FALCOM - Trails in the Sky, Cold Steel, Ys Series (SPOILERS)

[Kaslo]

Fie enters the chat

Basically old class vii only really has Fie, Emma, and Elliot. Everyone else is meh as characters go (and this includes my waifu Laura).

[Kaslo]

Laura*

Though TBH Fie/Sarah are great too

Sarah doesn't count

[BerenTebogo]

Also Towa is SUSPICIOUSLY ABSENT up to where I am cuz I havent played in like 3 days

[Gokulo]

Fie all day, err day. Laura is cool and I like that she hits like a truck, but there's not much else about her. Ohh, but I did like her first bonding event.
Rest of old class might not even be there... Gaius had a cool Dominion moment in 3 and there's some cool stuff with Emma in this one I guess. Even Sharon is somewhat less cool in this one.

[Odesseiron]

Quick question here. Sorta. I already asked Sath, but looking to get a bit more detail about it without spoiling myself searching Google/Gamefaqs/Reddit etc.

So I decided to pick up the Legends of Heroes games and go in order.

I finished Trails 1, I'm currently at the end of SC. I already have Trails Third queued and waiting to go.
I own Cold Steel 1/3 (2 and 4 I'll prob get for Christmas)

There's the middle gap of Zero/Azure which have never officially been released in the states. I know there's some translations out there which I have looked into. I haven't really looked at what the stories are about, but the little bit I did see, say that Azure/Zero get into events that explain a lot of the Cold Steel (particularly 1/2) series and make them somewhat "obsolete". I don't know how true this is as I haven't really delved into it and I don't want to search too much because we all know how easily things can get spoiled.

I guess my main question is how closely do Azure/Zero factor into the story? I'm thinking of playing the translations anyway, but if I decided to skip would I be missing out on the later Cold Steel games when certain characters/story elements?

I'm assuming it's one giant narrative. Though I don't expect to see many of the characters from the Trails game in the Cold Steel series, but I know literally nothing about them, so maybe I'll be surprised if someone makes a cameo or whatever. I'm also guessing Ouroboros plays some kind of ongoing factor in these games also. Seeing the story ramp up from Trails 1 > SC was crazy. It's pretty predictable, but in that old school jrpg kind of way I love. It goes off the rails pretty quickly and I think I'm making the final rush in the Tower. All that's left presumably is Loewe.

Again I have no idea where these stories will go, but I'm enjoying the hell out of them and hope they continue to be as good/better than this. No spoilers please if you can help it.

[Gokulo]

CS4 includes most of the main characters both from Sky and Azure/Zero, as it functions as a sort of closure for the entire narrative. Some also appear in CS3 but to a smaller extent. I only played Zero as that one had a good translation come out from Geofront, still waiting on Azure. In general, you can still grasp the idea of most of the stuff that's happening and characters involved without the knowledge of the A/Z, however I did feel somewhat disappointed I didn't play Azure before this, as there's stuff about certain characters that could've been a nice surprise in Azure but was presented as common knowledge in 4 and hence spoilered the reveals.

Seeing as you're just completing 2, I think there's a high chance Geofront will finish it's translation of Azure, so I'd still recommend you to play their translations of Zero and Azure to get the best overall experience.

[Corrderio]

In a chronological sense, the Crossbell saga takes place around the same time as the first 2 Cold Steel games. Though from my understanding the Crossbell saga spoils some major parts of CS2.

Speaking of Zero/Azure. They'll be coming to Steam... in China/Korea. How picky is Korea with DRM compared to China? Wondering if that could be an alternative for the Azure patch when Geofront is done.

[Odesseiron]

In a chronological sense, the Crossbell saga takes place around the same time as the first 2 Cold Steel games. Though from my understanding the Crossbell saga spoils some major parts of CS2.

Speaking of Zero/Azure. They'll be coming to Steam... in China/Korea. How picky is Korea with DRM compared to China? Wondering if that could be an alternative for the Azure patch when Geofront is done.

Your first part of your response is what I heard. I was thinking of going in this order Trails 1/2/3, Cold Steel 1/2, then back to Azure/Zero, then Cold Steel 3/4. I've heard that is a decent order to go in also.

I really appreciate the scope of this. It feels like what OG Xenogears was trying to go for. I'm not comparing the 2 in quality, I just mean a whole long jrpg series in which characters come and go and evolve over the course of the games. There's a bunch of similarities. I'm really looking forward to see where it goes. Trails 1 is super low key, but I appreciate the establishment of the characters. Seeing as how the series is going to have another installment next year, I wonder how big this all really is.

I mean I'm at the end of SC and the story is pretty grandiose with the tower in the sky and all.

[Corrderio]

Yeah I'd say that's about right. In a nutshell...

-Trails in the Sky and SC are the start of the saga.
-Trails in the Sky the Third takes place 6 months after the events of Trails in the Sky SC
-Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2, Azure, and Zero take place in the same time frame which is roughly 2 or so years after Trails in the Sky
-Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4 take place 2 years after the events of Trails of Cold Steel 2.

I will note I played CS3 before Zero and it really didn't spoil the latter in any capacity for me. Something to consider.

And yeah the saga is nuts. I can see why other companies didn't try this given the sheer length (10 games in and we're roughly 70ish percent done with the story). That and Falcom loves going the extra mile and even fleshing out the NPCs when the characters are already top tier. The reunion scene in SC was easily one of the best moments I've seen in any game.

[Odesseiron]

Well I beat SC. The 3rd certainly starts WAY more different than I would have imagined lol. No idea what's going on. But it's a lot of fun going into a series completely blind.

[Gokulo]

3rd is different than the first two and many people hate it for that. However, the stuff you learn in it is still important in the grand scheme of things.

[Bweigelt]

I actually think 3rd is by far the best sky game. It was the really the game where the combat started to really take off.

[Odesseiron]

Yeah I'm definitely going to see it through, it's just not what I was expecting, which is fine. A series does need change or else it's going to get stale. I'm only about 2ish? hours in. It seems like the level cap is above 100.

One thing I did learn is DON'T go into a moon door if you want to go to bed lmao. I spent a good 20 minutes in a cutscene with some backstory on a flashback. It just kept going!

I've noticed the games seem to get longer as the series is going on. It'll keep me going the next couple of months, that's for sure.

[Odesseiron]

Well, finished the 3rd. I enjoyed all of it aside from those god forsaken minigames. Whoever designed those should be shot.

The doors were all awesome. I can see why people wouldn't like it. But aside from a different lead, everyone is there. I was not prepared for Renne's door. JFC. I think I'm going to move onto Zero with the patch/VO next.

[Corrderio]

I was waiting for you to finish for asking about Renne's door. I honestly can't think of a more fucked up moment in any game I've played.

I didn't mind the minigames too much minus the fishing one. I swear I spent over 1.5 hours before completing that damn thing.

[Odesseiron]

It's brutal. They hint at it in SC, but I wasn't expecting it to be THAT dark.

Instead of hopping over to SC, I'm playing Zero (doing the order is was intended). The internet is a great thing. Download 1 file, has an no install or anything. Just double click and play. Gonna be weird not playing as the same group.

Whatever version I downloaded has all the extras and stuff unlocked, but I'm not gonna look at that stuff due to potentially spoiling myself. I'm not expecting a lot of crossover from other games, but starting at this game would be like "BUH??" I'm only 30 minutes in and there's so many references to other things that happened. It's a great overall narrative.

Really not sure if Geofront for Azure will be done by the time I finish Zero. I'm not sure how well regarded the other translation is. Thoughts?

Either way, I think it SHOULD take me through til early December. By that point Cyberpunk ought to be out and then I can focus on that for a bit while the translation is finished.

[Corrderio]

IIRC Geofront is a more accurate/better translation.

Also not sure if you played Cold Steel yet but I'd highly suggest going to those before you play Azure for 2 main reasons.

1. Zero doesn't leave you at a OMGWTF cliffhanger like Trails in the Sky did.
2. Azure spoils some key points in Cold Steel 1 and 2.

[Odesseiron]

IIRC Geofront is a more accurate/better translation.

Also not sure if you played Cold Steel yet but I'd highly suggest going to those before you play Azure for 2 main reasons.

1. Zero doesn't leave you at a OMGWTF cliffhanger like Trails in the Sky did.
2. Azure spoils some key points in Cold Steel 1 and 2.

Hrm, okay. You're the expert! I will take your word for it.

But I can definitely play Zero without it affecting anything, yeah? I notice your avatar is from Zero (and potentially other games) ;s

[Bweigelt]

The problem with playing cold steel first vs playing Azure is they both spoil each other heavily. It's fine to play in either order imo, but I would wait to play azure till the geofront translation is done. People will say the other translation is fine, but it's really not and will be a huge step down from the zero geofront translation. The game is also missing a ton of QOL features that geofront will add. Just make sure you play azure before cold steel 3 & 4, and you should be good.

[Corrderio]

Hrm, okay. You're the expert! I will take your word for it.

But I can definitely play Zero without it affecting anything, yeah? I notice your avatar is from Zero (and potentially other games) ;s

Yeah you can. Zero doesn't drop any major plot points for Cold Steel from what I remember.

The problem with playing cold steel first vs playing Azure is they both spoil each other heavily. It's fine to play in either order imo, but I would wait to play azure till the geofront translation is done. People will say the other translation is fine, but it's really not and will be a huge step down from the zero geofront translation. The game is also missing a ton of QOL features that geofront will add. Just make sure you play azure before cold steel 3 & 4, and you should be good.

I never played Azure but from my understanding Azure spoils CS more specifically...

Spoiler: show

Osborne's assassination along with them later finding out he's still alive.