I completely agree with you. I started with Cold Steel 1 as well. I tried to get a good friend into the Trails by saying he should play Sky first, if it wasn't because I motivated him by saying it gets really good later on, he wouldn't have gotten through it.
Completely agree. Even though I love the Sky arc, I think it's just too slow to hook people in in this day and age. Cold Steel gets people invested without ruining too much of the other arcs, and gives you the questions you need to explore the earlier entries.
@@TheKisekiNut Everything you said in the video pretty much sums up my experience with the game. Sky couldnt hook me when I tried it years ago on PSP before SC was even localised. It was thanks to the lore, and recognizing a certain blonde character still up to his shenanigans that made me want to explore these characters more. Sky trilogy is now my favourite.
Totally agree. Good old blondie is one of my favourite characters in the entire series. He seems air-headed and care-free, but his actions suggest otherwise. He's one of the characters who seems to have a hand in all 3 arcs so far, and I kind of expect it in the new arc too.
PErsonally I don't get it. The start of Sky is quiet and slow but to me the wonder of getting to know this world and the protagonists' personality more than carries it for me. Replaying it it's not as fun, but I don't get what's so much better about Cold Steel's start. For me it's worse, if only because the characters are a lot less interesting.
With all the marketing done by Falcom and NISA, I believe this is going to be the best release yet for Trails. It's got loads of exposure on key platforms, so as long as it hooks the watchers in, we're on to a winner.
If you are playing from Trails in The Sky, everything should wrap up at Trails of cold Steel 4... If you play from Trails of Cold Steel 1 on the other hand, expect three more... Imho, the series should be ten in total for English(Sky, SkySC,Sky 3, plus the 4 Cold Steel Game and another 3 game for the series arc); Twelve for Japanese(The ones translated into English plus two more of untranslated game). Japanese had fear for the number 4 and it's derivatives (13, 22, 31, etc.); the only way it can be used is to end something. But, if it is a huge success, they could always release 4A, which is not actually 4, and cancels the previous 4, and then continue the arc from there. Just like FFX had FFX2 because they don't want FFXII to be the 13th installment of the series.
I'm glad I played this series in this order: Trails in the Sky FC, Trails in the Sky SC (still the best in the whole series for me), Trails from Zero/Zero no Kiseki, Trails of Azure/Ao no Kiseki (2nd best), Trails in the Sky the 3rd (important), Trails of Cold Steel I, Trails of Cold Steel II (3rd best). Heck, I even played the spin-off Nayuta no Kiseki. Just waiting for the PC release of ToCS III. Trails series is one of my best JRPG series of all-time. The world, the writing, the characters and character development, the music.
I believed the PC version released today, so no more waiting! Good on you for playing all of the prior games, even those with dubious connections to the series (Nayuta - I believe it is canon). You're gonna get a lot of enjoyment out of CS3.
What got me was how the story keeps rolling and such a huge world and has its own deep rich history very few media franchises can do so well kinda why I like Gundam. I bought Sky/Liberl trilogy and Cold Steel I on Steam during a sale before Cold Steel II came out, found out about Crossbell while playing FC so got the PC translations and played Crossbell duology before getting to Cold Steel I & II on PC. Can't wait to get Cold Steel III and hope we one day get official localizations of Crossbell.
That's the thing, it's ultimately a snow-ball effect, moving you from one series to the next. If you value world-building, there's no reason why one game shouldn't act as the hook to draw you in to the rest! As for the localisations, we might be lucky. There's been a LOT of announcements from Falcom regarding potential ports. I actually did a video on it 2 weeks a go, so maybe you could check that out (tick one for the shameless plug-in!)
My next ranking video will be a Community ranking of the Trails in the Sky characters, and the poll will close next Monday. If you get the chance, please get involved, the more respondents, the better the content! :) www.polljunkie.com/poll/ityesz/trails-in-the-sky-community-ranking/admin
I got into the series when I saw Cold Steel and Cold Steel 2 on PS Now last year. I bought Cold Steel 3 as a Christmas gift for myself and I love this series. I agree with you that if I had played Trails in the Sky first, I wouldnt have gotten into the series at all.
This video needs more views seriously. Thanks you so much for the video I agree so much with it. I just finished my trails of ao run in the last 2 days and good lord the raw emotions I have for this series is beyond me. I'm currently on my second run of cold steel 1 (first game I played back 2 years ago) and will be playing cold steel 2 again (just for recap of the whole erebonia arc and seeing the references) before cold steel 3 release. Looking forward to reading what the ng+ says. I feel like I'm one of the few that actually read everything from the books, news articles and the libaray within the game. It just grips you so much. The lore and the characters. I just love Kiseki series so much
Thank you for that comment! It's always nice to get genuine positive feedback from people who find videos like this useful, and it motivates me to do more! The series will be my favourite for many years to come I'm sure. It does so much that other triple A titles couldn't even dream of accomplishing, and it's all done by a small but dedicated team of developers.
Zero translation now at 100%! :) Just a play testing period to go... Personally, I started the series when I saw Cold Steel on a sale, did a bit of research, and discovered that its predecessor was also on the sale, and decided to try that first. After about 6 hours played of Trails in the Sky I went and bought all the other Trails games available. I loved it as a starting off point, but then the graphics aren't all that important to me. The thing that all newcomers should be aware of about all the Trails series, and maybe Sky in particular, is that they are character driven stories. If you go in knowing to expect that then you are forewarned that you have to spend a period of time getting to know your characters before you can expect the plot to gain momentum. By getting to know your characters first, the plot points, when they come, mean more.
I've been watching Lady Virgilia's videos to understand the lore for the past few months, mostly because my computer is an outdated potato, and I don't have the money to invest in a new one or upgrade right now. I wish Falcom made these games more accessible for people on more platforms, like have all the trails games be available on the Switch, PS4, etc. They've done a pretty good job so far by bringing Trails 1 & 2 to PS4 so I hope eventually they expand on that.
They're brilliant lore summaries, and perfect for people who don't have the time or means to play! As for accessibility, I'd like to think that Falcom are starting to realise that there are fans for the series outside of Japan, and with that in mind, they should push more for localisation of other titles. We're seeing early stage projects aiming to bring Zero and Ao to the West as an example.
Awesome and well-made video! I agree with all of your points! I agree that Cold Steel 1 is a great place for players to start (this was the case for me as well) to see if the series is their cup of tea. If so, I think it will be only natural for those players to want to go back and get the full and complete Trails/Kiseki experience! However, having played Cold Steel III and IV myself thanks to kitsune457's spreadsheet, I definitely agree starting with Cold Steel III would be a great detriment to the experience. Cheers buddy! =)
You are too kind my man! Thanks a bunch for the feedback. Also, big appreciation to you for the twitter call-out, I definitely owe you something now!:)
Can confirm this video is still really really important and god sent for a newcomer like me. Trails seems to be the closest thing in this day and age to my favorite series of all time: suikoden Not a pc player and i don’t have a steam deck so i’ll wait for the sky trilogy to get a port on Switch and/or PS (i have both consoles). Btw it sucks that CS 1&2 are still not localized on switch so i guess i’ll play them on my PS5. Keep up the good work this series has won a new fan today and i’ll talk about it around me.
I agree with basically all the stuff you mentioned in this video. Thing is, I got introduced to the Kiseki-Series one year ago when a friend of mine, who bought trails in the sky at some random point and decided to play it, suggested it to me because the game was so great. Though I tought "Eh...okay, why not I guess" the Trails in the Sky FC was on sale in Steam and I had 8€ on hand, so I just decided to buy it and play it. Though yes, I can agree that the beginning of Trails in the Sky is really slow, if you manage to get through the prologue, the game starts to pick up on pace, especially at the 2nd chapter. Though I got immersed into the game the second I began it, since I just LOVED the slow pace at the beginning, and tbh.? Without the slow pace at the beginning, I think I wouldn't love SC as much as I do now. Though that's just me, but I loved the beginning of the game, but the opinions can vary...strongly. While there are some guys who loved it (there was even somebody who rushed through the Sky Trilogy in merely 6 weeks), somebody still is at the beginning of the game, since the beginning of the game is kind of tough for him. So yeah, I think that Cold Steel as starting point isn't so bad, but I think that Sky as starting point is still the best, since it gives you a different perspective for the Cold Steel games. Like, it was a really big shock for me when I realized after the Sky Trilogy "Wait...no Calvard arc? Crossbell? FCKING EREBONIA?!...AND THE SETTING IS A MILITARY SCHOOL?!" THIS right there is one of the many reasons why I love this franchise so much. But, like I said, other arcs as starting point is completely fine too, and the only thing I'm concerned about is how the newcomers, whereby some will inevitably start with CS3, perceive the games with such a starting point. Maybe some of them will get hooked up, start to play the older games and maybe have a...unique, different, but in a way cool experience? Though for me, it's unimaginable since, like you said in this video, CS3 is the convergence point of all 3 arcs, and you WILL fanboy around every time an old character jumps into the scene, since a lot of guys fell in LOVE with EVERY character in this series, just because they were SUCH GOOD CHARACTERS, but...I gotta be honest: I'm really looking forward to some newcomers sharing their experience, with CS3 as the starting point.
Definitely agree. I got hooked on the Sky Arc very soon after chapter 3. I think people nowadays though need a good hook to entice them in, and waiting 10 hours or so to have it happen is asking too much for a lot of people. It's ultimately why I believe Cold Steel to be a good start point.
I started Trails Of Cold Steel 1 and 2 wayback in 2016 in my PSVita.. then I want some more. Then I played Trails In The Sky FC to SC. I even bought hacked Vita just to play Zero and Ao No Kiseki, and Trails In The Sky 3rd with English Patch. Now I'm waiting for Trails Of Cold Steel 3 delayed from September to October.. but I must say patience is a vitrue.. so I'm willing to wait 😁
I played Cold Steel 1-3 before getting into the other games. I think Cold Steel 1 is a good starting point for many of the reasons you mentioned. If I just started with Sky, I don't know if I would have gotten into it. The combat/mechanics in Cold Steel were much more interesting than Sky's. I blitzed through the Cold Steel games, playing all 3 in about a month and a half. It was sort of my second full time job I was so obsessed. Sky is fun and interesting from a story perspective, but the fights aren't as interesting and for me it's easier to get attached to characters that are well animated and I can hear them talk (as opposed to simply reading text all the time). Like you, I think if I hadn't gotten so hooked by the Cold Steel games, I might not be interested enough to push through the Sky games. Even so, I am taking the Sky games a lot more slowly.
I'm glad you enjoyed Cold Steel! I personally am very thankful to CS1 for introducing me to the series, but I have no qualms in saying that, at present, Sky as a whole is better than the 3 CS games so far. But CS3 was fantastic, especially after playing the previous titles, so it brought the arc up quite a bit. Give the Sky trilogy time, FC will start slow, but it leads to my second favourite game of the franchise in SC, and Third is fantastic for the additional lore.
I tried Sky first and it honestly bored me. Thankfully I got Cold Steel this Christmas on a whim and I got obsessed. Now I'm on CS2 (cause I beat 1 in like a week of nonstop playing) completely addicted. Thanks to these 2, I'm actually interested in all the series so I bought the entire thing on steam. I'm so invested that I booted up Sky FC again, this time I'm actually engaged. Having voice acting mod helps too.
I'm speechless with Cold Steel 3. I finished it last night and must say this is the best entertainment experience I've had in my entire live, from a narrative and its execution perspective. This game is a masterpiece and I'll definetlt buy the PS5 update when it's released because there's so much going on at the same time during the ending, that inevitably there are some small loading times with every scene jump, so it would be great to experience this ending without any loading time. Once I ended Cold Steel 3 I felt the need to start Cold Steel 4 inmediately in order to see what came next, and I managed to play the entire prologue of it and what I saw is amazing... I mean, WOOOOW... the masterminds at Nihon Falcom are genious! Every person that enjoys reading a great story, discover new complex fantasy worlds and get to know and care for great characters, must play this games... they're the best there is in the entire enrertainmet industry (books, movies, series, etc)... but in order to better understand and enjoy Cold Steel 3 and 4, it's necesary to play the prevous 2 archs of the franchise (Liberl and Crossbell)... but don't worry about it, because even if those games are RPG classics, they're still amazing masterpieces that will surprise you... for instance, up until last night, Trails In the Sky SC was my favorite game of all time, and that's the second game of the entire franchise, surpassing games such as The Witcher 3 GOTY edition (which I love), Persona 5 Royal, etc... I can't imagine what Trails in The Sky SC would be like with a Remake of the level of Cold Steel 3&4, while preserving its escense intact (I have to say this because of what SQUARE did with its bastard child named FFVII Remake, which is disgraceful). Cold Steel 3 is a freaking masterpiece! And yiu shoukd play it with the voices in Japanese to experience the origibal concept of its ceeators because the english dubbing is missed completely the spirit of the characters and delivers something different from tve original idea. Thabk you, Nihon Falcom.
Yea Cold Steel 1 was handled masterfully for getting newer bloods into the series as a whole. My first TLOH game was Zero no kiseki on psp with partial translation which was like 4-5 years ago, but i only played for like 2 hours or so max and didn't bother touching the game again. But once i got my hands on ToCS on pc i was set. Right now about to start ToCS 3 which just came out a few weeks ago. Just tryng to close some gaps here and there watching these videos.
Just like you I was introduced to the Trails series by Trails of Cold Steel & I've loved every minute of the series. I'm currently playing Trails of Cold Steel 3 for a second time & I'm loving it. No matter how many times I play this series I still laugh at the same scenes & still question certain scenes That shocked me when I pl;ayed the game for the first time. I wish my grandmother on my mom's side was still alive because she loved playing RPGs such as the Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger, the Breath of Fire series, Crystalis, & the Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior series just to give a few examples. I believe if Nanny was still with us she would have loved the Trails of Cold Steel series since she loved going on quests & getting rewarded for them, plus I would have loved to see her reaction to some of the bonding events that happen in the series such as Rean's with Alisa & Sara for example.
It might seem random to reply to this now, but I just finished Trails from Zero, and I wanted to mention that I started the series with CS3. I had never heard a single thing about this series until CS3. I jumped in completely blind, only because I wanted to play a turn-based game and I enjoyed what I played of CS3's demo. What got me to stick with the game was how strangely confident it was in showing off a huge cast of characters I had no knowledge of or prior attachment to, and expecting me to keep up. As I went through the game I started getting a feel for how big its world really was, with a library full of weird fantasy terminology and a hugely detailed world map with interesting geopolitics. It was a strange experience but it hooked me. I've only played CS3, CS4 and Zero but I have pretty much every Trails game on my bucket list now. It may be the most impressive series I've had the fortune to discover. I owe it to CS3 for getting me invested.
I played one of the earlier games before trails in the sky. Thought it was cool but never finished it. Played a bit of FC but fell off the train. Then I got cold steel and loved it. Beat it and now I'm getting close to finishing 2 and soon 3. But I'm also going back to playing the past titles too.
Same..im doing backward. I love Cold steel 1 n 2 so much that im willing to learn the other arc,then i move to zero and ao..and lastly sky. Im not really into sky so much, but i quite like crossbell arc too. Pretty much will play cs n 4 too until i get my own pc 😣😣
I got cold steel 1 two years ago as a christmas present from my boyfriend. Then I got cold steel 2 this last christmas from his brother and decided I'd just finally get started. I had tried the first sky game before (like 5 years ago or so), and I own it on psp and steam but it could never hold my attention because dear god does it DRAG! After seeing where the story goes though, I bought the rest of the sky games during the christmas sale just as I was approaching the halfway point in cold steel 1. That's the reason I absolutely agree that it's totally fine for people to start with cold steel one, especially if they're fans of the persona franchise. I'll finish cold steel 2, then play through the sky games chronologically, then I'll see if I can't find zero and ao somewhere..., and thennnnn I'll be 40 xD well then I'll start with the new games, cold steel 3 and (hopefully by that time) 4. I have to say though that I HATE it when devs gate important story content behind NG+. It was fine in nier and nier:automata because the time for each playthrough wasn't 60+ hours (cold steel 1 took me close to 90h) but I will NOT be doing a second playthrough of either cold steel 1 or 2. I'll just watch the relevant scenes on youtube. I have a job lol. Anyway I'm glad I finally got my ass in gear with these games. They're a lot of work and a huge time investment, but they're just so completely different from your typical jrpg because you get to know the world and characters over such an extended period of time. The only thing I'd compare it with is something like Lord of the Rings maybe.
Glad to hear you're about to get stuck in to, what is in my opinion, the best JRPG series around. And honestly, I envy you a little, you've come in at a great time, as we're so close to getting Zero no Kiseki translated (by Geofront). We've got the new game coming too, and of course CS4 is hopefully on the way soon! The Sky trilogy does indeed start slow, I thought the same as well, but it really picks up come a third of the way through FC, and then SC is pretty much full throttle all the way. I'd say it's the best in terms of characterisation in the series, interactions, growth, compelling arcs, it has everything. Take your time with the games though, they are indeed a big time investment, but it's soooo worth it. No other series gives me a roller coaster of emotion like this one, and I'm certain it will remain my favourite series right up until it ends in my mid 40's. Hope you enjoy your journey in Zemuria! :)
So for me new to the trail series *played trails in the sky* What is your best suggestion to deal with the drag of the first game in each saga. Playing coldsteel 1 and i feel likee its dragging so much
I agree with pretty much everything you said regarding Cold Steel. It'll be 2 years this year since I started the Cold Steel series and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Due to work, family and other stuff, I've only played them once per year. Finished part 1 in 2020, Part 2 in 2021 and now I'm just starting part 3 this year. I figure I'll br doing pt 4 next year. But when I play them, it puts me at ease, makes me forget about all the BS in life for just a little while. I.E. it's a stress reliever. Going to play some more tonight
I don't get why so many people say Sky is boring. I started with Sky and I loved it. I sadly didn't get all the sidequests due to not using a guide. Estelle is the best Protagonist by far, especially because of her very big stick. And also Kevin. Nobody should miss out on Kevin and Ries. Maybe I am just different, because I don't need high stakes to be invested. Grandia also starts very lowkey with 2 kids going on adventures. Although Grandia does drag a bit near the end, but that could have just been me only wanting to get done with it. I played the entire series up to Cold Steel in order and am glad I did. I do miss the Sky characters, but thankfully Olivier and Mueller are still there. Those 2 have always been fun. I believe the Sky arc should be experienced first, mainly due to Olivier. That guy has the funniest scenes in Sky by far. But hey, other people need different things. I still think Sky is the best point to start. I love Bestelle.
The games that made me look more into the series were the cold steel games, but after some research I found out about the trails in the sky games, so I sucked it up and decided to play the sky games on pc. While I do agree that sky first chapter is VERY slow at the start, it was well worth it because the sky trilogy as a whole was the best part of the trails saga for me. When I reached the end of sky the 3rd and it finally hit me that it was over, I was genuinely depressed lol. I gree such an attachment to the sky characters and Liberl as a whole. The cold steel games are more modern and look better but I still think the the sky cast was the best group of misfits this series has to offer, so far at least. (Granted I haven't actually played the crossbelle arc but I did watch a story summary in order to at least know the important events that took place.)
Good stuff on getting up to speed beforehand! I still maintain that playing the games in their intended order is the best way to go, but there are many people who won't get past the slow start of FC, and might just abandon it completely. As such, I'm glad there's another route in for people who need something a bit more 'modern' to get them hooked.
@@TheKisekiNut Oh yea I agree. To be honest there were times during first chapter that even I got really frustrated with how slow it was. ( One day I was playing for a while, maybe a good 6 or 7hrs straight, and I accidently hit the off button on my laptop only for me to realize I hadn't saved the whole time I was playing lol. Almost dropped the game there not gonna lie. But then I played all the way through back to where I was and then realized there was autosave. 🤦♂️) I'm just saying the sky trilogy is well worth the rocky start.
@@TaqSoto Ooof, that's a deal breaker for me! 7 hours of progress down the drain is enough to hit hard! Glad you stuck through though, it's a fantastic trilogy of games, and was my favourite up until playing the Crossbell titles.
I completely agree. I started with CS1, then played CS2. I knew of FC and SC, and when I learnt that CS3 was reintroducing old characters, decided to start FC. I'm loving FC. It's fun seeing characters like Olivier and going 'oh, him!'. The story is slow, but makes a nice change from the high stakes of CS2. My fiancee is playing CS4 and when he first saw Estelle, Joshua, Schera appeared, I got excited to continue my own adventure in FC and SC.
Reminder it may be a good idea if you've already played sky to watch a recap or replay them while you wait. It isn't as important as crossbell but to get the full effect of seeing tita and agate being back it'll help. [and CS4 is really sky heavy, tons of people will be back]
Cold steel was my introduction to the series and I haven't regretted it since in short I came across it by browsing the ps now app and tried it out and this was before they started to port all 4 games on the switch and ps4
I'm currently playing through CS1 now without any prior knowledge about the other story arcs. I was just told to watch the Sky and Crossbell arcs before playing CS3, which I intend to do. I find it fascinating how these story arcs overlap. It's a very intriguing series. Great video :).
Glad to have you on board! It's the best series for world-building, period. I've just finished the Crossbell duology, and my god, those 2 games are the best in the series so far. Trails has given me so many memorable moments, and I just want more people to get in to this series so they can experience the same.
Thank you. This is what I was looking for. I saw a recommendation for 3 on Switch and was trying to figure out whether that was a starting point or not.
I've no doubt people can still enjoy the game without prior knowledge, I only want more people to come in to the series. But I feel starting at CS3 lessens that chance significantly.
I’ve finally finished all Kiseki titles prior to CS3. Ao no Kiseki was the best so far, Trails in the Sky SC is a fair 2nd place. I started on CS1 and 2, then went back to the Sky trilogy. My biggest takeaway from playing the Liberl and Crossbell arc was finally understanding just how serious the threat Osborne is. While getting more understanding on Ouroboros vs. The Church. Now I’m ready for the “Infinity War” in CS3. Can’t wait to start CS3 and be prepped for CS4 “Endgame.”
Nice to hear from the perspective of someone who played Cold Steel first; I agree that it's no worse of an entry point than Sky, though as someone who played Sky first, I wouldn't say it's strictly better either. The graphics in Cold Steel might be better, but the hand drawn portraits in Sky were more expressive imo and made me feel the characters in a way Cold Steel didn't seem to do to the same extent. So I'd agree aesthetic presentation is very important, but aesthetic sense still boils down to personal taste and people should play whichever (introductory) game they feel like playing first :]
Couldn't say it better mate, it all comes down to personal preference. In hindsight, I know for a fact that if I started with Sky FC, I'd probably not be the fan I am today, alternatively, someone else could start with CS, and never come back. That decision comes down to the player in the end, but I always hope that they make the right decision, so we get more people involved with the fandom.
Cold Steel is just more fun to play and rather than aesthethically pleasing due to being "pretty", it's more about quality of life like clean visuals and smooth menus
@@Walamonga1313 Good point! I guess for me as well, CS1's story just felt ... kind of tedious, while Sky FC wasn't immediately thrilling but it kept me hooked. So I'm still glad I started with Sky since I probably would have dropped the series if I started with CS1. Not saying CS1's story is bad; just despite the modernity and QOL improvements I don't think CS1 has strictly better hook potential than Sky FC
I understand where you're coming from. Unfortunately, it all lies with XSeed whether the other 2 titles come to Switch. Since they hold the licence, it's ultimately their decision until it expires (if it ever does). XSeed have been active some what recently with the likes of Celceta's remaster on PS4, but they lack the same level of resources as NISA, so I wouldn't be too hopeful.
Oh man. And here I was decided to play Cold Steel 3 before playing the previous Trails game (just finished Cold Steel 2). But this video is making me second guess the decision and makes me want to play Sky first. Really hard to decide!
It's your decision at the end of the day. I just give my recommendation based on my own experience. I know for a fact I wouldn't have enjoyed CS3 as much as I did if I hadn't played Crossbell and Sky first. And that's not too bad an issue when both of the other arcs are top quality as well.
I started on Cold Steel 1 as well. Fell in love with the world so just beat 3 so plan on going back and playing skies. I loved the slow placed of the first game. Now I just want Trails 4 lol. I read a wiki on the different games and read up on characters I missed out on lol I hope they dub the SSS/crossbell one
Sky is fantastic, and Crossbell is the best in my opinion. You've got plenty to get stuck in to, and with the Zero Geofront translation out, you can at least play one half of the Crossbell arc with quality assured.
I do not understand how someone could say Sky couldn’t get people hooked this day and age. It is still one of the best imo Sky SC and Azure best ones. Plus it makes it all worth it when you play later games
I'll admit to starting the game at 3 and it does a reasonable job at catching you up, if it wasn't for 3 i'd have never jumped back to play the first two and now just starting Zero before i get onto 4.
Thanks for the reply and also a massive thanks for the content. Great work! A little confused though because I got that scene on my first playthrough (it is the scene on the rooftop of Thors where he reveals he's a gralsritter right?). I have never done a second playthrough, so I feel that maybe it isn't locked behind a game+ wall. I did spend around 120 hours and spoke to every npc (and read everything possible, which is how I roll with the Trails games). And I definitely saw that scene on my only playthrough. Just wanted to mention that for newcomers who might get put off by the idea of having to play it twice to see an important part of the story. Also, love your channel mate, keep up the awesome work!
@@c-chakra6431 That is interesting, because I'm sure it's only in NG+. You can only collect the black records in that mode, so i don't know if they possibly changed it? Might have to check that out myself.
Same here. I first played TOCS1 and then it piqued my interest with the trails series while playing. Sadly i wasnt able to finish TOCS1 but my next playthrough was the trails series. Luckily i finished the 3 games a few years ago. Honestly those games got me invested in the characters and the lore. I plan to finish TOCS for real this time.
Do it! Honestly for all the flak the Cold Steel series gets (which I think is a bit unfair), there's no doubt it's played a big part in bringing new fans to the series. And it should always be praised for that at least.
If it wasn’t for Cold Steel 1, i never would’ve gotten into Trails in the Sky. Though, the mystery surrounding Olivert’s identity is practically gone in Sky.
So in short: Should I play the game without any of the prior title? No, it will take away a lot of the plot with the required knowledge. You can either play A) The prior two Cold Steel titles before starting this (the good choice) or B) The prior Trails titles in release order (the full experience) albeit I myself have also started from ToCS1 and intend to check the prior titles out myself after beating ToCS3+4
I imagine it will come to PC, but how long that takes could be anyones guess. But it's well within Falcom and NISA's interest to bring it to PC, they already did it with YS8, and I'm confident they won't make the same mistakes as they did with that game if they decide to do a port.
We might be in luck, they've been mentioning that they have been working on something in relation to Zero and Ao. Don't know how long it would be till we get an update on that, but it seems a step in the right direction!
Well, Falcom is a small team, they're doing games for ages yeah, but they never boomed like Square Enix. So, they often need people from here to go to them and say "Hey, I want to localize your game, how we can achieve that?" you know? The reason Azure/Zero never come, first and foremost, was because XSEED at first thought that Cold Steel would Sell better because of the "better" graphics. They didn't care about the gap we would have on the story by skipping the two games. Nisa's at least interested on Porting Zero/Azure and maybe they'll do it. But I doubt they will do before they release Cold Steel 4 too. I think they want to keep the momentum, because they are making a LOT of commercials and even on Sony's announcements the game's being shown, so they will start localizing the 4th game too. XD
@@TheKisekiNut Oh, they probably will add a "The Story so Far" with a detailed text driven menu so we can understand what's happening on the fourth game specially xD
I am from the future and we are getting 4 new ports of Falcom Games! With Crossbell also getting a Switch port! Rejoyce my friend, for we are getting the whole series on Steam now! And everything from cold steel 3 onwards is getting Switch Ports! Yay! And Geofront is helping with the Crossbell localization! Isn't that great?
I 100% agree with you on your talking points on CS I being a great place for newcomers to start with. Like yourself, with out CS I, I wouldn't have been a Trails fan at all, but my story is slightly different. Trails of Cold Steel caught my attention and I knew instantly I wanted to play the game. However I was encouraged to start the series with Trails in The Sky, which I eventually did. However, it was still CS I that acted as a carrot on a stick (of sorts) that kept me motivated during the really slow start of Sky when I wanted to drop the series entirely. Retrospectively I am extremely glad I played in chronological order, but I completely understand with letting newcomers know that it's okay to start with CS I as I want to grow this series, and not "scare away" potential new fans. That being said I will always at least recommend starting at the beginning but yea, nothing wrong with starting with "Trails of Cold Steel".
Thanks for the comment mate! Yeah, even though playing through the games chronologically is the best course of action, I personally feel that Cold Steel is the better option as an introduction to the series, and really, it's not a detriment to the player to start here, rather than with Sky. If they miss a few references, then so bed it, but they're now invested, and that's what counts.
Damn, I'm someone that likes to start a series from the start and was hoping Cold steel III could be played without knowledge of old games. I'm gonna have to put this one on hold because I have multiple rpgs on my backlog and don't really have the time to play more than one at a time. Looking forward to eventually trying this series.
I've no doubt people can play CS3 as their first game and enjoy it, which is great, it gets more people involved. But anyone who loves the series will always recommend at least starting at CS1 or Sky FC to capitalise on what makes the Trails Universe so engrossing. But that's all it is, a recommendation. It's down to the player to decide where they want to start.
You and I both man, Class 7 are awesome:). But it's great, since the first game focuses mainly on them, and how they interact with Erebonia. It makes sense that new-comers can start with CS1.
I decided to start with TOCS 3 cause it seemed the most appealing. I understand playing the 1st two games would give me more "emotional investment" but I got a backlog so ain't got Time for that.
I played sen 3 a while ago, and man I can't wait to try it in english too, cuz there are a few things I didn't quite get. Really hope this series gets the popularity it deserves in the coming years
You and me both mate, it deserves so much more love than it currently gets. I honestly think though that the series is getting a lot more traction lately, you see it mentioned a lot more in passing, which can only be a good thing.
Funny how you mentioned that Cold Steel 1 was your first Trails game you played that got hooked to the whole series. Will its the same for me too. I'm still pretty fresh and new to the series but the only games I beaten are just Cold Steel 1 and 2. Now when I first played Cold Steel 1 I thought it was its standalone game and that it doesn't matter which Trails game you start out with which in my opinion I still believe it doesn't matter unless if people want to play things chronologically but it will be hard because the fools at Falcom never imported The Sky series and heard they are making a remake. But when I first and touched Cold Steel 1 I was having fun enjoying the game and story. Then during chapter 5 of Cold Steel 1 they were mentioning the events at Crossbell and it opened up a lot questions like are they connected? But still it wasn't enough to get me more hook to get the Trails of Zero just yet until I played Cold Steel 2 that game is made me want to play everything that is out there. So now I have every trails game expected Daybreak the new one. But i'm slowly taking my time by continuing playing through Cold Steel 3 and Trails of Zero back to back. And yes I know it may contain spoilers since Cold Steel 3 continues on ahead but it doesn't matter to me it just makes all exciting for me and I can learn what happens later since I have access to them now.
Trials of cold steel is where is started it became Thebes gamin experience an sent me on my favorite gaming journey I really wanna play trails in the sky ino the first one is in English on PSP idk where else to play it or the other 2 games In the arc im about to finish tocs 3 now an got the 4th sitting on my shelf ready to go
I don’t know if this is the right spot, but as someone who has only played CS1/2 and has no interest in playing Sky or the Crossbell arc, is there good a good video for like here’s everything you need to know? Bc from what I have understood CS3/4 are the convergence of all 3 arcs (crossbell, liberl, and erebonia), and and it’s easy to be lost or confused if you haven’t played the other games… anyone willing to help me find what i’m looking for. Google hasn’t been great so far… I found this video tho Edit: Clarify before someone says just play the games… I have tried to play Sky FC a few times and each time only get a couple hours in before i’m playing something else. I think it’’s just the old gameplay or something but it just hasn’t appealed or connected with me, and I really would rather not have to play all these 100 hours games before I get to play CS3
We might be in luck, as Falcom have already announced a new arc in the East of Zemuria, so we can assume that it will be in the Calvard Republic due to it being one of the remaining superpowers. Don't know when we will hear more about it, but keep your eyes peeled for it!
Indeed he did, it'll tie in with Cold Steel 4, and take on a Gaiden style of gameplay, so I'm interested to see what they do with that. I did a video on that about a month a go when looking at the 15th anniversary of Trails.
@@TheKisekiNut the two new arcs that have been mentioned by kondo are the calvard (confirmed as the next one last i heard) and the leman state arc ( which he teased the possibility of showing up)
I’m waiting for CS4 and I hope they make a ending that would fit for the whole series and for rean as well because the climax of the ending of CS3 left me speechless and wanting to see more. The ending just felt soo good and yet it went so quickly
Cold steel 1 Cold steel 2 Trails of the sky 1st Trails of the sky 2nd Trails of the sky 3rd Crossbell Arc Cold steel 3 Cold steel 4. That is my recommended start. Cold steel 3 has too many characters and talks too much about liberal and crossbell, so I'd hold off. Unless you play cold steel 3 before trying the older games, then replay cold steel 3 again. Don't even play 4 unless you played everything... youll just be playing characters you have no connections to, when they're the most important characters in the entire series.
@@QuanLovesGaming I actually would recommend playing in order but I feel like a lot of new incomers would get bored first few hours of Trails in the Sky if they dont' give it a real shot, maybe the new 3D graphics of Cold Steel could suck them in lol Taht's honestly how it's been for a lot of people including myself. Thoguht I wouldn't have the time to play 10 games
If it wasn't for me being used to browsing game wikis and loving lore, those synopsi (don't know the plural form) would've been hard to really take in 100%. Luckily I'm used to series with huge amounts of lore.
I finish trail of cold steel 1 and 2 bout to get cold of steel 3 and 4 for my Nintendo Swich. Also want to get Xenoblade 3 and dragon quest 11 two of the best JRpg 🔥
You and me both mate! Well, it's more Ao No Kiseki that it will tie in to, as that is the end of the Crossbell Arc, but I'm sure you'll love it nonetheless!:)
@@TheKisekiNut oh I love Ao no Kiseki played both mate. I just prefer Zero a bit more cause of 2 certain sky characters playable in it lol. I played sky trio Evo and zero evo was sad Ao Evo never got the patch it desveres had to play that one on pc.
I've played the Sky's series and Cold steel 1, And i really liked them. However i'm abit bummed that i did not have time to play Cold steel 2 before the release of this one. I know that it would be best to play that first but i have such limited time to play games now-a-days when also working full time. So maybe i will watch a let's play of 2 aswell as reading a summary of what occured and jump into 3.
That's understandable, watching a Playthrough will still be fine if you're lacking in time. I myself have a full time job, so time is definitely a limited thing, especially when playing JRPGs like Trails!
I am just wondering how they will do the other arcs which will include Calvard and Leman. Maybe we might get to see a Northern Zemuria section in the Gaiden game coming up. After all we have not been to Jurai, North Ambria, and Remiferia. We could always save an Ored State expedition for Calvard.
Calvard is pretty much confirmed as the new Arc, that much we know. It's the only area that has real backstory compared to the other lands, and Falcom have said it will be based in the East of Zemuria, so we can deduce it will be Calvard. The Gaiden game will be related to Cold Steel 4 I believe, maybe something similar to what Trails in the Sky the 3rd was. As for other Arcs, I'm expecting one in Leman State, since it has a lot of key players, plus I would also expect Remiferia to be involved as well. It's possible that we might even get an arc that spans the whole North of Zemuria, rather than focusing on one land. There's still so much we don't know as you say, and I'm itching for more!
Thanks for the comment! Obviously you're free to play whatever you want first, but I always suggest playing the previous games first before CS3 if you want the best experience. The best part about Trails in my opinion is seeing all the connections, and with the converging timelines, it will all come flowing in at once, so the prior knowledge is pretty important, at least in my eyes.
For sure man I don't doubt having the other two played for CS3 makes it better. I just don't have a psp nor do I play pc gaming. I'm still sure CS3 should at least be enjoyable with CS1&2 under my belt at least. I got into these games after playing p5 and saw them on PS4 with the rerelease :)
Not at all my man, I didn't mean to discredit your own experiences, and I'm sure Cold Steel 3 will be enjoyable for yourself also. I just want to advise people of the best route, whether they go ahead with that or not is their choice.:)
Playing on PS4, I have ToCS 1 - 4. Played 1 and 2, playing 3 now and will play 4 immediately after. If the other games are available via pc I don't have on so that's too bad lol. But ToCS is a cool franchise like the Tales of series
I do not have the time, drive, or attention span to play the 7 games. I entered the Legend of the Heroes series with Cold Steel, and I will stick with Cold Steel, even if die-hards cry foul on this plan. Having a full time job, a raid team in FF XIV, and an interest in hundreds of games as it is, I just can't find the time to sink into a JRPG series that spans so much content. That being said, Cold Steel was the first JRPG to re-spark my love for the genre since basically the early PS3 era. As such, I will continue to play the series. Yes, I realize I won't understand some references, or recognize characters. Ultimately, I think this is fine. When I eventually get around to playing the other games in the series, I can treat them as prequels, and really learn about what I didn't know before hand. Basically, please do not be afraid to enter the series with Cold Steel 1, or even Cold Steel 3. (Cold Steel 3 has a section where you can read about the previous games to at least get a sliver of an idea of what's going on.) If you find you like the game, it will probably spark you to start looking into the other games. Anyone who starts at Cold Steel 3, is still another person who purchases the game, and furthers the chances of the rest of the Legend of Heroes games getting localized. And I'd rather have a potential fan realize they love the series by playing a more modern game and going backwards, than have them miss out entirely by feeling like there's too much in front of them to even get started.
It has no effect on me whether people play all 7 games, or stick with just playing CS3, how they choose to enjoy their games is their choice, and I understand a lot of people don't have the time to invest in to a slew of long games. If playing CS3 alone gets more people invested in the series, then that's all the better for the frachise as a whole. However, for the people who are struggling to understand why the previous games are important, at least in the minds of those who have played them, I wanted to make this video to fill in the detail a little. It's in no-way a condemnation of people who don't play the games, it's an advisory video to assist those who don't know where to start.
Man, I hate I haven't played the other trails games when I hear how they're all connected. I'm bout done with cold steel 1 and gonna jump on 2 right after then 3, but hopefully they'll bring the other trails to the PS4
It undoubtedly is quite a lot to get through, but totally worth it in my mind. To be honest, if playing CS3 first gets someone invested in the series, as opposed to not playing at all because of the barrier, then it can only be a good thing. :)
Don't get me wrong, you can enjoy the game. There are people who have started here and found it a great journey, and that's inspired them to go back and play the other games, which is great all round. But as a person who has played them all (including CS4), I will always maintain you should play the other titles first for the best experience.
What interesting from Trails series is this is a story of HUGE conspiracy that involved the entire continent of Zemuria. The conflict in Liberl, Crossbell, and Erebonia is just the small part of it. I'm curious what Ouroboros will come up later in the eastern region.
Indeed! Honestly, I don't feel that Ouroboros is the only organisation at play here. I feel the Church also has something they're hiding, as evidenced by their gathering of artifacts. I don't think we'll see the fruits of that for a while, but they will get involved in some way in the future. There's no way that 'Only' Ouroboros are working on a major plan.
@@TheKisekiNut Yeah, right. I think both Septian Church and Ouroboros had play cat-and-mouse game for a very long time, but no one aware of it until Liberl Ark happened and shake the world.
it nice to see the game have a nice story the end of number 1 is kinda make u want to play number 2 fast right now i on my play number 2 hope that number 4 can come early this year xD
Trails of Cold Steel didn't really have much of an opportunity to spoil anything outside of itself as a standalone game. The plot ends just about where it started and pads out way more play time than was necessary just going around and introducing all of the characters and locations. Cold Steel 3 is almost a soft reset of the Cold Steel arc.
I don't own a PC or psp so I can't play trails of the sky but I do own trails of steel 1&2 for the PS3.im gonna buy 3 can't wait to 4 comes over but why not bring the origin over trails of the sky.
I really think that Trails in the Sky have a self contained story. I mean, they are mentioned on other games and they have characters from Cold Steel already on Sky's series, like Osborne. However, the plot of the Sky series is "Self" contained. I mean, if we divide the series into smaller plots that together tells a bigger one (The Oroboros plot), then yeah we need all of them. Specially because for example, in CS1, Estelle and Joshua are mentioned so yeah it's good to play the games cronologically. Playing them separatelly however, won't make the story less interesting. The problem for me with Cold Steel though, is that, the First Game starts in the exact moment the Zero no Kiseki starts. And the second game ends almost the same time the Azure ends too, so if you play the Zero/Azure first you WILL understand a lot of things that are happening on the background, like Osborne going to the Conference in Crossbell, the Azure Barrier and then the Azure Tree. You know, I played Cold Steel II on Vita first, and I would be so much more "Wowzed" if I had player Zero/Ao first, because then -SPoilers- The Azure Tree spawns, I would know right away that THAT was the last dungeon on the Zero/Azure series. So, CS1 and 2 plays a lot with Azure/Zero. The problem with the third and fourth game on Cold Steel is, the story stops happening at the same time and we start to see what happened AFTER the events of those games. The cast will merge a lot and a LOT of stuff will be mentioned and a lot of people wouldn't understand about it. So, a lot of the Mind Blowing moments would be robbed from us because of it. If the events of Azure/Zero didn't happen at the same time as CS1/2 it would be a little less drama to understand. XD I will wait for the Zero/Azure to be released though, on Steam specifically, because I want to support the series instead of trying to run unofficial ports probably cracked here. I already bought CS3 on PS4, the demo sold me the game, I'm amazed how the Dialog/Voices can be swiched on the fly without reseting the game. Even Persona 5 has some problems doing it (You need to reset the game to play in JApanese/English). So so far now, Nisa's doing an amazing job. Also, congratz on actually complimenting Nisa's work instead of throwing stones on them. Ppl loves to say XSEED is the best, but CS2 are on Steam for a long time and there's a TON of bugs that sometimes makes the game unplayable because of bad programming on the port, but for a lot of ppl the problem is NISA getting CS3. XD
Totally agree, for me you have to play the other games prior to CS3 to get the best experience. Though I still believe that Sky is the best place to start for the optimum experience, I wanted to let others know that CS1 is still a fine place to start. Chronologically, it begins about halfway through Zero, but the actual references to other titles are not major. However, I have no doubt that if I played through CS1 again after playing through the rest of the games, I would get even more enjoyment out of it! And as for NISA, so far, they've deserved the praise they're getting. Everyone was apprehensive at first, but I think a lot of the fanbase have come around. We can only judge them based on the game that is released, and from what I've seen, the mistakes of the past are likely to not be repeated. :)
It's confusing to me how ToCS is very appealing for new players to the series, show us lloyd bannings and rixia mao at the end of ToCS II and now i find out that the crossbell arcs is unlikely to be released on steam. the hell man, i was really hype for playing zero
It's just it's more in tune with a modern JRPG player. more familiar setting with the school, better quality of life, it's just more appealing for someone looking for a new series to delve in to. I'll always maintain that playing through the game chronologically is the most optimal route, but I'll also continually say that Cold Steel 1 is fine as a start point.
I played ao and zero psp version but for me TOCS is still the best (its my first) and dear to me.not only the graphics but also the characters have connection with the players ( where i can feel personal connection like persona does), not like sky arc or crossbell arc. When i finished sky or crossbell im just feel empty.but when cold steel end, i crave for more. 😊
it would be nice if they actually put the game on sale, it'd draw more attention to people who want the experience but aren't willing to fork over £50 for the game
Don't worry buddy, CS3 will always be there! I would say that you HAVE to play CS1 and 2 before 3 to get any semblance of what's going on. I would only say it's highly recommended to play the other arcs. I've seen many people who have only played the first 2 Cold Steel games, and enjoyed CS3 regardless. It's also given them the impetus to see the other games, so it can work for some!
Honestly I play cold steel 1 first as well then I was so amazed and hooked the game then research what game and series is it since it said cold steel 1 then it said I need to play trail in the sky, I was bored on the first 1 hour but I keep forcing my self to play it then I got hooked by the story not the game then play sc 2 and 3 then took me 1 year to get zero and ao no kiseki ( forcing my friend in Japan musashi to get it first me) then I am now a big fan of this series and brought cold stell 2 and 3 and yes you're right without cold steel 1 I will never become fan like this so i do recommend ppl play that first to you know hook the fish.
Craaaaaaaap, im at sky sc final chap and i wanna play through all the games, tho i have playes cs 1 and 2, i wanna play them again to see the connection and refrences, but i just got ps4 and with ps4 i got persona 5 which is so addicting that i cant find time to finish trails series before CS 3 which i dont like at all... also i gotta have time in the middle to watch anime... and do schoolwork ofc... i guess i just gotta wait A LOT... oeh... why did i find this series so late. I wonder how much will i be able to dodge the spoilers.
I will admit, it is a LOT to get through. But Cold Steel 3 isn't going any where, heck it's been around for 2 years already if you know Japanese. You've got all the time in the world to play through the previous entries before this one, and that time investment will be worth it, believe me!
Seriously take your time lol. Once you finish CS4 you'll be in the abyss of waiting to find out more on the next games [which will require spreadsheets anyway or Japanese]. And CS3 ends on a cliffhanger that makes CS1 look good, really no need to rush lol
I have a hard time getting into any non HD game in this time and age. Just like persona, I wouldn't have played any trails game without cold steel to start from.
I don't see how trails in the sky started out slow just because it didn't have a big bad for a majority of the game. Moves pretty fast imo, moreso because it's barely 40 hours. Not really the same thing. tons of interesting concepts and events that kept it pretty enjoyable through and through the entire journey. Cold steel starting as original as stale bread and burns slower than any other jrpg i've played. If we compare prologues from sky and cold steel it's probably night and day lmao. Cold steel is the slowest opening game of the series by any comparison.
I don't know, from what I remember, the frame rate issues weren't too bad for CS2, but maybe I'm indifferent to FPS drops after playing a lot of below par ports? Who knows! I have faith though that this will be fine, and we can only judge when the game is in our hands. :)
I would like to play the other games, i dont have a platform to play them on since 1 and 2 aren’t on switch. So i guess i should just bot play 3 then despite wanting to based on the this huge detriment huh.
Totally agree. While more sales for Trails can only be a good thing, starting with CS3 is definitely not the best idea. But at the end of the day, it may work for some people to work in reverse like that, who knows.
@@TheKisekiNut yes i did it reverse..starting frm cold of steel 1 n 2 then i move to crossbell arc and lastly liberl arc 😆😆 i swear i will not become a falcom fan if i meet sky or ao first. Good thing cold of steel is my first. I'm just soo fall in love with it i cant help it
I completely agree with you. I started with Cold Steel 1 as well. I tried to get a good friend into the Trails by saying he should play Sky first, if it wasn't because I motivated him by saying it gets really good later on, he wouldn't have gotten through it.
Completely agree. Even though I love the Sky arc, I think it's just too slow to hook people in in this day and age. Cold Steel gets people invested without ruining too much of the other arcs, and gives you the questions you need to explore the earlier entries.
@@TheKisekiNut Everything you said in the video pretty much sums up my experience with the game. Sky couldnt hook me when I tried it years ago on PSP before SC was even localised. It was thanks to the lore, and recognizing a certain blonde character still up to his shenanigans that made me want to explore these characters more. Sky trilogy is now my favourite.
Totally agree. Good old blondie is one of my favourite characters in the entire series. He seems air-headed and care-free, but his actions suggest otherwise. He's one of the characters who seems to have a hand in all 3 arcs so far, and I kind of expect it in the new arc too.
PErsonally I don't get it. The start of Sky is quiet and slow but to me the wonder of getting to know this world and the protagonists' personality more than carries it for me. Replaying it it's not as fun, but I don't get what's so much better about Cold Steel's start. For me it's worse, if only because the characters are a lot less interesting.
@@lolRNGsky is the best arc till now
I love how hard you are working to make the best game series ever created to succeed. Thank you - and keep up the good work.
Thank you mate! I'll always want to see this series succeed, so the more we can do, the better. :)
Really hope this Game will be successful to ensure the 4. Game will release soon as well
With all the marketing done by Falcom and NISA, I believe this is going to be the best release yet for Trails. It's got loads of exposure on key platforms, so as long as it hooks the watchers in, we're on to a winner.
Compared to CS1 and 2 the quality of 3 stands among Ao and CS4 as the best. It should at least do better than CS1 and 2 in terms of sales.
@@Cneqq True.
Though idk the claim about CS4 being one of the best
If you are playing from Trails in The Sky, everything should wrap up at Trails of cold Steel 4...
If you play from Trails of Cold Steel 1 on the other hand, expect three more...
Imho, the series should be ten in total for English(Sky, SkySC,Sky 3, plus the 4 Cold Steel Game and another 3 game for the series arc); Twelve for Japanese(The ones translated into English plus two more of untranslated game).
Japanese had fear for the number 4 and it's derivatives (13, 22, 31, etc.); the only way it can be used is to end something.
But, if it is a huge success, they could always release 4A, which is not actually 4, and cancels the previous 4, and then continue the arc from there. Just like FFX had FFX2 because they don't want FFXII to be the 13th installment of the series.
Congratulations your wish came true
I'm glad I played this series in this order: Trails in the Sky FC, Trails in the Sky SC (still the best in the whole series for me), Trails from Zero/Zero no Kiseki, Trails of Azure/Ao no Kiseki (2nd best), Trails in the Sky the 3rd (important), Trails of Cold Steel I, Trails of Cold Steel II (3rd best). Heck, I even played the spin-off Nayuta no Kiseki. Just waiting for the PC release of ToCS III. Trails series is one of my best JRPG series of all-time. The world, the writing, the characters and character development, the music.
I believed the PC version released today, so no more waiting! Good on you for playing all of the prior games, even those with dubious connections to the series (Nayuta - I believe it is canon). You're gonna get a lot of enjoyment out of CS3.
same top 3 trails games with the sky 3rd the least fav feels like a dungeon crawler turn based game instead of hack n slash
What got me was how the story keeps rolling and such a huge world and has its own deep rich history very few media franchises can do so well kinda why I like Gundam. I bought Sky/Liberl trilogy and Cold Steel I on Steam during a sale before Cold Steel II came out, found out about Crossbell while playing FC so got the PC translations and played Crossbell duology before getting to Cold Steel I & II on PC. Can't wait to get Cold Steel III and hope we one day get official localizations of Crossbell.
That's the thing, it's ultimately a snow-ball effect, moving you from one series to the next. If you value world-building, there's no reason why one game shouldn't act as the hook to draw you in to the rest! As for the localisations, we might be lucky. There's been a LOT of announcements from Falcom regarding potential ports. I actually did a video on it 2 weeks a go, so maybe you could check that out (tick one for the shameless plug-in!)
My next ranking video will be a Community ranking of the Trails in the Sky characters, and the poll will close next Monday. If you get the chance, please get involved, the more respondents, the better the content! :)
www.polljunkie.com/poll/ityesz/trails-in-the-sky-community-ranking/admin
I got into the series when I saw Cold Steel and Cold Steel 2 on PS Now last year. I bought Cold Steel 3 as a Christmas gift for myself and I love this series.
I agree with you that if I had played Trails in the Sky first, I wouldnt have gotten into the series at all.
This video needs more views seriously. Thanks you so much for the video I agree so much with it. I just finished my trails of ao run in the last 2 days and good lord the raw emotions I have for this series is beyond me. I'm currently on my second run of cold steel 1 (first game I played back 2 years ago) and will be playing cold steel 2 again (just for recap of the whole erebonia arc and seeing the references) before cold steel 3 release. Looking forward to reading what the ng+ says. I feel like I'm one of the few that actually read everything from the books, news articles and the libaray within the game. It just grips you so much. The lore and the characters. I just love Kiseki series so much
Thank you for that comment! It's always nice to get genuine positive feedback from people who find videos like this useful, and it motivates me to do more! The series will be my favourite for many years to come I'm sure. It does so much that other triple A titles couldn't even dream of accomplishing, and it's all done by a small but dedicated team of developers.
Finally finished CS3 and...the ending felt like Avengers Infinity War...CS4 is going to be Endgame
Zero translation now at 100%! :) Just a play testing period to go...
Personally, I started the series when I saw Cold Steel on a sale, did a bit of research, and discovered that its predecessor was also on the sale, and decided to try that first. After about 6 hours played of Trails in the Sky I went and bought all the other Trails games available. I loved it as a starting off point, but then the graphics aren't all that important to me.
The thing that all newcomers should be aware of about all the Trails series, and maybe Sky in particular, is that they are character driven stories. If you go in knowing to expect that then you are forewarned that you have to spend a period of time getting to know your characters before you can expect the plot to gain momentum. By getting to know your characters first, the plot points, when they come, mean more.
I've been watching Lady Virgilia's videos to understand the lore for the past few months, mostly because my computer is an outdated potato, and I don't have the money to invest in a new one or upgrade right now.
I wish Falcom made these games more accessible for people on more platforms, like have all the trails games be available on the Switch, PS4, etc. They've done a pretty good job so far by bringing Trails 1 & 2 to PS4 so I hope eventually they expand on that.
They're brilliant lore summaries, and perfect for people who don't have the time or means to play! As for accessibility, I'd like to think that Falcom are starting to realise that there are fans for the series outside of Japan, and with that in mind, they should push more for localisation of other titles. We're seeing early stage projects aiming to bring Zero and Ao to the West as an example.
Awesome and well-made video! I agree with all of your points! I agree that Cold Steel 1 is a great place for players to start (this was the case for me as well) to see if the series is their cup of tea. If so, I think it will be only natural for those players to want to go back and get the full and complete Trails/Kiseki experience! However, having played Cold Steel III and IV myself thanks to kitsune457's spreadsheet, I definitely agree starting with Cold Steel III would be a great detriment to the experience. Cheers buddy! =)
You are too kind my man! Thanks a bunch for the feedback. Also, big appreciation to you for the twitter call-out, I definitely owe you something now!:)
See, people who actually played CS3 and 4 gets it. (The fact that starting with CS3 is just a clear display of mental stupidity)
Me having played all the previous games and still watching this video because I love the trails universe so much 😁
Can confirm this video is still really really important and god sent for a newcomer like me. Trails seems to be the closest thing in this day and age to my favorite series of all time: suikoden
Not a pc player and i don’t have a steam deck so i’ll wait for the sky trilogy to get a port on Switch and/or PS (i have both consoles).
Btw it sucks that CS 1&2 are still not localized on switch so i guess i’ll play them on my PS5.
Keep up the good work this series has won a new fan today and i’ll talk about it around me.
I agree with basically all the stuff you mentioned in this video.
Thing is, I got introduced to the Kiseki-Series one year ago when a friend of mine, who bought trails in the sky at some random point and decided to play it, suggested it to me because the game was so great. Though I tought "Eh...okay, why not I guess" the Trails in the Sky FC was on sale in Steam and I had 8€ on hand, so I just decided to buy it and play it.
Though yes, I can agree that the beginning of Trails in the Sky is really slow, if you manage to get through the prologue, the game starts to pick up on pace, especially at the 2nd chapter.
Though I got immersed into the game the second I began it, since I just LOVED the slow pace at the beginning, and tbh.?
Without the slow pace at the beginning, I think I wouldn't love SC as much as I do now.
Though that's just me, but I loved the beginning of the game, but the opinions can vary...strongly.
While there are some guys who loved it (there was even somebody who rushed through the Sky Trilogy in merely 6 weeks), somebody still is at the beginning of the game, since the beginning of the game is kind of tough for him.
So yeah, I think that Cold Steel as starting point isn't so bad, but I think that Sky as starting point is still the best, since it gives you a different perspective for the Cold Steel games.
Like, it was a really big shock for me when I realized after the Sky Trilogy "Wait...no Calvard arc? Crossbell? FCKING EREBONIA?!...AND THE SETTING IS A MILITARY SCHOOL?!"
THIS right there is one of the many reasons why I love this franchise so much. But, like I said, other arcs as starting point is completely fine too, and the only thing I'm concerned about is how the newcomers, whereby some will inevitably start with CS3, perceive the games with such a starting point.
Maybe some of them will get hooked up, start to play the older games and maybe have a...unique, different, but in a way cool experience? Though for me, it's unimaginable since, like you said in this video, CS3 is the convergence point of all 3 arcs, and you WILL fanboy around every time an old character jumps into the scene, since a lot of guys fell in LOVE with EVERY character in this series, just because they were SUCH GOOD CHARACTERS, but...I gotta be honest: I'm really looking forward to some newcomers sharing their experience, with CS3 as the starting point.
Definitely agree. I got hooked on the Sky Arc very soon after chapter 3. I think people nowadays though need a good hook to entice them in, and waiting 10 hours or so to have it happen is asking too much for a lot of people. It's ultimately why I believe Cold Steel to be a good start point.
I started Trails Of Cold Steel 1 and 2 wayback in 2016 in my PSVita.. then I want some more.
Then I played Trails In The Sky FC to SC.
I even bought hacked Vita just to play Zero and Ao No Kiseki, and Trails In The Sky 3rd with English Patch.
Now I'm waiting for Trails Of Cold Steel 3 delayed from September to October.. but I must say patience is a vitrue.. so I'm willing to wait 😁
You and me both mate! Hey, if we can play through 7 games for the best payoff, what's another 2 months?!
I played Cold Steel 1-3 before getting into the other games. I think Cold Steel 1 is a good starting point for many of the reasons you mentioned. If I just started with Sky, I don't know if I would have gotten into it. The combat/mechanics in Cold Steel were much more interesting than Sky's. I blitzed through the Cold Steel games, playing all 3 in about a month and a half. It was sort of my second full time job I was so obsessed. Sky is fun and interesting from a story perspective, but the fights aren't as interesting and for me it's easier to get attached to characters that are well animated and I can hear them talk (as opposed to simply reading text all the time). Like you, I think if I hadn't gotten so hooked by the Cold Steel games, I might not be interested enough to push through the Sky games. Even so, I am taking the Sky games a lot more slowly.
I'm glad you enjoyed Cold Steel! I personally am very thankful to CS1 for introducing me to the series, but I have no qualms in saying that, at present, Sky as a whole is better than the 3 CS games so far. But CS3 was fantastic, especially after playing the previous titles, so it brought the arc up quite a bit. Give the Sky trilogy time, FC will start slow, but it leads to my second favourite game of the franchise in SC, and Third is fantastic for the additional lore.
I tried Sky first and it honestly bored me. Thankfully I got Cold Steel this Christmas on a whim and I got obsessed. Now I'm on CS2 (cause I beat 1 in like a week of nonstop playing) completely addicted. Thanks to these 2, I'm actually interested in all the series so I bought the entire thing on steam. I'm so invested that I booted up Sky FC again, this time I'm actually engaged. Having voice acting mod helps too.
I'm speechless with Cold Steel 3. I finished it last night and must say this is the best entertainment experience I've had in my entire live, from a narrative and its execution perspective. This game is a masterpiece and I'll definetlt buy the PS5 update when it's released because there's so much going on at the same time during the ending, that inevitably there are some small loading times with every scene jump, so it would be great to experience this ending without any loading time.
Once I ended Cold Steel 3 I felt the need to start Cold Steel 4 inmediately in order to see what came next, and I managed to play the entire prologue of it and what I saw is amazing... I mean, WOOOOW... the masterminds at Nihon Falcom are genious!
Every person that enjoys reading a great story, discover new complex fantasy worlds and get to know and care for great characters, must play this games... they're the best there is in the entire enrertainmet industry (books, movies, series, etc)... but in order to better understand and enjoy Cold Steel 3 and 4, it's necesary to play the prevous 2 archs of the franchise (Liberl and Crossbell)... but don't worry about it, because even if those games are RPG classics, they're still amazing masterpieces that will surprise you... for instance, up until last night, Trails In the Sky SC was my favorite game of all time, and that's the second game of the entire franchise, surpassing games such as The Witcher 3 GOTY edition (which I love), Persona 5 Royal, etc... I can't imagine what Trails in The Sky SC would be like with a Remake of the level of Cold Steel 3&4, while preserving its escense intact (I have to say this because of what SQUARE did with its bastard child named FFVII Remake, which is disgraceful).
Cold Steel 3 is a freaking masterpiece! And yiu shoukd play it with the voices in Japanese to experience the origibal concept of its ceeators because the english dubbing is missed completely the spirit of the characters and delivers something different from tve original idea.
Thabk you, Nihon Falcom.
Yea Cold Steel 1 was handled masterfully for getting newer bloods into the series as a whole. My first TLOH game was Zero no kiseki on psp with partial translation which was like 4-5 years ago, but i only played for like 2 hours or so max and didn't bother touching the game again. But once i got my hands on ToCS on pc i was set. Right now about to start ToCS 3 which just came out a few weeks ago. Just tryng to close some gaps here and there watching these videos.
Yea just wanted to know more about the crossbell section
Just like you I was introduced to the Trails series by Trails of Cold Steel & I've loved every minute of the series. I'm currently playing Trails of Cold Steel 3 for a second time & I'm loving it. No matter how many times I play this series I still laugh at the same scenes & still question certain scenes That shocked me when I pl;ayed the game for the first time. I wish my grandmother on my mom's side was still alive because she loved playing RPGs such as the Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger, the Breath of Fire series, Crystalis, & the Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior series just to give a few examples. I believe if Nanny was still with us she would have loved the Trails of Cold Steel series since she loved going on quests & getting rewarded for them, plus I would have loved to see her reaction to some of the bonding events that happen in the series such as Rean's with Alisa & Sara for example.
It might seem random to reply to this now, but I just finished Trails from Zero, and I wanted to mention that I started the series with CS3. I had never heard a single thing about this series until CS3. I jumped in completely blind, only because I wanted to play a turn-based game and I enjoyed what I played of CS3's demo. What got me to stick with the game was how strangely confident it was in showing off a huge cast of characters I had no knowledge of or prior attachment to, and expecting me to keep up. As I went through the game I started getting a feel for how big its world really was, with a library full of weird fantasy terminology and a hugely detailed world map with interesting geopolitics. It was a strange experience but it hooked me. I've only played CS3, CS4 and Zero but I have pretty much every Trails game on my bucket list now. It may be the most impressive series I've had the fortune to discover. I owe it to CS3 for getting me invested.
I played one of the earlier games before trails in the sky. Thought it was cool but never finished it. Played a bit of FC but fell off the train. Then I got cold steel and loved it. Beat it and now I'm getting close to finishing 2 and soon 3. But I'm also going back to playing the past titles too.
Same..im doing backward. I love Cold steel 1 n 2 so much that im willing to learn the other arc,then i move to zero and ao..and lastly sky. Im not really into sky so much, but i quite like crossbell arc too. Pretty much will play cs n 4 too until i get my own pc 😣😣
I got cold steel 1 two years ago as a christmas present from my boyfriend. Then I got cold steel 2 this last christmas from his brother and decided I'd just finally get started. I had tried the first sky game before (like 5 years ago or so), and I own it on psp and steam but it could never hold my attention because dear god does it DRAG!
After seeing where the story goes though, I bought the rest of the sky games during the christmas sale just as I was approaching the halfway point in cold steel 1.
That's the reason I absolutely agree that it's totally fine for people to start with cold steel one, especially if they're fans of the persona franchise.
I'll finish cold steel 2, then play through the sky games chronologically, then I'll see if I can't find zero and ao somewhere..., and thennnnn I'll be 40 xD well then I'll start with the new games, cold steel 3 and (hopefully by that time) 4.
I have to say though that I HATE it when devs gate important story content behind NG+. It was fine in nier and nier:automata because the time for each playthrough wasn't 60+ hours (cold steel 1 took me close to 90h) but I will NOT be doing a second playthrough of either cold steel 1 or 2. I'll just watch the relevant scenes on youtube. I have a job lol.
Anyway I'm glad I finally got my ass in gear with these games. They're a lot of work and a huge time investment, but they're just so completely different from your typical jrpg because you get to know the world and characters over such an extended period of time. The only thing I'd compare it with is something like Lord of the Rings maybe.
Glad to hear you're about to get stuck in to, what is in my opinion, the best JRPG series around. And honestly, I envy you a little, you've come in at a great time, as we're so close to getting Zero no Kiseki translated (by Geofront). We've got the new game coming too, and of course CS4 is hopefully on the way soon!
The Sky trilogy does indeed start slow, I thought the same as well, but it really picks up come a third of the way through FC, and then SC is pretty much full throttle all the way. I'd say it's the best in terms of characterisation in the series, interactions, growth, compelling arcs, it has everything.
Take your time with the games though, they are indeed a big time investment, but it's soooo worth it. No other series gives me a roller coaster of emotion like this one, and I'm certain it will remain my favourite series right up until it ends in my mid 40's.
Hope you enjoy your journey in Zemuria! :)
Just got into zemuria with cold steel 3 thank you for this wonderful video and new channels recommendations
So for me new to the trail series *played trails in the sky* What is your best suggestion to deal with the drag of the first game in each saga. Playing coldsteel 1 and i feel likee its dragging so much
Im replaying evolution versions of the first five games
I agree with pretty much everything you said regarding Cold Steel. It'll be 2 years this year since I started the Cold Steel series and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Due to work, family and other stuff, I've only played them once per year. Finished part 1 in 2020, Part 2 in 2021 and now I'm just starting part 3 this year. I figure I'll br doing pt 4 next year. But when I play them, it puts me at ease, makes me forget about all the BS in life for just a little while. I.E. it's a stress reliever. Going to play some more tonight
I don't get why so many people say Sky is boring. I started with Sky and I loved it. I sadly didn't get all the sidequests due to not using a guide. Estelle is the best Protagonist by far, especially because of her very big stick. And also Kevin. Nobody should miss out on Kevin and Ries. Maybe I am just different, because I don't need high stakes to be invested. Grandia also starts very lowkey with 2 kids going on adventures. Although Grandia does drag a bit near the end, but that could have just been me only wanting to get done with it. I played the entire series up to Cold Steel in order and am glad I did. I do miss the Sky characters, but thankfully Olivier and Mueller are still there. Those 2 have always been fun. I believe the Sky arc should be experienced first, mainly due to Olivier. That guy has the funniest scenes in Sky by far. But hey, other people need different things. I still think Sky is the best point to start. I love Bestelle.
The games that made me look more into the series were the cold steel games, but after some research I found out about the trails in the sky games, so I sucked it up and decided to play the sky games on pc. While I do agree that sky first chapter is VERY slow at the start, it was well worth it because the sky trilogy as a whole was the best part of the trails saga for me. When I reached the end of sky the 3rd and it finally hit me that it was over, I was genuinely depressed lol. I gree such an attachment to the sky characters and Liberl as a whole. The cold steel games are more modern and look better but I still think the the sky cast was the best group of misfits this series has to offer, so far at least. (Granted I haven't actually played the crossbelle arc but I did watch a story summary in order to at least know the important events that took place.)
Good stuff on getting up to speed beforehand! I still maintain that playing the games in their intended order is the best way to go, but there are many people who won't get past the slow start of FC, and might just abandon it completely. As such, I'm glad there's another route in for people who need something a bit more 'modern' to get them hooked.
@@TheKisekiNut Oh yea I agree. To be honest there were times during first chapter that even I got really frustrated with how slow it was. ( One day I was playing for a while, maybe a good 6 or 7hrs straight, and I accidently hit the off button on my laptop only for me to realize I hadn't saved the whole time I was playing lol. Almost dropped the game there not gonna lie. But then I played all the way through back to where I was and then realized there was autosave. 🤦♂️) I'm just saying the sky trilogy is well worth the rocky start.
@@TaqSoto Ooof, that's a deal breaker for me! 7 hours of progress down the drain is enough to hit hard! Glad you stuck through though, it's a fantastic trilogy of games, and was my favourite up until playing the Crossbell titles.
I completely agree. I started with CS1, then played CS2. I knew of FC and SC, and when I learnt that CS3 was reintroducing old characters, decided to start FC.
I'm loving FC. It's fun seeing characters like Olivier and going 'oh, him!'. The story is slow, but makes a nice change from the high stakes of CS2.
My fiancee is playing CS4 and when he first saw Estelle, Joshua, Schera appeared, I got excited to continue my own adventure in FC and SC.
Reminder it may be a good idea if you've already played sky to watch a recap or replay them while you wait. It isn't as important as crossbell but to get the full effect of seeing tita and agate being back it'll help. [and CS4 is really sky heavy, tons of people will be back]
Hell yeah CS4 is sky-heavy.
I'm back and just started cold steel 3 glad I had this bad boy to carry me through
Cold steel was my introduction to the series and I haven't regretted it since in short I came across it by browsing the ps now app and tried it out and this was before they started to port all 4 games on the switch and ps4
I'm currently playing through CS1 now without any prior knowledge about the other story arcs. I was just told to watch the Sky and Crossbell arcs before playing CS3, which I intend to do. I find it fascinating how these story arcs overlap. It's a very intriguing series. Great video :).
Glad to have you on board! It's the best series for world-building, period. I've just finished the Crossbell duology, and my god, those 2 games are the best in the series so far. Trails has given me so many memorable moments, and I just want more people to get in to this series so they can experience the same.
I did that as well! Where can I watch those two for a summary?
Thank you. This is what I was looking for. I saw a recommendation for 3 on Switch and was trying to figure out whether that was a starting point or not.
I've no doubt people can still enjoy the game without prior knowledge, I only want more people to come in to the series. But I feel starting at CS3 lessens that chance significantly.
Sory since im about to start my cold steel 4.whats the different between end of saga and frontline edition series..can anyone explain?
My play order; Cold Steel 1, Cold Steel 2, Sky FC, Sky SC, Sky 3, Cold Steel 3, and now Geofront's Zero.
I’ve finally finished all Kiseki titles prior to CS3. Ao no Kiseki was the best so far, Trails in the Sky SC is a fair 2nd place. I started on CS1 and 2, then went back to the Sky trilogy.
My biggest takeaway from playing the Liberl and Crossbell arc was finally understanding just how serious the threat Osborne is. While getting more understanding on Ouroboros vs. The Church.
Now I’m ready for the “Infinity War” in CS3. Can’t wait to start CS3 and be prepped for CS4 “Endgame.”
Personally, I like the idea of a prequel and to make a game based on Sara makes sense. So, Trails of purple lightning is what I want.
Nice to hear from the perspective of someone who played Cold Steel first; I agree that it's no worse of an entry point than Sky, though as someone who played Sky first, I wouldn't say it's strictly better either. The graphics in Cold Steel might be better, but the hand drawn portraits in Sky were more expressive imo and made me feel the characters in a way Cold Steel didn't seem to do to the same extent. So I'd agree aesthetic presentation is very important, but aesthetic sense still boils down to personal taste and people should play whichever (introductory) game they feel like playing first :]
Couldn't say it better mate, it all comes down to personal preference. In hindsight, I know for a fact that if I started with Sky FC, I'd probably not be the fan I am today, alternatively, someone else could start with CS, and never come back. That decision comes down to the player in the end, but I always hope that they make the right decision, so we get more people involved with the fandom.
@@TheKisekiNut Indeed! It's always nice to see the fandom grow, and I always appreciate people like you who produce neat content and promote it :D
Cold Steel is just more fun to play and rather than aesthethically pleasing due to being "pretty", it's more about quality of life like clean visuals and smooth menus
@@Walamonga1313 Good point! I guess for me as well, CS1's story just felt ... kind of tedious, while Sky FC wasn't immediately thrilling but it kept me hooked. So I'm still glad I started with Sky since I probably would have dropped the series if I started with CS1. Not saying CS1's story is bad; just despite the modernity and QOL improvements I don't think CS1 has strictly better hook potential than Sky FC
Do you think that the two first trails of the steel will come to Nintendo Switch? 3 and 4 are coming but is wierd to try them without the first two...
I understand where you're coming from. Unfortunately, it all lies with XSeed whether the other 2 titles come to Switch. Since they hold the licence, it's ultimately their decision until it expires (if it ever does). XSeed have been active some what recently with the likes of Celceta's remaster on PS4, but they lack the same level of resources as NISA, so I wouldn't be too hopeful.
@@TheKisekiNut Thanks for your kind reply!
Oh man. And here I was decided to play Cold Steel 3 before playing the previous Trails game (just finished Cold Steel 2).
But this video is making me second guess the decision and makes me want to play Sky first.
Really hard to decide!
It's your decision at the end of the day. I just give my recommendation based on my own experience. I know for a fact I wouldn't have enjoyed CS3 as much as I did if I hadn't played Crossbell and Sky first. And that's not too bad an issue when both of the other arcs are top quality as well.
I started on Cold Steel 1 as well. Fell in love with the world so just beat 3 so plan on going back and playing skies. I loved the slow placed of the first game. Now I just want Trails 4 lol. I read a wiki on the different games and read up on characters I missed out on lol I hope they dub the SSS/crossbell one
Sky is fantastic, and Crossbell is the best in my opinion. You've got plenty to get stuck in to, and with the Zero Geofront translation out, you can at least play one half of the Crossbell arc with quality assured.
I do not understand how someone could say Sky couldn’t get people hooked this day and age. It is still one of the best imo Sky SC and Azure best ones. Plus it makes it all worth it when you play later games
I'll admit to starting the game at 3 and it does a reasonable job at catching you up, if it wasn't for 3 i'd have never jumped back to play the first two and now just starting Zero before i get onto 4.
I have played trails in the sky when it first released on PSP didn't get into it till I played cold steel and it made me a fan of the series
Is the game+ storyline in relation to Thomas? I definitely saw that scene on my playthrough, and 100%, guaranteed haven't played it through twice.
It is, and I would do it, It gives you a pretty important plot point for CS3. Or at least watch it on YT.
Thanks for the reply and also a massive thanks for the content. Great work! A little confused though because I got that scene on my first playthrough (it is the scene on the rooftop of Thors where he reveals he's a gralsritter right?). I have never done a second playthrough, so I feel that maybe it isn't locked behind a game+ wall. I did spend around 120 hours and spoke to every npc (and read everything possible, which is how I roll with the Trails games). And I definitely saw that scene on my only playthrough.
Just wanted to mention that for newcomers who might get put off by the idea of having to play it twice to see an important part of the story.
Also, love your channel mate, keep up the awesome work!
@@c-chakra6431 That is interesting, because I'm sure it's only in NG+. You can only collect the black records in that mode, so i don't know if they possibly changed it? Might have to check that out myself.
Same here. I first played TOCS1 and then it piqued my interest with the trails series while playing.
Sadly i wasnt able to finish TOCS1 but my next playthrough was the trails series. Luckily i finished the 3 games a few years ago. Honestly those games got me invested in the characters and the lore. I plan to finish TOCS for real this time.
Do it! Honestly for all the flak the Cold Steel series gets (which I think is a bit unfair), there's no doubt it's played a big part in bringing new fans to the series. And it should always be praised for that at least.
If it wasn’t for Cold Steel 1, i never would’ve gotten into Trails in the Sky. Though, the mystery surrounding Olivert’s identity is practically gone in Sky.
A tremendous series, can't recommend it enough for any JRPG fans
Couldn't say it better man!
So in short:
Should I play the game without any of the prior title? No, it will take away a lot of the plot with the required knowledge.
You can either play
A) The prior two Cold Steel titles before starting this (the good choice)
or
B) The prior Trails titles in release order (the full experience)
albeit I myself have also started from ToCS1 and intend to check the prior titles out myself after beating ToCS3+4
Do you think trails 3 will be coming on pc?
I imagine it will come to PC, but how long that takes could be anyones guess. But it's well within Falcom and NISA's interest to bring it to PC, they already did it with YS8, and I'm confident they won't make the same mistakes as they did with that game if they decide to do a port.
March 22nd!
Still waiting on that Crossbell port Falcom
We might be in luck, they've been mentioning that they have been working on something in relation to Zero and Ao. Don't know how long it would be till we get an update on that, but it seems a step in the right direction!
Well, Falcom is a small team, they're doing games for ages yeah, but they never boomed like Square Enix. So, they often need people from here to go to them and say "Hey, I want to localize your game, how we can achieve that?" you know?
The reason Azure/Zero never come, first and foremost, was because XSEED at first thought that Cold Steel would Sell better because of the "better" graphics. They didn't care about the gap we would have on the story by skipping the two games.
Nisa's at least interested on Porting Zero/Azure and maybe they'll do it. But I doubt they will do before they release Cold Steel 4 too. I think they want to keep the momentum, because they are making a LOT of commercials and even on Sony's announcements the game's being shown, so they will start localizing the 4th game too. XD
@@TheKisekiNut Oh, they probably will add a "The Story so Far" with a detailed text driven menu so we can understand what's happening on the fourth game specially xD
Soo u ready for it next year
I am from the future and we are getting 4 new ports of Falcom Games! With Crossbell also getting a Switch port! Rejoyce my friend, for we are getting the whole series on Steam now! And everything from cold steel 3 onwards is getting Switch Ports! Yay! And Geofront is helping with the Crossbell localization! Isn't that great?
I 100% agree with you on your talking points on CS I being a great place for newcomers to start with. Like yourself, with out CS I, I wouldn't have been a Trails fan at all, but my story is slightly different. Trails of Cold Steel caught my attention and I knew instantly I wanted to play the game. However I was encouraged to start the series with Trails in The Sky, which I eventually did. However, it was still CS I that acted as a carrot on a stick (of sorts) that kept me motivated during the really slow start of Sky when I wanted to drop the series entirely. Retrospectively I am extremely glad I played in chronological order, but I completely understand with letting newcomers know that it's okay to start with CS I as I want to grow this series, and not "scare away" potential new fans.
That being said I will always at least recommend starting at the beginning but yea, nothing wrong with starting with "Trails of Cold Steel".
Thanks for the comment mate! Yeah, even though playing through the games chronologically is the best course of action, I personally feel that Cold Steel is the better option as an introduction to the series, and really, it's not a detriment to the player to start here, rather than with Sky. If they miss a few references, then so bed it, but they're now invested, and that's what counts.
In other words you highly recommend it
Damn, I'm someone that likes to start a series from the start and was hoping Cold steel III could be played without knowledge of old games.
I'm gonna have to put this one on hold because I have multiple rpgs on my backlog and don't really have the time to play more than one at a time.
Looking forward to eventually trying this series.
I've no doubt people can play CS3 as their first game and enjoy it, which is great, it gets more people involved. But anyone who loves the series will always recommend at least starting at CS1 or Sky FC to capitalise on what makes the Trails Universe so engrossing. But that's all it is, a recommendation. It's down to the player to decide where they want to start.
Its great to know I'm not the only one who started with Cold steel 1 and 2 lol I love Class 7 so much
You and I both man, Class 7 are awesome:). But it's great, since the first game focuses mainly on them, and how they interact with Erebonia. It makes sense that new-comers can start with CS1.
I decided to start with TOCS 3 cause it seemed the most appealing. I understand playing the 1st two games would give me more "emotional investment" but I got a backlog so ain't got Time for that.
I played sen 3 a while ago, and man I can't wait to try it in english too, cuz there are a few things I didn't quite get. Really hope this series gets the popularity it deserves in the coming years
You and me both mate, it deserves so much more love than it currently gets. I honestly think though that the series is getting a lot more traction lately, you see it mentioned a lot more in passing, which can only be a good thing.
Funny how you mentioned that Cold Steel 1 was your first Trails game you played that got hooked to the whole series. Will its the same for me too. I'm still pretty fresh and new to the series but the only games I beaten are just Cold Steel 1 and 2.
Now when I first played Cold Steel 1 I thought it was its standalone game and that it doesn't matter which Trails game you start out with which in my opinion I still believe it doesn't matter unless if people want to play things chronologically but it will be hard because the fools at Falcom never imported The Sky series and heard they are making a remake. But when I first and touched Cold Steel 1 I was having fun enjoying the game and story. Then during chapter 5 of Cold Steel 1 they were mentioning the events at Crossbell and it opened up a lot questions like are they connected? But still it wasn't enough to get me more hook to get the Trails of Zero just yet until I played Cold Steel 2 that game is made me want to play everything that is out there.
So now I have every trails game expected Daybreak the new one. But i'm slowly taking my time by continuing playing through Cold Steel 3 and Trails of Zero back to back. And yes I know it may contain spoilers since Cold Steel 3 continues on ahead but it doesn't matter to me it just makes all exciting for me and I can learn what happens later since I have access to them now.
Trials of cold steel is where is started it became Thebes gamin experience an sent me on my favorite gaming journey I really wanna play trails in the sky ino the first one is in English on PSP idk where else to play it or the other 2 games In the arc im about to finish tocs 3 now an got the 4th sitting on my shelf ready to go
I’m at cold steel 2 and I’m soooo tempted to skip to 3 and watch a summary lol
That’s what I’m gonna do
I don’t know if this is the right spot, but as someone who has only played CS1/2 and has no interest in playing Sky or the Crossbell arc, is there good a good video for like here’s everything you need to know? Bc from what I have understood CS3/4 are the convergence of all 3 arcs (crossbell, liberl, and erebonia), and and it’s easy to be lost or confused if you haven’t played the other games… anyone willing to help me find what i’m looking for. Google hasn’t been great so far… I found this video tho
Edit: Clarify before someone says just play the games… I have tried to play Sky FC a few times and each time only get a couple hours in before i’m playing something else. I think it’’s just the old gameplay or something but it just hasn’t appealed or connected with me, and I really would rather not have to play all these 100 hours games before I get to play CS3
LadyVirgilia's story summaries will have you sorted. I believe I mentioned them in the video.
I'm currently waiting for Calvard game, big want.
We might be in luck, as Falcom have already announced a new arc in the East of Zemuria, so we can assume that it will be in the Calvard Republic due to it being one of the remaining superpowers. Don't know when we will hear more about it, but keep your eyes peeled for it!
@@TheKisekiNut Did Kondo also mention something about a Cold Steel sidegame, or did I dream that?
Indeed he did, it'll tie in with Cold Steel 4, and take on a Gaiden style of gameplay, so I'm interested to see what they do with that. I did a video on that about a month a go when looking at the 15th anniversary of Trails.
@@TheKisekiNut the two new arcs that have been mentioned by kondo are the calvard (confirmed as the next one last i heard) and the leman state arc ( which he teased the possibility of showing up)
I’m waiting for CS4 and I hope they make a ending that would fit for the whole series and for rean as well because the climax of the ending of CS3 left me speechless and wanting to see more. The ending just felt soo good and yet it went so quickly
CS4 is on the way! 6 months or so is not long in the grand scheme of things.
Cold steel 1
Cold steel 2
Trails of the sky 1st
Trails of the sky 2nd
Trails of the sky 3rd
Crossbell Arc
Cold steel 3
Cold steel 4.
That is my recommended start. Cold steel 3 has too many characters and talks too much about liberal and crossbell, so I'd hold off. Unless you play cold steel 3 before trying the older games, then replay cold steel 3 again. Don't even play 4 unless you played everything... youll just be playing characters you have no connections to, when they're the most important characters in the entire series.
I would say the sky games first. Cs1 and 2. Cross bell arc. Then 3 & 4.
Yeah.. When you are on console I don't think you have access anything but ToCS 1 - 4
@@QuanLovesGaming I actually would recommend playing in order but I feel like a lot of new incomers would get bored first few hours of Trails in the Sky if they dont' give it a real shot, maybe the new 3D graphics of Cold Steel could suck them in lol Taht's honestly how it's been for a lot of people including myself. Thoguht I wouldn't have the time to play 10 games
@@primallionheart5318 this is correct. only Cold Steel is on console not PC
This is exactly how I'm playing them
If it wasn't for me being used to browsing game wikis and loving lore, those synopsi (don't know the plural form) would've been hard to really take in 100%. Luckily I'm used to series with huge amounts of lore.
I finish trail of cold steel 1 and 2 bout to get cold of steel 3 and 4 for my Nintendo Swich. Also want to get Xenoblade 3 and dragon quest 11 two of the best JRpg 🔥
Zero no Kiseki Evo is my favourite trails game and can't wait to see how Zero ties into CS3.
You and me both mate! Well, it's more Ao No Kiseki that it will tie in to, as that is the end of the Crossbell Arc, but I'm sure you'll love it nonetheless!:)
@@TheKisekiNut oh I love Ao no Kiseki played both mate. I just prefer Zero a bit more cause of 2 certain sky characters playable in it lol. I played sky trio Evo and zero evo was sad Ao Evo never got the patch it desveres had to play that one on pc.
Ah, gotcha! My bad dude!:)
I've played the Sky's series and Cold steel 1, And i really liked them. However i'm abit bummed that i did not have time to play Cold steel 2 before the release of this one. I know that it would be best to play that first but i have such limited time to play games now-a-days when also working full time. So maybe i will watch a let's play of 2 aswell as reading a summary of what occured and jump into 3.
That's understandable, watching a Playthrough will still be fine if you're lacking in time. I myself have a full time job, so time is definitely a limited thing, especially when playing JRPGs like Trails!
@@TheKisekiNut Yeah playing a 60+h JRPG before playing another 60+h JRPG is a tall order nowadays unfortunatly. Being an adult sure sucks! :D
I am just wondering how they will do the other arcs which will include Calvard and Leman. Maybe we might get to see a Northern Zemuria section in the Gaiden game coming up. After all we have not been to Jurai, North Ambria, and Remiferia. We could always save an Ored State expedition for Calvard.
Calvard is pretty much confirmed as the new Arc, that much we know. It's the only area that has real backstory compared to the other lands, and Falcom have said it will be based in the East of Zemuria, so we can deduce it will be Calvard. The Gaiden game will be related to Cold Steel 4 I believe, maybe something similar to what Trails in the Sky the 3rd was. As for other Arcs, I'm expecting one in Leman State, since it has a lot of key players, plus I would also expect Remiferia to be involved as well. It's possible that we might even get an arc that spans the whole North of Zemuria, rather than focusing on one land. There's still so much we don't know as you say, and I'm itching for more!
Nice video I played CS1&2 but not the other arcs but still looking forward to CS3 very much so. Loved Cold Steel 1 and 2!
Thanks for the comment! Obviously you're free to play whatever you want first, but I always suggest playing the previous games first before CS3 if you want the best experience. The best part about Trails in my opinion is seeing all the connections, and with the converging timelines, it will all come flowing in at once, so the prior knowledge is pretty important, at least in my eyes.
For sure man I don't doubt having the other two played for CS3 makes it better. I just don't have a psp nor do I play pc gaming. I'm still sure CS3 should at least be enjoyable with CS1&2 under my belt at least. I got into these games after playing p5 and saw them on PS4 with the rerelease :)
Not at all my man, I didn't mean to discredit your own experiences, and I'm sure Cold Steel 3 will be enjoyable for yourself also. I just want to advise people of the best route, whether they go ahead with that or not is their choice.:)
@@lukefonfabre766 you can play sky on ps4 tho.
Do you personally own a pc?
Playing on PS4, I have ToCS 1 - 4. Played 1 and 2, playing 3 now and will play 4 immediately after. If the other games are available via pc I don't have on so that's too bad lol. But ToCS is a cool franchise like the Tales of series
I do not have the time, drive, or attention span to play the 7 games.
I entered the Legend of the Heroes series with Cold Steel, and I will stick with Cold Steel, even if die-hards cry foul on this plan.
Having a full time job, a raid team in FF XIV, and an interest in hundreds of games as it is, I just can't find the time to sink into a JRPG series that spans so much content. That being said, Cold Steel was the first JRPG to re-spark my love for the genre since basically the early PS3 era. As such, I will continue to play the series. Yes, I realize I won't understand some references, or recognize characters. Ultimately, I think this is fine. When I eventually get around to playing the other games in the series, I can treat them as prequels, and really learn about what I didn't know before hand.
Basically, please do not be afraid to enter the series with Cold Steel 1, or even Cold Steel 3. (Cold Steel 3 has a section where you can read about the previous games to at least get a sliver of an idea of what's going on.) If you find you like the game, it will probably spark you to start looking into the other games. Anyone who starts at Cold Steel 3, is still another person who purchases the game, and furthers the chances of the rest of the Legend of Heroes games getting localized. And I'd rather have a potential fan realize they love the series by playing a more modern game and going backwards, than have them miss out entirely by feeling like there's too much in front of them to even get started.
It has no effect on me whether people play all 7 games, or stick with just playing CS3, how they choose to enjoy their games is their choice,
and I understand a lot of people don't have the time to invest in to a slew of long games. If playing CS3 alone gets more people invested in the series, then that's all
the better for the frachise as a whole.
However, for the people who are struggling to understand why the previous games are important, at least in the minds of those who have played them, I wanted to make this
video to fill in the detail a little. It's in no-way a condemnation of people who don't play the games, it's an advisory video to assist those who don't know where to start.
Me who played CS3 first because a friend recommended it to me: I'll see myself out.
Man, I hate I haven't played the other trails games when I hear how they're all connected. I'm bout done with cold steel 1 and gonna jump on 2 right after then 3, but hopefully they'll bring the other trails to the PS4
It undoubtedly is quite a lot to get through, but totally worth it in my mind. To be honest, if playing CS3 first gets someone invested in the series, as opposed to not playing at all because of the barrier, then it can only be a good thing. :)
came here to see if i could go into 3 without having to go through 4 different games first, sadly that doesn't seem to be the case.
Don't get me wrong, you can enjoy the game. There are people who have started here and found it a great journey, and that's inspired them to go back and play the other games, which is great all round. But as a person who has played them all (including CS4), I will always maintain you should play the other titles first for the best experience.
What interesting from Trails series is this is a story of HUGE conspiracy that involved the entire continent of Zemuria. The conflict in Liberl, Crossbell, and Erebonia is just the small part of it. I'm curious what Ouroboros will come up later in the eastern region.
Indeed! Honestly, I don't feel that Ouroboros is the only organisation at play here. I feel the Church also has something they're hiding, as evidenced by their gathering of artifacts. I don't think we'll see the fruits of that for a while, but they will get involved in some way in the future. There's no way that 'Only' Ouroboros are working on a major plan.
@@TheKisekiNut Yeah, right. I think both Septian Church and Ouroboros had play cat-and-mouse game for a very long time, but no one aware of it until Liberl Ark happened and shake the world.
Yay i gotta play on tocs3 on my first play.
it nice to see the game have a nice story
the end of number 1 is kinda make u want to play number 2 fast
right now i on my play number 2
hope that number 4 can come early this year xD
Trails of Cold Steel didn't really have much of an opportunity to spoil anything outside of itself as a standalone game. The plot ends just about where it started and pads out way more play time than was necessary just going around and introducing all of the characters and locations. Cold Steel 3 is almost a soft reset of the Cold Steel arc.
You got your wish IV is coming!!!!!!!!
HYPE!
I don't own a PC or psp so I can't play trails of the sky but I do own trails of steel 1&2 for the PS3.im gonna buy 3 can't wait to 4 comes over but why not bring the origin over trails of the sky.
I really think that Trails in the Sky have a self contained story. I mean, they are mentioned on other games and they have characters from Cold Steel already on Sky's series, like Osborne. However, the plot of the Sky series is "Self" contained. I mean, if we divide the series into smaller plots that together tells a bigger one (The Oroboros plot), then yeah we need all of them. Specially because for example, in CS1, Estelle and Joshua are mentioned so yeah it's good to play the games cronologically.
Playing them separatelly however, won't make the story less interesting. The problem for me with Cold Steel though, is that, the First Game starts in the exact moment the Zero no Kiseki starts. And the second game ends almost the same time the Azure ends too, so if you play the Zero/Azure first you WILL understand a lot of things that are happening on the background, like Osborne going to the Conference in Crossbell, the Azure Barrier and then the Azure Tree. You know, I played Cold Steel II on Vita first, and I would be so much more "Wowzed" if I had player Zero/Ao first, because then -SPoilers- The Azure Tree spawns, I would know right away that THAT was the last dungeon on the Zero/Azure series.
So, CS1 and 2 plays a lot with Azure/Zero. The problem with the third and fourth game on Cold Steel is, the story stops happening at the same time and we start to see what happened AFTER the events of those games. The cast will merge a lot and a LOT of stuff will be mentioned and a lot of people wouldn't understand about it. So, a lot of the Mind Blowing moments would be robbed from us because of it. If the events of Azure/Zero didn't happen at the same time as CS1/2 it would be a little less drama to understand. XD
I will wait for the Zero/Azure to be released though, on Steam specifically, because I want to support the series instead of trying to run unofficial ports probably cracked here. I already bought CS3 on PS4, the demo sold me the game, I'm amazed how the Dialog/Voices can be swiched on the fly without reseting the game. Even Persona 5 has some problems doing it (You need to reset the game to play in JApanese/English). So so far now, Nisa's doing an amazing job.
Also, congratz on actually complimenting Nisa's work instead of throwing stones on them. Ppl loves to say XSEED is the best, but CS2 are on Steam for a long time and there's a TON of bugs that sometimes makes the game unplayable because of bad programming on the port, but for a lot of ppl the problem is NISA getting CS3. XD
Totally agree, for me you have to play the other games prior to CS3 to get the best experience. Though I still believe that Sky is the best place to start for the optimum experience, I wanted to let others know that CS1 is still a fine place to start. Chronologically, it begins about halfway through Zero, but the actual references to other titles are not major. However, I have no doubt that if I played through CS1 again after playing through the rest of the games, I would get even more enjoyment out of it!
And as for NISA, so far, they've deserved the praise they're getting. Everyone was apprehensive at first, but I think a lot of the fanbase have come around. We can only judge them based on the game that is released, and from what I've seen, the mistakes of the past are likely to not be repeated. :)
It's confusing to me how ToCS is very appealing for new players to the series, show us lloyd bannings and rixia mao at the end of ToCS II and now i find out that the crossbell arcs is unlikely to be released on steam. the hell man, i was really hype for playing zero
It's just it's more in tune with a modern JRPG player. more familiar setting with the school, better quality of life, it's just more appealing for someone looking for a new series to delve in to. I'll always maintain that playing through the game chronologically is the most optimal route, but I'll also continually say that Cold Steel 1 is fine as a start point.
I played ao and zero psp version but for me TOCS is still the best (its my first) and dear to me.not only the graphics but also the characters have connection with the players ( where i can feel personal connection like persona does), not like sky arc or crossbell arc. When i finished sky or crossbell im just feel empty.but when cold steel end, i crave for more. 😊
I'm playing cold steel 1 and 2 and watching lore and story on cross bell arc and maybe sky
Good on you, you're gonna enjoy the game far more by doing it this way, at least in my opinion! :)
it would be nice if they actually put the game on sale, it'd draw more attention to people who want the experience but aren't willing to fork over £50 for the game
Bad thing I bought TOCS3 a minutes ago, just before saw this video ☹️
Don't worry buddy, CS3 will always be there! I would say that you HAVE to play CS1 and 2 before 3 to get any semblance of what's going on. I would only say it's highly recommended to play the other arcs. I've seen many people who have only played the first 2 Cold Steel games, and enjoyed CS3 regardless. It's also given them the impetus to see the other games, so it can work for some!
@@TheKisekiNut You got me thinking about buying the 1+2 Amazon bundle.
I literally bought all three games and didn’t unwrap 2 and 3 until I beat the previous 😂
Honestly I play cold steel 1 first as well then I was so amazed and hooked the game then research what game and series is it since it said cold steel 1 then it said I need to play trail in the sky, I was bored on the first 1 hour but I keep forcing my self to play it then I got hooked by the story not the game then play sc 2 and 3 then took me 1 year to get zero and ao no kiseki ( forcing my friend in Japan musashi to get it first me) then I am now a big fan of this series and brought cold stell 2 and 3 and yes you're right without cold steel 1 I will never become fan like this so i do recommend ppl play that first to you know hook the fish.
Those who played Trails series from childhood, would understand most of the jokes right now.
Craaaaaaaap, im at sky sc final chap and i wanna play through all the games, tho i have playes cs 1 and 2, i wanna play them again to see the connection and refrences, but i just got ps4 and with ps4 i got persona 5 which is so addicting that i cant find time to finish trails series before CS 3 which i dont like at all... also i gotta have time in the middle to watch anime... and do schoolwork ofc... i guess i just gotta wait A LOT... oeh... why did i find this series so late. I wonder how much will i be able to dodge the spoilers.
I will admit, it is a LOT to get through. But Cold Steel 3 isn't going any where, heck it's been around for 2 years already if you know Japanese. You've got all the time in the world to play through the previous entries before this one, and that time investment will be worth it, believe me!
Seriously take your time lol. Once you finish CS4 you'll be in the abyss of waiting to find out more on the next games [which will require spreadsheets anyway or Japanese]. And CS3 ends on a cliffhanger that makes CS1 look good, really no need to rush lol
I have a hard time getting into any non HD game in this time and age. Just like persona, I wouldn't have played any trails game without cold steel to start from.
I don't see how trails in the sky started out slow just because it didn't have a big bad for a majority of the game. Moves pretty fast imo, moreso because it's barely 40 hours. Not really the same thing. tons of interesting concepts and events that kept it pretty enjoyable through and through the entire journey. Cold steel starting as original as stale bread and burns slower than any other jrpg i've played. If we compare prologues from sky and cold steel it's probably night and day lmao. Cold steel is the slowest opening game of the series by any comparison.
Hopefully this game doesn't have the frame issues that that CS2 had
I don't know, from what I remember, the frame rate issues weren't too bad for CS2, but maybe I'm indifferent to FPS drops after playing a lot of below par ports? Who knows! I have faith though that this will be fine, and we can only judge when the game is in our hands. :)
@@TheKisekiNut did you play on a pro?
I played them all on PC, Steam sales happen a lot:). The Crossbell duology I was only able to play through PSP emulation however.
@@TheKisekiNut gotcha, im only aware of the frame issues happening on the pro.
Played 1 and 2 on vita have rebought 1 2 and 3 on ps4 and have 3 on switch
If you need to sum up the series in 10 words or less, just tell newcomers that it is the Japanese MCU. CS 3 is their Infinity War.
Pretty much bang on as a short concise summary of what Trails is most comparable to.
I would like to play the other games, i dont have a platform to play them on since 1 and 2 aren’t on switch. So i guess i should just bot play 3 then despite wanting to based on the this huge detriment huh.
decided to stop listening to reddit and discords, bought the game cuz of TGS sale for half price got CS 1-2-3
preordered CS4 too on amazon lets go!!!!
Enjoy bro! :)
For the love of all things trailsy..put them all on switch 😅
starting with cold steel 3 is a horrible decision haha kondo is a businessman
Totally agree. While more sales for Trails can only be a good thing, starting with CS3 is definitely not the best idea. But at the end of the day, it may work for some people to work in reverse like that, who knows.
@@TheKisekiNut yes i did it reverse..starting frm cold of steel 1 n 2 then i move to crossbell arc and lastly liberl arc 😆😆 i swear i will not become a falcom fan if i meet sky or ao first. Good thing cold of steel is my first. I'm just soo fall in love with it i cant help it