As far as in-game stuff, totally. Now when you have arrangement albums and extraneous stuff, I say go wild with your imagination. I only say this because of Hamauzu's piano works and general concert arrangements of stuff, haha.
Yeah, I expect composers and arrangers to go nuts with their own dedicated arrangement albums. Harder to find that middle ground when you're returning to a game after a number of years to do an upgrade. I know a lot of people were upset with the music changes in FFX's remaster (I was mostly neutral on them) even though the original composers were involved. Perhaps not surprising that they're being very faithful to FFXII's music for its remaster, at least from what I've heard so far.
Yeah, I expect composers and arrangers to go nuts with their own dedicated arrangement albums. Harder to find that middle ground when you're returning to a game after a number of years to do an upgrade. I know a lot of people were upset with the music changes in FFX's remaster (I was mostly neutral on them) even though the original composers were involved. Perhaps not surprising that they're being very faithful to FFXII's music for its remaster, at least from what I've heard so far.
Also helps that he basically composes in an orchestral style as is. If I had to guess, likely the hardest work on XII was probably combing through the originals and figuring out what exactly didn't work with live instruments and fixing those things in orchestration.
Secret Green Passage is a weird one because, as much as I think it's way overbearing and melodramatic vs. the original, the added sections flesh it out so much.
Meanwhile I appreciate the complexity in rhythm in tracks like Pinch!!, but the other parts have barely changed to match and the style's all over the place, coming across as a sloppy jazz-fusion rather than whimsical bebop. Since it's likely by the same composer as Sophisticated Fight (Takahide Murayama), I think Pinch!! sounding so different even from SophistiFight Evo hurts it contextually and standalone. Jindo's work on Recapture and the Madrigal tracks fares much better.
It's a shame that they added that drum track to Pinch!! While it makes it feel "cooler" or gives it a better vibe, yeah you're totally right about the tone difference. Personally, I was never hot on either version (I looooooove the clarinet though!), but i'm pretty sure i'm in the minority on that one.
It's a shame that they added that drum track to Pinch!! While it makes it feel "cooler" or gives it a better vibe, yeah you're totally right about the tone difference. Personally, I was never hot on either version (I looooooove the clarinet though!), but i'm pretty sure i'm in the minority on that one.
I'm taking notes on this! I love all the Falcom music so much, but I am woefully lacking in knowledge of names to pieces/arrangements/games.
As for Ancient Makes, I totally feel like it's a matter of preference because it's a really good arrangement. I'd say I like both equally, with me just preferring one or the other based on what mood i'm in at the time.
And I actually think I would disagree with you on Rock on the Road and Setting Off, in that I don't really think they're sloppy, but more that they're arranged around the live performance. The timbre of the violin in Setting Off is definitely something that I can understand people not agreeing with, and I admit, at first I was not too hot on it, but eventually came around. What's funny is that the Evo version lacks more of the hand percussion sounds present in the original, where it's the opposite for Rock on the Road.
For Rock on the Road, I actually liked the addition of the clapping sounds because it gave a little bit more texture and movement to the piece. One minor thing that most wouldn't notice is the addition of making that open 5th sound ever-present in the A/A' section. It totally changes the feel of the piece in a not so noticeable way. But if you don't like that clapping rhythm, it totally makes since that it would ruin it for you. I don't think it necessarily makes it a disappointing arrangement because the fundamentals are all there; in this case it's just a different seasoning.
You kind of hear the same thing happen in Secret Green Passage, where I can see that B section being a complete hit or miss for people. I liked the added intensity of the clapping, guitar strumming, and added string harmonizations (that were pretty lush and filled out the sound a lot!). I can also see how abandoning the kind of low marimba syncopated pattern would rub people the wrong way.
As far as clapping goes, I also really love listening to and performing Steve Reich's Clapping Music.
As far as in-game stuff, totally. Now when you have arrangement albums and extraneous stuff, I say go wild with your imagination. I only say this because of Hamauzu's piano works and general concert arrangements of stuff, haha.
It's awesome to see someone else here who's so into analyzing Falcom music. Of the arrangements you mentioned, Secret Green Passage is definitely my favorite, though Rock on the Road is pretty good as well. Not too big a fan of Setting Off Evo though, and I still wouldn't put either of the first two above their respective original versions.
And you said you were interested in taking notes on names - It's something of a hobby of mine to try and identify composers' styles to figure out individual song credits, since Falcom doesn't provide them.
I'd rank the Evo soundtracks, by quality of arrangements compared to the originals, as Ao > Zero > FC > 3rd > SC.
Which is to say, not very well. There is one track, though, the first phase final boss theme, that I think was improved, though.
It's awesome to see someone else here who's so into analyzing Falcom music. Of the arrangements you mentioned, Secret Green Passage is definitely my favorite, though Rock on the Road is pretty good as well. Not too big a fan of Setting Off Evo though, and I still wouldn't put either of the first two above their respective original versions.
And you said you were interested in taking notes on names - It's something of a hobby of mine to try and identify composers' styles to figure out individual song credits, since Falcom doesn't provide them.
Yeah, their output is somewhat of an enigma at times because of the way they credit everything. And while some of them have easily identifiable traits, I find that their output is much more unified than a lot of other companies that have multiple composers working on something, which makes it tough for me at times. That said, I love their music enough and feel like it all deserves to have a close look done, and it really brings me joy just figuring out how they make things tick.
Yeah, their output is somewhat of an enigma at times because of the way they credit everything. And while some of them have easily identifiable traits, I find that their output is much more unified than a lot of other companies that have multiple composers working on something, which makes it tough for me at times. That said, I love their music enough and feel like it all deserves to have a close look done, and it really brings me joy just figuring out how they make things tick.
I actually feel like the majority of tracks can be pretty easily attributed once you've done enough listening to determine composers' individual styles, based off of the known tracks for each. I've even wrote up spreadsheets of my thoughts on the matter, and some others I know have done the same. I'd definitely be down to discuss the matter further if you want.
Vita got enhanced "Evo" versions of all the PSP Trails games in Japan (fully ? voiced, re-arranged OSTs, some gameplay enhancements etc.). They are behind a licensing hell (Falcolm didn't do them themselves and there are several companies involved) so prooobably never gonna happen (officially) outside Japan.
So, got to Ch9 of SC... Wowza. Also glad to have my DPS-nukes back finally.
I take it the Aureole was basically some God-AI/babysitter that ended up being Asimov's Nightmare? And that had Auslese not sealed it, we'd have been looking at a Fall of the Eldar scenario in play?
Also it bugs the HELL out of me that all the roads in
Liber Ark
are all based off of Japan's weirdo left-side road infrastructure.
I'm not really at all excited to see TitS characters for CS3...I'm left completely satisfied with how their story ended...I want to see Class VII as I'm still salty about CS2's ending
I'm not really at all excited to see TitS characters for CS3...I'm left completely satisfied with how their story ended...I want to see Class VII as I'm still salty about CS2's ending
They're not mutually exclusive, and I hope Class VII returns when its members best fit the plot and overall story that's hopefully concluding in this game.
Teasing Tita and Agate for CS3 one day before 3rd release here is either 4-dimensional chess from Falcom or either a happy coincidence. Either way I'm hyped.
Looks like Tita lost the hat and Agate lost the mullet. If these are the TiTS characters they chose to represent Liberl then I am more than satisfied. I'm sure they'll do them justice.
I'm not exactly sure what Agate will be up to in Erebonia. Considering he is the mysterious person talking to Major Michael in that one screenshot corroborates my theory that Michael is the son of General Morgan; one Liberlian to another.
If FC took me about 70 and SC was about 120, will it be longer than that for me playing 3rd?
I'm not at all keen to see those 2 return in CS3. How old is she at that point, about 16? If they're in a relationship it will retcon a whole lot of creepiness into 2 of my favourite ever games.
is not in Cold Steel 3. Estelle retired from the Bracer business and is now an Orbal electrician in Erebonia.
Agate
took a wrong turn going to Ravennue from Rolent after a long night of drinking and didn't arise from his blackout until he reached the Imperial capital.
I actually feel like the majority of tracks can be pretty easily attributed once you've done enough listening to determine composers' individual styles, based off of the known tracks for each. I've even wrote up spreadsheets of my thoughts on the matter, and some others I know have done the same. I'd definitely be down to discuss the matter further if you want.
took a wrong turn going to Ravennue from Rolent after a long night of drinking and didn't arise from his blackout until he reached the Imperial capital.
That's not creepy in any way and certainly doesn't imply inbreeding over the years, considering the
millennium long generation gap.
But uh, anyway...
The Arks/Zemurian society was a direct-democracy, right? And yet the world following after is mostly composed of monarchies. Did the leaders who saved humanity from the Aureole basically decide "Fuck it, that shit proved Humanity isn't worthy of democracy, time to be a dictator." or something?
It's no different from our Earth in that sense, but I suspect Liberl's leading families learned from their failures during the Great Collapse and wanted to prove they could establish their own control over the country, rather than
It's no different from our Earth in that sense, but I suspect Liberl's leading families learned from their failures during the Great Collapse and wanted to prove they could establish their own control over the country, rather than
doesn't exactly develop overnight, "Gifts from the Goddess" or not. Going from that to, well, even what Liberl is in the present, as liberal as Liberl (Yeah I don't think Falcom actually intended that pun at all), is still easily a millennium or two of social regression on a scale I don't think any society in human history, even Cambodia, has ever experienced. Say what you want about the Roman Republic, but it wasn't exactly as much of Utopia compared to what followed as some would like to think, so even that wasn't much of a societal regression. I mean as far as Liberlian politics goes, I'd like to note that constitutional monarchies are a rather recent development in human history. There's no way Liberl went 1,000 years without some Absolutist dictator taking the throne at some point/several points - I mean, the regions north of Liberl certainly didn't!
I mean, I see no reason to believe that the idea of democracy was contingent on
the Aureole
, and that it
being sealed
necessitated a few people consolidating political power over all of humanity. Unless of course
the Chemical Bliss of the Aureole was that bad that the majority of humanity's population post-Aureole could not be trusted with a democratic voice.
EDIT:
WTF? Olivier's Lute is
a machinegun
?!
You crazy, Olivier. That, or the Erebonian engineer who designed that.
EDIT:
Why do I have the serious most paranoid feeling here that I'm
playing MacGuffin Delivery Service for Weissman by carrying this Gospel around which is most definitely the key to fully unlocking the Aureole?
I mean it all makes sense of why they tried to kidnap Klaudia and Alicia earlier. A "diversion" was completely pointless at the time they did so, it wasn't like Estelle could get up to the Ark to interfere at that point anyway. And of course,
even if they failed to capture them, the border incident and ultimatum would end up baiting Klaudia to go up to the Ark to procure a genuine Gospel for them of her own will.
Does TitS SC on Steam still glitch out during the lead-up to the (Chapter 9 spoiler)
Axis Pillar
? It invariably skips an entire section when you leave the underground. You have to backtrack to the previous screen in order to see the correct sequence.
Does TitS SC on Steam still glitch out during the lead-up to the (Chapter 9 spoiler)
Axis Pillar
? It invariably skips an entire section when you leave the underground. You have to backtrack to the previous screen in order to see the correct sequence.
Was the Liber Ark evacuated, or did Auslese and co just abandon everyone mind-controlled by the Aureole to just starve to death on the thing once it got thrown into the other dimension?
You guys, I never want to go to the fucking Grancel sewers EVER AGAIN. One of the things that annoys me the most about SC is all the rehash, even if some of it is optional.
(And shit, one of the monster hunts in there was unfairly difficult.)
Steam versions of TitS FC and TitS SC were just patched, FC getting a hefty 400MB update. Seems the intro FMV was replaced with a higher spec version that plays at a resolution of 1920x960 @ 60fps. Guess they did some extreme frame-blending like those "HD" ps1 fmv remasters you see on youtube these days. Weird thing is, the video runs fairly wonky in-game (from the title screen menu) for me, skipping tons of frames at random times. If I play the video file outside the game using MPC or WMP it's much better and consistent. There's also some weird artifacts that occasionally pop up, but that might be a side-effect of the video being run at 60fps.
On a whim I checked SC too and apparently xseed had already replaced the intro and ending FMVs there too at some point and I hadn't noticed. In-game they also chug along at something less than 60fps only to skip forward in spurts (probably to keep in sync with the audio). It's worse when there's a lot of activity on the screen.
SC starts off immediately where FC left off, and it's a weird feeling. Most games give you that "and so 1-2 months passed" breather, but SC immediately puts you in the shoes of Estelle after the intense fallout of the first game, and to great effect. Estelle's denial and bitter hope that
Joshua is at home in Rolent
is downright visceral, and the run back to Rolent is painful. It's like, FC's ending was already incredibly emotional, but the game immediately doubles down on it for even more despair. Fortunately, Estelle's resolve is restored pretty quick, and the game officially starts off in an uplifting manner. I gotta say, Cassius's speech to Estelle before she left was amazing, and it really shows just how different Trails in the Sky is from other RPGs. I was expecting the usual "I can't let my daughter fight scary monsters", but the game draws attention to that, and immediately subverts it in the best way possible. Trails in the Sky is just so unexpectedly feminist for a mid 2000s game; it was evident throughout FC (especially during the Queen Alecia arc) but that scene just makes it so damn clear. It's honestly pretty hard to find games that are empowering to women in a natural, excellent way.
Anyway, the game introduces Father Kevin (who immediately makes the best damn first impression), and it re-introduces you to Anelace as this badass party member only to immediately cut you off her by the end of the prologue! It makes sense, giving Estelle and Anelace parallel journey for character development, and I love the idea of having her as a rival. But I also loved having her by my side so b a d l y. The Le Loche training arc was enjoyable, and I was actually fooled by
the fake take over
. I initially could not roll my eyes harder at how try hard the Jaegers were, and I was terrified at the prospect of "losing" to them, and then having to fight them later on. Fortunately the game subverted expectations yet again, and the resolution was really sweet. It can't be stressed much the developers love their characters.
That's about it for the prologue. I chose to have Agate as my partner going forward (more on him in a bit) and I do not regret that one bit. I actually already beat Chapter 1, so expect another update sometime soonish.
Oh boy, I can't wait to see how much their relationship has developed.....said no one. Because let's be honest, she's likely old enough in CS3 for Falcom to try and push more than just friendship between them.
Oh boy, I can't wait to see how much their relationship has developed.....said no one. Because let's be honest, she's likely old enough in CS3 for Falcom to try and push more than just friendship between them.
Man, I knew this was coming. And Falcom doesn't shy away from these kinds of situations these days because their fanbase eat it up. Agate closing in on 30 would have me believe they won't go down that road, though.
A game with meticulous world building, with a main story that comes together relatively slowly but effectively. It's not bombastic, so don't go in expecting that.
Someone said it's good to approach it like a fantasy novel series, and I'd say that's a good way to look at it.
Combat is a bit slow, assuming you are playing on PC you can use cheat engine and increase the game speed.
Harder to find that middle ground when you're returning to a game after a number of years to do an upgrade. I know a lot of people were upset with the music changes in FFX's remaster (I was mostly neutral on them) even though the original composers were involved. Perhaps not surprising that they're being very faithful to FFXII's music for its remaster, at least from what I've heard so far.
