Little lore note; it's not Gehenna Kevin and the gang ends up in. The location's name is revealed to be "Phantasma" near the end of the first chapter and it's not exactly meant to be a direct Hell-expy.
Personally, I think the Cold Steel games aren't as good. They aren't bad and still have incredible world building... but a lot of more modern generic anime (especially harem) tropes have been added. The main character is rather dull as well. The Sky games could have turned out like that if they made Joshua the lead, but they made the excellent decision to make Estelle the lead instead and the games were all the better for it. Seeing things from her perspective and actually having her grow both emotionally and in terms of physical strength is refreshing. And the other characters are excellent. Unlike the Cold Steel games where the MC is an amazing genius who gets along with everyone and always comes up with the best solutions, Estelle is a flawed character who has to rely on others to make up for her own weaknesses. As a result the bonds developed between her and the rest of the cast... and also the rest of the cast with each other, feel a lot more meaningful as a result. I can recommend playing all games in the series, but the Sky trilogy is something truly special, IMO (even if the MC is changed in the 3rd game).
I always overlooked these series maybe because of the style of graphics since I prefer pixel art over "flash/mobile" style graphics but now I guess I'll change my mind.
Just finished Sky SC and Started The 3rd the day you uploaded this. Total coincidence. I'll have to come back to this to avoid spoilers but thank you for doing this!
finally! please get back to more reviews Derek!! i've been with you since 3,000 subscribers, seeing how you're now at 50,000 subscribers makes me really happy to see this channel grow, as i also am obsessed with JRPG's and it just feels like such a niche genre these days... absolutely nothing like how it was mainstream back in the 90's with the SNES/ PS1 golden era of JRPG'S that every gamer has a favorite from! these days it's extremely niche, so seeing any youtube channels specialize on them makes me so freaking happy to eat up all of their content lol and you are that channel, or at least, you cover this genre and make the best content for it! so please keep it up and please cover and review more titles!! =) you're doing GREAT!
having corona and feeling bad this december watching your stream derek really helped a lot! shame my grandma died of it, but hey, atleast I only lost smell and taste and had some fever and nightly shivers from it- could have been worse (got to see the positive in everything)!
Love this series and happy to see you getting into it too and spreading the word about it! I recently completed Cold Steel IV and revisited the door scenes on RUclips dealing with Erebonia and the world in general to see how they held up (I've played all the games except for Ao). Naturally they hold even more meaning after experiencing what's to come! This kind of directly connected world building is so special - setting the stage for events that happen many games later. No other series would have the patience. You're in for a treat! Just hope you don't get burned out. Hint: don't talk to every NPC in the future games every time their dialog updates unless you want 140+ hour games!
@@ct2651 yeah, me too, I had 170 hours in my playthrough of CS IV! I'm afraid we won't see Derek review again for quite a long time if he decides to follow every NPC in the Crossbell games though.
Considering all three games were already localized, I have no idea why the Vita versions never made their way stateside, especially since it leaves this particular chapter PC exclusive. Fingers crossed they make their way to Switch and other platforms sometime in the near future
@@HybridAngelZero today you'd think they'd maybe do that. At the time however Falcom was still using the same old, very dumb licensing policies of back in the old days and that's why we didn't even get JP voices at all even on PC.
Great review!! I agree with you man!! The 3rd has the best overall soundtrack in the series!! The first dungeon (or labirinth may I say) strikes me till this day with its amazing and atmospheric music! In fact Trails series are miles ahead of other series in therms of music! And that's for sure, goes along way to make the journey more compelling and great!!
@@SuperDerek with that said, I've haven't played the Crossbell games. I dont really care for Rean all that much, but that's more because the Cold Steel games are packed with too many characters that they don't really have any room for character growth or development.
@@stoshslaes6484 Gaius, Elliot, and Laura are all pretty 1 dimensional (though nobody says that with laura but me), the rest certainly do though. Lots of people say that about Alisa but she is easily the MOST developed character. They just cant look past a bad first impression. I agree though that Rean is just not as great as Estelle or Kevin though (or lloyd).
@@Ghalion666 Totally agree with you on Laura. She's one of the weakest playable characters in the series, and I don't know what people see in her. She would be fine if she was ever given any relevance to the story.
@@Ghalion666 i didn't finish the cold steel series yet. But Rean in cold steel I and 2 is lame as hell. Rean took pity for ennemies and was "no just stop carrying for them please". Still I need to see what he's gonna become in cold steel III and IV. Cold steel 1 and 2 is a downgrade to the series overall... Cold Steel III is good from now on . So, indeed, Lloyd and Estelle are just right on another level.
I love this series. It became an obsession and still kinda is. I need to finish Azure so I can finally get to the last game in Cold steel without spoiling myself on everything. Still, it's such a good series with so many memorable characters and story beats that, in my opinion, people are crazy not to enjoy if they give it enough time. However, I am also aware that what interests me is not the same thing that interests the rest of the world at times, but it's such an immersive experience and is definitely one of the best built interconnecting sets of games I've seen in quite some time. Hope everyone enjoys these games as much as I do.
I've just started this after 171 hours in fc and sc. Says something about a series that's mechanically the same and still not bored. Only 6 hours in and although it's certainly different from the others it's still great. The music omg it's epic, so good. Can't wait to beat it so I can jump into zero. I've beat cold steel 1 and 2 amd honestly I thought I could get away with not playing the earlier entries but after the last parts of cold steel 2 I knew I had to go back and play the others. Who would of thought that olivert was not secondary character but infact hugely involved in the series. Thinking back now how I've seen these characters in their sprite form and also their HD model form really makes me happy and just adds to that character development and I know I've got more to come with cold steel 3 and 4! Legend of heroes has become my favourite series for jrpgs but my god it does not help my backlog :D
Sky 3rd is my favorite in the sky trilogy, I really wish Falcom would have mercy on us and port all 5 games to PS4 cause I’m dying to play 3rd again. :(
the arena fight with Casius and Loewe at nightmare was the most brutal and difficult battle in the entire series so far imo ( I played the 10 entries )
@@marc-ap4699 Just went through that on hard mode yesterday, and I had Loewe and Cassius dead and finished, and then Cassius cheats by spamming armor rend three straight times without anyone on my side getting a turn and wins the fight by himself.
This is really late, but I played the final boss on Hard mode just earlier this afternoon, and I beat him taking one hit from him the entire fight. Here's the most well kept secret in the sky games: that Time Gem? There's a reason why Sky SC and Sky the third only gives you 1 of those gems per playthrough and why you can't just buy it. It's normally completely useless, but against the hardest bosses in the game on the highest difficulty settings, it's an absolute essential. I equipped the time gem on Renne, and she was able to spam Earth Wall much, much faster than the boss was able to attack. The Time Gem craters your stats when it's equipped for good reason: it makes Earth Wall and healing magic virtually instantaneous. Most bosses on most difficulty setting don't need it, the bosses don't hit hard enough nor are they fast enough to justify the hit to your stats equipping the Time gem creates. However, for the toughest bosses (like the ones in the Axis Pillar in Sky SC on Nightmare mode) where playing a defensive fight is the name of the game, it's an absolute must-have.
This game is a nice addition to the Trails lore and I liked how it deepens Kevins story, who was a bit boring before indeed. The battle system got a few cool enhancements and the overall difficulty was a little harder (nothing beats the Lorence battle in FC though :D ). I do prefer the pacing of the predecessors, as Third is all about dungeon crawling and partially LONG story segments, I missed exploring towns and stuff. As much as I appreciate the Geofront work, I really hope for an official western Crossbell release announcement this year, as it's almost a year by now that I've finished the Sky trilogy.
Do yourself a favor and play Zero next. Do not skip the Crossbell arc. The legends over at the Geofront have done a spectacular job of patching the game so your in good hands.
That's up to xseed and all of there team that did the trails in the sky games have left xseed its one of the reasons why they went with nis America for ys8 and cs3 and 4 because they can port the games to switch ect in the west and Japan because falcom don't port the games to other platforms hence why clouded leapord are handling all the pc versions in China and Korea
Its kind of a weird situation because the localization of the Sky games and first 2 Cold Steel games was done by XSeed, who no longer has the rights to release Trails games. And I don't think NIS has the rights to use XSeed's localizations. Thats why the only Trails game released for Switch released in the West is Cold Steel 3 because NIS did that one. I'm pretty sure ports of the Sky and Crossbell games were announced for Switch, but only for the Japanese eShop, but there's no word on them releasing anywhere else.
Considering licensing problems with the translations on top of porting to these consoles being unprofitable in Asian markets rn, that's not happening even in Japan (well, Sky 3rd is not, Zero/Ao have already been announced). Much less an English release which is a whole other ballgame with licensing since the series switched companies midway through -_-
Is up there with my favorites trails games, the dungeon structure with Doors spread through out the game was such a fresh air. Wish Falcom experiment more with their games sad that sometimes the $$ return isn't a sure thing. Now to the manga before the crossbell games
I haven't played it, but they did just release Hajimari which seems like it's going to take more after 3rd than any of the previous Trails titles? I hope so at least.
From what I heard those who played put the game in the low tier of kiseki games, but in all honest it doesnt mean much since back when the 3rd was release it had a similar reception
Hey I really do hope you do Crossbell next. Geofront put a lot of love and care into Trails from Zero, and with Trails to Azure's translation finished, looking forward to that on my end. Great review Derek. This is not my favorite game of the sky trilogy, mostly because I personally feel like the doors throw off the game's pacing a tad, but this game was really cool. Again, hope you do Crossbell next, but also know you've said you tend to not like playing fan-translations a lot. Keep up the good work regardless :)
You can't easily start with SC as your first game in the series if that's what you mean. SC is a direct sequel to FC which is the first game, and it throws you straight back into things with not much context or anything given. Also basically all of the emotional payoff of SC is dependent on characterization, etc from the first game so even if you could do it I'm not sure there's a good reason to.
Good review! And now to the Crossbell games!!! I am sure you will have a great time with these two games. I advice to stay on the PC platform for reasons below. While there is no "official" English port, there is a absolutely superb translation from the guy's at Geofront. They also have instructions on their page that assist in legally buying both Zero and Azure for the PC platform. The latter game can be a bit of a hassle, but it can be done. The translation patch is very easy to install, and comes with not only the very good translation, but also with a few very welcome enhancements. At this moment the Azure patch is at 82% in the second pass, so it's not far from completion. If you start Trails from Zero now, it is fully possible you can play the Trails to Azure Geofront translation after finishing that game. I can recommend to install the Japanese voice patch for both games, because the voice acting is really well done, and adds a lot to the experience. Last but not least, you can also install the music from the Vita version, but I honestly prefer the original music myself.
Derek did you get all of the star doors and unlock the secret epilogue scene at the end with Campanella Because this is the first time you realize the world of trails in the sky is but a small tiny part of the evolving world and events that proceed it.
@@SuperDerek Awesome, now you got to play Crossbell. Chances are pretty high that we will eventually get localizations of these games but for now, the fan projects are excellent.
No one other than people finished with the game will watch this video. Why, you ask? Because after sc people will immediately play tc, they don't need a review. That's how good these series are
Beat this game yesterday. While I didn't like it as much as SC it was still a nice little game and I enjoyed the story of Kevin. The ending felt wonderful especially the interaction with Estelle and Renne. Derek when are you playing the Crossbell games? You and I have concurrently been playing these games it seems but I have to be honest I am experiencing a bit of burnout. That being said whenever you decide to play them I will be playing them as well.
I started Crossbell the other day! It's a fresh cast of characters, different location, and the combat's been refreshed. If it's something you want to take a look at the first bit to get a feel for it, here's a VOD of firing it up the for first time: www.twitch.tv/videos/855784599 I think I'd have been burnt out if Zero was going to be exactly the same, but it's changed up a bit so I'm feeling pretty good going in! (Plus I took a short diversion through an Action RPG first.)
The battle system is similar to Grandia in some ways for sure(in particular, being able to see turn order and manipulate it, as well as movement on the field). The biggest difference between them is that Grandia games can be played independently, where as Trails games should be played in order of release, or in order of release per each arc. For example, this review is for the third game in the first arc. The next game in the series is the first game in the second arc. And currently, there are a total of 3 arcs released in English(soon to be 4 in Japan). So as long as you start with the first game in any given arc, then it's still possible to follow along just fine, but certain references/returning characters may confuse you. Of course, the BEST place to start is still with Trails in the Sky FC, simply because it's the first game in the whole "Trails" series of games. Furthermore, Steam and GOG are having a sale on them right now, so this is a good time to give 'em a try if you're truly interested.
I was pretty turned off in the early going of 3rd because of the very artificial structure of unlocking people and doors, but the sub-stories did eventually win me over and the departure scene at the end was a heck of a tearjerker. Speaking of the events of door 15, in addition to the events of that story themselves being disturbing, it is a bit disquieting that this story is taking place in the same game with Tita's relationship with Agate being constantly joked about and Tita's mother being furious about it. Seems like Renne is a shadow reflection of Tita in more ways than one.
Yeah, that's a pretty astute observation regarding the Tita/Agate juxtaposition with Renne. However due to cultural differences between Western and Japanese views of age and relationships, I somewhat doubt it was intentional. Geography is destiny, as they say.
If you dont know its cuz they didnt sell worth $^#**^ on the psp in the west. Im fact they knew making SC on the psp wasn't worth the time, but they did anyway just out of goodwill for fans of FC waiting so long for SC.
Both of them sold like trash as we know today, the second kinda just came cause they felt like they had to for the most part rather than because they expected it to sell. They weren't going to sell the third in 2017 under those circumstances.
Merry Christmas and glad you made it through the the sky set of games do you plan to play the crossbell set that wasn't released in the west officially or you going straight to cold steel?
I hate to say it, but it seems unlikely. At least not for at least a couple years because if it does get ported, it'd still take a long time to come to the West. Sadly Falcom is pretty slow when bringing things here. And whether or not it does get ported is still pretty iffy. The games don't take a powerful computer, and last I saw they had steep discounts for the holiday season on Good Old Games. Good luck! :)
@@SuperDerek if you sre interested in Crossbell, The Geofront team released a great localization patch for Zero no Kiseki with major QoL improvements. They are still working on Ao no Kiseki
Interesting, I didn't realize the playlist was visible yet. I'm releasing one VOD each day to help prevent them from flooding everyone's sub box. So as soon as the Live A Live streams are done releasing the VODs for The 3rd will start releasing daily.
They all should run surprisingly well, actually. And they're also all on sale on GOG.com! Unless your laptop ran Windows XP when it was new you should be able to run the games in 720p/30fps no problem. :)
Requirements are really low for the Sky games, any 10 year old laptop should be able to run. Steam gives a 2-hour playtime refund window, so you can buy the game and try first.
I'm conflicted on this game. I really like the story and character development in the game, but the world design is really bland. Pretty much any map that isn't copy pasted from the previous 2 games is just a hallway. Its especially agredious in the Gehena and Abyss portions where its literally the same few hallways copy and pasted over and over with the same enemies in the same positions. I still enjoy the game a lot for its ost and story, but a lot of it does seem like its just a bunch of cobbled together assets from the previous games. I still think the game is worth your time for the story and the doors. But parts of this game really feel kind of lazy.
I loved FC and SC, but sadly the 3rd was kinda boring for me (the OST is still on my player though, its really great!). I even set it on easy just so that I could read the story and be done with it already. Well, maybe its because I really wanted to play Zero no Kiseki which I enjoyed greatly and can truly reccommend! Still waiting Ao no kiseki translation from G (I know that we have quite good translation already, but I just want to play it the best way possible and willing to wait for that).
My least favorite Trails game by far, but considering its significance for the later games including and perhaps even moreso the most recent entries, I came to terms with it over the years and two playthroughs. Hope you'll enjoy the coming arcs as much.
4/10 (and that's being nice). This is the worst JRPG I have ever finished, not to mention the laziest endeavor I've encountered by professional devs. I thought SC was lazy with the amount of content they reused, but doing it AGAIN?!?! And the new dungeons we ARE treated to were so unimaginative (sometimes the exact floorplans were used time and again) it hurt... I mean ffs, I've seen first-timer amateur rpg maker games with more thought and effort put into their layouts. The story was mindbogglingly stupid and felt really tacked on. The balancing issues remain as terrible as before, with a slew of new issues to boot. There was barely any new music, and let me tell ya, I am completely sick of the same tracks 120 hrs into this series. And omg the dialogue... with so many characters they felt the need to have everyone chime in as much as possible: "Me too!" "Me three!" "Yep!" "Looks like we're all in agreement then!" "Uh huh!" ""Yay!" If the 4th entry isn't refreshing in the way FC was, I'm bowing out of this series. This was absolutely painful to slog through.
And now on to CROSSBELL!
Crossbell 😍. Zero is cool but Ao no Kiseki is just wow !
"... and scarred me emotionally in ways few titles have been able to do." Yeah Star Door 15 is exactly that.
Little lore note; it's not Gehenna Kevin and the gang ends up in. The location's name is revealed to be "Phantasma" near the end of the first chapter and it's not exactly meant to be a direct Hell-expy.
The onion man has layers
God I love this series. Just started the CrossBell games and I'm hyped since everyone is saying that it's the best of the series.
This is a great early Christmas present.
Really enjoyed this review and this series. I'd have never given the series a second look without it and now I'm looking to pick up the first!
Personally, I think the Cold Steel games aren't as good. They aren't bad and still have incredible world building... but a lot of more modern generic anime (especially harem) tropes have been added. The main character is rather dull as well. The Sky games could have turned out like that if they made Joshua the lead, but they made the excellent decision to make Estelle the lead instead and the games were all the better for it.
Seeing things from her perspective and actually having her grow both emotionally and in terms of physical strength is refreshing. And the other characters are excellent. Unlike the Cold Steel games where the MC is an amazing genius who gets along with everyone and always comes up with the best solutions, Estelle is a flawed character who has to rely on others to make up for her own weaknesses. As a result the bonds developed between her and the rest of the cast... and also the rest of the cast with each other, feel a lot more meaningful as a result.
I can recommend playing all games in the series, but the Sky trilogy is something truly special, IMO (even if the MC is changed in the 3rd game).
I always overlooked these series maybe because of the style of graphics since I prefer pixel art over "flash/mobile" style graphics but now I guess I'll change my mind.
It’s a shame never got to see Kevin in any coldsteel games
Atleast he's mentioned lots of times, and he will most definately return.
I played sky 3rd early last year and it instantly became my joint favourite game alongside kh2
Your set's on another level. Suits your channels style perfectly.
Just finished Sky SC and Started The 3rd the day you uploaded this. Total coincidence. I'll have to come back to this to avoid spoilers but thank you for doing this!
Waiting until The Geofront finishes the final touches to start Crossbell. The last boss if The 3rd was one of the best boss battles I've ever done.
finally! please get back to more reviews Derek!! i've been with you since 3,000 subscribers, seeing how you're now at 50,000 subscribers makes me really happy to see this channel grow, as i also am obsessed with JRPG's and it just feels like such a niche genre these days... absolutely nothing like how it was mainstream back in the 90's with the SNES/ PS1 golden era of JRPG'S that every gamer has a favorite from! these days it's extremely niche, so seeing any youtube channels specialize on them makes me so freaking happy to eat up all of their content lol and you are that channel, or at least, you cover this genre and make the best content for it! so please keep it up and please cover and review more titles!! =) you're doing GREAT!
I love your Trails reviews and i'm always excited when another review releases! Thanks Super Derek :)
Thanks man, and thanks for watching! :)
I appreciate you letting us know if it's great or not at the beginning. Wish more reviewers did this.
having corona and feeling bad this december watching your stream derek really helped a lot! shame my grandma died of it, but hey, atleast I only lost smell and taste and had some fever and nightly shivers from it- could have been worse (got to see the positive in everything)!
R.I.P. to your grandma and glad you survived.
@@josweet3715 I appreciate it!
I can no longer see Kevin without thinking about onions.. thank you..
I feel like I've been waiting so long for this review
Dude, me too! :)
Love this series and happy to see you getting into it too and spreading the word about it! I recently completed Cold Steel IV and revisited the door scenes on RUclips dealing with Erebonia and the world in general to see how they held up (I've played all the games except for Ao). Naturally they hold even more meaning after experiencing what's to come! This kind of directly connected world building is so special - setting the stage for events that happen many games later. No other series would have the patience. You're in for a treat! Just hope you don't get burned out. Hint: don't talk to every NPC in the future games every time their dialog updates unless you want 140+ hour games!
I did that and loved it all the same lol.
@@ct2651 yeah, me too, I had 170 hours in my playthrough of CS IV! I'm afraid we won't see Derek review again for quite a long time if he decides to follow every NPC in the Crossbell games though.
Renne's door though...holy shit 😢 I'll never forget that story.
I love your new studio setup Derek. Looks so classy and fantastical.
I need to finish playing this series. I only got to play the first Trails in the Sky on the PSP.
I've played 3 sky games, and Zero. This OST is by far my favorite OST of all JRPGs. So heavenly bliss.
Finished this game a few months ago. I've also played GeoFront's Trails From Zero since then. What a series.
Considering all three games were already localized, I have no idea why the Vita versions never made their way stateside, especially since it leaves this particular chapter PC exclusive.
Fingers crossed they make their way to Switch and other platforms sometime in the near future
Probably because getting a voice cast together would be expensive and likely not worth the money.
@@FirstLast-mn4re I would have just figured they'd leave it with Japanese VO and English text
@@HybridAngelZero today you'd think they'd maybe do that. At the time however Falcom was still using the same old, very dumb licensing policies of back in the old days and that's why we didn't even get JP voices at all even on PC.
Great review!! I agree with you man!! The 3rd has the best overall soundtrack in the series!! The first dungeon (or labirinth may I say) strikes me till this day with its amazing and atmospheric music! In fact Trails series are miles ahead of other series in therms of music! And that's for sure, goes along way to make the journey more compelling and great!!
Kevin is my favorite Trails protagonist.
He's definitely become one of my favorites, that's for sure!
@@SuperDerek with that said, I've haven't played the Crossbell games. I dont really care for Rean all that much, but that's more because the Cold Steel games are packed with too many characters that they don't really have any room for character growth or development.
@@stoshslaes6484 Gaius, Elliot, and Laura are all pretty 1 dimensional (though nobody says that with laura but me), the rest certainly do though. Lots of people say that about Alisa but she is easily the MOST developed character. They just cant look past a bad first impression.
I agree though that Rean is just not as great as Estelle or Kevin though (or lloyd).
@@Ghalion666 Totally agree with you on Laura. She's one of the weakest playable characters in the series, and I don't know what people see in her. She would be fine if she was ever given any relevance to the story.
@@Ghalion666 i didn't finish the cold steel series yet. But Rean in cold steel I and 2 is lame as hell. Rean took pity for ennemies and was "no just stop carrying for them please". Still I need to see what he's gonna become in cold steel III and IV. Cold steel 1 and 2 is a downgrade to the series overall... Cold Steel III is good from now on . So, indeed, Lloyd and Estelle are just right on another level.
I love this series. It became an obsession and still kinda is. I need to finish Azure so I can finally get to the last game in Cold steel without spoiling myself on everything. Still, it's such a good series with so many memorable characters and story beats that, in my opinion, people are crazy not to enjoy if they give it enough time. However, I am also aware that what interests me is not the same thing that interests the rest of the world at times, but it's such an immersive experience and is definitely one of the best built interconnecting sets of games I've seen in quite some time. Hope everyone enjoys these games as much as I do.
I've just started this after 171 hours in fc and sc. Says something about a series that's mechanically the same and still not bored. Only 6 hours in and although it's certainly different from the others it's still great. The music omg it's epic, so good. Can't wait to beat it so I can jump into zero. I've beat cold steel 1 and 2 amd honestly I thought I could get away with not playing the earlier entries but after the last parts of cold steel 2 I knew I had to go back and play the others. Who would of thought that olivert was not secondary character but infact hugely involved in the series. Thinking back now how I've seen these characters in their sprite form and also their HD model form really makes me happy and just adds to that character development and I know I've got more to come with cold steel 3 and 4!
Legend of heroes has become my favourite series for jrpgs but my god it does not help my backlog :D
Writing to wish you a happy new year Derek! Enjoyed the reviews for this series.
And that's one of my favorite games of all time in the game collection!
bruh your set/man cave is looking dope
Thanks for the review Derek. You got it out for Christmas.
Still wondering we will get Kevin gameplay again
Good review !
Great game, fitting open ending to my favorite JRPG trilogy
Enjoy the CrossBell arc !
Sky the 3rd is my favorite Sky game. Glad you liked it!
You'll level up in the Kiseki fandom once you dive into your second arc.
Sky 3rd is my favorite in the sky trilogy, I really wish Falcom would have mercy on us and port all 5 games to PS4 cause I’m dying to play 3rd again. :(
The end boss of this game was brutal. Took 8 attempts to kill it, with each fight lasting over half an hour.
That sounds brutal!
the arena fight with Casius and Loewe at nightmare was the most brutal and difficult battle in the entire series so far imo ( I played the 10 entries )
@@marc-ap4699 Just went through that on hard mode yesterday, and I had Loewe and Cassius dead and finished, and then Cassius cheats by spamming armor rend three straight times without anyone on my side getting a turn and wins the fight by himself.
This is really late, but I played the final boss on Hard mode just earlier this afternoon, and I beat him taking one hit from him the entire fight.
Here's the most well kept secret in the sky games: that Time Gem? There's a reason why Sky SC and Sky the third only gives you 1 of those gems per playthrough and why you can't just buy it. It's normally completely useless, but against the hardest bosses in the game on the highest difficulty settings, it's an absolute essential. I equipped the time gem on Renne, and she was able to spam Earth Wall much, much faster than the boss was able to attack.
The Time Gem craters your stats when it's equipped for good reason: it makes Earth Wall and healing magic virtually instantaneous. Most bosses on most difficulty setting don't need it, the bosses don't hit hard enough nor are they fast enough to justify the hit to your stats equipping the Time gem creates. However, for the toughest bosses (like the ones in the Axis Pillar in Sky SC on Nightmare mode) where playing a defensive fight is the name of the game, it's an absolute must-have.
This game is a nice addition to the Trails lore and I liked how it deepens Kevins story, who was a bit boring before indeed. The battle system got a few cool enhancements and the overall difficulty was a little harder (nothing beats the Lorence battle in FC though :D ).
I do prefer the pacing of the predecessors, as Third is all about dungeon crawling and partially LONG story segments, I missed exploring towns and stuff.
As much as I appreciate the Geofront work, I really hope for an official western Crossbell release announcement this year, as it's almost a year by now that I've finished the Sky trilogy.
Your set is on point, Derek! 🔥
P.S. - Your voice is relaxing and soothing. Makes the review even more enjoyable. 😌
Awww yeah was waiting for this. Can't wait for Zero no Kiseki.
Next: CROSSBELL GAMES!!!!!
Use Geofront Patch, it is very professional and even they made a guide for buying the game in japanese to use their patch!
Do yourself a favor and play Zero next. Do not skip the Crossbell arc. The legends over at the Geofront have done a spectacular job of patching the game so your in good hands.
Already playing it on twitch actually, 50 hours in so far! :)
@@SuperDerek You're probably the only one to play a Trails game on twitch:)
My problem is I don’t want to play this on steam. I need this on switch, psp, or vita. That in the trails from zero games
I literally just made a comment saying I’m holding out for a switch port, it’s kind of a no brainer at this point.
That's up to xseed and all of there team that did the trails in the sky games have left xseed its one of the reasons why they went with nis America for ys8 and cs3 and 4 because they can port the games to switch ect in the west and Japan because falcom don't port the games to other platforms hence why clouded leapord are handling all the pc versions in China and Korea
Its kind of a weird situation because the localization of the Sky games and first 2 Cold Steel games was done by XSeed, who no longer has the rights to release Trails games. And I don't think NIS has the rights to use XSeed's localizations. Thats why the only Trails game released for Switch released in the West is Cold Steel 3 because NIS did that one.
I'm pretty sure ports of the Sky and Crossbell games were announced for Switch, but only for the Japanese eShop, but there's no word on them releasing anywhere else.
Considering licensing problems with the translations on top of porting to these consoles being unprofitable in Asian markets rn, that's not happening even in Japan (well, Sky 3rd is not, Zero/Ao have already been announced). Much less an English release which is a whole other ballgame with licensing since the series switched companies midway through -_-
Is up there with my favorites trails games, the dungeon structure with Doors spread through out the game was such a fresh air. Wish Falcom experiment more with their games sad that sometimes the $$ return isn't a sure thing. Now to the manga before the crossbell games
I haven't played it, but they did just release Hajimari which seems like it's going to take more after 3rd than any of the previous Trails titles? I hope so at least.
From what I heard those who played put the game in the low tier of kiseki games, but in all honest it doesnt mean much since back when the 3rd was release it had a similar reception
Hey I really do hope you do Crossbell next. Geofront put a lot of love and care into Trails from Zero, and with Trails to Azure's translation finished, looking forward to that on my end. Great review Derek. This is not my favorite game of the sky trilogy, mostly because I personally feel like the doors throw off the game's pacing a tad, but this game was really cool. Again, hope you do Crossbell next, but also know you've said you tend to not like playing fan-translations a lot. Keep up the good work regardless :)
Return of the TCM intro vibes, I like it
Excellent vid! I may have to finally try to start with FC and play through these. Maybe finally get Nate off my back hehe
You can't easily start with SC as your first game in the series if that's what you mean. SC is a direct sequel to FC which is the first game, and it throws you straight back into things with not much context or anything given. Also basically all of the emotional payoff of SC is dependent on characterization, etc from the first game so even if you could do it I'm not sure there's a good reason to.
@@corile627 Yea I meant FC I goofed lol
Wow, the game music you used in the intro montage sounds near identical to “Ascended Master” by Versailles.
The song used in the montage is called Masquerade of Lies. Its one of the more underrated battle themes imo.
Good review!
And now to the Crossbell games!!!
I am sure you will have a great time with these two games. I advice to stay on the PC platform for reasons below.
While there is no "official" English port, there is a absolutely superb translation from the guy's at Geofront. They also have instructions on their page that assist in legally buying both Zero and Azure for the PC platform. The latter game can be a bit of a hassle, but it can be done. The translation patch is very easy to install, and comes with not only the very good translation, but also with a few very welcome enhancements. At this moment the Azure patch is at 82% in the second pass, so it's not far from completion. If you start Trails from Zero now, it is fully possible you can play the Trails to Azure Geofront translation after finishing that game.
I can recommend to install the Japanese voice patch for both games, because the voice acting is really well done, and adds a lot to the experience. Last but not least, you can also install the music from the Vita version, but I honestly prefer the original music myself.
Where did you get the art for that thumbnail? It's gorgeous!
Tfw RUclips didn't notify me of this
feelsbadman
@@SuperDerek
:pensivecowboy:
Merry Christmas Derek!
Hi Derek..nice backgorund 😁
That set is freakin amazing!
Best title in the trilogy if you ask me. Maybe in the franchise
Great, great, great, great stuff.
Derek did you get all of the star doors and unlock the secret epilogue scene at the end with Campanella Because this is the first time you realize the world of trails in the sky is but a small tiny part of the evolving world and events that proceed it.
I did. :)
@@SuperDerek Awesome, now you got to play Crossbell. Chances are pretty high that we will eventually get localizations of these games but for now, the fan projects are excellent.
The 3rd look more like a extended epilogue of trails in the sky and set up stuff from coming arc. 🤔
Yep, that's pretty much the feel. :)
No one other than people finished with the game will watch this video. Why, you ask? Because after sc people will immediately play tc, they don't need a review. That's how good these series are
Beat this game yesterday. While I didn't like it as much as SC it was still a nice little game and I enjoyed the story of Kevin. The ending felt wonderful especially the interaction with Estelle and Renne. Derek when are you playing the Crossbell games? You and I have concurrently been playing these games it seems but I have to be honest I am experiencing a bit of burnout. That being said whenever you decide to play them I will be playing them as well.
I started Crossbell the other day! It's a fresh cast of characters, different location, and the combat's been refreshed. If it's something you want to take a look at the first bit to get a feel for it, here's a VOD of firing it up the for first time: www.twitch.tv/videos/855784599
I think I'd have been burnt out if Zero was going to be exactly the same, but it's changed up a bit so I'm feeling pretty good going in! (Plus I took a short diversion through an Action RPG first.)
I wish Hajimari will be localize next year 😊
looks like grandia so I want to play it
Check out my review of Trails in the Sky FC, it really gave me Geandia vibes! :)
The battle system is similar to Grandia in some ways for sure(in particular, being able to see turn order and manipulate it, as well as movement on the field). The biggest difference between them is that Grandia games can be played independently, where as Trails games should be played in order of release, or in order of release per each arc. For example, this review is for the third game in the first arc. The next game in the series is the first game in the second arc. And currently, there are a total of 3 arcs released in English(soon to be 4 in Japan). So as long as you start with the first game in any given arc, then it's still possible to follow along just fine, but certain references/returning characters may confuse you. Of course, the BEST place to start is still with Trails in the Sky FC, simply because it's the first game in the whole "Trails" series of games.
Furthermore, Steam and GOG are having a sale on them right now, so this is a good time to give 'em a try if you're truly interested.
Merry Chrismas everyone!
I was pretty turned off in the early going of 3rd because of the very artificial structure of unlocking people and doors, but the sub-stories did eventually win me over and the departure scene at the end was a heck of a tearjerker. Speaking of the events of door 15, in addition to the events of that story themselves being disturbing, it is a bit disquieting that this story is taking place in the same game with Tita's relationship with Agate being constantly joked about and Tita's mother being furious about it. Seems like Renne is a shadow reflection of Tita in more ways than one.
Yeah, that's a pretty astute observation regarding the Tita/Agate juxtaposition with Renne. However due to cultural differences between Western and Japanese views of age and relationships, I somewhat doubt it was intentional. Geography is destiny, as they say.
are you gonna do more reviews in the legend of heroes series?
Ty
I don't want to be "that guy", but it's weird that this game wasn't released on psn while the other two were 😑
If you dont know its cuz they didnt sell worth $^#**^ on the psp in the west. Im fact they knew making SC on the psp wasn't worth the time, but they did anyway just out of goodwill for fans of FC waiting so long for SC.
a psp game is not coming to the west in 2017.
Huge missed opportunity on their part
Both of them sold like trash as we know today, the second kinda just came cause they felt like they had to for the most part rather than because they expected it to sell. They weren't going to sell the third in 2017 under those circumstances.
Merry Christmas and glad you made it through the the sky set of games do you plan to play the crossbell set that wasn't released in the west officially or you going straight to cold steel?
Starting Crossbell soon. :)
@@SuperDerek i sadly never got to play those i do know a good deal of the story but i still want to play them to bad there not on steam
I want to play this trilogy so bad but I’m holding on for a potential switch port
I hate to say it, but it seems unlikely. At least not for at least a couple years because if it does get ported, it'd still take a long time to come to the West. Sadly Falcom is pretty slow when bringing things here. And whether or not it does get ported is still pretty iffy. The games don't take a powerful computer, and last I saw they had steep discounts for the holiday season on Good Old Games. Good luck! :)
So does this mean you are doing Crosbell or Cold Steel next?
Crossbell, after a short detour through some obscure Sega Genesis RPGs. :)
@@SuperDerek if you sre interested in Crossbell, The Geofront team released a great localization patch for Zero no Kiseki with major QoL improvements. They are still working on Ao no Kiseki
@@guillermomoreno9195 yep! KillScottKill is giving me a beta of the updated patch for my time with Zero. Can't wait!
Why are all the streams in the playlist private?
Interesting, I didn't realize the playlist was visible yet.
I'm releasing one VOD each day to help prevent them from flooding everyone's sub box. So as soon as the Live A Live streams are done releasing the VODs for The 3rd will start releasing daily.
0:42 what song is that again?
It's called "Masquerade of Lies"
How well will this run on an older crappy laptop? I wanna buy off steam but I’m not sure how well it will play. I need a new computer lol.
They all should run surprisingly well, actually. And they're also all on sale on GOG.com! Unless your laptop ran Windows XP when it was new you should be able to run the games in 720p/30fps no problem. :)
Requirements are really low for the Sky games, any 10 year old laptop should be able to run. Steam gives a 2-hour playtime refund window, so you can buy the game and try first.
Awesome game 👌🏻
Where did you get that orbment? I need one
I 3D modeled it based on concept art, then 3D printed it out. :)
@@SuperDerek oh cool! It looks fantastic. And a Merry Christmas my good sir
Thanks! Merry Christmas to you too! :D
I really like the sky series but i cant finish the chapter 8 of sc. it started to feel dragged out what can i do ?
I'm conflicted on this game. I really like the story and character development in the game, but the world design is really bland. Pretty much any map that isn't copy pasted from the previous 2 games is just a hallway. Its especially agredious in the Gehena and Abyss portions where its literally the same few hallways copy and pasted over and over with the same enemies in the same positions. I still enjoy the game a lot for its ost and story, but a lot of it does seem like its just a bunch of cobbled together assets from the previous games. I still think the game is worth your time for the story and the doors. But parts of this game really feel kind of lazy.
I hate to do this, but I had to be the 70th person to like this video. uwu
I loved FC and SC, but sadly the 3rd was kinda boring for me (the OST is still on my player though, its really great!). I even set it on easy just so that I could read the story and be done with it already. Well, maybe its because I really wanted to play Zero no Kiseki which I enjoyed greatly and can truly reccommend! Still waiting Ao no kiseki translation from G (I know that we have quite good translation already, but I just want to play it the best way possible and willing to wait for that).
Oh hey it's the only game that had had a backstory that made me fuming mad
My least favorite Trails game by far, but considering its significance for the later games including and perhaps even moreso the most recent entries, I came to terms with it over the years and two playthroughs. Hope you'll enjoy the coming arcs as much.
4/10 (and that's being nice). This is the worst JRPG I have ever finished, not to mention the laziest endeavor I've encountered by professional devs. I thought SC was lazy with the amount of content they reused, but doing it AGAIN?!?! And the new dungeons we ARE treated to were so unimaginative (sometimes the exact floorplans were used time and again) it hurt... I mean ffs, I've seen first-timer amateur rpg maker games with more thought and effort put into their layouts. The story was mindbogglingly stupid and felt really tacked on. The balancing issues remain as terrible as before, with a slew of new issues to boot. There was barely any new music, and let me tell ya, I am completely sick of the same tracks 120 hrs into this series. And omg the dialogue... with so many characters they felt the need to have everyone chime in as much as possible:
"Me too!"
"Me three!"
"Yep!"
"Looks like we're all in agreement then!"
"Uh huh!"
""Yay!"
If the 4th entry isn't refreshing in the way FC was, I'm bowing out of this series. This was absolutely painful to slog through.
One day I'll get to playing these games, they look amazing. Great review Super Derek.