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The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (PC) |OT| Enter Erebonia
- Thread starter jj984jj
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I'm just past the start of chapter 5 clocking at about 63 hours. Pretty much talk to nearly every NPC twice and then again after events, it's my favourite part of these games. My eyes lit up in chapter 4 during the field study when you go to
However I'm not as enthusiastic on the dungeons thus far. I can't quite put my finger on why, it's not like they were that interesting in the previous TitS games. Maybe it's due to how poorly integrated to the world as a whole. It probably doesn't help that two of them have been
Surprisingly I tend look forward to school life and seeing all the familiar faces again more than field studies. Not having the opportunity playing all those Japanese games in school settings like Persona might have its own perk after all.
Heimdallr for the summer festival. NPCs were everywhere!
However I'm not as enthusiastic on the dungeons thus far. I can't quite put my finger on why, it's not like they were that interesting in the previous TitS games. Maybe it's due to how poorly integrated to the world as a whole. It probably doesn't help that two of them have been
sewers under their respective cities with one being ridiculously long.
Surprisingly I tend look forward to school life and seeing all the familiar faces again more than field studies. Not having the opportunity playing all those Japanese games in school settings like Persona might have its own perk after all.
Most? spockeyebrow.gif
I'm just past the start of chapter 5 clocking at about 63 hours. Pretty much talk to nearly every NPC twice and then again after events, it's my favourite part of these games. My eyes lit up in chapter 4 during the field study when you go toHeimdallr for the summer festival. NPCs were everywhere!
However I'm not as enthusiastic on the dungeons thus far. I can't quite put my finger on why, it's not like they were that interesting in the previous TitS games. Maybe it's due to how poorly integrated to the world as a whole. It probably doesn't help that two of them have beensewers under their respective cities with one being ridiculously long.
Surprisingly I tend look forward to school life and seeing all the familiar faces again more than field studies. Not having the opportunity playing all those Japanese games in school settings like Persona might have its own perk after all.
Yea. I like the field studies because it's cool to meet new characters, stories, and lore. But I'm always itching to go back to school and hear what are the latest developments with the students there.
What lies at the bottom of it is well worth it. (At least personally I loved it)
Acknowledged
Most people will agree with you, myself included.
My tip to you is to rush through it and don't bother fighting the enemies. If you have a strong enough grasp of the fighting system and the correct items you should be just fine (on Normal). Maybe grab a single level if you're a little worried.
I'm just past the start of chapter 5 clocking at about 63 hours. Pretty much talk to nearly every NPC twice and then again after events, it's my favourite part of these games. My eyes lit up in chapter 4 during the field study when you go toHeimdallr for the summer festival. NPCs were everywhere!
However I'm not as enthusiastic on the dungeons thus far. I can't quite put my finger on why, it's not like they were that interesting in the previous TitS games. Maybe it's due to how poorly integrated to the world as a whole. It probably doesn't help that two of them have beensewers under their respective cities with one being ridiculously long.
Surprisingly I tend look forward to school life and seeing all the familiar faces again more than field studies. Not having the opportunity playing all those Japanese games in school settings like Persona might have its own perk after all.
For as much as I enjoy Persona, I admit to preferring the way that Cold Steel handled the school life aspect of things, the fact that there are actually things going on to keep track of in the lives of students who aren't members of your party with or without interacting with them yourself having a lot to do with that.
Interesting. But can you say that
what's at the bottom justifies its length? Would trimming the visits in the middle of the game impact the payoff?
Good advice, I'll do just that.
I'm of the opinion that they put the schoolhouse in the game so that it wouldn't feel like there's such a long gap between battling and reading, and so that you have an excuse to use characters that you didn't get a chance to use during field exercises.
Going through the levels serves no narrative purpose, everything narratively that happens at the schoolhouse happens outside of the required explorations. That's why I always recommend running through it. Plus, low level boss challenges are kind of fun too, gives you an excuse to scorch through all the extra items you have or dive into the recipe system.
Falcom has almost always designed their dungeons this way, that those who don't care for them can just sprint through them and enjoy the story if they don't feel like sticking around, and I've always appreciated that.
ResourcefulStar
Neo Member
Chapter 5 just so happens to have a dungeon with a nice atmosphere. Definitely an upgrade over the chapter 4
sewers
It's a staple in the series, but that one has some historical value to it.
You can't have a Trails game if there aren't
sewers under the capital
Cold Steel does have a nice predictable pace in how they advance through their calendar. Everyone has their own life that slowly inches forward with each event that are densely packed in the few individual days you get to participate in per month. Very little down time.
That's good to hear.
You certainly don't need to for story reasons. The Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs both spoil each other, so you're going to get spoiled no matter which order you play them in. In fact, I'd argue that Crossbell probably spoils Cold Steel more than Cold Steel spoils Crossbell, despite being released first.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Tee hee
ResourcefulStar
Neo Member
It's so frustrating that single target and AoE healing Arts belong to different elements in this game. You need both a Water and a Wind Bell if you want to make a Fast Heals Person. A Golden Bell too, if you want to squeeze the panic button that is Seraphic Ring in there.
I normally just use Crafts or AoE items if I need aoe healing (but that's pretty late game) but I agree if you wanna stick to Arts for both type of healing it's annoying.
Shake Appeal
Member
Am I missing something, or is there no way to turn off the annoying sound of text scrolling out? I always turned that off in Sky.
Otherwise, I'm running this at 1440p on Maximum with MSAA turned down slightly, and it's been locked at 60fps except in the very first scene. Damn, Durante.
Otherwise, I'm running this at 1440p on Maximum with MSAA turned down slightly, and it's been locked at 60fps except in the very first scene. Damn, Durante.
hans_castorp
Member
Chapter 4 Free Day (kinda Trails the 3rd related)
Wait, does Rean have a Stigma!? That was awesome.
Please no confirmations either way, just thinking out loud
"May a thousand head-pats adorn you flesh with despair" sounds like a catchy S-craft line.
I only completed the in-medias-res intro to check out how the game fared on my laptop, and it is indeed quite out of this world how smooth it runs. Makes me wonder what could be added to further improve things, because it feels like everything is already there or in the works (thinking about autosave). Even the optimisation is insane.
Yeah everything is super snappy and fast. Feels great. Loading, saving, area transistions... everything is instant.
Going for 100% NPC coverage would probably have been a slight pain without all that and turbo mode.
And yeah, the higher resolution, SSAO and other fancy stuff really makes some things shine, especially all the architectural stuff.
Chapter 4 - Field Study Day 2
OH MY FUCKING GOD THAT WAS SO GOOD!
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I felt like I had a grin that was wider than my entire face plastered on it during that whole stuff with
Fuck if I know another series that has me shaking with excitement so much simply by meeting people and them sitting/standing around talking.
OH MY FUCKING GOD THAT WAS SO GOOD!
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I felt like I had a grin that was wider than my entire face plastered on it during that whole stuff with
Phantom Thief B,
followed right by the meeting with Princess Alfin and Prince Olivert. They are amazing.
followed right by the meeting with Princess Alfin and Prince Olivert. They are amazing.
Ultimadrago
Member
God, Laura comes off an even bigger asshat in Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 (Day 1) than I remembered.
In better news, exploring areas with the Turbo button has helped greatly with getting around. I almost forget how slow the standard jogging is in contrast.
In better news, exploring areas with the Turbo button has helped greatly with getting around. I almost forget how slow the standard jogging is in contrast.
You have my thanks. She gets so much better in II.
!
I won't abide any bad talk about Laura. She's amazing in chapter 4. Amazing, I say!
It's funny; for as obviously built on a budget as these games are, the architecture/design work of the places you visit (well, cities/towns more so than dungeons/feilds) is always pretty impressive. The Sky trilogy's backgrounds remind me of FFIX at times. Excellent stuff.
I won't abide any bad talk about Laura. She's amazing in chapter 4. Amazing, I say!
It's funny; for as obviously built on a budget as these games are, the architecture/design work of the places you visit (well, cities/towns more so than dungeons/feilds) is always pretty impressive. The Sky trilogy's backgrounds remind me of FFIX at times. Excellent stuff.
FallenGrace
Member
I like her
Shake Appeal
Member
I think I've got the hang of all the differences between this and Sky in terms of combat ... except that doing damage heals my characters? What's up with that?
Did you use Elliot's Resounding Beat?
Shake Appeal
Member
Yes, thank you! I just noticed the icon for that under the portraits.
Shake Appeal
Member
Yeah, crafts seem way more spammable in this compared to Sky, too.
Novel Mike
Member
They are and the game is better for it. Arts feel a bit underpowered because of it but thats fixed in the second game IMO at least.
For the early game, a big part of that is that they for some reason started Rean with a master quartz that increases his CP gain. It's very useful generally, but until he starts getting some more expensive crafts/his S-crafts, he doesn't really have much use for it. Unless he dies, he'll probably eventually be perpetually at almost max CP.
Which is why I gave it to Laura instead. S-craft spam baby!
ResourcefulStar
Neo Member
I do make use of healing Crafts when possible, but Alisa and Elliot aren't available at every leg of the story. I've heard that Moebius gives all recovery items an AoE property at higher levels. I'll try using it on my next playthrough.
The intermission after Chapter 6 is rather jarring. Has Falcom ever talked about it in interviews? Feels like another chapter was planned, but cut for budget reasons.
They had to cut a section, yeah. You can actually find a very brief novella that covers that part online. XSEED even localized it, I think.
ResourcefulStar
Neo Member
Thank you. I'll look for the novella after I finish the game.
You're better off asking one of us for a link so as to avoid spoilers.
I'd imagine either very late this year or more likely first quarter of next year, I guess.
Just groundless speculation though.