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.
This is what I was talking about, particularly your example. The final scene didn't resonate for me because while it had meaning for
Kevin and Ries
it wasn't actually that person that
they had to kill.
It just felt empty.
I'm not trying to shit on the game, just explain why I find it the most disappointing yet, even more so than the noncommittal journey of friendship and neutrality that is CS2.
I'm not saying others shouldn't enjoy it, I just can't understand what would place it above either of the other 2.
This is what I was talking about, particularly your example. The final scene didn't resonate for me because while it had meaning for
Kevin and Ries
it wasn't actually that person that
they had to kill.
It just felt empty.
I'm not trying to shit on the game, just explain why I find it the most disappointing yet, even more so than the noncommittal journey of friendship and neutrality that is CS2.
I'm not saying others shouldn't enjoy it, I just can't understand what would place it above either of the other 2.
I place it above the other two from gameplay/mechanical purposes. I love the larger cast, flexibility in how you use your characters, lots of freedom wrt orbments and equipment. It's a very lean game that I really enjoyed playing. I wasn't expecting the gameplay to carry as well as it did, since it was merely functional in the other games, but starting you off with higher level orbments and such I think helps a ton.
I place it above the other two from gameplay/mechanical purposes. I love the larger cast, flexibility in how you use your characters, lots of freedom wrt orbments and equipment. It's a very lean game that I really enjoyed playing. I wasn't expecting the gameplay to carry as well as it did, since it was merely functional in the other games, but starting you off with higher level orbments and such I think helps a ton.
I agree with all of this, though I can totally get why others might not enjoy the gameplay enough to get carried past the weird way the story is handled. This game truly is a post game bonus dungeon with two op bonus characters and some added story bits stretched into a full length game. The stakes are easily the lowest of any trails game and if you aren't super obssessed with the overall trails lore a lot of the doors might feel really disconnected from everything you've played in fc/sc. It also comes down to how much you like Kevin as a character. Without him Reis and most of the main plot of the game loses meaning.
I place it above the other two from gameplay/mechanical purposes. I love the larger cast, flexibility in how you use your characters, lots of freedom wrt orbments and equipment. It's a very lean game that I really enjoyed playing. I wasn't expecting the gameplay to carry as well as it did, since it was merely functional in the other games, but starting you off with higher level orbments and such I think helps a ton.
Ok I can appreciate this viewpoint. Gameplay to me is very much secondary to the characters and story so it wasn't really enough to keep me interested all the way through this. I basically got stuck using Richard because I was interested in seeing more of him but then I felt I was missing out on all the other characters I'd grown fond of. The doors were pretty great but very fragmented in the content they delivered. The door with Richard offered the most interesting tease for me, but one that ultimately cannot really be followed through by the time they eventually get to covering some Calvard storyline.
I agree with all of this, though I can totally get why others might not enjoy the gameplay enough to get carried past the weird way the story is handled. This game truly is a post game bonus dungeon with two op bonus characters and some added story bits stretched into a full length game. The stakes are easily the lowest of any trails game and if you aren't super obssessed with the overall trails lore a lot of the doors might feel really disconnected from everything you've played in fc/sc. It also comes down to how much you like Kevin as a character. Without him Reis and most of the main plot of the game loses meaning.
I think you're right, I wasn't interested in Kevin at all during or after SC. By the end of this I was slightly more won over but found Ries to be fairly peripheral. Maybe if I ever get around to a full replay I'll actually notice her contribution more.
I'll definitely switch to easy though and just use whichever character pairings interest me, rather than keeping Richard and Kloe permanently.
This is basically a story of closure of people who are suddenly left behind. Those are always ultimately empty because that person would never come back, and the things left unsaid or undone would never actually be fulfilled. It's the kind of story where people find meanings in other things to help them move on; Kevin is just luckier than most because what he faces is such close representation to the actual person he needs to let go.
Ok I can appreciate this viewpoint. Gameplay to me is very much secondary to the characters and story so it wasn't really enough to keep me interested all the way through this. I basically got stuck using Richard because I was interested in seeing more of him but then I felt I was missing out on all the other characters I'd grown fond of. The doors were pretty great but very fragmented in the content they delivered. The door with Richard offered the most interesting tease for me, but one that ultimately cannot really be followed through by the time they eventually get to covering some Calvard storyline.
I liked Kevin before hand, and having a story that actually started and ended in a single game in Trails is a nice experience for once; the side story stuff was engaging enough to interest me and the relative lack of
Ouroborous nonsense despite Renne
overall was a good change of pace. And yeah, the combat being the best in any of the Trails games overall I've played (possibly best period if I've heard correctly about how broken the Burst mechanic in Ao is) helps a lot.
I also like FC more than SC, though, which I'm pretty sure is the minority opinion.
Richard is OP, Renne is as well to a lesser extent. Once you realize Richard with auto cp up, cp up, and clock up ex basically gets infinite turns it's gg.
Apparently someone told me Schera's Foxtail works the same, but she doesn't have the natural STR/SPD that character does? I'll be honest as good as Heaven's Kiss and its later equivalents are I still never use those characters.
Richard is OP, Renne is as well to a lesser extent. Once you realize Richard with auto cp up, cp up, and clock up ex basically gets infinite turns it's gg.
I've never really used Richard beyond when he was required, no matter how good he may be gameplay-wise. Took him to 2 events, and he didn't have anything to say, so I redid them with someone else and benched him for good.
What a fantastic game. It even works as a prequel to the events in Cold Steel when you play afterwards. Its so cool to have certain people referenced or appear from Cold Steel like Osborne, Lechter, Master Yun Ka-Fai, and General Zechs. Learning more about the Salt Pale was awesome, and the teases in the doors was good. And I am excited to see how the Gralsritter impact things in future games. Now on to Zero and Ao... Somehow.
Silver/Gold roads, I hate when they force you to make two parties in RPG :X
The bosses would have been a pain without 200 CP.
And yay, Olivier finally joined the party. I'm keeping him and Mueller until the end of the game, though Mueller's orbaments and moveset kinda suck compared to everyone else.
I half-figured her story was headed this way when I heard her and Joshua's allusions in SC.
Fuuuuuuuuck though. Still not a pleasant time. Bit of a whiplash from other Doors heavy in lore or humor, but that's the sign of strong writing in alot of facets that the game is able to pull off all of these under one roof.
Silver/Gold roads, I hate when they force you to make two parties in RPG :X
The bosses would have been a pain without 200 CP.
And yay, Olivier finally joined the party. I'm keeping him and Mueller until the end of the game, though Mueller's orbaments and moveset kinda suck compared to everyone else.
Question about the first trails game.
I'm finding it such a slog to play and I'm only near the start. I've just done the mine mission for the mayor. Does the actual plot pick up soon? As the combat system isn't exactly amazing so far.
Question about the first trails game.
I'm finding it such a slog to play and I'm only near the start. I've just done the mine mission for the mayor. Does the actual plot pick up soon? As the combat system isn't exactly amazing so far.
You just kinda need to grit it out, the majority of the first sky game is character introduction and world building with a sprinkle of smaller plots throughout. These do eventually tie into the main plot.
Question about the first trails game.
I'm finding it such a slog to play and I'm only near the start. I've just done the mine mission for the mayor. Does the actual plot pick up soon? As the combat system isn't exactly amazing so far.
Question about the first trails game.
I'm finding it such a slog to play and I'm only near the start. I've just done the mine mission for the mayor. Does the actual plot pick up soon? As the combat system isn't exactly amazing so far.
As said above, the whole purpose of the game is to introduce the player to the world and characters so you get familiar with all of Liberl's different locations and feel personally involved with everyone and everything by the end. The real plot starts at the very end of the game and serves as a cliffhanger for the next game, SC.
The same applies to Trails of Cold Steel, in fact.
If you're able to play along without rushing, you're in for a treat, because the amount of care that went through the world building and lore in these games is mind-boggling and at the end of the day, it serves the plot.
Eh, I would not go into Trails with the mindset of 'how much longer do I have to play until something awesome finally happens?'
In its essence the Trails in the Sky game aren't about crazy twists and world-ending doom left and right, they are about the world and the characters that live in it, their journey and their conflicts.
I'm not entirely sure how to word this so I can get across what I want to say properly, but, like, you shouldn't rush through it to get to 'the good stuff' and just immerse yourself in the present, because 'the good stuff' only works if you are invested in the characters and the world. It's like reading a good book.
Also combat gets better the more options you get and with each game too. You may also want to use the CheatEngine speedhack to speed things up.
You know, people always say "the super exciting, mind blowing bits of trails are few and far between, don't play trails with these bits in mind", but honestly whilst I get what they're saying, I think they're selling the rest of the series short. It's been a little while since I've played it, but in the prologue/chapter 1 of trails in the sky FC for example, you learn about
how Joshua was just randomly brought in one night after some sort of event went down, how in the present day Cassius, this supposed badass who used to be in the army but became a bracer at some point, went missing whilst on the way to some place called "Erebonia", and at the very end of chapter 1 you find out the comedic bard may or may not have more going on than he lets on. And also there's sky pirates and mysterious towers, and in the background there's some sort of technological revolution going on.
Whilst this all isn't exciting in the traditional, BIG EXPLOSION SET PIECE sort of sense, I still think that it's just as exciting in a "What could this all mean" sort of sense. The way people describe the series sometimes makes it sound like all the characters are sitting around the whole game drinking tea and occasionally expositing backstory tidbits.
You know, people always say "the super exciting, mind blowing bits of trails are few and far between, don't play trails with these bits in mind", but honestly whilst I get what they're saying, I think they're selling the rest of the series short. It's been a little while since I've played it, but in the prologue/chapter 1 of trails in the sky FC for example, you learn about
how Joshua was just randomly brought in one night after some sort of event went down, how in the present day Cassius, this supposed badass who used to be in the army but became a bracer at some point, went missing whilst on the way to some place called "Erebonia", and at the very end of chapter 1 you find out the comedic bard may or may not have more going on than he lets on. And also there's sky pirates and mysterious towers, and in the background there's some sort of technological revolution going on.
Whilst this all isn't exciting in the traditional, BIG EXPLOSION SET PIECE sort of sense, I still think that it's just as exciting in a "What could this all mean" sort of sense. The way people describe the series sometimes makes it sound like all the characters are sitting around the whole game drinking tea and occasionally expositing backstory tidbits.
Well I totally agree with all of that. I mean, I loved the series starting from the Prolog. Maybe I did undersell it a little? Trails has legit amazing setup, foreshadowing and pay-offs. I also think that's exciting. But it is also a different kind of exciting than the one people expect in games? or something like that. Not that it doesn't have those moments at all though.
You know, people always say "the super exciting, mind blowing bits of trails are few and far between, don't play trails with these bits in mind", but honestly whilst I get what they're saying, I think they're selling the rest of the series short. It's been a little while since I've played it, but in the prologue/chapter 1 of trails in the sky FC for example, you learn about
how Joshua was just randomly brought in one night after some sort of event went down, how in the present day Cassius, this supposed badass who used to be in the army but became a bracer at some point, went missing whilst on the way to some place called "Erebonia", and at the very end of chapter 1 you find out the comedic bard may or may not have more going on than he lets on. And also there's sky pirates and mysterious towers, and in the background there's some sort of technological revolution going on.
Whilst this all isn't exciting in the traditional, BIG EXPLOSION SET PIECE sort of sense, I still think that it's just as exciting in a "What could this all mean" sort of sense. The way people describe the series sometimes makes it sound like all the characters are sitting around the whole game drinking tea and occasionally expositing backstory tidbits.
I am a sucker for worldbuilding which is why I was hooked from the very start. The Trails Trilogy depicts probably one of the most grounded magitech worlds that still has unexplainable miracles and disasters occur and people (relatively) realistically react to them. The geopolitical situation is super muddy both internally and internationally and how country governments interact with each other and neutral organizations such as the Bracer Guild and the Septian Church is depicted with a good amount of nuance. The Church in particular has a lot of layers to it (mostly explored in the Third Chapter), so much that I can see close resemblances to the Catholic church in real life (which I assume is the main influence). Except this church can use magic >_>
Basically despite outwards appearance of the series as a happy and leisurely adventure (speaking mostly about First Chapter as things get progressively more dire in SC and TC), there is always something that makes things not so simple, which is great as there are too many JRPGs that like to paint the world in black and white.
You know, people always say "the super exciting, mind blowing bits of trails are few and far between, don't play trails with these bits in mind", but honestly whilst I get what they're saying, I think they're selling the rest of the series short. It's been a little while since I've played it, but in the prologue/chapter 1 of trails in the sky FC for example, you learn about
how Joshua was just randomly brought in one night after some sort of event went down, how in the present day Cassius, this supposed badass who used to be in the army but became a bracer at some point, went missing whilst on the way to some place called "Erebonia", and at the very end of chapter 1 you find out the comedic bard may or may not have more going on than he lets on. And also there's sky pirates and mysterious towers, and in the background there's some sort of technological revolution going on.
Whilst this all isn't exciting in the traditional, BIG EXPLOSION SET PIECE sort of sense, I still think that it's just as exciting in a "What could this all mean" sort of sense. The way people describe the series sometimes makes it sound like all the characters are sitting around the whole game drinking tea and occasionally expositing backstory tidbits.
Moon Door 1 has a second part once you get another character (very obvious who it is).
Not bothering spoiler tagging this because it's probably a common question or entirely overlooked by many.
Oh, and something I'm curious about but never asked. Chapter 7 spoiler.
Why was Weissmann in human form in Gehenna? All the others Kevin killed were mutant blobs with little to no sense of self. Weissmann at least seemed fully sentient and looked the part too, unlike all the others. Given the attention to detail in this series I imagine there is probably some reason or explanation for it.
Oh, and something I'm curious about but never asked. Chapter 7 spoiler.
Why was Weissmann in human form in Gehenna? All the others Kevin killed were mutant blobs with little to no sense of self. Weissmann at least seemed fully sentient and looked the part too, unlike all the others. Given the attention to detail in this series I imagine there is probably some reason or explanation for it.
Kevin did hit "beast mode" just like Estelle did, just as I was told he would. Good stuff, and the connection him and Joshua as young men hounded by guilt was handled really well.
The sheer breadth of comedy, lore, and tragedy, and how damn GOOD it was, is a delight. It also gets points for having a huge cast, yet providing good spotlight for everyone either as further development, "live" entertaining banter or examples of badassery, or of those in the Doors. Speaking of which, having the Doors was a smart move to paint pasts, presents and future. I'm glad they did it this way.
Going slowly, but I just have to say that the cutscene at the end of Star Door 8 was about as effective as a cutscene could be with as limited technical resources as this game is working with.
