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[DXLelouch153]

finished FC
man i did not expect the most nothing character to turn out to be the Big Bad
completely took me offguard
what about you guys did you see

Spoiler

Professor Alba

coming?
also im glad they didnt drag out the confession like so many other games
oh well onward to Second Chapter!

 

[skLaFarebear]

finished FC
man i did not expect the most nothing character to turn out to be the Big Bad
completely took me offguard
what about you guys did you see

Spoiler

Professor Alba

coming?
also im glad they didnt drag out the confession like so many other games
oh well onward to Second Chapter!

FC ending spoilers

Spoiler

Nope. I thought he might have had a bigger role as the game went on, but Alba being the big bad was completely shocking

Hope you enjoy SC though! One of the greatest RPG's I've ever played (and my GOTY 2015 for reference).

 

[Gu4n]

finished FC
man i did not expect the most nothing character to turn out to be the Big Bad
completely took me offguard
what about you guys did you see

Spoiler

Professor Alba

coming?
also im glad they didnt drag out the confession like so many other games
oh well onward to Second Chapter!

No one I know did but my wife.

Spoiler

From the second he gets introduced in the prologue, she had been calling him "too suspicious and too well-equipped for an archeologist."

.

 

[Psxphile]

No one I know did but my wife.

Spoiler

From the second he gets introduced in the prologue, she had been calling him "too suspicious and too well-equipped for an archeologist."

.

dat intuition

 

[DXLelouch153]

hey when do i get the bonues for transfering saves?
like that drop rate quartz?
edit:nvm Kurt just gave me em

 

[wrowa]

finished FC
man i did not expect the most nothing character to turn out to be the Big Bad
completely took me offguard
what about you guys did you see

Spoiler

Professor Alba

coming?
also im glad they didnt drag out the confession like so many other games
oh well onward to Second Chapter!

You sure aren't wasting any time! Finished FC in a week and already into SC. I had to wait four years for that to happen. :'(

 

[DXLelouch153]

You sure aren't wasting any time! Finished FC in a week and already into SC. I had to wait four years for that to happen. :'(

then after SC right into Cold Steel
this is nothing i finished Spyro 1 in a literal day when i was a kid
and this is me playing at my own pace

 

[Eusis]

and random stuff gets changed for no reason, such as the price of Gambler Jack 2 at the casino in Ruan. The mira:medal conversion rate is still 5:1, but the price of the book is twenty times its original price. Why? It doesn't make any sense.

I would GUESS the logic is that Gambler Jack 2 is the real prize there, so ramp up the value and force people to more seriously gamble to earn it.

But the problem is that the original kind of acknowledged that maybe people don't want to fuck around with gambling bullshit and so they just need enough mira to straight up buy the tokens necessary, then move on. I think I'll be glad this is an inverse of the usual situation for games that missed their original localization window, in that XSEED were crazy and went "fuck it lets get the original versions out anyway" rather than going for updates (that are actually MORE problematic to license, naturally.)

No one I know did but my wife.

Spoiler

From the second he gets introduced in the prologue, she had been calling him "too suspicious and too well-equipped for an archeologist."

.

Hmm, I actually could see a lot of people think of him as being suspicious (I suspected at least a connection between him and Joshua, potentially family, for having similar hair/eye colors), but likely lower their guard over the course of the game, ESPECIALLY when you go to Grancel and see there are people who know him in the museum and go "huh, so maybe he is a legit archeologist!"

Then the ending hits.

 

[Ultimadrago]

Man, I think it's so cool that (CHAPTER 8, Grancel)

Spoiler

You can see an image of the Aureole in the sky on Queen Alicia's balcony. When I'm with the citizens at the Grancel docks, they're all staring at it and I wanted my characters to be able to do the same. On a vain visit to see Klaudia and Alicia, ran right into it. Nice.

It delivered just that as a neat treat for going out of the way a bit.

 

[Psxphile]

Man, I think it's so cool that (CHAPTER 8, Grancel)

Spoiler

You can see an image of the Aureole in the sky on Queen Alicia's balcony. When I'm with the citizens at the Grancel docks, they're all staring at it and I wanted my characters to be able to do the same. On a vain visit to see Klaudia and Alicia, ran right into it. Nice.

It delivered just that as a neat treat for going out of the way a bit.

There seems to be one spot in each region where you can see it. In Zeiss it was atop the factory building, in Ruan it's just as you step through Krone Pass (a border guard will tip you off that you can see it there).

 

[DXLelouch153]

does anyone have a wallpaper version of that amazing photo Dorothy took of Sapphirl tower? or a link to a wallpaper version?

 

[Ultimadrago]

There seems to be one spot in each region where you can see it. In Zeiss it was atop the factory building, in Ruan it's just as you step through Krone Pass (a border guard will tip you off that you can see it there).

Oh sweet, I'll check them out!

Edit: Any clue where Bose's is?

 

[Psxphile]

Edit: Any clue where Bose's is?

I don't recall, but my gut says it's probably at the Lakeshore Inn since

Spoiler

the Aureole floats above Valeria Lake

. If not there than maybe Ravennue Village? There's usually one or more NPCs looking at it nearby.

For that matter I don't remember Rolent's either. Pretty sure you can't see it from the clock tower.

 

[DXLelouch153]

this is the first series where i can honestly say i dont hate any of the characters sans the bad guys

 

[Eusis]

this is the first series where i can honestly say i dont hate any of the characters sans the bad guys

Weismann is definitely the definition of "love to hate" too.

 

[Gu4n]

I would GUESS the logic is that Gambler Jack 2 is the real prize there, so ramp up the value and force people to more seriously gamble to earn it.

But the problem is that the original kind of acknowledged that maybe people don't want to fuck around with gambling bullshit and so they just need enough mira to straight up buy the tokens necessary, then move on. I think I'll be glad this is an inverse of the usual situation for games that missed their original localization window, in that XSEED were crazy and went "fuck it lets get the original versions out anyway" rather than going for updates (that are actually MORE problematic to license, naturally.)

Definitely. The Steam version is simply the best version available and recommend that to people regardless of whether they're able to reading Japanese.

this is the first series where i can honestly say i dont hate any of the characters sans the bad guys

I have an unconditional hate for only one characters in the entire series to the extent that my blood was boiling and I had to turn off the game to cool down again. That was the first time since Final Fantasy VI.

 

[Young Magus]

Yo I have a question for those who played SC in Japanese:

Spoiler

How did Kevin`s speech pattern come across in the ending scene where he killed Weissmann? I know/heard he spoke with an accent in the Japanese version and he kinda drops his normal speech patterns in english when the scene occurs. Just wandering.

.

 

[Gu4n]

.

Short answer: not quite. Ending Spoiler.

Spoiler

To 'drop' the dialect would imply it was an act in the first place, but that's really the way Kevin speaks since childhood. It's just what they speak where he comes from. What does drastically change during that scene, however, is his entire demeanour, most noticeable through his voice. He comes extremely stern and serious unlike the goof he's been thus far. I remember omgfloofy saying that even his fellow voice acting had their jaws dropped as the voice actors of Kevin and Weissmann played out that scene. This voice actor is incredibly talented to begin with.

 

[zero shift]

Does

Spoiler

Josette

ever become useful in battle? I mean I've had her up to the point where

Spoiler

we find the Glorious on Aureole Island

and so far she is completely useless. She doesn't even have an S-Break!

 

[Chrom]

Does

Spoiler

Josette

ever become useful in battle? I mean I've had her up to the point where

Spoiler

we find the Glorious on Aureole Island

and so far she is completely useless. She doesn't even have an S-Break!

Spoiler

If you play far enough into the story, she'll learn one.

 

[zero shift]

Spoiler

If you play far enough into the story, she'll learn one.

That's good. But so far she is useless. Her magic attacks suck. Her healing is about on par with Kloe. And her attacks are weak. I don't see the benefit of using her.

 

[Ultimadrago]

I don't recall, but my gut says it's probably at the Lakeshore Inn since

Spoiler

the Aureole floats above Valeria Lake

. If not there than maybe Ravennue Village? There's usually one or more NPCs looking at it nearby.

For that matter I don't remember Rolent's either. Pretty sure you can't see it from the clock tower.

Rolent's is on top the clock tower. I found a spot there just last night. Hm, I checked Valeria but couldn't find it. I will try again later today. And I haven't checked Ravennue, that's worth a shot!

 

[Marow]

Short answer: not quite. Ending Spoiler.

Spoiler

To 'drop' the dialect would imply it was an act in the first place, but that's really the way Kevin speaks since childhood. It's just what they speak where he comes from. What does drastically change during that scene, however, is his entire demeanour, most noticeable through his voice. He comes extremely stern and serious unlike the goof he's been thus far. I remember omgfloofy saying that even his fellow voice acting had their jaws dropped as the voice actors of Kevin and Weissmann played out that scene. This voice actor is incredibly talented to begin with.

Spoiler

I assume this is in SC Evo? Is there a video or such of the scene? Trying to find, but can't seem to.

 

[Gu4n]

Spoiler

I assume this is in SC Evo? Is there a video or such of the scene? Trying to find, but can't seem to.

Spoiler

The recording I was talking about is a track on the Ouroboros Report Drama CD, second half of track 5 (found a "video" here). The one in SC Evolution will undoubtedly be similar, but I'm still in Chapter 1.

 

[zero shift]

Has XSeed commented on how well this game has sold?

 

[BassForever]

Has XSeed commented on how well this game has sold?

Xseed has been mum about SC and CS1 so we really don't know what to make of the sales or expectations for games outside of CS2 which they confirmed is pretty close to completion and is on track for this year.

 

[lucablight]

I just started FC (finished the first couple of missions). Is it just me or is the camera really annoying in this game? Why does it change to a random orientation whenever I enter or exit a building so I don't know where I'm going? Is this a common complaint about this series?

 

[Gu4n]

Has XSeed commented on how well this game has sold?

Most recently (?) Tom wrote that:

It's also impossible to say how well SC is doing right now, even with sales numbers. One of the things SC seems to have accomplished -- as others have noted -- is getting lots more people to buy FC, which still makes us money and still counts as a success in our book. Additionally, the game is a slow burn that requires playing FC before you can really get into it -- so we've known from the very start not to expect gangbuster sales right away. We're aware that this is the kind of game that will have long legs and sell slowly over time, not all at once.

So yeah, any numbers you're seeing -- regardless of accuracy -- really don't tell the whole story. There's a lot to consider with SC.

The games sells like the stories they tell are told: like slow burns.

 

[zero shift]

Thanks. Very informative. I did see FC get a sales bump after SC came out.

 

[DXLelouch153]

lol Agate in SC is straight up broken
he has essentually infinite S Breaks
that combined with a good healer means maximum destruction
im glad cause he didnt have much use in FC for me

 

[coredecepts]

lol Agate in SC is straight up broken
he has essentually infinite S Breaks
that combined with a good healer means maximum destruction
im glad cause he didnt have much use in FC for me

That's how I have him set up, too. Then I have Schera with almost 800EP. Everyone stays topped off, and everything else dies.

 

[zero shift]

Xseed has been mum about SC and CS1 so we really don't know what to make of the sales or expectations for games outside of CS2 which they confirmed is pretty close to completion and is on track for this year.

Why was Trails in the Sky such a pain in the ass to get localized but Cold Steel is going so smoothly? Does Cold Steel not have as much text or something?

 

[Cqef]

Why was Trails in the Sky such a pain in the ass to get localized but Cold Steel is going so smoothly? Does Cold Steel not have as much text or something?

XSeed got better over the years in streamlining their localisation process, that's all.

 

[Basileus777]

XSeed got better over the years in streamlining their localisation process, that's all.

There's more to it than that. SC was in QA hell for most of a year. And had problems with the localization team they contracted the work out to.

 

[creid]

Why was Trails in the Sky such a pain in the ass to get localized but Cold Steel is going so smoothly? Does Cold Steel not have as much text or something?

Another factor is that PCs have changed a lot since 2004/2006 when the Skys were first released.

 

[coredecepts]

Feels like I'm nearing the end.

Spoiler

In the Axis Pillar, started up the fight against Luciola, then saw that her level and that of her lackeys is about 5 levels above my own, and they promptly smeared my party across the floor. I guess I'm going to grind for the first time the whole game? I'm 70 hours in, and I've never felt the need to grind, but these enemies are really powerful.

 

[Nyoro SF]

There's more to it than that. SC was in QA hell for most of a year. And had problems with the localization team they contracted the work out to.

Yep. It's definitely much easier to work on a modern PS3/Vita title than on legacy PC software that breaks when you sneeze at it. That, and a PSP version they had to constantly ask Falcom to help with in terms of programming.

Should be a bit easier when visiting 3rd given 2 games of prior experience in terms of reworking a similar engine, but I won't presuppose any more than that

 

[Famassu]

XSeed got better over the years in streamlining their localisation process, that's all.

There's more to it than that. SC was in QA hell for most of a year. And had problems with the localization team they contracted the work out to.

As I've understood, it's also not just that they got better & some technical issues with Trails in the games making it even harder, but since they are several games into the franchise by now, they've also kind of got a lot of the lore & other recurring things down, which speeds up the translations as well. Names of places, characters, historical stuff, special terms, items etc. that they don't have to figure out how to translate again but can just reference how they've translated all of that in the games they've already released.

 

[chaosblade]

Both Cold Steel games do have less text though, which probably is a factor (though not the biggest one). Even combined, they have less text than SC. And individually each are a bit smaller than FC (which itself "only" took a bit over a year from start to finish IIRC, and that game had issues of its own).

SC is the odd game out in nearly every regard - it's by far the biggest text-wise and it ran into problems nearly every step of the way. It's not a good measuring stick to use against the other games in the series.

 

[skLaFarebear]

Why was Trails in the Sky such a pain in the ass to get localized but Cold Steel is going so smoothly? Does Cold Steel not have as much text or something?

That's definitely one of the reasons. SC has I believe more than double the text that CS1 does.

There's other issues as well that were posted in the developer blogs that XSEED posted if you're interested in finding out more.

 

[BassForever]

In the end the only way we'll know for sure about the fate of 3rd/Zero/Ao in English is when Xseed either officially says "hey there coming" or "sorry we'll never be able to officially release them due to reasons/money". I imagine at worst the lost 3 will get fan translations.

 

[Basileus777]

In the end the only way we'll know for sure about the fate of 3rd/Zero/Ao in English is when Xseed either officially says "hey there coming" or "sorry we'll never be able to officially release them due to reasons/money". I imagine at worst the lost 3 will get fan translations.

I wouldn't expect them to explicitly say that they will never localize them.

 

[BassForever]

I wouldn't expect them to explicitly say that they will never localize them.

Oh for sure, I honestly expect/hope they'll passion project the fuck out of 3rd/zero/ao after Cold Steel 2 is finished stopping to release CS3 and whenever a new game comes out in Japan until they're caught up.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Feels like I'm nearing the end.

Spoiler

In the Axis Pillar, started up the fight against Luciola, then saw that her level and that of her lackeys is about 5 levels above my own, and they promptly smeared my party across the floor. I guess I'm going to grind for the first time the whole game? I'm 70 hours in, and I've never felt the need to grind, but these enemies are really powerful.

Head to the start of the second tunnel section and look for a squid monster encounter. You should be able to fight a group of Shining Poms quickly and level ridiculously fast.

 

[coredecepts]

Head to the start of the second tunnel section and look for a squid monster encounter. You should be able to fight a group of Shining Poms quickly and level ridiculously fast.

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[Eusis]

I half expect to see 3rd on PC, but am pessimistic about the others short of a Falcom initiative to get them on other platforms.

 

[DXLelouch153]

do inactive party members gain experience?
games forcing me to use Tita so dont wanna come back and Oliviers still 48 and im 50+ or something

 

[BassForever]

do inactive party members gain experience?
games forcing me to use Tita so dont wanna come back and Oliviers still 48 and im 50+ or something

No, but exp scales so lower level characters catch up really quick even without shiny poms, with them a lower level character can sometimes actually pass your highest leveled character

 

[Eusis]

do inactive party members gain experience?
games forcing me to use Tita so dont wanna come back and Oliviers still 48 and im 50+ or something

Nope. Shining Poms remedy the issue though. Also why (gameplay spoilers of a sort)

Spoiler

it is a good idea to grind on them in Chapter 5.

 

[DXLelouch153]

No, but exp scales so lower level characters catch up really quick even without shiny poms, with them a lower level character can sometimes actually pass your highest leveled character

for future reference and without spoiling plot whats the best place to farm shiny poms?