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The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel |OT| Class Warfare

H

hosannainexcelsis

Member
Basileus777 said:
These character designs look so much better in the 2D art than in their polygonal models. It's kind of strange going from SC to this when despite the large year gap in between them, SC actually looks better.
Click to expand...

When developers are making the leap into full 3D, their first 3D games usually look worse than their previous 2D games.
 
B

BassForever

Member
Shizuka said:
That's something inconsistent in the game. Read will talk during a few dialogue scenes, then don't have voicework during the next. Further into the game, that'll happen more frequently, where during the same dialogue, it'll go from all characters being unvoiced, to voiced, and back to unvoiced.
Click to expand...

Why? It feels so inconsistent why on Earth would Falcom do that?
 
B

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
Is it OK if I pronounce the title as The Legend of Heroes: Tits of Cold Steel? Maybe Trains in the Sky spoiled me.
 
D

Dio

Banned
I was just looking up some old sales numbers and I didn't realize Trails of Azure opened to 127,938 copies on its opening week for PSP only. That's better than Zero, which was 84k - I was expecting it to be less since it's a sequel.

In fact, that means that Azure did better than Zero, Cold Steel and Cold Steel II if confined to single platforms (which all debuted at about 80k for their respective portable platforms, although the fact that CS and CSII are also on PS3 means that those titles are like 150k-160k on opening week.)

That being said, the fact that CS and CSII are dual platform means that they're the best selling Kiseki right now and are the 'big money makers' for Falcom.

It's funny that Ys has changed from being the flagship Falcom franchise that shows where the company is in its life to Trails being the central moneymaker. Maybe it's the relative drought for no-nonsense, traditional JRPGs that aren't panty quests.
 
S

Shizuka

Member
Dio said:
I was just looking up some old sales numbers and I didn't realize Trails of Azure opened to 127,938 copies on its opening week for PSP only. That's better than Zero, which was 84k - I was expecting it to be less since it's a sequel.

In fact, that means that Azure did better than Zero, Cold Steel and Cold Steel II if confined to single platforms (which all debuted at about 80k for their respective portable platforms, although the fact that CS and CSII are also on PS3 means that those titles are like 150k-160k on opening week.)

That being said, the fact that CS and CSII are dual platform means that they're the best selling Kiseki right now and are the 'big money makers' for Falcom.

It's funny that Ys has changed from being the flagship Falcom franchise that shows where the company is in its life to Trails being the central moneymaker. Maybe it's the relative drought for no-nonsense, traditional JRPGs that aren't panty quests.
Click to expand...

That switch isn't that recent, Celceta didn't do that hot and Ys Seven did slightly better than that, IIRC.
 
Hikami

Hikami

Member
Just got my copy. I love this LE, the cardboard doesn't feel like it'll rip apart for once. Hope XSeed does more of their LEs like this.

Tempted to just start playing but I'm still in the middle of SC.
 
A

Aeana

Member
Dio said:
I was just looking up some old sales numbers and I didn't realize Trails of Azure opened to 127,938 copies on its opening week for PSP only. That's better than Zero, which was 84k - I was expecting it to be less since it's a sequel.

In fact, that means that Azure did better than Zero, Cold Steel and Cold Steel II if confined to single platforms (which all debuted at about 80k for their respective portable platforms, although the fact that CS and CSII are also on PS3 means that those titles are like 150k-160k on opening week.)

That being said, the fact that CS and CSII are dual platform means that they're the best selling Kiseki right now and are the 'big money makers' for Falcom.

It's funny that Ys has changed from being the flagship Falcom franchise that shows where the company is in its life to Trails being the central moneymaker. Maybe it's the relative drought for no-nonsense, traditional JRPGs that aren't panty quests.
Click to expand...

The Trails series offers really great character interactions, which is what's proven to be most popular with Japanese RPG fans. I really think it's that simple. They put out PSP demos and that combined with magazine reviews really pushed the series ahead. That is also the reason why Falcom has been trying to turn Ys into Trails by giving it more exposition and placing more importance on characters besides Adol.
 
D

Dio

Banned
Shizuka said:
That switch isn't that recent, Celceta didn't do that hot and Ys Seven did slightly better than that, IIRC.
Click to expand...

Well, yeah, I've been thinking of 'recent' as being in the last eight years. Then again, we're all getting older.

Aeana said:
The Trails series offers really great character interactions, which is what's proven to be most popular with Japanese RPG fans. I really think it's that simple. They put out PSP demos and that combined with magazine reviews really pushed the series ahead. That is also the reason why Falcom has been trying to turn Ys into Trails by giving it more exposition and placing more importance on characters besides Adol.
Click to expand...

True. However, I don't think it really fits Ys. I get WHY from a business standpoint, but there's something to be said about Oath in Felghana style storytelling. I think OiF was probably the peak of what I'm looking for when I play Ys.

I think the most story I'm really willing to get out of Ys was in Origins, to be honest. Any more than that and it's kind of unnecessary. Hell, I loved Seven, but the story wasn't its strong point, although it had really awesome moments in it
adol fighting the monster in a colosseum
.
 
B

BassForever

Member
So looking at the 100% guide there always seems to be more bonding opportunities then bonding points available. Should I s/l to see all dialogue options then stick with the ones I want for gameplay or are these more like persona s.links where it doesn't really matter when or in what order you do them the character stories always plays out the same and you can still get 100% regardless of what order you do them.
 
B

Basileus777

Member
BassForever said:
So looking at the 100% guide there always seems to be more bonding opportunities then bonding points available. Should I s/l to see all dialogue options then stick with the ones I want for gameplay or are these more like persona s.links where it doesn't really matter when or in what order you do them the character stories always plays out the same and you can still get 100% regardless of what order you do them.
Click to expand...

I don't think there are enough points in a given playthrough to max everyone.
 
S

Shizuka

Member
BassForever said:
So looking at the 100% guide there always seems to be more bonding opportunities then bonding points available. Should I s/l to see all dialogue options then stick with the ones I want for gameplay or are these more like persona s.links where it doesn't really matter when or in what order you do them the character stories always plays out the same and you can still get 100% regardless of what order you do them.
Click to expand...

If you want to see all their events and get their trophies, you'll need to make a strategic save file on a specific day of October, in order to max their link, see the event and reload that same save file for the remaining characters.
 
D

Dio

Banned
Also, I love it when bosses can be affected by status ailments. I've played too many games where none of the bosses can be affected by them, so this is nice.

I'm too early to know for sure if it works on more - I'm at floor 2 schoolhouse and saw that Burn actually worked.
 
S

Shizuka

Member
Dio said:
Also, I love it when bosses can be affected by status ailments. I've played too many games where none of the bosses can be affected by them, so this is nice.

I'm too early to know for sure if it works on more - I'm at floor 2 schoolhouse and saw that Burn actually worked.
Click to expand...

Some of the less breaking status work on most bosses, like burn or blind.
 
Xenoflare

Xenoflare

Member
I cancelled my LE from EB after their inability to furfil my order on time and I got it on digital.

Have to say I'm slightly disappointed for now (maybe its because I'm still mad at EB) but I remember the music was much better in TiTs 3rd.

Or maybe I'm just getting old. It's been 4-5 years since I finished the TiTs trilogy.

Other than that I'm enjoying it so far aside from the offensively small font and HUDs
 
Y

Yasumi

Banned
Finally just started playing. Major step up in production values. Been craving something like this for a while.
 
S

Shizuka

Member
Diablos54 said:
What? Each with unique dialogue for all the NPC's? Oh dear this game is going to take an age isn't it?
Click to expand...

Not always, but the prospect of a NPC that just told you something suddenly giving you an option subquest the very next day phase can make you crazy. Either go OCD and talk to everyone every single phase or follow a subquest guide for that.

Bladenic said:
Is there Clock Down and is it still game breaking? Because that spell was super easy mode in SC and I loved it.
Click to expand...

I haven't played SC, but there is nothing quite game breaking that I've found yet. Maybe Rean's first craft, if you time it wisely, can postpone the enemy's phase almost indefinitely during a battle as long as he's fast enough and doesn't run out of CP, but that's about it.
 
D

Dio

Banned
Man, I'm on the second field trip and
Rufus'
dub voice is smooth as silk. Man, this guy. That voice. This dub's quality has far outshined what I expected, by a large margin.

edit: Also, if you played FC/SC,
lmao at who I just met.
 
B

Bladenic

Member
Like I get this is Falcom and this is a relatively low budget game and it's their first foray to full 3D or whatever. But this cutscene has Emma's hair just go right through her skirt. Like I can't imagine that is that hard to not have happen.
 
S

Se7enSword

Banned
Basileus777 said:
With the way orbments and spell unlocks work in this, what is the purpose of quartz lines?
Click to expand...

The advantage of long lines is that they get tons of EP when you open slots.
The further a slot is into a line, the higher EP you get upon unlocking it, but in turn they cost more sepith.

So for example, a character with a full straight line for all 8 slots would end up with 800 EP and someone else who doesn't have that may end up with..say 400 EP
 
P

Psxphile

Member
Your Amazon.com order of "Legend of Heroes..." has shipped!
Click to expand...
fuck yoooooou lol


Prologue finished. Like most games it takes a while to come to grips with the battle system and how everything works, but by the end of the dungeon it started feeling like second nature. I noticed they simplified the Quartz system in that you no longer need to add up septium lines to unlock spells, the quartz themselves grant the spell. Not sure how I feel about that, since it means you now have to choose between improving your stats or gaining a spell every time you fill a slot instead of having your cake and eating it too.
 
Shouta

Shouta

Member
Basileus777 said:
With the way orbments and spell unlocks work in this, what is the purpose of quartz lines?
Click to expand...

Quartz Lines were de-emphasized in Cold Steel to make it less rigid when compared to Sky and Zero/Ao. The biggest benefit you get is that chars with long Quartz Lines get more MP, making them more natural casters. However, now chars with short lines also have a benefit. Before, you couldn't equip multiples of quartz that caused status effects to enemies but Cold Steel lets you do that as long as each effect is on a separate line, as I recall.
 
B

Basileus777

Member
Se7enSword said:
The advantage of long lines is that they get tons of EP when you open slots.
The further a slot is into a line, the higher EP you get upon unlocking it, but in turn they cost more sepith.

So for example, a character with a full straight line for all 8 slots would end up with 800 EP and someone else who doesn't have that may end up with..say 400 EP
Click to expand...

Ah. So there's no strategy to where you place your quartz in them like in Trails in the Sky?

Edit:
Shouta said:
Quartz Lines were de-emphasized in Cold Steel to make it less rigid when compared to Sky and Zero/Ao. The biggest benefit you get is that chars with long Quartz Lines get more MP, making them more natural casters. However, now chars with short lines also have a benefit. Before, you couldn't equip multiples of quartz that caused status effects to enemies but Cold Steel lets you do that as long as each effect is on a separate line, as I recall.
Click to expand...
So placement matters for certain types of quartz then. Well, at least I won't have to keep checking my notebook every time I change orbments to make sure the numbers are right for the spells I want.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
With the coverage this is getting, I wonder if it has given a boost to SC at all. Because that sort of stumbled out with zero acknowledgement or marketing, while by comparison CS has gotten a lot of reviews, prominent PS Store placement, and multiple social media mentions by Sony's official outlets.
 
S

Se7enSword

Banned
chaosblade said:
With the coverage this is getting, I wonder if it has given a boost to SC at all. Because that sort of stumbled out with zero acknowledgement or marketing, while by comparison CS has gotten a lot of reviews, prominent PS Store placement, and multiple social media mentions Sony's official outlets.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i'm hoping it gives a boost to SC somehow. Really loving how much attention Cold Steel has received so far.
 
B

Basileus777

Member
chaosblade said:
With the coverage this is getting, I wonder if it has given a boost to SC at all. Because that sort of stumbled out with zero acknowledgement or marketing, while by comparison CS has gotten a lot of reviews, prominent PS Store placement, and multiple social media mentions by Sony's official outlets.
Click to expand...

Launching in the holiday death zone actually worked out for them in terms of generating attention. Hopefully it translate to sales.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Basileus777 said:
So placement matters for certain types of quartz then. Well, at least I won't have to keep checking my notebook every time I change orbments to make sure the numbers are right for the spells I want.
Click to expand...
I just kinda half assed it and went for big numbers, and tried to weed out the ones that gave just 1 once more options were available. I do need to check for specific spells at least at the end game, but before then it's not too bad.
 
P

Pellegri Testament

Member
Was about to say that normal mode for this seems rather easy, then I hit the ch1 end boss and actually had to worry about positioning and buffs lol. Also can't imagine what bosses would be like if status ailments didn't work on them, poison or burn ticking for 10% or so of their health is just amazing with how much health they have.
 
B

Bladenic

Member
Just for the prologue boss alone, Eliott's craft with a defense buff and health regen was invaluable. I think he's gonna be pretty useful.
 
X

Xeteh

Member
ChickenHunter said:
So Rean's sword style is
the same as Cassius' then? That's pretty cool.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't remember if they mentioned
Cassius' style ever but the mention of the Divine Blade
made me think the same.

End of Chapter 1 plot guessing about Class VII:
Olivier is working with Cassius (or vice versa) to bring a new generation of Bracers to Erebonia
 
S

Sithlord77

Banned
Is it just me or is the soundtrack really good? I'm only at prologue but the themes are all nice. Even the town one.
It's refreshing to hear melodic tracks again after the ambient atmospheric nonsense I hear these days that tries to be like a movie soundtrack and is just boring.
 
T

TR_

Member
Bladenic said:
Just for the prologue boss alone, Eliott's craft with a defense buff and health regen was invaluable. I think he's gonna be pretty useful.
Click to expand...

Too bad he's useless in late game and in the sequel where he gets outclass by everyone.
 
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