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

[Odesseiron]

Thank you both very much for the input. Makes it a whole lot easier (and spoiler free) rather than google searching. And I'm sure you enjoy someone new getting into a great series.

[Corrderio]

Ah right I remember the big spoilers for Azure now. Without giving much away once the main plot for CS2 is completed there's 2 additional chapters and one of them drops quite a few spoiler bombs on the events of Azure.

[Bweigelt]

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




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

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

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You only have the first part spoiled. Azure ends before the finale of CS2 so you don't find out he's alive.

[Corrderio]

Okay my bad so maybe the best rout would be Zero > CS1 > Azure > CS2. Assuming you're fine with dealing with the cliffhanger CS1 throws at you

[Gokulo]

Haha, indeed, it's a hell of a cliffhanger and a start of a tradition for CS. It's great for you that you won't need to wait for the next game to come out after experiencing those endings

[Odesseiron]

Well I mean is it really that much of a cliffhanger when I have the next game sitting in its case waiting to be played? But yeah I get you. lol at least I have the luxury of being able to marathon all of them if I want. Now, check back with me in a couple months after I've beaten everything Zero, CS1-4 (and assuming Azure gets finished) I'm sure i'll be chomping at the bit for the next title just like you all.

Aside from the character development, I really enjoy seeing the series evolve in its art direction and music too. Like there are certain themes in Zero that are remixes from Trails and it just makes me smile.

Really glad I picked this series up.

[Odesseiron]

Also, not to spam post, but holy shit. I'm just getting control in Zero after the intro in the sewers. I think this game is going to be much larger than I thought.

When I first heard about Crossbell in the Trails in the Sky series, I thought it was going to be some small podunk farming town or something. Like there were a couple stories about it in the papers, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

The town is huge in comparison to any town in the first 3 games. I honestly thought it was going to be a kind of side story 20 hour game, but I don't think that's right just looking at all the different districts.

The fact that a fan group was able to translate this is incredible. I don't know how "accurate" it is, but if I didn't know any better, I'd say it was professionally done. Much respect to them.

[Corrderio]

Crossbell is great and has some good feels moments though I won't spoil that

[Corrderio]

Anyway my turn to double dip. Finished Act 2 of CS4...

Spoiler: show

Oh my god best boi Olivert lives, Schera is a solid 11/10, and a crossover even that puts the MCU to shame.

Anyway on that note how long is Act 3 compared the the previous 2 acts? Also how many lost arts are there since I know you need them all for the true ending.

[Gokulo]

There's 5 Lost Arts
Chapter length hmm... I think it was somewhat shorter? Maybe because you don't need to run everywhere anymore

[Corrderio]

So maybe I can get it knocked out over the weekend or end of next week when I take Friday off.

[Gokulo]

The last chapter can be deceptive. When I was entering the last dungeon I thought I'd be in bed at a sane hour and ended up up playing until like 3am

[Corrderio]

Sounds like Spiral of Erebos all over again

[Odesseiron]

Non spoiler question; So the first 4 games are VERY story heavy. Which is fine, they're almost like interactive visual novels to an extent. But I can see why it would turn a lot of people off of the series.

Zero is extremely dialog heavy more so than the SC/3rd.

I've heard the CS games get extremely long, are they as heavy in the narrative dept? Or do they start to add more gameplay? I'm just curious.

Even though it's in Japanese, it's my first time (in Zero) hearing VO in a trails Game

[Corrderio]

They can get pretty plot heavy. CS3 and CS4 feel like Persona in a sense since it feels like it takes some time before things get going. But once it does holy shit

[Odesseiron]

Lmao, what the hell....

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Estelle and Joshua just showed up! too good! What the hell can I expect to do as a level 5 against them? Hahaha. Either way it's dope

[Gokulo]

Yeah, that's what great about the series. You usually don't have such long narratives in games to experience such things. First similar series that comes to mind is Suikoden, where you get to meet some characters over and over at different points in their life

[Corrderio]

Also if you think that part is amazing wait til you complete the missing child quest later in the game.

[Corrderio]

So I'm on the finale and wondering is there a point of no return after I begin the final mission. I know someone mentioned you need to beat all the cryptids for the true ending so wondering if I need to do that before I start it or if I'll be able to go back before confronting the final boss.

EDIT: Thoughts on Act 3:

Spoiler: show

Anyone else think Arianrhod's confrontation was kind of weak? I was really hoping they'd play Unfathomable Force and have her go out in a blaze of glory instead of being cheap shotted by Rufus

[Gokulo]

I think you need to do it before starting the final dungeons. Remember that you also need to finish all the side quests in the last chapter, including the ??????? Quest