Berserker976
Member
Much obliged! Got the good shot.
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The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC |OT| More Olivier Than Ever
- Thread starter Dandy Crocodile
- Start date
Much obliged! Got the good shot.
Lol I'm not taking this very personally, no worries
I feel that FC is light on plot the same way most slice-of-life animes are light on plot. This is probably just a misunderstanding on your or my part, and we simply mean different things with plot in this case. To re-iterate, this isn't criticism towards the game.
e: but fair enough, if you think I'm wrong, fine. I'll be sure to word my post betterer next time I recommend the game to someone.
And SC being dark or not is subjective to some point, I suppose, the only reason I brought it up was because some people apparently compare it to Berserk in darkness, which is ridiculous. SC is far more serious than FC and it has its dark moments, like the one you mentioned, but it's not a dark story in my opinion. At all.
It's not very obvious you've acknowledged anything, when you point out my "characterization criticism" is weak. Of which there has been none.
I know that. Muntu has just accused it off both when it's really neither. It's fairly heavy on story and it turns fairly heavy from a thematic & story POV past the introductory/character & world building first half or so of FC. The only thing that remains light-hearted are the characters behaving like lecherous pervs and/or total dicks towards each other, but other than that, light-heartedness is quite far from TitS. It doesn't go into depressing levels of serious like ASOIAF (at least from what I've played), but neither does it really go back anywhere near to the innocence of the first couple of chapters of FC either.
Dragon1893
Member
There's a mistake when talking to the guy next to the slot machines but I'm guessing it has been mentioned.
I'm still in chapter 1, spent a while playing poker to win all the casino prizes, took less time than I expected.
I'm still in chapter 1, spent a while playing poker to win all the casino prizes, took less time than I expected.
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
SC's gotten "dark" (as in hard to discern and unnerving in that sense) for me just recently, even with beacons of hope laying far off in the distance. There's more implications of great danger than actual calamities, so far, and Liberl isn't the center of Zemuria when it comes to what the villains are planning. It's a Cold War situation where you have different strengths on each side but right now the situation favors one over the other, and there's no (friendly) communication between the Bracers + assistants and
. So that has to be a psychological burden on the MCs just because they can no longer be as certain of anything like in years past. I don't think it's a straightforward loss-of-innocence tale, however, as some characters have seen these events coming well ahead of time and can estimate when they have to bail or take action.
. So far
. Most of the activity in Chapter 3 revolves around cleaning house in Grancel, and everything looks fine from the citizen's limited view, but you learn even more of just how capable the enemies are.
Ouroboros
On the writing in Chapter 3,
Estelle probably doesn't want to poke at Olivier while she's worrying about everything else—she tries her best to work past that while on the airship trip towards Bose
I know Olivier's an informant for the Erebonian embassy, and that he's much too knowledgeable about Hamel and other events pertaining to years before and after the start of the Imperial invasion; he's not a spy per se, but maybe that's because he's Crainagh's accessory and the clout shields him as such
PSN, huh. I hope you're not expecting a fix for those anytime soon. Or possibly ever.
StarCreator
Member
Still helps to point these out in case these weren't caught in the last round of fixes for PC though.
Okay, I can see where you're coming from if people have compared this to Berserk. It can get quite serious, but it hasn't entered anywhere near Berserk levels of desperation. And sure, it's not necessarily a dark story, but overall it's not a light-hearted one either, despite the banter between characters.
That said, we'll have to agree to disagree with the "light on plot" thing.
Ah, maybe that wasn't quite related to your criticism, my bad. Though I guess I said that because you accused the game of being really cliche, which maybe I extended you to mean the characters as well, in which case I think the really well done characterization helps the game avoid at least the worst cliches
I suppose. I don't recall seeing that particular error during the stated scene, though.
EDIT: wuh, Berserk!? Of all things... lol
Glad we got that out of the way. No hard feelings, I'm sure.
Agree to disagree is a good compromise.
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
One of my favorites is when you're fishing and you get a catch that nets you a bundle of different sepith; the text box pop-up, once it fully prints, disappears just as quickly without going into the bait menu, leaving your UI blank until you click to return. That's pretty weird, but not as egregious as the low-res medal exchange menu for the Ruan casino.
eastx
Member
It's a shame the game is for PSP instead of Vita, where patches actually happen. But yeah, it's possible the same error exists on PC. I have both versions, but I'm way more likely to play on Vita thanks to its portability.
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
Hope on the horizon: the Steam peak users number is now at 820, which is better than where it started. I doubt it's going to rise much higher unless word of mouth's good enough to keep momentum lasting past the work week, but that's something.
Pellegri Testament
Member
Outside of a few words being off here and there, the only real issue I've seen is when you first meet the
. Not sure if their graphic could even be fixed, but the outline for them just seems really low res compared to everything else.
Enforcers
I rarely have such things because of Internet arguments.
Sorry if I came off a bit strong at the start I rarely have such things because of Internet arguments.
Same to you and no worries, I get passionate about games I like too lol
I do wish Falcom did some in house porting to Vita. And PS3 and maybe even PS4 if they can make it friendly enough for wider porting, doubly so if PC can easily be thrown in for outside Japan. That Evolution stuff is just mucking it up, but they ARE a small company.
DonMigs85
Member
I've been enjoying Second Chapter quite a bit, despite not having played the first chapter yet (someday!).
I caught a mistake in the script. Will try to look out for others further into the game:
This is like watching The Empire Strikes Back without having seen A New Hope first
eastx
Member
No joke! But I got a review copy of the Second Chapter and not the First Chapter, so I'm making do.
Just realized that First Chapter is on sale for $10... Awfully tempting, but I've already put 8 hours into SC.... Decisions!
BassForever
Member
Buy FC, play through all of it even if the bigger FC twist have been revealed by playing SC's intro the execution should still get you
Took me a little while to get back in the groove, but by the end of the prologue Trails has sucked me in all over again. Forgot how much I loved the cast and the setting. Went with (early chapter 1 choice + scene spoiler?)
It's weird, though - I enjoy the game's combat a lot more in SC than I did in FC, and as far as I can recall the differences aren't particularly major. I remember having a lot of problems with the pace of the combat but now I actually really like it. Mostly. Fuck those frog enemies.
Only real technical problem is that the game has problems remembering the fact I'm using an xinput controller as opposed to a generic gamepad, which messes with all the buttons every time I start it up.
Scherazard, because of course. Schera's the best. Wish I didn't have to part with Anelace, though. She's a riot. That bit leading up to her rival declaration was incredible.
It's weird, though - I enjoy the game's combat a lot more in SC than I did in FC, and as far as I can recall the differences aren't particularly major. I remember having a lot of problems with the pace of the combat but now I actually really like it. Mostly. Fuck those frog enemies.
Only real technical problem is that the game has problems remembering the fact I'm using an xinput controller as opposed to a generic gamepad, which messes with all the buttons every time I start it up.
Ended up playing this on PSP as it's easier to play in bed lol. This is going to be the perfect swansong for the little handheld.
Only on chapter 1, going to take my time, but enjoying it so far. It's kind of weird playing it after finishing FC over four years ago. Gives a kind of warm, nostalgic feeling. The attention to detail of the world and characters is still astounding. It's the small things in the game which make it special. There's just so much love, soul and craft gone into every inch of it.
And Estelle is still one of the best characters I've encountered in gaming.
Only on chapter 1, going to take my time, but enjoying it so far. It's kind of weird playing it after finishing FC over four years ago. Gives a kind of warm, nostalgic feeling. The attention to detail of the world and characters is still astounding. It's the small things in the game which make it special. There's just so much love, soul and craft gone into every inch of it.
And Estelle is still one of the best characters I've encountered in gaming.
I think it's mostly just because the levels are higher
the encounters just flat out feel more interesting for the most part
Hours Left
Member
Get ready. That ending...
get ready for the ending, and imagine waiting years for the second game
Dragon1893
Member
Wish I had more time to play...
Shake Appeal
Member
For people who play many, many more JRPGs than I do: What else can I play that is like Trails?
The things I like about Trails include: simple but not simplistic turn-based combat; cohesive, connected world; proper sidequests; some degree of non-linearity; monsters visible on map; general quality of writing (not the dialogue or moment-to-moment stuff, which is passable, but the overall weaving together of everything).
I'm tempted to give Persona 3 a shot. (I bailed on Persona 4 at some point because I got distracted by other games, but I was mostly enjoying it before that.) Also I should just play Valkyria Chronicles, I guess. It's been sitting in my Steam library unplayed forever.
The things I like about Trails include: simple but not simplistic turn-based combat; cohesive, connected world; proper sidequests; some degree of non-linearity; monsters visible on map; general quality of writing (not the dialogue or moment-to-moment stuff, which is passable, but the overall weaving together of everything).
I'm tempted to give Persona 3 a shot. (I bailed on Persona 4 at some point because I got distracted by other games, but I was mostly enjoying it before that.) Also I should just play Valkyria Chronicles, I guess. It's been sitting in my Steam library unplayed forever.
Yeah, I kinda wish I'd stuck with it. I started on Hard and got wrecked several times at the first monster chest before restarting (the weak-to-fire ripple frogs are kind of a troll enemy when you have such low EP at the start). But now at the start of Chapter 2, the difficulty has mostly gone flat.
SpaceDrake
Member
As far as Olivier goes, I think you'll be a little satisfied on that front more fully by the end of the next act's beginning, ironically. The writers know what they need to address, and when.
And yeah, let's not worry about sales volume for a few weeks yet, at least. Hell: I don't even think we've gotten a single major review yet, have we?
Dragon1893
Member
I figured this would be the case but after playing most of the prologue on hard I started over on normal because I wasn't having fun anymore.
Normal encounters are too easy but boss fights still seem to be challenging. I wish they had gone for some sort of middleground.
Lunar, Lunar 2, Grandia, Grandia 2, Grandia 3, Xenogears.
The Lunar and Grandia games are probably the closest in tone to Trails. It's generally a happy optimistic world even when there are bad things happening, very bright colors, and you travel from place to place meeting new party members in each new major town/city. There are also similarities in how the battles are handled, but in general Grandia >>>>> Trails >> Lunar.
Xenogears has random encounters, and the battle system doesn't have any sort of movement at all, but there's a big martial arts emphasis, and the world building on the setting is extremely ambitious and well fleshed out. There's also a lot of thought put into the environments in making each location feel unique and a reflection of the culture of those who live there.
At least the second game was already there. Waiting and questioning if a sequel is getting made is so hard.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
There's no other game I've played that does world or character building quite like Trails. But on that score you may want to check out Suikoden, particularly Suikoden II, as long as you can tolerate the kind of subpar PS1 localization. Also I would recommend Dragon Quest, V in particular, as it has some similar turn-based combat and expressive character writing qualities. Both games have random battles with non-visible enemies, but as long as you aren't philosophically opposed to the whole concept it's not onerous.
BassForever
Member
Suikoden 1-3 are the closest to trails I can think of in terms of building an inner connected world.
Shake Appeal
Member
Thanks, I'll look into those.
Random battles are by no means a deal-breaker. The tone doesn't necessarily need to be breezy or optimistic. What I'm looking for more than anything is a world that makes some degree of sense and feels like it goes on in the background without my actions driving it. Trails just has a solidity to it that other JRPGs haven't for me. FF games always feel preposterously cobbled together to me, with no underlying economy, politics, etc.
Random battles are by no means a deal-breaker. The tone doesn't necessarily need to be breezy or optimistic. What I'm looking for more than anything is a world that makes some degree of sense and feels like it goes on in the background without my actions driving it. Trails just has a solidity to it that other JRPGs haven't for me. FF games always feel preposterously cobbled together to me, with no underlying economy, politics, etc.
Brawly Likes to Brawl
Member
The first Grandia game. That and Trails are so similar I'm convinced the former must've had some inspiration for the latter.
Augemitbutter
Member
this. need to know.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Yeah, the Lunar series & the first two Grandia games are the ones I'd recommend most for tone. Suikoden series has the overarching plot with intrigue aspect. And Arc the Lad 2 & 3 do the whole Bracer side quest aspect well.
Yep. We Europeans are eagerly awaiting updates on this. Hopefully soon!
RyougaSaotome
Member
eastx
Member
The Steam version of Second Chapter is supposed to receive a patch today. Looking forward to that so I can write up some impressions at my site.
You talked me into it. Bought!
You talked me into it. Bought!
BassForever
Member
Arc The Lad is easily one of the last bastions of classic jrpgs I've never develed into, I hope to fix that soon.
Just realized I've never played Lunar or Arc the Lad games, and I'm in the middle of my very first Suikoden V playthrough
So many goddamn games coming out I keep forgetting about the ones I've already started playing