Noting wrong with that. As much as I enjoy the game alot, I want to say I really enjoyed 86%. 7% was cringe worthy due to the anime tropes. And I hated 7% due to a combination of key anime tropes I hate. The majority of the anime tropes were extremely predictable. I understand its always going to be there. What matters IMO is how its presented. For the most part its presented well. But there are other aspects I did not like. But hey, just my opinion.
Noting wrong with that. As much as I enjoy the game alot, I want to say I really enjoyed 86%. 7% was cringe worthy due to the anime tropes. And I hated 7% due to a combination of key anime tropes I hate. The majority of the anime tropes were extremely predictable. I understand its always going to be there. What matters IMO is how its presented. For the most part its presented well. But there are other aspects I did not like. But hey, just my opinion.
Or i should say that the cast is big enough for me to latch onto several of them while I bitch about the others
Combat and RPG customization and builds are fastastic. Game is pretty
Overarching world, narrative and events are great. Fleshes out the world I already fell in love with (and am starting to miss my old favorite characters)
So yeah. Playing through the game has been great. I just have more disappointments than I would like
It's fine to critic the game's storytelling aspects that you find unsavory or not to your taste. Let's be honest here, Trails, be it FC/SC or CS... there's plenty of "anime" in them.
But I also think it's a bit unfair to paint very very broad stroke of brushes onto games like this, Trails or not, where just because there are very prominent storytelling elements atypical of many Japanese fiction (particularly those aimed at teens ), that the good parts of these games are washed under that broad strokes as well.
I have no problem with anime whatsoever, so it doesn't bother me. But I'm not going to pretend like a sizable (but I wouldn't say signficant) part of the overall Trails experience isn't an experience that feels very natural to those who read plenty of manga/watch anime.
But at the same time, I think that it's a game where the story surprises you time and time again by how natural the characters can feel. Even when characters are a certain archetype, I rarely feel like I'm being led around by some invisible wall of trope. Even when they start off a certain way, the characters normally very quickly break a certain perception of themselves, by virtue of not being like a static, inhuman trope machine, like Chapter 2's
Jusis's family background is a large part of his character and turmoils, but it's not made out to be some MUH WOUNDS WILL NOT HEAL DARKNESSSSSS drama, but rather something he can comfortably share with others, and despite the drama, he carries himself proudly, which is consistent with his characterisation, and not just some WHAT A TWEEEST to break his character.
I feel like the anime tropes don't define the trails cast but help to enforce the character if that makes sense. For so much anime inspired writing the tsundere character is defined only by their tsundere tropes. The tsundere Trails characters are radically different from each other and stand out as great examples of the characters in their trope due to how well written and developed they are. Alisha isn't completely defined by the fact she likes Rean and gets angry at him whenever it comes to things related to girls physically or emotionally. Its what helps the Trails series really shine to me and why I highly recommend it to people.
Thinking more about this game, and how well developed the extremely large cast is (although it creates a few problems later in the game when they feel the need to remind you of a character who hasn't had any meaningful development for 3 chapters (e.g., something important happens, Gaius: "I feel a cold/ill/favorable/fateful/evil/windy/etc. wind")), I want Konami to sell Suikoden to Falcom.
Obviously Konami isn't doing anything w/ it, and no one else is making these big-cast politically minded RPGs these days.
It's fine to critic the game's storytelling aspects that you find unsavory or not to your taste. Let's be honest here, Trails, be it FC/SC or CS... there's plenty of "anime" in them.
But I also think it's a bit unfair to paint very very broad stroke of brushes onto games like this, Trails or not, where just because there are very prominent storytelling elements atypical of many Japanese fiction (particularly those aimed at teens ), that the good parts of these games are washed under that broad strokes as well.
I have no problem with anime whatsoever, so it doesn't bother me. But I'm not going to pretend like a sizable (but I wouldn't say signficant) part of the overall Trails experience isn't an experience that feels very natural to those who read plenty of manga/watch anime.
But at the same time, I think that it's a game where the story surprises you time and time again by how natural the characters can feel. Even when characters are a certain archetype, I rarely feel like I'm being led around by some invisible wall of trope. Even when they start off a certain way, the characters normally very quickly break a certain perception of themselves, by virtue of not being like a static, inhuman trope machine, like Chapter 2's
Jusis's family background is a large part of his character and turmoils, but it's not made out to be some MUH WOUNDS WILL NOT HEAL DARKNESSSSSS drama, but rather something he can comfortably share with others, and despite the drama, he carries himself proudly, which is consistent with his characterisation, and not just some WHAT A TWEEEST to break his character.
Yeah I completely understand the anime tropes will always be there. The characters did break out of the typical archetype for the most part, which I did enjoy. There were moments when they did fall back into the range of the archetypes especially during school events. Most of its presented well. I felt the introductions of majority of the characters, you can assume the anime tropes they will play. However by the end of the game some of the anime tropes were gone but still reminded in the overall range IMO.
For example Elisa is the <3 onii-chan which is predictable as soon as you saw her. But I am glad she did tell Rean to go dance/hangout with someone else during the festival. Same time whenever I spend time with Emma during bonding events..welp Rean had a one tracked mind. When you first meet Alisa, I was surprised she didnt trip over Rean and his face ended up in her chest..that came later But I did like how she tried to settle the matter between them..which took awhile..
Like i mention just my personal pet peeves. As long as its presented well, which the game did for the most part. Especially during their characters development arcs. I understand what you are saying and getting at as well :3
I feel like the anime tropes don't define the trails cast but help to enforce the character if that makes sense. For so much anime inspired writing the tsundere character is defined only by their tsundere tropes. The tsundere Trails characters are radically different from each other and stand out as great examples of the characters in their trope due to how well written and developed they are. Alisha isn't completely defined by the fact she likes Rean and gets angry at him whenever it comes to things related to girls physically or emotionally. Its what helps the Trails series really shine to me and why I highly recommend it to people.
Aww our Protagonist. Im about 50/50 on him at the moment. I went into a lot of details about my misgivings with him but lets just say I wish he had just a tad more fire in his belly. He's mostly reactionary and meant to be on the receiving end of all the crazy shit that gets thrown his way. Whats worse is that his reactions tend to fall into mostly boring territory as well (not always!)
Alisa
Ugh. Actually not bad once she gets out of playing the fiddle the writers handed to her. Definitely growing on me but the bulk of her development is honest monologues or ridiculous reactions. Wouldnt mind seeing her go back and forth with the internal cast a bit more....
Elliot
I like Elliot alot! I dunno! He is played off as the loveable meek guy but he certainly has layers! I hardly use him in battle but most of his lines and interactions are pretty good.
Laura
Oh Laura. You Knightly lady you. Pretty sure everyone uses her in combat. Love her voice actor too. Pretty straight forward though. Only gets flustered when you
meet her dad
but otherwise doesnt give you much to latch onto. I dont care. Her voice, design and everything is cool to me. Im a sucker for this. Is it weird that I want her to get completely broken and filled with rage at some point and go off the rails?
Jusis
OMG one of my favorites. Gets the best lines. Probably the only character that gets to bounce off most of the cast and the only one that seems likely to challenge the status quo of the story beats. I dunno. I just find him to be consistently interesting
Machias
Dont like him as much as Jusis but still pretty cool. Mostly cuz he has a damn shotgun. After he gets over his "issues" he kind of just falls in line with the other characters and doesnt provide much fun unfortunately. That said... it seems like they are setting him up to be very interesting in the future but I might be reading too much into it.
Fie
Who doesnt love Fie! Probably the only character that surprises me. Reminds me of a cat. Aloof but curious. Has a great voice actor and is at her best when she has lots of lines despite being a girl of few words.
Emma
I actually like her but because of whatever role she is being set up for... she is mostly constrained. Unfortunately a kind of .... objectified character? She seems constantly uncomfortable considering not only the secrets shes holding onto but the awkward situations she gets put into. Her best moments are actually the quiet moments with Rean where she has a more relaxed demeanor. Comes of as a caring protector despite being withholding.
Gaius
Cool Character that gets completely unrolled early on. You love him but he just ends up along for the ride after that. He is kind of a casualty to the more colorful characters in the giant cast. I almost wonder if he would have been a better main character?
Got a orbment (or was it an item?) that doubles the strength of her first attack. Have her loaded up with attack raising orbments. Get her S-Craft to 200 and add some Reans motivate to her base master quartz X turns of raised strength.
It's fine to critic the game's storytelling aspects that you find unsavory or not to your taste. Let's be honest here, Trails, be it FC/SC or CS... there's plenty of "anime" in them.
But I also think it's a bit unfair to paint very very broad stroke of brushes onto games like this, Trails or not, where just because there are very prominent storytelling elements atypical of many Japanese fiction (particularly those aimed at teens ), that the good parts of these games are washed under that broad strokes as well.
I have no problem with anime whatsoever, so it doesn't bother me. But I'm not going to pretend like a sizable (but I wouldn't say signficant) part of the overall Trails experience isn't an experience that feels very natural to those who read plenty of manga/watch anime.
But at the same time, I think that it's a game where the story surprises you time and time again by how natural the characters can feel. Even when characters are a certain archetype, I rarely feel like I'm being led around by some invisible wall of trope. Even when they start off a certain way, the characters normally very quickly break a certain perception of themselves, by virtue of not being like a static, inhuman trope machine, like Chapter 2's
Jusis's family background is a large part of his character and turmoils, but it's not made out to be some MUH WOUNDS WILL NOT HEAL DARKNESSSSSS drama, but rather something he can comfortably share with others, and despite the drama, he carries himself proudly, which is consistent with his characterisation, and not just some WHAT A TWEEEST to break his character.
Its a question of quality consistancy and respect (for the characters the fanbase and theselves). Its sad watching the first 3 hours be WAY below characterization standards and on the odd occasion ignore relations to do a weak tropey perv joke (especially next to Olivier Crow T Robot and Fie who do it with class and wit) and its even sadder the conditions that made Falcom (and most other niche devs) feel the need to do that. We can only hope things change.
Got a orbment (or was it an item?) that doubles the strength of her first attack. Have her loaded up with attack raising orbments. Get her S-Craft to 200 and add some Reans motivate to her base master quartz X turns of raised strength.
Are they "feeling the need" to do that, or are they just doing that because they want to?
At the end of the day, a large part of the western audience are pretty out-of-touch with Japanese developers and their cultural inclinations (popularity of idols, for example), and frankly, I don't like assuming devs are just doing "X" because they feel the need to do it.
His self-sacrificial characteristics remind me a lot of Emiya Shirou, who's like one of my favorite characters ever.
So far I like everyone in Class VII. No one stands out as "meh" and are all pretty well-written. I don't mind some of the anime tropes as some of them have made me laugh on occasion.
Here Ill break down my thoughts on each Character Jusis
OMG one of my favorites. Gets the best lines. Probably the only character that gets to bounce off most of the cast and the only one that seems likely to challenge the status quo of the story beats. I dunno. I just find him to be consistently interesting
Jusis MC for CSIII 2017, please. And I still hate how Towa gets shoehorned into a potential love interest, the princess of Erebonia and the token little sister aside. She should've been a thing with Crow or Georges, smh.
And in retrospect, Class VII should've been called Class Rean.
Fix'd. Like Gaius neither one gets on my nerves and its ok to have normal characters without a lot of drama. I can see why that would be boring but meh, I like it.
I head somewhere that CS3 is supposed to have better graphics, is that true? I don't really mind the graphics (even if they are early ps3 stock graphics) but a graphics upgrade could help. Anyway Tom said this game pre-ordered well so that's good news. I also bought the game on ps3 and vita since I can play this at work and switch to ps3 if I'm at home.
I feel like you guys missed some of her bonding scenes, if you feel like she never gets to react, never is flustered, or anything, that she's just some stoic person 100% of the time.
The chapter 6 bonding scene for her
Has her trying to learn to cook, and she makes a bento, so she drags Rean out to the highway to try it out. And she's bashful the whole time.
You see similar things if you take her with you on the
Stella Garden
, because she mentions specifically being concerned about her 'lack of femininity'. I actually really enjoy the subtle ways she reacts to Rean, because their dialogue does show those hints of romantic elements in a more contextual way, it shows their deep respect for each other and their swordsmanship, while they also talk about the things that they admire about each other.
Also, I said this before, but End Game Spoiler Comment
If you spent the after party with her, her words to you before Valimar forces Rean to leave were very sweet, in her symbolic way. That 'She would be the sword to fight for him that would not break until she could be by his side again'.
I liked what she said more than Alisa's in my first run.
SO, basically, what this whole long post breaks down to, is that...
I think a lot of you are taking her a face value, and maybe haven't seen enough of her unique scenes to really see her other sides. And I think that I kind of agreed with you on my first run, but I spent more time with her during my Nightmare run, and was genuinely surprised by how much I'd missed. It really surprised me and was why I chose to finish the game with her as my After Dance partner.
I also think this is true of a lot of the characters in general. Playing through a second time let me try out a lot more of the bonding events I missed the first time around, which I really enjoyed. It's kind of a shame there's no way to play the ultra time crunch like with Persona 4 Golden to get everyone's unique events in and 100% in a single playthrough, haha.
Emma I think is the character who I will see the most benefit from the second game, because she's clearly been so tightly constrained by having to hide *EVERYTHING* from her friends, and it doesn't just bother her, but I imagine she hates that, that she worries constantly and doesn't like leaving them in the dark. So having her finally be able to just put everything on the table and be accepted will be great to see. Looking forward to that.
Haha, no, I know. I'm just being impatient. I want them to do as good a job as they did with Cold Steel. The localization was fantastic. Quest Names, Character voices, overall script... All extremely well localized. I just want it now. I finished my Platinum trophy last night, so I'm just wistful, like I was for Persona 4, but knowing there's more coming and not that far off is both better and worse. At least the wait isn't as bad as it was for me with Trails in the Sky, back in 2011...
Mm. I guess so. At the same time, I love the enthusiasm Gaf tends to have for the series of late. I think having more of the games actually be available here in English speaking nations has been a great way to show more people. I'm seriously considering buying my friend a copy of this to play on his Vita TV.
I appreciate the characters and the subtleties they all display. How intricate they really are when you're able to actually get to know them. I love how they take the stereotypes on face value and then just break them down once you get closer, show that the characters are *characters*, not caricatures.
My party for the final fights was Rean, Laura, Elliot and Fie.
By the way: Megalith Master quartz, maxed out, is hilarious. RAPIDLY refills your CP while walking on the field. SO you can just swap it back between characters and refill everyone to max CP between battles. That's how I was level grinding to 78 on Rean before the last two battles.
Put maxed Moebius on Elliot, for making every item a Medium ranged circle use, usable from 8 squares away. And then... I just used all my Zeram Capsules to just spam S-crafts and burned down
I'm towards the end of Chapter 4, and man did I just hit some very satisfying notes for returning players
When I got that burglary mission, I really really hoped it wouldn't be more Phantom Thief B shenanigans. Of course it was. I like how they subverted expectations by having Rean unmask him so quickly.
Also, the Olivert scene I just had, where he laid out the plan for Class VII was great. They had already hinted at these Bracers-like tasks being there by design. This expanded nicely on it, in a way that makes total sense given the clusterfuck that is the Empire.
Are they "feeling the need" to do that, or are they just doing that because they want to?
At the end of the day, a large part of the western audience are pretty out-of-touch with Japanese developers and their cultural inclinations (popularity of idols, for example), and frankly, I don't like assuming devs are just doing "X" because they feel the need to do it.
*shrug* Either way, that's worrisome. It's almost like there's two characters, one great one for 99% of the time then that's dull, repetitive, blandly pervy, and simplistic (for again, whatever reason). If I wanted the other, I'd be rolling in options, but I'm not so I'm rather desperate.
I'm towards the end of Chapter 4, and man did I just hit some very satisfying notes for returning players
When I got that burglary mission, I really really hoped it wouldn't be more Phantom Thief B shenanigans. Of course it was. I like how they subverted expectations by having Rean unmask him so quickly.
Also, the Olivert scene I just had, where he laid out the plan for Class VII was great. They had already hinted at these Bracers-like tasks being there by design. This expanded nicely on it, in a way that makes total sense given the clusterfuck that is the Empire.
God damn... I did not expect that coming. Though to be fair, I have a pretty good idea what's going to happen next.
Still, it should be very obvious to any semi-competent military commander that the assault is a trap designed to lead both nations into war. Calvard wouldn't issue a declaration of war against Erebonia by bombing a tiny watchtower in no-man's land lol
Also, I said this before, but End Game Spoiler Comment
If you spent the after party with her, her words to you before Valimar forces Rean to leave were very sweet, in her symbolic way. That 'She would be the sword to fight for him that would not break until she could be by his side again'.
I liked what she said more than Alisa's in my first run.
My man. Laura has a calm surface but that doesn't mean she has no depth. I spent a lot of time with Laura but thought of her primarily as a comrade in the way of the blade. Then that last scene gave me a real Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Chow Yun Fat/Michelle Yeoh kind of vibe.
My man. Laura has a calm surface but that doesn't mean she has no depth. I spent a lot of time with Laura but thought of her primarily as a comrade in the way of the blade. Then that last scene gave me a real Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Chow Yun Fat/Michelle Yeoh kind of vibe.
Her late game bonding events and the conversation in
Stella Garden at the festival
, really help showcase that other side of her. Where she's not 'confident' about herself in that feminine respect. The way Rean and she interacted in those moments, I felt did a great job of making him a better foil, in that way (Hah, fencing pun), because he understood her and was able to point out to her without being overly obtuse or anything like that.
Alisa and Rean's pairing is more obvious, in how she's just so naturally expressive about such things. I mean, hell, her trophy is even called
R is for Romance
, haha. But Rean also doesn't really showcase much of himself with their interactions, not nearly as much as how he and Laura seemed to offset each other. I still like both pairings for different reasons, but I'd definitely lean more towards Laura as the better long term match. Also, her dad is awesome.
Insight increases your evasion by some crazy amount, I just can't recall if it was "50%" or "+50", either way it's a big one. If manipulated it seems it would be very useful.
He's the most underutilized character, at least in this game. Well, that's selling him a bit short - he's utilized in a great way up until chapter 3, where he reaches his apex of character development/purpose and then kind of... exists for the rest of the game.
He's the most underutilized character, at least in this game. Well, that's selling him a bit short - he's utilized in a great way up until chapter 3, where he reaches his apex of character development/purpose and then kind of... exists for the rest of the game.
I was afraid that would happen. He's a good friendly character with a nice family but he makes about as much impact on the story as a marshmallow hitting concrete.
