As a fan of the Trails series, I'd give you a warning about this. Trails from Zero is analogous in many ways to Trails in the Sky FC. While paced better than Sky FC (IMHO), Trails from Zero tends more toward slower paced world building and character development, with a lot of the real payoff being the intense story of Trails to Azure. One thing that Trails from Zero has going for it is that it gets to build off of the world and characters of the Sky trilogy, and you'll see plenty of references to Sky.
@@shawnwalker8133 I’m totally ready for a slow burn entry in Zero. Reading Stormlight Archive really helped me come to grips with what a slow burn really is. They also referenced Calvard so much in these games that I want to check this place out really bad.
@@TheTheoLogan898 Off-topic question for you (no spoilers, please): I've read books 1 & 2 of Stormlight Archive, but then I stopped. I loved it, but I get the impression that it's just not going to be as good after that. What's your opinion on how books 3 & 4 compare to the first two? I'm definitely going to go back to it, but I'm waiting for book 5 (the end of the first arc/half) before I start over.
@@guruthosamarthruin4459 I just finished part 1 of book 3 a few weeks ago. I definitely like the pacing more and the intrigue because there’s a good bit going on. Several folks in the community have even said that Oathbringer is their favorite of the 4.
My opinion on the sky games as a whole is that Sky FC is the necessary setup that doesn't forget to be a good game by itself, Sky SC is a masterclass on how to follow of a setup game and the best game overall, and that Sky the 3rd has the best moments of the trilogy.
One of the interesting things about this game is that it foreshadows so many of the events that'll take place in future games. So not only is it a good game in general, but on replays this game is even better because you can see how much planning went into the series as a whole. I'm glad you liked it, BTW. It's definitely up there as one of my favorites in the series. And waiting until Zero releases is a good idea, if only because waiting can help you avoid burnout. Trust me, you don't want to burnout on these games. XD
That’s one thing I’ve come to greatly appreciate about these games is that it appears to be very well thought out and structured. Super excited to see where it goes with Zero! Thanks for stopping by and commenting
@@TheTheoLogan898 Lol, I'm also excited about Zero/Azure. Admittedly, I've played Zero a bit on the PC with Geofront's patch, but it was causing issues, so I decided to just wait until it releases on consoles. That said, I'm pretty sure you'll like Zero. It was very enjoyable for me until those issues started popping up.
@@drakenstoc4885 With voice mod or without? Hope they will add voice to Western PC release. Also it is thirsty Crossbell. Amount of sexual jokes I have deduced from what they say... I burned out when I constantly laughed for a few hours playing a certain secret mission (I played each alternative choice).
@@copiumkiller To be honest... I think it was without the voice mod? I just went with whatever the patch gave me. I do remember voices in battle, but that was it. Also, the western release will have Japanese voices included (no English though). >.>
@@drakenstoc4885 In some places the voice acting added so much. In zero, I loved going 1st time to hospital. 0.5 h of pure laughter and wholesomeness. I call it "Thirsty Crossbell" for a reason. Randy is MVP regarding jokes due to how he interacts with people. Like Oliver in TITS.
I'm glad to see you've been enjoying the series so much. It can definitely take a bit of time to get into because of the way the story is paced, but the journey is worth it in the long run. Trails in the Sky the 3rd is certainly the most unique game in the series due to the structure of it's gameplay and plot, but serves as a great capstone to the Sky arc. It'll be interesting to see what you think of the Crossbell and Cold Steel games when you get to them. You may be lucky in that, by the time you finish all the way through to Cold Steel 4, Trails into Reverie might be out in English by then.
@@TheTheoLogan898 Yup, Reverie takes place directly after Cold Steel 4 and from what I understand it sort acts as a connecting game between arcs. Kind of how like with Sky the main story more or less concluded in SC, but Sky the 3rd still acted as a bookend to the arc while setting up things for the future. Same deal with Reverie, from what I've heard. I think Reverie is set to come out in 2023, so plenty of time to go yet.
One thing I appreciate about 3rds NPC conversation is that they are very quality over quantity. Instead of towns of NPCs you have 16 party members who each update their dialogue after something happens. Its much more realistic to keep up with 16 characters you care about than with an uncountable amount of strangers. Its also less time invested and you have more of an idea that the payoff will be worth it.
Exactly. I much prefer the more intimate circle of people to keep up with than a handful of towns that have a lot of people to go talk to. It’s cool for world building but I’m just not the kind of gamer to go talk to every single NPC in every town.
I absolutely adored the chest messages from these games, and made sure I got every single one I could (I think I missed like 5 or 6 per game because I don't have the patience to 100% them) when I played through the trilogy. They made the games consistently fun and somewhat funny, so when I got down to Gehenna and every single chest just said "This Chest is Empty" over and over again, I got chills down my spine, I was legitimately unsettled for the entire rest of that section. When even the chest messages shut up and get out of the way, you know shit is as real as it can get. P.S. It's actually pronounce loo-vay. Weird old Germanic name.
It’s so cool to see how something like the chest messages can set the tone for the game. These developers really know what they’re doing. Thanks for the correction on the pronunciation! I knew I wasn’t saying it right!
@@TheTheoLogan898 the funny thing is, the chest messages aren't even the developers' doing, only the translators'. It kind of feels like they're cheating by adding something potentially meaningful in such a trivial way that wasn't at all a dimension of the source material, but needless to say, I appreciate their efforts.
I stumbled onto your Trails reviews for FC and SC just after beating SC (so like 2 weeks ago) and I just finished 3rd not too long ago and man. I love this series. On my way to playing the Crossbell arc and I enjoyed seeing your reviews thus far! Can't wait to watch the next one once I finish Zero!
8:00 technally you could play as Mueller, Julia and Josette in SC. For Mueller and Julia you just have to talk to them after you finished the first half of the final dungeon
I started with the Erebonia arc and then Sky, so now I'm getting retroactive aha moments whenever I see concepts come up. I also love that, even though some characters have more of a spotlight than others, all of them have importance to the universe in general or clearly set up concepts for future arcs. Now I wish I discovered this game series earlier, back when I only played first party Nintendo games like Pokémon.
That’s one of my favorite things about the games also: each character is fleshed out well. Even the NPCs are given a little more attention in these games. Have you started Trails from Zero?
Update; I played through Azure and while playing the third I can't help but notice how many concepts it introduced to the series, especially when it comes to supernatural phenomenons and politics. You also retroactively get a sense for why Estelle, Joshua, and Renne being with the SSS would change their fates in Zero, because they literally have seen it before.
Welcome onboard! Now you're living it, hehe. Sorry you have to wait until fall to begin your journey through Crossbell, but you're surely in for a ride. Crossbell may be my favorite arc so far. I got through the latest game (Kuro no Kiseki) a couple of months ago and it was so good. Regarding Star Door 15 I couldn't play anymore that day, and I was also warned.
At this point I'd also wait for the official release of Zero, there will be some neat little extras in it. It is possible to play Cold Steel before, but I think that the release order is the best way to play them. The CS spoilers in Azure were intended from the developer and I wouldn't be keen on jumping back and forth between the technical and gameplay improvements of Cold Steel, compared to Azure. But I'm sure you will love Zero, especially if you are into some loose ends of Skys story.
I honestly hadn’t considered the technical side of things when making that order. Now it seems less like a good idea because of the gaps in technology and mechanics lol
I played this game on my Vita, being the translated Evo version, and it was glorious. Fantastic story and gameplay, plus voice acting all over. Those were some amazing 70ish hours.
As someone who actually did play the games in your proposed play order. (Zero, Cold Steel, Azure, and Cold Steel 2). This order works out pretty well since the events of the Crossbell duology and Cold Steel 1 and 2 take place at roughly the same time. This order is pretty much as close to chronological order as you can get.
Yeah, the chronology works out pretty well that way, but having back to back slow burns is painful. I definitely prefer release order for this reason, and the Cold Steel will feel like a way to catch your breath after everything that happens in Azure because holy crap. Never felt that level of tension in a JRPG before. 😅
@@Naticus105 Zero didn't feel like that much of a slow burn for me, but thats probably because I really liked all 4 of the main characters. I also didn't play the games back to back though, since I knew I had to wait for Geofront's Azure translation. I waited a few months before I started Cold Steel 1.
@@FirstLast-mn4re It's certainly a slower game than SC, 3rd, Azure and CS2 though. That's all I mean, comparatively it's a slow game for a significant amount of time. Don't get me wrong, I loved that game, but going from one game where it's an intro to chars and region to another game where it's an intro to chars and region could feel hard to do. YMMV
@@TheTheoLogan898 My opinion on that is that Azure has the best "drama" in the series, and it's what has many people placing it above SC. The small main cast also helps, because you get lots of banter among them and they truly feel like your homies. Overall, the Crossbell arc feels like it focuses more on the events than the characters tho. You get backstories, you get the banter, but no very defined char arcs like in Sky and Cold Steel.
Trails 3rd is probably my favorite game in the series. Its the most focused story of the entire franchise, covering basically just one character's redemption arc from start to finish. It made me laugh, it made me cry (on three occasions), and it has only gotten better in retrospect. It has probably my favorite soundtrack out of any game I've played. I'm hard pressed to think of any actual flaws in this masterpiece of a game, and its a miracle it even came out to begin with. Seriously, if you aren't aware of the story behind the localization of the Sky Trilogy, look it up. There is a great video by Matt McMuscles about it here on RUclips. 18:04 - I would actually recommend trying hard for the next game, at least for the prologue. From here on out the combat starts getting a lot more balanced and gets generally easier, especially with the new options each game introduces. If it feels too hard, then normal is good.
@@TheTheoLogan898 I played through hard the whole way through and I only remember one specific fight in the prologue being particularly hard, and it was because you end up in a one-on-one battle. If you can plan and strategize, you can get past it. If no, its not terribly far into the game so restarting and skipping to that point isn't terrible.
I love how I grew gameplay wise. 1st game - activating just crafts, S crafts, arts. 2nd game - time cheese (opponent basically does not get turn due to turn delays, speed reduce and my party having speed up). 3rd had was the most easiest combat for me due to immortality cheese (Kevin's S craft + other character casting AREA block art). Even vs the ultimate tag team I lost only once on the highest difficulty. In Zero the most difficult mode was too easy , so I had my forbidden crafts, who I do not use (broken crafts like instant area heal craft, who also restores CP, while at the beginning the best heal art is single target, no CP and delayed instead of instant).
I'm almost at the final dungeon of Sky 3rd. Grinding the characters up, doing any doors that I missed, etc etc. My favorite character... ooh, that's a tricky one. On the one hand, Olivier is hands down the funniest character in the game, and the whole twist involving him being a prince of Erebonia was pretty shocking. On the other hand, Estelle is also pretty humorous, and she goes through a lot of character development throughout the trilogy while losing not one bit of what made her Estelle. So, yeah. Tie between those two, I think.
With regards to door 14, interestingly if you have the Evo Voice mod, which uses the Japenese Voice Acting from the Evo version of the game and implements it in the PC version, you can hear that when the Ouroboros Grand master is talking they have a female/very feminine voice implying that the leader of the organization is a woman. Just a little bit of extra foreshadowing for you. 12:59 one minor correction, the Auriole wasn't actually destroyed, it just 'vanished'. There is info on what exactly happened to it in door 14 though. 14:50 When one story ends, another begins. 16:15 Darn Ninjas, always cutting Onions. On the subject of other games, have you played Xenoblade Chronicles?
Interesting. I meant to install that voice mod but completely forgot about it. Thanks for the corrections btw. As far as Xenoblade goes, I have played those. The first one is actually one of my favorite JRPGs of all time and I am very much looking forward to 3 coming out this month. How about you?
@@TheTheoLogan898 I am as well! I've been avoiding as much information about it as I can at the moment though. I want to go into it as blind as possible, but it's hard to avoid the most recent trailer/Direct when it keeps popping up in my recommended feed, not to mention all of the theory and analysis videos. haha
I really really recommend you play in release order for Crossbell and Coldsteel. Coldsteel 1 and 2 are intended to be played with vague knowledge of what happens at the end of each of the 2 games from an outsiders perspective. Coldsteel 1 will also call back to a bunch of events that happen during Azure as those games take place simultaneously.
Seems like this is what a lot of Trails fans are saying and I think I’m going to do this, even if it means I won’t finish the games until next summer. Thanks for the thoughts!
@@TheTheoLogan898 If you really can't wait after Zero there is no shame in buying a chinese copy and using the fan patch. The additional content that is added by the PS4 version which is the basis for the english localization is very little and can fit into a 5min video on youtube. It amounts to a small easter egg for people who have played the coldsteel games.
kevin is so cool he is like jiraiya somewhat trying to takedown akatsuki (ouroboros) . done with sky trilogy and now im at crosbell arc hoping they put more story for ouroboros cos thats basicaly why i played crossbell arc 🤣 anyways cool content and sorry for my english 🤣
@@TheTheoLogan898 in all seriousness, I was glad to hear that you thought this game was the best of the trilogy, because I did too. The soundtrack was a cut above that in FC and SC, the pacing felt way less herky-jerky to me, as compared to SC-which is ironic considering how the narrative is nearly as disjointed as possible-there's no excess of retracing your steps, the balance between arts and crafts is significantly improved, and Kevin is definitely my favorite character of the whole arc after seeing his story unfold through insights into his past. Cold Steel 1 was my entry point into the series, and after being completely blown away by the overall experience, I swiftly began my trek back to the beginning. Though the difference in quality-of-life was off-putting at first-please never a party of 2 again, Falcom, please-I'm ultimately glad I didn't miss out on Sky, and especially the 3rd due to its revelations about what is to come later in the series. I just started Zero last night and I'm excited to see what unfolds in Crossbell as I prepare to return to my first love, in the form of Cold Steel 2. I've watched all three of your Sky videos today. I'll be back once I've finished Zero. Thanks for your retrospectives!
@@BlueGrovyle I think you’ll be even more glad you’re going back to get caught up, especially since Zero and Azure are stellar! Enjoy Crossbell and get over that barrier!
Here's how it works in storytelling for me: 1 - The legend of Heroes gets first place in the writting. 2 - Persona 3 3 - FF7 4 - YS series 5 - Tales of series (especially Zestiria, Bersiria and Arise) It's not posssible for anyone to come to me and say Persona as a series have a better written story, it does not. P3 and FF7 both talk about the same subject, and the YS series are very well done too, but writting, The legend of Heroes, Period. And I'm glad you decided to play those games in order. The sheer level of content you will have and of baggage you will have once you get to the next games?It can't be explained, its just better than starting the series at the last arcs first then going backwards. XD
Sky 3rd is a great game, and it also introduces a lot of plot points that are very important in the following games. Originally, Trails in the Sky was going to be a single game but it had to be divided in 2 parts. This 3rd part is clearly and epilogue/prologue to Sky and to the whole Trails series. Trails into Reverie does the same with Zero/Azure and Cold Steel. I don't recommend playing the games in the order you said. The best order would be Zero, Azure and then Cold Steel. Playing Cold Steel anytime before playing Zero/Azure spoils a lot of things. It's also true that there is a major spoiler in Zero/Azure regarding Cold Steel, but the intended order expects that you already know about it. On the other hand, playing Cold Steel first lessens the impact for all the references it has to Zero/Azure and the first Cold Steel spoils completely Zero, and a major event of Azure's final chapters. If you need more "Trails like" games, in the meantime, you can always play Gagharv Trilogy. Badly translated and edited, but they have a good interconnected plot. White Witch is a great game that sadly was butchered during localization. It's for the most part a very lighthearted adventure. Tear of Vermillion feels like playing both FC and SC in one game. It's the most similar to Trails in the Sky, mostly because the version in which the psp game was based was the remake that was done just before FC. The original Tear of Vermillion is really, really different, but remains untranslated. Cagesong of the Ocean feels weird and very inconsequential at first, but it gets really good after the first 2 chapters. They were also released out of order outside Japan, so if you give them a Try: White Witch->Tear of Vermillion->Cagesong of the Ocean. Oh, and I recommend waiting for the official release of Zero/Azure. They have a few more NPCs that are important later in Cold Steel.
@@TheTheoLogan898 They are the previous Legend of Heroes games. White Witch is Legend of Heroes III, A tear of Vermillion is Legend of Heroes IV and Cagesong of the Ocean is Legend of Heroes V. They are all happen on the same world and there are a few references to them on the Trails games. The story Kevin is telling some kids at sunday school is actually from the fifth Legend of Heroes. They were localized for the PSP. Be aware, that, even though they are good games, they are a bit older, the battle system is slow. That's mostly because these are ports made by Bandai and not the original Legend of Heroes III to V. The original battle system for this games is way faster and more interesting. The Bandai ports changed it for a more generic turn-based one. It gets better game after game, with Cagesong of the Ocean being the better one, and the closer to Trails in terms of gameplay, whereas A Tear of Vermillion is closer in terms of storytelling. On the other hand, you can avoid battles easily on the PSP versions, so at least that compensates the slow battle system. There is also the Iselhasa duology, which is composed by Legend of Heroes I and II. Only Legend of Heroes I was translated though, and also very poorly. I actually like those 2, but, they are more Dragon Quest like with a really extreme quantity of "random" battles. They are not really random, but sometimes it's difficult to avoid them. If you don't mind really old RPGs, they are interesting in their own right. Regarding Trails, Trails in the Sky is Legend of Heroes VI, Zero/Azure are Legend of Heroes VII, Cold Steel & Reverie are Legend of Heroes VIII and so far, Kuro no Kiseki is Legend of Heroes IX. To make things more complicated, Legend of Heroes itself is part of another RPG series called Dragon Slayer. So, Legend of Heroes I & II are considered Dragon Slayer VI.
I just got into the heroe games myself so far My play order has been Sky 1, sky 2, sky 3 (can't find zero or the other one snice they took them down to Support the official release and I don't want to wait 2yrs to keep playing this Series) so i jumped to Cold steel, about to start CS2 ° heads up Cold steel 1 is kinda of like sky 1 a slow brun/school life/get to know the characters (hoping c2 picks up like sky2) . My biggest issue is I think they ran out money for English voice actors because at the being almost everything is voiced but at the later end the of game its rarely voiced.
I’m noticing a trend with these games where the first game is the slow burn entry point. I’m okay with that though because of how good the writing is. That’s super weird about the voice acting though. I’m sure that will give me a good laugh when I get to it. I’m playing Lost Odyssey now and it does a similar thing throughout the game where it’s randomly quiet then there’s voices lol
@@TheTheoLogan898 Lost Odyssey was amazing. Not sure how far in the game you are but there’s an item that became a god send for to me. I can’t exactly remember how it works but I believe anytime you defend you got MP back so I would keep one monster alive and defend or wait until my casters mp was full
@@soppybottomboys1195 I just got to the part after Grand Staff and all 3 characters are on the queen's ship. I think I remember that item from when I originally played through discs 1-3 now that you mention it. I'll have to hunt that down again. Jansen is just burning through MP lol
@@TheTheoLogan898 Regarding the missing Voice acting in CS, in comparison to most fully voice acted games these games are far more massive and therefore so expensive to do this. I mean, just Sky SC has more lines of dialogue than the whole LotR-trilogy combined, imagine paying to voice that.... Albeit they certainly sometimes get their priorities mixed up in CS voice acting, like a scene were everyone but the MC is voiced because he is voiced so much that the budget ran out at some time XD. Also the PC-Version (e.g. Steam) has quite a bit more voiceacting and qol improvements in comparison to the console versions (if they haven't patched those, but I don't think so), so if you are finally at the CS games you should probably try to get them on PC.
How long are these games? I have wanted to play it but unsure of how much time it will take to go through. JRPGs are often 40+ hours so is that what I am looking at?
If you play them on the easiest and ignore the side stuff, you’re looking anywhere between 30-40ish, with SC being the longest. Don’t think I’d recommend ignoring the side quests though, especially when you get to 3.
You can generally expect like 50+ hours on your first playthrough if you aren't using a guide, not too familiar with combat and are doing sidequests and a fair amount of random encounters. I'd say skip a bunch of side quests in FC to cut down on the time it takes to get hooked. Monster quests are an easy skip. The later games get a lot longer. Coldsteel 1-4 are all on 80+ hours each.
the trails in the sky, each game can be 50-70 hours, depending on what you do no zero or azure yet, havent bought them and azure havent been release yet (steam atleast), for cold steel, 120-150 hours for each game, and you can pump those up to 200ish each game, because of new game+ (and content because of "limitation with no ng+))
Yep you were definitely playing on easy if you were appreciating Renne primarily for her deathblow scythe. Renne is designed to be a BEAST of a caster. And Richard is a monster on the battlefield. His crafts have almost no delay.
@@TheTheoLogan898 Not as much as her casting. Status resistances are fairly common, immunity to deathblow is on all bosses, and her casting is really good.
As in I have to have set the difficulty for the game to Nightmare? That makes sense as to why the achievement didn’t pop. Guess I didn’t read the requirement well enough lol thanks!
@@TheTheoLogan898 No worries, most players have not beat it on Nightmare. The difficulty curve in the prologue kept myself on hard. In game bonus is if you beat the Nightmare arena with Annalise, her weapon gets upgraded to her best weapon in the game.
I’d say so. It gives some, what I believe to be important, backstory for a few characters while setting up future plot lines for the Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs.
I actually think Trails in Sky is much better then Persona. Okay, to be fair, I think it's than modern Persona but considering that most people talk Persona they mean only P3, P4 and P5, it's fair statement. If I was to compare Sky Trilogy to P1 and P2, then I would say they around the same to me, though I definitely appreciate one part of P2 for sheer insanity and ludicrousness of the plot while telling heartfelt story and another for having adult cast which still is a rarity in JRPGs. But what happened after is... I still respect Persona 3 despite pretty flawed execution because it's pretty rare and hard for game to talk about concept of death. And Persona 4 is were series fell off story-wise. Because now it's just became a dating sim (a fine genre which is overlooked because of stereotypes) with good JRPG gameplay on the side and surface level story. Like, for example, nobody in Persona 5 questions what main characters are doing and the only who did turns out to be the bad guy. Even in spinoff where they straight to the face what is difference between good and bad brainwashing (stealing heart is pretty much a brainwashing) PT's answer is essentially: "We are good and you are bad. That's the difference" and no actual argument which could be done at the moment.
I like both FC and SC alot, but didn't make me really want to play the rest of the games. When I finished 3rd then I was really hooked, specially love the more adult oriented plot. Difficulty wise Trails from Zero hard is similar to normal from the Sky trilogy, Azure is kinda similar but there a bunch of bosses that can kick your @ss. The Cold Steel games are super easy I would recommend that you should play at least on Hard, personally I think Nightmare is pretty manageable if you understand the battle system (with evasion and delays)
It’s wild at how Trails 3 sinks it’s hooks in. Appreciate the insight on the difficulty across the different games. I’m thinking I’ll definitely try the settings you mentioned. What’s the evasion/delay mechanics you mentioned? That’s in Zero/Azure or just the Cold Steel games?
@@TheTheoLogan898 both are tactics that usually takes a while to make work in the games, mostly because you will need good acessories and quartz, evasion tanks exist since the first game which is basically making the evasion % high enough so enemies start to miss alot; delaying enemies though thats a mechanic that while exist too since the beginning just start to really be useful in the Cold Steel games, specially 1 and 2. I dont want to spoil to much how to break these games, unless you dont really care about this stuff, but my only real advice is that SPD might be the most important status in these games
Cold Steel 1 was written to be an entry point in the series. Azure and Cold Steel take place at the same time, so the games spoil each other. If anything, Cold Steel is gonna hype you up for Azure because you’ll be screaming “wtf happened in Crossbell?!” I would advise not going into Cold Steel 3 until Azure releases. CS3 spoils a big detail of Azure.
I'm in the "play the first two cold steel games before crossbell" camp, just because I consider the spoiler crossbell games do for cold steel to be a bit worse for the experience then the spoiler cold steel will do for crossbell. But this is partly subjective and in either case you take, it isn't too big of a deal and the main plot is still mostly unspoiled.
@@TheTheoLogan898 Well, my opinion is counter to his. As I said in another post, the drama in Azure is what I think causes many people to consider Azure their favorite. And that drama is very politics-related and takes the form of several larger events that occur across the second game, most of which will be spoiled in Cold Steel 1 alone if you read the newspapers much less NPCs and main story events will have chars talking about them anyway. What Azure spoils about Cold Steel is one of the plot twists in CS2, which is blatantly foreshadowed in CS2 anyway. But there are also 3 or so other plot twists that are dropped at the same time that had no foreshadowing, and I can say that knowing one of those did not really take away from the overall impact of that one scene for me. You can still play whatever order you'd like, and to some people knowing where you end up isn't even a spoiler as much as how you get there, but imo the release order is the intended order and will still give the best overall experience. Especially if you want the second half of Azure to be one long "this isn't really happening right?"
@@TheTheoLogan898 if you play cs1 and cs2 first, there are a couple significant scenes that you may find surprising, but if you have beaten azure you will know about those scenes in advance so they won't be a plot twist. However it's also quite plausible to predict/call those plot developments even without touching crossbell and most of the game is still unspoiled besides those and plenty of other plot twists/reveals left. While I agree with the other comment that release order is more intended, I myself did play cold steel first myself, and I still found azure to be one hell of a ride despite playing both cs 1&2. But then again if I had played in release order I might be arguing for that as superior right now. Personally I don't think it matters too much. It probably matters more on if you are too impatient to wait for the official release of zero and azure.
@@jmporkbob Gotta say, I also agree with you. I would rather recommend the release order if you started that way. I started with CS1 and 2 -- and by the time I came back to Crossbell, I forgot most of the stuff they discussed in that game that would have been immediately obvious. There are some things that would have been more fun for me if I didn't remember them, but the one thing I can say though, is there were still some things even I didn't see coming when playing Azure. TLDR; I agree with jmporkbob and would actually suggest not playing CS1/2 until the Crossbell duology comes around.
@@RedThunderSP gotta throw my hat into this camp. I didn't know about the geofront launcher until it was too late, so I played CS 1 and 2 first. I can definitely also confirm that release order is superior.
I don't know about the Crossbell games, but I know the Cold Steel games are a bit easier than the Sky games, to the point where normal in Cold Steel might be the equivalent of easy in Sky.
Would recommend you the utawarerumono trilogy. IT rivals trails in the Sky in Term of storytelling. But be prepared ist more Like a visual novel than Game alot of Reading.
@@TheTheoLogan898 Its more like a crossover between VN and Tactical RPG like Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy tactics. Steam should have the complete trilogy. You can get the complete bundle realy cheap right now.
So the Nightmare Arena achievement has nothing to do with the arena door. That achievement is for playing the game itself on Nightmare mode and beating Shwartzritter in ch6. You thankfully don't have to beat the Nightmare Arena on Nightmare for anything.
Trails 3RD is my least fav Trails game, but because of pacing and story structure, rather than the usual complaints. I actually don't mind the big departures in mechanics.
@@TheTheoLogan898 Made it through the video. Excellent review. As a Christian (and kind of sort of reformed, as well), a lot in this game really hits home for me. I doubt anyone at Falcom is a believer but you never know. Japan likes to sprinkle some bits and pieces of Christianity into their fiction here and there. The religion here is definitely very Catholic except for having a goddess, of course. They even have their version of the Vatican. You probably already know this, but Gehenna is a biblical name for hell. Gralsritter, on a related note, would be German for Grail knight, which gives Arthurian vibes. They've at least done their research here and found things that fit. By the way, even though it's a bit off that you'll be playing Zero, the first game of each arc is very relaxed and chill compared to the rest of the games. You'll definitely like Zero better than FC but expect it to be a little slower and relaxed like FC was, though it definitely ramps up a lot more and quicker than FC did. As for me, I recently finally finished Cold Steel 4 and I'm also playing the waiting game until they release the next game in the west. So... same boat. Sorry you had to suffer through star door 15, by the way.
@@sethhale235 The attention to detail in this series has been top tier. I wasn’t 100% sure about Gehenna being interchangeable with hell but good to know I wasn’t wrong. I remember it also being the name for a type of dump in that time. But now we wait for September lol what did you think of the Cold Steel arc overall?
@@TheTheoLogan898 Yeah, Valley of Hinnom or whatever was Gehenna and I guess is more of a nickname or metaphor for hell, but I think they're fairly interchangeable. I love the Cold Steel arc. It's my least favorite arc but when it's good it's every bit as good as the rest of the series. I don't think the writing is quite as mature but it rises to the occasion often. Some story beats toward the end of CS4 really made me want more after fearing I was getting a little burnt out on the series, so that was good.
Sorry I didn't see this video sooner. Glad you liked 3rd. I like 3rd myself though I prefer FC (I like 3rd more than SC though). I already played the fan translation of Zero, so the wait until september is less exciting for me. The one thing I really wanted was english dubs but it seems they aren't going to do that =/ lame. I'll still get the game though just cuz. Zero and Azure is like FC and SC where most people like the 2nd game over the first, and I'm the odd one out who likes the first more again. Renne is not a major character in Zero, but she has several scenes where she just steals the show, and will no doubt cause an onion chop-fest in your house again. But in Azure she's basically non existent except near the end where she brings onions yet again. My fave Renne scene ever though is in Zero, it's one where she's hiding in a closet. I wont go any further for fear of spoiling, but man that scene. I feel like that scene was a bigger payoff than any rpg's you won the game ending credits thing, hot damn. Don't play cold steel on easy. The games are noticeably easier than the sky trilogy. I like hard games myself but I do enjoy the gameplay in cold steel the most despite the easiness (though I balance it a bit by not using S-breaks and abusing chrono burst unless it's a harder timed boss beat in 30 turns for bonus bp thing, which really only exist in Cold steel 2 and 4. Also, don't be afraid to reeplay the games/series at some point. Sky FC has this thing where when you re-play it, there is all kinds of dialogue and nuance that you can't be aware of in a first playthru that you catch in future playthrus. That and sometimes some npcs in future games you forgot came from sky you meet in sky and you're like holy crap it's THAT person!
Welcome back! Hadn’t thought about replaying the games but I may revisit FC to see if my opinions on some things change given everything I know now. I’ll be sure to be ready for the waterworks when they hit in Zero
@@TheTheoLogan898 thanks. Just listened to an hour of your elden ring vid. Ive been a fromsoft fan since armored core1, so seeing them get mass.hype with elden ring, and me loving elden ring (not a "its cool now so it sucks"), its a major payoff. I hear they are goinf to make armored core again soon too. Cant wait! In your elden ring podcasr though, you have a pastor, and some other guy who seems to appreciate similar values, I kinda wish I heard their views on sky. I dont think sky is a politically driven game, but at the same time I think it conveys the love and understanding between humanity any good priest should aspire to. Have you told them to give it a shot?
@@Ghalion666 I have not just because they’ve watched my reviews but haven’t really shown a desire to play them just yet. I’m sure that will change once Zero comes to consoles.
I compared EVERY JRPG to Persona? lol chill Only reason I’m bringing up Persona is because this series was sold to me as “better than Persona/Final Fantasy” as was mentioned in the first review of FC But I’ll compare every JRPG to Skyrim now 😉
I never got to play this one since i dont have a laptop anymore but i watched a synopsis on RUclips cuz they keep making references to it in steel.3 is utter trash lol
And now the wait for September begins.
As a fan of the Trails series, I'd give you a warning about this. Trails from Zero is analogous in many ways to Trails in the Sky FC. While paced better than Sky FC (IMHO), Trails from Zero tends more toward slower paced world building and character development, with a lot of the real payoff being the intense story of Trails to Azure.
One thing that Trails from Zero has going for it is that it gets to build off of the world and characters of the Sky trilogy, and you'll see plenty of references to Sky.
@@shawnwalker8133 I’m totally ready for a slow burn entry in Zero. Reading Stormlight Archive really helped me come to grips with what a slow burn really is. They also referenced Calvard so much in these games that I want to check this place out really bad.
@@TheTheoLogan898 Off-topic question for you (no spoilers, please): I've read books 1 & 2 of Stormlight Archive, but then I stopped. I loved it, but I get the impression that it's just not going to be as good after that. What's your opinion on how books 3 & 4 compare to the first two?
I'm definitely going to go back to it, but I'm waiting for book 5 (the end of the first arc/half) before I start over.
@@guruthosamarthruin4459 I just finished part 1 of book 3 a few weeks ago. I definitely like the pacing more and the intrigue because there’s a good bit going on. Several folks in the community have even said that Oathbringer is their favorite of the 4.
My opinion on the sky games as a whole is that Sky FC is the necessary setup that doesn't forget to be a good game by itself, Sky SC is a masterclass on how to follow of a setup game and the best game overall, and that Sky the 3rd has the best moments of the trilogy.
Well said!
One of the interesting things about this game is that it foreshadows so many of the events that'll take place in future games. So not only is it a good game in general, but on replays this game is even better because you can see how much planning went into the series as a whole.
I'm glad you liked it, BTW. It's definitely up there as one of my favorites in the series. And waiting until Zero releases is a good idea, if only because waiting can help you avoid burnout. Trust me, you don't want to burnout on these games. XD
That’s one thing I’ve come to greatly appreciate about these games is that it appears to be very well thought out and structured. Super excited to see where it goes with Zero! Thanks for stopping by and commenting
@@TheTheoLogan898 Lol, I'm also excited about Zero/Azure. Admittedly, I've played Zero a bit on the PC with Geofront's patch, but it was causing issues, so I decided to just wait until it releases on consoles. That said, I'm pretty sure you'll like Zero. It was very enjoyable for me until those issues started popping up.
@@drakenstoc4885 With voice mod or without? Hope they will add voice to Western PC release. Also it is thirsty Crossbell. Amount of sexual jokes I have deduced from what they say... I burned out when I constantly laughed for a few hours playing a certain secret mission (I played each alternative choice).
@@copiumkiller To be honest... I think it was without the voice mod? I just went with whatever the patch gave me. I do remember voices in battle, but that was it.
Also, the western release will have Japanese voices included (no English though). >.>
@@drakenstoc4885 In some places the voice acting added so much. In zero, I loved going 1st time to hospital. 0.5 h of pure laughter and wholesomeness. I call it "Thirsty Crossbell" for a reason. Randy is MVP regarding jokes due to how he interacts with people. Like Oliver in TITS.
I'm glad to see you've been enjoying the series so much. It can definitely take a bit of time to get into because of the way the story is paced, but the journey is worth it in the long run. Trails in the Sky the 3rd is certainly the most unique game in the series due to the structure of it's gameplay and plot, but serves as a great capstone to the Sky arc. It'll be interesting to see what you think of the Crossbell and Cold Steel games when you get to them. You may be lucky in that, by the time you finish all the way through to Cold Steel 4, Trails into Reverie might be out in English by then.
I’m definitely looking forward to Crossbell and Cold Steel. Reverie is the one that takes place after Cold Steel, right?
@@TheTheoLogan898 Yup, Reverie takes place directly after Cold Steel 4 and from what I understand it sort acts as a connecting game between arcs. Kind of how like with Sky the main story more or less concluded in SC, but Sky the 3rd still acted as a bookend to the arc while setting up things for the future. Same deal with Reverie, from what I've heard. I think Reverie is set to come out in 2023, so plenty of time to go yet.
One thing I appreciate about 3rds NPC conversation is that they are very quality over quantity. Instead of towns of NPCs you have 16 party members who each update their dialogue after something happens.
Its much more realistic to keep up with 16 characters you care about than with an uncountable amount of strangers.
Its also less time invested and you have more of an idea that the payoff will be worth it.
Exactly. I much prefer the more intimate circle of people to keep up with than a handful of towns that have a lot of people to go talk to. It’s cool for world building but I’m just not the kind of gamer to go talk to every single NPC in every town.
I absolutely adored the chest messages from these games, and made sure I got every single one I could (I think I missed like 5 or 6 per game because I don't have the patience to 100% them) when I played through the trilogy. They made the games consistently fun and somewhat funny, so when I got down to Gehenna and every single chest just said "This Chest is Empty" over and over again, I got chills down my spine, I was legitimately unsettled for the entire rest of that section.
When even the chest messages shut up and get out of the way, you know shit is as real as it can get.
P.S. It's actually pronounce loo-vay. Weird old Germanic name.
It’s so cool to see how something like the chest messages can set the tone for the game. These developers really know what they’re doing. Thanks for the correction on the pronunciation! I knew I wasn’t saying it right!
@@TheTheoLogan898 the funny thing is, the chest messages aren't even the developers' doing, only the translators'. It kind of feels like they're cheating by adding something potentially meaningful in such a trivial way that wasn't at all a dimension of the source material, but needless to say, I appreciate their efforts.
I stumbled onto your Trails reviews for FC and SC just after beating SC (so like 2 weeks ago) and I just finished 3rd not too long ago and man. I love this series. On my way to playing the Crossbell arc and I enjoyed seeing your reviews thus far! Can't wait to watch the next one once I finish Zero!
It has quickly become one of my favorites. Enjoy Trails from Zero! It’s quite the ride.
8:00 technally you could play as Mueller, Julia and Josette in SC. For Mueller and Julia you just have to talk to them after you finished the first half of the final dungeon
Seriously? Never knew that! I’ll have to try that during my inevitable replay.
I started with the Erebonia arc and then Sky, so now I'm getting retroactive aha moments whenever I see concepts come up. I also love that, even though some characters have more of a spotlight than others, all of them have importance to the universe in general or clearly set up concepts for future arcs. Now I wish I discovered this game series earlier, back when I only played first party Nintendo games like Pokémon.
That’s one of my favorite things about the games also: each character is fleshed out well. Even the NPCs are given a little more attention in these games. Have you started Trails from Zero?
@@TheTheoLogan898 yep! Towards the end of Chapter 4.
Update; I played through Azure and while playing the third I can't help but notice how many concepts it introduced to the series, especially when it comes to supernatural phenomenons
and politics.
You also retroactively get a sense for why Estelle, Joshua, and Renne being with the SSS would change their fates in Zero, because they literally have seen it before.
Welcome onboard! Now you're living it, hehe. Sorry you have to wait until fall to begin your journey through Crossbell, but you're surely in for a ride. Crossbell may be my favorite arc so far. I got through the latest game (Kuro no Kiseki) a couple of months ago and it was so good. Regarding Star Door 15 I couldn't play anymore that day, and I was also warned.
Definitely was not expecting the game to go there. Does any of the other games get that dark in the writing?
@@TheTheoLogan898 There is dark elements, but nothing will hit you as hard as Star Door 15
At this point I'd also wait for the official release of Zero, there will be some neat little extras in it. It is possible to play Cold Steel before, but I think that the release order is the best way to play them. The CS spoilers in Azure were intended from the developer and I wouldn't be keen on jumping back and forth between the technical and gameplay improvements of Cold Steel, compared to Azure.
But I'm sure you will love Zero, especially if you are into some loose ends of Skys story.
I honestly hadn’t considered the technical side of things when making that order. Now it seems less like a good idea because of the gaps in technology and mechanics lol
I played this game on my Vita, being the translated Evo version, and it was glorious. Fantastic story and gameplay, plus voice acting all over. Those were some amazing 70ish hours.
I'm looking forward to your review of Trails from Zero. Just 3 more weeks to go! 🤞
Won’t be long now! Can’t stinking wait!
@@TheTheoLogan898 Ha,ha. Agree. 😄
As someone who actually did play the games in your proposed play order. (Zero, Cold Steel, Azure, and Cold Steel 2). This order works out pretty well since the events of the Crossbell duology and Cold Steel 1 and 2 take place at roughly the same time. This order is pretty much as close to chronological order as you can get.
Awesome! I may go ahead and play it in this order if that’s the case.
Yeah, the chronology works out pretty well that way, but having back to back slow burns is painful. I definitely prefer release order for this reason, and the Cold Steel will feel like a way to catch your breath after everything that happens in Azure because holy crap. Never felt that level of tension in a JRPG before. 😅
@@Naticus105 Zero didn't feel like that much of a slow burn for me, but thats probably because I really liked all 4 of the main characters. I also didn't play the games back to back though, since I knew I had to wait for Geofront's Azure translation. I waited a few months before I started Cold Steel 1.
@@FirstLast-mn4re It's certainly a slower game than SC, 3rd, Azure and CS2 though. That's all I mean, comparatively it's a slow game for a significant amount of time. Don't get me wrong, I loved that game, but going from one game where it's an intro to chars and region to another game where it's an intro to chars and region could feel hard to do. YMMV
Congrats on completing the Sky trilogy/Liberl arc. And can't wait to see your thoughts on Cold Steel ^^
Thanks! I'm honestly super tempted to just go ahead and dive in to Cold Steel lol
@@TheTheoLogan898 Plus Zero-Azure is one of my favourite arcs in any media to date
@@yukialy I've heard nothing but high praise for those two games. I can't wait to see what happens. What makes them your favorite?
@@TheTheoLogan898 All I say is that: I was not ready for those 2 games, Azure especially
@@TheTheoLogan898 My opinion on that is that Azure has the best "drama" in the series, and it's what has many people placing it above SC. The small main cast also helps, because you get lots of banter among them and they truly feel like your homies. Overall, the Crossbell arc feels like it focuses more on the events than the characters tho. You get backstories, you get the banter, but no very defined char arcs like in Sky and Cold Steel.
Trails 3rd is probably my favorite game in the series. Its the most focused story of the entire franchise, covering basically just one character's redemption arc from start to finish. It made me laugh, it made me cry (on three occasions), and it has only gotten better in retrospect. It has probably my favorite soundtrack out of any game I've played. I'm hard pressed to think of any actual flaws in this masterpiece of a game, and its a miracle it even came out to begin with. Seriously, if you aren't aware of the story behind the localization of the Sky Trilogy, look it up. There is a great video by Matt McMuscles about it here on RUclips.
18:04 - I would actually recommend trying hard for the next game, at least for the prologue. From here on out the combat starts getting a lot more balanced and gets generally easier, especially with the new options each game introduces. If it feels too hard, then normal is good.
I’ll definitely look up some videos. I think I may have one on my queue already. I’ll give Hard a go in Zero. Are there any difficulty spikes?
@@TheTheoLogan898 I played through hard the whole way through and I only remember one specific fight in the prologue being particularly hard, and it was because you end up in a one-on-one battle. If you can plan and strategize, you can get past it. If no, its not terribly far into the game so restarting and skipping to that point isn't terrible.
I love how I grew gameplay wise. 1st game - activating just crafts, S crafts, arts. 2nd game - time cheese (opponent basically does not get turn due to turn delays, speed reduce and my party having speed up). 3rd had was the most easiest combat for me due to immortality cheese (Kevin's S craft + other character casting AREA block art). Even vs the ultimate tag team I lost only once on the highest difficulty. In Zero the most difficult mode was too easy , so I had my forbidden crafts, who I do not use (broken crafts like instant area heal craft, who also restores CP, while at the beginning the best heal art is single target, no CP and delayed instead of instant).
I'm almost at the final dungeon of Sky 3rd. Grinding the characters up, doing any doors that I missed, etc etc. My favorite character... ooh, that's a tricky one. On the one hand, Olivier is hands down the funniest character in the game, and the whole twist involving him being a prince of Erebonia was pretty shocking. On the other hand, Estelle is also pretty humorous, and she goes through a lot of character development throughout the trilogy while losing not one bit of what made her Estelle. So, yeah. Tie between those two, I think.
Excellent picks! Enjoy the end!
With regards to door 14, interestingly if you have the Evo Voice mod, which uses the Japenese Voice Acting from the Evo version of the game and implements it in the PC version, you can hear that when the Ouroboros Grand master is talking they have a female/very feminine voice implying that the leader of the organization is a woman. Just a little bit of extra foreshadowing for you.
12:59 one minor correction, the Auriole wasn't actually destroyed, it just 'vanished'. There is info on what exactly happened to it in door 14 though.
14:50 When one story ends, another begins.
16:15 Darn Ninjas, always cutting Onions.
On the subject of other games, have you played Xenoblade Chronicles?
Interesting. I meant to install that voice mod but completely forgot about it. Thanks for the corrections btw.
As far as Xenoblade goes, I have played those. The first one is actually one of my favorite JRPGs of all time and I am very much looking forward to 3 coming out this month. How about you?
@@TheTheoLogan898 I am as well! I've been avoiding as much information about it as I can at the moment though. I want to go into it as blind as possible, but it's hard to avoid the most recent trailer/Direct when it keeps popping up in my recommended feed, not to mention all of the theory and analysis videos. haha
I really really recommend you play in release order for Crossbell and Coldsteel.
Coldsteel 1 and 2 are intended to be played with vague knowledge of what happens at the end of each of the 2 games from an outsiders perspective.
Coldsteel 1 will also call back to a bunch of events that happen during Azure as those games take place simultaneously.
Seems like this is what a lot of Trails fans are saying and I think I’m going to do this, even if it means I won’t finish the games until next summer. Thanks for the thoughts!
@@TheTheoLogan898 If you really can't wait after Zero there is no shame in buying a chinese copy and using the fan patch.
The additional content that is added by the PS4 version which is the basis for the english localization is very little and can fit into a 5min video on youtube.
It amounts to a small easter egg for people who have played the coldsteel games.
kevin is so cool he is like jiraiya somewhat trying to takedown akatsuki (ouroboros) . done with sky trilogy and now im at crosbell arc hoping they put more story for ouroboros cos thats basicaly why i played crossbell arc 🤣 anyways cool content and sorry for my english 🤣
You’ll definitely get some more Ouroboros in Crossbell. And some other nice surprises 😁 enjoy!
Great videos mate. I hope you get better traction for your channel and blow up a decent amount. I'm looking forward to Xenoblade 3.
Thanks! Got that one preordered already. Reviews dropped today and it looks like we are in for a good time! Will 3 be your first Xenoblade?
Seeing that you've done cold steel now, curious on what you thought on the olivier/osbourne door
I’ll have to RUclips it because I definitely don’t remember it 😅
@@TheTheoLogan898 big foreshadowing i can't believe they were thinking that far ahead
One of us, one of us
Ur going to love the rest of the series.
I definitely can’t wait to start the next game! Thanks for commenting 😁 which one is your favorite?
@@TheTheoLogan898 for me, it's definitely Trails to Azure. Previously, it was Sky 3rd, but Azure? Man, it's a masterpiece.
This game has fast travel.
That's all. Have a great day.
Fast Travel OP
@@TheTheoLogan898 in all seriousness, I was glad to hear that you thought this game was the best of the trilogy, because I did too. The soundtrack was a cut above that in FC and SC, the pacing felt way less herky-jerky to me, as compared to SC-which is ironic considering how the narrative is nearly as disjointed as possible-there's no excess of retracing your steps, the balance between arts and crafts is significantly improved, and Kevin is definitely my favorite character of the whole arc after seeing his story unfold through insights into his past.
Cold Steel 1 was my entry point into the series, and after being completely blown away by the overall experience, I swiftly began my trek back to the beginning. Though the difference in quality-of-life was off-putting at first-please never a party of 2 again, Falcom, please-I'm ultimately glad I didn't miss out on Sky, and especially the 3rd due to its revelations about what is to come later in the series. I just started Zero last night and I'm excited to see what unfolds in Crossbell as I prepare to return to my first love, in the form of Cold Steel 2.
I've watched all three of your Sky videos today. I'll be back once I've finished Zero. Thanks for your retrospectives!
@@BlueGrovyle I think you’ll be even more glad you’re going back to get caught up, especially since Zero and Azure are stellar! Enjoy Crossbell and get over that barrier!
Here's how it works in storytelling for me:
1 - The legend of Heroes gets first place in the writting.
2 - Persona 3
3 - FF7
4 - YS series
5 - Tales of series (especially Zestiria, Bersiria and Arise)
It's not posssible for anyone to come to me and say Persona as a series have a better written story, it does not. P3 and FF7 both talk about the same subject, and the YS series are very well done too, but writting, The legend of Heroes, Period.
And I'm glad you decided to play those games in order. The sheer level of content you will have and of baggage you will have once you get to the next games?It can't be explained, its just better than starting the series at the last arcs first then going backwards. XD
Dont worry, i played FC through CS2 on hard, got a tad frustrated at times but its been heat
Sky 3rd is a great game, and it also introduces a lot of plot points that are very important in the following games. Originally, Trails in the Sky was going to be a single game but it had to be divided in 2 parts. This 3rd part is clearly and epilogue/prologue to Sky and to the whole Trails series. Trails into Reverie does the same with Zero/Azure and Cold Steel.
I don't recommend playing the games in the order you said. The best order would be Zero, Azure and then Cold Steel. Playing Cold Steel anytime before playing Zero/Azure spoils a lot of things. It's also true that there is a major spoiler in Zero/Azure regarding Cold Steel, but the intended order expects that you already know about it. On the other hand, playing Cold Steel first lessens the impact for all the references it has to Zero/Azure and the first Cold Steel spoils completely Zero, and a major event of Azure's final chapters.
If you need more "Trails like" games, in the meantime, you can always play Gagharv Trilogy. Badly translated and edited, but they have a good interconnected plot. White Witch is a great game that sadly was butchered during localization. It's for the most part a very lighthearted adventure. Tear of Vermillion feels like playing both FC and SC in one game. It's the most similar to Trails in the Sky, mostly because the version in which the psp game was based was the remake that was done just before FC. The original Tear of Vermillion is really, really different, but remains untranslated. Cagesong of the Ocean feels weird and very inconsequential at first, but it gets really good after the first 2 chapters. They were also released out of order outside Japan, so if you give them a Try: White Witch->Tear of Vermillion->Cagesong of the Ocean.
Oh, and I recommend waiting for the official release of Zero/Azure. They have a few more NPCs that are important later in Cold Steel.
Huh. I haven’t heard of those games you recommended. I’ll look into them. Thanks!
@@TheTheoLogan898
They are the previous Legend of Heroes games. White Witch is Legend of Heroes III, A tear of Vermillion is Legend of Heroes IV and Cagesong of the Ocean is Legend of Heroes V. They are all happen on the same world and there are a few references to them on the Trails games. The story Kevin is telling some kids at sunday school is actually from the fifth Legend of Heroes. They were localized for the PSP.
Be aware, that, even though they are good games, they are a bit older, the battle system is slow. That's mostly because these are ports made by Bandai and not the original Legend of Heroes III to V. The original battle system for this games is way faster and more interesting. The Bandai ports changed it for a more generic turn-based one. It gets better game after game, with Cagesong of the Ocean being the better one, and the closer to Trails in terms of gameplay, whereas A Tear of Vermillion is closer in terms of storytelling. On the other hand, you can avoid battles easily on the PSP versions, so at least that compensates the slow battle system.
There is also the Iselhasa duology, which is composed by Legend of Heroes I and II. Only Legend of Heroes I was translated though, and also very poorly.
I actually like those 2, but, they are more Dragon Quest like with a really extreme quantity of "random" battles. They are not really random, but sometimes it's difficult to avoid them. If you don't mind really old RPGs, they are interesting in their own right.
Regarding Trails, Trails in the Sky is Legend of Heroes VI, Zero/Azure are Legend of Heroes VII, Cold Steel & Reverie are Legend of Heroes VIII and so far, Kuro no Kiseki is Legend of Heroes IX.
To make things more complicated, Legend of Heroes itself is part of another RPG series called Dragon Slayer. So, Legend of Heroes I & II are considered Dragon Slayer VI.
I just got into the heroe games myself so far My play order has been
Sky 1, sky 2, sky 3 (can't find zero or the other one snice they took them down to Support the official release and I don't want to wait 2yrs to keep playing this Series) so i jumped to Cold steel, about to start CS2
° heads up Cold steel 1 is kinda of like sky 1 a slow brun/school life/get to know the characters (hoping c2 picks up like sky2)
. My biggest issue is I think they ran out money for English voice actors because at the being almost everything is voiced but at the later end the of game its rarely voiced.
I’m noticing a trend with these games where the first game is the slow burn entry point. I’m okay with that though because of how good the writing is. That’s super weird about the voice acting though. I’m sure that will give me a good laugh when I get to it. I’m playing Lost Odyssey now and it does a similar thing throughout the game where it’s randomly quiet then there’s voices lol
@@TheTheoLogan898 Lost Odyssey was amazing. Not sure how far in the game you are but there’s an item that became a god send for to me. I can’t exactly remember how it works but I believe anytime you defend you got MP back so I would keep one monster alive and defend or wait until my casters mp was full
@@soppybottomboys1195 I just got to the part after Grand Staff and all 3 characters are on the queen's ship.
I think I remember that item from when I originally played through discs 1-3 now that you mention it. I'll have to hunt that down again. Jansen is just burning through MP lol
@@TheTheoLogan898 Regarding the missing Voice acting in CS, in comparison to most fully voice acted games these games are far more massive and therefore so expensive to do this.
I mean, just Sky SC has more lines of dialogue than the whole LotR-trilogy combined, imagine paying to voice that.... Albeit they certainly sometimes get their priorities mixed up in CS voice acting, like a scene were everyone but the MC is voiced because he is voiced so much that the budget ran out at some time XD.
Also the PC-Version (e.g. Steam) has quite a bit more voiceacting and qol improvements in comparison to the console versions (if they haven't patched those, but I don't think so), so if you are finally at the CS games you should probably try to get them on PC.
@@Jothaka Already got all 4 Cold Steel games during a steam sale awhile back! Can’t imagine playing these games on anything other than PC now.
finally someone who agrees with me about Sky the 3rd
🤝
How long are these games? I have wanted to play it but unsure of how much time it will take to go through. JRPGs are often 40+ hours so is that what I am looking at?
If you play them on the easiest and ignore the side stuff, you’re looking anywhere between 30-40ish, with SC being the longest. Don’t think I’d recommend ignoring the side quests though, especially when you get to 3.
You can generally expect like 50+ hours on your first playthrough if you aren't using a guide, not too familiar with combat and are doing sidequests and a fair amount of random encounters.
I'd say skip a bunch of side quests in FC to cut down on the time it takes to get hooked. Monster quests are an easy skip.
The later games get a lot longer. Coldsteel 1-4 are all on 80+ hours each.
the trails in the sky, each game can be 50-70 hours, depending on what you do
no zero or azure yet, havent bought them and azure havent been release yet (steam atleast),
for cold steel, 120-150 hours for each game, and you can pump those up to 200ish each game, because of new game+ (and content because of "limitation with no ng+))
Yep you were definitely playing on easy if you were appreciating Renne primarily for her deathblow scythe. Renne is designed to be a BEAST of a caster. And Richard is a monster on the battlefield. His crafts have almost no delay.
Would I not appreciate her deathblow on higher difficulties?
@@TheTheoLogan898 Not as much as her casting. Status resistances are fairly common, immunity to deathblow is on all bosses, and her casting is really good.
@@timschommer8548 Gotcha. When the inevitable 2nd playthrough comes around, I’ll give those a try on higher difficulty.
@@TheTheoLogan898 On another note, have you beaten the nightmare arena with Anelace equipping jinu? If not, you may want to give it a go.
@@timschommer8548 No, I did not do that. I read later that doing that upgrades the Jinu, right? Is it worth the upgrade?
You need to beat the nightmare arena on nightmare difficulty to get the steam achievement.
As in I have to have set the difficulty for the game to Nightmare? That makes sense as to why the achievement didn’t pop. Guess I didn’t read the requirement well enough lol thanks!
@@TheTheoLogan898 No worries, most players have not beat it on Nightmare. The difficulty curve in the prologue kept myself on hard. In game bonus is if you beat the Nightmare arena with Annalise, her weapon gets upgraded to her best weapon in the game.
absolutely agree!
Obviously 1st chapter is worth playing cause the 2nd game would not make sense without it but is the 3rd one even important?
I’d say so. It gives some, what I believe to be important, backstory for a few characters while setting up future plot lines for the Crossbell and Cold Steel arcs.
I actually think Trails in Sky is much better then Persona. Okay, to be fair, I think it's than modern Persona but considering that most people talk Persona they mean only P3, P4 and P5, it's fair statement. If I was to compare Sky Trilogy to P1 and P2, then I would say they around the same to me, though I definitely appreciate one part of P2 for sheer insanity and ludicrousness of the plot while telling heartfelt story and another for having adult cast which still is a rarity in JRPGs.
But what happened after is... I still respect Persona 3 despite pretty flawed execution because it's pretty rare and hard for game to talk about concept of death. And Persona 4 is were series fell off story-wise. Because now it's just became a dating sim (a fine genre which is overlooked because of stereotypes) with good JRPG gameplay on the side and surface level story. Like, for example, nobody in Persona 5 questions what main characters are doing and the only who did turns out to be the bad guy. Even in spinoff where they straight to the face what is difference between good and bad brainwashing (stealing heart is pretty much a brainwashing) PT's answer is essentially: "We are good and you are bad. That's the difference" and no actual argument which could be done at the moment.
For your own health, you may want to change your facial hair. Loved the video!
lol k
For your own health, you may want to get out of RUclips comment sections and touch grass.
I like both FC and SC alot, but didn't make me really want to play the rest of the games. When I finished 3rd then I was really hooked, specially love the more adult oriented plot.
Difficulty wise Trails from Zero hard is similar to normal from the Sky trilogy, Azure is kinda similar but there a bunch of bosses that can kick your @ss. The Cold Steel games are super easy I would recommend that you should play at least on Hard, personally I think Nightmare is pretty manageable if you understand the battle system (with evasion and delays)
It’s wild at how Trails 3 sinks it’s hooks in. Appreciate the insight on the difficulty across the different games. I’m thinking I’ll definitely try the settings you mentioned. What’s the evasion/delay mechanics you mentioned? That’s in Zero/Azure or just the Cold Steel games?
@@TheTheoLogan898 both are tactics that usually takes a while to make work in the games, mostly because you will need good acessories and quartz, evasion tanks exist since the first game which is basically making the evasion % high enough so enemies start to miss alot; delaying enemies though thats a mechanic that while exist too since the beginning just start to really be useful in the Cold Steel games, specially 1 and 2. I dont want to spoil to much how to break these games, unless you dont really care about this stuff, but my only real advice is that SPD might be the most important status in these games
Day be so fine then boom STAR DOOR 15
Definitely was not ready for it lol
Cold Steel 1 was written to be an entry point in the series. Azure and Cold Steel take place at the same time, so the games spoil each other. If anything, Cold Steel is gonna hype you up for Azure because you’ll be screaming “wtf happened in Crossbell?!”
I would advise not going into Cold Steel 3 until Azure releases. CS3 spoils a big detail of Azure.
Definitely holding off on CS3 until I can play Azure. Currently playing Zero now!
I'm in the "play the first two cold steel games before crossbell" camp, just because I consider the spoiler crossbell games do for cold steel to be a bit worse for the experience then the spoiler cold steel will do for crossbell. But this is partly subjective and in either case you take, it isn't too big of a deal and the main plot is still mostly unspoiled.
I'm so close to just diving in to Cold Steel 1, lol. Are the spoilers from Cold Steel major for the Crossbell games?
@@TheTheoLogan898 Well, my opinion is counter to his. As I said in another post, the drama in Azure is what I think causes many people to consider Azure their favorite. And that drama is very politics-related and takes the form of several larger events that occur across the second game, most of which will be spoiled in Cold Steel 1 alone if you read the newspapers much less NPCs and main story events will have chars talking about them anyway.
What Azure spoils about Cold Steel is one of the plot twists in CS2, which is blatantly foreshadowed in CS2 anyway. But there are also 3 or so other plot twists that are dropped at the same time that had no foreshadowing, and I can say that knowing one of those did not really take away from the overall impact of that one scene for me.
You can still play whatever order you'd like, and to some people knowing where you end up isn't even a spoiler as much as how you get there, but imo the release order is the intended order and will still give the best overall experience. Especially if you want the second half of Azure to be one long "this isn't really happening right?"
@@TheTheoLogan898 if you play cs1 and cs2 first, there are a couple significant scenes that you may find surprising, but if you have beaten azure you will know about those scenes in advance so they won't be a plot twist.
However it's also quite plausible to predict/call those plot developments even without touching crossbell and most of the game is still unspoiled besides those and plenty of other plot twists/reveals left.
While I agree with the other comment that release order is more intended, I myself did play cold steel first myself, and I still found azure to be one hell of a ride despite playing both cs 1&2. But then again if I had played in release order I might be arguing for that as superior right now.
Personally I don't think it matters too much. It probably matters more on if you are too impatient to wait for the official release of zero and azure.
@@jmporkbob Gotta say, I also agree with you. I would rather recommend the release order if you started that way. I started with CS1 and 2 -- and by the time I came back to Crossbell, I forgot most of the stuff they discussed in that game that would have been immediately obvious. There are some things that would have been more fun for me if I didn't remember them, but the one thing I can say though, is there were still some things even I didn't see coming when playing Azure.
TLDR; I agree with jmporkbob and would actually suggest not playing CS1/2 until the Crossbell duology comes around.
@@RedThunderSP gotta throw my hat into this camp. I didn't know about the geofront launcher until it was too late, so I played CS 1 and 2 first. I can definitely also confirm that release order is superior.
I don't know about the Crossbell games, but I know the Cold Steel games are a bit easier than the Sky games, to the point where normal in Cold Steel might be the equivalent of easy in Sky.
Good to know!
Would recommend you the utawarerumono trilogy. IT rivals trails in the Sky in Term of storytelling. But be prepared ist more Like a visual novel than Game alot of Reading.
I’m not the biggest fans of visual novels but I’m always to give a game a shot. Are they exclusive to any platform?
@@TheTheoLogan898 Its more like a crossover between VN and Tactical RPG like Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy tactics. Steam should have the complete trilogy. You can get the complete bundle realy cheap right now.
So the Nightmare Arena achievement has nothing to do with the arena door. That achievement is for playing the game itself on Nightmare mode and beating Shwartzritter in ch6. You thankfully don't have to beat the Nightmare Arena on Nightmare for anything.
Oh, PTL then. I’ll get that when I do a new game plus run later this year. Thanks for the info!
Trails 3RD is my least fav Trails game, but because of pacing and story structure, rather than the usual complaints. I actually don't mind the big departures in mechanics.
STOKED!!!!
Get hyped!
@@TheTheoLogan898 Made it through the video. Excellent review. As a Christian (and kind of sort of reformed, as well), a lot in this game really hits home for me. I doubt anyone at Falcom is a believer but you never know. Japan likes to sprinkle some bits and pieces of Christianity into their fiction here and there. The religion here is definitely very Catholic except for having a goddess, of course. They even have their version of the Vatican. You probably already know this, but Gehenna is a biblical name for hell. Gralsritter, on a related note, would be German for Grail knight, which gives Arthurian vibes. They've at least done their research here and found things that fit.
By the way, even though it's a bit off that you'll be playing Zero, the first game of each arc is very relaxed and chill compared to the rest of the games. You'll definitely like Zero better than FC but expect it to be a little slower and relaxed like FC was, though it definitely ramps up a lot more and quicker than FC did.
As for me, I recently finally finished Cold Steel 4 and I'm also playing the waiting game until they release the next game in the west. So... same boat.
Sorry you had to suffer through star door 15, by the way.
@@sethhale235 The attention to detail in this series has been top tier. I wasn’t 100% sure about Gehenna being interchangeable with hell but good to know I wasn’t wrong. I remember it also being the name for a type of dump in that time. But now we wait for September lol what did you think of the Cold Steel arc overall?
@@TheTheoLogan898 Yeah, Valley of Hinnom or whatever was Gehenna and I guess is more of a nickname or metaphor for hell, but I think they're fairly interchangeable.
I love the Cold Steel arc. It's my least favorite arc but when it's good it's every bit as good as the rest of the series. I don't think the writing is quite as mature but it rises to the occasion often. Some story beats toward the end of CS4 really made me want more after fearing I was getting a little burnt out on the series, so that was good.
Sounds good. Can't wait to get there in this series!
Now you only have to wait 3 months to.... get over the barrier.
(Also Loewe is pronounced LOO-vuh)
I knew I wasn’t saying it correctly lol! Thanks for clarifying!
@@TheTheoLogan898 It's something almost no English speaker would get right by just looking at it. I sure didn't!
Doesn't help that words are hard in general lol
As a German I can say that all of those pronunciations are completely wrong, but I guess it got canon during Cold Steel. :D
Loewe is pronounced "Loo-veh". I think it's a Dutch name.
That makes sense! Thanks!
Sorry I didn't see this video sooner. Glad you liked 3rd. I like 3rd myself though I prefer FC (I like 3rd more than SC though). I already played the fan translation of Zero, so the wait until september is less exciting for me. The one thing I really wanted was english dubs but it seems they aren't going to do that =/ lame. I'll still get the game though just cuz. Zero and Azure is like FC and SC where most people like the 2nd game over the first, and I'm the odd one out who likes the first more again. Renne is not a major character in Zero, but she has several scenes where she just steals the show, and will no doubt cause an onion chop-fest in your house again. But in Azure she's basically non existent except near the end where she brings onions yet again. My fave Renne scene ever though is in Zero, it's one where she's hiding in a closet. I wont go any further for fear of spoiling, but man that scene. I feel like that scene was a bigger payoff than any rpg's you won the game ending credits thing, hot damn.
Don't play cold steel on easy. The games are noticeably easier than the sky trilogy. I like hard games myself but I do enjoy the gameplay in cold steel the most despite the easiness (though I balance it a bit by not using S-breaks and abusing chrono burst unless it's a harder timed boss beat in 30 turns for bonus bp thing, which really only exist in Cold steel 2 and 4.
Also, don't be afraid to reeplay the games/series at some point. Sky FC has this thing where when you re-play it, there is all kinds of dialogue and nuance that you can't be aware of in a first playthru that you catch in future playthrus. That and sometimes some npcs in future games you forgot came from sky you meet in sky and you're like holy crap it's THAT person!
Welcome back! Hadn’t thought about replaying the games but I may revisit FC to see if my opinions on some things change given everything I know now.
I’ll be sure to be ready for the waterworks when they hit in Zero
@@TheTheoLogan898 thanks. Just listened to an hour of your elden ring vid. Ive been a fromsoft fan since armored core1, so seeing them get mass.hype with elden ring, and me loving elden ring (not a "its cool now so it sucks"), its a major payoff. I hear they are goinf to make armored core again soon too. Cant wait!
In your elden ring podcasr though, you have a pastor, and some other guy who seems to appreciate similar values, I kinda wish I heard their views on sky. I dont think sky is a politically driven game, but at the same time I think it conveys the love and understanding between humanity any good priest should aspire to. Have you told them to give it a shot?
@@Ghalion666 I have not just because they’ve watched my reviews but haven’t really shown a desire to play them just yet. I’m sure that will change once Zero comes to consoles.
Bruh I agree with you and shit and I love this game but for the love of god STOP comparing every JRPG to Persona it gets old
I compared EVERY JRPG to Persona? lol chill
Only reason I’m bringing up Persona is because this series was sold to me as “better than Persona/Final Fantasy” as was mentioned in the first review of FC
But I’ll compare every JRPG to Skyrim now 😉
I never got to play this one since i dont have a laptop anymore but i watched a synopsis on RUclips cuz they keep making references to it in steel.3 is utter trash lol
Steel 3 is utter trash?
@@TheTheoLogan898 no sky 3
@@LloydBannings75 Ah, gotcha. What didn’t you like about it?
@@TheTheoLogan898 just didn't care for the story much. Never liked kevin also. That was his name right?
@@LloydBannings75 Yeah, that was it. Did you find him annoying?