Primrose Azelhart
Primrose Azelhart | |
---|---|
![]() Primrose, as she appears in Octopath Traveler | |
First appearance | Octopath Traveler (2018) |
Voiced by | Laura Post (English)[1] Houko Kuwashima (Japanese)[1] |
Primrose Azelhart is a fictional character in the 2018 video game Octopath Traveler, where she serves as one of its eight protagonists.
Concept and creation[]
Primrose was created for the 2018 video game Octopath Traveler. She is a dancer who is seeking information on and revenge for the murder of her father. Primrose is described by sound producer Yasunori Nishiki as having a femininity that exudes sadness and melancholy. Primrose's story is themed around revenge, but the creators wanted to create a sense of wistfulness as well for her music theme. They added metallic sounds to the theme to represent a desert setting.[2] She is voiced by Laura Post in the English version of Octopath Traveler.[3] She and fellow Octopath protagonist Olberic were made playable in the first demo due to their relative proximity to other characters and for them showing the appeal of the game's mechanics best.[4]
Appearances[]
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Primrose appears in Octopath Traveler, as one of eight characters that players can choose to select from the start. If they do not select her to start, they must later recruit her. Primrose, along with Olberic, appears in Final Fantasy Record Keeper.[5]
Reception[]
Primrose has received mixed reception. Brittany Vincent of SyFy Wire called her the "video game heroine" of July 2018, calling her personality and story unique.[6] Mat Smith of Engadget felt her story was the highlight of the game, while Zach Wilkerson of RPGFan felt her story was "mishandled and ultimately fizzled."[7][8] Kirk Hamilton of Kotaku found her story to be interesting but clichéd, while Katharine Castle of Rock, Paper, Shotgun felt her story had been seen "a dozen times before."[9][10] Brian Gilbert of Polygon felt her story was the most compelling and the most bearable to have in the party, while Neal Ronaghan of Nintendo World Report considered her a highlight of the cast.[11][12] Scott Clay of RPGFan called her "beautiful and deadly," giving her an award during the website' game of the year awards.[13] Famitsu writer Nishikawa-kun exclaimed that they initially went with Primrose because of her sex appeal, though they regretted choosing her for such a reason after they experienced her storyline, which they compared to a "dark shounen manga." They liked Primrose's mixture of femininity, coldness, and sweetness.[14] They also exclaimed that she was popular among players.[14]
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell of Eurogamer found her gameplay mechanic of seducing people to help her in battle to be problematic due to Primrose's backstory of misogyny and sex trafficking.[15] Jess Joho called her a "grotesque cliche," criticizing the writers for using "women's trauma to give a thin character some semblance of personality or depth," while noting that this element is forgotten during lighthearted moments. Joho also finds issue with the relative darkness of her story compared to the relatively "rosy" stories of everyone else.[16]
References[]
- ^ a b "Primrose Azelhart Voice - Octopath Traveler (Video Game) | Behind The Voice Actors". behindthevoiceactors.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2019. Check mark indicates role has been confirmed using screenshots of closing credits and other reliable sources.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ Octopath Traveler soundtrack interview. Square Enix. April 25, 2018.
- ^ Tucker, Kevin (July 13, 2018). "English Voice Actors and Cast - Octopath Traveler". Shack News. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ Brian (February 11, 2018). "Project Octopath Traveler devs on the game's origins, demo feedback and improvements, much more". Nintendo Everything. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Minotti, Mike (September 17, 2018). "Final Fantasy: Record Keeper gets an Octopath Traveler event". Venture Beat. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ Vincent, Brittany (July 19, 2018). "Video Game Heroine of the Month: Primrose Azelhart, Octopath Traveler". SyFy Wire. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ Smith, Mat (July 12, 2018). "Switch RPG 'Octopath Traveler' gives you too many roles to play". Engadget. Archived from the original on June 6, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ Wilkerson, Zach. "RPGFan Games of the Year 2018 Editors' Awards". RPGFan. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ Castle, Katharine (June 7, 2019). "Wot I Think: Octopath Traveler". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Hamilton, Kirk (June 22, 2018). "Help, I Can't Decide Which Octopath Traveler Character To Start With". Kotaku. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Gilbert, Brian (July 18, 2018). "How to choose the least annoying Octopath Traveler". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Ronaghan, Neal (July 12, 2018). "Octopath Traveler (Switch) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Clay, Scott. "RPGFan Games of the Year 2018 Editors' Awards". RPGFan. Archived from the original on May 29, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ a b Nishikawa-kun (July 9, 2018). "【『オクトパストラべラー』主人公レビュー】町人を誘惑して戦わせる踊子プリムロゼ。". Famitsu. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
- ^ Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (July 13, 2018). "Octopath Traveler review - a slow but stately and compelling JRPG throwback". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on October 12, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ Joho, Jess (August 10, 2018). "We need to talk about the sexist garbage in 'Octopath Traveler'". Mashable. Archived from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
Further reading[]
- Jenni Lada (July 30, 2018). "Octopath Traveler's Ophilia And Primrose Are Complementary Characters". Siliconera. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- Female characters in video games
- Square Enix protagonists
- Video game characters introduced in 2018