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[bishopcruz]

Nearing the end of Chapter 8, had to pause for a sec to post.:

Spoiler

Ok, Philip may be one of my favorite NPCs ever. Holy crap, I have a feeling I'm about to watch him die.

One question for those who have beat the game:

Spoiler

Can I still get Gambling Jack Vol 14 after these events? (The assault on the city) I was going from Zeiss to Bose, and Grancel was on the way, but the whole attack started the second I cwalked forward. It would suck if I had to reload to get stuff. Also, I assume any quests that exist in Grancel are doable afterwards, I haven't even been there in this chapter yet, and I'm SO CLOSE to A rank I can taste it.

 

[Pellegri Testament]

One question for those who have beat the game:

Spoiler

Can I still get Gambling Jack Vol 14 after these events? (The assault on the city) I was going from Zeiss to Bose, and Grancel was on the way, but the whole attack started the second I cwalked forward. It would suck if I had to reload to get stuff. Also, I assume any quests that exist in Grancel are doable afterwards, I haven't even been there in this chapter yet, and I'm SO CLOSE to A rank I can taste it.

Spoiler

The attack on Grancel is the point of no return for any chapter 8 stuff. The only way to continue doing things in the chapter is return to a point before you went to the final bracer guild to activate the phone, Ruan/Rolent are the best options for saving till last since they don't send you to another region.

 

[bishopcruz]

Spoiler

The attack on Grancel is the point of no return for any chapter 8 stuff. The only way to continue doing things in the chapter is return to a point before you went to the final bracer guild to activate the phone, Ruan/Rolent are the best options for saving till last since they don't send you to another region.

Boo hiss!

 

[chaosblade]

Chapter 8 really dumb thing:

Spoiler

Why can Tita use her cannon without an orbal thing when she's confused, that makes no sense.

Also, one of the hidden quests in this chapter is bugged.

Spoiler

For the hot spring quest, I talked with the guy in the basement and Murdock, and they told me to go to Ruan for the gasoline. The bracer notebook says I already got it though, and then that I have everything.

Looks like the notebook text just isn't set to update correctly after that part of the quest.

 

[Shake Appeal]

That feeling when you start Chapter 4 with over 40 hours on your game clock and read in the thread that there are (at least) eight chapters...

 

[bishopcruz]

This

Spoiler

penguin

boss is fucking obnoxious.

Spoiler

I havent had control of anyone on my team for like 15 straight turns.

Chapter 8 really dumb thing:

Spoiler

Why can Tita use her cannon without an orbal thing when she's confused, that makes no sense.

Also, one of the hidden quests in this chapter is bugged.

Spoiler

For the hot spring quest, I talked with the guy in the basement and Murdock, and they told me to go to Ruan for the gasoline. The bracer notebook says I already got it though, and then that I have everything.

Looks like the notebook text just isn't set to update correctly after that part of the quest.

Yeah, I got that bug too, and I'll have to do it again, because this game hates me. (Ch 8 missable stuff spoilers)

Spoiler

MAKE SURE you don't give the last generator to the last branch before you do stuff in Grancel. I am beyond pissed, have to redo like a couple of hours of stuff AND fight the worm bounty again. I hate that fight.

 

[chaosblade]

Yeah, I got that bug too, and I'll have to do it again, because this game hates me. (Ch 8 missable stuff spoilers)

Spoiler

MAKE SURE you don't give the last generator to the last branch before you do stuff in Grancel. I am beyond pissed, have to redo like a couple of hours of stuff AND fight the worm bounty again. I hate that fight.

Story sequence or for the sidequests?

Spoiler

Did the two hunts in Grancel while I had generators, doing the hidden quests at the Academy then finishing up the hot spring one on my way to Grancel.

 

[epmode]

That feeling when you start Chapter 4 with over 40 hours on your game clock and read in the thread that there are (at least) eight chapters...

Just started Chapter 4 myself. Not quite 40 hours but yeah.

I'm having a good time!

Argh you're still forced to use the person you picked in chapter 1 even after the other finally joins you :[ I like Agate but come on I don't want to ALWAYS have him in my party.

Yeah, does this ever stop?

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Just finished Chapter 7.

I'm having loads of fun with this game, trying out some new stuff and really enjoying the story. I like how Estelle made a meta comment before entering

Spoiler

the tower, regarding whether it would be a straight line like the last one... lol

The battles

Spoiler

against the Enforcers... well, Luci was the most challenging one because I foolishly didn't equip Estelle properly. Everyone else was just waaaay too easy. The big monsters on the roads posed more of a challenge. Usually using Clock Down on a boss made the fight a complete cakewalk. Not to mention that the items you picked up in dungeons gave you big hints for what the boss effects were going to be. For example I equipped Anti-Petrify items against Renne because the dungeon obviously suggested it and it worked out, thanks Zelda games.

Not sure why they made Clock Down so strong. It lasts for eons, makes it so you can take almost three waves of turns before the boss can do anything. Why nerf Kaempfer so hard and then give me Clock Down? Guess I shouldn't complain because as people demonstrated, there are a lot of ways to break this game.

I will mention the fight against Renne's mech was also a big disappointment. What kind of giant robot can only attack one character at a time?

Might sound like I'm complaining a lot but I did enjoy strategizing the fights. I wish that Falcom would've made more "custom" setups like

Spoiler

with Renne starting the fight with an S-Craft and jumping into her robot is a really cool switch-em-up that the other bosses could've sorely used. Especially Walter.

Spoiler

Yeah, Walter was a joke even with some Fainting from the robokitties before they got Black Fanged. That damn gothloli coming out with a super right out the gate and the mech being immune to debuffs were neat tricks that coulda wrecked me if I wasn't building this party to broken levels.

I kinda wish they didn't go with the sets-of-four so much in the game; it's the only times the pacing wanes...4 regions before the shit hits the fan, four rivals, four towers.

Also, to hell with that little nutso creep. Even Weissman doesn't wierd me out like that kid.

 

[chaosblade]

Yeah, does this ever stop?

Yes and no. You almost always have a mandatory partner (if not two), but who that is changes throughout the game. The person you pick at the start is your partner for a pretty good chunk of the game though.

 

[zakujanai]

I wish we could, but the localization quality puts a huge damper on things.

Although, I believe the third one had a semi competent localization, so that may be worthwhile.

I found the third one to be the worst, gave up on it in the end. Might just have been burnt out from looking through the other two though. Vermillion seemed the best to me, at least I enjoyed that the most.

That feeling when you start Chapter 4 with over 40 hours on your game clock and read in the thread that there are (at least) eight chapters...

Just finished 4 and I'm on 60 hours (my completion time in my full BP FC game). I must really take my time compared to some people. I'm enjoying it so much that I don't mind it being so long though.

Incidentally, at the end of chapter 4 I finally got to see

Spoiler

a dragon.

Still pissed off about that being in the trailer.

 

[duckroll]

So how well is SC selling so far? Anyone knows?

 

[Basileus777]

So how well is SC selling so far? Anyone knows?

According to Steamspy:

Owners: 8,566 ± 2,553

XSeed hasn't commented, so this is all we've got.

 

[duckroll]

There are probably another 100k fans who bought it on PSN right? Riiiiiiiiiiight? ._.

 

[Eusis]

I found the third one to be the worst, gave up on it in the end. Might just have been burnt out from looking through the other two though. Vermillion seemed the best to me, at least I enjoyed that the most.

Oh? Was going off what I had heard elsewhere, but I can believe it. Too bad someone better didn't take a crack at it, but maybe those weren't the best versions to bring over.

 

[Steel]

According to Steamspy:

Owners: 8,566 ± 2,553

XSeed hasn't commented, so this is all we've got.

I would've hoped that had gotten better by now.... Sad, but I'm sure it'll at least keep selling for a long time as the 100k people who bought FC on Steam finish it up, not to mention PSN. Still, that's a damn tragedy.

 

[SpaceDrake]

Remember: FC didn't sell that 100k+ in a single day.

Tails, gentlemen. Tails.

Of Trails.

Or somesuch.

After SC, I might be getting a LoH itch. Would you guys recommend the Gagharv trilogy for the PSP?

In good conscience, I can't. The "localization" just kills it entirely, especially for Vermillion Tear. See the discussion upthread about those needing to be TL'd again.

 

[Eusis]

A long, long trail to good sales, much like getting it localized in the first place!

. . . At least it has a chance to be something of a success on PC, versus a vanity effort on PSP.

 

[duckroll]

I wonder how many people are waiting for a winter sale drop before picking this up. Considering how most people seem to have waited years as it is, what's another couple of months right? Lol.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I wouldn't be too worried at this stage. It's early, and it takes time for Steam Spy to really get accurate (especially at lower levels). It was also holding up pretty well in the Gog best sellers list for awhile, for what that is worth.

 

[Basileus777]

I wonder how many people are waiting for a winter sale drop before picking this up. Considering how most people seem to have waited years as it is, what's another couple of months right? Lol.

Most people probably bought the first game on sale and never finished it. And that's only for the 2nd game in the series, it would real scary to try to sell games even further into the series.

I wouldn't be too worried at this stage. It's early, and it takes time for Steam Spy to really get accurate (especially at lower levels). It was also holding up pretty well in the Gog best sellers list for awhile, for what that is worth.

It's been over a week, it's had time to sample. Granted it's less accurate for lower sales. which is why you see games with under 10k sales jump around a lot.

 

[duckroll]

Most people probably bought the first game on sale and never finished it. And that's only for the 2nd game in the series, it would real scary to try to sell games even further into the series.

But that's only a concern for 3rd at the moment. If and when they want to do Zero and Ao, they can market it as a brand new game duology, just like they're doing with Cold Steel and Cold Steel 2.

On one hand, sales for 3rd will probably be the lowest in the entire Trails series if XSEED does it. On the other hand, I hear it would probably be the cheapest and fastest to localize due to the format and nature/quantity of the content.

 

[LordGorchnik]

Just beat the game at 62 hours clocked in. Skipped some of the last bracer quests since I missed a few non-guild quests in earlier chapters.

If there is one complaint I have in the game it's the ending/final dungeon/boss design. I'll tag it just incase but this deals more with game design/mechanics rather than story spoilers.

Spoiler

The game clearly wanted you to have Kloe/Olivier, Zane, and Schera in your final party to have their story scenes be witnessed against certain enforcers. I absolutely hated running back to the teleporter each time, then the elevator, take the train, elevator again, run back to the ship, change party, re-adjust quartz, repeat back to the final dungeon, and then finally engage the boss.

I dunno it just seemed sloppy to me.

Fantastic game all around, loved the story and the characters. I cannot wait for TC. It's coming right?

Spoiler

Right..........? Please XSEED?

 

[zakujanai]

Oh? Was going off what I had heard elsewhere, but I can believe it. Too bad someone better didn't take a crack at it, but maybe those weren't the best versions to bring over.

In good conscience, I can't. The "localization" just kills it entirely, especially for Vermillion Tear. See the discussion upthread about those needing to be TL'd again.

Vermillion was the only one I managed to enjoy, I wonder why. I had to retranslate most of the lines in my head to make sense of it, maybe by the time I'd worked through them (went in chronological so Vermillion was first) I really was just too tired of doing all the work.

The best thing about playing Gagharv was how much it made new appreciate the work that had gone into FC, and now also into SC.

 

[Nyoro SF]

While discussing things of little consequence, achievements are definitely bugged a little.

1) Not getting any count on Penguin de Samba
2) Odyssey of Anton unlocks way earlier than it should
3) Bounty Hunter unlocks way earlier than it should
4) Not getting any count on Breakfast Safari
5) Master Chef doesn't progress

Glad I'm not an achievement nut but I feel sorry for those who are. Especially with the addition of achievements with vague descriptions, which is just a silly way of telling me to do a net search (It's like I'm back in the 90's looking for cheat codes!).

Also, the Steam emoticons really suck. Letterboxed profile images...? Kind of a downer, don't even feel like buying one for a few cents, which is sad considering I use the Ys ones all the time

According to Steamspy:

Owners: 8,566 ± 2,553

XSeed hasn't commented, so this is all we've got.

Looks like it's on the slow burn.
I think it will slowly do better over time.
The survey I did in the last thread had a percentage breakdown of around 60/35/5 for PC/PSN/Derp so you can draw your conclusions from that.

Regarding the 3rd; not nearly as hard to translate as SC, they have two games of experience working with legacy Trails games on PC, don't have to worry about QAing themselves to death on a PSP version anymore, including an improved localization pipeline overall at XSEED. Honestly I think they're in good shape.

I feel like XSEED is putting a lot of stock into PC gaming, and I think as long as it continues to do well from them then that's all I could ask for. Not just Trails but all of their work.

 

[duckroll]

While discussing things of little consequence, achievements are definitely bugged a little.

1) Not getting any count on Penguin de Samba
5) Master Chef doesn't progress

Glad I'm not an achievement nut but I feel sorry for those who are. Especially with the addition of achievements with vague descriptions, which is just a silly way of telling me to do a net search (It's like I'm back in the 90's looking for cheat codes!).

Yup, I just checked and I can confirm these two are bugged for me too. Zero count on Penguin de Samba, Master Chef is stuck at 1/68. Not sure about the rest since I'm not far enough yet.

 

[Vylash]

There are probably another 100k fans who bought it on PSN right? Riiiiiiiiiiight? ._.

add in PSN, GOG, and the fact that there at least to my knowledge, haven't been any reviews from major news sites or any sales, and i think it's way too soon to worry about sales

 

[yami4ct]

Did my part and bought this on my Vita at launch. Finished up Zestiria tonight, so I can finally dig in. Can't wait. I really dug the first one.

 

[zakujanai]

While discussing things of little consequence, achievements are definitely bugged a little.

1) Not getting any count on Penguin de Samba
2) Odyssey of Anton unlocks way earlier than it should
3) Bounty Hunter unlocks way earlier than it should
4) Not getting any count on Breakfast Safari
5) Master Chef doesn't progress

Glad I'm not an achievement nut but I feel sorry for those who are. Especially with the addition of achievements with vague descriptions, which is just a silly way of telling me to do a net search (It's like I'm back in the 90's looking for cheat codes!).

Also, the Steam emoticons really suck. Letterboxed profile images...? Kind of a downer, don't even feel like buying one for a few cents, which is sad considering I use the Ys ones all the time

4 is working for me, did you definitely talk to them? Just need to find bacon.

 

[Nyoro SF]

4 is working for me, did you definitely talk to them? Just need to find bacon.

I found Eggs and Golden Toast but sadly they did not register.
The only reason I checked for those to be honest is because someone in the thread pointed out that the white birds were the ones that had the funny names so I had a fun time checking out all the names they had.

 

[chaosblade]

Well now. I saw some of the end of chapter 8 coming, but certainly not all of it. I'm actually kind of impressed. That's the exact sort of thing that frustrates me in a lot of RPGs but I think it was handled really well here.

 

[Bebpo]

On one hand, sales for 3rd will probably be the lowest in the entire Trails series if XSEED does it. On the other hand, I hear it would probably be the cheapest and fastest to localize due to the format and nature/quantity of the content.

lol

Pretty sure 3rd has as much, if not more, text/dialogue than FC.

 

[Hours Left]

lol

Pretty sure 3rd has as much, if not more, text/dialogue than FC.

According to this it has the least in the main series...

IIRC Tom said the Crossbell games are each around 2 million and 3rd is around 1 million. Those are numbers from Falcom which will be a lot more accurate than the fan speculation that Zero and Ao were >4 million character behemoths and 3rd was somewhere between FC and SC.

Edit: Source

Full series approximations:

FC: 1.5 million
SC: >3 million
3rd: 1 million
Zero: 2 million
Ao: 2 million
CS: 1.5 million
CS2: 1.25 million

(So I'd say CS2 is almost certainly not XSEED's 4th biggest game)

The 3rd also has a completely different structure than the other games which would probably lead to an slightly less complicated localization.

 

[Nyoro SF]

Speaking of localization structure. Even if you hadn't followed the blogs for this game, just playing through should make you realize how much of a hell it was to localize.

Not only do you have the party system which gives character-specific dialogues and events at almost any cutscene moment in the game but you have big events which essentially "reset" town dialogue over and over. What a nightmare.

 

[Zephyx]

There are probably another 100k fans who bought it on PSN right? Riiiiiiiiiiight? ._.

Planning to buy it right after finishing FC since there is a chance the game might go on sale if I buy it later. Though I'll buy it regardless of sale or not when I finish FC . Still @ Chapter 2 in

Spoiler

Jenis Royal Academy

. I've logged around 16 hours so far and I think I'm far from over as I'm quite busy with work-related stuff. I need to budget my time though. Need to finish these two games before Trails of CS comes around.

 

[zakujanai]

I found Eggs and Golden Toast but sadly they did not register.
The only reason I checked for those to be honest is because someone in the thread pointed out that the white birds were the ones that had the funny names so I had a fun time checking out all the names they had.

Me too, I was just enjoying all the breakfast names. Those two definitely registered for me, think it was on Friday so if you did it before that it may have been fixed?

 

[Vylash]

Planning to buy it right after finishing FC since there is a chance the game might go on sale if I buy it later. Though I'll buy it regardless of sale or not when I finish FC . Still @ Chapter 2 in

Spoiler

Jenis Royal Academy

. I've logged around 16 hours so far and I think I'm far from over as I'm quite busy with work-related stuff. I need to budget my time though. Need to finish these two games before Trails of CS comes around.

if you're still that early in FC there's no way you're finishing both before Cold Steel

 

[chaosblade]

Last chapter:

Spoiler

Why did Olivier have to go and change back into his old outfit. Kloe stuck with her new snazzy one.

Free usage of arts and I get Kloe and Olivier back? Finally. Even underleveled it's so easy to make them OP. Especially since they don't need strength, they are great candidates for Topaz. Counters the lower defense of Duende Slippers for that sweet, sweet +100 ATS and still gives her the highest defense in my party, despite the 6 level gap. Just need some good sepith drops so I can upgrade more slots.

Also, since I have actual casters now, I get to focus Estelle and Joshua on physical combat, more effective all around. Chapter 8 really is a mess in terms of party setup with all the orbal issues and the two main casters being out of the party. Kind of surprised they didn't throw anything particularly challenging in during that chapter.

 

[yami4ct]

Just started the game. The fact the dialogue box refers to Kevin as 'Insensitive Jerk' when he first shows up is just the best thing.

 

[Vylash]

so how do i get the blorf achievement? i assumed i had to

Spoiler

beat gilbert and his crew before joshua appears,

but that didn't do it

 

[Zephyx]

if you're still that early in FC there's no way you're finishing both before Cold Steel

I think it's coming by mid-December, right? I think I can finish them in one month if I use my weekends wisely. It's a bit hard to juggle between this and Dota 2 with friends though.

 

[Augemitbutter]

Planning to buy it right after finishing FC since there is a chance the game might go on sale if I buy it later. Though I'll buy it regardless of sale or not when I finish FC . Still @ Chapter 2 in

Spoiler

Jenis Royal Academy

. I've logged around 16 hours so far and I think I'm far from over as I'm quite busy with work-related stuff. I need to budget my time though. Need to finish these two games before Trails of CS comes around.

i really hate that chapter. i had to rush through it before i lose interest altogether. the ending is good though. the rest of the game is strong, fortunately.

 

[YianGaruga]

At least on GAF, we had a poll which had people buying SC on PC vs PSN at a 60/40 ratio, so assuming we're at ~10k with Steam+GOG, I'm guessing total sales are >15k and should be closer to 20k after the EU launch this week.

Doesn't seem too terrible for a sneaky launch in November and the game will sell a lot more on Steam with time. I just refuse to believe that games/localizations like this don't have an audience anymore.

 

[Kattbuss]

I think it's coming by mid-December, right? I think I can finish them in one month if I use my weekends wisely. It's a bit hard to juggle between this and Dota 2 with friends though.

Is mid-december for Cold Steel the estimated release for EU as well, or only for US?

 

[YianGaruga]

Is mid-december for Cold Steel the estimated release for EU as well, or only for US?

The estimate for EU is January 29th sadly. Different publisher.
But the Dec 15th date for US isn't confirmed yet either and isn't looking too likely unless XSEED announces something soon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0116W3L4C/

 

[Kattbuss]

The estimate for EU is January 29th sadly. Different publisher.
But the Dec 15th date for US isn't confirmed yet either and isn't looking too likely unless XSEED announces something soon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0116W3L4C/

Thanks! Hopefully it won't get further delayed for EU.
SC will keep me busy until then anyway

 

[Taruranto]

Tratt Plains suck so much. The camera make impossible to know where you are going and everything look the same. =_=

 

[wrowa]

I wonder how many people are waiting for a winter sale drop before picking this up. Considering how most people seem to have waited years as it is, what's another couple of months right? Lol.

Well. FC apparently sold roughly 130-140k on Steam, but only 10% of all players got the achievement for completing the final chapter. So, it seems we're only looking at 14k people who completed FC on Steam in the first place... Even if we generously assume that as many people completed FC on PSP, we're still only looking at a total of ~30k players. So, at least in terms of getting the audience to buy the game, 10k in a week is pretty decent.

Now, word of mouth must just lead to more people buying/finishing FC, so that they can pick up SC. Come on, word of mouth, do your work!

 

[duckroll]

This Renne girl in chapter 3 is awfully suspicious. She's way too perceptive, her design is too unique, and they're spending an ton of content on her. She even has unique lines and events when you go to every store in Grancel before dropping her off at the guild!

 

[Dio]

This Renne girl in chapter 3 is awfully suspicious. She's way too perceptive, her design is too unique, and they're spending an ton of content on her. She even has unique lines and events when you go to every store in Grancel before dropping her off at the guild!

Spoilers for promo material past SC, not ingame spoilers

Spoiler

She's on the god damned box art of The 3rd, as soon as I saw her I recognized her. I only knew a couple of things about her, but the fact that she's present on the box of the third game meant to me that she had to be really important.