u/Igiem

I just got into the Octopath Traveler games, and for the most part, I am enjoying them. The characters are unique, and their individual narratives are interesting enough, but I find that the lack of interaction between them is a real hinderance. I am used to those kinds of interactions in games like Bravely Default, Fire Emblem, and Triangle Strategy, where the party is on a shared journey and you get to watch the characters develop alongside one another. It feels odd that Octopath is so narratively driven, has the characters travel in the same party, and yet gives them so few meaningful conversations beyond occasional fluff. It feels like if The Lord of the Rings had their characters travel together and just stonewall each other.

There is a saying, "chasing the setting sun," which generally means to constantly pursue goals, experiences, or horizons that are just out of reach. Metaphorically, it implies trying to make a fleeting, beautiful moment last forever or attempting to outrun the natural end of a specific chapter in life.

I am curious how fast a person would need to move around to literally never have the sun set on them and if it would be possible to live one's life properly during that process (eat, sleep enough, etc.).

One thing that confused me in 3 Body Problem is the San-Ti’s reaction to Little Red Riding Hood.

When Mike Evans tells them the story, they think the girl, the wolf, and the forest are real. When Evans explains that they are made up, the San-Ti call the story a lie. They are especially disturbed because the story is about a liar, the wolf, who pretends to be the grandmother.

That reaction makes sense at first because the San-Ti cannot hide their thoughts from each other. Human lying terrifies them because we can say one thing while thinking another. That discovery makes them decide humanity cannot be trusted.

The problem is that the San-Ti already use fiction through the VR game.

The game does not reveal their world directly. The San-Ti do not appear as themselves, and the players are not told upfront that they are experiencing an analogy for an alien civilization. Instead, the game filters the San-Ti's alien history through human settings, forms, historical eras, and recognizable figures like Tudor England and ancient China. The San-Ti are not simply saying, “Here is who we are, and here is our world.” They are dressing their world in human costume and, in effect, masquerading as humans within the game. The fact that humans helped build the game does not remove the problem, because the San-Ti taught them how to build it while supposedly having no prior understanding of human deception.

The little girl in the game also feels like emotional manipulation. She keeps asking to be saved, which pushes the players to sympathize with her and with the San-Ti.

The game communicates truth through fiction, disguise, symbolism, and emotional pressure. The San-Ti claim not to understand stories, yet they use storycraft with surprising skill.

They may not understand lying as a hidden intention, but they clearly understand fiction, analogy, roleplay, and disguise. The VR game suggests they have some concept of theatre or performance, but performance still requires an unspoken agreement that what is being seen is not literally true. That is exactly what seems to surprise the San-Ti when Evans explains Little Red Riding Hood.

I know this gap in their understanding plays into the fables shared later in the story, but I still find the VR game strange. The San-Ti are shocked by the idea of a made-up story, yet they already communicate through one.