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The Kiseki / Trails (of the Sky/Zero/Ao/Sen/Etc) Community Thread: SPOILERTAGS OR DIE
- Thread starter Bebpo
- Start date
There's a Falcom discord that's linked in the sidebar of the Falcom subreddit, I don't have a link handy though.
Just saw an offhand comment in the threat about Falcom's floppy disks that they put a lot of stuff on iTunes and Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5WFofzgRxpVNkpwg9XRSdg
This needs to be in the OP. Listening to some Sora no Kiseki tunes!
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5WFofzgRxpVNkpwg9XRSdg
This needs to be in the OP. Listening to some Sora no Kiseki tunes!
Yep. Also, All is a Lie from Tokyo Xanadu is the #1 most listened to song of Falcom's Spotify uploads - Falcom tweeted about it.
https://twitter.com/nihonfalcom/status/851990956970696704
It starts off like a decently enjoyable, leisurely saturday cartoon and mostly gets better from there. Might seem a bit light and cliched at first but even then there's a bit more substance to it than your usual JRPGs. The characters are likable & have depth even if drawing from much used tropes (which they usually grow at least partly past of). It is a somewhat slow burn and starts off really small scale, so if you expect or want bombastic epicness & melodrama on the level of some FFs and Xenoblades all the time, you're gonna be disappointed.
It spends its time to first introduce you to the world, characters and basic concepts for a long while in a fairly leisurely manner before it starts nudging the bigger things forward (at least as far as the main characters being involved in them goes). At first you're chasing the fun and goofy pirates but eventually you'll notice you're in the middle of conspiracies and finding weird, intriguing, sinister ancient artifacts. Shit gets real, yo.
It's also one of those games that you kind of have to approach with the right kind of mindset. A lot of people have had a hard time getting into TitS FC at first but suddenly something just clicks that makes them enjoy even the parts they originally didn't, if they ever replay the game.
I was very much in the same boat as you are right now. It took me two years to get through Trails in the Sky FC because it didn't click until late in the game. Then I played through its six sequels back-to-back within a year, and then started over again.
Just know that once it clicks, you're hooked.
Holundrian
Unconfirmed Member
My favorite analogy for Trails is the start is like reading the first book of a super long fantasy epic ala wheel of time or something. It starts out like every other fantasy epic you've read before. You reach the end and kind of feel good cause thinking back on it you realize while nothing super special it was all very solidly executed. B-B+
Then the way the first book ends makes you curious enough about the next one so you read that and so on and then the farther you get the more of the little things you notice.
The callbacks, the setups in the earlier books. You spend so much time with these characters you want to see where they go and before you know it you get obsessively invested in this world that is so well thought out dripping with so many details, you wonder how all the various character intertwine with each other. You begin wanting to see all these other places that are only mentioned in passing or hinted at.
The last stage of obsession is wanting to "reread" the earlier games and take notice of side characters like little girl Claire dreaming of becoming a reporter at Liberl News getting shiny eyes about the thought of a dynamic bracer couple making the headlines preferably through her reporting.
Edit: Oh and I totally forgot the reason you get invested in all that stuff is of course the payoffs you can only get through series that give a shit about their set ups.
Even through all its faults I don't think I've played many JRPGs that have payoffs as satisfying as this series has.
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.
For what it's worth, FC is the slowest burn in the entire series. It didn't click for me until over halfway through.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
First time through FC didn't grab me until after the play. Was alright up until then but after that things started coming together. Then the last chapter ups the ante further.
Replaying it, I enjoyed it a lot from start to finish and appreciated all the build up even more.
Replaying it, I enjoyed it a lot from start to finish and appreciated all the build up even more.
Apart from what everyone has said, I kinda want to ask HOW you're approaching the game. Are you rushing through it, just mostly playing the general story beats or are you exploring the world while taking your time? I've seen many go into the mindset of an epic tale with twists and payoffs frequently, often forgetting to stop and relax. It's kinda rude, I realize, but Trails is a series that gets better when you approach it right.
On the flipside I just started too and I'm really digging it. I like how light hearted and kind of restrained it is so far. The game does a good job at hinting at something bigger, with airships and conspiracies and political coup and ancient towers, but right now I'm just in my hometown doing my job.
Though I am taking it really slow. 9 hours in and I just finished the prologue. I don't skip any fights but most importantly I talk to pretty much everybody everytime something happens. They always have something new to say about the present situation, it's kind of crazy (and time consuming).
I'm still largely confused about the Orbment system though.
Though I am taking it really slow. 9 hours in and I just finished the prologue. I don't skip any fights but most importantly I talk to pretty much everybody everytime something happens. They always have something new to say about the present situation, it's kind of crazy (and time consuming).
I'm still largely confused about the Orbment system though.
Yeah. Played FC on psp before, liked it, but it didn't wow me. After SC launched I gave it another shot on PC.
I already knew the plot, so it made me focus on dialogue and how story is presented in FC. That way I appreciated the game a lot more and ended up loving it right from the start. You start in a rural town and everyone knows you. The dialogue reflects that. It does the quiet town gets disturbed let's go on an adventure trope really well. It does a great job of raising the stakes after each arc.
I already knew the plot, so it made me focus on dialogue and how story is presented in FC. That way I appreciated the game a lot more and ended up loving it right from the start. You start in a rural town and everyone knows you. The dialogue reflects that. It does the quiet town gets disturbed let's go on an adventure trope really well. It does a great job of raising the stakes after each arc.
StarSketch
Banned
I don't know the names of most of the songs so I was just going through the album for SKy FC and I was like "Ok, this is the final boss theme, this is the ending theme
and now I'm crying again
I think it's definitely a series to savor rather than run through. It definitely earns that time with how much it pays off and delivers through all the world-building and interconnected NPC stories/lives.
I don't wanna be that guy saying that like, there's a right or wrong way to approach a game (because there isn't), but this is definitely a game that will give you back as much as you put in, over the course of the whole thing (not immediate gratification).
I don't wanna be that guy saying that like, there's a right or wrong way to approach a game (because there isn't), but this is definitely a game that will give you back as much as you put in, over the course of the whole thing (not immediate gratification).
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
It isn't too complicated. Each quartz is worth a certain amount of points, along with its innate bonus. As long as they are part of the same line, those points add up (it shows your points for each line in the upper right when customizing, I think). Each art has a point requirement, they are all listed on the bracer notebook.
Naturally, characters with fewer, longer lines are better casters because they can add up points more easily.
Note than in terms of efficiency, lower level offensive arts are better anyway. Higher level ones mostly just offer area damage and aren't much stronger.
A friend of mine gifted me FC and I unfortunately couldn't really get into it. Cut to me several months later after beating S1/CS2, and things changed considerably. I devoured FC. Suddenly every little call forward made extremely happy. Erebonia wasn't some rando country, I literally lived it. I actually cared about Bracers. Recurring skills like Morale/Motivate and Wild Rage made me grin like an idiot. Cooking, books, and other recurring system/ideas. Ouroborus was even mroe intimidating. Olivier... need I say anymore?
My experience is partly why I don't think playing CS1/2 before FC is that bad of an idea.
My experience is partly why I don't think playing CS1/2 before FC is that bad of an idea.
theclaw135
Banned
I finally caved and got this.
My first and last nendroid.
I'm not much for nendroids either, but she might be an exception. Or the upcoming awesome Lum...
http://www.goodsmile.info/en/product/6365/Nendoroid+Lum.html
ShadowSoldier89
Member
I dont like nendoroids, or poseable action figures. I wish there were some static scales for trails
Thanks for the feedback! Same for everyone else who responded. My main concern was that a lot of the comments about Trails having an amazing story may have come from people who just really like JRPGs in general. And I loved those kinds of stories as a teenager but don't have much tolerance for them these days, so I need genuinely deep and interesting characters or an amazing combat system or world to make me want to play. So far none of those things have been present. It's been decently fun to play, but when there are so many other games out there it's hard to commit 100 hours to one that doesn't get interesting for 70 of them, or whatever. I'll probably keep going with it for awhile at least.
You do have to have some tolerance for some usual anime/JRPG tropes to enjoy all the Kiseki games but eventually they do often manage to bring some genuinely good stuff out of it all, sooner or later. Like Trails in the Sky has a romance that at first feels like your typical teenage romance thing but by the end of Sky SC it's probably one of my favorite game romances because as cliched & teenager-y as it can be in many regards, when it really matters the writing is on point and the game is surprisingly mature about it.
All I can add is that (almost) all of it does pay off, in my opinion. What might've felt like a pointless chase of fairly non-consequential air pirates in the beginning has a purpose and satisfying conclusion in a bigger context and eventually you are doing more meaningful & exciting stuff. At least in Trails in the Sky. Trails of Cold Steel is weaker, though still tries to hold on to similar principles in its storytelling (just with more modern common tropes)
Deep and interesting characters are there, but as everyone else has said, it's a slow burn requiring a great deal of investment to see where things are going with said characters and the overarching story. Combat is much better in Trails of Cold Steel, particularly Cold Steel II.
Personally, I didn't feel that Trails in the Sky FC truly picked up with the main story until near the very end, around Chapter 5 or the Final Chapter (I'm inclined to say the latter). The first Trails of Cold Steel took until near the end of Chapter 3, and then kept ratcheting up more and more from there. I've enjoyed all of the Trails games I've played so far, but Cold Steel definitely clicked sooner for me (I was compelled to keep playing from the very start, even before the main story really got going).
Yea, it's a franchise to take your time with and experience over a long-term. I tried rushing through FC over the holidays and completely fizzled out at the 30 hour mark. Probably just reached the point where the glacial pacing finally picks up, however I really had my fill of Estelle and co. doing everything but making progress in the core mystery. The writing and banter is great, but it wore me down as the narrative is literally spinning its wheels.
I'll get back to it though eventually.
After leaving Rolent, I was immediately interested in the world and cultures of each place I visited. I guess you could say that I really felt like I embraced learning to be a bracer, and that hook was enough for me.
BassForever
Member
For me it didn't click until I realized all the npcs have dialogue that constantly updates for every little thing you do and all have real lives and stories that go on as you do your generic jrpg plot. Just as an example the shop keeper in the first town where you get a newspaper for Casius you can talk several times to the shop keeper and his mother to learn about their conflict of the mother wanting her son to get married and have kids while she's still alive, his "too busy with work/don't want pressure" and how mom eventually is motivated by the player to go search for a woman for her son. You'll run into mom through both fc/sc and there is enough story for these npcs to be their own game but 99% of that story/dialogue is completely optional.
Trails the 3rd is only coming to PC, right? I became an instant diehard of this franchise after playing FC and SC for the first time late last year, but alas, I only own a Chromebook right now as far as computers are concerned. I suppose I can hunt down a used laptop for like a hundred bucks or something; I can't imagine the specs are substantial here at all.
It runs on a toaster. Here's the Recommended specs:
OS: Windows Vista or later (64-bit supported)
Processor: Core 2 Duo 2GHz or higher
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: 64 MB VRAM, 3D accelerator compatible w/ DirectX 9.0c
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Storage: 6 GB available space
Sound Card: Compatible with DirectX 9.0c
DualShockers got an early copy of Trails in the Sky the 3rd and wrote up a quick preview. Seems they like it. Some light spoilers for the prologue chapter.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
Seems questionable to suggest that it's "probably okay to start with," even though they don't fully recommend it. But I haven't played 3rd so maybe that's not totally wrong. Just seems like it would be counter-intuitive to start with a game that at least partially functions as an epilogue, and is the most difficult game in the trilogy (or series? I think I've seen that suggested).
Basically a 10 year old fairly mainstream PC. Minimum specs would probably be met by a nearly 15 year old mainstream PC. Biggest limiting factor is that it would need a GPU from at least 2004 or later for DX9.0c support.
Oh, yeah, heh. I can grab something for like $40 that plays this game.
...like a toaster.
I have no idea why they would say that. It's an absolutely crazy thing to say and not at all true.
Yeah, I didn't agree with that either considering what others have said about the game not holding your hand and expecting you to know how to battle properly from the get-go.
I want to add to preta's comment on this, that I think you'd be completely mad to start with 3rd. Especially because the game assumes you've played FC and SC. It doesn't even bother with a tutorial and basically throws you into the thick of things without much of an explanation to work with.
It throws around spoilers left and right for SC's ending right at the start, so if you don't want that game spoiled, better play FC/SC first.
EDIT:
I want to add what I've basically said about the trilogy for awhile, considering its combat system: FC expects you to learn the system, SC expects you to master the system, 3rd expects you to break the system.
Holundrian
Unconfirmed Member
Who is this Zane you speak of?
Basileus777
Member
I think they call him eggman now.
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.
brb modding my game to reflect this
So uh, standard "My account has just been approved but I've been secretly lurking in this thread for a while" sort of deal. Feels a bit weird in that regard.
But this series has had me completely hooked. I started with the pc release of Sky FC, vaguely aware that it was good but kind of hesitant due to the artstyle (Not so much the environments or the portrait sprites, but mainly the overworld sprites due to their 3dish modelish nature), and the characters were immediately just so charming and enjoyable and well written and all that jazz that I blasted through the whole thing.
Anyway, played SC after that when it released, then Cold Steel, then Cold Steel 2, can't wait for the third instalments of both. And the Crossbell stuff if that ever happens.
But this series has had me completely hooked. I started with the pc release of Sky FC, vaguely aware that it was good but kind of hesitant due to the artstyle (Not so much the environments or the portrait sprites, but mainly the overworld sprites due to their 3dish modelish nature), and the characters were immediately just so charming and enjoyable and well written and all that jazz that I blasted through the whole thing.
I still have no idea how people who played the psp release at launch handled the wait for SC.
Anyway, played SC after that when it released, then Cold Steel, then Cold Steel 2, can't wait for the third instalments of both. And the Crossbell stuff if that ever happens.
FC is wordy as hell and very slow, I'm not surprised some people can't get into it. If i ever replay the games I would probably start from SC or at least rush through FC.
I'm pretty sure this is one of the things we are not supposed to talk about. This and
.
This is masterpiece.
*Head-pats* 108 stars
I'm pretty sure this is one of the things we are not supposed to talk about. This and
PE3
This is masterpiece.
Wait a so I was playing Kiseki before you were? FC was late out on EU PSN but I remember it was around the time I was seeing Ao launching in Japan. Always assumed you were one of the die hard few who'd been playing since 2004. Must have been an awesome (and exhausting!) year going through them all like that.
Haha, that's right. I bought my PSP for Persona 2: Innocent Sin, which was sold in a bundle alongside Trails in the Sky. I didn't like Persona 2 and gave 'that generic looking RPG' a shot. Funny how these things go. omgfloofy and Yotaka have been following the series since its inception, though.
Oh, and I did finish Innocent Sin...But only last month.
StarSketch
Banned
So I was expecting to not like Millium that much but her energy is pretty infectious
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
I went through a big journey with Millium. I initially expected to hate her, and was pretty down on her at first. I warmed on her by the end of CS1, but it was really on my replay prior to CS2 that I started to love her. And by the end of CS2 she had become my favorite character from the Cold Steel games.
She has the best reaction faces, and her CS2 bonding events in particular were all really strong.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
I went on a big journey with Millium too, from vehement disdain to begrudging tolerance.
Golden_Pigeon
Banned
I am starting the first Trails on Sky. I really dig the characters and the world. It's cool to see larger-than-life character like Estelle and her father, i was more use to see those type of character in anime/manga than in RPG.
Also those kids LOL, nothing like the regular cheerful/thankful kids, those damn brats !
The combat system is really cool and dynamic. Going back to Persona 5 feel a little weak, even if i absolutely love this game and it's my GOTY.
I have a question: do i have to go through the third or i could start cold steel when i finish SC ? Also, the third is pc only for the West right ?
Also those kids LOL, nothing like the regular cheerful/thankful kids, those damn brats !
The combat system is really cool and dynamic. Going back to Persona 5 feel a little weak, even if i absolutely love this game and it's my GOTY.
I have a question: do i have to go through the third or i could start cold steel when i finish SC ? Also, the third is pc only for the West right ?
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.
I went from HATING Millium in CS1 to being pretty ok with her by the end of CS2.