Well, yeah, the biggest focus of this series is the story, most people are gonna play them for that and rate the games mainly on that
Neither Cold Steel game does
CS2 has Blade II and Snowboarding
besides fishing of course
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The Kiseki / Trails (of the Sky/Zero/Ao/Sen/Etc) Community Thread: SPOILERTAGS OR DIE
- Thread starter Bebpo
- Start date
Neither Cold Steel game does
CS2 has Blade II and Snowboarding
besides fishing of course
Yeah, I think this about sums of my problems with Lloyd. They took his character in the wrong direction with Ao, and it honestly sucks the fun out of the character dynamics and part of the plot. Quite frankly, Lloyd's just a few steps away from being a legit Gary Stu. Comparing him to Simon would be an insult at this point.
The saving grace of these Crossbell games are definitely the supporting cast, no doubt about it.
Yeah same. CS2 has more minigames (that are great), but SC's casino was... very addictive.
Of course, but that only goes so far you know? Thankfully, Sky's gameplay never gets outright bad like say, the older Persona gamesdo , but man gameplay makes up such a huge amount of the experience, it's hard to ignore, lol. Even on the NPC side, it's a lot more fun to talk to NPCs in Cold Steel than it is in the Sky games.
Game's writing in general is a huge step down. I already mentioned the combat. I scream in horror every time Elise or Alfin is on screen, and frankly all of Class VII look like they come straight out of light novels. The pacing is absolutely horrid. That second chapter was literally wasting my time. I finished CS2 in 70 hours (did every thing). I finished Ao also in 70 hours. I feel like I did and saw so much more in Ao I have to ask myself where my time went in CS2.
People I know who played both the original one and the localized one said Xseed did a great job polishing things up. Otherwise I would never understand CS2's reception in the west.
Nah, Lloyd has different roots. He's more a hero in a battle manga, whereas Rean is from a light novel like Sword Art Online.
Gurren Lagann is a good example because it has a little brother/big brother relationship where the little brother surpasses the big brother. Although it's not that conventional. Battle manga also has multiple love interests and the lead is kinda awkward with romance.
Sword Art Online is a make the MC do everything. I don't hate Rean, but the fact they force him too be likeable makes him insufferable to many. Flaws make a character.
Gurren Lagann is a good example because it has a little brother/big brother relationship where the little brother surpasses the big brother. Although it's not that conventional. Battle manga also has multiple love interests and the lead is kinda awkward with romance.
Sword Art Online is a make the MC do everything. I don't hate Rean, but the fact they force him too be likeable makes him insufferable to many. Flaws make a character.
Well I love the gameplay since FC (except like dungeons that`s bad in all the games anyway) so there isn`t much that i need to ignore but even still as long as i don`t feel it`s intrusive i don`t mind it?
Like going back to the dungeons they`re rather lame but I really don`t care because i love everything else in these games and they still end up rated rather highly for me
Lloyd's only "flaw" is like what? How much dense he is when it comes to woman?
Rean is definitely a step up over Lloyd, his arc is not finished yet and he already got better development going for him after the end cold steel 2 specially
they`re both harem protags but rean got more going for him imo
From Cold Steel 1? Not really, since CS1 had its fair share of writing issues, and CS2 is roughly around the same level. The only egregiously written portion of the game is
the entire infernal castle climb which is just... weak
Don't get it twisted; CS2's broken combat is still miles ahead of FC/SC's dull combat. I won't comment on Ao/Zero.
Elise is bad, correct. I liked Alfin, but I can't pretend her personality won't rub people the wrong way. Also the Class VII CS2 designs are amazing, what are you even on?! They're a huge improvement over the dry CS1 designs and MUCH better at conveying each of the character's personalities.
There are some pacing issues, but calling it "absolutely horrid" is a huge stretch. At least it doesn't have an entire chapter dedicated to clearing the same dungeon 4 times in a row and another chapter that's just shameless padding.
Get OUTTA towwwwwn. The suikoden style "go around and do quests and be a badass" was absolutely amazing. For the first time, they actually introduced side content; you weren't limited by the confines of a school or some area. CS2's second chapter alone is like, one of the highest points of the Kiseki series, lol. Challenging the optional bosses at an early level and beating them = bliss.
『Citation Needed 』
Sinh_Magnus
Member
Instead of Lloyd, I would like to discuss more about other character in Ao: (Big Crosbell arc ending spoilers):
Yes, I really liked that scene.
Guy. His death in special, since I think it says a lot more of the character than everything else in the two games. I think he was a sad man, actually, even if the game tries to depict him as a big brother hero, strong and cheerful character.
He basically went to his death because he was incapable of accepting how the people around him changed (Arios) or who they really were (Bear sensei and in extension the Crois family). And almost knowing what was going around in crossbell (or having a strong lead about it) he tried to be solve everything alone believing he can convince his old friends. It surprises me how he didn't talk about it with Dudley or Sergei at least. I can't imagine another scenario were he didn't die with utter regret, not only because he left behind Cecile, Lloyd (and in extension Tio) but also because he failed in what he tried to do. He's death would have been almost meaningless if it not were for the SSS.
He basically went to his death because he was incapable of accepting how the people around him changed (Arios) or who they really were (Bear sensei and in extension the Crois family). And almost knowing what was going around in crossbell (or having a strong lead about it) he tried to be solve everything alone believing he can convince his old friends. It surprises me how he didn't talk about it with Dudley or Sergei at least. I can't imagine another scenario were he didn't die with utter regret, not only because he left behind Cecile, Lloyd (and in extension Tio) but also because he failed in what he tried to do. He's death would have been almost meaningless if it not were for the SSS.
Yes, I really liked that scene.
Not from CS1 (albeit I'd say CS1 has better writing than CS2), from older entries.
Yeah no. Just no.
In CS1 at least Class VII is relevant in the main story. I can't remember what they do in CS2, except "my relative got kidnapped, we gotta save her". That's totally how you write a war.
Chapter 2 was suppose to be the climax - you got all your party members back, and you got a nice airship. Don't get me wrong I like picking up students and all that, but side content is only meaningful for me when there is a competent main story. The story was not going anywhere in chapter 2. This is the opposite of SC. SC was slow as molasses at first, but it gets faster and faster. In CS2 the most exciting part is when Rean was alone trying to reunion with Class VII.
Sometimes when the subject we are talking about is so niche, all we have is anecdotal evidence. Ain't nobody's gonna write paper on Xseed's localization.
The CS2 designs aren't my favourite (A lot of them are a little busy, and Fie is surprisingly naked for such a wintery game), but they are infinitely better than the non-dlc outfits in CS1 for sure. I'd also say that with a few exceptions, the Sky cast's designs aren't significantly better (not to say either are bad), it's just they might as well be head portraits for how little we see the rest of them, so they don't matter as much. Schera's Third design is not my favourite, no matter how much it fits her character, for example.
...No idea how Crossbell compares.
Framerates are hard.
...No idea how Crossbell compares.
Framerates are hard.
I believe Durante said he's aware of it, it's just low priority whilst the game's still crashing for some people
Sinh_Magnus
Member
I agree with this. I really liked CS2 second half gameplay wise, but the first half is the one I enjoyed the most, mostly because of the above. The ending, though, was really good as a conclusion to CS1/2 arc in my opinion.
I hope people here that haven't played CS2 yet take care with spoilers because some stuff is getting out of control.
Lloyd is too serious for his own good and tries to put himself out. He's way too eager to prove himself. Resulting in: (Zero spoilers)
Arios defeating that slug and giving him a lecture.
Then Lloyd makes friends with the rest of SSS and tries to rely more on them. Even giving them advice at critical times. Although Randy still feels like the bigger brother of the bunch in Zero.
You see Lloyd grow a lot as a person. Whereas Rean gets a new gimmick, skill or role attached to him. Cold Steel III still has room to give Rean some progression. The rest of Class VII feel pretty developed after CS II.
Calling Lloyd a harem protagonist sells him short. Besides I chose Łazy above the girls
.But yes he did get a toriyama handjob in Ao. So does Estelle in SC lol. She's a bit nerfed when you get to the 3rd, when almost everyone becomes so good (not you Josette).
Novel Mike
Member
To many people just take Rean's character at face value without paying attention to the details within it. Warning heres a long post doing a deep dive into Rean, I hope you enjoy XD
He is flawed, deeply so. His personality is likeable but its actually because he himself wants it that way. Rean is shallow and has always felt alone despite his adopted family and he has created this 'likeable' personality for himself both to get along with his adopted family (because he has massive abandonment issues that go BOTH ways:
See CS1's ending
Enter Thors and Class 7 where his created personality draws people to him along with his unique situation, he truly comes to love everyone in Class 7 and would do literally ANYTHING to stay with them no matter what happens. Then we get to the finale and... (CS1 ending spoilers)
Everything really starts to fall apart but Rean ends up refusing to give up, he rallys his class to help the teachers because he is desperate to protect the home he has found and the family he has found. This is why he so readily accepts Valimar and becomes an Awakener, because of his desire to protect the little piece of happiness hes found. This is also why when Valimar is forced to retreat that Rean freaks out, he begs Valimar to stay with all his might and is literally dragged away from the very people he absolutely loves.
Then you have CS2's events which I won't go over in massive detail here but it really comes down to the epilogue so spoilers for all of CS2 here as well:
Before I dive in, the above I just mentioned is also why Rean is desperate to get Crow back, because even though Crow betrayed them and separated all of them Rean cannot imagine Class 7 without him at this point, this is also why Crows death in the end hurts him so much. Hes never had to deal with a proper loss before and his created personality is largely fragile and we really start to see it come undone when Osborne is revealed to still be alive and the truth comes out.
Then you have the actual Epilogue where Rean has completely changed, the hopeful and inspiring leader of Class 7 has disappeared, now hes angry, bitter, hateful towards Claire, ect. He hates where everything has ended up leading him and how hes been used by everyone around him worse of all his fucking father. Osborne being his father is really what breaks him first, again he has massive abandonment issues and to learn after everything thats happened that HE of all people is his father and his father wants to use him as nothing more then a tool of war? That fucking hurts him hard.
We see him still holding onto his created personality though when he talks to his gf/bondmate whatever you want to call them and he seems almost like his old self but it seems pretty clear hes just faking it at this point. not wanting to make it harder then it already is for him to lose them and everyone else. Everything has fallen apart for him, hes lost his adopted family (likely because they had to know his father was Osborne which he cannot accept), his real father only sees him as a tool, all of the friends and new family hes made across of Class 7 are being taken away from him. He's losing it, I think thats why his smile at the very end before the credits roll is so creepy, its not a hopeful smile its not a smile of 'everything is going to be okay.' No its a smile of desperation, of trying to come to terms that hes lost everything he ever had and what the hell is he suppose to do now? Well he kinda knows that, hes a tool of war but he as a person no longer has a clear direction forward. I think its also meant to signify that this is the last time we'll really get to see him smile for a long time.
Then you have the actual Epilogue where Rean has completely changed, the hopeful and inspiring leader of Class 7 has disappeared, now hes angry, bitter, hateful towards Claire, ect. He hates where everything has ended up leading him and how hes been used by everyone around him worse of all his fucking father. Osborne being his father is really what breaks him first, again he has massive abandonment issues and to learn after everything thats happened that HE of all people is his father and his father wants to use him as nothing more then a tool of war? That fucking hurts him hard.
We see him still holding onto his created personality though when he talks to his gf/bondmate whatever you want to call them and he seems almost like his old self but it seems pretty clear hes just faking it at this point. not wanting to make it harder then it already is for him to lose them and everyone else. Everything has fallen apart for him, hes lost his adopted family (likely because they had to know his father was Osborne which he cannot accept), his real father only sees him as a tool, all of the friends and new family hes made across of Class 7 are being taken away from him. He's losing it, I think thats why his smile at the very end before the credits roll is so creepy, its not a hopeful smile its not a smile of 'everything is going to be okay.' No its a smile of desperation, of trying to come to terms that hes lost everything he ever had and what the hell is he suppose to do now? Well he kinda knows that, hes a tool of war but he as a person no longer has a clear direction forward. I think its also meant to signify that this is the last time we'll really get to see him smile for a long time.
This brings us to CS3 which is setup I think most of us already know but spoilers warning anyway:
Rean's still having to work as a tool of war but his chance to become a teacher of a new Class 7 is likely a decision he ends up making quite easily because it is a chance to recreate what he once had with the original class 7. That said, in all of the pictures and art we've seen of Rean have you noticed something? Rean NEVER looks happy, the happy and likeable personality he once used throughout CS1 and most of CS2 has been stripped away for the most part. He always looks angry or bitter or at the very least annoyed. In all of the screen shots and videos I don't think I've ever seen any of them with Rean smiling or even remotely happy.
Thats why Rean is such an interesting character. CS1/CS2 have largely been about setting him up for a massive fall that we see at the end of CS2 and now with all of his friends, family, love, and hope stripped away from him... Who is the real Rean? CS3 will show us clearly but thats the thing, THATS why so many of us are interested in seeing what happens in this game because Rean is in every way a wild card because in truth we don't really know his true self so its impossible to really predict what he will actually end up doing. Who he'll end up fighting for and why. Thats why so many people have different ideas on how CS3 will play out, will Rean side with Osborne? Will Rean side with Olivert? Will Rean be the true antagonist?
All of those ideas would be crazy if this was the Rean we saw in CS1/Cs2. Thats why his character is actually so interesting.
Thats why Rean is such an interesting character. CS1/CS2 have largely been about setting him up for a massive fall that we see at the end of CS2 and now with all of his friends, family, love, and hope stripped away from him... Who is the real Rean? CS3 will show us clearly but thats the thing, THATS why so many of us are interested in seeing what happens in this game because Rean is in every way a wild card because in truth we don't really know his true self so its impossible to really predict what he will actually end up doing. Who he'll end up fighting for and why. Thats why so many people have different ideas on how CS3 will play out, will Rean side with Osborne? Will Rean side with Olivert? Will Rean be the true antagonist?
All of those ideas would be crazy if this was the Rean we saw in CS1/Cs2. Thats why his character is actually so interesting.
Oh in regards to the main series, then I agree. CS1/2 are a step down from the Sky games, but I just don't think CS2 is that much worse than CS1. Like, they're very much cut from the same cloth, though I'll be the first to admit that the highs reached in CS1's final chapter and ending were not exactly matched in CS2. That said, i'm really partial to CS2's
Divertissement chapter
I'm dead serious. Both games follow a simplistic encounter-->fight--> repeat system and both of them can be broken, but Cold Steel is just way more fun about it. Crafts are flashy and viscerally satisfying to land. Character building in Cold Steel has a way higher ceiling, so you can end up with positively nutty builds. And the field encounters are obviously better. Whacking enemies with a sword > touching them (and maneuvering an obnoxious 4-person party). Also if you avoid using the truly broken stuff, CS2 has a fairly acceptable difficulty curve on hard.
This is true. SC follows up on each of its characters in a way that CS2 very obviously did not, and that's honestly disappointing in retrospect. SC in general is just a lot more purposeful with its chapters, and they do a lot for the main cast. That said, I don't think CS2 ended up being that dissatisfying in Act 2. CS did a good job setting up its characters, so it's not like I needed each and everyone of them to have a sleep over with Rean, wherein they discuss their greatest insecurities or whatever. To put it another way, CS1 sets up and puts its characters on the "right" track (Machias, Elliot, Laura, etc overcome their problems in CS1 in a way that characters like Agate and Schera didn't in FC), while CS2 keeps them going in that same direction, rather than getting into the meat of their characters. Still disappointing, but not ruinously so imo. There's still a fair amount of good Class VII stuff in CS2.
CS2's act 2 is mostly filler, but it's fun filler. The various operations are fun to complete and satisfying, and each mission builds up to your final confrontation with
Crow and the Noble Alliance
Ehhhh this still sounds sketchy. That said, I do know that Xseed blatantly added new content for CS2 that wasn't present in the Japanese version, and always the localization is top class.
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
Going to have to disagree super strongly- well, other than the 4-person party thing I guess. That was definitely stupid. Craft animations are something you watch the first time then skip, and the character building would be fine if there was anything to actually use those nutty builds on- like random encounters are pretty bad in both games but you don't even see the bosses move in CS2 most of the time. Like FC-TC had a lot of broken strategies but bosses still actually sometimes did attacks? 3rd's hard mode is also miles beyond CS2's nightmare which is somewhat frustrating- partly I guess because 3rd wasn't originally designed for it in mind but it's still a lot more fun than the hardest difficulty possible in CS2. Also it's hard to avoid the truly broken stuff in CS2 when one of them is a main system mechanic- like CS1 is a much more fun game simply by not having overdrive.
I can recall three parts of the CS2 localisation that are arguably an improvement over the source material: (Spoilers, obviously)
And of course, that's not including the upcoming PC port with extra voice acting and all the other additions of the CS1 port.
The very opening scene when Rean is unconscious, instead of having Class VII go "REAN" over and over, has them say important lines from the previous game. (If nothing else, this makes Rean seem slightly less "The centre of it all" than he is already, so I appreciate this.)
The first credits is replaced with a montage of both old and new CGs, showing Class VII's origins. (Personal opinion, I LOVED this change, I would not have been as emotional without it.)
And I believe there's a time that they mentioned where during dialogue, they're talking about... something, I forget, so let's call it X, that Laura is supposedly knowledgeable about. In the original, to keep the dialogue going, Laura goes "X?" in a questioning way, but in the English translation, stuff is rearranged so that Laura appears less of an idiot. Apparently they did this sort of thing a lot, although I don't speak Japanese, so what do I know.
The first credits is replaced with a montage of both old and new CGs, showing Class VII's origins. (Personal opinion, I LOVED this change, I would not have been as emotional without it.)
And I believe there's a time that they mentioned where during dialogue, they're talking about... something, I forget, so let's call it X, that Laura is supposedly knowledgeable about. In the original, to keep the dialogue going, Laura goes "X?" in a questioning way, but in the English translation, stuff is rearranged so that Laura appears less of an idiot. Apparently they did this sort of thing a lot, although I don't speak Japanese, so what do I know.
And of course, that's not including the upcoming PC port with extra voice acting and all the other additions of the CS1 port.
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
I'm trying to imagine the original scene in the game without it coming off as a parody.
Like them doing it right after each other would just make me burst out laughing. Is it just me?
Too late, I now have a general idea of what to expect in the first 2 chapters of CS2.
I'm a little late but so far my ranking goes like this: 3rd > SC > FC = CS
3rd needs no explanation. SC was immensely satisfying too, but it had some fat that could have been trimmed. FC and CS are too close for me to decide which I liked more. For the moments that really mattered, FC's execution was a step above Cold Steel's, but Cold Steel got more interesting more quickly and was just more fun overall.
StarSketch
Banned
Not gonna lie, I watched the first section of CS2 in english and then Japanese out of curiosity, and I was like "Ok, wow. English is definitely an improvement here."
Like, it feels like Rean actually cared about his friends in the English version!
Not for me! I watched Craft animations play out pretty much every singly time. It helped that they were generally much faster than FC/SC crafts, which made attacking a lot less tedious. Plus, they really brought their A-game when it came to making S-crafts. I mean look at Termination Slash: Dawn. That's pretty much the pinnacle of all S-crafts.
There were a couple worthwhile bosses, actually. The superbosses in CS2 were a notable case; it was possible to beat them at an early level with an aggressive set up. The handful of bosses that resisted AT-delay or dealt significant actually required some degree of preparation as well. But even the fodder enemies and bosses made planning worthwhile. Why? Because you could clear those fights in a much quicker pace; FC/SC also had its fair share of non-threatening bosses, but killing them was always a chore. CS2 had you plowing through weaker bosses, but that feeling of control felt satisfying. Turning the numbers back in your favor, even if there was never a real threat of losing, pulling off stylish devastating set ups, or just going hog wild with a union attack was super satisfying. More fun than I had playing through FC/SC anyway.
3rd is definitely ahead of both FC/SC and CS/CS2 when it comes from difficulty. It takes the more sensible design from FC/SC and improves it and the fun factor from CS2. The best of both worlds really.
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
That's fair; I hate watching animations in jrpgs after the first time (FFIX drives me up the goddamn wall and the early disgaea games are basically unplayable), so different strokes.
Not sure what you mean by the superbosses; the NG+ was kind of a let down even on Nightmare. If you mean the Lost Artes ones, The first was actually really decent but the later ones basically felt interchangeable with the actual story bosses; it's a shame they didn't appear earlier.
I don't feel happy unless I'm getting smashed in the face by bosses, so I'm afraid I never found much enjoyment from the total domination you can inflict. SC was never Lucifer's Call or Wizardry, but on Hard there was a few fights I thought were pretty fun-
Gilbert; Abyss Worms had a strategy even if it was a gimmick fight; a lot of the early game; and even with late-game cheese Lawrence was an fun fight.
Yeah, I won't deny 3rd has a better balance than the other sky games. There's a few spikes but nothing like SC prologue while still having fights that can wipe you with the tactical nuclear weapons you're given
Cassius, the Arena, and the final fight on Nightmare can be surprisingly dangerous
I meant the Lost Arte ones, yeah. I guess referring to them as superbosses was a bit of a misnomer, haha.
I'm the same way actually, though I prefer in games with more depth. Getting your ass kicked in the Etrian Odyssey games is oh-so satisfying. With Trails, I don't mind the fact that it's far less stressful. The bosses you mentioned were good
I would add a couple of the enforcer fights as well.
McBurn, which pretty much forced you to play around McBurn's S-craft, which could outright one shot you on higher difficulties.
I haaaaated SC on hard mode. So tedious. It felt like you were chipping away at enemies with a stick, and it was obvious the game wasn't designed around it. SC prologue on Hard was an actual hell. 3rd was so much better all around. The
Cassius fight was a notable high point and having to fight him AND Loewe at the same time was ridiculous in the best way.
EndcatOmega
Unconfirmed Member
I've never actually seen it; I guess that's why I was so annoyed by how strong alpha striking was in CSII, ha. That was hard, though; maybe nightmare would have made the game more satisfying. I should probably give the EO games another go but can't stand the aesthetic; I liked Strange Journey and EO's predecessors well enough.
firepower even super early on melted random encounters and any less HP and bosses would have died as fast as CS, potentially. Dunno about the other choice in the route split- I know she's broken in 3rd for Fast Crafts related reason, but not sure if that applies to SC.
Yeah, no defending the prologue. There's basically one strategy for the boss of that chapter and it still feels heavily RNG dependant. I will say I liked it after that-
Agate's
Not gonna lie, I watched the first section of CS2 in english and then Japanese out of curiosity, and I was like "Ok, wow. English is definitely an improvement here."
Like, it feels like Rean actually cared about his friends in the English version!
I'm playing through CS1 undub right now and XSEED made a lot of smart choices to make characters sound less wooden or predictable.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
They have to; they've wrote themselves into this corner. To not try would be a really bad sign.
Lloyd is too serious for his own good and tries to put himself out. He's way too eager to prove himself. Resulting in: (Zero spoilers)
Arios defeating that slug and giving him a lecture.
Then Lloyd makes friends with the rest of SSS and tries to rely more on them. Even giving them advice at critical times. Although Randy still feels like the bigger brother of the bunch in Zero.
You see Lloyd grow a lot as a person. Whereas Rean gets a new gimmick, skill or role attached to him. Cold Steel III still has room to give Rean some progression. The rest of Class VII feel pretty developed after CS II.
Calling Lloyd a harem protagonist sells him short. Besides I chose Łazy above the girls
But yes he did get a toriyama handjob in Ao. So does Estelle in SC lol. She's a bit nerfed when you get to the 3rd, when almost everyone becomes so good (not you Josette).
Estelle doesn't even get that much attention until near the end of SC. I think she was totally justified in stepping up to the position of leader near the end. I don't agree she was treated super special in the same level as Lloyd is in their second games. Character flaws aren't flaws if the story never bothers to capitalize on them. His entire shtick
with him trying to be the self-sacrificing guy at the beginning doesn't really do much for his character at all and it might as well not be there since it doesn't get any focus at all other than the scene you mentioned and at the Sun Temple.
Ao:
On the other hand, the characteristic made more sense with
Randy because it directly led him to getting destroyed by Shirley and almost getting dragged back to the Red Constellation with a missing arm. All of this was built up from the first game and the events in Ao beforehand.
delving into her past in Zero was how everyone contributed to cheering her up, but it started off with Elie. Read: Elie. Sure, Lloyd made the same cringey speech like in every other scene, but it made sense in that particular moment.
I just got to the point where
Henry broadcasts his nullification of Crossbell's independence, and yeah, Lloyd's the center of changing the politics of a single state. Come on.
We don't deserve XSEED, they make the games better and ask nothing in return. Sure, Gaius could say "Rean..." for the 100000th time, but nah, he has more important things to say to his good friend.
His good friend meaning the wind right?
I'm not disagreeing with you here, but I was pointing out why there's a difference between Lloyd and Rean. It's because they took form from different roots. Rean is very much a LN protag that flocks ladies to his cause while juggling all these roles perfectly. However Falcom has good writers so even a LN protag can be interesting. Well and the performance of Sean Chiplock is excellent.
The reason why Rean sticks out, is that the rest of VII is more interesting. Plus (CS2 spoilers)
They find the path they are ready to take. The protagonist doesn't, at least he has friends tho!
Is it understandable? Yes, it relates to life itself. Still it shows that little progress is made throughout both games. Then look at all the roles Rean plays. It's like a tommy wiseau movie.
Okay show of hands: (CS2 Divertissement spoiler)
Who felt great with the prospect of kicking Rean's ass with Lloyd and Rixia?
I raise both my arms while jumping.
No, i'd say his arc in CS2 is flat out more interesting than theirs. Their stories are a lot more straightforward/conventional. There is a big problem with Rean's arc that I want to get into later, though.
Thud said:
It was satisfying, but mostly on Rean's end. He spends both CS1 and CS2 being such a boy scout, so seeing him execute his mission as military officer with brutal efficiency was immensely satisfying. Really, Lloyd and Rixia took a massive L because they were effectively being let off by someone who had immense power over them.
Lloyd: Hold on, isn't that a Tachi? Like the one Arios uses.
Rean: I'm nowhere near as proficient with one as he is, though.
Rean: But we should able to handle to two of you, at least.
Lloyd: Hold on, isn't that a Tachi? Like the one Arios uses.
Rean: I'm nowhere near as proficient with one as he is, though.
Rean: But we should able to handle to two of you, at least.
I don't know why so many people are so hard on those games difficulties.
I played every English Trails (well, i just go to the "Recreation" part of CSII) and i found the difficulty quite challenging... The final boss were absurd to me
Crow + Vita was one of the most difficult boss i had to fight in a J-RPG... Seriously, i had to think about it for quite a while.
All those stuff and more and even with that it was QUITE the ordeal. I think anybody talking about how easy Cold Steel I and II are just so used of the game somehow they don't understand anymore what is difficulty... I swear, if it were more difficult than that it would start to become quite annoying.
Not to say the difficulty of Cold Steel 2 is always well balanced... Seriously even random enemy at the end could wipe my party quite easily but if i have the edge of the battle, they would die even more easily. CSII also LOVE to heal their bosses... Don't know why but it's VERY annoying. I don't agree much about the fact the craft have so large hitbox you don't position your characters anymore. It was actually worst in FC since so few magic had a aof to begin with until the very end of the game. Between bosses where being spread is the best option to situation where you want everybody to be together the be taken in a buff magic, moves were key in this game for me.
It's so strange to see my experience so diffirent from everyone.... Well, it may be a tribute of how complexes those battle system actually are. Opinions are less spread out for the mecha battle for exemple. (Which feels so simple in comparison... Made me think of some Paper Mario battle system)
The fact that he was forced to use Valimar (deus ex machina) counts as his loss. Rean is a bad dog and should be put down. Just like Richard back then. Would be best if Class VII does it in CS3.
Now I'm done with quoting a different person each time. Especially when it's getting farther off the main topic. Please excuse me.
No, he wasn't forced to use it. And I think you're using that term wrong.
Rean summoned Valimar out of convenience. He got to trash a (portion) of the network (success) and intimidate the fuck out of the opposition (success).
Rean summoned Valimar out of convenience. He got to trash a (portion) of the network (success) and intimidate the fuck out of the opposition (success).
ThatChairMan
Member
It's big talk for sure, but just those skills weren't able to stop Lloyd and Rixia in time. In terms of objectives, they accomplished their primary one while Rean was forced to shift to his backup after failing. In terms of strength, he managed to show off that he, personally, was matched by a simple police detective and isn't worth much without his ogre mode or Valimar. Granted though, Valimar did freak them out.
Yeah, Rean fucked up badly by not transforming (which would have immediately resulted in their loss). But man, a kid with a couple of years worth of combat training matched up against one of the more powerful characters in the setting + a police detective who's been in his fair share of vicious scrapes, and that's just completely embarrassing on their part.
lol.
lol.
This contest just makes me appreciate Lloyd more. Such a grounded character. His parents are nobody and his training is ordinary. How often do we get to play as random joe in a JRPG? No you gotta be a prince, or incarnation of some god, or chosen by some crystal, or your dad must be a big shot of some sort, or you're not you, you're actually a clone. Or you look totally ordinary but you have a dark past.
Too bad, they threw that completely out the window with Ao.
Not really? I mean he is a bit too convincing, but that's just his negotiation skill, not some inner dark power unleashed.
Sinh_Magnus
Member
I tried to discuss about other character instead of Lloyd but no luck
Young Magus
Junior Member
iRAWRasaurus
Banned
For you :'(
have fun! Waiting for xseed to mention the English localization..
soulslayer
Member
When do you guys think they announce the localization? Wish this game would be out by September of 2018
But he does? He literally becomes Detective Conan in Ao, and I mean that in a bad way. And he's not a random joe, because his older brother happens to be one of the most famous guys around in the city. Random joes also don't woo every single girl he comes across with cringey ass speeches, either.
Look no further if you want a real random joe:
Man, screw male MCs. Can I just play as Anelace forever and see her story unfold as she aims to conquer everything that is cute in the universe? She's a user of the Eight Leaves One Blade style. Plus she's invincible (or is she?).
purseowner
Member
When do you guys think they announce the localization? Wish this game would be out by September of 2018
They'll have to wait until it's out in Japan to even start work on it if Falcom's policies remain as they have been.
What I like about Lloyd is that he's really relatable. He copes with the loss of his brother by aspiring to become his successor. He aced school and follows the book when it comes to work, but struggles with pretty much anything outside his comfort zone. My favourite part is how much he cares about his friends, and how he asks them if they're okay if he gets the impression something is the matter. It's a really banal thing, I guess, but it makes him so much more human to me.
If all circumstances for Sen I would apply to Sen III, around E3 2019. (Sen I was released in September 2013, the localisation was announced before the E3 of 2015)When do you guys think they announce the localization? Wish this game would be out by September of 2018