Octopath Traveler 2

Normally not one for reviews but this is a game that I felt the need to. I went into this game completely blind. My assumption is that it would be an absolutely beautiful game where travelers from 8 different paths converge and form together to tackle either a great threat or to aid one another in their endeavors. While beautiful, I was confused as after about 8 hours... why are there no "main story" beats? Why is no one talking to each other? Finally looking into it I was appalled to find out that the other characters may as well not even exist to one another. Look, I get it. "The game is called OCTOPATH Traveler", but it just feels so... awful, playing these interesting characters and going "Oh they literally don't narratively help each other at all" in or out of combat. You have your little tidbits of interaction where two characters enter a parallel universe to chat about whatever just happened, but this interaction doesn't happen often and may as well be void with how it doesn't affect anything. Now at this point I was tempted to just call it quits... but I wanted to give this game a fair shake. I was told two things. The first "If you want those little interactions as well as to get a better sense for the characters, you should do everyone's Level 1 Story". So began the epic tale of spending another 4 hours doing intro missions. Most unappealing, but a couple caught my attention as something that could potentially be interesting if done right. The second "Maybe it's not one big epic tale, but the upside is you get 8 really cool stories that could each be their own game!" ...this is the part that broke me. Finished up to Chapter 3 for half the characters, and was so bored I finally had to call it quits after 20 hours. This isn't replacing one S tier story with 8 A tier stories. This is replacing one S tier story with 2 B tier stories and 6 C tier stories. I was told I should try and focus on 1 or 2 stories, but because of Recommended Levels I either have to grind out an area if I want to do just a couple characters or I need to do at least 4 at a time. Also the writing is just... atrocious? It's a lot of "I could actually pretend to deceive this character and the player, but instead I'm going to have a very obvious lying voice which ruins any level of surprise or suspension." It's all surface level reactions- and I nearly forgot to mention the voices... I don't have a high bar, but side characters with peaking mics and a main character with a really good voice but way quieter than everyone else to the point I can barely hear them is genuinely unacceptable for a $60 game. I really tried, but I would never suggest to buy this game at full price. I bought it 60% off and still regret it. I want to spend my limited time engrossed in stories that grab my attention, or games which allow me to view narratives in new lights. If I'm not going to waste my time playing B Tier stories and below, why would I spend money to play 8 of them.