#If you play Another Eden but haven't played the crossover or the Octopath games please do!

[unparalleledfocus]

It's been a week since the release of the Octopath × Another Eden crossover! Here are my mini-reviews of their plots, which means spoilers for the crossover (none for the Octopath games as far as I could tell). I'll go in Octopath's (technically) chronological order so it'll be CotC, then OT, then OT 2.

I hope you enjoy!

tldr: It was nice :)

Future - Dressed in Fame (Tithi, Nicola + Suzette)

Can't believe they took two people from a fantasy renaissance era and made them a tiktok dancer and a video essayist youtuber.

Granted it was in a simulation to try and create an algorithm for harvesting fame but even after stopping that these two still wanted to actually become streamers/youtubers with their new friend.

A very fun story! Tithi and Nicola and Aldo being unfamiliar about about the modern times and video technology and things like that ends up with some silly moments where they just stop and ask "What does this even mean???".

Shout out to Nicola for being the "brains" of the group and also referencing her Thief job by stealthily stealing the cursed ring. Very cool.

Present - Some Small Power (Cyrus, Olberic, H'aanit + Shion)

My favorite! The final boss is also technically not the main villain himself but a poor animal he ends up controlling.

I really liked how this story incorporated Olberic and H'aanit. Olberic's stance on fighting to protect the peace and H'annit's on how nature must be respected but also cared for are well done and I liked it a lot! Cyrus is Cyrus, he's very silly and I love him. Shion didn't show up much but it was nice to see him when he did.

Also I like how it ties into the Octopath novel and minor lore a bit! It's just small bits like the year and Cyrus' dynamic with H'aanit as far as I could tell but it was lovely to see!

Also I really like this moment from the very beginning of this story:

Olberic: ...Did that person just appear out of thin air?

Cyrus: I'd say it was more like a distortion of some sort. That solves the mystery of how we came to be here, then.

H'aanit: It most certainly doth not!

Antiquity - The Sickness Wealth Brings (Partitio, Castti, Temenos + Shanie)

Partitio once again woke up and chose violence because of someone's abhorrent actions

And even after the boss battle, when the villain ends up with amnesia after loosing his cursed ring, Partitio goes "Great, you're back to normal! I'm still holding you accountable for all of this."

Nothing much to say here really. Solid story, solid characterization, Shanie and Castti's friendship was cute and I really liked Temenos here.

Journey's End (Final Chapter)

They called a dungeon "Journey's End" and it has an abandoned train stop theme. Absolute peak.

Can't believe I encountered another character who played a false role for decades to hopefully save people from a tragic fate and couldn't reveal the truth. I'm bummed Odysso never got to see his sister again and that he passed away when his mission was complete, but at least he left his finished journal for his old friend and Aldo and was able to move on more-or-less peacefully. The toast Aldo and the friend made in Odysso's name also hurt my heart. Heartbreaking, bittersweet and a nice conclusion to the story.