seems to be multiclassing as a Merchant, and I think Partitio is a thief here? Castti might be a Warrior, and Temenos I genuinely have no idea.

There also appears to be some special jobs, like the four post-game optional classes we got in Octopath 1

No idea what any of these are, but I love the steampunk gentleman outfit that Partitio is rocking (I think that's him anyway, it's kinda hard to tell). Wonder what the catapult is for? :o