Same here. 3rd has just made things worse. ~_~
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The Kiseki / Trails (of the Sky/Zero/Ao/Sen/Etc) Community Thread: SPOILERTAGS OR DIE
- Thread starter Bebpo
- Start date
Same here. 3rd has just made things worse. ~_~
I'm almost tempted to see if I can learn to read Japanese but it appears to be so daunting, it'd probably take me years, by that time they'd be out in English (I hope) and I wouldn't even know where to start
Yeah, I... I want to play them them in my native tongue at least. Preferably localized by XSEED. The dialogue in these games is some of the most naturalistic in games and I'd miss that aspect a lot if it wasn't there.
The Ao patch mixes spreadsheet translations with machine translations. This means readable parts become an incoherent mess.. I would say stick to the spreadsheet, way more playable.
Still the quality is somewhat similar to a fansub. I wouldn't recommend it. If you can deal with that, you'll still get a great experience from playing it.
Just finished 3rd. Last time I entered the Trails world was last year finishing CSII.
When I started the game, my initial thoughts were about how bad the story framing was. Seriously, some sort of otherworld/parallel universe and piling up huge amounts of story dumps behind doors??! I felt it was extremely lazy compared to any of the other Trails games. None of that mattered to me in the end because the doors gave me more of what I want most from the series : Explanations of how the world works and seeing the history and interactions among the cast. I also liked how the story ties Phantasma to Kevin's past and his character development throughout the game.
I kinda wished i played 3rd before Cold Steel. A few of those doors basically sets up or hints the conflicts that happen in Cold Steel and I imagine in Ao and Zero as well. The payoff must have been quite awesome for fans that have played the games in order of original release i suppose
And man Star Door 15...was not expecting that.
Now here I am feeling a bit sad just like after I finished CSII. Sad that I had to leave the wonderful universe Falcom created and waiting ever so patiently for the next entry in the series.
When I started the game, my initial thoughts were about how bad the story framing was. Seriously, some sort of otherworld/parallel universe and piling up huge amounts of story dumps behind doors??! I felt it was extremely lazy compared to any of the other Trails games. None of that mattered to me in the end because the doors gave me more of what I want most from the series : Explanations of how the world works and seeing the history and interactions among the cast. I also liked how the story ties Phantasma to Kevin's past and his character development throughout the game.
I kinda wished i played 3rd before Cold Steel. A few of those doors basically sets up or hints the conflicts that happen in Cold Steel and I imagine in Ao and Zero as well. The payoff must have been quite awesome for fans that have played the games in order of original release i suppose
And man Star Door 15...was not expecting that.
Now here I am feeling a bit sad just like after I finished CSII. Sad that I had to leave the wonderful universe Falcom created and waiting ever so patiently for the next entry in the series.
Do you have a link to said spreadsheet ?
Here ya go.
There are some errors with the names and there's still much untranslated, but it's better than nothing.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
lmao of course Gaius is talking about the wind on his first screenshot on the CS3 page
Thanks, looks like I'll be able to play both crossbell game now, while waiting for Xseed to finally one day bring them over so I can buy a few copies. I'll probably talk less with NPC while waiting for maybe one day the official release.
Sinh_Magnus
Member
I also used this to play the crosbell games. Like Thud said it's not recommendable, but if you have the time and feel like playing those games now it's the only option for people that don't know any japanese.
I think it's decent enough to have a great time with the main story. Zero's is 99% translated but the quality varies between parts of the game.
Ao's only playable using those spreadsheets (only the main story and not all sidequest are translated) -I think using any kind of google translate is a misservice, that's my opinion though-. I will recommend looking for a patch that translates arts/quartz/crafts/items for quality of life. There's also a voice patch that makes Ao much more epic, but that's maybe just me.
Scrooge McDuck
Member
Have you done the second part of Moon Door 1?
Ugh, that was it. Thanks!
hans_castorp
Member
Actually there is a newer
Spreadsheet with some corrections. It's just some minor fixes, but still better than nothing.
So trails of cold steel on Steamspy recently passed a minor, but important milestone: It has now surpassed the number of copies sold by trails in the sky: the third. (... Assuming that variation doesn't change the numbers around a bit). For reference, it's currently 16,468 ± 3,533 copies vs 15,872 ± 3,469, but the important thing is that Trails of cold steel's audience on pc is not being limited by how many people have beaten the third.
...This may seen obvious if you even just check out the gaf OT for the game, but it's still a good sign for the series as a whole. And it's still early days for a game relying on word of mouth, too.
...This may seen obvious if you even just check out the gaf OT for the game, but it's still a good sign for the series as a whole. And it's still early days for a game relying on word of mouth, too.
Basileus777
Member
CS is also selling much better than SC did at release, at a higher price point even.
It makes sense. Cold Steel is a natural onboarding point for new fans since it is "new" series start rather than a continuation of a previous story (SC or 3rd).
I've been playing it and it really does feel a lot like going through FC again. Very slow pacing to start with and lots of local flavors. If it wasn't for the dumb high school anime tropes, the game might be as good as FC.
I've been playing it and it really does feel a lot like going through FC again. Very slow pacing to start with and lots of local flavors. If it wasn't for the dumb high school anime tropes, the game might be as good as FC.
I'm almost tempted to see if I can learn to read Japanese but it appears to be so daunting, it'd probably take me years, by that time they'd be out in English (I hope) and I wouldn't even know where to start
Totally worth it just to appreciate the little stuff present in the language that doesn't always get across properly in English.
If it wasn't for the (CS1)
in media res opening that doesn't quite stick the landing when you reach that point in game
As is it's very close for different reasons.
And BOY OH BOY that Trails to Zero game sure sounds interesting! I'd love to play it some day, and recommend it to all my friends.
Good thing there's a city library for the newcomers to read through and catch up with all the terminology and past events. Except they won't know who Anton is.
He has to protect his secret identify as
the Grandmaster of Ouroboros, secretly observing every action of our heroes with a perfect disguise that no one could ever question.
hans_castorp
Member
Sadly, it is not a good start point. Playing The 3rd is pretty much required
I hope one day we'll get Crossbell localised. There are so many NPC I want to see translated by XSEED. And Wazy, specially Wazy
Sinh_Magnus
Member
I feel Cold Steel is a better starting point for the franchise than Zero. That's my opinion though, but If I hadn't given Cold Steel a chance, I would have never completed SC, played 3rd and then crosbell.
Yep, it's selling faster than both SC and The 3rd but slower than FC, which is pretty decent I guess.
Btw, according to Falcom's last financial report, CS 1 and 2 have sold more than one million copies cumulatively. It's pretty damn good for such a niche series.
I'm in Chapter 6 of Cold Steel now and it's definitely a good starting point.
But there also a number of references, hints and nods that rely on TitS knowledge. Those have been significantly enhancing my experience in various ways : )
I grinned like an idiot when (Chapter 6)
Or, (Chapter 4)
But there also a number of references, hints and nods that rely on TitS knowledge. Those have been significantly enhancing my experience in various ways : )
I grinned like an idiot when (Chapter 6)
Towa showed Rean the recording about their school festival event and they actually performed Cry For Me, Cry For You.
Rean going berserk sure feels similiar to a Stigma :thinking.
CS is selling better, but not according to that information. The standard error is in the same order of magnitude. The 3rd could be on 19k and CS could be on 13k.
Not to mention that below 30k sales the estimate may be off by more. However CS is also selling better on other platforms in a smaller window of time. Of course CS was also on PS3/Vita and went on sale frequently. The 3rd only has PC sales for its western audience.
You're not wrong. Just be careful with your conclusions solely based on steamspy in the future.
Hence my "Assuming variation doesn't effect things" bit. To play devil's advocate, it's possible that Cold Steel passed the third a while ago, and it being a recent release had an effect on the numbers. (And of course, the variation you mentioned goes both ways)
Anyway, the actual specific numbers are relatively unimportant, the point is the trend the game is setting for sales in the future. But it's nice to have a more concrete milestone for comparison.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
yea but that Sara CS2 scene though
It's surprisingly good!
It's probably the best example of anime ass teacher/student romance in gaming imo.
But going back to my point; entire threads have been derailed because of "waifu" wars for Persona. So many people have different ideas when it comes to shipping their swagtagonistic self insert with someone. But with Rean? You get a couple of people pushing certain pairings, but there's not much enthusiasm/borderline obsession for them. I know, CS is a lot more niche and the fanbase is different, but I still find it amusing that entire threads don't devolve into "who's the best waifu" like with Persona.
It's definitely, definitely appreciated though.
The elephant in the room I think is actually probably more Alisa. Sure Instructor Sara's the best, and sure
Crow's
...Although this hasn't stopped other shows/games, thinking about it. Hmm.
godisntheradio
Neo Member
i think it's because there's a canon pairing? i've only seen
scenes and only the first scene in the
in CS2, but the impression i got is that with other girls is platonic(?) while with
is a fully realized relationship, it that it?
Also, it's a pretty small part of the game, smaller than persona i would say, and they pair other characters too
alisa's end game
finale with laura
alisa
Also, it's a pretty small part of the game, smaller than persona i would say, and they pair other characters too
fiona and neinhart
Would rather ship the side characters with each other than MC x girl with any relevance in story. And this entire series did technically start with a legit pairing, anyway. Followed by Kevin and Ries if you want to include those two. And then side pairings.
ResourcefulStar
Neo Member
Clearly, Towa, Fie, and Millium are the only real options because their height is optimal for head patting.
Glitter and Gold
Banned
I will never get why this matters so much
That's because Rean isn't a self insert. So I just hooked him up with who he deserves: Alisa.
In Persona I pick my favorite or go the harem route.
In CS it's pretty hard to chose. All great woman.
Scrooge McDuck
Member
It has got nothing to do with Rean. Trails fans are simply more sophisticated.
(I'm kidding)
But seriously, I think it's less about people not liking Rean (who I like more than the Persona mains anyway by virtue of me actually knowing how he thinks) and more about the game not really setting the player to "chase the girls and solve their problems", so to speak.
Not just Rean, I mean, who's the Makoto or Chie in CS? Also, in Persona games you can at least complete most social links in one playthrough, so people get to know each character. In CS your "free-slots" are so limited that some characters are bound to be ignored.
Scrooge McDuck
Member
Honestly, this just comes off to me as "Persona has better waifu."
I can't understate how much unlimited bonding points improves the Cold Steel experience. Granted I still have some problems with the conversations still, but I feel like I actually know Class VII better. Falcom really screwed up with those arbitrary limits and no one can convince me otherwise.
Also thanks to Turbo Mode it's a lot easier to enjoy the school conversations too. Why yes, I WILL take the time to talk to Patricia and Thomas and Rosine every day!
Life's easier when you're Rean Coldsteel the Hedgehog.
Also thanks to Turbo Mode it's a lot easier to enjoy the school conversations too. Why yes, I WILL take the time to talk to Patricia and Thomas and Rosine every day!
Life's easier when you're Rean Coldsteel the Hedgehog.
Wait, Rean is disliked?
He's no Estelle or Kevin, but so far I find him pretty cool.
Like, he's the 'good guy with secrets, who's really sharp except when it comes to love' template, but he still has this certain... charm to him? I find his earnestness very endearing and he's certainly much more likeable than the various self-insert protags sharing the same base template.
I dunno how much of it is the superior english translation and dub though, I've watched some scenes in japanese and he sounds more plain there.
He's no Estelle or Kevin, but so far I find him pretty cool.
Like, he's the 'good guy with secrets, who's really sharp except when it comes to love' template, but he still has this certain... charm to him? I find his earnestness very endearing and he's certainly much more likeable than the various self-insert protags sharing the same base template.
I dunno how much of it is the superior english translation and dub though, I've watched some scenes in japanese and he sounds more plain there.
Soejima is one of the best human character designers in the business, which probably has something to do with it. The modern Persona casts make an immediate impression as being stylish and cool, which makes for good waifu and husbando potential.
Not to say the cold steel cast are badly designed, but they don't really compare well in this specific aspect. They spend the entire first game in variations of the same uniform, for example, which makes sense, but isn't visually interesting.
...Actually, question: How is the Japanese fanbase in regards to waifu/husbando culture?
Cold Steel has a better male cast, though. Wafius schmaifus.
I've only learned of this after I was already too far in <.<
But then again, putting it on easy and going full turbo would make a New Game+ only a couple hours, so I'll probably do that then, lol.
That said, I've just read up on how New Game+ works here and that point system sounds like utter idiocy, along with the bonding points. What the hell was Falcom thinking.
The last thing an 80+ hours game needs is 'locking' content behind New Game+ and not have everything automatically carry over.
Does Cold Steel 2 have a similar system? If yes I'll certainly start that one with unlimited bonding points and whatever other fancy stuff there is.
Cold Steel 2 does the same thing. The new game plus system could be better but you have enough points to carry over everything from your first playthrough, it's just the bonuses you don't get if you do that.
I think it's that, but I also Trails just has much better female characters in general, too.