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[Nightengale]

It's much more apparent once you get to the games after Sky and get to see how big of a picture the series is.

I think that is part of the challenge. Even in FC/SC, Trails paints a very compelling and rich picture of Zemuria, but it was very subtly done from the perspective of the core cast as well as from the perspective of Liberl.

It's only in later games, especially after seeing FC/SC tackle Liberl that the scope of the Zemuria continent becomes apparent. And that is like... if you play through the series game-by-game, a revelation that comes after 100+ hours .

Don't talk about it. >=o

I won't. Just wanted to know that's what you're referring to.

 

[StereoVsn]

It's not a game that is immediately rewarding or satisfying. That's why you hear so many complaints that the pacing is bad or that it's too slow. The way Trails builds the world and the characters just isnt for everyone.

It's more like what a good novel series does vs usual RPG. I very much liked that about the game. Also combat can be a bit slow in the beginning. So people who don't normally like to read or care about world building and who don't have the patience to get through a first few hours of exposition or tutorials won't take well to it.

 

[DamonForever]

It's more like what a good novel series does vs usual RPG. I very much liked that about the game. Also combat can be a bit slow in the beginning. So people who don't normally like to read or care about world building and who don't have the patience to get through a first few hours of exposition or tutorials won't take well to it.

This was me going into the game. I've come to appreciate more that a picture can tell 1000 words, and it becomes a chore when system mechanics get added to plot/world building descriptions. It needed to be heavily engaging to overcome that.

The biggest thing that turned me off though was the 'luck' mechanic in battles. To see the enemy randomly heal through luck got annoying, and I envision that happening much later or in boss fights and that turns me off the most. Tell me that isn't a big deal, and I may go back to the game someday.

 

[YianGaruga]

The biggest thing that turned me off though was the 'luck' mechanic in battles. To see the enemy randomly heal through luck got annoying, and I envision that happening much later or in boss fights and that turns me off the most. Tell me that isn't a big deal, and I may go back to the game someday.

That's what S Breaks are for.
It's really no big deal as the bonuses are mostly minor, but with S Breaks you can take a turn whenever you want and get the bonus for yourself.

 

[Mexen]

Just got FC, I believe and will play it after I beat Ghost Trick.

on the thread, Sol. Reading your blog post now.

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

Great thread! Bless Kiseki. Bless XSEED.
I still have difficulty wrapping my head around the immense scope (and potential future scope) of this series.
Like, damn here we are 7 games later with an 8th announced and we've been to three countries on a single continent on an entire planet.

 

[Nightengale]

Great thread! Bless Kiseki. Bless XSEED.
I still have difficulty wrapping my head around the immense scope (and potential future scope) of this series.
Like, damn here we are 7 games later with an 8th announced and we've been to three countries on a single continent on an entire planet.

Don't worry. The Trails saga won't go so far until the entire planet or something that crazy.

After 11 years and 7 games, the Falcom president said that it's

Spoiler

about 60% done so far.

 

[Barrylocke]

Don't worry. The Trails saga won't go so far until the entire planet or something that crazy.

After 11 years and 7 games, the Falcom president said that it's

Spoiler

about 60% done so far.

There's still the Calvard Republic to explore after all, and isn't there a Holy State too?

 

[Gu4n]

There's still the Calvard Republic to explore after all, and isn't there a Holy State too?

The Holy City of Arteria, the sovereign states of North Ambria, Leman and Ored, and the Principality of Remiferia. And these are only the countries we know of that are acknowledged by the state. So yes, we know there is even more east of Calvard.

 

[Arthea]

I don't see how Trails is not for everyone, yes it is text heavy, but nobody forces you to read everything or talk to everybody, you can just waltz through it like any other game, you will be losing a lot what makes this game good, but story heavy doesn't make it not for everyone when most of the text isn't forced on you. And aside from the story these are still good games.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I don't see how Trails is not for everyone, yes it is text heavy, but nobody forces you to read everything or talk to everybody, you can just waltz through it like any other game, you will be losing a lot what makes this game good, but story heavy doesn't make it not for everyone when most of the text isn't forced on you. And aside from the story these are still good games.

Story heavy or not, it's still pretty low-key. For someone like me who wants downtime to be the minority, it's pretty rough.

Compare to, say, Suikoden 3, where you get stuff like a brutal attack on a village with kids dying in like the first frew hours.

 

[Taruranto]

That something was called Murayama.

I know a lot of people like V, but everything after 3 when Murayama left is a pales imo since it doesn't have that world building and single overarching grand story focus that Murayama had for his series.

I still hope someone will leak the encyclopedia Murayama wrote for the series since Konami gives zero fuck about it at this point.

 

[hao chi]

They're on my mental list of games to play. Hopefully I'll get to them next year.

 

[Mifune]

Really? Im playing it atm and I find it fantastic. Ive heard it gets a lot better at two though.

I should have added "so far" to my comment, since I was only about four hours and change into it. Now I'm about nine hours and it has gotten much better. Once I was able to recruit people everywhere it got fun.

 

[petethepanda]

Aside from the fact that they sound like great games that are worth playing, is there any reason to not just skip TitS and jump into Cold Steel? I know I'd probably miss out on some nods and whatnot, but would it be more than that? I just don't have a ton of time for huge investments like JRPGs lately.

 

[Dio]

Aside from the fact that they sound like great games that are worth playing, is there any reason to not just skip TitS and jump into Cold Steel? I know I'd probably miss out on some nods and whatnot, but would it be more than that? I just don't have a ton of time for huge investments like JRPGs lately.

Nah, Cold Steel is a good jumping in point.

However, you'd really be missing out on playing good games. The Trails titles are top-tier, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by skipping FC/SC.

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

Aside from the fact that they sound like great games that are worth playing, is there any reason to not just skip TitS and jump into Cold Steel? I know I'd probably miss out on some nods and whatnot, but would it be more than that? I just don't have a ton of time for huge investments like JRPGs lately.

Can you play the Cold Steel trilogy alone without the past and future games? Sure!
You'll miss out on the overarching plot that the series has been building slowly and well and a few returning characters won't have the same impact, but if you just want to play a few good long RPGs it's totally cool to just play the games in each subgroup.

 

[Augemitbutter]

Honestly, I feel Growlanser is another series Suikoden fans will like.

agreed. Growlanser IV was closer to Suikoden than FC and SC. people should play them all if they can.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Good thread.

Wanna pimp it on Kotaku?

 

[Gu4n]

Wanna pimp it on Kotaku?

That's a yes, apparently: http://kotaku.com/trails-of-cold-steel-is-basically-suikoden-meets-person-1749278992

I'm really eager to find out what fans will think of Erebonia. After the relatively modern Crossbell, the decennium old Erebonia felt much more in line with Liberl.

Edit:
As requested, an attempt to convert Zemuria-in-my-head to Zemuria-on-paper.

 

[Se7enSword]

That's a yes, apparently: http://kotaku.com/trails-of-cold-steel-is-basically-suikoden-meets-person-1749278992

I'm really eager to find out what fans will think of Erebonia. After the relatively modern Crossbell, the decennium old Erebonia felt much more in line with Liberl.

Edit:
As requested, an attempt to convert Zemuria-in-my-head to Zemuria-on-paper.

That's an impressive map!

Thank you for this!

 

[SolVanderlyn]

That's a yes, apparently: http://kotaku.com/trails-of-cold-steel-is-basically-suikoden-meets-person-1749278992

I'm really eager to find out what fans will think of Erebonia. After the relatively modern Crossbell, the decennium old Erebonia felt much more in line with Liberl.

Edit:
As requested, an attempt to convert Zemuria-in-my-head to Zemuria-on-paper.

Awesome sketch, thanks!

As an added note, both Sky games are on sale on Steam right now, so if you're on the fence, now is the time to jump in.

 

[Mister Sloane]

Really interesting thread. I pre-ordered Cold Steel a little while ago on impulse (it looked like a game I would like and it was a good deal) but now I will be holding off until playing the earlier ones.

 

[YianGaruga]

If anyone needed more reasons, Trails in the Sky is 50% off ($9.99/7.99€) on Steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/251150/

 

[Sambrez_]

I might take it on Vita, how's is the port ?

 

[danthefan]

I might take it on Vita, how's is the port ?

I don't think it's as good as the PC but I don't notice any performance issues and it looks fine for a decade old game.

 

[YianGaruga]

I might take it on Vita, how's is the port ?

Played both games on Vita and it's great. You might get a little jealous when you see the high-res PC screenshots, but portability beats everything. It's a PSP game though, so expect PSP graphics.

 

[Gu4n]

Played both games on Vita and it's great. You might get a little jealous when you see the high-res PC screenshots, but portability beats everything. It's a PSP game though, so expect PSP graphics.

While nothing major, the PSP version contains a couple of mistranslated terms and names, like Septillion (which should be Sept-Terrion) and Anne Selnate (which should be Ein Selnert). Just know that once you get to SC, some terms might have changed and updated to the series' current standards.

 

[Jolkien]

Already started working on it. I'm currently playing the first Trails in the Sky, then I'll play SC and I also already bought Trails of Cold Steel.

 

[Saint of Killers]

I want to play Trails and I have promised a friend I will buy it, but first I want to see if it will hit the end of year EU PSN sales. I know they're cheaper on Steam, but I am more likely to finish them if I purchase them on Vita. Will go PC route if they're not part of EU PSN sale.

 

[Moobabe]

If anyone needed more reasons, Trails in the Sky is 50% off ($9.99/7.99€) on Steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/251150/

Just picked this up - I'm trusting you GAF.

 

[JeffZero]

Amazing OP, Sol.

This is why I love this place.

 

[Krelian91]

This is a wonderful thread. Well done.

 

[Haunted]

What am I even looking at?

 

[YianGaruga]

What am I even looking at?

It's taken in the middle of a special attack so you have weird effects everywhere. It normally doesn't look like this.

On the left is the turn order and the rest should be self-explanatory.

 

[Gu4n]

What am I even looking at?

Remember the Triple Techs from Chrono Trigger? You're looking at the Trails in the Sky equivalent.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

What am I even looking at?

That's a pretty hectic screenshot. Battles look like more like this most of the time, with real backgrounds.

 

[Eidjinn]

Will I be losing too much if I don't play the Gagharv trilogy or even the first two games?

Also, both Growlanser games that are on psn are any good?

I'm... a huge fun of Suikoden I and II... liked the V but hated the third one.

 

[Se7enSword]

Will I be losing too much if I don't play the Gagharv trilogy or even the first two games? .

No, you'll be fine.

 

[Lulubop]

I heard you can miss a lot of stuff, and you gotta follow a guide pretty religiously. I'm a bit of a completionist and I don't really replay games.

 

[YianGaruga]

I heard you can miss a lot of stuff, and you gotta follow a guide pretty religiously. I'm a bit of a completionist and I don't really replay games.

Yeah if you really care about it you should follow some spoiler free guide. I got like 95% of everything without one, but if that bothers you, there's some really time sensitive stuff you can easily miss.

 

[Nyoro SF]

I heard you can miss a lot of stuff, and you gotta follow a guide pretty religiously. I'm a bit of a completionist and I don't really replay games.

One thing that's nice with the Sky games is that it offers an unbelievably high number of save slots that save and load really damn fast, so you can go back and forth really quickly and save like a madman if you feel like you don't want to miss something important without wasting any time.

And of course spoiler free guides.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I heard you can miss a lot of stuff, and you gotta follow a guide pretty religiously. I'm a bit of a completionist and I don't really replay games.

Aside from the spoiler free guide suggestion, if you check the bracer board (the source of the game's sidequests) regularly and do each quest as soon as it's available, you should be mostly set. There are a lot of missable items, however, including books that contain some interesting lore inside of them.

 

[King_Moc]

Thanks for the recommendation, I bought the first one on steam as it's cheap right now and this looks like the sort of thing I'd enjoy. Will probably start it soon as I have 2 weeks off work.

 

[Psxphile]

Don't know if anyone else noticed but both First Chapter and Second Chapter are today's Daily Deal on Steam (even though the timer says 41+ hours left):

Trails in the Sky FC - $19.99 $9.99 (50% off)
Trails in the Sky SC - $29.99 $19.49 (35% off)

In case anyone missed them before. 'Bout the same as the Summer Sale, yeah? I don't think either have gone lower than this but I could be mistaken. Still, a good deal if you're fresh off of playing Trails of Cold Steel and want to know what happened prior.

 

[StereoVsn]

Don't know if anyone else noticed but both First Chapter and Second Chapter are today's Daily Deal on Steam (even though the timer says 41+ hours left):

Trails in the Sky FC - $19.99 $9.99 (50% off)
Trails in the Sky SC - $29.99 $19.49 (35% off)

In case anyone missed them before. 'Bout the same as the Summer Sale, yeah? I don't think either have gone lower than this but I could be mistaken. Still, a good deal if you're fresh off of playing Trails of Cold Steel and want to know what happened prior.

How they don't have a bundle for say extra 5% or 10% off to entice people to buy both game is just weird. Anyway, one of the best RPGs of its type in the business, buy it (FC+SC).

 

[Necrovex]

OK. This thread convinced me I need to buy First Chapter. Bought it some time back but never got around to playing much of it. Appreciate the awesome OP! This will also be a good way to catch up on my podcasts as I do side quests and dungeons.

 

[marimorimo]

I've been wanting to get into Trails in the Sky but I don't like playing PSP games on the Vita (I prefer higher resolution). Has the HD version released yet in English? (I have a PS3 and PS Vita if that helps).

 

[kiriin]

^The "remake" versions isn't in English and have their own problems. Buying it on PC is the only option if the low resolution bothers you.

 

[Mozendo]

I've been wanting to get into Trails in the Sky but I don't like playing PSP games on the Vita (I prefer higher resolution). Has the HD version released yet in English? (I have a PS3 and PS Vita if that helps).

PC version has HD asssets.