Trash Taste Dives DEEP Into the Trails Game Series
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
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I truly believe Trails to be a snowball effect. It’s slow and daunting but once you get through that first game and onwards to that crazy cliffhanger it’s a rollercoaster or snowball that keeps going and never stops. Most people I know that finished that one game ended up just binging the entire series in mere months.
Basically, it’s like Fate, the hardest part is getting your foot in. But once you are in you just keep going.
I can’t imagine the pain for the people who had to wait for the sequel when they reached the cliffhanger
And it’s not even the “end of season” type of cliffhanger but half the season cliffhanger
Felt kinda burnt out after the final boss of Sky FC, but right when that final cliffhanger hit I spent the next 2 months playing SC and the 3rd with literally any free time I had. Haven't stopped since lmao
Pretty much. That ending is just so well crafted, it's hard to avoid the rabbit hole afterwards...
Ngl, FC was a real pain to get through for me even though I really started to like the characters, and I probably wouldn't have managed without playing CS1&CS2 first. But if you get to FC's ending you're really in for good, and thankfully SC is just a better game in every aspect.
Trails is 100% a series worth diving head first into imo. I've been slowly making my way through the series and have greatly enjoyed myself for the most part. The main selling point imo is the very strong character writing, but the NPCs feeling like they actually have their own lives is great for me as someone who does "NPC sweeps" which is what the community term is for if you're a player that when you play Trails/Kiseki you also take the time to talk to every NPC when NPC dialogue changes following story progression. Plus since part of what Garnt likes about the Index franchise is that it's different main characters coming together, he will get that in Trails as he gets deeper and deeper into the series.
I also find it interesting to see the different reactions from Garnt and Joey compared to Connor when they hear that Trails in the Sky FC, the first game in the series, is about 40 hours(and you can definitely beat it faster imo. I beat it in 40 hours while doing NPC sweeps and grinding a bit). Garnt and Joey, who have played multiple JRPGs, know that by JRPG standards that's actually fairly short. Meanwhile Connor is absolutely baffled by the idea of playing a mostly story/character driven game for 40 hours and it's hilarious to me.
ATTENTION ⚠⚠⚠ THERE IS AN ANIME FOR THE TRAILS SERIES SET TO RELEASE NEXT YEAR! GO WATCH IT!
I am not a bot, I just want everyone to enjoy the trails series.
I love the idea where a protagonist in one story can be a minor character/npc in another story.
And the joke side character was secretly the main character the entire time!
And the main antagonist who we get to fight at the very end was actually the protagonist the entire time and the game ends with him winning!
Ash Ketchum
In this the protagonists of older games became deuteragonists. it's literally avengers in the later games.
Or vice versa, where a supporting character from one game ends up becoming the protagonist in another, and then ends up becoming one of the best protagonists in the whole series
If Joey and Garnt play Trails they will be doing back flips from the hype moments and characters before its over with. As an avid Trails fan, I highly recommend them, even with the daunting number of games, be prepared for an excellent ride that will have you crying, laughing, screaming lets go, and shocking you in ways few other games can.
How many have been localized? I have Trails in the Sky 1-3. I also know of Cold Steel 1-4, that's 7 games.
i downloaded cold steel but haven't played it, imma enjoy it this christmas
Main series
1. Sky Trilogy (3 games-All localised)
2. Crossbell Duology (2 games-1 localised, 1 TBR 2023)
3. Cold Steel Quadrilogy (4 games-All localised)
4. Reverie (1 game, TBR 2023)
5. Kuro (2 games, JP released, not yet localised)
dude, I love trails. I am so glad it is open to many more people now through trash taste.
@@HilmiK Crossbell second game (trails to azure) will release on march 14th and Reverie will release in July 7th.
i literally spent 4 hours at 3am yesterday trying to decide if i wanted to play this series. i had an emiya moment “ that’s hell you’re walking into “ i proccced to buy it
good choice
No regrets mate, it's an amazing series. Starting in Sky 1 or Cold Steel 1 is both fine, have fun!
Welcome home
That's not hell... Your drinking young wine...
Sky games have a mod to include voices in the main story, if u are interested
Biggest shock hearing Trails being spoken of on Trash Taste. Always wanted to know if any of them heard about the series.
ATTENTION ⚠⚠⚠ THERE IS AN ANIME FOR THE TRAILS SERIES SET TO RELEASE NEXT YEAR! GO WATCH IT!
I am not a bot, I just want everyone to enjoy the trails series.
same, I saw a kuro no kiseki poster in one of garnt's videos. idk why I am bringing that up but, sence then I always wanted them to talk about trails.
Honestly I was more surprised that neither Joey nor Garnt have actually played it despite being JRPG fans. After finally completing CS4 recently I just can't wait for the second half of the franchise with the Calvard games. Hoping that this will help bring the games to a larger audience and maybe speed up the localization releases once the publishers see and uptick in sales/reception
@@Augzzz Prayge
@@ChaosEater39 which video was it? Was it recent?
Started this series during pandemic and managed to catch up to all the games in a year don’t know how I didn’t get burned out but yeah for me it’s my favorite jrpg series and also got into the ys series thanks to trails
Exactly the same for me
fantastic serie and i am so hyped for Kuro to be translated so i can play them! As a franchise it's up there with Tales Of as my absolute favorite Jrpgs!!!
Similar story, but I did it in 2018. It was a kinda busy year aside from gaming for me, but pretty much all I played that year (with a few breaks) was Trails. I was just finishing Trails to Azure (which was the last one in this big-ass binge) when they announced the localization of Cold Steel III.
Needless to say, I was beyond hyped.
Same. There's probably a lot of us that got into it during the pandemic; it was definitely the best time to get into this epic.
In regards to Connor's statement, not every character in Trails has to matter. You can easily skip a lot of different NPCs stories and have no clue what's going on with them if you want to. But, you can also get deeply engrossed in the side stories of the NPCs and become more attached to the country you're trying to help. Which is what makes it so compelling when the various countries in the world are at odds with each other. Because you've gotten to know so many of the ordinary people in each that you actually care about the outcome of the conflicts.
The story with the NPC is part of the charm of the series though, actually makes me sad when one of the NPC (not even a major one) die
well done said, better than the words trying to come out from my mouth
I think the other guy did not elaborate the point in a good way. He made it seem like every NPC you meet will become a party member and that is not correct. Regardless, Connor does not value that stuff in video games. It's weird because he does care about characters and story in movies/TV, but it's like he turns off his brain for that stuff in games. Not saying is a bad thing or anything, that's just the way he is.
100% agreed. You can never talk to any unnecessary NPCs and the games are still good on their own plots. But you can talk to everyone and get this huge story where you realize there’s such an immersive and alive world you can explore. It’s incredible
Yeah that's what I did, I ignored all that optional NPC dialog except for sidequests, it was really good that way.
And idk what that guy went on about NPCs joining your team and having 30+ characters at the end, that doesn't happen in Trails. Did we play the same game?
With Azure and Reverie finally getting localized next year, now is the perfect time to start playing this goated series.
I got lucky when I went through it the geofront translations had just come out so I could do it in order but I can't wait for reverie
I played crossbell arcs from the geofront patch (zero in 2020 and azure in 2021), and i still buy the global release eventho i wont play it again.
@@aprianhamdan1795 I'm doing that as well anything to help entice nisa to keep global releasing the series and I guess I will replay it one day because crossbell is just so good
HOLY CRAP GARNT MENTIONED THE TRAILS SERIES one of my favorite games series ever!! It is worth the 11 game grind! It’s literally the MCU of JRPGs!!
It’s actually 12 games now
@@dustingonzalez8080 13 because Kuro 2.
@@kawashinimon are you counting nayuta in that 13 if so then it adds up. I don't really include nayuta with main trails games for now until maybe kondo somehow connects it to mainline
Holy shit, they know about the Trails Series. Best JRPG series.
Megami Tensei is superior, but Trails isn't bad either.
@@SenneWMichiels Would be true if the spinoffs didn't bring down the average, though I guess that brings up the question of what can be counted under the umbrella. Also, mainline SMT tends to lack almost all comedy and comes off exceptionally dry for my tastes, and a dry story is inherently non-compelling to most people.
Tales series isn’t bad either 🤷♂️
@@SenneWMichielsI would agree if 5 wasn’t disappointing of an entry. But then again it the location in 5 was repetitive compared to 3 & 4 variety.
@@SenneWMichiels superior ? only to you absolutely lmao
Why won't anyone just tell Gigguk it has non-blood related incest in it, that would make him buy it instantly.
Not to mention a harem protagonist that’s secretly a badass in a school setting. Surprise bonus: his non-blood related sister is part of the harem.
rean kinda okay. if i can recomending trails game probally azure and zero.
@@Kindi001 don’t disrespect rean
And a harem protagonist in the form of rean
@@abdullahirfan9991 Let's see... we have...
- Best girl that has a non-blood related boyfriend brother.
- PTSD brocoli man. (he deserves all the hugs)
- Detective Man who loves to talk about barriers
- Mr Speech and leader of the biggest harem of the series so far.
As a Trails fan (played sky to cold steel 4 in order), this series is highly underrated. Banger music and amazing continuous storytelling. It's anime game's MCU. (Combat is tedious thou)
So true Trails is amazing
Honestly, Trails games combat is some of the most enjoyable in turn-based JRPGs for me. I can't stand the generic Final Fantasy style combat anymore and SRPG style combat like in Tactics and Disgaea can get too convoluted at times. Trails feels a little bit the best of both.
I am 140 hours in and finishing up Cold Steel IV today, I just approached the entrance to the final dungeon. I CANNOT AGREE MORE this game series was incredible I binged the entire thing. The interconnected world was so incredible I talked to every NPC after every major story arc. Some of my favorite side character story arcs are Meiling, Cirone, and Anton. I can't say I remember any other characters besides the main cast in almost any other JRPG I have ever played.
True i live the music
Trails combat isn't really tedious unless you just aren't a fan of tb combat. I can see the issues with the earlier systems (tho me personally Sky is my favourite) but Cold Steel and beyond enhance it quite a bit for newcomers.
I pulled the trigger on the Trails series and wasn’t disappointed. I started with “Trails of Cold Steel” first. It’s more mainstream than the others, so I decided to try it out. It’s a massive commitment. 70+ hours per game. The first one was literally an 80 hour prologue. It then leads into the actual main plot in the 2nd game. The payoff is legitimately worth it. The musical score is what got me. Hands down some of the best musical scores in any of the jrpgs I’ve played.
I began with Cokd Steel and that led me to play Sky and Zero right after CS2. Still felt satisfying to me.
I can already hear Garnt jamming to all of the tracks
Trails is a unique case of a series not compromising on its own vision for decades on end. Sometimes this works to its own detriment. But the end result is still such a fascinating world, that doesn't have an ending in sight, and matches to the beat of its own drum.
To be 100% fair, I think there's an ending already planned. If I recall correctly, Kondo (the director of the series) has stated that we're roughly 70-80% deep into the series by Kuro II. So there's probably around 4 or 5 games left.
@@rodrigolealmartir5902 Makes sense, we went through 4 of 7 Sept-Terrions by the end of CS4. There's only 3 left, they'll probably push the last 2 lower elements in Calvard and we'll end on Time leading into the finale.
@@kawashinimon I imagine we're at least still going to go into remiferia and North ambria for playable games
Do it Garnt and Joey, do ittt
ATTENTION ⚠⚠⚠ THERE IS AN ANIME FOR THE TRAILS SERIES SET TO RELEASE NEXT YEAR! GO WATCH IT!
I am not a bot, I just want everyone to enjoy the trails series.
Garnt describe it accurately. The kiseki are interconnected games with the last 2 being basically The Avengers. My favorite part of the series is the soundtrack and the npc's.
The best introductory video that I can recommend as a fan to those who want to get into the rabbitt hole:
ruclips.net/video/KKHjl8SI7pI/видео.html
Also, if you're like me and don't want to spend 60+ hours in each game but would like to get into it, there are some recap videos made by Oni Black Mage and LadyVirgillia that covers them.
There's one saying within us Trails fans:
Every JRPG fan inevitably ends as a Trails fan. It is simply the culmination of everything great in the genre amped to 11.
Accurate
Truer words have never been spoken
Exactly
Absolutely
Damnit. I have avoided it for soon 30 years and here I am, checking out why the fuck I should even TOUCH Trails of. Last time I checked several years ago I went "NOPE!" real fast. Now I'm trying to find that moment again but the fact it's difficult to even find the starting point of that damn IP speaks volumes already that I should immediately go "NOPE!" now again to save time for important matters.
If someone is willing to make an hour video recommending a geme series, that's literally the biggest sign that it's worth it in some way or another
I've tried introducing friends into the series. But for some reason they just won't touch it.
In the end, I'm like "Fine. Play your normie Final Fantasy, and then complain to be about lacking turn-based combat, lacking of traditional ATB combat or incomplete world building. Because fuck me for trying to get you into something I know you'll enjoy."
@@OutdatedLeon like Grant says, it is niche in a way. Like how not everyone will pick a huge novel fantasy series.
@@OutdatedLeon I have noticed that the best gateway is have them play Cold Steel 1 and once they are really invested, you drop the bomb about Sky trilogy and Crossbell
@@OutdatedLeon I introduced the series to my little sister and she loves it lol. She literally played Sky FC and SC multiple times over. Still haven't gotten her to play the 3rd though since she doesn't want to install games on her laptop. I also successfully introduced a friend to the series and he just finished the 3rd. Waiting for him to move onto Zero and Azure. Also tried suggesting it to another friend who surprisingly already knew about the series - he said he wants to try it.
I myself am currently on the finale of Azure so I can move on to Erebonia.
The Trails/Kiseki series is my fave series of all time. It's made by the company Nihon Falcom who have merely 62 employees, the company has been around for 40 years and Trails is almost 20 years old, however there's 12 mainline games in the series and it has sold merely 7 million units worldwide. The series is niche as hell and the company as a whole are super underrated and it's a shame because they both have quality and quantity. They put an insane amount of detail and effort into their games as well.
Trails masterfully tells the longest written and most ambitious interconnected narrative across the whole medium of video games spanning over 12 games currently (The Trails in the Sky trilogy, the Crossbell duology of Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure, the Trails of Cold Steel saga, Trails Into Reverie and the Kuro no Kiseki duology) focusing on sociopolitical issues alongside conspiracies of secret societies, ancient civilizations and magical artifacts and how certain groups of civilians get wrapped up in all these conflicts. The series has super detailed, in-depth world-building and 100s of fleshed out characters. Every game is going to take you anywhere from 50-100 hours and they almost always have insane plot twists and cliffhangers making you want to start the next entry instantly after you finish the current one you're on, almost like going from season to season of an anime. Also it has a unique tactical turn-based hybrid style of gameplay.
Think something like Wheel of Time or Lord of the Rings, but in J-RPG format.
You guys will enjoy the Trails series especially if you like jrpgs. I only played Cold Steel 1, but even with that game I'm already enjoying it and I plan on going into the other games.
Trails is a series where every single NPC is not there just to fill a town.
You can see the stories of every citzen if you talk to them at every time in the game, evolving. A kid who was playing with other kids in the morning, during the evening segment, if you go back and talk to him, you will know that they hurt themselves while playing and their mom is angry at them, and so on.
There's even achievements for this ONE NPC that exist in every single Trails game up to Cold Steel IV which is 9th game in sequence, that if you find him every chapter and talk to him you gain a trophy because he is living his own Trails in the continent in search of what would give his life meaning.
It's super fun, he's super charismatic and you just laugh whenever you see him just doing silly things because the game IS a masterpiece.
The best part is that if you want, you can ignore the NPCs, but truth be told: all of them are important to the world building, and every single game evolves on top of the previous one, so you never play the next one and say: Ugh, the same of this? You're allways like: Wow this new mechanic changes the way I can approach combat!
If anyone wants to play it, however, just play one game at a time, and apart from like, Sky FC and SC, for example, and Cold Steel I and II, that were originally one game split in two, take a month break from each game. We're talking 100-150 hours RPG games here guys. But oh boy it's an awesome series.
Which NPC are you talking about
I assume Anton (& I guess Ricky)
But Anton isn't in Cold Steel 3
@@ACey96 I don't think he's in Sky 3 unless he's in a door
@@ACey96 Sad Ricky wasn't with him anymore in CS4
Trails is one of the best series i have ever played. I HIGHLY recommend. The characters, the world building, the npc dialogue, it’s so good. Just please play in order! Trails in the Sky is still tops for me, especially SC. Hearing Trash Taste talk about Trails is hype tho. 2 of my favorite things. I know Garnt and Joey would love them.
Just hoping Garnt knows there are voice patches for the first 3 Sky games since he mentiond he started it in today's stream. Here's to a start of a journey.
The trails series is so underrated it needs more love
The Kiseki series is not PARTICULARLY hard to get into.
I have played all nine games that are currently available in English. The difficulty in entering this series lays in the fact that even if there are nine (three more in Japanese) total games out right now, divided into three arcs, every game has references and is interconnected to both previous and future games through characters reappearing, mentions and teases of events happening concurrently to the story, as well as past and future events.
That is the high bar Kiseki has. All three arcs so far (Liberl, Crossbell, and Erebonia) are, in my opinion, very solid stories on their own right. You can play the three Sky o the four Cold Steel games, and finish with satisfaction.
The issue, and the thing you miss out on, is the fact that some characters will appear, or events mentioned, that happened or were explained in previous games. Through Cold Steel 3 and 4, you will find LARGE amounts of characters from Sky and Crossbell. Will it still be cool? Of course. You know enough about them from snippets and brief mentions in the same game. But you miss on emotional attachment to those characters that you would otherwise have, had you played previous games.
It kind of feels like getting into One Piece. I see that it has a lot of games but I'm sure once I get into it I won't stop for a while. Still haven't started though.
@@hido... Good luck if or when you do get into it and have fun.
Yeah, I can go on and on on what I think is the best play order and why, but in the end you can easily start with any of the three arcs and have a great time. I will still say that Cold Steel 3 and 4 should probably be saved for very last for the same reason you just listed, but the series can definitely feel way more intimidating than it actually is for newcomers
The only thing that might be hard for people is the weird approach you'd have to take between balancing Zero and Azure with Cold Steel 1 and 2.
This was the bit that pushed me to start my journey. I’ve completed the sky arc and now my experience in crossbell begins and let me tell you it’s worth it
If Joey and Garnt plays the Trails series, they will know what they have been sleeping on for a long time.
ATTENTION ⚠⚠⚠ THERE IS AN ANIME FOR THE TRAILS SERIES SET TO RELEASE NEXT YEAR! GO WATCH IT!
I am not a bot, I just want everyone to enjoy the trails series.
@@ChaosEater39 you mean the northern war?
Isn't this taking place after cold steel 2?
Wouldn't that be spoiling the crossbell games and cs1 2?
@@raeryuko watch the anime to get hooked about the series. if you already are hooked play until cs2 (chronologically) and then watch northern war.
To be honest I was disappointed it took them this long and they're older than me 🤣 like seriously they live through the beginning of anime boom
Garnt explains Trails/Kiseki with only 3 words after playing it:
"Avengers but Anime"
It is worth it though? Yes, 100%, especially if you call yourself a JRPG fan. Trails/Kiseki is the epitome of how JRPG should really be made. The music itself is just a pure amazing experience.
I do a lot of research just like Garnt before playing it and end up playing YS first instead. The funny part was the first YS I play is literally YS Origin which took place 500 years++ before the main entry. Then I realize the game doesn't have an actual play order.
YS is also amazing.
All you need to know is Ys 1 and 2 (i think origins too) are the only games connected while the other games has very very minor callbacks, also the release order doesn't matter since the chronological order of events is different.
Also, I love that the two most famous of Falcom's works are super-short, story-barely-matters Ys and super-long, story-is-FUCKING-EVERYTHING Trails.
(I love both, btw. And yes, I know later Ys entries are longer, but not by much really)
I do hope Garnt plays the Trails series. Potential content for him too
Trails series is ABSOLUTELY worth it . The world building and lore is on level of any other big series and the characters are memorable . I played all the erebonian saga during 2020 and i still remember each detail. Waiting with hype for trails into reverie. And before playing the cold Steel saga , i watched 7hrs worth of video to get on speed with liberl and crossbell arc . No regrets.
Kiseki/Trails series had a special place in my heart for 10 years now. Heck, I literally started learning Japanese because waiting 3-4 years for localization was always a torture. My best advice for getting into the series is to not get into the fandom and nitpick w/e game catches your interest. Yes it will spoil previous games to some extent, but they are meant to be standalone entries to the series, so as long as you don't jump into the direct sequels of different arcs - you are good to go. You can always return to the previous arcs and still enjoy the experience. Engines for the games were always quite dated and there is no need to force yourself into a gameplay slog, just because some "diehard" fan told you to do so. You won't fully appreciate the best aspects of those games, unless you are already hooked.
But if you are hooked, it is trully s one of a kind experience. My only worry is that we might be getting winter anime review somewhere into the summer of 2023, if Garnt actually decides to commit.
I highly recommend trails to anyone who likes jrpgs. I know they made it sound daunting in the episode but it isn't really. The world is ever growing with characters making an impact on what happens and even playing fairly large roles outside the games They're introduced in.
It's a pleasant surprise to hear Trash Taste podcast talks about the Trails series, it's one of my favorite JRPG series of all time and I'm really so hyped that Trails into Reverie is finally going to have an english release on July 2023! Playing Trails in the Sky trilogy, the Crossbell duology and Trails of Cold Steel I-IV was one of the best decision I've made 👌
Now waiting for Trails into Reverie and Calvard arc to have an english release 🙏
What I love about this series is the love the developers put into the NPC's where every character has their own story and their story progresses as you move forward in the story, for example there's this 2 guys who are friends(Anton and Ricky) and they first appears at Trails in the sky 1 and the story of 2 the continues up to Trails of Cold Steel. And this NPC's appears in at least 6 games
The barrier to entry in the Trails series definitely is high and the first few hours of Trails in the Sky are kind of slow, but if you can push through that, I sincerely believe that Trails is by far the most rewarding video game series to play through that I've ever experienced!
agreed Finished Steel IV and i have loved the journey so far i haven't played the 2 Azure games yet, hope to get to those soon. It's truly one of the best developed set of RPG's i've seen in my life i can't think of anyone else that has that much care put into it. Yeah truly the one piece of RPG's :)
Bro shut up. Its not slow. Stop being so desperate to get people who obviously arent going to enjoy the series, into it. Learn from Soulsborne fans. Dont ruin our series. And if you legitimately hate the slice of life aspect of the series maybe you should just bounce off.
ATTENTION ⚠⚠⚠ THERE IS AN ANIME FOR THE TRAILS SERIES SET TO RELEASE NEXT YEAR! GO WATCH IT!
I am not a bot, I just want everyone to enjoy the trails series.
Honestly I was intrigued from the very beginning. I wasn't gonna stop sky fc until I found out where exactly Joshua was before Cassius brought him back to his house
@@jojonta2119 when I was a kid my dad forced me to play fc. I am so glad he did. it was years ago.
I highly recommend the trails series.
LOL I’m getting flashbacks of Garnt’s “How to get into Fate” video!
Garnt and Joey, do it!!!
I just got into the Trails series through Zero and am enjoying it (I would have liked to have started with Sky, but Zero is more accessible to me right now since I can play it on the go.)
If you have a crappy laptop the sky games should play just fine.
This is The Multiverse of games imagine a game where near enough every NPC changes Dialogue as events progress some even have Kids and get Married as it progresses there a a reason its one of the largest wordcounts in games.
I was trying to make this comment but couldn't put it into words. This part of trails is wild and one of the reasons I love this series.
Stream the series Garnt 0_0
Never in my life did I think I'd hear the boys talk about Trails, one of my favorite game series. I was just like Garnt three years ago, trying to decide where I wanted to start, ultimately decided to just start from the beginning and I'm very glad I did. First game is incredibly slow paced (which they improve on in later games), but it is worth it if you're trying to get into the series lol.
Sky 1 is a slow burn. but man that ending makes it worth every second
100%. The ending and second game is the payoff, and it's fantastic (not even considering how it intertwines with later games). Just some people aren't down for slow burns, especially how slow that first game is.
@@azon7458 I'm usually a bit iffy on slow burns, but damn if this wasn't the most delightful one I've ever experienced, haha. In particular Estelle was just...a joy, lol.
Here you can observe Connor pre-RPG transformation. 6 months later, this man will be playing Final Fantasy VIII and XVI. He now weighs 700 lbs. and his dear friend Ironmouse lives inside his three foot long hair.
Yeah getting into Trails is a huge commitment, and playing the first game in each Arc will not be enough to convince you to go on, especially how slow the pacing is. But the world-building, characters, combat, music is definitely A+ imo.
It can be really exhausting, but if you like this type of world-building in games then it can be one hell of an experience. My advice is just take it slow, 11 games sounds daunting but you'll get there eventually.
Trails is 100% worth getting into! The world building is 2nd to none. I thought Kingdom Hearts was good and full of deep lore but this series blew it out of the water. I remember getting into it back in 2016 and quickly climbed to my favorite series above FF and KH and Tales and all the others.
When I play a Trails game, I make sure to talk to every single character. It is just so nice that they each have their own little backstory. Then with Trails in the Sky, not only I not only wanted to talk with every character, but I made sure to talk to every chest as well. Even the chest had their own unique dialogue.
The Trails series really is the One Piece of gaming, that’s the best summation of the series that I’ve heard on many accounts, which is why I’m getting caught up on both right now lol. Very excited for Trails to Reverie
I think the Trails series and a couple novel series out there (Jade City/Green Bone Saga), or Brandon Sanderson books) would be perfect for these guys. There’s only so much time though lol. Also Conor is such a lovable guy in his own videos but on the podcast he’s just a big eye roll
Once your nuts get hooked in the first game you will not be able to stop playing until you realize you're at the final one waiting for the next release
Garnt and joey should really try playing the trails series. The story is so interwoven and the world feels lived in with a history to it. Characters grow and you see them in the later games. Play in order to get the full impact from beginning to end
Trails may have some corny moments, but it's like a great cult classic IMO. It's such an amazing series and though it may be daunting to take on, you have to respect the scope of the series as a whole. No other game has tried to tackle something like it with the size of the overall story arc. Absolutely great game and any jrpg fan should look into playing it. I absolutely love that they're talking about it.
One thing I can recommend is, if you don't want to dive head first I to it chronologically is to just start with Cold Steel. Those games did a good enough job dripfeeding you the info you need from the previous games (liberal and crossbell arcs) to where you can kind of understand whats going on, and then makes you want to go back and play them.
That's how I got into the franchise, anyway.
The trails series just scratch’s an itch I didn’t know I had, and once it’s scratched, you just can’t stop scratching, it’s so fucking good. A good adaption would be incredible, imagine like Ufotable animating the series. Jesus Christ, shut up, and take my money
I would love garnt to play a trails series!!
I just love how something like this can exist. That the devs are just fully comitted to a concept this enormous. And they always planned to be.
Trails in the sky is such a gigantic subseries alone that even translating the series to English was a major undertaking. There was an article I read that translating the second game was such a chore that one of the localizers almost considered taking their own life. Thankfully they came to their senses.
Watching this vid and hearing Joey and Garnt wanna get into the series really makes me want to as well and hope that in their next podcasts they'll update us, feels like a journey together, I've been curious about it for a while but been putting it off
I'm going to go watch that 1 hour long vid and decide soon
Highest recommendation I can give to any franchise!!!
The thing about trails is that, while there are 11 games, they are broken down by story arc, so you don't need to see it as tackling 11 games but rather 3 games for the first arc, 2 for the second, 4 for the third, a final bridge-along that brings all of the prior arcs together for an epilogue of sorts while setting up the next arc, and finally the current arc which is still ongoing and has 2 games out.
If you break it in parts you can even take breaks between em cause when the games were actually coming out there were a lot of gaps so we never had to play all 11 games in a row back to back. It's more like, depending on when you got in, you catch up and then wait for the next one.
I started on the very first game and there was like a 4 year gap until the second one got translated due to all the content and text lol. Thankfully they've gotten better at putting the games out now, but they don't get any shorter.
As a trails fan that started the game mid way (started with trails of cold steel), it actually doesn't really matter which series that you start as long as is the first entry of that specific continent. As you play the game you will just want to play the other tiles to learn what actually happen on the other sides of things. The only games that should avoid to start with are the two newest one (Kuro and Hajimari) where they do have alot of reference of the previous game.
I'm sure as a Fate Fan garnt would enjoy it though it is honestly as simply as you want it to be. The Story is mostly linear anyway and while a lot of lore is hidden behind books npc and sidequest they aren't neccesarly required to enjoy the story.
Chad: I'm fully caught up on Kingdom Hearts
Giga Chad: I'm fully caught up on the Trails series.
It's genuinely a very great series for those who enjoy jrpgs. The combat stands out in a good way imo. There's a lot of worldbuilding, but it's done organically through the characters so you don't learn everything from one game. Estelle is completely sheltered so you basically experience a part of the world through her, and the first arc does a very good job setting expectations for future games.
Unexpected to see this here, but this is a glorious series, would love to see a playthrough of all the games here or somewhere by everyone here
(Ps: Tio best girl... sort of)
Joey and Grant To get the best experience playing through the Trails series is definitely the release order so many impactful lines and characters will present themselves in later games that had vital roles in the previous games it as you said an overarching storyline of games.
The Release Order goes as follows:
Trails in the Sky -> Trails in the Sky Sc -> Trails in the Sky 3rd -> Trails from Zero -> Trails to Azure -> Trails of Cold Steel 1-4 -> Trails into Reverie - Kuro no Kiseki - Kuro no Kiseki II
Some of the games havent release yet outside Japan but they are 2 games that are releasing early 2023 which are Trails to Azure(March) Trails into Reverie(Summer) while the Kuro no Kiseki story are the latest installments not having a clear announcement in the West but are playable through English patches like the rest of the games are.
The Trails series is by far my favorite Jrpg Series that has the most intricate World-building, Characters, Impactful Moments and Storyline I’ve even witnessed in any form of media other than anime. Characters rarely are thrown away and will reappear when necessary the plot will leave you on the edge of your seat, If you end up reading this I hope you enjoy the Masterful Storyline of Games known as the Legend of Heroes.
I'mma dispel some of the fear: every game in the series (except I guess for Trails of Cold Steel 1 but even then the story is pretty cool) has its own big climactic payoff. It's not the end of the big metaplot, but it is the end of that game's largest conflict. Sometimes it sets up for something that happens shortly after in the next (like in Trails in the Sky FC), other times it ends the current big conflict, and you can put it down there because most of the important plot threads were resolved.
The Trails games are very good games individually by themselves, you will still have fun even if you don't play them all one after the other.
But try to play Trails in the Sky first though. If only because it's got the best protagonist.
Before starting Trails series: “There’s ELEVEN games in this series???”
After finishing the first games “There’s ONLY eleven games in this series???”
Here's the thing though, Joey. The SECOND you finish Sky FC, your gonna immediately download SC. There both basically 2 halves of the same story. Most of the franchise is like that, where the games come in pairs (Sky FC&SC, Zero&Azure, Cold Steel 1&2, Cold Steel 3&4, which is because of a time skip)
Zero actually stands on it's own pretty well ending wise.
@@joaocbcneto yeah, it's definitely the only one that doesn't end with a "fuck you" cliffhanger. But it does leave a ton of unresolved plot threads
@@Doppelgamer211 yeah, it does leave a few for the sequel. Heard the Kuro games are doing it similarly but i haven't played the fan translations.
This is exactly why I love Critical Role. Matt introduces NPC's that have the potential (depending on how the cast interacts with the NPC) to become a major player. And things happening in one campaign have influence on the next ones. And there's characters that were just casually mentioned in older campaigns that become much bigger in subsequent ones.
These games are amazing, and don't get me started on the characters. Please don't forget the voice patch for Trails in the sky if you try it, the voices add so much
12:07
Hearing "To the Future" play as you select your 3 strike teams from the cast of THIRTY NINE PLAYABLE CHARACTERS in Cold Steel 4 and putting Estelle, Lloyd, and Rean together in one team is absolutely the payoff you want.
As someone who has platinumed ToCS 1-4... do it!
It’s literally the MCU of JRPGs and Trails of Cold Steel 3 & 4 are basically the INFINITY WAR & ENDGAME of the TRAILS series!! It’s worth it!!
I entered into the trails rabbit hole accidentally... Now it is my top JRPG game series.. the world building is so cool.. there a person actually did a master thesis on the game as well!
Strong recommendation: if you intend to play through any of the games and care about completion, do it with a (non-spoiler) guide, especially for the older games. There's a lot of potentially missable side quests and items that you might not even know are there unless you talk to specific NPCs or make specific dialogue choices.
I really wish Falcom games has the budget of a triple-A studio. They really deserve it.
imagine a triple A Ys or Trails title.....
No, dont. They dont need to
They can create multiple master pieces with whatever they have currently
They do now. Have you seen crimson sins graphics. They've been having AAA budget since coldsteel 4
@@rizqeenurhani3683 idk about AAA, they have a decent budget though. They’re not a tiny indie company but they can absolutely make good looking games
ATTENTION ⚠⚠⚠ THERE IS AN ANIME FOR THE TRAILS SERIES SET TO RELEASE NEXT YEAR! GO WATCH IT!
I am not a bot, I just want everyone to enjoy the trails series.
Trails is worth it. Even the side quests can help you understand the story even more! And everyone is so great (im so sorry, obviously a Kiseki fangirl)
Trails is the greatest series ever made. I've been binging every one this month and I'm up to CS4 now.
there's also the Drama CD for CS 1 and 2
and the manga Ring of Judgement and the other one which is basically a manga in Loewe's perspective during Sky FC and SC
trails is like any other infamously long media series you can think of. It’s super long and intimidating because of how huge it is, but once you’re in, and once you learn to enjoy the journey, you realize it’s however many dozens of hours of AMAZING content with such worthwhile payoff.
Try a game. Ideally Sky FC. And if you enjoy it, play the rest sometime. Pace yourself however you need to. It’s not like the series only has value once you finish it and once you start you HAVE to stick through to the bitter end with zero breaks.
The Trails series was always one of those series I had heard about, I knew I would enjoy, but never got around to. Boy howdie did I mess up! I ended up playing all three 'Trails in the Sky' and all four 'Trails of Cold Steel' BACK TO BACK over the series of a few months, and I enjoyed every step of the way.
Kiseki is literally the one piece of jrpgs.. Amazing world building with all the multiple countries characters organisations.. Concepts of power.. Power and magical power systems martial arts.. Ancient history.. And with each game.. Exploration.. Character customization.. Battle systems and graphics become better.. With new technologies and mechanics.. Also amazing soundtrack.. If u love one piece and jrpg play this game yesterday amazing series.. Worth the investment!!!!!!
Bruh trails is 1000x better than one piss
@@Tw0tson both amazing in world building.. Characters and action
@@panagiotisdoulaveris5592 not even close
@@Tw0tson same thing
@@panagiotisdoulaveris5592 you never read one piss or played a trails game
The kiseki series is one of my all-time favorite JRPG series. The world-building, the interconnectivity, the political intrigue and the characters are all just amazing. They can have such lighthearted moments and then slam you into super heavy situations all while the characters shine through to add emphasis to the scene or supply comedic relief to help ease some of the tension in ways that help the characters shine through. Now obviously there are cliche moments and sometimes peaceful moments can make things feel a bit slow for a short while on occasion. Trust me, keep pushing when it feels slow as the payoff is well worth it.
Game order:
Trails in the sky (空の軌跡FC）
Trails in the sky SC (空の軌跡SC）
Trails in the sky the 3rd (空の軌跡The 3rd）
Trails from Zero (零の軌跡）
Trails to Azure (碧の軌跡）
Trail of Cold Steel (戦の軌跡）
Trails of Cold Steel II (戦の軌跡II）
Trails of Cold Steel III (戦の軌跡III）
Trails of Cold Steel IV (戦の軌跡IV）
Trails into Reverie (創の軌跡）
Trails through Daybreak (黎の軌跡）(English to be added to the Japanese steam version soon)
Trails through Daybreak II (黎の軌跡II-Crimson Sin-）(No English version yet)
~
jpdb.io has SRS decks for the entire trails series other than 黎の軌跡II-Crimson Sin- that show cards in chronological order (or frequency your choice) so if you want to use them to study Japanese that is a good way to do it... all while gaining an understanding of 35,000-40,000 or so unique vocabulary to really take your Japanese to the next level. Hope I helped someone.
Agreed, trails is the best example of "when shit hits the fan".
Trails is such a good series so glad i started with cold steel 1 a few years ago, and i have never looked back. I played cold steel 1-4 and had to go back to the older games to experience the full story. ( I know you should play the others acrs first before cold steel 3 and 4 but still enjoyed myself anyway)
There is spinoff games for the Kiseki series actually for those who find it a bit overwhelming.
Nayuta no Kiseki (Trails of Nayuta basically) is a action rpg that plays a bit like the Ys series.
I think it still hasn't localized yet? It's supposedly a very good self-contained story and gameplay.
There is also the Ys vs Trails in the Sky game on the PSP, which is basically a Ys game with trails character in a 'smash bros' setting, so up to 4 players can brawl it out with their favourite characters from either legend of heroes or Ys series.
EDIT: It was called 'Legends of Nayuta: Boundless Trails', they started revamping the name of the games in general with a more 'english' title that is less cryptic but also sounds bad to the fans lol...
It's already out on consoles and PC, for some reason misread the year... It came out in 2021 on Steam, and 2023 on consoles.
The girl I like actually told me abt this series (diehard trails fan) a month ago and i played it to have smth to talk with her abt even tho i hate playing rpgs (unless its pokemon or has gacha)
And i gotta say, I've fallen in love with the story and characters as much as I've fallen for her
If things dont work out with her then hey at least I got this game series
Ask her out nibba
I think what makes Trails easier to get into is that each arc is written as a possible entry point, so you can technically choose whichever one (in terms of setting/characters) appeals to you the most as your first dipping point into the series. Regardless of which one you choose, after completing your first game, you're more invested, and probably more interested in knowing more (I certainly was) so the threshold for trying out the other arcs / returning to chronological order becomes much lower.
I personally never really intended to get into the series originally, since the traditional RPG-ish setting in Sky didn't appeal to me very strongly. But I tend to like school-based and military-related stories, so I was interested in trying out Cold Steel 1. I consulted the Internet, and found that each arc was designed to work as a standalone (kind of) so you didn't necessarily lose enjoyment from going slightly off order. Upon learning this, I decided to check CS1 out, still having no intention of playing through the entire series.
Long story short, the ending of Cold Steel 1 remains the most hype ending I've seen in any game and fully sold me on the series. I decided to play Sky and the Crossbell arc before proceeding to Cold Steel 2, had a blast with both, and before I knew it, I was eagerly waiting for Cold Steel 3.
My experience with the series has been very much like my experience with One Piece. It feels extremely long before you hit the first hype part, but after I do, the rest is history. I quickly consume everything out there and find myself wishing the series was 2x longer.
Do it Garnt, you're not gonna be disappointed
1. Do you like steampunk settings with occasional outright sci-fi shit?
2. Do you like fantasy geopolitics?
3. Are you at least tolerant of like One Piece-level length and worldbuilding?
If yes, then you should absolutely play the Trails series.
Trails series is special to me.
The time investment is huge.
The return is immensely worth it.
That awkward silent whenever Connor say something not agreeable🤣
Trails series in underrated af. Most people only talk about persona 5 and whatever else is super popular at the time. Ys games are 🔥 so many badass games that are pushed aside. Hell i wish they'd make another God Eater...
ToCS did get pretty popular for I bit I remember, but nobody seems to check out the older games in Trails series sadly.
@@blurb9319 cold steal had spike in popularity due to better advertisement. But then falcom and NISA as usual cant release the western versions faster than once every 5 years. So all the hype died down.
I'm so glad the Trails series is getting exponentially more recognition out of nowhere. Absolutely deserved.
Now hopefully the extra revenue they get from this boost in popularity is enough to afford more voice acting instead of only one character being voiced in a conversation lol
8:10 , slowly but surely
Fun fact: Trail series is actually a spin-off title series for the "Legend of Heroes" series, which is also a spin-off title series for the Dragon Slayer series - much like how Persona series is a spin-off title for the Shin Megami Tensei series.
Serious. The series was Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (ドラゴンスレイヤー 英雄伝説), Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II (ドラゴンスレイヤー 英雄伝説II).
Then, suddenly, it becomes The Legend of Heroes III: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch (英雄伝説III 白き魔女); this then went all the way to The Legend of Heroes VI: Trails in the Sky (英雄伝説VI 空の軌跡), which then spurned into the "Trails" series, which stopped putting numerals behind "Legend of Heroes" after "Legend of Heroes: Trail of Zero" (英雄伝説 零の軌跡), we see today.
So, yeah. It's a spin-off of an spin-off of Dragon Slayer by Falcom. XD
I really hope Garnt and Joey stream the games with their reach they could be like Asmongold with FFXIV and expose the game to more audiences so in the future maybe we could get trails games localize quicker.
PLEASE DO IT !
If you do decide to make the jump into the trails series.. I'd say just commit to a whole story arc. For example Trails in the Sky is 3 games in it's story arc, Trails of Cold Steel has 4 games in it's story arc. Right now, there are 3 completed story arcs and a 4th story arc is currently in progress.
Why? Because usually the first game in each story arc usually focuses on building the characters and world, the 2nd game is usually where things pick up and payoff starts paying it's dues.
No fucking way!!! My favorite niche franchise being mentioned on Trash taste???
Honestly, the series is great. The world building is amazing, npcs largely remain consistent across games and events are remembered across those games by them and they move around from town to town and you see them grow up across games. The characters are good, and they experience actual growth. Its long but the payoffs are pretty rewarding. You'd enjoy it if you like a good book.
And you're gonna be able to finish the entire series long before the next 1 or 2 entries in the series get localized anyway
For those who are looking to jump into the series, there are two games that are generally considered as good starting points: Trails in the Sky and Trails of Cold Steel. The former is highly recommended as it's the first game in the whole series, while the latter is preferably to those who can't get into the former (due to the dated gameplay and presentation) and is designed by the developers to be a good jumping point.