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

Psxphile

Member
The site for Cold Steel 2 just went live and it seems they actually translated (text only) both drama cds for the games. This has heavy spoilers for the first game, do not click on it unless you finished it.

http://www.trailsofcoldsteel.com/cs2/

Can't even read the second story until you've played a bit of CSII first. Anyway, it's good they translated the first one officially and stuck it on the website so that everyone who's inclined can read it since CSII will be referencing the Ymir trip from what I've been told.

Still, a little part of me had held out hope that Xseed would have given us the full Drama CD experience by getting their VAs to voice the whole thing... even if it would have ended up as a pre-order bonus.
 

Nose Master

Member
LORDY LORDY. Cheesed the Chapter 2 boss by
spamming Delay, Confusion, Impassion (on Fie), and Fie's S-Craft.
Making sure I check for equipment a bit more thoroughly next time :V
 

aravuus

Member
Uhh... Even if you have beaten Cold Steel 1 I would HIGHLY recommend avoiding the character page on that site as it spoils... a lot, like not a ton of plot things but... a lot.

Thanks for the warning. I'll read the first drama CD translation when I get home and leave it at that. I can contain my hype.

no i can't
 
Now that I've finished playing SC, I've started in on this to keep getting my Trails fix. Sara is easily the best character so far. She seems to fulfill the Olivier role of adorable goof in this game.
(Of course, Olivier himself showed up at the end of the prologue, but I assume we sadly won't be seeing much of him.)

I must say, though, playing as Rean is a quite different experience than playing as Estelle. Aside from anything else, the biggest difference is that Estelle was an open book; we as players knew pretty much everything she did and found out what she found out at roughly the same time. By contrast, Rean is clearly hiding fundamental secrets about himself from the get go that the player is not privy to, even though even other characters such as Sara seem to know some of what's up. It's a little offputting, honestly, but I'll see how things play out.
 

zakujanai

Member
I'm grateful they went to the trouble to translate these but the first two thirds of that first story are utter trash. The end was more interesting but I almost didn't get that far.

I'll leave the second one if it depends on you having played some of CS2, I only played an hour of the Japanese demo so pretty much all I know is where you start.
 
I'm grateful they went to the trouble to translate these but the first two thirds of that first story are utter trash. The end was more interesting but I almost didn't get that far.

I think it was known beforehand that a good amount of the drama cd was the equivalent of a bad fanfic, people just wanted it because there are parts of it that are referenced in CS2. I would have been perfectly fine with them skipping it had it not had story that gets referenced in it.
 

aravuus

Member
To read the two drama or not to. I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to not be tempted. How big of a spoiler is it ?

I doubt it's got any massive spoilers per se. Going by the wording, I assume it's something that happens between acts 1 and 2 but never made it in the game, so more likely reading it without doing CS2's act 1 first is just going to be confusing.

So, best case scenario, it's just confusing cause you don't know what's happened in act 1. Worst case scenario, act 1 actually has big revelations and the drama cd refers to them -> massive spoilers. Maybe don't read it.
 

Gu4n

Member
The Cold Steel II drama cd loses its larger significance without having read the Ring of Judgement manga, which was featured in Endless History's Translation Tuesday for a couple of months, which in turn expects you to have finished SC and you can't play SC without FC... Also, make sure you've read the Carnelia book series.

It's amazing XSEED went this extra mile to translate these -- quite lengthy actually -- drama CD's. I've never particularly cared for the first game's drama CD, but I found the second quite charming of the reasons mentioned above.

To read the two drama or not to. I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to not be tempted. How big of a spoiler is it ?
Even though it's not major, I wouldn't bother with it right now. The game consists of two major acts (I and II), and I assume you don't want to know what act II will look like already.
 

Gu4n

Member
So Ring of Judgement takes place between SC and TC? And what about Carnelia?
I'm actually not sure about the first question. I vaguely remember Estelle saying something in The 3rd that implies that Ring of Judgement takes place before The 3rd, though the end of Ring of Judgement immediately references to Zero's Chapter 1. Somewhere between SC and Zero/Cold Steel, that much is sure!

If we can take everything written in Carnelia as truth, it takes place in S.1199.
 

Lusankya

Member
The site for Cold Steel 2 just went live and it seems they actually translated (text only) both drama cds for the games. This has heavy spoilers for the first game, do not click on it unless you finished it.

http://www.trailsofcoldsteel.com/cs2/

On the site it says:
"Clear data from Trails of Cold Steel carries over, granting bonus stats and extra items, while also remembering the many relationships cultivated during earlier times spent at Thors Military Academy to allow for more personalized conversations throughout the story."

How exactly does it work? My clear data is new game+ and I have maxed out relationships with all characters, however I used the second playthrough to hang out with the characters I didn't like as much.
Will it use the data from the second playthrough only or from the full playthrough (new game and new game+)?
 

Zephyx

Member
On the site it says:

How exactly does it work? My clear data is new game+ and I have a maxed out relationship with all characters, however I used the second playthrough to hang out with the characters I didn't like as much.
Will it use the data from the second playthrough only or from the full playthrough (new game and new game+)?

Want to know this too. I just finished one run of CS and will start my NG+ run before CSII releases. Would maxing all link levels for all characters change the dialogue in the second game?
 

Gu4n

Member
On the site it says:

How exactly does it work? My clear data is new game+ and I have maxed out relationships with all characters, however I used the second playthrough to hang out with the characters I didn't like as much.
Will it use the data from the second playthrough only or from the full playthrough (new game and new game+)?

Want to know this too. I just finished one run of CS and will start my NG+ run before CSII releases. Would maxing all link levels for all characters change the dialogue in the second game?
To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know. What I assume it does is mildly change the dialogue of your bonding partner from CS1 and, at best, change the dialogues from NPC's you've done quests for in CS1.
 
To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know. What I assume it does is mildly change the dialogue of your bonding partner from CS1 and, at best, change the dialogues from NPC's you've done quests for in CS1.

What if you choose
"none of the above"
during that last bonding scene?

Also: About that option, while it appears during New Game+, would it also appear if
you made it to that scene while not maxing out any character's level for relationships to the point where they appear on the list?
Just realised this.
 
Now that I've finished playing SC, I've started in on this to keep getting my Trails fix. Sara is easily the best character so far. She seems to fulfill the Olivier role of adorable goof in this game.
(Of course, Olivier himself showed up at the end of the prologue, but I assume we sadly won't be seeing much of him.)

I must say, though, playing as Rean is a quite different experience than playing as Estelle. Aside from anything else, the biggest difference is that Estelle was an open book; we as players knew pretty much everything she did and found out what she found out at roughly the same time. By contrast, Rean is clearly hiding fundamental secrets about himself from the get go that the player is not privy to, even though even other characters such as Sara seem to know some of what's up. It's a little offputting, honestly, but I'll see how things play out.

Yep

It gets worse

Rean is probably the worst lead of the series to this point... at least for now. Everyone tells me he improves in CS2 so... ill go easy on him for now
 

ultra7k

Member
Question about the bonding trophies,

From what I gather, there is a bike event, and tickets.

If Rean's relationship level is 5, can I skip using the event or tickets with them, and still get the trophy? should the event/ticket only be used for those with lower than level 5 rank?

I'm a bit confused.
 
Yep

It gets worse

Rean is probably the worst lead of the series to this point... at least for now. Everyone tells me he improves in CS2 so... ill go easy on him for now

I don't hate Rean, at least at this early stage. It feels kind of like playing as Joshua instead of Estelle. Personality-wise he's fine - unlike Alisa, whose commitment to playing the "angry at accidental pervert" trope in one of the most implausible situations is irksome. I hope she gets a lot better if, as seems the case, she's going to be Rean's primary love interest.
 

Psxphile

Member
Question about the bonding trophies,

From what I gather, there is a bike event, and tickets.

If Rean's relationship level is 5, can I skip using the event or tickets with them, and still get the trophy? should the event/ticket only be used for those with lower than level 5 rank?

I'm a bit confused.

You need to fulfill two conditions to achieve maximum bonding w/ a character by endgame:

CONDITION 1) Level 5 bond (late-comers and well-wishers require less)

-and-

CONDITION 2) Spend time with them in Chapter 6 (applies to all except for one, which can be done in Chapter 5)

-or-

CONDITION 2) pick them as your partner when it's time to retrieve something from Heimdall during Chapter 6

-or-

CONDITION 2) use two tickets on them during Final Chapter
 

Korigama

Member
Question about the bonding trophies,

From what I gather, there is a bike event, and tickets.

If Rean's relationship level is 5, can I skip using the event or tickets with them, and still get the trophy? should the event/ticket only be used for those with lower than level 5 rank?

I'm a bit confused.
There's no need to worry about those two things specifically before they occur. There will be more than enough opportunity to get at least one person to Lv. 5 before the final few chapters for the basic trophy. It's impossible to get every character-specific one in a single playthrough, however, as there won't be enough opportunities to max everyone within that time.

Just follow the above poster's advice for the character-specific ones.
I don't hate Rean, at least at this early stage. It feels kind of like playing as Joshua instead of Estelle. Personality-wise he's fine - unlike Alisa, whose commitment to playing the "angry at accidental pervert" trope in one of the most implausible situations is irksome. I hope she gets a lot better if, as seems the case, she's going to be Rean's primary love interest.
As someone else mentioned, do not let Alisa scare you off during the prologue (or draw all that many conclusions from the prologue in general, really).
 
I don't hate Rean, at least at this early stage. It feels kind of like playing as Joshua instead of Estelle. Personality-wise he's fine - unlike Alisa, whose commitment to playing the "angry at accidental pervert" trope in one of the most implausible situations is irksome. I hope she gets a lot better if, as seems the case, she's going to be Rean's primary love interest.

Alisa drops that pretty early.
 

ultra7k

Member
You need to fulfill two conditions to achieve maximum bonding w/ a character by endgame:

CONDITION 1) Level 5 bond (late-comers and well-wishers require less)

-and-

CONDITION 2) Spend time with them in Chapter 6 (applies to all except for one, which can be done in Chapter 5)

-or-

CONDITION 2) pick them as your partner when it's time to retrieve something from Heimdall during Chapter 6

-or-

CONDITION 2) use two tickets on them during Final Chapter

Ah got it, that makes more sense. Thanks!
 

Korigama

Member
IMO, Alisa, Rean and Sarah stay terrible throughout (through Ch.4 at least). I dropped the game after Ch.4 due to my dislike of characters but will push through before Cold Steel 2 I guess.
Sara, terrible? Didn't think anyone disliked her before now.

Thankfully for me, this is on the short list of JRPGs I've played where I wound up liking everyone.
 
I think the only character in the prologue I disliked was Machias. Even before the game started I thought he looked the most boring

By the end he was one of my favorite characters.

I think I walked away liking everyone on an individual level, which even as a fan of the Sora games I honestly didn't expect.
 
I think the only character in the prologue I disliked was Machias. Even before the game started I thought he looked the most boring

By the end he was one of my favorite characters.

I think I walked away liking everyone on an individual level, which even as a fan of the Sora games I honestly didn't expect.

At the moment, in the middle of chapter 1, the feud between Machias and Jusis is the most interesting character thing going on. It gets to the heart of one of the biggest things I expected to be covered in a game about Erebonia.
 

Cornbread78

Member
IMO, Alisa, Rean and Sarah stay terrible throughout (through Ch.4 at least). I dropped the game after Ch.4 due to my dislike of characters but will push through before Cold Steel 2 I guess.


Sara hasn't shown her true colors to me yet (chp.4) but she's not bad so far either..

I wasn't impressed with Miss Tsundere initially either, but she has gotten better to this point.

Rean, well... inconclusive at this pount.
 
Sarah is awesome so disagree there

Rean, Alisa, and Machias are rough

The ones i liked were Crow, Jusis, Angelica and Fie

Rest are average though a shout out to Laura for just being a beast in combat. Not to amazing as a written character but she wasnt offensive outside of the horrible setup with her later on
 

Squire

Banned
I maintain Rean is an excellent MC and the whole cast is great, with Gaius being the weakest link. Which isn't saying much, when Class VII is as good as they are.

ANYWAY

GI noted CS2 in their latest RPG column about three games to look forward to. That's nice and everything, but this part caught my attention:

I've played a few hours of the second entry, and it answers a lot of lingering questions from the first game almost immediately. That being said, there's also lots of twists and surprises in store, and plenty of characters facing their own inner demons. At the start of the game, protagonist Rean and all of his classmates are separated, so you're spending your first hours trying to figure out what has changed since the events of the first game and where you can find your classmates. This offers the opportunity for characters who had minor roles in the last game to join Rean in battle, such as his sister Elise and mercenary Toval. I won't spoil much beyond saying that the civil war is continuing to heat up and bigger threats are looming.

Curious if she's talking about some preview build or the final thing. I'm assuming they would tell us immediately if the game went gold.

http://bit.ly/2auXoV0
 
I maintain Rean is an excellent MC and the whole cast is great, with Gaius being the weakest link. Which isn't saying much, when Class VII is as good as they are.

ANYWAY

GI noted CS2 in their latest RPG column about three games to look forward to. That's nice and everything, but this part caught my attention:


Curious if she's talking about some preview build or the final thing. I'm assuming they would tell us immediately if the game went gold.

http://bit.ly/2auXoV0


Excellent? Ho boy couldnt disagree more but i respect the opinion of those who actually like him
 
Speaking of Sarah, is it worthwhile to spend bonding time with her, Crow and Towa?

Sarah gets some pretty great sequences if you can fit her in. Probably has some of the most interesting bonding events due to her background

Crow i didnt do to much of but he is one of my favorite characters regardless.

Towa.... Ehhhh... Shes likeable but they get really tropey and they dont really give her any interesting hooks outside of beating you over the head about how hard working and amazing she is along with other unnecessary pandering dialogue and sequences
 

Squire

Banned
Excellent? Ho boy couldnt disagree more but i respect the opinion of those who actually like him

Likewise. I'm all for hearing what's so wrong with him! I don't think him being secretive is a detriment to his character in the slightest. That fact and the way characters react and comment on it are strengths.
 

Saoshyant

Member
Speaking of Sarah, is it worthwhile to spend bonding time with her, Crow and Towa?

Spend bonding points with whoever you like, you can't get every main character's profile without a second playthrough anyway and that's the practical reason to do those, so just go with whoever you prefer. All characters are great in their own way.
 
Likewise. I'm all for hearing what's so wrong with him! I don't think him being secretive is a detriment to his character in the slightest. That fact and the way characters react and comment on it are strengths.

Ill admit he starts off ok but youll be pulling your hair out over him later... Maybe

Im talking from a finished game perspective and i went on a rampage against somewhere are page 55ish

Lol
 

panzone

Member
The Cold Steel II drama cd loses its larger significance without having read the Ring of Judgement manga, which was featured in Endless History's Translation Tuesday for a couple of months, which in turn expects you to have finished SC and you can't play SC without FC... Also, make sure you've read the Carnelia book series.

It's amazing XSEED went this extra mile to translate these -- quite lengthy actually -- drama CD's. I've never particularly cared for the first game's drama CD, but I found the second quite charming of the reasons mentioned above.


Even though it's not major, I wouldn't bother with it right now. The game consists of two major acts (I and II), and I assume you don't want to know what act II will look like already.

Uh, I didn't know about this manga and I've just read it. Uao, it contains some really important stuff!
 

Squire

Banned
Ill admit he starts off ok but youll be pulling your hair out over him later... Maybe

Im talking from a finished game perspective and i went on a rampage against somewhere are page 55ish

Lol

Oh, I finished the game just last week, so we're on even footing! Rean only got better for me. Everyone did.
 
Oh, I finished the game just last week, so we're on even footing! Rean only got better for me. Everyone did.

Oh in that case I begin my analysis of the game at page 58 and it goes on for a bit lol

Rean is just one big ball of missed opportunities, cheesy wasted dialogue and lack of follow through on any of the connections he makes

That could be just a fault of the Social Link design and setup which I think is a huge detriment to telling a story outside of establishing backstory and filler

But even in within the context of the core story he takes part in... he had very little that attached me to him so all his moments felt lame.

Estelle just destroys him in teh character department.


I do a full character breakdown here http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=191976759&postcount=2908
 

jello44

Chie is the worst waifu
Speaking of Sarah, is it worthwhile to spend bonding time with her, Crow and Towa?

Sara's cool, very chill.

Expect alcohol.

Also slight final chapter spoilers

You can trigger an event with the three of them (along with the rest of the class) at the end of the festival, provided you fulfill certain conditions
 

Murdamonk

Member
Have the game on Vita since day one, but never really have time to play it...

Took a swing at it since it is now on PS Now.. Only clock 4 hours... But so far so good...
 
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