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If it's of any use to anyone, I've tried 3 times to get into TitS and it just never grabbed me, but I'm playing ToCS1 now and absolutely loving it. About halfway through Chapter 4, 35-ish hours in and I'm already looking forward to my next play session. I've laughed out loud a few bits and all the characters have really grown on me. Combat on hard has been a faceroll for normal mobs, but bosses have been much trickier and I'm still liking the combat enough to grind for upgrade mats and sepith mass to upgrade all my weapons.
If anyone can't get into TitS, don't write off the games, just jump into ToCS1.
I loved Trails in the Sky, but the Trails of Cold Steel games are my favourite too.
Once you're done with with ToCS, give TitS another go, the combat is pretty much the same except without some of the bells and whistles, I think you'll like it now you are used to the systems.
It was all the backtracking that turned me off TitS. I felt I had to go back and talk to everyone again after every plot advance and I remember it being a lot more tedious than in CS. I can't say I love it in CS, but the fast travel and turbo mode makes it less bothersome. Well, that and the glacially slow pace of the plot in Sky. I liked the combat but I think it'll be a long time before I go back to it.
The backtracking is optional. You only need to do it if you want full BP and some nice extra items. This is an RPG after all, not an action game, so the emphasis isn’t to constantly move forward and ignore the scenery.
The slow pace in TitS 1 is a one time deal for the series. The other games aren’t as slow to get going (except maybe Trails from Zero).
Enjoy Cold Steel though, the series keeps getting better and it honours all the characters you get to know and love.
I do miss the slowly opening and more down to earth setting of TitS with the traveling to-be Bracers, which was what pulled me in to the Trails series in the first place. Maybe I should do a replay of TitS after finishing ToCS 3, hopefully Steam still has my saves on the cloud so I could do a Nightmare run.
What turned me off to Trails in the Sky was the non-stop battles with super slow combat animations and invisible enemies until you're right on top of them. Then the rewards are nearly nothing due to XP scaling but the enemies can still kill you in two hits. If the enemies are a threat then I should still get XP. Someone said there was a turbo mode but you have to enable it from the console and it never worked for me.
At least with Cold Steel the turbo mode works, enemies are easy to avoid when you hit the XP cap, and overall combat is snappier.
by far one of the worst plot devices there are and they have the gall to do it again after they had already done it in the 2nd game removes any emotional weight from those scenes.
Dammit, that self-quarantine apathy killed even my will to play ToCS III. I finished the first act, got to Crosbell and can't force myself to move forward.
Self-quarantine seems like the absolute best time to play through a Trails game. And you'd think getting to Crossbell would give you a huge push forward. Hope this doesn't speak to the quality of ToCS III.
For the most part, I feel the same as I did in my first impressions. TfZ is the missing link systems-wise between Trails in the Sky and Trails of Cold Steel. The combat has follow-up attacks after dodging an enemy's attack and some other minor improvements over the combat in the TitS games. You can have support members too, but you cannot swap them in and out of the party during the battle. They contribute special attacks occasionally which you cannot directly control.
The cooking and fishing minigames are pretty much identical to how they were in ToCS 1 and 2, so that's nice. There are no character profiles to collect, though.
The music is pretty good. Inevitable Struggle is like distilled incline being injected directly into your veins. The super arrange version of the track came up on a Spotify Falcom playlist I listened to while driving one day. When the original version played during an interesting fight in Trails from Zero, I punched the air. It fitted the situation perfectly. It's definitely one of the best Trails tunes out there. Here it is:
The rest of the music isn't as good though.
The characters? Well, Randy is a BRO. No question. I also liked the criminal characters. Unfortunately I can't say as much for the team. Lloyd is ok but kinda bland, in that sense a bit like Rean, but Rean had SPECIAL POWAHS going for him. Lloyd is, well, a nice guy? That's about it. Elie is bland... there's really not much I can say about her, unfortunately. Tio is more interesting, mainly due to her background and her bonding scene at the end (and I liked her in TOCS 3). KeA is pretty cute but no kid is that golden. Even the nicest children can be utter fucking brats when they want to be. SSS chief is pretty cool. That's about it. Honestly, both TitS and ToCS had far better casts. My favourite character is probably Rixia Mao.
I liked the story for the most part, it was nice to have a low key finale again like TitS 1 and ToCS 1, but without investment in the characters there wasn't much to raise the stakes for me. I was disappointed that nothing really happened in this game. The story of ToCS made me think major shit was going down in Crossbell. I guess all that stuff happened in Trails to Azure instead. It was nice to see Joshua, Estelle and Renne again, and have a satisfactory conclusion to the mystery surrounding Renne. Ouroboros took a back seat in this one, which was for the best. I think Ouroboros were way overdone in the the other games. I would prefer them to be a mysterious organisation pulling strings here and there but not turning up all the fucking time as moustache-twirling villains.
I liked the D∴G Cult stuff at the end, but only because I had investment in Renne thanks to TitS 3. If it weren't for that I'd have thought they were introduced far too late and needed more build up.
Ramblings over for now, back to my PC playthrough of ToCS 3.
The characters? Well, Randy is a BRO. No question. I also liked the criminal characters. Unfortunately I can't say as much for the team. Lloyd is ok but kinda bland, in that sense a bit like Rean, but Rean had SPECIAL POWAHS going for him. Lloyd is, well, a nice guy? That's about it. Elie is bland... there's really not much I can say about her, unfortunately. Tio is more interesting, mainly due to her background and her bonding scene at the end (and I liked her in TOCS 3). KeA is pretty cute but no kid is that golden. Even the nicest children can be utter fucking brats when they want to be. SSS chief is pretty cool. That's about it. Honestly, both TitS and ToCS had far better casts. My favourite character is probably Rixia Mao.
I finished it last night and I subscribe to what you say about the characters, word for word. And leaving aside the main cast, there is hardly any secondary character worth remembering.
As far as story is concerned:
I also get the feeling that little happens in this game, and unlike TiTS FC or CS1, there's no plot twist at the end that makes you want to play the next game immediately. Nor did I find any of the "bad guys" really charismatic, like Richard or Weissmann in Sky 1 or even C and Vita in CS1.
Zero isn't bad at all, but since everyone places Creossbell as the best games in the Kiseki saga, maybe my expectations were too high.
This would be my ranking: Sky 2 > Sky 3 > Sky 1 > CS2 > CS1 > Zero.
The characters? Well, Randy is a BRO. No question. I also liked the criminal characters. Unfortunately I can't say as much for the team. Lloyd is ok but kinda bland, in that sense a bit like Rean, but Rean had SPECIAL POWAHS going for him. Lloyd is, well, a nice guy? That's about it. Elie is bland... there's really not much I can say about her, unfortunately. Tio is more interesting, mainly due to her background and her bonding scene at the end (and I liked her in TOCS 3). KeA is pretty cute but no kid is that golden. Even the nicest children can be utter fucking brats when they want to be. SSS chief is pretty cool. That's about it. Honestly, both TitS and ToCS had far better casts. My favourite character is probably Rixia Mao.
I finished it last night and I subscribe to what you say about the characters, word for word. And leaving aside the main cast, there is hardly any secondary character worth remembering.
As far as story is concerned:
I also get the feeling that little happens in this game, and unlike TiTS FC or CS1, there's no plot twist at the end that makes you want to play the next game immediately. Nor did I find any of the "bad guys" really charismatic, like Richard or Weissmann in Sky 1 or even C and Vita in CS1.
Zero isn't bad at all, but since everyone places Creossbell as the best games in the Kiseki saga, maybe my expectations were too high.
This would be my ranking: Sky 2 > Sky 3 > Sky 1 > CS2 > CS1 > Zero.
Yep, agreed. Zero is a good game, and it is proper Trails, no doubt, but the way some Kiseki fans were talking about it I expected it to be a lot more "epic" than it was. I even read somewhere that it is the longest game in the series. I didn't think either of those turned out to be true.
Still, a good game, but there wasn't a stand out feature of the game for me.
Into Chapter 5 of ToCS and I've been really impressed at a little change to the battles. Prior to now, it's been an absolute doddle to get advantage on the enemies as I'm sure everyone knows. Trigger them, then run away until they stop and then they'll turn around to trot back to their spawn area allowing you to stab/shoot them in their back. Well just as it was becoming boring they don't do that anymore! Now they stop, but if you don't move away they'll start chasing you again, way past their spawn area. After some annoying and time consuming pulls, I've now adapted to having to run around behind the mobs to backstab them in the few seconds they stop, (to catch their breath, presumably.) It's still possible but it adds a little bit more challenge to the pulls and does make some fights a tiny bit harder.
Combat is still basically a faceroll at this stage, thanks to Emma being more powerful than bloody Dr.Strange and nuking everybody down to zero in just one turn. Somehow it's still entertaining though, just spent 30 minutes grinding on the road outside Laura's hometown just for the fun of it.
Into Chapter 5 of ToCS and I've been really impressed at a little change to the battles. Prior to now, it's been an absolute doddle to get advantage on the enemies as I'm sure everyone knows. Trigger them, then run away until they stop and then they'll turn around to trot back to their spawn area allowing you to stab/shoot them in their back. Well just as it was becoming boring they don't do that anymore! Now they stop, but if you don't move away they'll start chasing you again, way past their spawn area. After some annoying and time consuming pulls, I've now adapted to having to run around behind the mobs to backstab them in the few seconds they stop, (to catch their breath, presumably.) It's still possible but it adds a little bit more challenge to the pulls and does make some fights a tiny bit harder.
Combat is still basically a faceroll at this stage, thanks to Emma being more powerful than bloody Dr.Strange and nuking everybody down to zero in just one turn. Somehow it's still entertaining though, just spent 30 minutes grinding on the road outside Laura's hometown just for the fun of it.
Into Chapter 5 of ToCS and I've been really impressed at a little change to the battles. Prior to now, it's been an absolute doddle to get advantage on the enemies as I'm sure everyone knows. Trigger them, then run away until they stop and then they'll turn around to trot back to their spawn area allowing you to stab/shoot them in their back. Well just as it was becoming boring they don't do that anymore! Now they stop, but if you don't move away they'll start chasing you again, way past their spawn area. After some annoying and time consuming pulls, I've now adapted to having to run around behind the mobs to backstab them in the few seconds they stop, (to catch their breath, presumably.) It's still possible but it adds a little bit more challenge to the pulls and does make some fights a tiny bit harder.
Combat is still basically a faceroll at this stage, thanks to Emma being more powerful than bloody Dr.Strange and nuking everybody down to zero in just one turn. Somehow it's still entertaining though, just spent 30 minutes grinding on the road outside Laura's hometown just for the fun of it.
Hard, stayed away from Nightmare as game said it was for NG+. Bosses can still be a bit trickier so I'm not unhappy with the setting. I needed two tries on the Schoolhouse lvl 5 boss, but the Chapter 4 story boss went down without landing a hit, (thanks to spell reflect mainly.)
*EDIT* Well that's a bit odd. And slightly disappointing. Now the mobs are back to their old behaviour, stopping and turning their back after chasing. I advanced a day, the fog went from Legram and now everything is back to normal. I wonder if it was a bug? I'd think it was the fog, but the mobs back in the old schoolhouse did it after I'd beaten the boss there so I thought that was the trigger for the mobs to up their game and get a bit harder. Doesn't make a lot of difference in the long run but I am a bit sad it's back to 'easy backstab' mode.
It'll get you everything you need minus the game itself, which you need to Google, it should be the first result and you'll need to use a torrent client.
The translation isn't anywhere near as good as Geofront quality but it's better than the translation Zero got before Geofront came along. I'll report back when I'm a little further in to say whether it makes the game unplayable. So far the characters feel a little bit robotic and there's some spelling mistakes but it is workable.
It's jusy dry compared to the geofront or xseed but it was ok. If you are using flame edit, it is mostly good, few mistakes here and there, some awkard phrases but the game hold up to its sterling reputation imo
It's jusy dry compared to the geofront or xseed but it was ok. If you are using flame edit, it is mostly good, few mistakes here and there, some awkard phrases but the game hold up to its sterling reputation imo
Ok, I'm 35 minutes in and I find the "SUPRISE ATTACK!" incredibly triggering. I might get used to it, I might not. It might drive me further to the drink. I've already had to stop play to pour myself more rum. If I have any left (thanks lockdown!).
Man, that was a big difficulty jump with the boss at the end of Chapter 5 on CS1. Needed 3 goes for the first time, with some optimising of the quartz as well. Only did it in the end by bumping up Jusis's speed so he could get Crescent Mirror on before the Boss got Judgement Bolt away. Really big spike as the Chapter 4 boss was another 'unscathed' cakewalk and the mobs on the run through Chapter 5 were all as weak as shit. Oh well, onwards to Chapter 6 and I'm interested to see where they're going with Emma as she's both my waifu and the only one who's got any mystery about her now.
Gutted I missed the Hashed Beef recipe in Ch5, can't believe I didn't see it.
Man, that was a big difficulty jump with the boss at the end of Chapter 5 on CS1. Needed 3 goes for the first time, with some optimising of the quartz as well. Only did it in the end by bumping up Jusis's speed so he could get Crescent Mirror on before the Boss got Judgement Bolt away. Really big spike as the Chapter 4 boss was another 'unscathed' cakewalk and the mobs on the run through Chapter 5 were all as weak as shit. Oh well, onwards to Chapter 6 and I'm interested to see where they're going with Emma as she's both my waifu and the only one who's got any mystery about her now.
Gutted I missed the Hashed Beef recipe in Ch5, can't believe I didn't see it.
Yes most people struggle first time with the Chapter 5 boss. If you ever replay the game there are setups that make it a lot easier, but if you don't know what you are walking into then yes not the easiest.
Generally (unless you have guessed some of the goings-on, which would be common, but uncommon to guess everything) there are still a few characters with stuff behind the scenes that will be revealed beyond chapter 5 - it wouldn't be Kiseki without at least kicking you in the guts with at least a few WTF!?!? moments till close to then end.
To those who've played it, how's ToCS3? I disliked a lot of the writing in 2, especially the whole
"fight a boss -> boss beats you in cutscene, gloats, and leaves"
thing that happened like six boss fights in a row
Also the time one of the sides attacks a town during a war, kills one person (not even directly, if I remember correctly?) and this is somehow extremely unforgivable and evil?
Is the 3rd game better in the writing department, or is it about the same as the second?
To those who've played it, how's ToCS3? I disliked a lot of the writing in 2, especially the whole
"fight a boss -> boss beats you in cutscene, gloats, and leaves"
thing that happened like six boss fights in a row
Also the time one of the sides attacks a town during a war, kills one person (not even directly, if I remember correctly?) and this is somehow extremely unforgivable and evil?
Is the 3rd game better in the writing department, or is it about the same as the second?
I think it is the best game in the series so far, you get some similarities, but the new Class 7 are a determined and talented bunch. Also, it is a much faster paced - the new class 7 are forced by circumstances to earn their stripes way earlier than the old class.
Maybe semi-spoiler-discussion on spoiler topic.
In terms of the first thing in your spoiler, there is a bit of turn-around in that department. At one point, one massive powerhouse enemy PLUS their lieutenants are all beaten by the party, and said character pretty much concedes they are no match for the party, drops the superiority act and runs away. The old Class 7 have also matured and grown in terms of power such that by the end of the game three of them take on the two of the most powerful enemies at the same time without any "oh no we aren't going to survive this!". There is also a running joke in that (nearly) ever time they think they are in trouble and Rean goes to call on Valimar, one of the old Class 7 turns up and says "That won't be necessary". Although, in the end, one of the themes that arguably runs right through the game is that power and conviction without control will still lead to chaos.
I suspect less people die in this game, but certainly more people appear to die.
I think it is the best game in the series so far, you get some similarities, but the new Class 7 are a determined and talented bunch. Also, it is a much faster paced - the new class 7 are forced by circumstances to earn their stripes way earlier than the old class.
Maybe semi-spoiler-discussion on spoiler topic.
In terms of the first thing in your spoiler, there is a bit of turn-around in that department. At one point, one massive powerhouse enemy PLUS their lieutenants are all beaten by the party, and said character pretty much concedes they are no match for the party, drops the superiority act and runs away. The old Class 7 have also matured and grown in terms of power such that by the end of the game three of them take on the two of the most powerful enemies at the same time without any "oh no we aren't going to survive this!". There is also a running joke in that (nearly) ever time they think they are in trouble and Rean goes to call on Valimar, one of the old Class 7 turns up and says "That won't be necessary". Although, in the end, one of the themes that arguably runs right through the game is that power and conviction without control will still lead to chaos.
I suspect less people die in this game, but certainly more people appear to die.
