Ranking the Trails Series
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- Опубліковано 31 січ 2024
- Feel free to watch at 2x, that's what I do on YT. Keep in mind this list was just my opinion, and my intention is to create a healthy discussion and get new people into the series. Let me know if you want me to make another vid, this one was requested a long while ago.
Credit to Noisy Pixel for the headline I used, and Playstation Japan for the timeline image.
Link to get started with the series: (not affiliated)
www.gog.com/en/game/the_legen...
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Tags: Trails, Ranking, JRPG, Kiseki, Trails Series, Trails Of Cold Steel, Trails In The Sky, JRPG, Gaming, Video Games, RPG Series, Game Ranking, Gamer Community, Game Review, Gaming Discussion, RPG Fan, Trails Fan, Gaming Rankings, JRPG Series, Game Opinions, RPG Gaming, Video Game Ranking - Ігри
I love the fact that every time I see a ranking, it seems almost random. That means the quality is similar, and the games are all good. I have yet to see someone rate Sky FC before SC, or Zero before Azure, but besides that.... All seems a matter of taste
I put Sky FC over SC! SC felt like it had pacing issues and was also kind of repetitive by making you fight the same bosses over and over again. I still enjoyed it, but FC was just a more fulfilling experience for me :) (Especially with that ending!!!)
I wouldn't rate FC over SC, but I can see why someone might. FC is, for most of its runtime, refreshingly grounded, down to earth and low-stakes for a JRPG.
In a genre where the stakes escalate to fighting God so often that it's become a tired cliché, FC stands out for being an almost slice of life look at two trainee RPG sidequest-completers as they grow as people, fall in love and make new friends. The stakes gradually ramp up towards the end, but right up until the very end they're still very small scale for this genre, and the _real_ stakes at the end are character-based rather than plot-based. It's unusually low-key for a game like this - it's an interesting and worthwhile vibe and atmosphere, and while I think the series attains greater highs later on, that vibe is gone. By the end of SC, the only thing keeping the story from becoming a full-blown melodrama is Estelle, who's constantly pulling the story back down to earth with her sarcasm, bluntness and lack of patience for secret plots and master plans. Later games suffer from a tragic lack of Estelle and as a result, they don't always stop the story from becoming a melodrama.
I’ve seen some ppl rank zero above azure
The Trails series is fire I'm glad it's getting some attention
Hellz Yeah, it's about time!💯I've been a Huge Falcom fan since like 2018. Started w/ Ys8. I been wanting a falcom-US/West, for a hot minute now! It's just a pipe dream tho, lol😅 But yeah, it's Time...most non-jrpg players are clueless...while many KNOW & LOVE Persona/Atlus & FF & DQ/S-E, lol. It's wild, ppl ain't Familiar w/ Trails like that at all🤦♂️I hope that changes🙏
Leaving a comment for the algorithm, always enjoy seeing others share their thoughts ^^
Phew. I thought I was the only one who regarded CS2 highly >_>
Always nice to see some trails love on UA-cam
my ranking to the end of cold steel arc (I haven't played Reverie yet) is:
9. Trails from Zero
8. Trails of Cold Steel
7. Trails to Azure
6. Trails of Cold Steel IV
5. Trails of Cold Steel III
4. Trails of Cold Steel II
3. Trails in the Sky FC and Third Tied for Second
1. Trails in the Sky FC
Decent list but what an utterly cursed take on Sky Third. Kevin's story is probably the deepest and most genuinely compelling in the series and the way the gameplay actually helps to tell it is brilliant. Its anything but an afterthought. I think most of the minigames are fun too lol, I appreciate them putting them in.
Very interesting list. I don't think I've seen anybody say CS2 is their favorite. It is very hard to rank these games as they're all great. Probably one of the most, if not the most consistently great JRPG series ever.
My list would go:
1 - Azure
2 - Sky SC
3 - Sky the 3rd
4 - Zero
5- Reverie
6 - Cold Steel III
7 - Cold Steel IV
8 - Sky FC
9 - Cold Steel II
10 - Cold Steel
CS3 is a crime against humanity simply for making me listen to Sword of biting Gale every 3 minutes
1. Azure
2. The 3rd
3. SC
4. CS3
5. Zero
6. CS2
7. Reverie
8. CS4
9. Cs1
10. FC
I like how everyone has their own ways of viewing this series and rankings can vary pretty drastically between people. I think that its gonna be very fascinating to reminisce and look back at the entire series when its all said and done. I think then we can all get bit closer to what we truly valued out of the series, and which games met those standards the most.
The fact that you put my favorite game of all times, Cold Steel 1, at 5th place, makes me happy.
Also, I agree that the soundtrack is fantastic. Favorite video game sountack is all times.
And YES!!!! LAURA BEST GIRL!
I like them all and as long as you like them... rankings dont matter.
Although the Cold Steel games will forever hold a wonderful place in my heart.
for me, my favourite game is definitely azure, my second favourite is CS4. For Azure, I choose it because it's my entry arc to trails(I got in the rabbit hole of trails in 2010, when zero first came out, in pure japanese.), as for CS4, I must say people are right about how divisive this game is, I'm on the side of loving it so much, it's my second favourite trails game. especially the endings, first I cried and depressed, then I felt happiness and teared up again (but for opposite reasons). Because of the endings, I teared up again at the end of reverie.
Azure is amazing. CS4 is great too, I agree on the ending especially
Cold Steel 1 + CS 2 (except act 2) is probably my favourite story in JRPGs. I think people exagerate with the bactracking in Act 2 of CS2 but its true that if act 2 was half as long as it is, more people would think CS2 is a top tier trails game.
Bad take on Olivier and also bad take on not having to finish Sky 3rd doors but I'm always happy to watch a new Trails ranking. Just glad you can explain why you dislike what you dislike and like what you like.
My personal top three are Azure, Sky SC and Kuro 1. Then probably either CS2 or Reverie.
My personal take may be read as 'trash taste'😅lol, but...I Loved CS2 & CS4 more then their more-linear CS1 & CS3 counterparts🤷♂️that's just me(unlike like 95% it feels😅lol).
Haven't played Sky 3rd, Kuro, KuroII, & Nayuta yet. I'd put like SC, Azure, CS3, CS4 & Rev as my All-Time favs thus far.
Ik its biased, as I'm mostly a sucker for conclusions, CS3 being the exception😅I waited for that Cliffhanger for like 2 yrs, sht was brutal, ngl. Playing Trails as they were released was not easy, lmao. Great Vid, like seeing varying opinions💯👍🔥
I've only played up to Cold Steel 4 (I stopped after that to go back and play/replay everything, going all the way back to the original Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes game). Up to that point, I feel like every arc has only gotten better, including the second half of the Cold Steel Arc being better than the first. I have a sinking feeling that that pattern is about to change, however. I hope I'm wrong.
Grown up swin and nadia looks cool
theyre awesome
Great top 😊
haven't play reverie, but this is my ranking
9. CS1
8. CS3
7. sky FC
6. CS4
5. CS2
4. sky SC
3. Azure
2. sky 3rd
1. Zero
there's no bad Trails game, but IMO Sky shines the best in SC and 3rd. They alse delve in deep themes like trauma, brainwashing, Child abuse and war casualty. Crossbell saga is smaller in comparison but had the best story. it also still really mature , capable of telling a completely geopolitical problem, tragedy and child experimentation by the some Cult. Cold steel is the most shonen. Rean is not bad, I like him, but he's really your shonen protag crank to eleven. too much power of friendship talk and not enough casualty for "the bigest conflict in Zemuria". The cast can feel bloated and the romance somewhat uneven. Still like it tho but I hope falcom tells more mature story again in the next entry
I think cold steel two gets too much hate, but imo there's still major problems. There's not enough new locations you travel to, and the locations they reuse feel barely different despite the fact that there is a huge civil war going on. I also think the series needs the courage to kill of some characters. The civil war was a massive conflict, but they only had the balls to kill one very minor villain, and a literal npc. Also, the cast of cold steel is way too large and it shows, most of Class VII gets not very much development. There are also some issues I had with the narrative. Why did they put so much emphasis on the idea of "Class VII is a neutral third party" and then they only every fight against the nobles, with the imperials never really shown in a negative light? This was also the game that I felt Ouroboros started getting too cartoony. Showing up randomly, not announcing their motives because le epic secret plan, losing the fight, but actually winning because you were epically holding back, and then leaving just to show up again when another boss fight is needed. But another thing I did love about CS2 was Valimar, what an exceptional character. Regardless, great video! Always enjoy trails discourse!
You have good points! I think the thing about Class 7 as a neutral party was meant to show their naivety and contrast the ending twist. But that could just be me making excuses.
Another issue is the scenes locked behind ng+ 👴🏻
Trails in the Sky SC and Cold Steel 2 spoilers below (should any unsuspecting comment wanderer happen to stumble on this reply to a comment that already has CS2 spoilers in it)
I just finished the game (though I completed the main story 2 weeks ago) and I'm very excited to talk about it, which is how I usually feel after finishing a Trails game. My thoughts on what you said:
I'm very conflicted about the story because, from one perspective, I agree completely that they should have been less conservative with killing characters and that the third-party narrative was awkward given that all the key conflict that Class VII engages in is against the noble faction, but there were two realizations that changed my perspective at the end:
1) The nobles were the ones kidnapping people. Class VII really didn't have much direct involvement in the war and instead focused on rescuing loved ones, so it makes sense that they never got into fights with the imperial army. This narrative direction isn't my favorite, but hey, this is a story about teenagers at the end of the day. I'm very much excited to get to Daybreak for this reason, as I can't be the only one who thinks not every anime-inspired story should be about teenagers.
2) The ending indirectly reveals that the war was essentially a facade from the beginning. The noble faction's head turned out to be the twist villain despite already being the villain. From everyone else's perspective, it seems like a real war, but his goal was actually to "lose" from the start.
My biggest issue with CS2's narrative is probably a combination of how foolish Cayenne and Vita are and the lack of buildup for the Infernal Castle and Vermilion Apocalypse. Other things bother me, but the lack of buildup for the Infernal Castle makes it feel like a lesser version of the Liber Ark or Azure Tree despite being functionally equivalent. It's probably my favorite design of the three, too. Unfortunate that its potential wasn't realized, in my opinion.
On your other comments:
- I understand the issue about not enough new locations, but neither of the prior sequel games (Sky SC, Azure) does a better job, in my opinion. Plus, CS2 adds a ton of new maps to places already explored, which may not be a lot, but I felt that they fleshed out the locations that I had already traversed in ways that the preceding games never did, which is especially apparent in Sky SC because there's no fast travel.
- I completely disagree with the comment about Ouroboros being too cartoony, or significantly more so than in the past. Sky SC is the most Ouroboros-focused game in the series (at least through CS2), and you fight _all four_ of the enforcers revealed in the first half of the game in Chapter 7 atop the towers, and then you fight all four of them _again_ in the finale, and they just run away like last time. And that doesn't even account for the filler bosses you fight instead of the enforcers in chapters 1-4. I don't understand how this is functionally any different, if not strictly worse, than Bleublanc and McBurn doing the "this isn't even my final form" thing, and maybe fans remember Sky SC so fondly because its ending is one of the most satisfying in the series, but I think that most fans who voice their opinions on the series are unreasonably inconsistent with their criticism of Sky and Cold Steel.
All of that said, I'm very conflicted about CS2 for reasons mentioned (and some not mentioned) above, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the experience. All I know is, trying to rank these games is a nightmare for me and I'm barely even halfway through all of the ones that have been released.
You should totally make a video on your thoughts or something! Way too interesting of a read to be buried in my comments lol@@BlueGrovyle
@@nopeyepp I definitely enjoy the discussion more than monologue, but I'm certainly not opposed to the idea. Maybe I'll reconsider once I'm caught up to Reverie, but I'm admittedly very wary about getting spoilers in the comments, which is why I always tag my comments at the top, even if doing so is redundant or moot. The only UA-cam Trails content on my mind at the moment is a collection of piano arrangements and covers for Cold Steel 1's OST-indeed, I fully agree that CS1's OST is the strongest out of the first 7 games. It was my entrypoint to the series as well.
I think erebonia arc is a bit too shonen for their own good. Sky deals with mature stuff here and there (Joshua, hamel and Renne anyone?). Crossbell Saga deals with really elaborate geopolitical storytelling and mature theme like cult and intel war. Erebonia, despite the longest arc feels somewhat draging and too shonen, with too much emphasis on power of friendship and somewhat not so violent war. I know the other trails are also somewhat shonen, but Erebonia really crank it to eleven.
I am not sure why, but I failed to complete the Azure story, unfortunately. I got burned out for the first time while playing the Trails series. My all-time favorite characters are Estelle and Olivier.
Estelle and Olivier are awesome. I definitely can't blame you too much for getting burnt out. The first five games are all very similar graphically and gameplay wise.
yeah i mean, Azure's final act is unbelievably long. you can call it lavish if you enjoy the game, but its really just grueling if you don't. i mean, there's essentially two final dungeons, and the second is like 10 hours long on its own. I also think the plot twist that happens after the first climax that sets up the true final dungeon is really dumb, and even if it gets explained a little better by the end, you still have to do the whole ten hour crawl with the specter of "oh god, did the writers totally shoot themselves in the foot" hanging over your head
Ty
my ranking is
fc > kuro > sc > azure > kuro 2 = zero > cs3 > cs4 = cs1 > 3rd > reverie = cs2
This is kinda similar to my list, except that I'd put Kuro/Daybreak first (it's uncontested #1 for me) and Zero higher than Azure. I haven't played Kuro 2 yet, though I hear it's a bit of a "filler" game due to Falcom's ridiculous release schedule with these games.
I also liked CS2 more than a lot of people, though that's largely because its ending blew my mind at the time I played it (suddenly getting "modern graphics Crossbell + Lloyd showing up" was wild as someone playing it before CS3 came out and not having been spoiled on it, and the general hook of "Rean went on to be a miserable soldier under Osbourne" was also interesting).
extremely based list, Sky FC is honestly a masterpiece for how restrained it is. I think its so rad that Falcom just made a whole game introducing the world. if you have such good taste, then I'm excited as hell to play Daybreak honestly
The cold steal games are still my favorite honestly. Especially cold steal 2 ( still miffed we don’t have 1 and 2 on the switch 😈)
Second fave being trails from zero and it’s sequel azure. Was ironically not a fan or the sky trilogy at all, just could never really connect with any of the characters sadly 😂
Unfortunately am not that adept with Japanese so have only played a little bit of Kuro no Kiseki. Looking forward to the western release in April a lot ❤ as it seems like a very fun experience.. not sure how I feel about the second game in the timeline after it however 🤔
Man i also got xenogears vibes in CS2. Of course they are completely different. But the political scheming, gears , and esoteric group of bad guys whos face you dont see at first.
@18:26 What song/band is that?
Bury the Light by Casey Edwards. From Devil May Cry 5. Thanks for watching!
CS2 better than Azure? Yikes
I like it
Azure is genuinely mid. As great of a JRPG as it definitely is, its hard to overcome having a protagonist as utterly boring as Lloyd.
Even though I cs2 is my worse game in the series. Just seeing love for this series is great to see.
Worst to Best
Cs2, Cs1, Zero ,Cs3, SkySc ,Cs4 ,SkyFc, Sky3rd, Azure.
Zero, Sky3rd, Cs1, SkyFC, Cs2, Cs3, Hajimari, Azure, Cs4, Sky SC, Kuro 1. Worst to Best for me. Wow I played 11 trails games.
yeah they snapped with cs2
If you haven't, I can recommend the difficulty mods for CS3/4. Really pushes you to find optimal strats. It was best in CS4 where these fights that were built up for 4+ games actually feel like 30 min struggles.
CS2 being the best I will disagree with, my vote goes to ether Azure or Reverie (playing that on Abyss my first play-through was a blast).
That being said love all of the games, EVEN if Falcom's reluctance to follow through on some character deaths resulted in some really cheesy writing.
Will try those mods, I saw them when I first played the games but decided it was better to play vanilla to have an opinion.
@@nopeyepp Vanilla Nightmare is fine for CS3+4 until like halfway through, then shit gets broken way too easy IMO. I am glad they added Abyss to Reverie, while imbalanced in a couple parts, really felt like peak turn-based JRPG to me.
I've so far played Crossbell, Cold Steel, Hajimari and Kuro 1, a bit of FC but too little to count. My ranking:
1. Azure
2. CS III
3. Zero
4. CS IV
5. Kuro I
6. Hajimari
7. CS II
8. CS I
interesting list. for myself, i'd go:
azure > sc > 3rd > daybreak 1 > zero > reverie > cs3 > cs4 > fc > cs2 > cs1
haven't played db2 yet; i'll wait for the durante port.
Do you not find Daybreak far too easy even on Nightmare? I think it's the easiest game in the entire franchise. It's a solid game, especially the first half is incredibly humorous, grim and atmospheric. The difficulty, the fact that you often can't sneak past enemies, and the worst ending so far are its main shortcomings.
What happened to the ys ranking
it's unlisted, but you can still watch in the talking about games playlist
Why’d you delist it?
@@lbennyz5188I recorded it without a script and it dragged in a lot of places, so I want to redo it sometime
Oh nice.
sky 3rd
sky sc
azure
reverie
cold steel 2
sky fc
cold steel 1
zero
cold steel 3
cold steel 4
best to worse from top to bottom for my opinion guys 🎉
big agree
huh, a CS2 enjoyer. while i personally didn't like CS2 , i do find the combat to be very expansive. but i dislike the amount of exploring and backtracking? i had to do in that game, around 3/4 or even half the game i dropped it. it felt like i was playing a Light novel of a genre that i really didnt like.
Haven’t played reverie yet
9. CS1
8. CS4
7. CS2
6. CS3
5. ZERO
4. FC
3. 3RD
2. AZURE
1. SC
Wow cold steel sucks doesnt it lol
@@MJ-oi6ul Rean and OG class 7 are the worst
I think Kuro is the best not Trails, but best video game of all time.
I haven't played Kuro 2, but am very hyped for it too (and for Kai especially).
On the other hand, my least favorite Trails is CS2, which I consider below average and one of my most disappointing games of all time
Never played Sky
From least favorite to favorite:
-Cold Steel 2 (5/10)
-Cold Steel 1 (6.5/10)
-Cold Steel 4 (7.5/10)
-Zero (8/10)
-Reverie (8/10)
-Cold Steel 3 (8.5/10)
-Azure (10/10)
-Kuro (11/10)
Azure and Kuro are both very excellent games, but CS
I played both Kuro games their boring as hell even on VERY easy/easy mode.
sc,azure and zero are my top 3. cs1 is last
my hero, cs1 is awful (for a trails game)
haha fc is my favorite and cs2 my least favorite thats kinda funny
I'll be real with you; I ADORE this series but Cold Steel IV's plot was so baffingly stupid that I almost quit. Too scared to kill off characters, plot convenience after plot convenience, the Rivalries are just a boring concept compared to the two Sept-Terrion plots we saw in Liberl and Crossbell, and (without spoiling anything) they absolutely dropped the ball hard with Giliath Osbourne after all the amazing villain build-up they had given him since the Sky games. HATED how that arc ended.
I luckily really enjoyed Reverie.
That's exactly how I felt.
Sorry bro I genuinely think Sky 3rd is the best game in the series (ignoring Kuro I have not played those yet)
full ranking:
Sky 3rd > Azure = SC > Reverie = Zero > CS3 > CS2 > Sky FC > CS1 > CS4
CS4 is all the way at the bottom because the writing is so bad and I think the fanservice of other characters from the rest of the series is unbearable and blinds people to truly seeing problems with the game
Third is dogshit, nobody plays Trails games to spend the entire game inside the same dungeon.
FC and SC are leagues better.
@@Spr1ggan87 Saying FC better is a complete lie but I can see how SC is better to people. I like 3rd because of the personal storytelling and the wrapping up of Sky character arcs. Also it has the best OST in the series and some of the coolest moments period. Obviously something like Azure has better combat but I like it the most out of all the Trails games
@@Zephhi FC has a world to explore and cool story, Third is a monotonous corridor sim.
@@Spr1ggan87 I actually enjoyed grinding in 3rd so uh. The 3rd is really good in my opinion. I can't wait to replay it soon! :) I enjoyed the additional stories the doors told and Kevin's personal storyline too. I was genuinely confused that people told me this game was bad. SC and the 3rd are some of my favorites in the series for very different reasons.
@@someguy3263 FC, SC, Zero, and Azure are all leagues better than Third.
I didn't play sky yet or that Y-something series, only 1-4 Cold Steel, and I agree that 2-nd is the best.
1 - student life with good characters development, tho the story; progression feels boring, well, thats just life of a Student and it feels good actually;
3 - new graphic, characters and more. Epic stuff but lack content (gameplay) IMO;
4 - Has TOO MUCH content and too many characters, like damn. The ending is kinda weak and wierd to me tho. Loved playing as grandma vampire and Golden Rackshasa;
2- best at everything. Content is big enough. Mech battles I personally liked. Music is banger. Story is neat. Chase scene with Rean&Alfin was cute and epic. Having you own airship as base is awesome. As soon as I saw Altina - I wanted her playable so bad, and in the final dungeon players can get her with one item, and she was OP. Bunny outfit is peak, best character in the whole series.
Weird
I on the other hand adored Xenogears (second favorite video game ever after Kuro no Kiseki) and disliked Trails of Cold Steel 2
I like Xenogears as well, sorry if that seemed confusing
while kuro 2 felt like more of a filler, bringing up or putting a lid on stuff back from sky era, made me like it, even though the VA i can't unhear as kiryu is a "bad guy", most of the characters were likeable for me (exception being that one guy with bombs and self stabs).
also, kuro is like "yea people should die....." and take it up to 11 with actually killing people, heck, you can kill people if you make some choices, and while i understand that you never get to interact with those characters and one or 2 cannonicly never die (cause they assume you dident made a mistake in choice), i do wish you get more of it, and have it carry over to future games when importing your save, kinda like how azure had some carryover of sidequests you done in zero.