Maybe. You can inherit either your characters' levels or all of your NG items (gear, quartz, everything) in addition to the bonding points even with the 5 points, which'll make the game a cakewalk.
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The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 2 |OT| Class Reunion
- Thread starter Dandy Crocodile
- Start date
Maybe. You can inherit either your characters' levels or all of your NG items (gear, quartz, everything) in addition to the bonding points even with the 5 points, which'll make the game a cakewalk.
Basileus777
Member
The issue is really a result of how damn long these games are. I'm fine with being locked out of content in general, but less receptive when it's character development moments in a 80 hour game.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
yea this is how I feel, at least in like persona you can see everything in one playthrough if you follow a guide. No workarounds here other than starting with new game+ via save sharing
Scrooge McDuck
Member
Basically chess and coffee.
Just did this. 7 hours. Though I still took time collecting equipments and links.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Extra bonus beyond narrative and characterization: oppoturnity for Rean Snark.
"When I tell you...that I'm still too young to drink with you...do you just hear static?"
On the edit: oh hohohohoho
He's got alot of political and personal ones this time. Everyone got an upgrade in "necessity" in this one.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
hmmm...ill think about it, just Ill even skip bonding and equipment. Only making sure to grab Domination, hades gem, and the final armors. Maybe I could pull off 5 hours that way
OniBarubary
Banned
Goddammit game, just as I was kinda irked about Act 2's start with
you turned this into a
chapter. My one weakness! Fuck you Suikoden!
all the responsible adults going "HERE'S OUR AIRSHIP YOU COMPLETELY NEUTRAL PARTY, THANKS FOR ALWAYS SUPPORTING US AND SIDING WITH US"
fill your ship with people you find to increase facilities available to use
What are you talking about? Rean & co aren't taking sides in the war. It might look that way in every possible way you could think of but they really aren't taking sides, no sir. They're 200% neutral af.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
to be fair,
the ones who gave them the airship are the actual nuetral third party. Olivert and Viscount Arseid may oppose the noble alliance more heavily than imperial army, but they are definitely truly a 3rd party. Rean and company need to work a little harder on the whole neutral thing. And considering its Olivier handing over the airship, it doesnt even feel surprising.
bishopcruz
Member
Ok, some more post finale stuff
More ludonarrative dissonance. 200k HP Rean my fat ass. I guess I'm annoyed because I was just about to kill the bosses when of course Black Rabbit decided to wipe my party (next turn they were toast), just because she could. It's not a particularly fun fight, either. I'd also expect the hero of Zero/Ao to have more than 3 crafts. Not hav ing great Quartz makes sense because of the Arcus units.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
1.
I find this series took up the mantle the fallen Suikoden dropped and is running with it. It's great.
2.
Oliviert and Rean are behind this decision. That explains EVERYTHING. 
But also, the princess is on board legitimizes this as being under the auspices of the Emperor himself.
Also, keep playing.
But also, the princess is on board legitimizes this as being under the auspices of the Emperor himself.
Also, keep playing.
Basileus777
Member
The neutral party stuff never makes any sense, especially when you spend such a large portion of the game openly coordinating with the imperial army and RMP.
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
I just see it as more a thing of "we're not going to join the military specifically and do our own thing instead", but the claims of actual neutrality are laughable.
(Start of Act 2)
(Start of Act 2)
It's laughable with Olivert and Viscount Arseid as well since they're actively working with the 7th Armored Division on the western front, too.
Cornbread78
Member
you know this boss is really fing annoying and full of BS. I got him down under 20k and all of a sudden, he gets three moves in a row and he heals back you to 60k and kills 3 members...
ShadowSoldier89
Member
not quite with them (tossed an ending spoiler in here)
they are still neutral in the grand scheme of things. Olivier and Viscount Arseid would never support the imperial government, especially as long as Osborne's legacy, or as it turns out osborne himself, still remain. They may not be neutral to the war itself, but they are a neutral third faction to erebonia. They are also the key to why I think CS3 can be so intriguing. Civil war in erebonia does not appear to be over
Hikami
Member
Didn't think there was a game that actually did that, awesome.
Thanks, I'll check it out.
A bunch of SRPGs do that, because alternate paths are easier to implement in games that are just a few dozen maps.
Der Langrisser
Tactics Ogre
Growlanser 2
Probably quite a few more that I'm blanking on. Devil Survivor 1/2 kind of allow it for the endgame, and they're kind of sort successor projects to Langrisser/Growlanser (That Career Soft lineage).
Could easily beat the game now BUT I WANT TO GRIND MY REMAINING MASTER QUARTZ TO LEVEL 5 (except iron and scepter because they're useless so I don't care). Gonna run through the final dungeon using 3 of the lower leveled reserves and hope that means the master Quartz will level up quickly since they should receive a lot of exp points. Then to beat the game, see the remaining bonding events from first play, then do a second nightmare run. Platinum is in sight, more or less.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
I havent tried it, but I'm pretty sure that would mean them levelling up quickly, since master quartz receive a percentage of the XP the character does
Cornbread78
Member
ah ha ha ha ha, take that you big hairy gorilla/ram bastard!
For those of you using completed clear saves for your first runs: are any of you carrying over journal progress? And if so, does the system acknowledge things like # of Overdrives used or # of battles fought and dole out trophies immediately or do you need to complete another action in order for it to "count"?
It just occurred to me that the system might not see them as valid because the save might have already gone past the number that triggers the trophy.
It just occurred to me that the system might not see them as valid because the save might have already gone past the number that triggers the trophy.
Basileus777
Member
I would not carry over journal progress as it will fill your notebook with spoilers. But yes, if you carry it over it takes into account those numbers and will give you trophies for them when you do one more of that action.
Glitter and Gold
Banned
Growlanser is a series I keep meaning to get into. Hard for western fans tho.
but yeah those games have completely different ambitions for their narratives than the Kiseki series if Tactics Ogre is any example. Even outside of branching paths the morality is less black and white with choosing sides, vs here where the Noble faction are clearly in the wrong as the instigators and aggressors in the conflict
bishopcruz
Member
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
I missed ONE FRIGGEN CHARACTER NOTE!!!
I hate you Edel!
I missed ONE FRIGGEN CHARACTER NOTE!!!
I hate you Edel!
ShadowSoldier89
Member
Second best. Epilogue hidden is better
Novel Mike
Member
100% Agree, just wish Kenneth wasn't more dense then Rean is XD
That was amazing too.
Finished the game. Gotta say, it's so weird and I'm such a loser, but the ending got me misty a bit (as did the reunion scenes early on). CS3 has so many potential ways to go. Time for a Nightmare run. Probably just gonna blaze through, all those poor students left behind and terrible student rank, oh well. Thanks to Xseed for all your hard work bringing this series to the West.
See y'all in the Trails in the Sky The 3rd thread!
ShadowSoldier89
Member
I think whats great about that scene
is its something we dont see very often in games. Game stories tend to specialize in war and tragedy and triumphs. A sad scene thats merely about a group of students who are going their separate ways is just something the medium isnt really normally conducive to. Persona 4 does it with 1 character leaving, but this is everyone bailing under different circumstances with huge questions on their futures. I love that it was millium that was the first character to break down, The youngest character falls apart in the moment and it lets the walls break for all the others. It was just so well done, and it helps mimic the feelings of the players as they wait and wonder where the 3rd game will go
Basileus777
Member
So uh I'm after the credits and after the video stop playing I'm just getting a black screen that's not going away. Fuck. Do I have to redo everything and pray it doesn't lock up this time?
This happened to me. Just wait a while and it should come back after a bit.
Scrooge McDuck
Member
Did that for me, too. I waited about five minutes and it continued.
Basileus777
Member
Oh I quit out after I left it for several minutes and thought it was frozen. Shit, now I'm refighting those bosses for nothing.
For those interested, this is the speedrun I was talking about earlier. He beats the game in 6:53 (Normal, NG, No carry-over bonuses) in real-time.
It's amusing to see how they make up for not fighting any normal battles nearly all of the time, and the priorities taken.
It's amusing to see how they make up for not fighting any normal battles nearly all of the time, and the priorities taken.
This is like the RPG that leveling your characters matters the least, ever, because of how aggressive the game bumps you up. It constantly pushes ahead your party members to minimum levels, and curves EXP.
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Yeah, but the thing about Vanguard Bandits is that it centers around mecha and their pilots just like this game. In fact, a lot of this game felt like VG redux to me. Which is a wonderful thing, because VG was an awesome game.
This game feels like Suikoden and Grandia had a kid, then Persona and Tales of had a kid, then those kids got together and made this game. This is really just the ultimate hybrid sequel to every classic JRPG.
I'm at the finale now. Vita keeps running out of charge (I KNOW THE BATTERY IS LOW!) I like this game a lot, but Trails once again rears its two major problems for me:
-Pacing is super wonky. I love the world building, but the way it's presented for almost 60% of every game is a little TOO slow. I mean, most books are more "exciting" (and I use that term loosely) than the beginning half or so of any Trails game. Even when important things are happening, they're often interrupted by a fetch quest or something similar. Granted, the beginning of this game feels better paced than Sky SC's Enforcer gallery.
-Overly saccharine writing. I get it, we are all friends and no, you will not go to *Place* by yourself because we are always with you, you big dummy. This also results in severe lack of serious consequences when major world breaking stuff is supposed to be going on.
ACT 2 SPOILERS:
Otto's death is the ultimate example of this. ONE GUY dies in this ENTIRE WAR, and a huge deal is made about it because of how unnatural it is. The game conveniently shoves all the "real chaos" over to western Erebonia (which we never see) and our protagonists have countless "close shaves" where "things could have turned out a lot worse." Things are much too rosy in these games, much too often. I feel like a jerk for saying this, but I wish everyone in Celdic died. The stakes need to be raised for the narrative to achieve what it's trying to. Rean's supposed "neutrality" is another example of the writers wanting to have their cake and eat it, too. He's not neutral if 100% of his actions end up opposing a particular faction, no matter what his justifications for that are. They're in a war without actually being in a war, and it's frustrating.
I still love this game to death, though.
Just wait it out. I got lucky and I think mine last about a few minutes, but I saw someone on Gamefaqs say that their's lasted over half an hour.
Question (ending spoilers)
why exactly is Class VII over? Like, aren't they supposed to be second years now? Is it willful dropping out of school for all of them? Did they only enter as a one year deal? Was any of this mentioned? Or is it just shoehorned in for the emotional appeal?
Basileus777
Member
2nd time through the black screen went away quickly, this whole business is strange.
Spoilers through end of credits
(Huge spoilers)
Spoilers through end of credits
(Huge spoilers)
Osbourne being alive was hardly a surprise, but they sure managed to make the reveal a pretty great moment. And Rean's parentage twist being quite that was not something I saw coming. How long will it take to get through the rest of the game? Something more than a few hours?
Depending on time spent in the final dungeon, about 7-10 hours I would say.
Scrooge McDuck
Member
They all willfully dropped out. It's subtly stated throughout the main story conversation and explicitly expounded by NPC conversations.
And it's obviously there so Rean would lose all his emotional supports and become the main villain in the next game. Not really, but still.
And it's obviously there so Rean would lose all his emotional supports and become the main villain in the next game. Not really, but still.
Hikami
Member
Took me 8 hours doing all the stuff I could. Except the final dungeon, I just ran through it to get it over with.
I must be dense, I talked to everyone but didn't really get that beside the fact I just assumed that to be the case.
Some of their reasons are pretty lame though. Machias and Elliott going to different schools, okay (and nobody will miss them anyway). Alisa going to help with the company? Girl, please. Gaius going to.. paint something? Although the Rean thing I can kind of see, hopefully it's NOT as contrived as it seems.
bbkkristian
Member
Its even more impactful if you saw a certain bonding event of hers.
Basileus777
Member
Hmm. I might not be able to finish it for a few days then. Oh well, all these black bars will have to keep tempting me until then.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
I wouldve seen it if the game didnt limit bonding points...
Scrooge McDuck
Member
Most of the club NPC pretty much say variations of "it's a shame such and such won't stay for the second year" and some NPCs talk about how Rean is the last remaining Class VII. And I don't think all of them mean to drop out forever. Some, like Laura and Fie, stated that they'd be back once their business is over. Though that's maybe just for a visit or something.
(ending spoilers)
I think Falcom is sort of hitting a "soft reset" button with the character lineup, because as both CS1 and CS2 demonstrated, many characters ended up with a lot of dead emotional and plot weight, mostly just being towed around. I think a lot of players including myself would agree that characterization was one of Cold Steel's weakest points and the very large roster contributed to that.
Now that Class VII is out of the way, they can really tell and conclude Rean's story, and Class VII will be ancillary characters that will act as more of a role of "elevated side characters" that was really done well in the Sky games (Take Kevin, who does not spend the whole game with you by any margin, yet is very important, appears during important scenes, etc.). Tightening up the story and character development and improving the quality of the writing are the three things I wanted to see in CS3, and I think that making everyone leave was the best way to approach that. Trying to forcibly continue everyone's plot threads as a group would've just made the problem worse.
Now that Class VII is out of the way, they can really tell and conclude Rean's story, and Class VII will be ancillary characters that will act as more of a role of "elevated side characters" that was really done well in the Sky games (Take Kevin, who does not spend the whole game with you by any margin, yet is very important, appears during important scenes, etc.). Tightening up the story and character development and improving the quality of the writing are the three things I wanted to see in CS3, and I think that making everyone leave was the best way to approach that. Trying to forcibly continue everyone's plot threads as a group would've just made the problem worse.
This is just my speculation mixed in with what I want to see of course, and is not indicative of Falcom's actual direction...
ShadowSoldier89
Member
this is my worst nightmare for CS3...