Octopath Traveler
This game slid under my radar almost all the way up until the day of its release. The art style is very nostalgic, the music is fantastic, and the character designs, though somewhat shallow, are easy to like. Despite all of this, I was ready to let this one pass me by. The one and only reason I actually picked it up to play it was because of the demo. I was browsing the Nintendo Switch eShop one day and saw that there was a free demo available and I thought to myself, “Well, why not?”
Before the first ten minutes of the demo had passed, I was already sure that I was in it for the long haul. By the end of the three-hour demo, I was itching for more. This game is filled to the brim with nostalgia. From it’s pixel-art to it’s fantasy setting, there’s no question why I fell so easily in love.
I’m barely six hours in, so I hardly feel ready to write a full review yet, but I already have much praise for this game. As I write this, I’m on my way to recruit my fifth hero (Cyrus) and looking forward to meeting the other three as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this isn’t the only game I’m sinking my teeth into, so it’s difficult to allocate enough time into Octopath Traveler to feel like I’ve made good progress each time I play, yet I still feel like I’ve accomplished something after even a fifteen-minute session. Whether I can find enough time to get through a whole story chapter or just enough to interact with a few NPCs (I love to read the snippets of backstory using Alfyn’s Inquire), I never leave the world of Orsterra dissatisfied.
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Octopath Traveler™ is owned and copyrighted by Square Enix.
Octopath Traveler™ © 2018 Square Enix Co., LTD
Stardew Valley
This is another game I was fully prepared to just let fall by the wayside. As this game is practically a tribute to the Harvest Moon series, I decided I’d give it a shot, and I’m glad I did. The Harvest Moon series of video games was always a favorite of mine. I did start late in the game though, as my first real Harvest Moon experience was Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life on the Nintendo Gamecube. After that however, I developed a strong interest in the farming sim titles.
Stardew Valley is a game that impressed me right out of the box, or in my case, as soon as the title art appeared after downloading it from the Nintendo eShop. I’ve already spent more than one-hundred hours caring for my virtual farm, and I anticipate playing for quite a while longer, as I’m only just entering fall of year 2 in the game.
Like many other popular titles nowadays, Stardew Valley features a pixel graphic art style, but that’s just one of it’s many charms! The music is cheery and fits in perfectly with the setting and pace. Each NPC character seems to fit in perfectly with the quaint little Pelican Town, each with their own likes, dislikes, backstories, and relationships to each other. This game, for me, is packed with nostalgia. I’ll be the first to admit too, that I’m a sucker for nostalgia. That’s not to say that it’s what makes Stardew Valley great. Probably the most impressive aspect of the game as a whole is the fact that it was developed by just one man. Eric Barone, also knows as ConcernedApe, was the sole creator of everything you see and hear in this game. So every upbeat tune, lovingly-place pixel, unique NPC personality, and sound effect in game was the creation of Mr. Barone.
Though I started this game almost a year ago, just after it released on the Nintendo Switch, I still find myself going back to it pretty frequently. There are plenty of reasons for me to continue playing the game for much, much longer too. If I were to create a new character and start over from day one, I’d choose a new farm map layout to play on. I started out with the forest farm, but I’m looking forward to trying out the wilderness farm map, just to try out my farming survival skills.
You can count on a full review of the game here on the site soon! Don’t worry, I’ve gushed about the game plenty here, so expect my review to be a bit more objective.
LivingAvatar.me is not sponsored or endorsed by Chucklefish Ltd., ConcernedApe, or Sickhead Games. The views expressed on this game are my own.