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

[Kaivokz]

play sc

I’m planning to soon (with the same wife, sorry Maxie).

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

The protagonists' sabotaging their own country in the face of (or during!) a foreign invasion happens at the end of every arc. It's pathetic.

If Joshua x Estelle creeps you out then buckle up because you're going to get more, ahem... "interesting" romances as the series goes on.

 

[Rocket-Propelled Game]

Man, I loved TiTS when they first came out and now I don't think I can go back to them again after hearing sense from this thread. :C

 

[HoboForEternity]

Man, I loved TiTS when they first came out and now I don't think I can go back to them again after hearing sense from this thread. :C

sense? more like reductivist arguments that misunderstood the story. if richard had succeeded, they would be still steamrolled by erebonia's full force no matter what if erebonia wants it.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Man, I loved TiTS when they first came out and now I don't think I can go back to them again after hearing sense from this thread. :C

sense? more like reductivist arguments that misunderstood the story. if richard had succeeded, they would be still steamrolled by erebonia's full force no matter what if erebonia wants it.

Richard had no way of knowing of that, but he was the one doing the best with the information he had access to at the time (seize control from the naive, complacent, inept leadership and try to raise Liberl's security before it is too late), while the protagonists were consciously choosing to make things worse (thwart a man from protecting his country, keep complacent leadership in power while a hostile superpower becomes increasingly powerful). The only reason why things turned okay was due to circumstances Estelle could not have possibly foreseen. Everything Richard predicts happens by the Cold Steel games and things again only turn out okay due to Erebonia being sabotaged by its own heroes, causing Erebonia to have to pay reparations for a war it was winning and lose land that many Erebonians died to gain. Likewise, the Crossbell protagonists fought against the people who were trying to make Crossbell a better place and cleanse it of corruption. The protagonists had the power to prevent Crossbell from being conquered but refused to use it. The Erebonians had to conquer Crossbell and excise the corruption so that the protagonists didn't have to get their hands dirty, and then again Erebonian selfsabotage was required from the Crossbell protagonists to get their country back after they refused to fight for it.

Kuro 3 or 4 is going to end with Van overthrowing or destabilizing the government during a national crisis. Things will only turn out for Calvard in spite of his actions.

 

[Kaivokz]

more like reductivist arguments that misunderstood the story. if richard had succeeded, they would be still steamrolled by erebonia's full force no matter what if erebonia wants it.

Please elaborate on how I’ve misunderstood the story.

There’s no way to know, given what the game shows you, what Erebonia’s current technology level is. The game also doesn’t show what the aureole actually does, so there’s no way to evaluate what benefit it would have in repelling an invasion.

The larger question is:

Spoiler

was the coup justified? Given all of the quotes I provided from the script, the queen was doing nothing to secure the future of a country she already almost lost barely a decade ago.

The game also doesn’t really tell you how violent the hundred days war was, other than I think the event around Estelle’s mother’s death. If a second Erebonian invasion would lead to a great deal of death and destruction of Richard’s countrymen, then a largely peaceful coup is not a bad option.

Ideally a diplomatic solution would have been reached, but the queen herself states that she has refused all of Richard’s requests to strengthen their defenses as a country, and gives some platitudes about free exchange for the benefit of all—seriously, by her logic she’s going to end up putting Erebonia in a better position to invade them while doing nothing to protect themselves. I wouldn’t be surprised if she just handed over the technological advantage that allowed them to repel the first invasion.

In the end, I have played ToCS 1&2, so I know that the divine knights are ridiculously strong—but you can’t evaluate Richard’s actions on Erebonia finding an uber powerful mech.

edit- btw, I’ve only played TitS1 and ToCS1&2, so I’m avoiding reading anything posted that extends beyond the info offered in those 3 games.

 

[Reinhardt]

main problem of richard is that he failed at his job - intelligence agency chief. he was literally manipulated by illuminati. peaceful coup can sometimes help betterment of country, coup instigated by some shady people from outside - never.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

main problem of richard is that he failed at his job - intelligence agency chief. he was literally manipulated by illuminati.

I don't think anyone could defend themselves from a wizard who can literally erase/block any memories he wishes. Did you work for him for 5 years? He erases all of your memories of him. Saw him once while buying icecream? He disappears from your memories.

 

[Tse Tse Fly]

Completed Trails to Azure today. Finally.

Spoiler

Man, this has got to be the longest 'Finale' of all finales in any videogame ever, for I spent like 1/3 of my total play time playing through it, if game's internal clock is to be believed. And the final fight, namely the second phase of the final boss, was truly something in terms of difficulty. I mean this bullshit attack which reliably wipes out everyone if you're unable to kill the boss before he manages to use it. Neither Magius master craft nor Tio's Zero Field could help against it, you just have to finish off him quickly somehow. Thankfully enough I still had a few burst orbs left with me, else I'm not sure how I would be able to make it.

I did like the story, though at this point I'm kind of tired of crazy psycho antagonists. It's 'anime' in the bad sense of the word, meaning silly and vapid. Hopefully Trails of Cold Steel brings something new to the table in this regard.

Also weird how Ian wavered so easily in the end. I mean all right, but wasn't it clear to him that Mariabell was a schizo maniac and her reasons for realising that project of hers have nothing to do with anything he stood for. And yet he decided to go through all of this and cooperate with her, just to backpedal at the last moment. Meh.

Even more weird how Lloyd and his team, mere humans, were able to defeat an omnipotent God-like creature, which supposedly has the power to manipulate time, space, and causation themselves. Just like that, went and beat it. Because the player was skilful enough to avoid that bullshit attack of his.

I have a couple questions regarding the story though.

Spoiler

1) Why exactly had Mariabell and everyone to ditch Dieter anyway?
2) Who is buried under that marred gravestone with unrecognisable note on it?

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Hopefully Trails of Cold Steel brings something new to the table in this regard.

The villain cast of CS1+2 are overall good. Mostly geopolitical villains with reasonable motivations. Ouroboros and Jaeger villains are also present but they don't perform onscreen massacres so you're not as infuriated when the protagonists are cordial with them or the villains waltz off. It does get Ao levels of bad in CS3 and CS4, though.

Agreed about how ridiculous beating the final boss was in lore.

 

[Tse Tse Fly]

Does anybody know how to enable Turbo Mode Toggle in Trails of Cold Steel 1? So that you only need to press the button once, not hold it down all the time. I'm gonna miss this feature from the Crossbell games ports dearly. I've googled up an option to do this for gamepad (via Steam gamepad configuration), but alas I'm using KBM.

 

[Maxie]

Does anybody know how to enable Turbo Mode Toggle in Trails of Cold Steel 1? So that you only need to press the button once, not hold it down all the time. I'm gonna miss this feature from the Crossbell games ports dearly. I've googled up an option to do this for gamepad (via Steam gamepad configuration), but alas I'm using KBM.

i beg u buy some cheapo gamepad and play jrpgs the way they were intended to be played

 

[Tse Tse Fly]

I've a question about Cold Steel 1.

There are quartz gems like Suzaku - Attacks/crafts can seal or burn enemies (10% chance) - which can apply either of the two conditions with a 10% chance. But the description seems ambiguous to me. What does it mean exactly?
(1) There will be 2 subsequent checks - first, if either of them happens at all (10% probability), and second, if Seal or Burn happens (50% probablility), OR
(2) This quartz simply adds +10% chance to inflict Seal and +10% chance to inflict Burn, in addition to the % from quartz with a singluar status effect you might also have equipped (Seal, Burn etc).

Which one is true?

The description reads more like (1), but (2) seems more logical to me, considering equipping Suzaku (for instance) does not preclude you from putting Seal or Burn on another line, which would give you (I guess? I'm not sure if chances stack) 20% Seal and 10% Burn, or 10% Seal and 20% Burn.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I don't remember how the either/or description worked. I remember only really using Suzaku to boost the attack of my attackers.

Yes, you can stack status condition quartz to increase the chance of inflicting status conditions. This works on top of crafts that have a chance to inflict status conditions. Machias and Elliot in particular are really fun to play condition AoE builds. For Machias you equip him with either the Juggler or the Cypher master quartz, add status condition inflicting quartz, and spam Petrify Shot. Watch as your enemies are confused and attack each other while on fire, are petrified, and have their stats reduced by 50%. For Elliot you stack nightmare quartz on him, equip gladiator gear to increase his speed (not cast time), and then spam his Nocturne Bell craft to inflict nightmare which shuts down your enemies and lets you attack them without them waking up. Condition AoE builds are fantastic for clearing out fights with lots of mobs on higher difficulties.

 

[Rean]

I've a question about Cold Steel 1.

There are quartz gems like Suzaku - Attacks/crafts can seal or burn enemies (10% chance) - which can apply either of the two conditions with a 10% chance. But the description seems ambiguous to me. What does it mean exactly?
(1) There will be 2 subsequent checks - first, if either of them happens at all (10% probability), and second, if Seal or Burn happens (50% probablility), OR
(2) This quartz simply adds +10% chance to inflict Seal and +10% chance to inflict Burn, in addition to the % from quartz with a singluar status effect you might also have equipped (Seal, Burn etc).

Which one is true?

The description reads more like (1), but (2) seems more logical to me, considering equipping Suzaku (for instance) does not preclude you from putting Seal or Burn on another line, which would give you (I guess? I'm not sure if chances stack) 20% Seal and 10% Burn, or 10% Seal and 20% Burn.

It's 2.

 

[Lyre Mors]

Getting very excited for Trails in the Sky 3rd-2, aka Trails Into Reverie. Only a few more weeks! It's the longest I've had to wait for the next installment ever, so I'm jonesing pretty hard for a fix. Game isn't up on greenman yet, but I'm hoping it pops up day one. As excited as I am, I don't really want to pay the full $60 for it, but will if I have to.

 

[cruel]

15 days left, I'm counting as well. I'm hoping for the same level of fun as I had with Cold Steel games, but probably keeping my hopes too high. At least FF XVI came to the rescue to fill the time in between.

Sent from my KB2005 using Tapatalk

 

[Sarathiour]

I would rather buy twice the amount in cringy merchandise than to give single more cent to NISA .

 

[Lyre Mors]

Sadly they're our only hope of getting the series to the west in any proper manner now. I'm not going to play AI mods that don't even translate NPC dialogue, which is like, a quarter of the appeal of the series. I don't want to give NISA a cent either, but if it's the only way I can support the games getting official translations, I gotta do what I gotta do.

 

[Jermu]

kuro 1 + hajimari fan translations were quite good
kuro 2 still has ways to go only about half is translated properly rest mt

 

[Lyre Mors]

kuro 1 + hajimari fan translations were quite good

All my research into them indicated none of the non-main plotline NPC's dialogue was translated.

 

[Tse Tse Fly]

Just cleared Chapter 6 of Cold Steel 1,

Spoiler

those poor terrorists, lmao... All that build up, all those proclamations, only to be cut off like this. Rather unexpected a development, it was so funny. Hopefully this won't be the last we saw of them, otherwise these wretches will go down as another sad case of "anime writing".

And I finally made it to the last chapter, after ~140 hours. This is the longest Trails game for me so far, and if Trails to Azure's case is anything to go by, I have another 40-50 hours ahead of me. But I hope it won't take this long after all.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Comrade G was a true patriot.

 

[Sarathiour]

He got redeemed later on for being right about everything.

 

[Maxie]

Just cleared Chapter 6 of Cold Steel 1,

Spoiler

those poor terrorists, lmao... All that build up, all those proclamations, only to be cut off like this. Rather unexpected a development, it was so funny. Hopefully this won't be the last we saw of them, otherwise these wretches will go down as another sad case of "anime writing".

And I finally made it to the last chapter, after ~140 hours. This is the longest Trails game for me so far, and if Trails to Azure's case is anything to go by, I have another 40-50 hours ahead of me. But I hope it won't take this long after all.

how the fuck did you eke out this many hours
I played on hard and finished the game in about 70h, was a slog anyway