The Legend of Heroes Thread - Trails of Cold Steel in the Sky

[Reinhardt]

sariffa > sharon

 

[cruel]

I'm really enjoying my time with TiTS SC - perfect game to play on Steam Deck. They fixed most of the problems that I had with FC, especially the overall boredom. I still prefer Cold Steel, but I need to admit SC is a really good game.

Question: should I even bother with Trails from Zero if I found TiTS FC so boring it took me 2+ years to finish? I found one post from the past that doesn't inspire much confidence, quoted below:

So I started playing ZERO. Reached chapter 4. Not sure if I want to continue.

The maincast, while somewhat allright, is incredibly dull, compared to TiTS its hard to beleive its from the same creators. The Story is nonexistent. The Quests are banal, shit, boring. Its like they only took the worst shit from TiTS and repeated it over and over again in ZERO. Oh, lets call the police to bring back some books to the Library. Oh, sorry I dont have the book anymore, but I can tell you where it it. Oh, sorry its not there, please backtrack AGAIN to another location. Do some more FEDEX shit. Isnt this why you joined the SSS? Absolutely fucking horrible.

The worst fucking thing however is that there is no fucking Haze Quatz. Now you can repeatedly grind the same shitty encounter over and over again while doing FEDEX shit. Disgusting.

Theres are some good scenes here and there, but overall its a terribly bland and mediocre game.

Things I really don't like in general:
- constant backtracking
- maze-like dungeons
- boredom / nothing happening story-wise
- lazy / bad encounter design (eg. constant 'called allies' / 'HP drain' instead of actual challenge)
- fetch / fedex quests

Am I right to suspect all 5 of those are present in Zero? Is cast really that much worse than Sky or Cold Steel games?

 

[Jermu]

Azure coming next week

 

[Ysaye]

I'm really enjoying my time with TiTS SC - perfect game to play on Steam Deck. They fixed most of the problems that I had with FC, especially the overall boredom. I still prefer Cold Steel, but I need to admit SC is a really good game.

Question: should I even bother with Trails from Zero if I found TiTS FC so boring it took me 2+ years to finish? I found one post from the past that doesn't inspire much confidence, quoted below:

So I started playing ZERO. Reached chapter 4. Not sure if I want to continue.

The maincast, while somewhat allright, is incredibly dull, compared to TiTS its hard to beleive its from the same creators. The Story is nonexistent. The Quests are banal, shit, boring. Its like they only took the worst shit from TiTS and repeated it over and over again in ZERO. Oh, lets call the police to bring back some books to the Library. Oh, sorry I dont have the book anymore, but I can tell you where it it. Oh, sorry its not there, please backtrack AGAIN to another location. Do some more FEDEX shit. Isnt this why you joined the SSS? Absolutely fucking horrible.

The worst fucking thing however is that there is no fucking Haze Quatz. Now you can repeatedly grind the same shitty encounter over and over again while doing FEDEX shit. Disgusting.

Theres are some good scenes here and there, but overall its a terribly bland and mediocre game.

Things I really don't like in general:
- constant backtracking
- maze-like dungeons
- boredom / nothing happening story-wise
- lazy / bad encounter design (eg. constant 'called allies' / 'HP drain' instead of actual challenge)
- fetch / fedex quests

Am I right to suspect all 5 of those are present in Zero? Is cast really that much worse than Sky or Cold Steel games?

I can try and address each as I played Zero a couple of months ago:

-Constant backtracking? Zero is set mainly in Crossbell City with (for most chapters) a quick travel menu, so backtracking for mine was a non-issue.
-Maze Like dungeons? Trying to think of a maze like dungeon of note...only thing I can think of is the geofront, but most of the other dungeons are very linear.
-Boredom / nothing happening story-wise? Zero starts with an ominous tone as a very early intro, then goes into the typical first chapter for a Trails game where you learn the mechanics, basic people are introduced and you do menial fetch quests (you are a police division that everyone hates, so everyone also piles on ridicule at the start of the game). By the end of the game however stuff goes full on crazy by the end (but you get to resolve it, unlike Cold Steel 1 or Sky FC), and the plot line links in a heap of the dark things revealed in Trails in the Sky the 3rd about characters and about the vile forces in Zemuria that you haven't learnt about. Which means if you have not played that game, then I would suggest playing that game first.
Lazy / bad encounter design? I can't think of any major called allies situations; maybe you could argue there is a joke one during a "zombie apocolypse" scene, but every new enemy mob in that is an absolute pushover). One thing is that if you are gunning for all the trophies, there is actually one which requires you to finish the game under Level 40, which means it is in your interests to not engage in pointless battles.
Fetch / fedex quests - yep like any trails games there are these in the game.

So I would say ~2 / 5.

In terms of player characters:

• Lloyd - Yes Lloyd is the blandest of the protagonists so far; he doesn't have Rean's or Kevin's psychological scars, but he is also not crazy enthusiastic like Estelle. In some senses though this is good in Zero, because the story is not really about him, rather the pasts of others that he is only linked into through his brother's past exploits. Rather thick about women though, which brings me onto...
• Ellie - Generally very level-headed girl, no major secrets and (whilst falls in love with him) doesn't have some overarching complex about Lloyd like Alisa. The interactions between her and Bell are funny.
• Tio - Okay, for mine she is the best of the main quartet. Her demeanor (and even the cat ear headgear) actually is linked with her backstory and the fine line between her humorous lines and her tragic ones is so narrow that it cuts hard. When she "senses stuff", unlike Rean, there is an actual good plot related reason that is identified through the Zero story.
• Randy - If you have played all of the cold steel games, you will know enough about Randy already. All the Zero game does is introduce you to the facts that you already know, plus a little bit more of the extent of each. Comments a lot on Lloyd's total obliviousness to women and has a lot of times where he and Tio are just commenting on what is going on which is funny.
• Wazy - Okay - he is playable in Zero for parts but it is more an introduction. One of the more interesting characters.
• Noel - again only playable in parts, but kind of cool when she comes helps out in near the end. Also fun the interactions between her and her sister Fran.
• Rixia - again only playable in parts, you have played Cold Steel 2 so there are no surprises, but you get a bit of her backstory / Superhero persona in this one.
• (Alex) Dudley - Only playable for a short period, kind of a joke character / Inspector Zenigata a bit with no real backstory, and sort of the prototype Machias as well.

 

[Jermu]

for zero to kuro the only way to have any challenge is to play nightmare and skip every random encounter that is not quest related. also cs1+ not to abuse action time manipulation but you can break cs games very easily with stacking up dmg modifiers.

fc-sc requires some grinding to beat nightmare at least sc does.

and yeah lloyd is pretty bad main character as is rean but others are great.

backtracking, quests and dungeons I did not have a problem with since u can use turbo button.

zero-azure combat is the best trails can offer its not easy as cs/hajimari/kuro and not bs as fc-sc.

 

[Maxie]

Lloyd is a stand-up guy, avenges his brother and gets a cute big titty girl
Rean only ever gets AIDS from being homo

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

should I even bother with Trails from Zero if I found TiTS FC so boring it took me 2+ years to finish?

I played Crossbell in 2018. IMO the arc is entirely skippable. Zero is an okay game but with nothing to really write home about. Ao was pretty awful, being a 60 hour long game but only 5 hours when I really enjoyed it: the first half of the final chapter. Everything up to the final chapter is a boring slog, and then once you climb up to the top of the tower halfway through chapter 5 and he starts ranting about justice, the story plummets in quality. I didn't like the modern urban setting of Crossbell and the characters were meh, and became detestable by the end. Crossbell does not advance the main plot in any way whatsoever. I'd say that if you are really desperate for more Trails despite whatever quality it is, or the aesthetics of Crossbell just really appeal to you, then I guess maybe play it.

Things I really don't like in general:
- constant backtracking
- maze-like dungeons
- boredom / nothing happening story-wise
- lazy / bad encounter design (eg. constant 'called allies' / 'HP drain' instead of actual challenge)
- fetch / fedex quests

Am I right to suspect all 5 of those are present in Zero? Is cast really that much worse than Sky or Cold Steel games?

Yes there is constant backtracking in Crossbell. The whole 110 hour long duology takes place in the same city and three villages that revolve around it. Yes there are annoying maze dungeons. The first 50 hours of Ao are very boring. Boss design is nothing interesting. Yes there are several boring sidequests. I would advise consulting a guide and skipping all sidequests except for the questchain involving the Harold family in Ao. Yes Crossbell has the worst cast of any Trails game I've played thus far, even more boring than New Class VII.

 

[Reinhardt]

The first 50 hours of Ao are very boring.

more boring than first cold steel game until the very ending? i don't believe you.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

The first 50 hours of Ao are very boring.

more boring than first cold steel game until the very ending? i don't believe you.

The first Cold Steel game had me constantly visiting new places I had never been to before, meeting new characters, and had an engaging storyline with the mystery of the oldschool house, the shadowy politics behind Class VII, geopolitical tensions with class struggles and a plot to overthrow the government and a cold war that was turning hot, and really likeable characters. Despite being a 100 hour long game, the story was really well paced. I also had a lot of fun building my characters and fighting monsters and listening to the soundtrack. When I finished Cold Steel 1, I couldn't wait for the next game to get ported to PC, and wound up replaying CS1 three or four more times.

Ao just has you running around the same city and three villages that you've already been in for the past 50 hours in Zero. The chapters are very slowly paced and nothing exciting happens until towards the end of chapter 4. I did not find the cast very entertaining, and again grew to vehemently despise the SSS due to their actions at the end of the game. I did not really enjoy the combat all that much and decided to just cheese my way through it by stacking as much ATS on Wazy as possible and spamming Lord Inferno to get through the fights. When I was finished with Ao, I was very aggravated by the ending, disappointed given how much the Crossbell duology had been hyped, glad it was off of my to-do list, and dreading seeing the SSS again in the second half of the Cold Steel arc.

 

[Reinhardt]

had an engaging storyline

 

[Maxie]

yeah being a cop means you mostly ever patrol your beat

 

[Lyre Mors]

Stop playing these games, you idiots. You clearly don't enjoy them.

 

[Reinhardt]

only with rean

 

[Valestein]

I haven't played a Trails game since finishing CS4 and am most looking forward to Reverie due to Sara being in it.

 

[Valestein]

Sara's in a browser title called "Akatsuki No Kiseki" which needs immediate localizing and release on Steam.

It gave us this artwork, what more could a trails fan ask for?

 

[Reinhardt]

kanone>every other trails girl

 

[Maxie]

kanone>every other trails girl

you're not very far from the truth, but you must go more genki and baka

 

[Jermu]

released, top 3 trails game

 

[Arthandas]

Spoiler

Artist: ぐらしおん

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I find it humorous to imagine Black Alberich designing those pajamas with cat ears and a tail for one of his products before shipping it off to Osborne.

 

[Thorakitai]

How true is this opinion regarding the games before Sky?

This is what people don't understand, the people who made the fantastic Sky trilogy are gone, Falcom as a company is a hollow shell of what it once was, and you're not really playing a true continuation of what got people interested in the series to begin with, just the dregs left aping what came before them as the series and characters degrade further and further with every installation. For fucks sake look at the tech progression in the series, we went from the Industrial Revolution in Sky to basically modern day Japan by Cold Steel, complete with cell phones and internet access. It's mind boggling how badly they fucked it all up.

 

[Maxie]

I concur, Sky are wonderful games and Cold Steel is shit

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

How true is this opinion regarding the games before Sky?

This is what people don't understand, the people who made the fantastic Sky trilogy are gone, Falcom as a company is a hollow shell of what it once was, and you're not really playing a true continuation of what got people interested in the series to begin with, just the dregs left aping what came before them as the series and characters degrade further and further with every installation. For fucks sake look at the tech progression in the series, we went from the Industrial Revolution in Sky to basically modern day Japan by Cold Steel, complete with cell phones and internet access. It's mind boggling how badly they fucked it all up.

Almost no one has played the pre Trails LoH games. The PC-98 games have no English translations. You can emulate the PSP remakes but they look aesthetically inferior and the translation has a bad rap. Ys back then were action games, not story heavy RPGs and thus aren't comparable to Trails.

I don't think Sky is fantastic. The first game is overall good but still has pacing problems (first 20 hours are boring and it's a 40 hour long game), writing problems (fakeout deaths, the antagonist is objectively and morally right on all counts and the protagonists have no valid motivations to oppose him). The second game is where all of the problems common to all Trails games begin (filler chapters about chasing after Ouroboros villains with zero plot progression, mass murderers getting off scott free to continue haunting the series in future installments and general lack of accountability, lack of stakes and consequences). The shitty writing was there from the get go, it's just that it becomes tiresome after 1,000+ hours of it, especially as the storylines set up from the beginning like the looming world war are thrown away, and for many people that's the breaking point when they realize nothing bad will ever happen and they're going to continue chasing Ouroboros in circles for another decade.

 

[Sarathiour]

The Ouroboros metaplot is clearly the most glaring aspect of bad writing, they exist only to have a generic threat as filler for all games, and you're never going to get rid of them, because it's all always all according to keikaku whether they win, lose, or step in a dogshit while doing their groceries.

 

[Maxie]

i just don't like mecha being put in my 19th century technology games