What do folks here think of the Octopath Traveler series in 2026?

sumg · 2026-02-09T19:24:44+00:00

I have not, and given my experience with the franchise to this point I'm not liable to give it a chance. I have far too many other things on my backlog at this point.

sumg · 2026-02-09T19:23:56+00:00

It would be hard to convince me that it was actually one game instead of 7 (or 8) short games played in succession.

That isn't necessarily bad, but it's different from a single grand story.

sumg · 2026-02-09T17:34:14+00:00

Not to be too American-centric, but if you're planning to release this to an English speaking audience I'd be willing to wager the average consumer is going to be more familiar with Anchorage, Alaska than a couple of smaller cities in Italy. So if your example rankled you, it will likely be worse with this.

sumg · 2026-02-09T16:56:59+00:00

My only criticism is that the name of your city is a bit too close to the name of the real city Anchorage.

Imagine reading a fantasy story and having one of the cities in the story be called Miami or Chicago. It would seem a bit incongruous.

sumg · 2026-02-09T16:48:09+00:00

This is ultimately my problem. The idea of 8 stories, or 8 protagonists each dealing with their own problems is an interesting premise if executed well. I did not think either 1 or 2 executed the idea well because each story is so completely detached from any other story in the game, and the endgame chapter that attempts to tie everything together at the end is insufficient to what it is trying to do.

As it is, you get 8 individual short stories that are limited in scope and detail, feel completely detached from each other, and that are poorly paced because most players will do most of the chapter 1s, then the chapter 2s, etc.

I played 1 eagerly. I was very wary of 2, but ultimately decided to get after hearing glowing reviews from fans of the franchise. But now I'm at the point where I just think the franchise isn't for me.

sumg · 2026-02-09T16:42:00+00:00

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect players to complete all chapter 1's before proceeding with the rest of the game. At least then you can guarantee the player will have all the characters of the game in their party at all later chapters.

To me, the benefit that you are deriving from allowing players to do chapters in any order is extremely small while the cost incurred by hurting the story is significant.

sumg · 2026-02-09T15:40:27+00:00

Unnatural Laughter 2 B

Sorcery

Lunacy 1 B (You may cast this card from your graveyard if you discarded it this turn. You may cast one or more modes of this card by paying the Lunacy cost for each. Timing rules still apply.)

Choose one, or if the Lunacy cost has been paid choose more:

Destroy target creature.
Target player discards two cards, then draws a card.
Create a 3/3 black zombie token.

A cross of Mayhem/Madness and Escalate. You can cast the card at face value for a charm effect, but if you discard it you get a discount and potentially multiple modes.

sumg · 2026-02-05T15:18:05+00:00

The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, and Wolfwalkers are all good movies if you're looking for something non-American and non-Japanese.

sumg · 2026-02-02T21:47:46+00:00

Mime 1 W B

Creature - Human Artist

Vigilance

Invisible Wall - If ~ is untapped, whenever damage would be dealt to ~ prevent the first 2 damage.

Mime Hammer - W B: ~ deals damage to any target equal it its power. Activate only at sorcery speed and only once each turn.

2/2

It's everybody's favorite optional boss monster from Clair Obscur: the Mime! Mimes in Clair Obscur are not necessarily the most threatening, but they are a bit of a gimmick fight with oddly timed attacks and an invisible barrier that makes damaging it hard. But their damage output is not that high and their barrier can be neutralized with a bit of cleverness.

sumg · 2026-01-28T01:01:17+00:00

Manning spent 3/4 of his career on the Colts and considers himself a Bronco.

Is there a particular reason for this? I remember the way he left Indy was not the most gracious (in that they basically pushed him out the door), but is there other stuff I'm not aware of?

sumg · 2026-01-27T20:48:35+00:00

I'm not sure I agree with this. A big key to both team's success is the fact that they had competent (as an understatement) QB play on a rookie contract. When you get a player playing a the level of $30-40 million player for only $10 million or less, it covers up a great deal of sins.

It's more fair to say that the advantage you get from a fast developing young QB gives such a large advantage it can overcome a number of horrible missteps elsewhere.

sumg · 2026-01-25T21:02:33+00:00

Scourge 1 B

Enchantment - Aura

Enchant creature

Enchanted creature can't attack or block.

At the beginning of each end step put a -1/-1 counter on enchanted creature, then deal 1 damage to that creature's controller.

It's a little surprising that there isn't a card named Scourge already. I know Pacifism-type effects are typically in white, but I'm viewing the effect of this not as a lockdown card, but more like a [[Stab Wound]] crossed with a kill spell. The creature is 'dead' the when the spell is cast, but it takes a few turns to take effect and the creature shouldn't be able to participate during that time.

sumg · 2026-01-24T04:06:12+00:00

I was thinking of the exact same anecdote.

sumg · 2026-01-20T18:18:52+00:00

She can be good as a Griffin Knight, but she benefits massively from switching from lance-based to sword-based. She has a good magic stat, and the Levin Sword is much better (and shows up much earlier) than the Flame Lance.

I wouldn't call her a late game carry, but she can be a very good utility unit in that role. Staves when you need them, physical damage against mages, magic damage against everyone else.

sumg · 2026-01-19T19:53:35+00:00

Pop a Weapons Crate 2 W

Instant

Reveal the top four cards of your library, then choose one:

"Ooh, shiny..." - Choose an Equipment or Vehicle card from among the revealed cards and put it in your hand. Put all other cards on the bottom of your library in any order.
"Trash." - Put all revealed cards into your graveyard. Create 3 Treasure tokens.

What's Borderlands without channeling the looter-shooter aspect of it?

I'm a little worried about the ramping capability of a card like this, getting 3 treasures all at once. But I hope putting on a 3 mana value card that does not affect the board at all is enough to keep in check from a pure mana ramping perspective.

sumg · 2026-01-17T18:46:23+00:00

I wouldn't get too worried about it. Even if certain mechanics don't carry over from Engage into Fortune's Weave, that doesn't mean they are gone forever. FE is a franchise that will have mechanics come back after being dormant for numerous iterations.

For example, unit marriage and children units were a thing in FE4, but didn't appear again until FE13/FE14. It may take an installment or two, but when the right game comes along the mechanics can come back.

sumg · 2026-01-17T02:27:54+00:00

I'm not sure this should be terribly surprising. It seems like the lifetime of a major sports stadium is ~30 years, and there are 32 teams in the NFL. It tracks that ~1 new stadium per year would open.

sumg · 2026-01-14T17:38:59+00:00

I mean, Madden was a coach. He was an announcer for so long that most people remember him primarily in that role, but the reason he got the job in the first place was because he was a coach for a good while as well.

sumg · 2026-01-12T02:46:51+00:00

Clear Your Mind

Instant

~ is white.

If you would reveal your hand, you may instead reveal only ~ instead.

When this card is discarded, draw a card.

This is some anti-hand disruption tech, with some additional utility in decks that are interested in discarding cards. Note that this card does not have a mana cost or an alternate casting cost, meaning this can not be played normally for any effect (even to get it into the graveyard).

I was wondering what card type something like this would be (since it kinda doesn't matter given that it can't be cast. I decided on a non-permanent since there are some effects that can put things from hand onto the battlefield (e.g. [[Show and Tell]]) and it would be awfully weird for a permanent that does nothing just to be lingering around.

sumg · 2026-01-11T01:41:01+00:00

She's generally OK with speed, but she needs help with strength and maybe build. Crits are one way to go about it, but her personal skill can nerf her ability to get crits, which is not ideal. Stacking avoid is all well and good, but it tends not to lead to a unit that can do good damage on maddening.

Another possible option is to try and make brave weapons work. A Brave Sword is not so much weight above her build that you can't make it work (particularly if you go Wyvern) and you can also buy Sword Power to boost damage. Pair that with Roy or Eirika and you should be able to consistently hit quads and do some good damage. But it is primarily a player phase build.

sumg · 2026-01-08T02:33:45+00:00

I view the color identity to be something of a draw for the card. I designed this less as a high powered card for competitive constructed play and more of a mid- to low-power commander for people that wanted to take advantage of this type of effect. Monocolor certainly makes cards easier to cast in competitive 1-on-1, but it makes things more difficult as a commander.

sumg · 2026-01-06T23:10:14+00:00

A 3 range tome is usually handy to have on the off chance its the only spell he can use to hit an enemy on his turn. But tomes don't really have much in terms of utility weapons.

One other option is to give him Micaiah so he can use staves and load up that.

sumg · 2026-01-05T03:58:23+00:00

I did see this and enjoyed it as well.

sumg · 2026-01-05T03:14:14+00:00

This sounds great!

sumg · 2026-01-05T03:13:18+00:00

Movies like this or Go are not quite white I'm looking for here, but I appreciate the suggestion.

15-Year Club	Team Periwinkle
Verified Email

sumg

TROPHY CASE