Recommend lvl is 32 and I have 2 characters at 39 and the rest between 32-34.

Grind can help, but I may have to look at a different strategy and equip some specific accessories.

Before I did any of the chapter 2’s, I grinded my past level 60 because I just wanted access to the advanced jobs.  So... I never had any problems with any of the story fights.  😜. I actually just finished everything in the game at 62 hours yesterday, even the secret final dungeon. I think the grinding actually saved me time in the end, because I just ended up running through all the story dungeons and skipping the fights...

I beat him, without grinding, but I learned to efficiently use buffs and debuffs, which wasn’t really needed till now.

Never played SMT... I know ! Please don’t judge me !

Not me, it's quite divisive, some peformances are great and others leave a lot to be desired. 

But that's the least of my problems, as I really can't get into this game. The visuals are pretty, combats are cool and from occasion to occasion quite intense and the soundtrack is alright, but the narratives so far all have been very uninteresting, I haven't even passed through one that encourages me to keep going. Plus, the ways the characters interact with NPCs and especially new recruits for the party are quite laughable. Primrose goes "I've found the guys that killed my father, but this isn't your problem... But since you don't seem to care, let's go, anyway". 

Additionally, something that's more with me is that I'm not that used with random encounters anymore, it's abrupt and the transitions feel somewhat slow. It's jarring. 

I'll need to go slow with this one, otherwise I'll just get burned quickly. 

Traded in some games and pre-ordered this game. Had some money left, so I just picked up the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 and 2.5 Collection to check it out. Im kinda obsessed with these games, so I haven't opened Octopath Traveler yet.lol

I will get to it soon though.

More than that, it's the lack of conversations and bonding between the members of the cast that annoys me the most. Obviously, what the game is selling is 8 different adventures, with the ability of using different party members in each story just for show and games and fun, so the simple solution is just applying some suspension of disbelief. But it doesn't stop from feeling very cheap, and ultimately very underwhelming. 

If they do a another OT game which at this point I'm sure they will they'll probably work on more party interactions. Took some screens:

I've got ten hours into this, and I'm loving it. The music just manages to set the tone so well. Olberic's story is a bit boring, but the Thief, Dancer and Botanist stories are fantastic. I really like all the strategy that can be put into the combat. You can see when enemies are going to attack, and you can see the turn order. So if you hit them enough times you can stun them to make them skip their turn. Then there's all the cool abilities different party members have. The way that the Hunter captures beasts, and can order them to use different attacks in combat is really neat. I like stocking up on wild enemies, and then unleashing them on a boss, or using them to beat a challenge in town. Using the Thief and Merchant to steal items and money is fun if you use the boost system to guarantee that you'll steal something.

My only complaint is that the game is too bright at times. Sometimes sunlight will strike a character's face and completely wash their face out with bright light. It looks terrible when it happens. I'll post screenshots as examples of this tomorrow.

Wyrdness said: If they do a another OT game which at this point I'm sure they will they'll probably work on more party interactions. Took some screens:

What are your brightness and contrast settings on your TV? Your screenshots seem to lack the glare that my own have.