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Trails in the Sky the 3rd |OT| Time's the Charm

K

Kvik

Member
Speaking of broken S-Craft, Anelace's was pretty decent too, even without her ultimate weapon.

I'd love to be able to bring all-Kensai team to the fight against (6th Plane guardian)
Divine Blade
, could be awesome -- Richard, Anelace, Vander, Julia.

That fight wasn't a cakewalk either, +STR +DEF food helps a lot, though.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
SatelliteOfLove said:
Moon Door 5 is...interesting.

Mary will be back and playable sometime, wont she?

Also: "rear-hillbilly process" holy shit ahahahaha
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised either way.
Could easily be a one-off thing, but she's probably 14 or so by CS3. A game taking place a couple years later could see her as a playable character after she leaves the orphanage to find a place for herself in the world. Especially if the Calvard arc or whatever comes next goes with Military School again, she would fit the age group for that.
 
T

Tonton

Member
Psxphile said:
These doors are getting greedy. Now they want cold hard mira? Buy a lottery ticket, ya mooks.
Click to expand...
There should be 4 chests with 10k Mira each nearby, so it isn't much of a problem

The one that requires 400 battles is probably the worst depending on how you play
 
A

Arthea

Member
EndcatOmega said:
The only place I know for sure is Chapter 4;
the first wolf fight in the forest can spawn them, and a few of the rat-people fights can have one tagging along as well in the same dungeon.
Click to expand...

almost forgot ty ty ty
42B3FDD3F49D76BD5198763056265F7A24409111
Click to expand...

still nowhere near enough for all quartz gems and I stopped encountering them after a while, like 20 battles and nothing, moved on for now.
 
D

Dragon1893

Member
The first boss made me think I'd regret going with hard difficulty but it's been alright since (about to wrap up the 4th plane). It's a good challenge but nothing frustrating, a boss might take me out on the first attempt but after adjusting my strategy I get it on my second try. Some normal enemies do feel a bit spongy which causes normal encounters to last more than I'd like sometimes, the speed hack mitigates this though.
Last boss of the 4th plane seems tough though, had to stop playing shortly after starting the fight, we'll see how it goes.

My only gripe is that Estelle still isn't in the party, didn't think it would take this long.
 
A

Arthea

Member
Dragon1893 said:
The first boss made me think I'd regret going with hard difficulty but it's been alright since (about to wrap up the 4th plane). It's a good challenge but nothing frustrating, a boss might take me out on the first attempt but after adjusting my strategy I get it on my second try. Some normal enemies do feel a bit spongy which causes normal encounters to last more than I'd like sometimes, the speed hack mitigates this though.
Last boss of the 4th plane seems tough though, had to stop playing shortly after starting the fight, we'll see how it goes.

My only gripe is that Estelle still isn't in the party, didn't think it would take this long.
Click to expand...

I kinda regretted that I didn't choose hard.... until I reached 5th plane, then I thought it was a right decision after all.
 
K

Kvik

Member
Tonton said:
There should be 4 chests with 10k Mira each nearby, so it isn't much of a problem

The one that requires 400 battles is probably the worst depending on how you play
Click to expand...

I think there's a 5th chest in one of the classrooms in the old building? I forgot.

To my amusement, by the time I got to the 400 requirement door, I can immediately enter :)

hans_castorp said:
Holy shit Star door 15. Now I get the rating for the game.
That was truly dark.
Click to expand...

I always thought Kiseki games has always had a dark undercurrent, with the fate of Hamel village and stuff.

EndcatOmega said:
I wouldn't worry about it too much- there is a bit of a spike on one of the bosses on that plane but it literally has a Retry (easier) option for that reason.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I felt dirty as hell after choosing the Retry (Easy) option. I just go back to Hermit's Garden and rearrange my orbments/positioning/equipments a bit better.
 
D

Dragoon En Regalia

Member
Some interesting thoughts linger on even a week after beating the game.

Phantasma, for all practical purposes, is a plane unto itself, connected to heaven/mortal realm/Gehenna but without rank, and it even houses a barebones copy of the world's geography, allowing Phantasma to map changes outside its Planes to locations in the mortal world
.
What might the odds be of Phantasmagoria appearing in some country outside Liberl (not Crossbell or Erebonia AFAIK) and then suddenly crumbling into mirage
?
I bet this will be either a plot point in a later game or a subject of NPC discussion/joking when you're in the middle of Calvard or a smaller country like Ored. Both Anima Mundi (as the Lord) and Schwarzritter appear in the mortal realm, too, as an example of leakage
.
Only Kevin's Stigma was enough to stop the Lord's shade from appearing in odd places, presumably because the Stigma stabilized Phantasma once the Recluse Cube gained its functions in the Garden
.
It's possible the Aureole invoked Phantasma whenever and wherever Gospels activated during SC, given that Richard could only be part of the party because he used a Gospel to unlock the Lakeside Facility seal which barred the Aureole from observing the outside world and manifesting in the Towers
.

As Schwarzritter, Loewe is finally able to find rest with Karin once you defeat him, but Weissmann doesn't explicitly leave once you beat him and the gatekeepers
.
He fades away much like the Hermit before she regained her powers, and so I was thinking he now bears similarity to Celeste's avatar in a few ways
.
Him merging with Aureole no doubt caused a massive power struggle, forcing the Aureole to inform and activate Phantasma to process any kind of mental invasion (in a sense, Weissmann directly asked for his wishes to be granted at the expense of the Aureole's independence)
.
The serpent which invades his mind in response, giving him a second form during battle, would likely have come from Phantasma via leakage, based on his own sin and knowledge of heretic entities
.
However, Anima Mundi built the unconnected Gehenna Plane based on the desires of Kevin's Stigma, not from Weissmann in any way
.
The Abyss mirrors the Hermit's Garden as Phantasma's reflection of a strong and preserved avatar
;
both he and "Celeste" are just copies of the original person, stuck with only the most relevant details, history, and desires. Celeste has a more direct tie to the Recluse Cube's functions while Weissmann's lair is more a switchback of suffering with few places to recover, perfect for endless testing
.

There's also how
Campanella breaks the 4th wall at the very end of the very last Door, almost as if he (or Anima Mundi, the dominant self-preserving personality in Phantasma) knew this would be the last chance to address the viewer(s)
. Sun Door 5 also
breaks the 4th wall
, though, so I'm probably overthinking this. What stands out above all is how Falcom masterminded a simple, highly concept-driven premise that allowed them to recycle as much of FC and SC as possible without too much laziness. I definitely would prefer more extensively modified old areas, or better new ones (only Phantasmagoria's got a lot going on with its theme, non-linearity, and bosses), but the boss fights and combat keep up variety while you search for Doors and mess around in the Garden.

chaosblade said:
You mean the ark? But neither was Richard, unless I'm completely forgetting him.

Edit: I don't remember Anelace being there either.
Click to expand...
Anelace's contact with Phantasma, the Aureole, or the Gospels is odd for sure.
Maybe she was in a room at the Ouroboros lab with an active Gospel all while Weissmann brainwashed her
.
See my above notes for Richard
.

Nabae said:
It's hard to explain why, but that door made me really suspicious of Polly.
Click to expand...
Hard to tell what's going on anyway.
Nothing would have stopped Polly from climbing up a wall and traipsing through woods back to Manoria, which seems like something she or Clem would do (but not Mary, who sticks to paths)
.

chaosblade said:
I wouldn't be surprised either way.
Could easily be a one-off thing, but she's probably 14 or so by CS3. A game taking place a couple years later could see her as a playable character after she leaves the orphanage to find a place for herself in the world. Especially if the Calvard arc or whatever comes next goes with Military School again, she would fit the age group for that.
Click to expand...
Mary becoming a main character in Calvard would be interesting, as she's had enough weird experiences but also a dose of skepticism that makes her likely to apply for Bracer duties
.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Dragoon En Regalia said:
What might the odds be of Phantasmagoria appearing in some country outside Liberl (not Crossbell or Erebonia AFAIK) and then suddenly crumbling into mirage
?
Click to expand...

Given that it's implied they flew pretty far to reach the castle and it was specifically mentioned to share features with the cathedral in Arteria, that may be the location of Phantasmagoria.

Or not. Who knows?



And the final boss is too easy on normal. I didn't get hit.
 
L

leesmapman

Member
For the Sora No Kiseki 3rd PSP version players: what's the difference between the PSP version and the PC version? Only Star Door 15? And what exactly is different between those doors?
 
H

hans_castorp

Member
leesmapman said:
For the Sora No Kiseki 3rd PSP version players: what's the difference between the PSP version and the PC version? Only Star Door 15? And what exactly is different between those doors?
Click to expand...

Door 15 was censored. I've heard the psp version skips directly to the part where
Joshua and Löwe raid the facility
 
C

CrimsonFist

Member
leesmapman said:
For the Sora No Kiseki 3rd PSP version players: what's the difference between the PSP version and the PC version? Only Star Door 15? And what exactly is different between those doors?
Click to expand...

Various balancing changes, added difficulty options, the final quiz difficulty was PSP exclusive too, which is kind of noticeable in the PC port.

I think for the version we got, Xseed ported over all the PSP changes whilst retaining the original Star Door 15.
 
N

Nyoro SF

Member
I will tell you the character you need for each section of the 6th plane so you don't have to double back constantly. Each part only unlocks after you finish the previous one so you can save time by rearranging quartz and weapons/armor on the necessary character and head there on your first run.

1st part:
--Kloe--
2nd part:
Anelace
3rd part:
Richard
4th part:
Joshua

Personally while I enjoyed the resultant dialogues of Chapter 6, traversing some of the areas was not fun, probably the lower part of the game in that regard. But the game is really good if I can say that this part was the "worst". lol
 
C

CrimsonFist

Member
Nyoro SF said:
I will tell you the character you need for each section of the 6th plane so you don't have to double back constantly. Each part only unlocks after you finish the previous one so you can save time by rearranging quartz and weapons/armor on the necessary character and head there on your first run.

1st part:
Anelace
2nd part:
--Kloe--
3rd part:
Richard
4th part:
Joshua

Personally while I enjoyed the resultant dialogues of Chapter 6, traversing some of the areas was not fun, probably the lower part of the game in that regard. But the game is really good if I can say that this part was the "worst". lol
Click to expand...

Thought it was Kloe then Anelace.

On pacing:
It felt like chapter 6 had less frequent/shorter doors than the earlier chapters, which break up the dungeon crawling quite a bit.
 
P

Psxphile

Member
Nyoro SF said:
1st part:
Anelace
2nd part:
--Kloe--
3rd part:
Richard
4th part:
Joshua
Click to expand...

1st and 2nd should be vice-versa. I'm about to start the 2nd part and
I was asked to bring Anelace, with Kloe being required for the 1st part
.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
The real question is, who gives you the best dialogue in each part. Especially 3, 4, and '5.'

I imagine Estelle is fun to bring to 3, but I haven't tried it.
 
A

Ascheroth

Member
chaosblade said:
The real question is, who gives you the best dialogue in each part. Especially 3, 4, and '5.'

I imagine Estelle is fun to bring to 3, but I haven't tried it.
Click to expand...
My only recommendation is for Plane 6:
Renne has some really good dialog in each part, especially with Cassius (I imagine Estelle or Joshua in addition would also be nice here), Gilbert and all the Enforcers.
 
K

Kvik

Member
By the start of the 6th plane my team composition already has 3 out of the 4 members required for those portals, so I don't mind warping back for the rest. It's also good that I did the "Girl who put her feeling on her blade" and "The repentant patriot" doors at the same time.
 
C

CrimsonFist

Member
On plane 6:
It's worth warping back between each portal at the very least because everyone's dialogue at the garden changes each time.
 
S

Scrooge McDuck

Member
chaosblade said:
The real question is, who gives you the best dialogue in each part. Especially 3, 4, and '5.'

I imagine Estelle is fun to bring to 3, but I haven't tried it.
Click to expand...

Oo, I have this post.

Scrooge McDuck said:
Kinda different for every encounter, really. Like the second fight of Part 1 gives you more information if you also bring
--Julia--
.

Part 3:
Boss 1: Nobody really matters.
Boss 2: Julia and Renne.
Boss 3: Several people. I feel he gives the most new information if you at least bring Agate.
Boss 4: Has lengthy things to say to everybody.

Part 4:
Estelle and Renne all the way except for one (and that one should be really obvious). And you also might want to swap Estelle out for Schera for the second boss.
Click to expand...

For '5', my ideal is
Estelle and Renne. Richard also have some things to say, but not really important.
 
K

Knurek

Member
CrimsonFist said:
On plane 6:
It's worth warping back between each portal at the very least because everyone's dialogue at the garden changes each time.
Click to expand...

This happens pretty much after every boss battle, not only in chapter 6.
(Also, don't forget to change your party line-up each time you do this, as your party characters also get new dialogue or even cutscenes)
 
N

Nyoro SF

Member
demidar said:
I've reached the end of the optional dungeon.

Am I interpreting this right? What a horrific thing.
Click to expand...

My only question about Star Door 15 would be
the names of the other "children".

The meaning of "Cross" becomes apparent, but do the other names mean anything?
 
K

KillerMan91

Member
Just finished the game and really enjoyed it. Now I am just left for craving more of this great world and its awesome characters =(. Also made me realize just how much better writing these games have compared to Cold Steel games. Kinda weird that same people can write character like Kevin or Estelle and then go to write so plain and boring lead protagonist as Rean.
 
H

hosannainexcelsis

Member
KillerMan91 said:
Just finished the game and really enjoyed it. Now I am just left for craving more of this great world and its awesome characters =(. Also made me realize just how much better writing these games have compared to Cold Steel games. Kinda weird that same people can write character like Kevin or Estelle and then go to write so plain and boring lead protagonist as Rean.
Click to expand...

I assume it's like that because the writers were trying to attract a specific kind of audience with Cold Steel and so wrote the kind the characters and situations they thought that audience would most want.
 
E

EndcatOmega

Unconfirmed Member
Part of it I think is that Trails has always relied on certain cliches, it's just a lot of western fans seem to have a higher tolerance for 90s era JRPG tropes (I know when the games were made but Sky definitely feels like it's mining that time in particular) than high school anime tropes. I know I do, anyway.

The writing team itself has a few names different between games from what I remember but 3rd shares the core of its writing team with CS (Ao was the standout having like 15 writers or something insane).
 
B

BassForever

Member
KillerMan91 said:
Just finished the game and really enjoyed it. Now I am just left for craving more of this great world and its awesome characters =(. Also made me realize just how much better writing these games have compared to Cold Steel games. Kinda weird that same people can write character like Kevin or Estelle and then go to write so plain and boring lead protagonist as Rean.
Click to expand...

I'd still argue in a world full of really terrible self insert high school anime/manga/ln/games leads that Rean is one of the better written characters of his horrible trope.
 
D

demidar

Member
Nyoro SF said:
My only question about Star Door 15 would be
the names of the other "children".

The meaning of "Cross" becomes apparent, but do the other names mean anything?
Click to expand...

Probably don't mean too much, but I can't remember off the top of my head.

Still, the mature "girl". Icky. So icky.
 
D

Dragoon En Regalia

Member
KillerMan91 said:
Kinda weird that same people can write character like Kevin or Estelle and then go to write so plain and boring lead protagonist as Rean.
Click to expand...

EndcatOmega said:
The writing team itself has a few names different between games from what I remember but 3rd shares the core of its writing team with CS (Ao was the standout having like 15 writers or something insane).
Click to expand...
Looking at lists of Falcom game credits, it's certain that Hisayoshi Takeiri (lead writer for Kiseki, a big influence on their modern writing style), Yoshihiro Konda, Aiichiro Miyata, and Toshihiro Kondo are the senior writers on Trails. There's a very characteristic writing style in Ys Origin (notable in conversations between Hugo and Epona, or Toal and Galleon) that could be Takeiri, or maybe Konda and Shinichiro Sakamoto. It's really hard to tell, but I'll point out the shift in design style and risks (following games like Legend of Heroes V and Zwei!!) taken by development teams directed by Takayuki Kusano, leading to an Ys revival and unique games like Xanadu Next. Takeiri seems like Falcom's writing director in much the same mold, maybe even helping Kondo on the games he wrote all by himself (Gurumin and Xananext).

Meanwhile, Takeiri seems to have done plot/story outlines for the Zwei!! games while Toru Endo did most of the dialogue, so it's debatable how much direct input Takeiri gets on judging which tropes fit, which don't, and which need a twist or two to excel for the game in focus. There's a lot of push and pull between team desires, employee preferences, and what Kondo and the directors think makes sense business-wise.
 
Z

zakujanai

Member
Having finally finished I can't understand why this would be anyone's favourite in the series. I'm really happy I got to play it and it did offer some nice bonus material for the two proper games in the form the doors.

As a story itself however I found it to be rather hollow, devoid of any real meaning since
nothing within Phantasma was actually real.
It all felt rather more like a debug room. I found While I do feel I finally got to understand Kevin in a way I just didn't manage in SC, I found Ries to be rather devoid of any real character and she never really made any significant contribution to any conversation.

It was nice getting to play as some characters I never have before but the rather contrived manner in which it was brought about robbed the experience of any substantial meaning. Had I been given chance to control them in a real world setting it would have been much more interesting.
 
N

Nyoro SF

Member
zakujanai said:
Having finally finished I can't understand why this would be anyone's favourite in the series. I'm really happy I got to play it and it did offer some nice bonus material for the two proper games in the form the doors.

As a story itself however I found it to be rather hollow, devoid of any real meaning since
nothing within Phantasma was actually real.
It all felt rather more like a debug room. I found While I do feel I finally got to understand Kevin in a way I just didn't manage in SC, I found Ries to be rather devoid of any real character and she never really made any significant contribution to any conversation.

It was nice getting to play as some characters I never have before but the rather contrived manner in which it was brought about robbed the experience of any substantial meaning. Had I been given chance to control them in a real world setting it would have been much more interesting.
Click to expand...

Not much to say other than I think you and I must have played a completely different game.

Especially if you say that Ries has no character.
 
B

Bladelord Loewe

Neo Member
zakujanai said:
Having finally finished I can't understand why this would be anyone's favourite in the series. I'm really happy I got to play it and it did offer some nice bonus material for the two proper games in the form the doors.

As a story itself however I found it to be rather hollow, devoid of any real meaning since
nothing within Phantasma was actually real.
It all felt rather more like a debug room. I found While I do feel I finally got to understand Kevin in a way I just didn't manage in SC, I found Ries to be rather devoid of any real character and she never really made any significant contribution to any conversation.

It was nice getting to play as some characters I never have before but the rather contrived manner in which it was brought about robbed the experience of any substantial meaning. Had I been given chance to control them in a real world setting it would have been much more interesting.
Click to expand...

Did you play with a blindfold on? You do realize these characters actually still went through this and exist, correct? The trauma and things they faced was very real, I can assure you.

Ries probably has the most character in the entire game if you payed attention to the banter between the events.
The way everyone gradually opened up more to her, including Renne was great.
 
M

Massicot

Member
I agree with him to a point. When most of the people met are kinda just representations of the real people, it does lose a little bit of impact. (Vague spoiler about Lord of Phantasma identity)
Especially the bad's identity.

Edit: I was vague with the spoiler but I'm going to tag it anyways just to be safe.
 
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