Support NeoGAF

[Hours Left]

Spoiler

Trying to refind the journalist and the photographer in Bose or near,after talking and reporting back about the general who hates the Bracers

Spoiler

Nial is at Kirsche Bar, sitting at one of the tables. Though if you are trying to do all the side quests, make sure you take care of those first, as continuing the story will exclude you from some of those quests. (There is also a secret quest in the Amberl Tower that won't be listed on the bulletin board, just go to the tower to initiate it.)

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Holy shit!!

Just finished it (50 hours), and I want the 2nd chapter now. God speed XSEED!

Ending spoilers:

Spoiler

The end sections of the game were so epic. I always had an off feeling about Alba, mainly because I never trust the character with glasses or slick hair! Then just as I was exploring Grancel for the last time I thought to myself how Alba was just a standard NPC and I was wrong for suspecting the nice guy character... then BAM! He shows up and I felt like a complete fool.

The last scene with Joshua and Estelle was really amazing. I was really sold on both of them by the latter stages of the game.

Overall this is one of my favourite RPG's in recent years and I can't wait for the next instalment.

Edit: forget to mention that epic battle theme that plays throughout the last chapter.

(potential spoilers)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3Npchu_CEA

 

[Lain]

I've started playing my copy, I'm just at the start, not even started the last training at the guild to become bracers, and I already love Estelle. Spent my time going around the town talking to everyone, and the comments and faces she makes are great.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I've started playing my copy, I'm just at the start, not even started the last training at the guild to become bracers, and I already love Estelle. Spent my time going around the town talking to everyone, and the comments and faces she makes are great.

It took me till later to appreciate her, especially once she runs into comedic foils to drive her into fits of hilarious snark.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Ending spoilers:

Spoiler

The last scene with Joshua and Estelle was really amazing. I was really sold on both of them by the latter stages of the game.

Spoiler

I still tear up whenever I listen to The Whereabouts of Light.

It took me till later to appreciate her, especially once she runs into comedic foils to drive her into fits of hilarious snark.

I liked Estelle right away; Joshua is an excellent foil for her in the other direction.

 

[Augemitbutter]

i liked both leads equally. both combined couldn't beat olivier though. his first scene at the inn had me chuckling.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

i liked both leads equally. both combined couldn't beat olivier though. his first scene at the inn had me chuckling.

That was the scene she clicked.

 

[Ricker]

I guess i`m doing something wrong but I find this game hard so far...I mean is it normal that at level 13,I still have nothing to refill my EP and that ennemies my level hit for at least 1/4 of my HP each time?,if not more....I got to a Boss fight almost out of EP,5 against 3,I managed to defeat them at the retry but man it was close hehe...loving it though but it seems harder then I thought...

 

[RavenFox]

Seriously, my PSP seems like its blessed nowadays.

Tell me about it. the love just keeps on coming

 

[Volcynika]

I guess i`m doing something wrong but I find this game hard so far...I mean is it normal that at level 13,I still have nothing to refill my EP and that ennemies my level hit for at least 1/4 of my HP each time?,if not more....I got to a Boss fight almost out of EP,5 against 3,I managed to defeat them at the retry but man it was close hehe...loving it though but it seems harder then I thought...

Doing sidequests/upgrading your equipment? I didn't have too much issue over the course of the game aside from a few rough spots, and didn't really have to grind until the final area.

 

[Ricker]

Doing sidequests/upgrading your equipment? I didn't have too much issue over the course of the game aside from a few rough spots, and didn't really have to grind until the final area.

Well I did miss a few sidequests...like 2 of the special Boss monsters,I did them both but didn`t report one so it says expired,missed 2 others also that say expired,the one in the sewer I found the crystal but it said expired,the Bear Claw I have but it says expired hehe...maybe that`s it,i`ll have to report to the guild more often I guess...

 

[RavenFox]

Can someone tell me where I can get the PC version? A digital download to purchase would be nice.

 

[ScrabbleDude]

I guess i`m doing something wrong but I find this game hard so far...I mean is it normal that at level 13,I still have nothing to refill my EP and that ennemies my level hit for at least 1/4 of my HP each time?,if not more....I got to a Boss fight almost out of EP,5 against 3,I managed to defeat them at the retry but man it was close hehe...loving it though but it seems harder then I thought...

Use the Cast skills, not just the limit break ones. I'm finding the area affect ones super helpful and I just started chapter 2. The costs are low enough that you usually regain those cast points very quickly. The double strike of Joshua's is especially helpful against single enemies.

 

[Augemitbutter]

Well I did miss a few sidequests...like 2 of the special Boss monsters,I did them both but didn`t report one so it says expired,missed 2 others also that say expired,the one in the sewer I found the crystal but it said expired,the Bear Claw I have but it says expired hehe...maybe that`s it,i`ll have to report to the guild more often I guess...

if you don't check the guild after every single story event, you'll most certainly miss quests every time.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Also, the game tends to be a bit "offensively oriented" in nature, ie, bosses with alot of adds, one or two enemies per pack that must die NOW before they start the hurt, buffing and debuffing skills rarish or require specific orbment arrangements for, etc.

 

[SpaceDrake]

Can someone tell me where I can get the PC version? A digital download to purchase would be nice.

The PC version isn't available in English yet. XSEED hasn't committed to anything, but they've said in interviews that they'd like to make it happen. For now your only option is the PSP.

Also Ricker, remember to use *cooking* to keep your HP up, not arts. You are visiting the bars and stuff to get recipes, right?

 

[Ricker]

The PC version isn't available in English yet. XSEED hasn't committed to anything, but they've said in interviews that they'd like to make it happen. For now your only option is the PSP.

Also Ricker, remember to use *cooking* to keep your HP up, not arts. You are visiting the bars and stuff to get recipes, right?

I started late with the recipes yeah,I only bought 2 and found 1 in a chest.I still don`t have a lot of mira though so I guess i`ll exhange some of those orbments for mira...managed to get a few defense upgrade for Estelle and Joshua at least and it looks like a party of 4 for now so that might help hehe...

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

I started late with the recipes yeah,I only bought 2 and found 1 in a chest.I still don`t have a lot of mira though so I guess i`ll exhange some of those orbments for mira...managed to get a few defense upgrade for Estelle and Joshua at least and it looks like a party of 4 for now so that might help hehe...

You're going to want to heal yourself with recipes for most of the game as it's a lot cheaper than buying healing items. When you get to a new village, make sure you visit the local bar or cafe and buy all the new food items and eat the sit-down meal so you get all the recipes you can.

It's better to use quartz to synthesize orbments and open up more slots for Estelle, Joshua, and other characters. Exchanging them for mira is a waste. If you do all the sidequests and are wise with what you spend your money on you should have enough money to buy updated equipment whenever it becomes available.

 

[BadWolf]

Just finished it, took about 38 hours.

Good stuff, been a long time since I've finished a traditional JRPG so its definitely good.

I expected a stronger story and characters but the end seemed to make everything worth it, don't like the fact that I found it really interesting only towards the very end though. Felt generic/average for the most part in other words, lots of dialogue but most is forgettable. Joshua was easily my strongest character and I liked how that went hand in hand with the ending, him and Olivier were the only characters I really liked.

Gameplay-wise it was good with very little to no annoyances. Battles are fast and there are tons of abilities to use. I liked how effective status effects are, I even froze bosses lol (freeze is as good as dead in this game, same with petrify).

Soundtrack was the weakest element, didn't find a single track memorable save for the one that played in the last dungeon.

Difficulty was on the easy side.

Overall a nice RPG with a very memorable ending, definitely looking forward to the follow-up.

 

[Hours Left]

Here's a nice video showing all the character Crafts in the game. (It obviously has character spoilers, plus it uses some music from SC, so be mindful of that.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFp9QQlNM5U

 

[Hours Left]

Gamestop has finally gotten around to reviewing this, a very positive review though.

http://www.gamespot.com/psp/rpg/the-legend-of-heroes-trails-in-the-sky/review.html

 

[Augemitbutter]

it took them a good while but the mainstream media is finally catching up!

 

[SpaceDrake]

I was actually afraid that Gamespot would hate on Trails a bit; good to see the reviewer liked it so much.

 

[Splash Wave]

What would you guys recommend I play: this or Lunar: Silver Star Harmony? I played Lunar briefly back on the PS1, but I don't remember anything about it.

 

[Nekobo]

What would you guys recommend I play: this or Lunar: Silver Star Harmony? I played Lunar briefly back on the PS1, but I don't remember anything about it.

Go with TiTs. If you want to play Lunar, if possible, go with PSOne version.

 

[jorgeton]

Finished the game over the weekend. Two thumbs up.

Spoiler

The evolution of Joshua and Estelle's romance is so well done that I almost shed a tear at the end. I want those two to make it.

Also, it seems like Falcom really loves to (major TiTS/Ys 7 Spoilers)

Spoiler

reveal seemingly minor NPCs as the game's big bad, like with Tia in Ys 7 and the Prof. in this game.

It's a nice turn on JRPG convention.

Now I need something else to play. I'm eyeballing Radiant Historia...

 

[ScrabbleDude]

I'm in chapter 2 right now. Have been doing every side quest I find. I've got more than 20 hours into it right now and my store mission is:

Spoiler

Go to the Royal Academy and put on a play.

Am I almost done? People are saying 40 hours. Am I really in line to be done this in another 20? The end doesn't even seem to be in sight.

 

[Splash Wave]

Go with TiTs. If you want to play Lunar, if possible, go with PSOne version.

Yeah, the more I recall my experience with Lunar, the less I want to play it. The graphics on the PSP version look very nice, however.

 

[jorgeton]

I'm in chapter 2 right now. Have been doing every side quest I find. I've got more than 20 hours into it right now and my store mission is:

Spoiler

Go to the Royal Academy and put on a play.

Am I almost done? People are saying 40 hours. Am I really in line to be done this in another 20? The end doesn't even seem to be in sight.

Spoiler

You're about half way through.

It took me about 45hrs, and I did every quest on the guild boards. The time really flies by though, it's not a drag like some other 40+ hour RPGs.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Spoiler

The evolution of Joshua and Estelle's romance is so well done that I almost shed a tear at the end. I want those two to make it.

Spoiler

I'm not ashamed to admit there was no "almost" for me!

I'm in chapter 2 right now. Have been doing every side quest I find. I've got more than 20 hours into it right now and my store mission is:

Spoiler

Go to the Royal Academy and put on a play.

Am I almost done? People are saying 40 hours. Am I really in line to be done this in another 20? The end doesn't even seem to be in sight.

You're about at the halfway point. Chapter 3 is when the plot will kick into high gear and push to the end.

 

[ScrabbleDude]

Cool. Not going to quote you because I'll see those spoilers, but the current mission seems underwhelming.

I thought one of the points of the game was going to be

Spoiler

to visit all of the big fancy towers, but I never visited the one near Bose.

Wondering if I missed something significant.

 

[Aveyn Knight]

Cool. Not going to quote you because I'll see those spoilers, but the current mission seems underwhelming.

I thought one of the points of the game was going to be

Spoiler

to visit all of the big fancy towers, but I never visited the one near Bose.

Wondering if I missed something significant.

Been ages since I played FC, but I think you can meet a NPC at the 2nd tower. It's nothing terribly important in terms of content, and you see the NPC later anyway, although

Spoiler

there is some important context to it

.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Cool. Not going to quote you because I'll see those spoilers, but the current mission seems underwhelming.

I thought one of the points of the game was going to be

Spoiler

to visit all of the big fancy towers, but I never visited the one near Bose.

Wondering if I missed something significant.

Your current mission is a lot of fun.

Spoiler

It's good downtime for Estelle and Joshua, develops their relationship, and introduces a character who will have more relevance to the core plot later. And Joshua is so adorable in you-know-what!

You did miss something:

Spoiler

A hidden sidequest occurs if you visit Amberl Tower in Bose.

 

[NeededSleep]

Xseed i <3 you!
I was poking around Xseed's forums and read that the sequel for Tits is on 2 UMDs worth due to size. \o/

 

[matmanx1]

So I finally purchased TitS today, the LE version and I've just been playing it for the past hour or so and I really like what I see so far. I'm loving the details in Joshua and Estelle's house especially as it seems like there is alot of detail work in the background. Artistically I find it refreshing as compared to other RPG's on the PSP.

I just finished the Bracer Guild quest and I like what I see of the battle system so far. It seems like it's going to be nice and deep but also lots of fun. I can't wait to sink my teeth into it more in the coming days and really get to the nitty gritty.

I've been wanting to pick this game up ever since it came out but have just been playing through my backlog in an attempt to get some space. I am glad to say the time has finally come and though my time with it has been brief I can already sense it will be exactly what I want in a portable RPG.

 

[Augemitbutter]

i'm gonna listen to some tits music today. even though it's not falcoms strongest soundtrack, i kind of miss it.

 

[Shouta]

Boo, ordered a copy of the game a month ago from after I back to Japan and it seems it got lost in the mail. Fucking DHL. >=(

Got a refund though, thankfully.

 

[SpaceDrake]

Boo, ordered a copy of the game a month ago from after I back to Japan and it seems it got lost in the mail. Fucking DHL. >=(

Got a refund though, thankfully.

I would say the answer is clearly to go get a copy off of the PSN, but oh wait. :suicide:

There should be a decent number of copies of the game left in the wild, however. I know I found one at a local Fry's.

 

[Hours Left]

It makes me happy to see so many people discovering this game/series.

 

[Hours Left]

The president of Falcom explains some of the real world influences in creating the setting of the Trails series:

"Since Liberl Kingdom is located between two political superpowers, yet still maintains its independence, we actually based it on Thailand. It even has a similar shape to Thailand," Kondo replied. "We also referenced the age of imperialism in Europe. And for the Septian Church, we based it on a typical Japanese impression of what the church represents, so I’m sure there are indeed some similarities to Catholicism."

The full Siliconera interview with Falcom is coming next week.

 

[fates]

Yeah the reception has been really, really strong. It's a pleasant surprise.

 

[SpaceDrake]

Little sad to see discussion of the game die down a bit, although I guess people are just boiling for SC at this point, eh?

Anyway, as an interesting little aside, and just in case people wonder if some of us are bullshitting about this series/franchise being a Big Deal in Japan:

The "Best Price" versions of Trails FC (what we got so far) and SC are currently the two best-selling Best Price games on Amazon; each one, individually, is outselling the Best version of MGS Peace Walker. Trails Third comes in at fifth place on the list.

Ao no Kiseki, the upcoming fifth Trails game, is the single best-selling PSP game currently, and has basically been there, uninterrupted, for two months now. Zero no Kiseki, the fourth game, currently sits at around 60 or so on the top 100 chart, but has maintained a place on the top 100 chart for three hundred seventeen days; this is a feat only matched or bested by Peace Walker and a couple of relatively obscure-in-the-West VNs, and it doesn't look like Zero is going anywhere anytime soon. Both FC and SC's Best versions also mange to place (FC being higher than Zero right now), with FC Best having spent 70-odd days in the top 100 overall and SC 144... and this is with both games being half a decade old or more.

And overall, across all games currently being sold? Ao no Kiseki is currently in fourth, beaten only by Dark Souls, Armored Core V, and a rerelease of ToHeart 2, and odds are it'll get third back from TH soon enough.

The TLDR is, this franchise is a Pretty Big Thing in Japan and has crazily long sales legs. There's very few franchises that can claim to have multiple entries, especially ones as old as FC and SC, in the top 100, and practically nobody who can claim to have FOUR entries ranking on a single system. Amazon's also a pretty good indicator for the rest of the market in Japan (since it's the most popular game-purchasing method in Japan, between the discounts it offers and the convenience of delivery for both the busy working set and for the more shut-in types), so sales in retail stores are pretty much guaranteed to follow the same or similar trends. And Ao is selling like this on preorders, mind you; unless the game is totally awful, it'll sell even better once reviews come in and more fair-weather fans pick it up on release.

So yeah, in case the quality of FC alone wasn't an indicator, this whole thing isn't just a couple of nerds on the internet making stuff up. Trails is one of the bigger franchises in Japan, and until now has more or less been its best-kept secret. God knows how long it'll take America to get caught up on all the releases, though.

Oh, for the curious... if you're wondering how Ys is doing in comparison? Ys Seven ranks at 91 on the "Best Price alone" list; it's so far down that it isn't even close to ranking on the Big List at all. Oath in Felghana and Ys Chronicles don't manage to list at all, anywhere.

If you've been wondering why Falcom seems so much more sanguine about Trails these days...

 

[vall03]

*text*

holy shit! just on preorders and its still months before Ao no Kiseki is released! I really wish Falcom has an official subsidiary in the US for localization...

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

holy shit! just on preorders and its still months before Ao no Kiseki is released! I really wish Falcom has an official subsidiary in the US for localization...

Falcom does now; it's called XSEED. I just wish this partnership had been established earlier so we wouldn't be as massively behind as we are now.

Anyway, I finally gave into temptation and imported SC. I just can't take the uncertain wait any more. Hopefully a game like this that I'm burning to play will motivate me to work hard on my Japanese!

 

[vall03]

Falcom does now; it's called XSEED. I just wish this partnership had been established earlier so we wouldn't be as massively behind as we are now.

Anyway, I finally gave into temptation and imported SC. I just can't take the uncertain wait any more. Hopefully a game like this that I'm burning to play will motivate me to work hard on my Japanese!

isnt it just a partnership for some games? what I mean for the subsidiary is something like Atlus USA, NIS America etc, sorry if this sounds stupid but I really dont know how most businesses work. I also want to know what Falcom has to say with the reception of their games in west

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

isnt it just a partnership for some games? what I mean for the subsidiary is something like Atlus USA, NIS America etc, sorry if this sounds stupid but I really dont know how most businesses work. I also want to know what Falcom has to say with the reception of their games in west

Well, yes, XSEED isn't an official subsidiary of Falcom; I was being slightly facetious. But for all intents and purposes they'll act as one going forward, in that they'll localize as many of Falcom's games as they can. I expect the reason why Falcom didn't establish a US branch as Atlus and NIS did is because they were a PC-exclusive developer until recently (2006) and didn't think the Western PC market would be successful for them. They were content to let other companies handle the development and distribution of console ports.

As for Falcom's thoughts on their game's reception in the West, Siliconera's interview with them might have some insight into that. I imagine they're very pleased.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I finally bought another PSP. Took a hell of a lot of convincing, given how awful the PSP1000 hardware was, but things should be better now.

Anyway, I'm looking at buying this game, but I'm not 100% sure yet, primarily because of how bad JRPGs have become over the years. How is the story's presentation here? I know there's a lot of text, and I'm totally fine with that... but you look at how stories were told back when RPGs were good (read: the 90's and early 2000s), it's like... the pacing was perfect, the musical cues were spot-on, and stuff actually happened in cut-scenes. I feel like when NIS dreck took over the world, all that went out the window in favor of what's frankly just weeaboo shit. A bunch of talking about mundane shit, having to go gather plants/other stuff I don't care about, and anime tropes that even anime fans acknowledge are stupid.

So is Trails in the Sky what I'm looking for?

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I finally bought another PSP. Took a hell of a lot of convincing, given how awful the PSP1000 hardware was, but things should be better now.

Anyway, I'm looking at buying this game, but I'm not 100% sure yet, primarily because of how bad JRPGs have become over the years. How is the story's presentation here? I know there's a lot of text, and I'm totally fine with that... but you look at how stories were told back when RPGs were good (read: the 90's and early 2000s), it's like... the pacing was perfect, the musical cues were spot-on, and stuff actually happened in cut-scenes. I feel like when NIS dreck took over the world, all that went out the window in favor of what's frankly just weeaboo shit. A bunch of talking about mundane shit, having to go gather plants/other stuff I don't care about, and anime tropes that even anime fans acknowledge are stupid.

So is Trails in the Sky what I'm looking for?

TitS is anime, but GOOD anime. Fair warning: you see alot of mundane (but meaningful and crisp) talk, and occasionally going to gather plants (but thats mostly a type of sidequest you do for the guild to make $$$). The overall effect is one of methodical touring of two people at a turning point in their lives, getting more hectic towards the end of the game as shit hits the fan.

 

[Aeana]

Trails in the Sky is an early 2000s game, so according to your criteria, it should be good.

 

[Hours Left]

*Kiseki Domination Stats*

I love it when I truly high quality series does well. And it just proves that no genre is ever dead.

Now the series just needs to extend it's grip to the rest of the world. ^_^