Finished the prologue, already can tell I'm going to really like this. Can already see the "tropes" along with the foundation that'll lead to the characters being far more then their tropes would initially reveal.
I purchased Vita version from PSN, but I can download PS3 version too?
http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd338/IDComp/Screenshot_2015-12-23-10-43-28_zpswdtfkshi.jpg[img][/QUOTE]
No, you can download the Vita version to your PS3 (for transferring or archival).
Vita downloads on PS3 are terrible as archives though, since they get automatically deleted on install (unlike the PSP on PS3 which prompts even though it defaults to yes for some idiotic reason).
Finally got my Lionheart Edition. Been super excited for this. I gotta say, this is a great edition for only being $10 more. Hell, that artbook alone is more than worth the extra cash. Love it.
Finally got my Lionheart Edition. Been super excited for this. I gotta say, this is a great edition for only being $10 more. Hell, that artbook alone is more than worth the extra cash. Love it.
Must say I'm quite impressed with the game so far, it is quite meaty and I've only just gotten to my first Free Time day, I'm about 3:30hrs in. I've been exploring the school and talking to NPCs like you guys suggested, and every one of them feels distinct. The school itself is massive too. This reminds me of when I played TitS and I went around every town exploring, except back then it was all 2D. So far the game has exceeded my expectations.
I don't think you'll have to worry too much about that. Trails games' strength is their writing and character development, for the most part. Not everyone will like every character - some people hate Estelle in FC/SC which is beyond my understanding.
The amount of promotion this is getting from Sony is so weird to see. The late December lauch might actually be the best thing that could have happened to this game.
The amount of promotion this is getting from Sony is so weird to see. The late December lauch might actually be the best thing that could have happened to this game.
It didn't, but it's a PSP game that launched in the busiest gaming period so it's more understandable. I hope it benefits from this, the PS Blog post is very in depth and explains the whole series.
It didn't. It just sort of staggered out the gates after being announced a week prior.
Cold Steel has physical stuff (including an LE), a longer amount of time between release date confirmation and release, and is coming out with very little competition besides maybe Xenoblade Chronicles X but even that's nearing three weeks since release.
Just seeing all the comments in here saying "I bought the game but won't have time to play it yet" is wildly different from the SC OT which was filled with "I will buy this after finishing FC."
XSeed did a good job with the LE. The box actually is well built and not flimsy and likely to fall apart at the seams like most of these end to be. And the art book is actually pretty substantial for a $10 extra LE.
This game just started in one of the worst ways any game can -_-; Going from Level 50 with all the cool magic and stats and items... right back to Level 1 of nothingness! This is especially bad with rpgs. You're not gonna take 30-50 hours ta get your powers back in Metroid but in an rpg? Ummm. Ya.
Dear all game developers: STOP DOING THIS.
Okies back to the game!
Animated talkity face portraits?! That's new and muuuuch better then the usual static ones!
I flipped through the artbook from the LE, and I would definitely recommend totally avoiding it until you complete the game. Even the first part. There's a spoiler warning toward the end when it starts to cover Cold Steel 2 stuff, but frankly some of the Cold Steel 1 stuff could be considered spoilery too.
XSeed did a good job with the LE. The box actually is well built and not flimsy and likely to fall apart at the seams like most of these end to be. And the art book is actually pretty substantial for a $10 extra LE.
I completely agree. The first thing that stood out to me was how sturdy the box was. I bought the game from Best Buy, and they know how to package and ship LEs, but if I had bought it from Amazon, their crappy bubble mailer shipping wouldn't have damaged the box at all.
Just seeing all the comments in here saying "I bought the game but won't have time to play it yet" is wildly different from the SC OT which was filled with "I will buy this after finishing FC."
I flipped through the artbook from the LE, and I would definitely recommend totally avoiding it until you complete the game. Even the first part. There's a spoiler warning toward the end when it starts to cover Cold Steel 2 stuff, but frankly some of the Cold Steel 1 stuff could be considered spoilery too.
I flipped through the artbook from the LE, and I would definitely recommend totally avoiding it until you complete the game. Even the first part. There's a spoiler warning toward the end when it starts to cover Cold Steel 2 stuff, but frankly some of the Cold Steel 1 stuff could be considered spoilery too.
Hm. Guess even the LE contents serve both games. Guess that means no artbook for CS2 if there's an LE, but maybe that'll be the one with a soundtrack. Thanks for the heads up!
Hm. Guess even the LE contents serve both games. Guess that means no artbook for CS2 if there's an LE, but maybe that'll be the one with a soundtrack. Thanks for the heads up!
I've already spoiled myself on some Cold Steel stuff (partially by being too pessimistic for a timely release, so dip in a LITTLE, though also combined with curiosity about that big cliffhanger) but it's mostly out of context and was a year or so back mostly. I DID look up some new stuff while playing SC, but that's more to see if a named character becomes more relevant or not.
It didn't, but it's a PSP game that launched in the busiest gaming period so it's more understandable. I hope it benefits from this, the PS Blog post is very in depth and explains the whole series.
It didn't. It just sort of staggered out the gates after being announced a week prior.
Cold Steel has physical stuff (including an LE), a longer amount of time between release date confirmation and release, and is coming out with very little competition besides maybe Xenoblade Chronicles X but even that's nearing three weeks since release.
Just seeing all the comments in here saying "I bought the game but won't have time to play it yet" is wildly different from the SC OT which was filled with "I will buy this after finishing FC."
Yeah, I just added that in case I was mistaken, thanks for confirming!
Yes, it is quite an interesting contrast with the SC release, nonetheless i'm happy that CS has received such a fantastic reception and I hope it translates to SC as well in the future.
Just finished the prologue, about ~2 hours in, starting at the school.
My thoughts so far:
Not a single character has really clicked for me yet except for Jusis. Probably because he reminds me of Kaiba just a little. (Video Reminder). Everyone else is really bland or annoying, poor Elliot... and Machias... and Fie. Thought I'd like the teacher's character based on pre-release footage, but so far all she's really done so far is mock and taunt everyone... most demoralizing and eye-rolling teacher ever. Rean's a smooth dude ("I guess I shouldn't be barging into a stranger's house on the way to school" lol) in some parts but rather typical in others, so no real opinion formed on this guy yet.
One thing I want to point out that's really bothering me and I have to get off my chest (no pun intended for that stupid slap scene). Now that I'm playing this game with some degree of concentration, the 3D animation in this game is horrifically bad. Special outstanding mention to this goes to with the battle against
the gargoyle, seriously this guy was such a pushover, and then that hilariously bad animation sequence where we gang up on him... holy shit, so, so bad
. Everything from the swinging and firing of weapons to cutscenes is really awful animation-wise. It's good for laughs for some parts but most of the time it makes the characters look pathetic. I collapsed internally when I saw Laura swing her sword for the first time.
Voice acting is more miss than hit so I turned off the voices.
Good parts:
Menus are really slick and intuitive, but I guess that's to be expected for the latest series. Some icons are way too small during battle, but if I squint I can deal with it; I'm just so glad I can see the timer on buffs and debuffs now.
Giving experience multiplier bonuses based on battle tactics is brilliant.
Being able to see an enemy's potential to be debuffed is very, very nice.
Zero Arts are cool. As are the notifications of delay timing.
Much more freedom and utility with attacks, crafts and arts. My jaw dropped when I saw that I could apply a general defense AND healing buff anywhere on the field with no locked-position limit; is that really OK?? Well, it's awesome, so...
Stunning enemies on the field adds a little fun tension of trying to avoid battles. I enjoy it.
So there we go, I look forward to completing the next chapter tomorrow, but I'm going to be away from home for a while after so I won't be able to complete this game until next year. That's fine though, I'm not in a rush. I look forward to picking and choosing the primary party members (if that's how it works).
One thing I want to point out that's really bothering me and I have to get off my chest (no pun intended for that stupid slap scene). Now that I'm playing this game with some degree of concentration, the 3D animation in this game is horrifically bad. Special outstanding mention to this goes to with the battle against
the gargoyle, seriously this guy was such a pushover, and then that hilariously bad animation sequence where we gang up on him... holy shit, so, so bad
. Everything from the swinging and firing of weapons to cutscenes is really awful animation-wise. It's good for laughs for some parts but most of the time it makes the characters look pathetic. I collapsed internally when I saw Laura swing her sword for the first time.
Cold Steel II improves drastically on the animation front. You can really tell the move from how they were making Kiseki before this was a rough change, going from isometric pre-rendered sprites to camera control and full 3D explorable environments and characters.
I was personally expecting many people to share your opinion on the characters in regards to just their prologue impression, because among all the Kiseki core cast, Class VII imo starts out the weakest, given their need to basically give an overview of every character's "tropes" by the first sequence.
Cold Steel II improves drastically on the animation front. You can really tell the move from how they were making Kiseki before this was a rough change, going from isometric pre-rendered sprites to camera control and full 3D explorable environments and characters.
That is good to hear. Honestly, I've seen better animations from the first generation of 3D fighting games, so I'm kind of shocked. It really hurts presentation.
I was personally expecting many people to share your opinion on the characters in regards to just their prologue impression, because among all the Kiseki core cast, Class VII imo starts out the weakest, given their need to basically give an overview of every character's "tropes" by the first sequence.
I was personally expecting many people to share your opinion on the characters in regards to just their prologue impression, because among all the Kiseki core cast, Class VII imo starts out the weakest, given their need to basically give an overview of every character's "tropes" by the first sequence.
Trails in the Sky definitely left an amazing first impression with their core character (or at least Estelle/Joshua and Olivier) so it's disappointing to hear Cold Steel falters there. But perhaps not too surprisingly?
I'd say we'll see something for CS II as long as CS I proves to be successful. No reason to go the extra mile with an LE for 2 if the first venture doesn't pan out. Making the box for 1 hold both games just gave them something to fall back on if things didn't go well, same with the artbook being for both games. With that said though, it's not like we'll even be hearing about any major news for 2 for a good half a year if the turnaround for 2 is the same as it was for 1. We may not get a box or artbook for the game, but there's still a potential soundtrack for both games or other random little things.
The history of the franchise on one picture. A more up-to-date history. "Sen no Kiseki" is Trails of Cold Steel's Japanese name.
Another 'history' made ages ago thanks to XSEED. This picture is a bit old so Cold Steel isn't on here, though. That unknown title after "Zero no Kiseki" aka Trails of Zero would be Trails of Azure. Trails of Cold Steel, the game this OT is about, is the one right after Trails of Azure.
Basically, Legend of Heroes 6 is Trails in the Sky First Chapter, Second Chapter and 3rd.
Legend of Heroes 7 is Trails of Zero and Trails of Azure (yet to be localized, set in a different country.)
Legend of Heroes 8 is Trails of Cold Steel I, II and III (set in Erebonia, and this OT is for the first game of that trilogy.)
Don't worry, this game is made for newcomers to the franchise to enjoy, you won't be lost if you jump in here.
Which version should I buy? Are there any major differences between the two?
PS3 reportedly has some better shadows and slightly better performance (a couple seconds less loading time before a battle) but there are no content differences.
The Vita version is competent, and the differences in performance between the two systems is not enough that you should absolutely choose one over the other.
Whichever system you want to play the game on will be fine!
Man, I'm not waiting for Amazon to ship. Tomorrow I'll check the local shops and see if I can score a Lionheart edition (at this point I don't care which version I get).