Support NeoGAF

[Abdiel]

Feeling's mutual, considering that there were some really offensive implications in your earlier posts.

I'd like to say that your insight into the discussion in your earlier post, and the involvement with the translation tuesday thing (I watched it during my lunch break at work yesterday) is definitely enjoyable. That was some crazy stuff. Even moreso after having finished CS and knowing

Spoiler

that the Second Anguis is Misty. Totally fits the dialogue though, with what we saw of her banter with the class.

I wish I understood Japanese to get into 3rd, Ao and Zero, though I'd wait for the localized version of CSII, to play through with the same voices/carry over my completed file anyway.

 

[Nightengale]

So this

Spoiler

phantasmal jigammagig is what Bleublanc and Emma sister is talking about in the end? remind me why Sharon is not arrested on sight, Ouroboros are nothing but a major pain in the ass super terrorist organization at this point

Because the only multinational organisation that has officially a

Spoiler

hit-list out on Ouroboros, aka the Bracer Guild is effectively crippled and stripped away of any enforcement rights in Erebonia.

As we can tell from the entire game in CS, and from SC

Spoiler

Osborne and the Noble Faction are/were clearly supported by Ouroboros in some way, so obviously the provincial army and imperial army won't arrest anyone related to their benefactors.

As for the other organisation moving against them, the Septian Church [SC spoiler]

Spoiler

as we saw from Kevin, at best, they're moving in the shadows, mobilising black ops church assassins (Kevin) to put down high-level Ouroboros members (Anguis), and are not prioritising the Enforcers at all.

 

[NoctisCaelum]

Where can I get an anti confuse accessory in chapter 2? The field study boss is destroying me.

EDIT:

Do I need to grind in this game? I always clear the entire map of monsters and I'm now level 18 but Emma is still almost getting one shot by the Boss' craft.

 

[Thoraxes]

Where can I get an anti confuse accessory in chapter 2? The field study boss is destroying me.

EDIT:

Do I need to grind in this game? I always clear the entire map of monsters and I'm now level 18 but Emma is still almost getting one shot by the Boss' craft.

If you're on normal you should need no grinding at all. The only time I did it was right before the final boss to give myself a little buffer, but even then it was my choice and I didn't really need to do so to beat the final boss.

 

[NoctisCaelum]

If you're on normal you should need no grinding at all. The only time I did it was right before the final boss to give myself a little buffer, but even then it was my choice and I didn't really need to do so to beat the final boss.

Oh I'm on hard since I heard that the game is too easy on normal. So I guess i really need to grind in hard huh?

 

[Nightengale]

Oh I'm on hard since I heard that the game is too easy on normal. So I guess i really need to grind in hard huh?

Gotta be more prepared for status effects, (they're a killer on most difficulties, but on harder difficulties you have to be ready to respond to them, or equip anti-effect equipments before hand ) and well, you have to use your items more.

Since regular mobs are no trouble whatsoever, there's no need to be overly reserved when it comes to consumables with bosses. Obviously don't use the high-end ones too much and keep them for the last few key bosses, but in general there are more than enough free items laying around for you to use.

Lastly, don't be afraid to... well, downgrade the difficulty level of the bosses if you're struggling.

 

[Raytow]

Because the only multinational organisation that has officially a

Spoiler

hit-list out on Ouroboros, aka the Bracer Guild is effectively crippled and stripped away of any enforcement rights in Erebonia.

As we can tell from the entire game in CS, and from SC

Spoiler

Osborne and the Noble Faction are/were clearly supported by Ouroboros in some way, so obviously the provincial army and imperial army won't arrest anyone related to their benefactors.

As for the other organisation moving against them, the Septian Church [SC spoiler]

Spoiler

as we saw from Kevin, at best, they're moving in the shadows, mobilising black ops church assassins (Kevin) to put down high-level Ouroboros members (Anguis), and are not prioritising the Enforcers at all.

Okay that makes sense

Spoiler

still irks me that Sara is okay with her living under the same roof

 

[Famassu]

Okay that makes sense

Spoiler

still irks me that Sara is okay with her living under the same roof

Well

Spoiler

there's some kind of history there which probably helps Sara accept her being there?

 

[skLaFarebear]

Only about 10 hours on a replay for the platinum and im already pretty deep into chapter 4. This game just flies when you skip through the cutscenes and only talk to the mandatory NPCs for the quests/notes.

 

[occelinho]

[...]

[...]

[...]

[...]

[...]

(final chapter spoilers again)

Spoiler

I see, but to me it still wasn't that obvious. Because...

Regarding the mask: why would we rule out people that the player didn't meet yet (for example someone from Rean's past or something like that)? It would also be a *shock* if it was an important character from one of the other games. Also regarding those "codenames" like "C", "V" and "S". Clearly "Vulcan and Scarlet" are nicknames, right? But Crow Armbrust is his real name? Meaning "C" could have also been the initial for a nickname just like Scarlet and Vulcan. That's why Crow just wasn't automatically the first person that came to my mind seeing "C".

Also even if I was wrong about it, I was always sure that Crow is "just" a ranged attacker. I mean even his last name would suggest that (Armbrust meaning Crossbow) and C was using a double saber.

Knowing now that Crow also got that power, I guess that's why Crow got silver hair and red eyes just like Rean when he uses his power? Seems like he can control it without problems then.

Anyway, Falcolm did manage to fool me really hard. I always thought I'm more of a observant person, but maybe I was wrong.
I also didn't watch the opening movie, always afraid that there might be spoilers.

I actually hate when that happens in games / movies / series, but .. I really hope he can be redeemed or something like that. Crow really grew on me and quickly became my favorite character, I like him even more than Estelle and that does mean something (though I still need to play SC, which Im about to begin). Besides, I do think that his cause is propably a good one, maybe just the wrong way to go at it. Osbourne does seem like a bad person and the ILF members "just" want revenge. We know for example what happened that Vulcan joined the ILF and what part Obsourne had in it.

Man, I really need Cold Steel 2.

 

[aravuus]

Feeling's mutual, considering that there were some really offensive implications in your earlier posts.

I'm not seeing anything even remotely offensive there, but eh.. Maybe that's just me.

Anywho, I'm not gonna deny that I carried the character levels over from the save I got from Basileus, and I'm not gonna deny that it's made the game even more enjoyable to me. Don't get me wrong - the battle system is fine and much better than TiTS', that's for sure. It's just not particularly fun after ~20-ish hours.

There are actually very few JRPGs that have a turn-based battle system that I actually really enjoy. For some reason, FF VII, VIII, IX and X are some of these, even though they're fairly basic.

But yeah, the dungeons and such kinda feel like filler to me at the moment, so it's nice to be able to just run through them in a matter of minutes.

e: also, usually when I play a new JRPG, I give it all my attention. I start and finish it before starting any new games.

But with CS, I really want to kind of savor it, and I feel like I SHOULD start playing Dragon's Dogma, or Consortium or something like that on PC and play them intermittently. I mean, let's face it - the main plot isn't particularly intriguing so far. It's just students going around, doing good deeds. I don't get that "I MUST SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT" I get with a lot of other JRPGs. But I'm still enjoying the shit out of it. It's weird.

And the closer to CS2's release I finish it, the better, obviously.

 

[Shinypogs]

Just finished chapter 2, I continue to dislike Machias and now hope something horrible happens to him. I think this chapter was supposed to make me like him more but I just find him grating and petulant and I didn't even play blade with him on the train because I dislike him so much.

I am however pleased that rich girl and her father continue their shopping spree across the country ^-^, it's silly but I like little stuff like that.

My only real complaint thus far is I want more equipment slots to help specialize my team and also why must cosmetic outfits be super expensive

 

[Augemitbutter]

Oh I'm on hard since I heard that the game is too easy on normal. So I guess i really need to grind in hard huh?

you don't need to grind. i'm right at the end and had no issues. just try to collect a wide variety of accessories, that will help.

 

[aravuus]

There's gonna be a

Spoiler

school play

of some sorts in chapter 4, isn't there?

Or a festival, at least

 

[Asd202]

Oh I'm on hard since I heard that the game is too easy on normal. So I guess i really need to grind in hard huh?

I beat the game on hard and I didn't grind at all.

 

[Augemitbutter]

i wish this game would let you zoom out and play battles like FC and SC. that's the first thing i tried to change when i got into the first battle actually

 

[epmode]

The last boss is legit garbage. Winning comes down to luck on higher difficulties. At least it's not a long fight.

 

[skLaFarebear]

But with CS, I really want to kind of savor it, and I feel like I SHOULD start playing Dragon's Dogma, or Consortium or something like that on PC and play them intermittently. I mean, let's face it - the main plot isn't particularly intriguing so far. It's just students going around, doing good deeds. I don't get that "I MUST SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT" I get with a lot of other JRPGs. But I'm still enjoying the shit out of it. It's weird.

And the closer to CS2's release I finish it, the better, obviously.

There's gonna be a

Spoiler

school play

of some sorts in chapter 4, isn't there?

Or a festival, at least

Yup, that makes sense why you're not really into the plot right now.

It's because

Spoiler

at this point in the game there really is no plot. After chapter 4, things really start to go.

Just finished chapter 2, I continue to dislike Machias and now hope something horrible happens to him. I think this chapter was supposed to make me like him more but I just find him grating and petulant and I didn't even play blade with him on the train because I dislike him so much.

I am however pleased that rich girl and her father continue their shopping spree across the country ^-^, it's silly but I like little stuff like that.

My only real complaint thus far is I want more equipment slots to help specialize my team and also why must cosmetic outfits be super expensive

It wasn't supposed to imo.

Spoiler

It was supposed to make him more tolerable considering he isn't always bitching about nobility anymore, but I didn't care much more for Machias by the end of 2 than I did before that.

 

[aravuus]

Yup, that makes sense why you're not really into the plot right now.

It's because

Spoiler

at this point in the game there really is no plot. After chapter 4, things really start to go.

Yeah, I've figured as much, going by many of the posts in this thread.

Not that the slower start is a negative, really. I think it works for this game,

 

[skLaFarebear]

Yeah, I've figured as much, going by many of the posts in this thread.

Not that the slower start is a negative, really. I think it works for this game,

I agree. One thing I always love about the Trails series is that they take their pace slower than any other JRPG and know how to use that to their advantage to build their world and characters first, before going deep into the story.

 

[AyanFaust]

Hey guys. Just started (well about 13 hours in and loving it) cold steel, and I got to the second practical exam where

Spoiler

Sara kicks your ass.

I know in a ng+ you can retain your levels. Is it possible to beat her in a subsequent run?

 

[skLaFarebear]

Hey guys. Just started (well about 13 hours in and loving it) cold steel, and I got to the second practical exam where

Spoiler

Sara kicks your ass.

I know in a ng+ you can retain your levels. Is it possible to beat her in a subsequent run?

Spoiler

Nope. When her health gets low, she'll automatically pop one of her skills which does 49,999 damage to your team. And somehow my machias lived through it, but she just went again and did the same attack right after and killed him.

 

[AyanFaust]

Spoiler

Nope. When her health gets low, she'll automatically pop one of her skills which does 49,999 damage to your team. And somehow my machias lived through it, but she just went again and did the same attack right after and killed him.

Spoiler

Dang. Figured as much since it seems plot important. Ah well, thanks!

 

[pixxxelz]

Trophy Stats for fun:

Ranking of characters chosen for "that" event in Chapter 6

Spoiler

Alisa - 5.4%
Emma - 4.1%
Laura - 4.1%
Fie - 3.7%
Millium - 2.5%
Sara - 2.0%
Crow - 1.9%
Gaius - 1.7%
Jusis - 1.6%
Elliot - 1.6%
Towa - 1.5%
Machias - 1.5%

Most of these aren't a surprise. I guess people picked Alisa as default choice. Poor Machias. Surprised Towa isn't higher. People probably thought that you would actually have to dance with the guys lol

It's actually a little sad that a decent amount of interesting dialogue is locked behind this event given what pains you have to go to "unlock" dance partners. Sara, Crow, Laura, Alisa and Elliot all have interesting things to say, others, not so much (Jusis's conversation sucks)

Generally any person who went for NG+ also went for all the related trophies required for NG+, like collect all Master Quartz and finish the notebook and do Nightmare, all around the 1% completion range. Putting max bonding freedom behind NG+ was a design mistake if only 1% of your purchase base is going to go to the trouble of finishing NG+ tasks.

Of all the people who bought the game, 90% of them turned it on and got past the prologue. 9% beat the final chapter. Can't wait for the Cold Steel 2 thread where we get 100 questions if it's OK to start with CS2 as their first game... I can see it now. "I bought FC, SC, and CS, but I haven't played them yet. Is it OK if I start with this game?"

Annoying trophies that merely pad up the trophy list like impede 100 arts, etc. hover around 15% range. The 1000 battles trophy (ridiculous) has a 2% completion.

Wtf

Spoiler

Alisa

is the most popular?!

I picked crow lol

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Spoiler

Nope. When her health gets low, she'll automatically pop one of her skills which does 49,999 damage to your team. And somehow my machias lived through it, but she just went again and did the same attack right after and killed him.

Spoiler

Sara: Don't fuck with her

is the take-away from this.

 

[Asd202]

Wtf

Spoiler

Alisa

is the most popular?!

I picked crow lol

Well

Spoiler

some are pretty harder to get than others especially for non Class VII characters

 

[skLaFarebear]

Spoiler

Dang. Figured as much since it seems plot important. Ah well, thanks!

No problem!

Spoiler

Sara: Don't fuck with her

is the take-away from this.

Spoiler

"Don't Fuck With This Instructor" should've been the OT title tbh

Wtf

Spoiler

Alisa

is the most popular?!

I picked crow lol

Spoiler

Alisa is one of the easier ones to get and seems like the canon main female lead which is why most probably went with her. I went with Sara first (who definitely has one of the more interesting ones), but loaded up a save and went with Alisa/Crow/Elliot afterwards for the trophies.

 

[Stuart444]

I just started Trails of Cold Steel. First proper play of a Trails game (got FC/SC on PC which I'll get around to someday but PS3 games a priority for me before I put my PS3 lol).

Enjoying it so far, not long after the start of Chapter 1 and just finished the side quest for that girl (the non-main request you get).

It's pretty fun so far, I'm liking most of the characters and look forward to seeing what happens next.

Also the opening movie with it's song and all almost makes me think I'm watching the opening to "Trails of Cold Steel: The Animation" or something. Loved it though. Really nice to watch/listen to aka means I'll watch it every time I play the game (something I do with Tales games or at least the ones where I like their openings lol.)

Glad it came a week early. Might not finish it before the 5th of Feb (which is when Digimon gets here) but I'll certainly get some playtime in before then.

 

[Novel Mike]

Wtf

Spoiler

Alisa

is the most popular?!

I picked crow lol

Alisa is the best.

 

[Nyoro SF]

Unfortunately for Alisa fans, she is the "default" choice through the way the game is written, so we may never know how truly popular she is.

However we can confirm that Laura is the best because of this screenshot showing her impeccable taste...

 

[pixxxelz]

Well

Spoiler

some are pretty harder to get than others especially for non Class VII characters

Makes sense I guess.

No problem!

Spoiler

"Don't Fuck With This Instructor" should've been the OT title tbh

Spoiler

Alisa is one of the easier ones to get and seems like the canon main female lead which is why most probably went with her. I went with Sara first (who definitely has one of the more interesting ones), but loaded up a save and went with Alisa/Crow/Elliot afterwards for the trophies.

Yeah I think I'm gonna load that save and get the others too. But still crow was my first lol

Spoiler

I would have picked Sara too tbh but I only got her to level 3 I think.

Alisa is the best.

she's my least favorite character in the game, I think I like more Patrick than her.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Patrick was a great character with very believable growth over the course of the game.

 

[Se7enSword]

Unfortunately for Alisa fans, she is the "default" choice through the way the game is written, so we may never know how truly popular she is.

However we can confirm that Laura is the best because of this screenshot showing her impeccable taste...

Does that even need to be said?

 

[skLaFarebear]

Yeah I think I'm gonna load that save and get the others too. But still crow was my first lol

Spoiler

I would have picked Sara too tbh but I only got her to level 3 I think.

Spoiler

Sara's is definitely worth doing from a lore/character building perspective. I think you only need to get her to level 4 for her scene to show up. There's 12 total camp scenes in the game and you can only get up to 8 per playthrough I believe. The guide on the details for it is kinda weird.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Patrick was a great character with very believable growth over the course of the game.

Yeah, Patrick turned out to be pretty great as the game went on.

 

[Novel Mike]

One thing I have not spoiled myself on for CS2 is Patrick and pretty much all of the side characters, I cannot wait for CS2.

Man its not even been a month since I beat CS and I'm still obsessing over it every day, the wait for CS2 is painful.

 

[BassForever]

I mean I went with Alisha since she's obviously canon and I assume down the road it's either gonna be her or player choice/no canon love interest. If in the end it truly does become player choice/no canon on replays I'd do Towa since I think she and Rean have best chemistry.

 

[skLaFarebear]

One thing I have not spoiled myself on for CS2 is Patrick and pretty much all of the side characters, I cannot wait for CS2.

Man its not even been a month since I beat CS and I'm still obsessing over it every day, the wait for CS2 is painful.

Imagine if we got that FC->SC wait length for Cold Steel.

Might have been faster and less painful to just learn Japanese at that point lol

 

[Augemitbutter]

patrick is the secret main character. he has more development than pretty much everyone else.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

patrick is the secret main character. he has more development than pretty much everyone else.

It was super disappointing

Spoiler

every time he got tied to a main story event and was basically relegated to "protecting the hostage"

 

[Droplet]

Spoiler

Wait why didn't anyone want to dance with the guys? And why is Millium up there?? I thought she and Crow would be harder to get, not easier.

 

[Tunic]

I just started Chapter 3 and definitely enjoying every moment of this game so far. I was going through the trophies I have unlocked for the game thus far and I noticed I haven't received a trophy for completing Chapter 2. Is this a common issue?

 

[Psxphile]

^ can't say if it's common, but just for the heck of it I checked my list and I definitely got the trophy for Chapter 2. Playing on PS3, btw.

 

[Basileus777]

I just started Chapter 3 and definitely enjoying every moment of this game so far. I was going through the trophies I have unlocked for the game thus far and I noticed I haven't received a trophy for completing Chapter 2. Is this a common issue?

It should unlock at the save screen after you get your post-chapter score and rank. Did you close the game before it triggered?

 

[Droplet]

(final chapter spoilers again)

Spoiler

I see, but to me it still wasn't that obvious. Because...

Spoiler

To me it wasn't obvious that Crow was C because I wasn't paying attention to C's name (I only remembered it at the very end lol), but it was fairly obvious that there was something up with Crow. Even at the beginning of the game he's made out to be someone with an important role since you can do bonding events with him, he has more focus than Angelica and George, and his name is even more "dark and mysterious" than if they had just straight up named him Raven. Plus by the time he joins your class (with someone who you're straight up told not to trust), you still know next to nothing about him AND you still manage to not learn anything new about him. He also seems to be strangely worldly and intelligent for someone who went down a grade.

So I feel like even if you don't immediately make the C = Crow connection, it's intentional that the player should be wondering about him. And I mean...seriously, the opening is full of crows...Even the final school dungeon boss looks like a crow.

And I've definitely had trophies that have popped up but haven't shown up in my list of trophies. Not sure if that's similar to your issue.

 

[Tunic]

It should unlock at the save screen after you get your post-chapter score and rank. Did you close the game before it triggered?

No, I ended up continuing into Chapter 3 until the Free Day started. Very strange that I didn't get it unlocked then.

 

[skLaFarebear]

No, I ended up continuing into Chapter 3 until the Free Day started. Very strange that I didn't get it unlocked then.

Maybe try loading up an earlier save and just blast your way through the chapter for the trophy?

Alternatively if you're trophy hunting, you could always just get it on NG+ since you can't platinum the game without 2 playthroughs anyway.

 

[Droplet]

Huh actually this is pretty weird. I know I got the Neithard Would Be Proud trophy but it's not showing up even after updating. Weird.

 

[Famassu]

Got a bit sloppy in my second playthrough, forgot to finish one sidequest in Chapter 5

Spoiler

the one where you have to gather some ingredients for the offering. I gathered the ingredients (well, one ingredient, the rest I already had), took them to the nun, but I didn't remember to take offerings to the statues on the pier after that so a red X greeted me in the summary screen once I finished the castle. D:

Oh well, I should still be ok for an A0 rank run, right? It has some leeway?

Also, seems like I really need to not let bosses have a turn on this run at this point or at least make better efforts to protect my characters. A certain final boss of Chapter 5 killed 3 of my 4 characters (all with full health, I'm fairly certain) with a single hit, this includes Laura with over 10,000hp. I only won because Rean had accumulated enough CP for a second S-craft and that was enough to KO the boss.

 

[thekiddfran]

hmm thinking of getting the Vita version purely for the fact I can play it in bed!

The performance is aparently worse compared to PS3