Octopath Traveler
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| Source: https://media.comicbook.com/2018/03/octopath2-1089277-640x320.jpeg |
Ooof that's good.
I could gush for ages about Octopath Traveler and I will definitely dedicate more than one post to it. In this one, however, I would like to examine the major criticism of the game that I have seen everywhere since launch - the story. As far as complaints go, this one is a pretty big deal. One of the major reasons why people play JRPGs in the first place is for the stories they tell. Without a good one, it is difficult for many players to persist with a game that can have enough content to run into triple digit play time.
Of course, in Octopath Traveler's case it is not strictly speaking correct to talk about its story. The game is comprised of eight distinct stories, plus an epilogue at the end. This means that there are actually two kinds of broad criticism that are levelled against the game: the eight stories themselves are bad, and the decision to structure the stories independently is bad. More specifically, it seems like the criticism people have boil down to three complaints:
i) The premise that these people would be traveling together is nonsensical.
ii) The characters' arcs are generic or bland.
iii) The 'story' has no real payoff.
I'd like to examine these criticisms given that I not only think that the eight stories themselves are quite interesting and fairly well told, but I also want to explain why I think that this story structure creates some unique opportunities that aren't often seen in the genre. So to frame this discussion I am going to ask two questions:
1) Are these bad stories?
2) Are there any advantages to the structure the developers chose?
Alright, let's fan boy the heck out of this game.
1) Are these bad stories?
I think that a lot of discussion around story in video games tends to confuse a game's plot with its story. While these sound like they should be the same thing, there are not. While a plot is necessary for a story to take place, a plot by itself is not a story. Instead, a plot can be thought of as a summary of the path that the story will eventually travel down. In this way, a lot of great stories can be reduced to pithy descriptions of their content. Take Breath of the Wild, for instance, another game where I see the "bad story" criticism crop up. Most people claim that the "story" is generic because it is the same old "hero awakens, goes on a quest to equip himself, and take on the bad guy" that permeates fantasy fiction. This, however, would be to totally under-sell the actual story in BotW which consists of not just that plot, but also the characters, the world, and even the mechanics that come together to create the story that the player experiences. A great example of this for me occurred while I was hiking in the mountains looking for a shrine. I had just come across a wolf that was gearing up to attack me when out of nowhere a large snowball came rolling down and took the wolf out. Turns out that it had been pushed off a cliff by another enemy above us and through total random chance. This moment and countless others involving the characters I met, and the places I visited formed part of the experience I had of the story of BotW.
So why this distinction? Well I think it's because it is important to point out that there is more to a game's story than just the summary of what happens in it - eight people go on adventures. A large part of what made Octopath Traveler so compelling for me was that the world in which the game takes place is so wonderfully realised and engaging. This is really important because engagement is a fundamentally unique aspect of video game story telling that cannot be replicated in film or books. Unlike in those two forms of media, I actually exist within the game world and my actions as the player will have an impact on how the story plays out. This is what I find so compelling about playing games with stories and one of the reasons why I loved Octopath so much. While the overall path is set for me: I must advance through each of the characters 4 chapters to complete the game, how I go about doing this is left up to me - including decision points within the game world. Do I steal items from the NPCs in towns I visit? Do inquire after them to learn more about their stories? Each of these aspects help not only towards building the game's story but also my experience of the story.
Of course, it massively helps for the decisions or the information I learn about the world and its characters to be interesting. Thankfully, Octopath is filled with wonderful details and some clever writing. Take for example an NPC I came across in a town fairly early on in the game. She was being harassed by a man that desperately wished to marry her, but she was annoyed by how little courage he had. There are a few ways to resolve the interaction between these two characters, but the one I chose was to find the man's mother, learn a bit about her and the fact that she had noticed her son's affections, but was angry that he could not take a hint and get her to tell him to come home and leave the poor girl alone. None of this was related to a quest in the game, it was just a piece of story that you could come across and get involved with if you wished. The game is littered with interactions like this that help to make the world feel like it is one in which real people live. I think this game world is far more interesting than it may seem from the surface, and this aspect of Octopath's story is often ignored when discussions about it happen.
So what of the characters then? A good world can be easily wrecked if the protagonists are boring or unlikable. To be fair to critics, I can definitely see why they have complaints. Each of the characters confirm to a lot of the standard tropes that are typical of the genre. Good guy swordsman burdened by a past he wishes to atone for? Sure. Roguish thief that believes he doesn't need anyone to make it. Check. However, just like with the reduction of the story of the game to its plot, reducing these characters to their initial introductions would be to miss a large part of what makes their stories good. While each of the characters start off with fairly generic motivations and backstories, the path that their stories take and the growth the experience is immensely enjoyable. Starting from a cliche is not a problem if the execution from that point is good. Frankly, most of the best stories that you can point to as being your favourite are probably riddled with them if you take the time to drill down. What matters is not the premise or summary of the story, but how that story is told. Octopath's characters and their stories are definitely not bland, even if they may start off fairly generic.
In this regard, the story contained within Octopath paid off in spades for me. Not only did I experience an interesting world filled with NPCs that all had their own believable stories, but I also got acquainted with a very likeable cast of characters whose stories were all told in interesting ways. Sure, this game may have lacked a "complex" villain, or an overarching narrative that tied the characters' journeys together but I don't think it needed to. Octopath set out to tell a different kind of story and I think taken on its own merits, it was immensely successful at doing so.
2) What are the advantages to this story structure?
So why this distinction? Well I think it's because it is important to point out that there is more to a game's story than just the summary of what happens in it - eight people go on adventures. A large part of what made Octopath Traveler so compelling for me was that the world in which the game takes place is so wonderfully realised and engaging. This is really important because engagement is a fundamentally unique aspect of video game story telling that cannot be replicated in film or books. Unlike in those two forms of media, I actually exist within the game world and my actions as the player will have an impact on how the story plays out. This is what I find so compelling about playing games with stories and one of the reasons why I loved Octopath so much. While the overall path is set for me: I must advance through each of the characters 4 chapters to complete the game, how I go about doing this is left up to me - including decision points within the game world. Do I steal items from the NPCs in towns I visit? Do inquire after them to learn more about their stories? Each of these aspects help not only towards building the game's story but also my experience of the story.
Of course, it massively helps for the decisions or the information I learn about the world and its characters to be interesting. Thankfully, Octopath is filled with wonderful details and some clever writing. Take for example an NPC I came across in a town fairly early on in the game. She was being harassed by a man that desperately wished to marry her, but she was annoyed by how little courage he had. There are a few ways to resolve the interaction between these two characters, but the one I chose was to find the man's mother, learn a bit about her and the fact that she had noticed her son's affections, but was angry that he could not take a hint and get her to tell him to come home and leave the poor girl alone. None of this was related to a quest in the game, it was just a piece of story that you could come across and get involved with if you wished. The game is littered with interactions like this that help to make the world feel like it is one in which real people live. I think this game world is far more interesting than it may seem from the surface, and this aspect of Octopath's story is often ignored when discussions about it happen.
So what of the characters then? A good world can be easily wrecked if the protagonists are boring or unlikable. To be fair to critics, I can definitely see why they have complaints. Each of the characters confirm to a lot of the standard tropes that are typical of the genre. Good guy swordsman burdened by a past he wishes to atone for? Sure. Roguish thief that believes he doesn't need anyone to make it. Check. However, just like with the reduction of the story of the game to its plot, reducing these characters to their initial introductions would be to miss a large part of what makes their stories good. While each of the characters start off with fairly generic motivations and backstories, the path that their stories take and the growth the experience is immensely enjoyable. Starting from a cliche is not a problem if the execution from that point is good. Frankly, most of the best stories that you can point to as being your favourite are probably riddled with them if you take the time to drill down. What matters is not the premise or summary of the story, but how that story is told. Octopath's characters and their stories are definitely not bland, even if they may start off fairly generic.
In this regard, the story contained within Octopath paid off in spades for me. Not only did I experience an interesting world filled with NPCs that all had their own believable stories, but I also got acquainted with a very likeable cast of characters whose stories were all told in interesting ways. Sure, this game may have lacked a "complex" villain, or an overarching narrative that tied the characters' journeys together but I don't think it needed to. Octopath set out to tell a different kind of story and I think taken on its own merits, it was immensely successful at doing so.
2) What are the advantages to this story structure?
The decision to forgo a more traditional JRPG plot structure was a brave one on the part of the developers. A singular narrative means that the developer can more tightly control how a player experiences their story, allowing them to ensure that a player's experience more closely matches their vision for it. Often this is done in order allow the developer to construct a more complex narrative. If they can ensure that the player will be in a specific place, at a specific level range, and at a specific point in the story then they can do things like implement a cutscene that merges out of, or into, gameplay or tailor the challenge of a particular boss.
By contrast, Western RPGs will often loosen the reigns on the player's experience in order to encourage characterisation and self-expression. A large part of the appeal of games like Fallout or Skyrim is that you can create a character and choose how their story plays out. Do you want to become a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, or maybe aspire to leadership of the Thief's Guild? Not only can you do this, but you can also suspend the story for as long as you'd like in order to achieve your own goals as the player. The developer cannot force you to re-engage with the story and, frankly, wouldn't want to.
Octopath's story structure acts as a blend of these two philosophies. By having a more decentralised story, the player is allowed to explore and develop their own narrative at their own pace. However, the player is not given total freedom to determine the story. Each characters' arc is scripted by the developer ensuring that the story beats are consistent between players, even if the overall path is not.
I found this approach immensely refreshing for a JRPG story. Rather than having to follow a linear path I was instead free to follow my own path and use my own imagination to create the links. The developers control enough of the narrative to offer vague hints about why characters act the way they do and then allow me to fill in the details. This means that I can take the characters that have been given to me and I can still role-play with them. Something that a lot of JRPGs don't really let you do outside of customising stats.
Let me illustrate what I mean. In any other JRPG my chosen character H'aanit the Hunter would meet Therion the thief and there would be a cutscene explaining to me exactly why they would need to team up and work together. Instead, Octopath asks me if I would like to join Therion and I am free to come up with a reason why these two would be willing to work together. For me personally, this was because the way in which I wanted to characterise H'aanit a someone that is angered by betrayal and found Therion's tale to be one that aroused that sense within her. Similarly, I could characterise Therion as someone that is pragmatic enough to realise that this particular task would be too much for him to handle without enlisting aid, even if he did not initially view them as friends. Because the stories don't link together, there is nothing that occurs which contradicts my imagined relationship, allowing me to develop it over time as more of each story is told. This also extends to allowing me to answer for myself the "oh but why are these people together" question. Simple - it is dangerous to travel in a world infested with monsters, so they start out travelling together for safety and as they become better friends with each other, they travel in order to help the each other on their respective quests.
I knew going in that Octopath was going to try and do something different, and I am really happy that it did. Instead of attempting to try and tell yet another story of a bunch of people travelling together, learning the power of friendship, and ultimately killing God; I got a unique JRPG experience that took elements of the WRPG tradition in order to construct a different kind of narrative. Regardless of what you think of the story itself, I think it has to be acknowledged that this was an interesting decision and one that, from a narrative standpoint, is definitely worth exploring more in future.
That's all for this edition! While I am less happy with how I have expressed myself in this post, I think it is important for me to keep writing. Hopefully the more I encourage myself to do, the better it will become.
Play pawsome :3
By contrast, Western RPGs will often loosen the reigns on the player's experience in order to encourage characterisation and self-expression. A large part of the appeal of games like Fallout or Skyrim is that you can create a character and choose how their story plays out. Do you want to become a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, or maybe aspire to leadership of the Thief's Guild? Not only can you do this, but you can also suspend the story for as long as you'd like in order to achieve your own goals as the player. The developer cannot force you to re-engage with the story and, frankly, wouldn't want to.
Octopath's story structure acts as a blend of these two philosophies. By having a more decentralised story, the player is allowed to explore and develop their own narrative at their own pace. However, the player is not given total freedom to determine the story. Each characters' arc is scripted by the developer ensuring that the story beats are consistent between players, even if the overall path is not.
I found this approach immensely refreshing for a JRPG story. Rather than having to follow a linear path I was instead free to follow my own path and use my own imagination to create the links. The developers control enough of the narrative to offer vague hints about why characters act the way they do and then allow me to fill in the details. This means that I can take the characters that have been given to me and I can still role-play with them. Something that a lot of JRPGs don't really let you do outside of customising stats.
Let me illustrate what I mean. In any other JRPG my chosen character H'aanit the Hunter would meet Therion the thief and there would be a cutscene explaining to me exactly why they would need to team up and work together. Instead, Octopath asks me if I would like to join Therion and I am free to come up with a reason why these two would be willing to work together. For me personally, this was because the way in which I wanted to characterise H'aanit a someone that is angered by betrayal and found Therion's tale to be one that aroused that sense within her. Similarly, I could characterise Therion as someone that is pragmatic enough to realise that this particular task would be too much for him to handle without enlisting aid, even if he did not initially view them as friends. Because the stories don't link together, there is nothing that occurs which contradicts my imagined relationship, allowing me to develop it over time as more of each story is told. This also extends to allowing me to answer for myself the "oh but why are these people together" question. Simple - it is dangerous to travel in a world infested with monsters, so they start out travelling together for safety and as they become better friends with each other, they travel in order to help the each other on their respective quests.
I knew going in that Octopath was going to try and do something different, and I am really happy that it did. Instead of attempting to try and tell yet another story of a bunch of people travelling together, learning the power of friendship, and ultimately killing God; I got a unique JRPG experience that took elements of the WRPG tradition in order to construct a different kind of narrative. Regardless of what you think of the story itself, I think it has to be acknowledged that this was an interesting decision and one that, from a narrative standpoint, is definitely worth exploring more in future.
That's all for this edition! While I am less happy with how I have expressed myself in this post, I think it is important for me to keep writing. Hopefully the more I encourage myself to do, the better it will become.
Play pawsome :3
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