Good thing the mishelam beach is in the game so you have a reason to equip those suits unlike previous games.
Also....
Swimsuit Sara
-
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The Legend of Heroes Thread - Trails of Cold Steel in the Sky
- Thread starter Crooked Bee
- Start date
Lyre Mors
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2007
- Messages
- 5,426
I have to say, I can't believe they didn't bust out "Afternoon in Crossbell" in either of the Cold Steel III or IV OSTs. What the fuck?
The wandering music in Crossbell in both of those games is serviceable enough, but come the fuck on. You have a solid track like this in your backlist, and you don't give it up in the Cold Steel series? They even repeat the theme at St. Ursula Medical College. I just don't get it.
And as someone who has played a fair amount into Cold Steel IV ~ Around the end of Act I.
No RPG series does it like this, and no RPG series in the future will. Just magnificent.
The wandering music in Crossbell in both of those games is serviceable enough, but come the fuck on. You have a solid track like this in your backlist, and you don't give it up in the Cold Steel series? They even repeat the theme at St. Ursula Medical College. I just don't get it.
And as someone who has played a fair amount into Cold Steel IV ~ Around the end of Act I.
The moment Estelle, Joshua, Lloyd, Ellie, Renne, and BleuBlanc show up at the end of Act I is glorious. Definitely brought a tear to my eye when all of these past heroes showed up and had a meeting with the new heroes.
No RPG series does it like this, and no RPG series in the future will. Just magnificent.
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If you like that for that little bit then what are you going to be like in Chapter 2 when you get back onto the Pantagruel?
Anton's story is great in this game. He actually made progress only to find himself in another dire situation.
I am reading more into kuro no kiseki and i think i will love the combat.
Apparently you can't use arts/crafts in action mode and it is intended to be used for battling random mobs seamlessly (in old game it just take too much time. Enter battle loading screen, fighting, victory screen, etc) for tougher enemies and bosses you probably must use tactics mode to use your abilities. So action mode is like better auto battle instead of making the game a pure action game.
Apparently you can't use arts/crafts in action mode and it is intended to be used for battling random mobs seamlessly (in old game it just take too much time. Enter battle loading screen, fighting, victory screen, etc) for tougher enemies and bosses you probably must use tactics mode to use your abilities. So action mode is like better auto battle instead of making the game a pure action game.
It is interesting that the thread on Arcturus got revived because it seems like the new battle system will be like that game.
***spoiler free***
I fell in love with the Liberl setting and characters more than half a decade ago now, I finally bought and played the SC.
The reason for my tardy playthrough was simply the "cliffhanger" ending of the FC did not appeal to me back in 2015.
It seemed to me, that the SC was going for a fairly straightforward (and uninspired) plot, i.e. the epic search for Joshua.
That plot idea never lit the flame in my heart, like the writers of the series perhaps hoped it would.
But years later, I missed the world, the setting, everything else about it enough to buy the SC and play it - years late perhaps, but here we are. Finally.
It is a bittersweet return, and I was not entirely surprised to find that I had been correct all this time, this was indeed; Trails in the Sky: The Search For Joshua
Perhaps I'm being too cruel, there are other things happening ... ish. However, the search for Joshua *is* the core of the game's plot and the sole motivation of the MC, our beloved Estelle.
But in the background things are happening, the world of Liberl still moves on ... ish.
My fundamental issue with the game, is a meta-issue. Namely that the SC re-uses the entire game world of the FC, with only few additions here and there and at the end of the game. This is entirely forgivable if that much more effort is then put into writing, items, plot, sidequests and characters. But I did not feel that this was the case, the writing effort was entirely on par with the FC, despite Falcom not needing to create (harldy) any world assets for the SC.
Taking a step back, one of the things I fundamentally adored with the FC, was the laid back tempo. Some describe this as "slow pacing", I feel it's leisurely and beautiful! To explore Liberl in FC was fantastic. You'd do it in your own time, prance around and drink in the game world. For a good few hours in the SC, it was wonderful to return to those areas. But because they were *exactly* the same as in the FC, it became really rather boring, rather fast.
That is not a good thing. Not at all, not when a fan of the game is returning after years, and things are too samey and get tired to quickly because we're retreading the exact same ground.
This could have been alleviated, as I mentioned before, with a much stronger effort into renewing these locations. But they didn't really do that. They added new monsters and a throwaway line in the Prologue where someone comments "Oh yeah, the monsters have mutated and become more powerful lately... how odd!"
Just. Lazy.
That being said, the gameplay itself is very much the same as the FC, which is good, because I liked that! It's simple enough, but also asks you to think every now and then. It's a casual game, and nothing wrong with that. The gameplay elements that they go for, they work. Strangely, the re-used world assets felt much more boring in the long run than the re-used gameplay assets.
However, gameplay was often interrupted by plot contrivances, especially when it came to party organization. Of course Estelle is obligatory, she's the MC, but for all of the rest of the game there's another obligatory character - sometimes two. In those cases you get to pick a *single* character for your party. The game decides the rest. Most of the time, this was for plot contrivances, but it never felt welcome.
I wanted more control over my party, at all times, thankyouverymuch. Not the least because switching out orbments between characters is quite a chore and the party needs rebalancing and re-thinking every time this happens. To be charitable, it does push you out of your comfort zone and has you try something new, in a new way etc., I did not hate it, but I certainly did not look forward to the next time I would have to shake up my beloved party to level up some character I didn't really want there, equip and orbment and find a role for. It felt like a chore.
The main characters of the game were mostly excellent, as in the FC, after all they're the same characters, so there's not much to say there. Except, ... this is part of my other fundamental issue with SC, ... that it is spread too thin. With characters, they're actually too many new characters for them to develop properly. So the FC had one antagonist, basically - the SC has eh.. six antagonists that we see, and even more that we don't.
That's not great. It's more characters than ever, but they don't get more time to develop in this game, because the game itself is about as large as the FC - not to a small degree, because it's using the exact same assets and game world as the FC.
Which brings me to the plot of the game, and I'd like to reaffirm that the writers are exceptionally talented and the localization is really good. It's just that it's rather spread out and thin, compared to the FC. Like butter scraped over too much toast.
What they have, is good. There's just not much of it, and what little there is, flashes by very fast and without much explaining. Now, it's been more than half a decade since I played the FC, so my memory is hazy on the details... but as far as I remember there is almost no common ground between the plot of the FC and the SC, except the Professor. The entire storyline of the SC is very much contained in the SC and so much so that if the game didn't start so abruptly, and the game just started in the Bracer training prologue, it could almost be standalone.
Another thing which bothered me, and gave me slight FFVIII flashbacks, is that the world became very, very small, very, very fast. There are all sorts of connections between characters in the SC which we did not know about in the FC. In Final Fantasy VIII it turned out that all the main characters used to be at kindergarten together and the main antagonist was their kindergarten teacher and her husband was actually the main good guy... it wasn't quite that bad, but almost.
A lot of the established characters from the FC got a grimdark past in the SC, to tie them to new characters, in a thin attempt to create drama. You get exactly as much drama out of it as the effort you put into it, which was very little indeed.
All this interconnecting characters made the world feel a lot smaller, and more contrived than it needed to be. Recurring characters also made the world feel smaller, I'm looking at you Gilbert!
When all is said and done, though, the entire plot and premise of the game still depends on how much you buy into the "Search for Joshua" plotline and how much you care about that plotline. I confess, I cared slightly more about what pair of socks I put on this morning, than what happened to Joshua or what Estelle thought of him (or him of her). It's a love story, I don't care for, let alone care about - as I've written before years ago, the incest plot just doesn't do it for me.
So the entire game revolves around this premise, and that you the player, are invested in finding Joshua and having sex with him ASAP. It's telling how out of their depth the writers are (as talented as they otherwise have shown themselves to be) when it comes to this romance, that if the gender roles were reversed, the entire plot and dialogue would be hyper-super-mega-creepy, instead of just really creepy.
The long and short of it, is that this game is more of the same, so if you liked FC you'll like SC, but whether SC manages to whisk you with it on a grand adventure, or if it is a melancholic decline, is completely dependent on how or if you care about the Estelle/Joshua romance.
In the end, this is a high quality game, but because of asset re-use and depending of your investment of the FC love-plot, it may not fly as high as the FC did - or it may fly higher!
I fell in love with the Liberl setting and characters more than half a decade ago now, I finally bought and played the SC.
The reason for my tardy playthrough was simply the "cliffhanger" ending of the FC did not appeal to me back in 2015.
It seemed to me, that the SC was going for a fairly straightforward (and uninspired) plot, i.e. the epic search for Joshua.
That plot idea never lit the flame in my heart, like the writers of the series perhaps hoped it would.
But years later, I missed the world, the setting, everything else about it enough to buy the SC and play it - years late perhaps, but here we are. Finally.
It is a bittersweet return, and I was not entirely surprised to find that I had been correct all this time, this was indeed; Trails in the Sky: The Search For Joshua
Perhaps I'm being too cruel, there are other things happening ... ish. However, the search for Joshua *is* the core of the game's plot and the sole motivation of the MC, our beloved Estelle.
But in the background things are happening, the world of Liberl still moves on ... ish.
My fundamental issue with the game, is a meta-issue. Namely that the SC re-uses the entire game world of the FC, with only few additions here and there and at the end of the game. This is entirely forgivable if that much more effort is then put into writing, items, plot, sidequests and characters. But I did not feel that this was the case, the writing effort was entirely on par with the FC, despite Falcom not needing to create (harldy) any world assets for the SC.
Taking a step back, one of the things I fundamentally adored with the FC, was the laid back tempo. Some describe this as "slow pacing", I feel it's leisurely and beautiful! To explore Liberl in FC was fantastic. You'd do it in your own time, prance around and drink in the game world. For a good few hours in the SC, it was wonderful to return to those areas. But because they were *exactly* the same as in the FC, it became really rather boring, rather fast.
That is not a good thing. Not at all, not when a fan of the game is returning after years, and things are too samey and get tired to quickly because we're retreading the exact same ground.
This could have been alleviated, as I mentioned before, with a much stronger effort into renewing these locations. But they didn't really do that. They added new monsters and a throwaway line in the Prologue where someone comments "Oh yeah, the monsters have mutated and become more powerful lately... how odd!"
Just. Lazy.
That being said, the gameplay itself is very much the same as the FC, which is good, because I liked that! It's simple enough, but also asks you to think every now and then. It's a casual game, and nothing wrong with that. The gameplay elements that they go for, they work. Strangely, the re-used world assets felt much more boring in the long run than the re-used gameplay assets.
However, gameplay was often interrupted by plot contrivances, especially when it came to party organization. Of course Estelle is obligatory, she's the MC, but for all of the rest of the game there's another obligatory character - sometimes two. In those cases you get to pick a *single* character for your party. The game decides the rest. Most of the time, this was for plot contrivances, but it never felt welcome.
I wanted more control over my party, at all times, thankyouverymuch. Not the least because switching out orbments between characters is quite a chore and the party needs rebalancing and re-thinking every time this happens. To be charitable, it does push you out of your comfort zone and has you try something new, in a new way etc., I did not hate it, but I certainly did not look forward to the next time I would have to shake up my beloved party to level up some character I didn't really want there, equip and orbment and find a role for. It felt like a chore.
The main characters of the game were mostly excellent, as in the FC, after all they're the same characters, so there's not much to say there. Except, ... this is part of my other fundamental issue with SC, ... that it is spread too thin. With characters, they're actually too many new characters for them to develop properly. So the FC had one antagonist, basically - the SC has eh.. six antagonists that we see, and even more that we don't.
That's not great. It's more characters than ever, but they don't get more time to develop in this game, because the game itself is about as large as the FC - not to a small degree, because it's using the exact same assets and game world as the FC.
Which brings me to the plot of the game, and I'd like to reaffirm that the writers are exceptionally talented and the localization is really good. It's just that it's rather spread out and thin, compared to the FC. Like butter scraped over too much toast.
What they have, is good. There's just not much of it, and what little there is, flashes by very fast and without much explaining. Now, it's been more than half a decade since I played the FC, so my memory is hazy on the details... but as far as I remember there is almost no common ground between the plot of the FC and the SC, except the Professor. The entire storyline of the SC is very much contained in the SC and so much so that if the game didn't start so abruptly, and the game just started in the Bracer training prologue, it could almost be standalone.
Another thing which bothered me, and gave me slight FFVIII flashbacks, is that the world became very, very small, very, very fast. There are all sorts of connections between characters in the SC which we did not know about in the FC. In Final Fantasy VIII it turned out that all the main characters used to be at kindergarten together and the main antagonist was their kindergarten teacher and her husband was actually the main good guy... it wasn't quite that bad, but almost.
A lot of the established characters from the FC got a grimdark past in the SC, to tie them to new characters, in a thin attempt to create drama. You get exactly as much drama out of it as the effort you put into it, which was very little indeed.
All this interconnecting characters made the world feel a lot smaller, and more contrived than it needed to be. Recurring characters also made the world feel smaller, I'm looking at you Gilbert!
When all is said and done, though, the entire plot and premise of the game still depends on how much you buy into the "Search for Joshua" plotline and how much you care about that plotline. I confess, I cared slightly more about what pair of socks I put on this morning, than what happened to Joshua or what Estelle thought of him (or him of her). It's a love story, I don't care for, let alone care about - as I've written before years ago, the incest plot just doesn't do it for me.
So the entire game revolves around this premise, and that you the player, are invested in finding Joshua and having sex with him ASAP. It's telling how out of their depth the writers are (as talented as they otherwise have shown themselves to be) when it comes to this romance, that if the gender roles were reversed, the entire plot and dialogue would be hyper-super-mega-creepy, instead of just really creepy.
The long and short of it, is that this game is more of the same, so if you liked FC you'll like SC, but whether SC manages to whisk you with it on a grand adventure, or if it is a melancholic decline, is completely dependent on how or if you care about the Estelle/Joshua romance.
In these games you always have to have some headcanon, and for SC my headcanon is simply this; After passing out at the end of FC, the entire SC is a delirious fantasy happening exclusively in Estelle's head. It's basically her wish-fulfillment fantasy, from her finding Joshua who declares his undying love for her, to them being rescued by her father on a dragon as the lovers fall to their deaths.
I was waiting for the post-credit scene where Estelle wakes up in Grancel castle. That would have subverted my expectations, ten out of ten.
I was waiting for the post-credit scene where Estelle wakes up in Grancel castle. That would have subverted my expectations, ten out of ten.
In the end, this is a high quality game, but because of asset re-use and depending of your investment of the FC love-plot, it may not fly as high as the FC did - or it may fly higher!
Okay cs4 chapter 2:
anyone else find this act kindq boring so far? So contrary to the excellent first act. You infiltrate bunch of government facilities where barely anything is happening and we are back to cs2 finding your teammates. I mean there are still a lot to love, mainly the NPC chatter and worldbuilding that portray how the war and curse affect erebonia both politically and the supernatural aspect. It also explains the mechanism of the curse, and i actually have come around the curse plot. It's a lot more logical than i expected. I still have some little complain, but it's ok as far stakes go.
the problem is the main beat itself. You infiltrate ordis, fight angelica, got away with it. You infiltrate a fucking military fort. Easily get away with it. I haven't done the 3rd day but i wish they weren't so formulaic it started to become phineas and ferb episodes.
the problem is the main beat itself. You infiltrate ordis, fight angelica, got away with it. You infiltrate a fucking military fort. Easily get away with it. I haven't done the 3rd day but i wish they weren't so formulaic it started to become phineas and ferb episodes.
You do three infiltrations, get all your friends who have known whereabouts then the game kicks into a different gear again.....
they really should change leeves into the first town you go in act 2. it's just bad escalation.
assaulting drakhor fortress was pretty hype, the encounters are pretty difficult too. but leeves taking place after fighting the general of an armed division doesn't make a lick of sense. coming back to leeves is great. i felt emotional when you step into town and reunite with the townsfolk, but after that it went pretty weird. like you're just fighting students and for fuck's sake they make you fight the art teacher. the encounters are joke too. except for the final battle in that chapter, i auto battle most of the fights.
like the escalation went from IDF bodyguards > 4th armored division > a bunch of children and their teachers. not even combat instructor or something but literally art teacher and lazy engineer. it's like killing a manticore, then killing a dragon, then the last foe is a mishy or something. it would be better to go to leeves first so the escalation of threat level actually makes sense. like i just assaulted a fucking military fortress why do they think bunch of kids are gonna stop me?
like the escalation went from IDF bodyguards > 4th armored division > a bunch of children and their teachers. not even combat instructor or something but literally art teacher and lazy engineer. it's like killing a manticore, then killing a dragon, then the last foe is a mishy or something. it would be better to go to leeves first so the escalation of threat level actually makes sense. like i just assaulted a fucking military fortress why do they think bunch of kids are gonna stop me?
Damn the pentagruel cutscene after act 2. I am just smiling and giggling all over. One of the best moments so far
except kevin 
poor kevin.
poor kevin.
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2020
- Messages
- 2,159
Stop lying you autist. The first hours of CS4 are the least slow in the whole franchise. Even the tutorial tower section takes less than an hour to get through and it still acts as an important part of the story. After that, you're thrown into the action immediately with main characters and you're back up to CS3 power levels literally within a couple hours, soon surpassing them. What part was 'boring' to you, exactly? Fuckin Persona fags can't handle a little bit of exposition before their brains short-circuit.
the amount of best girls in 4 is so overwhelming it just shuts down my brain. every morning just begins with me moving quarts abysses and evergreens and kaiser mishie to a new character.
here now select 7 characters again from ever snowballing roster of best people
oh god bonding events
can I spend some time with
I can
but is
ROMANCEABLE?? 
this is all too much. i ll just play some pompom and call it a day
here now select 7 characters again from ever snowballing roster of best people
oh god bonding events
can I spend some time with
Duvalie
but is
Celine
this is all too much. i ll just play some pompom and call it a day
Arianhrod's fight in CS 4 is probs my favorite moment in the series. too bad they doesn't just reuse unfathomed force for the battle.
the immortals rivalies has been great (except for crow since he lives anyway). there is just a sense of closure and finality to it and i am fucking glad they ended lianne even though she got cheated by rufus. the rest of the awakener probably won't die since they aren't dead.
I think you are forgetting one awakener....
(And yes sad about unfathomed force but Rivalry of the Seven is an awesome track.)
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Osborne? yeah. i didn't initially count him ,but i guess he's technically part of the rivalries
also the final villain kinda remind me of (mistborn/stormlight archives spoiler)
ruin from mistborn and odium from stormlight. fragment of a god that obtained malevolence and manipulate humans for their own agenda.
Reinhardt
Arcane
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2015
- Messages
- 31,950
Finished tournament, i guess it's almost finish line for first game. It's gud.
Deflowerer
Arcane
- Joined
- May 22, 2013
- Messages
- 2,076
How the fuck do you play through it so fast? I started FC on 2nd of January and I am still in chapter 3.
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