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[Holundrian]

Dammit... Zero/CSII spoiler

Spoiler

A pinch of disappointment that the CSII divertissment spoiled the identity of "In" to me unless it's pulling one on me but In uses the exact same arts as Rixia.
Kind of sucks cause as someone that didn't play Zero before CSII you don't really get a whole lot out of that chapter whereas keeping the mystery around In has much better tension/curiosity payoff. Oh well at least I can look forward to how Rixia's goals become aligned enough to make Lloyd and her seem to be on pretty good terms despite the whole assassin thing.

Edit: Lol nvm, xD seems like the game itself doesn't make a big deal out of it. That was really quick.

 

[apd_ng]

Does

Spoiler

Olivier come a perm party member in Sky I? Also this is not the Olivier I know from CSI this ones hilarious! Lol

 

[Marche90]

Does

Spoiler

Olivier come a perm party member in Sky I? Also this is not the Olivier I know from CSI this ones hilarious! Lol

Spoiler

Yes, at a later point in the game, and it is pretty much the same. It's kind of subdued due to how Rean and co. see him, but his silliness is still there in CS

 

[apd_ng]

Spoiler

Yes, at a later point in the game, and it is pretty much the same. It's kind of subdued due to how Rean and co. see him, but his silliness is still there in CS

Spoiler

Thanks, Ya I pretty much thought we didn't see him as much in the Cold Steel games hehe

 

[PK Gaming]

I think you guys might have over-exaggerated Kloe's nuking prowess.

Her ATS is barely higher than Joshua's at base, and she has that nasty 3 Water lock in her orbment. On the plus side, she's got 5/1 lines, so getting some of the stronger skills won't be too difficult, but she's currently limited to just healing skills.

The claims about her being a terrible character were over-exaggerated as well. Kloe's fine so far; a bit mild, but she's a pleasant presence and a nice contrast to some of the zanier party members.

 

[Nyoro SF]

I think you guys might have over-exaggerated Kloe's nuking prowess.

Her ATS is barely higher than Joshua's at base, and she has that nasty 3 Water lock in her orbment. On the plus side, she's got 5/1 lines, so getting some of the stronger skills won't be too difficult, but she's currently limited to just healing skills.

The claims about her being a terrible character were over-exaggerated as well. Kloe's fine so far; a bit mild, but she's a pleasant presence and a nice contrast to some of the zanier party members.

Kloe's a fine character in both FC and SC. I definitely agree that complaints about her are overstated.

And when we refer to her nuking ability we're talking about SC, due to the rebalancing and certain equipment she is incredibly strong and has a lifesaver of an S-Craft.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

The claims about her being a terrible character were over-exaggerated as well. Kloe's fine so far; a bit mild, but she's a pleasant presence and a nice contrast to some of the zanier party members.

Yeah, Kloe is perfectly fine. She's not one of my favorite characters, but she's hardly a horrible character.

She's just kind of in the middle of the pack.

 

[chaosblade]

I think you guys might have over-exaggerated Kloe's nuking prowess.

Her ATS is barely higher than Joshua's at base, and she has that nasty 3 Water lock in her orbment. On the plus side, she's got 5/1 lines, so getting some of the stronger skills won't be too difficult, but she's currently limited to just healing skills.

The claims about her being a terrible character were over-exaggerated as well. Kloe's fine so far; a bit mild, but she's a pleasant presence and a nice contrast to some of the zanier party members.

She's not as good at attacking in FC, but Kaempfer is broken in that game which makes up for it.

 

[PK Gaming]

She's not as good at attacking in FC, but Kaempfer is broken in that game which makes up for it.

Didn't really mess around with it but apparently it drops STR and DEF?

Oh lawd

EDIT: BY 50%!?

 

[Glitter and Gold]

Didn't really mess around with it but apparently it drops STR and DEF?

Oh lawd

EDIT: BY 50%!?

Yeah

It gets nerfed HARD in SC

Spoiler

and then returns to form in CS2 through Gaius, although it lowers ADF in place of STR. Which is better imo. I think it also hits AOE

 

[BassForever]

Didn't really mess around with it but apparently it drops STR and DEF?

Oh lawd

EDIT: BY 50%!?

Yeah outside of like one specific boss kloe trivializes every boss you fight when she's on the team.

 

[PK Gaming]

And I thought CS was easy to break, haha

 

[Moonlight]

Yeah

It gets nerfed HARD in SC

Spoiler

and then returns to form in CS2 through Gaius, although it lowers ADF in place of STR. Which is better imo. I think it also hits AOE

You can't keep Kloe down. They nerfed Kaempfer, but couldn't stop her from overtaking the game anyways. The most powerful Blue Impact on Zemuria.

 

[SephLuis]

I think you guys might have over-exaggerated Kloe's nuking prowess.

If anything, people are probably selling it short. Most of my memories of Kloe in battle is on the 3rd which she actually is a ATS nuke.

 

[BassForever]

Kloe came with me to both final boss fights in fc/sc

 

[Thoraxes]

I pretty much never had Kloe in my party if I had the choice to exclude her.

 

[Holundrian]

Zero chapter 2 impressions

Spoiler

Getting into the groove of this game. I'm so often tempted to idle and talk to more NPCs but having to work on school assignments as well as wanting to finish this game at some point before the quarter of death for 2017 game releases is starting, I've been pushing ahead and using a guide to find the hidden quests. Still every so often I check in somewhere and talk to NPCs I remember from chapters before it's always a good time.

I have to say one of the things I really like about Zero is the tight focus so far on this group of 4 and I'm starting to really like them a lot.

The game plays Lloyd a bit like the dense protagonist trope regarding him catching female interest but I actually 100% believe he's aware in all the cases to a certain extent.
This guy has really good intuition/can read faces well, judging by how often he catches people having some sort of misunderstanding right off the bat. Anyways I enjoy how he actually centers the group. He's actual leader material, that's the impression he gives off.

Elie's story reveal in chapter 2 was nice now I'm wondering if we could meet her mom somewhere in CSI/II?

Randy is prob my fav right now in the group. His playboy tendencies are often played for the eye roll jokes but unlike Olivier who's a wonderful weirdo the dude got the swag to play it off like nothing. He just comes off as a cool/balanced dude. I feel like his character archetype is way to often played to one extreme of the spectrum(for example super playboy that always fails for comedy), but Randy is just a guy that likes to enjoy some adult activities. His last name is still nagging at me.

Tio is interesting, I'm super intrigued by whatever her story is going to be(because of all the skills she displayed) but she hasn't shown a ton of character range yet.

I love the combination crafts. Does everyone get one with each other? Or only everyone with Lloyd? I hope they bring those back like them more then the Rush and Burst actions.

As for chapter 2 specifically, so many mysteries I was slightly surprised that In's identity doesn't seem to be a big deal given how fast the game reveals it to us.
Makes me so curious on what Rixia is actually going to do in this game and what the circumstances will be that make her reveal her identity to the SSS.
Love how we learned more about the political climate in Crossbell, especially interesting with the knowledge of the CS occupation.
Seeing how everyone spend their free day was also really. I kind of wanted to play whatever what Tio was playing against Jona.

Also I've read that NG+ points are tied to the Records thing? Is there a side where those are lifted? Couldn't find those on the one I'm using. http://alphawiki.net/zero_psp/index.php

 

[SephLuis]

Zero chapter 2 impressions

A bit dense ? You're forgiving him a lot =P

The crafts are with everyone, not just Lloyd

 

[Holundrian]

A bit dense ? You're forgiving him a lot =P

The crafts are with everyone, not just Lloyd

To me it feels like he's playing dumb on purpose at times.
So often he gets into social trouble because other people stir it up or he's choosing his words a bit poorly but he often makes remarks on it quickly after the situation occurs that seems to hint at him noticing it. But maybe I'm giving too much credit because I'm comparing him to the trope that is often taken to ridiculous extremes in anime.

Lloyd is well written in the way where even though he has a lot of qualities associated with your typical shonen romance dense hero, he also has aspects of characterisation from detective stories and has a good balance of being a good-natured person with doses of hotblood.

Yeah I think what I'm basically trying to express is he has elements of tropes but he never feels defined by them and feels like an actual character because the elements are balanced well.

 

[Nightengale]

Lloyd is well written in the way where even though he has a lot of qualities associated with your typical shonen romance dense hero, he also has aspects of characterisation from detective stories and has a good balance of being a good-natured person with doses of hotblood.

 

[SephLuis]

Lloyd is well written in the way where even though he has a lot of qualities associated with your typical shonen romance dense hero, he also has aspects of characterisation from detective stories and has a good balance of being a good-natured person with doses of hotblood.

I still remember one scene in Ao where I was laughing to much at his choice of words towards Noel. And it was supposed to be a very serious moment.

Still, he was a character that grew on me, going from mostly boring to quite good. I had the same impression on Ellie.

Randy and Tio are on league of their owns. Great characters.

 

[Nyoro SF]

To me it feels like he's playing dumb on purpose at times.
So often he gets into social trouble because other people stir it up or he's choosing his words a bit poorly but he often makes remarks on it quickly after the situation occurs that seems to hint at him noticing it. But maybe I'm giving to much credit because I'm comparing him to the trope that is often taken to ridiculous extremes in anime.

I also feel that sometimes he faintly realizes it and plays dumb, and most of the time he does not. So his reaction isn't always linear, which is fun.

Really, Lloyd is pretty hilarious, especially in Ao with that one scene with Noel... people know the one.

 

[PK Gaming]

So can we talk about picturesque Ruan is?

My goodness, what a city. Games have done the sea-side town before, but Ruan absolutely knocks it out of the park. The music, the people, the ravens, the tour guy the bridge, the hotel... it's all really, really, really good stuff. And I haven't even reached the academy yet!

Easily in my top 3 all time favorite locations in Trails games. I hope I stay here for a long time.

PS: Agate's VA choice is so bad, I legit have to headcanon a different voice for him (David Vincent) since otherwise i'd absolutely despise him.

 

[Nightengale]

Ruan City, Manoria Village and Jenis Academy are great, but in terms of the surrounding flora/fauna and the pathing of how you travel from Bose to Ruan, it's probably the least favourite of mine.

It's a limitation of the setup, but the enemy-part map don't really take advantage of the fact that you're by the seaside and beaches in terms of gameplay and vista appeal.

 

[Pellegri Testament]

PS: Agate's VA choice is so bad, I legit have to headcanon a different voice for him (David Vincent) since otherwise i'd absolutely despise him.

I'd say most of the VAs for Sky are pretty bad, it's kinda why i'd be afraid of a new game using one of the characters for any significant amount of time, because I wouldn't doubt Xseed would want to use the same VA again. It's also why I'm glad we didn't get the Evo games, because good lord if we had to listen to JYB through multiple entries.

 

[PK Gaming]

Ruan City, Manoria Village and Jenis Academy are great, but in terms of the surrounding flora/fauna and the pathing of how you travel from Bose to Ruan, it's probably the least favourite of mine.

It's a limitation of the setup, but the enemy-part map don't really take advantage of the fact that you're by the seaside and beaches in terms of gameplay and vista appeal.

Yeah it's got the worst "enemy-map" segment so far, but it's (currently) such a small part of the experience I don't mind too much.

I'd say most of the VAs for Sky are pretty bad, it's kinda why i'd be afraid of a new game using one of the characters for any significant amount of time, because I wouldn't doubt Xseed would want to use the same VA again. It's also why I'm glad we didn't get the Evo games, because good lord if we had to listen to JYB through multiple entries.

Oh, i'm 100% down with JYB and Stephanie as the 2 leads. They couldn't have gotten better voices for them. Schera and Michelle Ruff go together like PB and Booze, and although I ironically prefer Matthew Mercer over Baker for Olivier, he's still a good fit.

AGATE THOUGH has this needlessly high pitched, whiny voice that contrasts significantly with the rugged, manly appeal he's supposed to have.

RIP

 

[Nightengale]

I'd say most of the VAs for Sky are pretty bad, it's kinda why i'd be afraid of a new game using one of the characters for any significant amount of time, because I wouldn't doubt Xseed would want to use the same VA again. It's also why I'm glad we didn't get the Evo games, because good lord if we had to listen to JYB through multiple entries.

I'd play them all again to hear all of Olivier's scenes voiced.

 

[BassForever]

Yeah Agate is the only voice that didn't fit but I have no idea what his jp voice sounded like to compate.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I liked Agate's voice, in a weird way.

LET'SDOIT

 

[PK Gaming]

oh

 

[Nyoro SF]

Yeah Agate is the only voice that didn't fit but I have no idea what his jp voice sounded like to compate.

Agate's JP voice was a really classic-styled raspy shounen voice. We're talking early 90's and back. He sounds fairly normal and manly in regular conversation but when he powers up that's when the rasp starts. They were probably trying to emulate it in English.

oh

On that list, "Make Him Leave" is the best one. Especially if you do it blind.

 

[Nightengale]

Yeah Agate is the only voice that didn't fit but I have no idea what his jp voice sounded like to compate.

[Battle scene from SC Evo] [SC Spoiler]

DRAGONNNNNNNNNN DIVEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[BassForever]

Agate's JP voice was a really classic-styled raspy shounen voice. We're talking early 90's and back. He sounds fairly normal and manly in regular conversation but when he powers up that's when the rasp starts. They were probably trying to emulate it in English.

Gotcha and that makes sense. I'd also argue that less then a dozen voice clips most being grunts isn't really fair to judge a voice/performance in terms of how well they could do the role. The Agate English VA in a hypothetical world where we got evo versions + dubbed I imagine the VA and voice director together would make the voice fit a lot better see the entire English cast of the cold steel games.

 

[R_thanatos]

I think you guys might have over-exaggerated Kloe's nuking prowess.

Her ATS is barely higher than Joshua's at base, and she has that nasty 3 Water lock in her orbment. On the plus side, she's got 5/1 lines, so getting some of the stronger skills won't be too difficult, but she's currently limited to just healing skills.

The claims about her being a terrible character were over-exaggerated as well. Kloe's fine so far; a bit mild, but she's a pleasant presence and a nice contrast to some of the zanier party members.

Kloe does what i ask her to do , heal everyone , every time , any time, extra fast.

I do not ask her to do anything else. She can throw some offensive earth and water spells as support but that's an extra.
Kloe is a fine character

 

[aravuus]

The claims about her being a terrible character were over-exaggerated as well. Kloe's fine so far; a bit mild, but she's a pleasant presence and a nice contrast to some of the zanier party members.

Nobody said she was a terrible character

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Nobody said she was a terrible character

The most terrible a character can be is to be dull and boring.

 

[PK Gaming]

On that list, "Make Him Leave" is the best one. Especially if you do it blind.

No kidding

Best character Estelle doing what a best character does by best charactering all over th place

Kloe does what i ask her to do , heal everyone , every time , any time, extra fast.

I do not ask her to do anything else. She can throw some offensive earth and water spells as support but that's an extra.
Kloe is a fine character

Hello, 911, I think this man might have kidnapped someone. Yes, 17, female... her most distinguishing feature is her extreme dullness and lack of appeal.

Spoiler

 

[Nyoro SF]

No kidding

Best character Estelle doing what a best character does by best charactering all over th place

Fun fact:

Spoiler

If you fail to answer the prompts correctly (like I did) Estelle goes ballistic and threatens to brain the Duke with her staff. She has to be restrained by the guards. It's amazing.

 

[PK Gaming]

Fun fact:

Spoiler

If you fail to answer the prompts correctly (like I did) Estelle goes ballistic and threatens to brain the Duke with her staff. She has to be restrained by the guards. It's amazing.

Spoiler

FUCK I need to reload, ASAP

EDIT: I CAN'T, I SAVED OVER ALL OF MY FILES

 

[Nightengale]

Fun fact:

Spoiler

If you fail to answer the prompts correctly (like I did) Estelle goes ballistic and threatens to brain the Duke with her staff. She has to be restrained by the guards. It's amazing.

 

[aravuus]

The most terrible a character can be is to be dull and boring.

I suppose you're not really wrong, just saying that nobody straight up called her a terrible character. I called her dull as fuck, but personally I think dull doesn't necessarily mean bad.

I'd rather take boring characters than actively annoying and/or frustratingly stupid characters lol.

 

[Glitter and Gold]

PS: Agate's VA choice is so bad, I legit have to headcanon a different voice for him (David Vincent) since otherwise i'd absolutely despise him.

I used the JP voices for the Sora games. Not a fan of the English ones at all

Vs JP Estelle being perfect. IKU AYO

I think you guys might have over-exaggerated Kloe's nuking prowess.

Her ATS is barely higher than Joshua's at base, and she has that nasty 3 Water lock in her orbment. On the plus side, she's got 5/1 lines, so getting some of the stronger skills won't be too difficult, but she's currently limited to just healing skills.

The claims about her being a terrible character were over-exaggerated as well. Kloe's fine so far; a bit mild, but she's a pleasant presence and a nice contrast to some of the zanier party members.

I think she's a lot better in SC, but she's good in FC. Water slots are a problem, but in practice she can still get one of the two best single target spells in the game(Blue Impact) the best AOE spell in the game(White Gehenna) and Clock Up EX all at the same time. So as an offensive caster she's still one of the best.

In SC she gets access to some amazing gear incredibly early, and the water element goes from having the worst high tier spell in FC to the best in SC on top of there being more useful water quartz. So the water reserved slots aren't even a waste anymore.

 

[Glitter and Gold]

Fun fact:

Spoiler

If you fail to answer the prompts correctly (like I did) Estelle goes ballistic and threatens to brain the Duke with her staff. She has to be restrained by the guards. It's amazing.

God the way that scene is cut is amazing

Edit: Sorry for double. meant to add to above post

 

[Nightengale]

I'd rather take boring characters than actively annoying and/or frustratingly stupid characters lol.

I have no preference for any of the three above, but the problem with the latter two is that stories rarely justify why annoying/stupid characters are tolerated/kept within the scope of the story despite the annoyances they bring.

In general, my biggest wants out of any character in a fictional medium is that they pretty much tick the following three boxes:

1. have a complete character arc that fits within the overarching narrative.
2. demonstrate their place/position within the narrative to be part of the story drivers.
3. be justified story-wise for how they fit within the team/character dynamic.

A lot of times, annoying/stupid characters don't do [2] and [3] well. But those that do it well can be very rewarding because it gives story development that is out-of-the-norm.

Tales of Abyss's Luke is one of my favourite characters for that reason. For a large part of the first third, he's both of those things, but [2] and [3] are delivered very strongly.

 

[Moonlight]

I still find it hilarious how absurdly damage/turn inefficient most of the high-tier arts are versus just sticking to Blue Impact/other mid-tier arts thanks to how the game calculates damage.

 

[Keikaku]

I'm planning on getting TiTS FC during this Steam sale but I had a quick question about the related games in the universe.

I know that the Trails of Cold Steel games are available on PS Vita and PS3 (and PS4 for the 3rd one?) but I was wondering what you guys/gals think about the possibility of those games coming to PC?

I'm planning on getting a PS Vita/PS4 at some point so it's not a dealbreaker either way; I just like to consolidate my series per platform/ecosystem where I can. Thanks in advance!

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I'm planning on getting TiTS FC during this Steam sale but I had a quick question about the related games in the universe.

I know that the Trails of Cold Steel games are available on PS Vita and PS3 (and PS4 for the 3rd one?) but I was wondering what you guys/gals think about the possibility of those games coming to PC?

I'm planning on getting a PS Vita/PS4 at some point so it's not a dealbreaker either way; I just like to consolidate my series per platform/ecosystem where I can. Thanks in advance!

It's not impossible, but I wouldn't count on it happening anytime soon. There are too many barriers to them happening.

 

[Nyoro SF]

Spoiler

FUCK I need to reload, ASAP

EDIT: I CAN'T, I SAVED OVER ALL OF MY FILES

 

[PK Gaming]

Hahahahahaha :'( hahahaahaha

So is the TiTS anime any good?

 

[Nightengale]

Hahahahahaha :'( hahahaahaha

So is the TiTS anime any good?

No.

It's really only good for the fight scenes. And it's basically adapting (non-faithfully) key moments from TiTS SC, so it's full of spoilers.

I won't say don't watch it, but only watch it after finishing SC.