CrimsonFist
Member
I'd be shocked if Cold Steel 3 wasn't announced for PC when the localisation gets confirmed.
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The Kiseki / Trails (of the Sky/Zero/Ao/Sen/Etc) Community Thread: SPOILERTAGS OR DIE
- Thread starter Bebpo
- Start date
Welp, so much for thinking Xseed has learned something. Sigh.
Why do they put so much effort into their products and then fuck up the 'get the product to people' step so hard. every. single. time.
2 is confirmed. 3 is probably coming day-to-day with the western console release, maybe a couple weeks later.
I swear, sometimes I just feel like saying "I'll help advertise your stuff for free. I have NO idea what to do, but I'll think of something."
...This isn't very helpful though. There seems to be a decentish buzz on gaf thanks to the Durante blog posts, but I'm 99% sure this doesn't translate very well to elsewhere. (It doesn't help that if you want the best experience possible, there's 3 (or rather, 5) lengthy JRPGs in the way of playing it for the first time, and there's a definite split in opinion on just how important these games are.)
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
Is XSEED really not even trying to court popular channels and streamers for some kind of indirect showcasing? That's a BSOD for this company if so, since their competitors, while not great at doing that either, have the leg up already in social media and presumably streaming. I wonder what it'll take for real change at the company that wouldn't generate from irreversible damage to their market prospects.
Whether or not CS PC sells well, it feels like we're damned-if-we-do-damned-if-we-don't re: this company's failure to market and keep people interested in the kind of work they do.
sorathecrow
Neo Member
XSEED has always just had that mentality of push it out with minimal fanfare and hope fans do all the work. They're at least doing...blog posts on tumblr...but their tumblr page has very limited reach. If only they could get some more influential voices talking about their games. Considering how intensive the effort must be to localize these games, you'd think they'd throw a little more obvious effort into social media marketing, at least.
posted on their twitter
also sounds like Durante's third blog post will be up on launch day
also Crow will have more lines
Ah. I was excited to play Cold Steel after playing the Sky trilogy.
But looking at that pic, is it one of those games?
sorathecrow
Neo Member
No.
Yeah, i'm not feeling that image at all. In fact, if they were hoping to sell Cold Steel to a broader audience they couldn't have picked a worse image.
Fortunately, no. It's less sketchy than Persona even.
Fortunately, no. It's less sketchy than Persona even.
I remember actually being surprised at how conservative the game actually is in that department. Incredibly mild spoilers to put you at ease:
There are swimsuits in the game, but they actually look like something you'd wear for swimming. And there aren't any indecent cgs or anything like that. If there's a section with characters in swimsuits, it's because they actually want to do a water based scene.
It really wouldn't even make sense for them to be concerned with this when even Falcom themselves treat CS as a jumping on point.
Rean's "Instructor!" line is significantly better delivered as well
Him having more voiced lines in general is just
RADICAL
No the headpetting is in the sequel.
Holundrian
Unconfirmed Member
the port looks truly fantastic. A part of me wants to replay too despite already platting it but I catch myself not remembering a lot of stuff. But not this year I'll try to buy it soonish though to support the series.
hans_castorp
Member
Can't wait for Cold Steel III to see Valimar head-patting Metal Gear Tita.
Keep that headpatting loser away from Tita. And Tio.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
Hasn't he been working on that since he finished translating Zero? That's probably over a year's worth of work.
That's still incredibly fast for someone who isn't working on this professionally, and has to go through millions and millions of characters.
CertifiedFP
Member
Just beat third. Really running against the clock there for Cold Steel's PC release >.> like I did beating SC mere hours before 3rd's release.
It's around 12 hours from release and Cold Steel still doesn't have a Steam trailer besides the voice comparison one. I youtubed "Trails of Cold Steel trailer" and found at least three other trailers that they put out before for the PS3 release.
I love you, XSEED, but you need to do better with your marketing.
I love you, XSEED, but you need to do better with your marketing.
CertifiedFP
Member
On this subject... That was before they localized a Fate/ game. Fate/ is a bloody behemoth of an IP with far much more western popularity than Trails. It's not unreasonable to think that their marketing budget this quarter got blown on Fate/Extella for Switch and PC.
And if it did, it was probably a good call. I'd wager Fate/Extella on PC in one week has already outdone SC and 3rd combined in revenue looking at Steamspy.
You don't need much of a marketing budget to promote your games on Social Media and Youtube. Making a trailer probably costs some moneys, but not having a proper trailer for a game on launch day is an extremely bad showing. Maybe they plan on putting it out today when it really launches and want to concentrate their efforts on the launch week period? Since preorders aren't a thing.
And I would hope that Fate outsells SC and 3rd, since those are heavily gimped by being not standalone.
But this is even more so why I think they should've put a lot of effort into Cold Steel, since this is a new entry point into one of their key franchises and does not require completing other long-ass games previously. Aka, it doesn't have the built-in target audience limiter that SC and 3rd have.
I see your point, but it shouldn't cost very much money to throw up a trailer on Steam, right? These trailers exist, they were made by XSEED for the PS3 release, it should be a pretty easy task to just throw them up on the Steam store.
The old trailers obviously use the inferior PS3 footage, but it would at least give people an idea of what to expect.
Tbf you'd want make new trailers with the PC graphic settings. But yeah, at least they'd give an idea of what the game is about.
For Xseed it's usually around 10AM right?
EDIT: I'm on west coast so it's probably later for some of you
man not even a countdown this time, huh? I remember the anticipation of Sky SC's release
Either in 8:30 hours or 9:30 hours, I always forget.
Which is 6 or 7pm in my timezone.
1,629,086 to be exactly. I opened the spreadsheet he's working in and can verify that he's almost halfway through.
Dragon1893
Member
Can't blame XSeed for pushing the waifu angle to get more sales, but no, it's not that kind of game.
Kresnik258
Member
posted on their twitter
also sounds like Durante's third blog post will be up on launch day
also Crow will have more lines
Why on earth would you choose that picture to promote the game?
(Well, I know why, but still... what a poor choice)
Sinh_Magnus
Member
Correct me if I'm remembering wrong, but that picture doesn't even make much sense with the game script
Though I'm okay with it if it contributes to more sales.
I suppose we still have 4 hours or so until the game is made available.
since the hot spring events happen in CS2
Though I'm okay with it if it contributes to more sales.
I suppose we still have 4 hours or so until the game is made available.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
Once it releases and I'm home from work I'll start looking into setting up first playthrough NG+. Not going to spend much time on it today as today I finally get to start the 3rd.
Palette Swap
Member
Damn, I hate that promo pic.
Congratulations! I have to ask, like I have to ask anyone who finishes Ao... (Ao spoiler)Well that was Ao. So many barriers have been passed when making this game.
Final dungeon was great. That final boss was a pain tho.
I hope to see it localised.
Did Azure Demiourgos use the Great Space-Time Collapse on you?
Isn't there a hot springs scene in the drama cd?
Palette Swap
Member
There is. It's the beauty of (CS spoilers)
that missing month
CertifiedFP
Member
Let's just hope the "No Japanese voices, no buy!!!!!11!!1!!!" bitchmoaners don't cut into sales too much.
I'm more surprised it's not part of the Steam Trading Cards for the game
Maybe it's a background?
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Oh for fuck's sake....
posted on their twitter
No, but it does have a few stupid/sketchy moments like that. They're 80 hours games both, so it's a tiny fraction of the game and pretty inconsequential, but it's still dumb and annoying, and that the marketing would focus on this sends all kinds of wrong message. SMH Xseed...
I'd actually struggle to call most of the sketchy scenes fanservice, even if I do know exactly what you're on about. To be frank, the models just aren't good enough for that sort of thing, and the writing for those scenes is surprisingly tame? I'd *almost* say they were just doing it for the comedy.
... If the scenes were funny. Which they aren't.
But that promo image is worse than anything in the game proper, so anyone who's going in for that sort of thing is going to be disappointed regardless.
sorathecrow
Neo Member
Even in that image they're hardly showing that much skin. I think both FC and SC had hot springs scenes too. It's not that big of a deal--they never play them for overly risque. I mean if one relatively tame image like this is enough to turn you off, welp, okay.
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
That promo image was certainly made for the cut Ymir intermission chapter, and let's just be glad we didn't get that in the game (judging by the translated CD drama, it would have been an annoying waste of effort aside from
's conversation).
Re: Fate/Extella marketing, it's debatable how much of that can even be credited to XSEED. Marvelous JP definitely paid to get the port featured on an Nintendo Direct a while back, but Marvelous Europe's been on the forefront of social media talking about the game or just reminding people of the release. XSEED did a few posts here and there on Twitter/Facebook, not much more than what CS PC's received, and it's selling well mainly because Fate fans are plunking down in hopes of getting more franchise games up on PC. Meanwhile XSEED hasn't even promoted Durante's own videos showing off how the port performs, including a really nice draw-distance comparison showing off the Settlement Site at Nord. They could have put the latter up on the store page a week ago!
Angelica
Re: Fate/Extella marketing, it's debatable how much of that can even be credited to XSEED. Marvelous JP definitely paid to get the port featured on an Nintendo Direct a while back, but Marvelous Europe's been on the forefront of social media talking about the game or just reminding people of the release. XSEED did a few posts here and there on Twitter/Facebook, not much more than what CS PC's received, and it's selling well mainly because Fate fans are plunking down in hopes of getting more franchise games up on PC. Meanwhile XSEED hasn't even promoted Durante's own videos showing off how the port performs, including a really nice draw-distance comparison showing off the Settlement Site at Nord. They could have put the latter up on the store page a week ago!
Sinh_Magnus
Member
I thought I was remembering wrong, and like some have said, it was on the drama chapter. It was fun, though in my mind I remember the scene with
the most.
Edit: ^Heh Don't know why I'm hidding spoilers
Angelica
Edit: ^Heh Don't know why I'm hidding spoilers