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[Bebpo]

I just wish that they would commit to any individual scene either being voiced or silent. The constant switching back in forth mid-scene is the main thing that bugs me. Not sure if that's any better or not in the new one.

It's funny when you have a scene where 1 character is voiced but everyone else isn't (including the main character).

I actually get what they're going for. Voiced lines are voiced for emphasis, like using bold text. But it's still silly.

My favorite Falcom games are Zero & Ao which I played as the Evo versions which were 100% voiced down to npcs. It was such a great experience. I honestly cannot imagine playing Ao without full voice because Randy's arc and the emotional range of Shinichiro Miki's performance in delivering it is what really sells that game. In like 20 years of voiced games, that performance is one of the top 5 I've ever heard. It's the only game in the series I'd actually like to replay sometime because of the VA.

I'm still ok with how it is right now because at least all the important scenes are voiced. But for consistency it sucks not having full voice for the main story. If it was me I'd also like them to go the extra mile and have the friendship event scenes be voiced to make them feel more worth it.

 

[Holundrian]

Going by my experience with Tokyo Xanadu ex and Dragon Quest 11 this year I feel it's more important to retain a pattern with what is voiced and what isn't I feel like an unevenness is way more jarring than the complete lack.
So the whole Falcom thing of having 1 character voiced when all others aren't in a single conversation, I'm not a fan at all of that.

Like I understand that there are budget constraints but I still feel at least TX could have been handled way better on that front by being more selective about what is voiced.
I'd also say the niar calls to you being voiced is such a weird messup in priority.

No judgement on sen 3 yet.

 

[Bebpo]

Yeah, as much as I want voice here I'm loving DQXI with no voice at all and it doesn't really bother me. I also had no problem with the Sky games being totally non-voiced and enjoyed them all. It's definitely a consistency thing, like they're going for movie cutscenes but not all the way.

 

[Moonlight]

I might be in the minority, but the idea of going to Calvard ASAP isn't something I'm super attached to. I mean, of course I wanna get there, but as long as a new Trails is being made and a lot of stuff happens or is being set up in them, I'm not really fussed on what number the game has on it. Going through another cliffhanger will suck, yeah, but I don't know, the main thing that matters to me is just getting to play more and having assurance it's being told to Falcom's own satisfaction.

 

[Kvik]

I'm not averse to the idea of going elsewhere in Zemuria; for example, North Ambria would be interesting to see. However playing as Rean in three games is the limit for me. It's not like Estelle whom I can play in 20 games without getting bored.

 

[PK Gaming]

It's highly doubtful they'll bring back Rean for a fourpeat. Following 3rd's lead by using one of the newly established characters as the new protagonist is very much in the cards. The question is, who?

 

[Aters]

It's highly doubtful they'll bring back Rean for a fourpeat. Following 3rd's lead by using one of the newly established characters as the new protagonist is very much in the cards. The question is, who?

How do you even know that? If it was originally planned as one game, no way they would swap protagonist in the middle.

 

[PK Gaming]

How do you even know that? If it was originally planned as one game, no way they would swap protagonist in the middle.

I just don't see them doing it. I'm pretty sure they've experienced the burnout of using Rean 3 times now. A fourth playthrough would be a bit much. Better to wrap things up with a new character (see Kevin + 3rd) then to just follow Rean the entire way through again.

I could be wrong of course. And I often am, but it's a gut feeling of mine.

 

[Moonlight]

If the main character of CS4 is not Juna I will buy someone in this thread an English copy of CS3. That's how confident I am, lol

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I don't care who the "main character" of Cold Steel IV is. Just give me playable Patrick and I'll be content.

 

[Beelerzebub]

MC for TOCS IV needs to be Lechter. I don't think it will be, but it should be.

 

[Bebpo]

I've always thought it would've been cool if Rean was the MC for 1&2 and the main antagonist for 3&4. Like you start out liking him in 1 then grow to hate him by the end of 2 and then fight against him in the second half. Has any rpg even done that where your MC becomes the villian and you end up playing as someone else against them.

Considering how much some of us hated Rean by the end of 2, and that Crossbell section, they could've totally gone that direction.

 

[Nyoro SF]

I've enjoyed every Kiseki game I've ever played so even if Rean Bean Machine was the protagonist again I'm sure I'd enjoy it.

 

[PK Gaming]

I've always thought it would've been cool if Rean was the MC for 1&2 and the main antagonist for 3&4. Like you start out liking him in 1 then grow to hate him by the end of 2 and then fight against him in the second half. Has any rpg even done that where your MC becomes the villian and you end up playing as someone else against them.

Considering how much some of us hated Rean by the end of 2, and that Crossbell section, they could've totally gone that direction.

Seems a bit too cheesy, to be honest. Especially since there's no real set up that would make it land; it'd just come across as a silly contrivance for the sake of shock value. Besides, there are established antagonists that they need to deal with (namely

Spoiler

Osborne

).

The

Spoiler

divertissement was the extent of it, imo.

 

[Baliis]

I've always thought it would've been cool if Rean was the MC for 1&2 and the main antagonist for 3&4. Like you start out liking him in 1 then grow to hate him by the end of 2 and then fight against him in the second half. Has any rpg even done that where your MC becomes the villian and you end up playing as someone else against them.

Considering how much some of us hated Rean by the end of 2, and that Crossbell section, they could've totally gone that direction.

I think

Spoiler

Baten Kaitos

did something like this.

 

[Beelerzebub]

I've enjoyed every Kiseki game I've ever played so even if Rean Bean Machine was the protagonist again I'm sure I'd enjoy it.

Rean Bean Machine is the best name for Rean. Also, even though I think Rean will be the protagonist of IV, a part of me hopes it will be Lloyd.

 

[MKIL65]

TOCS IV's MC should be...

Spoiler

Thomas. We need to see more of the Dominions!

 

[CSX]

So CSIII alludes to a CSIV? Another game in Erebonia? I'm expecting nuclear war to be the setup at this rate lol

 

[tariniel]

Just finished Trails in the Sky FC, what a great game. I had about 47 hours in it, but it probably took me 6 months to do it. Just like everyone says I had a really hard time getting into the game, for me it was around the 10 hour mark where I felt really hooked on it. Somewhere around the time Olivier shows up.

Spoiler

I had a bad feeling about Professor Alba since he somehow made it to top of tough monster-infested towers without difficulty until we found him and had to escort him down. I didn't expect him to be big bad though.

I think overall my favorite section of the game was chapter 2 with the orphanage and school play.

I'm looking forward to playing SC, after a small break to wait for it go on sale again. Special thanks to those of you that do work encouraging people to stick past the slow start, I'm very happy to have played it. Is it worth downloading a 100% save to import into SC when I get that game? I did make it to rank 1 junior bracer but missed some of the hidden sidequests along the line.

 

[jb1234]

I've always thought it would've been cool if Rean was the MC for 1&2 and the main antagonist for 3&4. Like you start out liking him in 1 then grow to hate him by the end of 2 and then fight against him in the second half. Has any rpg even done that where your MC becomes the villian and you end up playing as someone else against them.

Considering how much some of us hated Rean by the end of 2, and that Crossbell section, they could've totally gone that direction.

The first two Golden Suns have a variation on this idea.

 

[Aters]

I'm looking forward to playing SC, after a small break to wait for it go on sale again. Special thanks to those of you that do work encouraging people to stick past the slow start, I'm very happy to have played it. Is it worth downloading a 100% save to import into SC when I get that game? I did make it to rank 1 junior bracer but missed some of the hidden sidequests along the line.

take a break before going into SC, it will help you get through the first few chapters

 

[Novel Mike]

So CSIII alludes to a CSIV? Another game in Erebonia? I'm expecting nuclear war to be the setup at this rate lol

It doesn't allude to it it flat outs states it. After the credits roll you get a series of lines which end with: To Be Continued: Sen No Kiseki the last story.

Also now that I've seen the ending 100% chance Rean is the main protagonist in 4. While its possible that we might see things from multiple character perspectives no way they drop Rean as being the main protagonist here but I can't say more without spoiling anything so I won't. If you want to know even vaguely feel free to PM me.

 

[PK Gaming]

It doesn't allude to it it flat outs states it. After the credits roll you get a series of lines which end with: To Be Continued: Sen No Kiseki the last story.

Also now that I've seen the ending 100% chance Rean is the main protagonist in 4. While its possible that we might see things from multiple character perspectives no way they drop Rean as being the main protagonist here but I can't say more without spoiling anything so I won't. If you want to know even vaguely feel free to PM me.

I don't agree with that at all, but I don't intend to explain why in this thread. We can talk about it over PM.

 

[Erheller]

Anyone know where the concept art on this page comes from?

http://www.trailsofcoldsteel.com/cs1/zemurian.html

The Nord Highlands one would make a great background, but the only full-res one I could find has a logo in the bottom right

http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com.../ce08b4ab4a9bdfa79d4781247478835006f94391.jpg

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Anyone know where the concept art on this page comes from?

http://www.trailsofcoldsteel.com/cs1/zemurian.html

The Nord Highlands one would make a great background, but the only full-res one I could find has a logo in the bottom right

http://cdn.edgecast.steamstatic.com.../ce08b4ab4a9bdfa79d4781247478835006f94391.jpg

I know that the Nord Highlands one is in the artbook that comes with the game's "Lionheart Edition". It would most probably in the Sen No Kiseki Official Visual Collection artbook as well.

As for background without logo... I tried.

 

[Erheller]

I know that the Nord Highlands one is in the artbook that comes with the game's "Lionheart Edition". It would most probably in the Sen No Kiseki Official Visual Collection artbook as well.

As for background without logo... I tried.

Oh, thanks a bunch! I... haven't actually looked at that artbook somehow. I think I wanted to put off looking at it until I finished Sen 2, but I never did because my PS3 pooped out after the Divertissement.

Definitely using your edit, it looks great

 

[varkuriru]

I finished Zero second chapter

Spoiler

Man what a ride, this chapter has to be one of the best of the whole series so far! The reveal at the end hit me totally by surprise, though in hindsight they dropped hints (gender). But man this theater performance was spectacular, I took so many screenshots. I'll take a few weeks off now (played through 3rd and then immediately started Zero), but Zero so far is great.

Got my import copy and agreed on all fronts.

Spoiler

I will always prefer the sprite work and animation in the trails games over 3D. It was also a nice suprise on the music side of things. I had listened to the OST previously without context and thought the tracks used for those events were for like a big dungeon or something

 

[MSMrRound]

Opened Youtube and on homepage recommended side there's a "END of Sen no Kiseki III" with a out-of-context looking screenshot. Immediately dodged out of there in no time at all.

Yo wtf. Time to nuke the shit out of my Youtube history/preference settings

 

[Holundrian]

weird trivia found out yesterday that more people worked on dq11 cutscenes(animation I assume) alone than there are people officially employed by falcom.
Animation is costly x).

 

[encephalon]

weird trivia found out yesterday that more people worked on dq11 cutscenes(animation I assume) alone than there are people officially employed by falcom.
Animation is costly x).

The animation in DQXI is incredible.

Got my import copy and agreed on all fronts.

Spoiler

I will always prefer the sprite work and animation in the trails games over 3D. It was also a nice suprise on the music side of things. I had listened to the OST previously without context and thought the tracks used for those events were for like a big dungeon or something

The "sprite work" is 3D.

 

[c1d]

The "sprite work" is 3D.

I think what they meant was the chibi sprites vs 3D models - to be honest, I agree and definitely think at the very least their action sequences during the sky trilogy were way better than anything I saw in Cold Steel

 

[Erheller]

http://gematsu.com/2017/10/media-create-sales-92517-10117

PlayStation 4 sequel The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III sold 87,261 copies during its first week of release in Japan, the latest Media Create sales figures reveal.

To compare, The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II launched in September 2014 to 86,283 sales on PS Vita and 65,498 sales on PlayStation 3 for a combined total of 151,781 units sold. The original The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, launched in September 2013 to 81,622 sales on PS Vita and 67,718 sales on PlayStation 3 for a combined total of 149,340 units sold.

Edit: reading some of the comments makes this look not as dire as I originally thought

 

[ResourcefulStar]

http://gematsu.com/2017/10/media-create-sales-92517-10117

Looks like the lack of a handheld version hurt the sales in Japan.

 

[chaosblade]

http://gematsu.com/2017/10/media-create-sales-92517-10117

I doubt Falcom is too surprised. They couldn't ride the Vita forever and it was actively holding back their creative vision, so it was a reasonable time to move on.

 

[Famassu]

http://gematsu.com/2017/10/media-create-sales-92517-10117





Edit: reading some of the comments makes this look not as dire as I originally thought

Switch exists. With no other portable competition and Switch doing gangbusters absolutely everywhere, I'd say there's a fair chance there will be a Trails of Cold Steel III Evolution for it at some point

Spoiler

after ToCS Evo I & II

, especially considering I think Falcom's CEO has already implied interest in it (EDIT: "it" meaning Switch, not necessarily TOCS on Switch).

 

[chaosblade]

Switch exists. With no other portable competition and Switch doing gangbusters absolutely everywhere, I'd say there's a fair chance there will be a Trails of Cold Steel III Evolution for it at some point

Spoiler

after ToCS Evo I & II

, especially considering I think Falcom's CEO has already implied interest in it (EDIT: "it" meaning Switch, not necessarily TOCS on Switch).

Falcom probably benefits too much from their Sony partnership to go multiplatform. A Switch port would likely spell the end of Sony assisting with the Asian releases.

 

[Famassu]

Falcom probably benefits too much from their Sony partnership to go multiplatform. A Switch port would likely spell the end of Sony assisting with the Asian releases.

Oh, they are assisting Falcom? Well then, that's trickier. There's still the Asian release and of course they get a cut from any western sales as well, so it'll probably still do fine for them overall. + does MediaCreate even count digital sales?

 

[Kalor]

Oh, they are assisting Falcom? Well then, that's trickier. There's still the Asian release and of course they get a cut from any western sales as well, so it'll probably still do fine for them overall. + does MediaCreate even count digital sales?

It doesn't count digital sales. There'll be a better idea what Falcom think in their next financial report.

 

[vkrili]

People are constantly crying out about how the western sales after FC/SC are so terrible oh my god and how this means the death of the franchise in the west, and meanwhile Falcom is just consistently saying "We are pleased with our sales in the west " so, take all the doomsaying with at least a pinch of salt, ya know?

 

[Aters]

Oh, they are assisting Falcom? Well then, that's trickier. There's still the Asian release and of course they get a cut from any western sales as well, so it'll probably still do fine for them overall. + does MediaCreate even count digital sales?

They are not "assisting". If you mean localization, they are paid to do the translation. These games have no marketing anyway.

 

[chaosblade]

People are constantly crying out about how the western sales after FC/SC are so terrible oh my god and how this means the death of the franchise in the west, and meanwhile Falcom is just consistently saying "We are pleased with our sales in the west " so, take all the doomsaying with at least a pinch of salt, ya know?

I think sales in the west is more of an issue with XSEED than Falcom. Falcom is probably happy to be getting anything, because previously most of their games weren't bringing in anything from the west.

XSEED has to sell enough copies to justify localizing the games though. And even then SC may be in or close to XSEED's top 10 best selling games, so by their standards they aren't even doing that badly. It's more a question of is it good enough.

 

[Loz246789]

I think sales in the west is more of an issue with XSEED than Falcom. Falcom is probably happy to be getting anything, because previously most of their games weren't bringing in anything from the west.

XSEED has to sell enough copies to justify localizing the games though. And even then SC may be in or close to XSEED's top 10 best selling games, so by their standards they aren't even doing that badly. It's more a question of is it good enough.

I'm sure I've said something to this effect before, but if every game sold the same as SC without too much of a wait/price drop, or uh. SC's localisation problems. I'm sure that would be just about good enough. At the very least, it's much easier to argue "it will sell more over time" when you've already sold 40 to 50 thousand units.

 

[Famassu]

They are not "assisting". If you mean localization, they are paid to do the translation. These games have no marketing anyway.

I'm confused. How is Sony involved? They pay for Asian localization?

 

[Loz246789]

I'm confused. How is Sony involved? They pay for Asian localization?

From what I understand, Sony is directly doing the translation for the Asian market. They're probably being paid to do it, but as a playstation exclusive I imagine there's some sort of deal going on that makes things cheaper/easier to deal with. I'm not in the know, but I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some other perks with being an exclusive (that encourages people to move on from vita, no less) that helps even outside of this area in terms of development. This isn't to say losing this would be an end all, be all, but it's an incentive to consider.

 

[Thud]

What does Sen III run on? Is it still PhyreEngine?

 

[PK Gaming]

So Sen III did pretty good after all, with a supposedly sell-through rate of 80-100%

Not bad.

 

[Nyoro SF]

So Sen III did pretty good after all, with a supposedly sell-through rate of 80-100%

Not bad.

I'm pretty sure Falcom calculated it as such. I think the game and the series will be just fine.

I'm playing now and I'm loving the better textures, the motion blur, the 60fps, and the near-zero loading times. We still got some fuzz but it's no big deal. More PS4 entries pls.

The new character designs for old and new characters are both fantastic. Juna is a qt.

 

[Nyoro SF]

I just recently finished up my replay of CS1 on PC.

When I played the game originally on PS3, I was down on a lot of it. The constant black screens when leaving and entering building, fast traveling, and entering/leaving battle added up to a frustrating experience where I just shoved the story forward and ignored talking to students/residents. The draw distance was a big immersion breaker with things only a very short distance away popping into view and made certain areas feel like ghost towns. The limited bonding points were immensely frustrating.

That all changed with the PC version. Save/loads are instant. Traveling is instantaneous, as is entering and leaving buildings. Unlimited bonding points with a simple edit meant that I could actually see the scenes with the all-important Class 7. And Turbo... Turbo changed everything. Thanks to that, doing all the rounds at the school and the residences after every story beat was extremely entertaining

Which brings me to the conclusion that the school segment is easily the best part of CS1. It essentially takes cues from Crossbell and a place like Grancel and morphs the life paths of each NPC to follow a student body in an interesting and fun way. Stripping away all the annoyances of movement from the console release allowed me to fully enjoy the setting of each area and revisit places I totally ignored in my first playthrough.

Class 7 is now a much more fun and interesting class, and Falcom did what pretty much no other RPG or Japanese game that shoehorns in unnecessary middle or high schools is good at doing.... creating a fun and interesting school setting.

Also the replay just made me realize how incredibly unbalanced the battle system is. Almost all the MQ you get in the last 30% of the game is useless! oh well.

 

[PK Gaming]

The PC port of CS1 is a legitimately great game. The quality of life improvements are obviously kickass, but the voice acting additions also make a world of difference. Improvement on old lines add a fresh new coat of paint on the experience, and the addition of new lines to unvoiced scenes is such a game changer. Patrick's Racist Rant is practically an entirely different scene (and 10x better.) Rean having more voiced lines in general is a game-changer because like him or a hate him, the fact that he was mute in scenes where everyone else talked was kinda obnoxious.

Which brings me to the conclusion that the school segment is easily the best part of CS1. It essentially takes cues from Crossbell and a place like Grancel and morphs the life paths of each NPC to follow a student body in an interesting and fun way. Stripping away all the annoyances of movement from the console release allowed me to fully enjoy the setting of each area and revisit places I totally ignored in my first playthrough.

My clear time for CS1 is 100~ hours because of talking to NPCs, and i'm almost positive it's part of the reason why I love CS1 so much. The game is damn immersive when it wants to be, and you wont find a more compelling batch of NPCs. Everyone bags on the school format, but it's legitimately well executed in CS1. Found it a hell of a lot better than Persona, since your school year was far more dynamic.

Also the replay just made me realize how incredibly unbalanced the battle system is. Almost all the MQ you get in the last 30% of the game is useless! oh well.

It is, but the generally more thrilling/quick battles make them generally more enjoyable than the older games for me (3rd aside).

 

[Aters]

I'm confused. How is Sony involved? They pay for Asian localization?

Sony has a translation center. Falcom pay them to get their game translated. Disgaea 5 was localizaed by the same people, yet the Chinese script is also in the Switch version.