the eight paths of a great game – Observer

To say that Square Enix helped to create and define what are JRPGs ( Japanese Roleplaying Games ) is a euphemism, otherwise this Japanese giant does not not the result of the merger of two historic companies, Square and Enix. In the 1980s, it was precisely these two competing companies that confronted the ideas and the growing interest of Westerners around RPG and cemented the foundations of the genre in Japan D & # 39; one side, Enix with his ] Dragon Quest and Square Final Fantasy (which is still today one of the most commercially successful series in the world). history of video games) established the characteristics of the JRPG

It is consensual to say that the golden age of the genre has turned out to be in the generation of 16-bit consoles especially the catalog that the (then known by) Squaresoft created for the Super Nintendo, and it contains some of the most acclaimed JRPG .

One can not say that the genre has changed a lot, but the market has changed since The JRPG have invaded the West, following a massive success of Final Fantasy VII (from 1997) , and shortly thereafter (from 1996 to Japan, and 1998 to the USA) These fantasy games (and a little science fiction) would in turn abandon pixel art and bidimensionality to embrace the passage to the 3D of Final Fantasy VII and many other games of the genre that came to PlayStation 1 in the second half of the 1990s.

In recent years, Square Enix has attempted to rediscover this massive success that he had at the height of JRPGs, and one of the paths chosen by his creatives to achieve this was that of nostalgia. If the generation of 16-bit was the one where its impact on the global market was more noticeable, then the way could go by appealing to the memory of players who have spent nearly thirty years considering these games as real landmarks. After two decades when I felt far removed from Square's creations, who have never managed to reproduce the quality of their productions from the 1990s, there would have been a few years in one of these "tests" made for the 3DS that I would come to "rediscover" the quality chain JRPGs developed by the Japanese giant. Bravely Default (and his sequel Bravely Second ) are exclusive games from Nintendo's hand-held console and have used the gameplay, pace, and approach of 16-bit games , in a salutary return to the origins which led to a great commercial and critical success. After unsuccessful attempts this year with Lost Sphear and remake of the classic Secret of Mana it was easy to see that these two titles were almost preparatory to Carré's big bet in this nostalgic circle: Traveler of Octopath .

Since his revelation in Nintendo Direct in January 2017 that his artistic direction has conquered us immediately. And not for less: the artistic situation of the compromise between the past and the present that Octopath Traveler brought is one of the most interesting ideas we have ever seen in JRPGs On the one hand a return to pixel art and the animation of sprites of the generation of 16-bit spatially constructed in a three-dimensional environment . On the other hand, the treatment of technology and graphics of today compiles an artistic environment with excellent light effects and a great depth of field.

Octopath Traveler takes us back to other times of JRPGs, where the characters had associated classes, but did it differently. If it was not the title itself to announce this and here, we have eight distinct paths to go, each corresponding to the eight protagonists of the game. When we start playing, we are asked to choose which of the eight will be our main character, and it is from his prologue that the game begins. This does not mean that we are prevented from knowing the other seven, on the contrary. End of the prologue of the game, the world of Octopath Traveler opens and we have the indication on the map where are each of the seven remaining protagonists so that we find them, recruit them in our team, and if we want,

As JRPG the focus is on the narrative, but in the case of Octopath Traveler ] there were surprises of your . Although the argument is full of clichés and that none of the eight parallel narrative lines tell us really new stories, it's in their heavier tone that the difference appears for many titles produced by Square Enix. Without any explicit indication, it is possible to deduce that the dancer we know lives in an alternating bar, and she and her "colleagues" speak openly about the violence to which they are subjected if the Master does not bill the expected . Or the apothecary who must visit at the cemetery all the patients that he could not save and whose guilt still affects him.

We do not have to recruit all the characters, nor do we have any fixed order to get there, but that does not only make the game a bit more accessible because it shows us everything. which is hidden with all the actors. However, our team can only have four members, which means the rest will stay in the tavern to rest, without any fighting experience.

Despite the loops repetitive as in all JRPG battles are one of the most interesting elements of this traveler Octopath . Their turn-based combat is far more important than it was 30 years ago when we simply chose an action and hoped that it would be applied. Here is a system of strengths and weaknesses that are a kind of dance with opponents

These have close to their name a shield with a number representing the number of shots with a weapon to which they are vulnerable that we must use to leave them stunned, unprotected and do more harm. But as their weaknesses are hidden, we must proceed by trial and error by alternating arms and characters until we find those who leave them unprotected. As Bravely Default, there is also a system of bonus actions and multipliers that we use at our choice and which are the secret of our combat effectiveness.

Octopath Traveler is one of the great games of the Nintendo Switch this year, and a JRPG so good that for the fans of the genre are the titles that justify the purchase of the console. A real return to the golden age of the JRPG but thought for the present. A little wonder that will not just appear next to the best titles in the Super Nintendo era for its narrative quality, which although not weak per se is not at same level as yours conception . This title released today exclusively for the Nintendo Hybrid Console is one of the most fascinating console games and one of the best JRPG of the decade, but also a summer that has was mild in the weather but also in the main versions of video games