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

[Yuri-G]

So I recently started Trails in the Sky and it's wonderful. Any suggestions on how to best experience the Trails series? I got Trails of Cold Steel on sale from Steam but I think I'll hold off until I finish the Sky games; is that a good idea? I plan on eventually finishing most anything Trails but it will be a long time.

It's funny, I always had this weird impession that Trails were low-budget mediocre JRPGs like you see so many of in the indie scene or on Switch. But I finally gave the first Sky game a chance because I've been having a Ys revival lately and it is really fuckin good. I was so wrong lol

[Corrderio]

IMO the best order is:

Sky > Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2/Crossbell > Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4

The first 2 cold steel games and Crossbell take place in a fairly close time window.

EDIT: Here's a timeline of how the games play out:

[Yuri-G]

IMO the best order is:

Sky > Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2/Crossbell > Trails of Cold Steel 3 and 4

The first 2 cold steel games and Crossbell take place in a fairly close time window.

EDIT: Here's a timeline of how the games play out:

ty!

[Ayn]

Welcome to the club, Yuri!

[Insanecyclone]

Ingame year wise it's still crazy how quickly all this shit goes down year after year

[Yuri-G]

Welcome to the club, Yuri!

haha thanks, loving skies so far. the plot is great and I don't care what anyone in my party says I love Olivier

[Gokulo]

Olivier is a pretty great character throughout the story

[Cream Soda]

haha thanks, loving skies so far. the plot is great and I don't care what anyone in my party says I love Olivier

Everyone loves Olivier

also, If you're worried about missables, a spoiler free guide is highly recommended. Some of the best items are locked behind bracer points and things as little as a dialogue choice can affect how many you get.


As for me, the person who gifted me sky and got me into this rabbit hole just gifted me Ys 8 for christmas. So I'm assuming I'm going down another rabbit hole

[Gokulo]

Ohh, enjoy! Ys is nowhere near Trails when it comes to storytelling but this series hooks you up with it's gameplay. And for me 8 is one of the best ones overall and I found the story to be just a little better than usual Ys.

I've actually been replaying Ys Origin on Switch during holidays, makes me wanna go back to other 'older' titles like Oath since Origin was the only one I actually completed I think from those.

[Corrderio]

Everyone loves Olivier

also, If you're worried about missables, a spoiler free guide is highly recommended. Some of the best items are locked behind bracer points and things as little as a dialogue choice can affect how many you get.


As for me, the person who gifted me sky and got me into this rabbit hole just gifted me Ys 8 for christmas. So I'm assuming I'm going down another rabbit hole

Nice. Like Gokulo said Ys isn't anything like LoH for story but it makes up for it for the music/fast paced combat. VIII is probably the best of the "modern" Ys games since it does give the ability to jump/do some vertical exploration/tactics which was something that was missing starting with Ys Seven/Celceta

[Cream Soda]

Rabbit hole confirmed was streaming ys 8 and someone gifted me ys 9

[Odesseiron]

Kuro no Kiseki 2 has already been dated for PC in China 1/27. Amazing how fast they get them out over there. I am pretty sure they don't redub though and the language structures are far more similar than Japanese > English. However this does mean that there will be a fan mod before long.

I have to say I didn't really think Kuro would be good, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. The music does leave a lot to be desired however. Van is probably my favorite main protagonist out of the bunch. He's a bit older, knows who he is, doesn't need everything explained to him, etc. I'm not done with it yet, but I'm in the finale. The new setting is also greatly welcomed.

[Gokulo]

First episode of the Trails anime is out. Nothing impressive tbh, animation is kinda meh, not much happened in terms of story yet, so we'll see.

[Yuri-G]

hold up so you're telling me I was supposed to go back to the guild after talking to Nial but before going to the abandoned mine in order to get two time-sensitive quests?

I see. this is one of those JRPGs I am absolutely not 100%ing this lol, just gonna enjoy my time while I'm here. hats off to anyone who is that patient and/or dedicated.

[Odesseiron]

hold up so you're telling me I was supposed to go back to the guild after talking to Nial but before going to the abandoned mine in order to get two time-sensitive quests?

I see. this is one of those JRPGs I am absolutely not 100%ing this lol, just gonna enjoy my time while I'm here. hats off to anyone who is that patient and/or dedicated.

Ugh I know that feeling all too well lol. There's a lot of quests you can miss in the first couple of games easily. I never went back to 100% it but whenever I decide to do a series replay (maybe 2040 when the last game is out) but yeah. Lots of items and quests you can very easily miss.

[Yuri-G]

Ugh I know that feeling all too well lol. There's a lot of quests you can miss in the first couple of games easily. I never went back to 100% it but whenever I decide to do a series replay (maybe 2040 when the last game is out) but yeah. Lots of items and quests you can very easily miss.

I'm actually doing it on Retro Achievements so this means I can't master (aka platinum) the game unless I replay it... le sigh

https://retroachievements.org/game/10479

[Yuri-G]

Ok this has been bugging me for a while and I'm wondering if I'm the only one who sees it. Anyone else ever notice a subtle nod to Lunar with the Nial character?

Nial:


Ronfar:



Nial -> Nall from Lunar 1

I have to believe that was on purpose, it's too similar not to be. I don't think it's a direct reference, just someone who loved Lunar - which is very similar to Trails already - adding a little love into the game. Anyone else see it?

[Ayn]

..Nah, Ronfar is a stretch for me.

But I did keep calling Nial, Nall.

[Yuri-G]

I'll take that lol

[Cream Soda]

Just finished ys8 wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. now ys9 or crisis core (already have both was gifted both along with ys8 for christmas) next, need something to hold me over till Like a Dragon Ishin next month

Spoiler: show

Screwed myself for the epilogue boss on ys8 because i put all my resources into Dana since she was my most used character and you couldn't use her in the epilogue at all lmao so that boss was a pain in the butt