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

[felipepepe]

When playing on Hard, I first though that I would need to grind like crazy, but then I found out I was fighting high level monsters.

Turns out that many areas you're not supposed to go yet are open from the start - not something common in JRPGs. Cool stuff.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Took me a long while to get emotionally invested too, hard to pinpoint at which exact moment I started giving a shit, but it must've been around Zeiss - seeing the city stark different from others in terms of technological advancement right after you leave those goddamn caves was an eye-opener on how much the nation depends on orbments to prosper

For me it was when

Spoiler

soldiers in black uniforms started to appear - I think when you're at the lakeshore in the Bose chapter. I started to realise there was more going on than just Estelle and Joshua travelling around helping people find lost kittens. Then you find more and more about the conspiracy until it becomes a full blown coup - great stuff.

 

[Data4]

I've just arrived in Grancel and so far, my experiences have been the same. Shaky start, twee dialogue, etc., but now I've settled in and look forward to starting SC pretty soon. For those who've played SC, how does it compare to FC in terms of length, side quests, and further world building?

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I've just arrived in Grancel and so far, my experiences have been the same. Shaky start, twee dialogue, etc., but now I've settled in and look forward to starting SC pretty soon. For those who've played SC, how does it compare to FC in terms of length, side quests, and further world building?

I found SC to be exactly the same length as FC, the side quests are the same (as they are throughout the series - either monster hunting, or helping people out with minor problems). World building isn't the word I would use, story building would be more apt as SC is where things are stepped up a notch and you see how the events in Liberl will affect the continent as a whole. You also find out more about ancient Liberl, the towers, artifacts etc. And you find out a lot about Ouroboros, the SPECTRE-like "evil" organisation who are a common thread through all the Trails games.

 

[Jack Dandy]

I like your opinion, Jinn.

I also found the overall cheeriness of the setting to be a bit dull. Always wanted to see how a Trails game would look like if it focused on the grittier aspects of the Zemurian continent (And they certainly are there- wait for SC and 3rd).
In SC however, the bad guys unfortunately become far more generic than they were in FC.

Spoiler

And, however touching it was, the reunion of Estelle and Joshua was solved almost too simply.

But at least we get a good, satisfying explanation to some of the mysteries you uncovered in FC- specifically those relating to all the ancient technology you've encountered throughout the game.

Spoiler

Would love to see Trails series focusing on the doomed nation of north ambria- maybe run a band of Jaegers? We already had bracers in liberl, cops in crossbell, students in erebonia...

My advice to you? Grab CheatEngine, and play the rest of the games on 2X the speed. 4X for battles. Makes it all flow much better.
Things that SC has going for it are:
-Better battles : You get to have a crew of 4 going with you for most of the game, instead of constantly resetting to just Estelle and Josh every chapter.
-AWESOME music: Nearly every boss battle track is golden. The normal combat music is a bit goofy, but oh well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHo86x7jLWM&list=PLASGeWjIrtP_2stXMnZy1dDqxVuZNVVQW&index=11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi2XzM4PnJU&list=PLASGeWjIrtP_2stXMnZy1dDqxVuZNVVQW&index=12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ok9bzDzaS0&list=PLASGeWjIrtP_2stXMnZy1dDqxVuZNVVQW&index=15

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Whats with western people and their edgy dark settings. There are shit ton of game like that already. Keeps my good jrpgs cheery and fun thank you

 

[Somberlain]

I think Trails games have a good balance of cheeriness and edge

 

[HoboForEternity]

Whats with western people and their edgy dark settings. There are shit ton of game like that already. Keeps my good jrpgs cheery and fun thank you

FC was probably the cheeriest game. It gets darker the more into the series, while still maintaining overall chill.

Its a,good balance. On one front you got lighthearted moment, suddenly there is north ambria stuff popping.

One side you got character like tita and agate trying to have dinner, the other you got rennes star door.

One side you got ball of fuzzy sunshine like mint and the other crow.

Etc etc

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I like your opinion, Jinn.

I also found the overall cheeriness of the setting to be a bit dull. Always wanted to see how a Trails game would look like if it focused on the grittier aspects of the Zemurian continent (And they certainly are there- wait for SC and 3rd).
In SC however, the bad guys unfortunately become far more generic than they were in FC.

Spoiler

And, however touching it was, the reunion of Estelle and Joshua was solved almost too simply.

But at least we get a good, satisfying explanation to some of the mysteries you uncovered in FC- specifically those relating to all the ancient technology you've encountered throughout the game.

Spoiler

Would love to see Trails series focusing on the doomed nation of north ambria- maybe run a band of Jaegers? We already had bracers in liberl, cops in crossbell, students in erebonia...

My advice to you? Grab CheatEngine, and play the rest of the games on 2X the speed. 4X for battles. Makes it all flow much better.
Things that SC has going for it are:
-Better battles : You get to have a crew of 4 going with you for most of the game, instead of constantly resetting to just Estelle and Josh every chapter.
-AWESOME music: Nearly every boss battle track is golden. The normal combat music is a bit goofy, but oh well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHo86x7jLWM&list=PLASGeWjIrtP_2stXMnZy1dDqxVuZNVVQW&index=11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi2XzM4PnJU&list=PLASGeWjIrtP_2stXMnZy1dDqxVuZNVVQW&index=12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ok9bzDzaS0&list=PLASGeWjIrtP_2stXMnZy1dDqxVuZNVVQW&index=15

All the Trails games on PC support boost mode now so there's no need for CheatEngine.

I would strongly urge against using boost mode for the first playthrough. These games are all about the story and the atmosphere. Let it soak in.

 

[Jack Dandy]

You do have a point, Hobo. But, I still think the cheery stuff vastly outweigh the dark bits.
That fucking star door tho

Spoiler

I'm in the right. I'm in the right. I'm always happy. I'm always having fun.

That shit really hit kinda hard.

I don't want the series to go full edge, but.. Just a bit more. A tiny bit more edge. Teeny tiny!

And as for the boost button- It ain't as good. Both because you need to keep it manually pushed, and it's kinda buggy. Ruined an event trigger for me on SC, in the final chapter too. Lucky that someone managed to un-fuck my save state.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Agree.

Spoiler

A floating city falls stright into the lake?
It's okay some fisherman got their cloths wet tho

 

[Deleted member 7219]

As there are people in this thread who haven’t even finished FC yet, spoiling the ending of SC is a really cunty thing to do.

 

[LESS T_T]

CS1 PC 1.4 update:

Version 1.4 (Build 2184070) Patch Notes

I'm happy to announce the release of version 1.4 of ToCS!

It primarily contains texture fixes for many translated signs and other text in the English version of the game, as well as a sompletely reworked HBAO integration.
Note that this update is slightly larger than usual due to the texture fixes.

The full changelog from version 1.3.5 follows:

Bug fixes

• Fix persistent xaudio dll error popup message on some systems.

Graphics improvements:

• Complete re-write of ambient occlusion (HBAO+) integration.
  ( http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/120153 )
  
• Improves HBAO interaction with character skin in closeups.
  
• Fades out AO effect based on current area fog level.
  
• Fixes AO artifacts (e.g. on skyboxes).

Assets:

• Fix various English text errors in textures.

Note:
If you encounter any new issues with this version, you can revert to the previous version (1.3.5) by right-clicking the game in your Steam library, selecting "Properties", then selecting the "BETAS" tab, and chosing "version_1.3.5" in the drop-down menu.

Enjoy! We will continue to do our best to resolve any issues and improve the game further.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Typos in the signs were really shit and spoiled the game. I got particular triggered by the Academy Festival sign which was featured prominently in multiple cutscenes and WOULDN'T GO AWAY.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Just wanted to make a post about how hearing "Maybe it was fated" for the first time put such a huge fucking grin on my face.



So fitting. So great. An amazing evolution of an already great track.
What a job, jdk Band. (Also love that part from Malmsteen's Voodoo Nights. They're never gonna stop aping him, huh?)

 

[Deleted member 7219]

I prefer the original. Much cleaner, fewer layers, less distortion.

Still, an amazing song.

 

[4249]

Best version





I do love jdk doing these weird ass alternative versions though.

 

[Jack Dandy]

I prefer the original. Much cleaner, fewer layers, less distortion.

Still, an amazing song.

I see what you mean - but after you've heard that one like 4 times for each of the enforcers, having this new "wilder" version when fighting all of them at once just blew my mind!

 

[Somberlain]

This new ToCS2 song which plays when fighting certain bosses is also based on Fateful Confrontation, though it's a bit more upbeat

 

[Jack Dandy]

Can't really hear it in this one.. but still cool!

 

[Jack Dandy]

Finally finished 3rd. Great game. Really fun combat- had a good time playing it on Hard. When I tried Hard for SC, bosses just kept stomping my shit into the ground. In this one, I regularly found that readjusting tactics\orbments would reward me with a good victory. (As opposed to grinding)

One thing bothered me tho - why did nobody bother asking Celeste "What the hell was the Great Collapse about"?

Also, the final boss was pretty funny. About half of it was spent stuffing CP-regenerating sandwiches down Kevin's mouth.

Also also-- Any bets on when the sprouced up fan translation of the PC version of Zero no Kiseki will come out?

 

[Jinn]

So I decided to give this series a chance and ended up binge playing all 3 Sky games.
This brings me to ask what is the current fan translation status of the Crossbell games and the possibility of them being released officially in english?

Crossbell fan translation is fully translated and 40% edited I believe? Who knows what will happen with it since it sounds like XSEED has acquired rights to the localization.

This is all just from memory, though.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Follow this site for the time being:
https://geofront.esterior.net/

It's not just a translation btw- they're working on the PC version, and apparently they've got it to run at 60FPS as well. Ain't it neat?

 

[Jack Dandy]

By the way,

Spoiler

Am I the only one who thinks the whole Stigma thing is a bit silly? I mean, the rest of the weird phenomena in the game world can be kinda handwaved as "advanced septium technology", but this shit is just generic magical "Super sayian" stuff.
"Grrr, I had a trauma and now I have SUPERPOWERS! And it makes me go a bit insane! And also drains my lifeforce!"

So generic.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Most of the septian church's magics arent exolained yet, but

Spoiler

weissman was able to recreate a stigma and implanted it to joshua and his goal is to create army of stigmatized supersoldier

that kinda foreshadow that there is more to it than meets the eye. there havent been explanation of thaumathurgy too, magic spells that the church members cast without orbments or whatsoever. Dont forget emma's witch clan from cold steel.

There are instances of super powered people with little explanation, and with this series, i have enough faith that there will do something to them.

Maybe it is genetic mutation or even enhancement leftover in the genes of old world supersoldier's descentdant activated by trauma.

Maybe it is just natural occurence of the world and can be explained with set of physical laws.

Maybe it got to do with septerrion, etc.


since there are more arcs to come, i believe it will be explored further.