Erika *See her sweet daughter reaction... Look at Agate with Murderous intent* Me : ... Congrats, in one phrase, you threatened both your own life and an innocent's one... Edit : Don't let me write in english when I jus woke up....
You mentioned that Trails doesn’t waste a single line of dialogue, and that everything the writers and developers do is extremely deliberate. That’s exactly what I’ve told friends who are interested in this series. I’ve said to multiple people that “trails is a series that demands your full attention in order to get the full experience. It’s the only game series I’ve ever played where every bit of investment on my end was reciprocated in full by the games themselves.” I’m all the way at Cold Steel IV now after playing through all the previous entries, and it still astounds me just how much effort the writers and developers put into every single line of dialogue. Trails imo has the most fleshed out and realized world and characters I have ever seen in a game.
I beat Cold Steel IV a few days ago, and it ended up being my favourite of the series. Utterly incredible both as a game on its own, but also a resolution to the 700+ hours of stories that came before it.
As an example, a character namedrops a banned book of dark magic in one line in Sky the 3rd. This same book comes back in an optional bonding event in Cold Steel 4. You'd assume the first mention was just throwaway world-building, but they REMEMBERED it.
I played nearly every game in the series including up to Kuro No Kiseki yet it doesn't even take me 500 HOURS combined to beat all those games since from SC onwards I played them on Easy mode (Very easy starting with Cold Steel 3) and beat each game easily in under 30 hours EACH.
Well, you get a book called "Kitty-Talk for Dummies" once or twice in the Sky trilogy, yet you can still use it 15+ years later to translate cat dialogues. Most other developers would have just forgotten about its existence.
Welcome to the Kiseki Cult. There's no way out, all other JRPGs are forever ruined for you and lastly, you too won't be able to shut up about the games. I hope you enjoy your stay, our new brother. But on a more serious note, this is an ungforgettable journey that you'll love to bits. This series will make you laugh, cry, and feel so many other emotions and having deeply affect you.
Fully played through all the trilogy while also platinumed entire sky series, I can definitely say it's one heck of a journey from Sky -> Crossbell -> Coldsteel. You're in for a ride :)
@@Andrew-Gomez904 There are guides online for sky in nightmare mode. Its mostly abusing arts and always being up to date with orbs and the tactics positioning is actually important. For me to get platinum trophy I had to reso the game and go theough all the chests because I missed 2... I was probably half asleep
This is one of the most underrated series for JRPGs. I wasn't a huge fan of the direction the Cold Steel games took the story in, but I had a lot of fun exploring the world and talking to every single NPC. It's just a comfy series.
@@MrX-rk9or Its underrated cause is simply not as well known, even if it releases on multiple consoles (and not even that many anyway) it doesnt change the fact that when people think of JRPGs they think of Final Fantasy, Persona, Tales Of, Shin Megami Tensei but not Trails. And Zelda is incomparable to trails where zelda games have shaped entire generations of gamers with OoT and BotW. Trails has always been on the sidelines
@@TheHenkxz because it's never properly advertised in international markets ... Trails games are quite popular in Japan , south korea or even in mainland China tho .
@@MrX-rk9or its underrated because only this year did I ever heard about it, imagine my surprise when I saw there's like 10 games in the series almost as much as final fantasy
I love this series. I’ve played the sky trilogy and cold steel 1 and 2. Patiently waiting for the switch port of trails from zero. This series deserves way more recognition than it gets.
The problem is when I play ff7 and ff10 I dont have to play the others. When I play dragon quest 8 and 11 I dont have to play the others. I know it's good for people who have time. I'm looking at it like I dont have time to play a dozen rpgs right now.
@@WM-mu8ep Because it does expect that you've played them all especially once you hit Cold Steel 3, it essentially will reference the previous seven games and some characters from previous games will come back.
@@WM-mu8ep well just start with first title of sub series like trails in the sky first chapter or trails of cold steel 1. if you like the world building you will play all the series eventually.
I started with Sky when I decided to jump into Trails. Didn't really love it for most of the game, thought it was alright... and then right towards the end, it all just... clicked. I realised that they had used all that time wandering around the world to really build it - and make me seriously care about Estelle and Joshua. I remember my jaw hitting the floor at that ending. That was when I realised that they always put FC on sale for a lot, but SC always gets around 10-20% off at most. They know that generally, if you beat the first game, you're gonna instantly jump into SC. Of course I did, I IMMEDIATELY bought the sequel, and played every released game in release order. Still can't decide whether I like Sky or Crossbell more. Thanks for the review! I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did. :)
Thank you for giving this series the attention it deserves. Trust me when I say the Crossbell Duology is a MUST PLAY upon release as they are up there with the greatest JRPGs of all time.
@@edwin7788 no need to debate its just personal preference some folks like sky others like crossbell and others like cold steel thats the beauty of trails games even though they follow the same story all 3 are much different from eachother.
This series kind of helped me with my own trauma and recovery back when I played it. I used to suffer a lot from dissociation as a result of CPTSD, and seeing Joshua be loved and accepted made me realise I too can be a part of a team, part of a family, instead of running away and being alone.
Bro I'm glad I came across your comment. I've been recently diagnosed with CPTSD this year and everything is just been hard. So thank u for this, I'll be giving this game a try then 💓 I hope you have a good recovery journey as I will do my best to as well
After the events of FC, Estelle also had a small episode during the first moments of the second game. I rarely see jrpg dialogue to be so well written like this.
"The story is about a brother and sister" Also shows a shot of said brother and sister kissing. Might've been better to mention that the brother was adopted and that they all knew this lol
Glad to see this series get some attention. I found it in 2020 and powered through 9 of the games in the series I was that hooked. Also gotta shout out the Vita versions of the Sky games. They are actually remasters and have JP voices acting, updated character portraits to match the later games, a text log, better graphics and they have Turbo Mode. You do have to apply an English Patch to them but it's a much better experience than the PSP ports. Zero no Kiseki and Ao no Kiseki were remastered for Vita too but no Turbo Mode :( and only Zero has an English Patch.
i played trails in the sky 1 and 2 for the first time pretty recently and they are my favorite rpgs ever. i also played zero and loved it as well, just not quite as much as the sky games. i played them on a psp emulator and they all have the fast forward feature on there. i'm a bit annoyed that the 3rd sky game is the only one to not have an english translation on psp, but if you had to be missing one game in the series, that would be the one, the other 4 are all more vital to the overall story.
The Trails series was the first series where I actually tried talking to every NPC that I could. The dialog is fantastic and the world building is some of the best I've ever seen. I thought I wouldn't like going around doing that, but it rewards you in the end for doing so.
Trails series will always have a part in my heart. This is the game that changed my whole view about turn-based rpg. One i absolutely loved about the series is how great the game in the world building, every npc have their own storyline. It's not like those rpg out there who treated the npc like a plain doll. the inkeeper, the stall owner, the bystander have their own narative to follow if you willing to talk to them every so often, it makes the game so lively and believable, almost feels like a real existing world if I must say.
I decided to start playing JRPGs because of your channels. Thank you so much for making these videos and all the effort you put into them. We all would be better off if everyone took reviews as serious and made them as thoughtful as you.
I loved the Sky trilogy. I'm currently on the second Crossbell game (Trails to Azure). I even bought the Crossbell games legitimately on PC and applied the Geofront translations. I have all 4 Cold Steel games on my shelf waiting for me to play after! :) I think some modern gamers may struggle with these text heavy games. If you grew up with 90's / early 2000's RPGs you should feel right at home.
My experience with the series is pretty much: on the calmer parts of quests/early game, you re just going on a calm ride getting to know these characters and world or hanging out with characters and npcs you recognize going a bit quicker with each chapter as you go along patiently while getting some lore and fun character development here and there, no need to rush just chill out and go where it's taking you. Until you get to the chapter where the ride flips upside down, everything is burning and we re now on turbo mode as the game blasts you with stakes,lore, major character development and plot twists all at once and you get really hyped. Finally got caught up recently, was a great ride.
I love the slow-burn and world building, and the chilled out soundtrack in those earlier chapters. And then, suddenly towards the end of each game the story (and everything else) ramps up to 11 hahah. It's great fun. I'm playing in release order and I'm on the second Crossbell game. So I still have a lot to play.
Man is like reading a Brandon Sanderson novel, 600 pages of slow paced build up, 150 of the infamous 'Sanderlanch' (Sanderson Avalanche) of plot twists, lore, character development, stakes, resolutions, pay off, etc etc etc. And I discovered trails before reading any of Sanderson's books. In a way, the trails series prepared me for Sanderson. His Cosmere universe is in the literary world what trails is to gaming. Give the Mistborn trilogy a try, you wont be dissapointed, even has a good (not 'strong') female lead.
It's amazing how all the characters in trails can basically be the poster boy/girl for each anime stereotype. We got the badass oldman, the kid with dark past, loli with guns, the well mannered princess amongst other things and yet they're all so well written and loveable. It really is stereotype done right.
It's done right because rather than just being those stereotypes they have way more layers to them then that. And they don't just devolve back to their stereotype later. They develop and they stay developed. Forever.
@@aerrae5608 I can agree with your comment up to Crosbell's end. Starting in CS, I would say the only characters that actually develop personality layers are the 2 least liked, Machias and Jusis. They are the ones that fully overcome their stereotype. Fie being a step below them but still outgrowing her initial trope, and on a side note, bcs she never outgrows her archetype, but actually develops as a person while still being a stereotype is Altina, which is a sublime example on how you can do a cookie cutter character and still develop it and make it great. For the rest of the CS cast, to me it feels like they start as stereotypes, and as they grow (because they do, don't get me wrong), they grow only more 'set' in their stereotype, prime examples of this are the OG harem girls trio and the MC. Gaius (while being my favorite) and Elliot are like in a limbo and dear Millium is just a living trope. New class 7 is better in all regards tbh.
@@coyote271280 Steel is the weakest in the series character wise, no surprise why trying to write so many protagonists and their interactions at once. Hopefully Calvard keeps the main cast small.
The Trails series is like playing an anime. In every arc the first game is very slow because they actually take the time to build their world and characters. In the moment it can be frustrating slow but once that pay off hits you really start to appreciate the world building they did. I've played all the trails games available here in the states and the Sky arc and it's characters are still my favorite. When I finished Sky the Third, even knowing that some of these characters will appear in other arcs, I was so sad because the story would be moving away from them and this wonderful kingdom of Liberl that I grew to love over the 3 games. If you love and appreciate world building and character depth in your games, trust me, no one does it better than Falcom in the Trails series. They really don't get enough credit.
It felt like saying bye to your family and friends bcs you are going to work on another continent. You might still see them every now and then, but is just not the same thing anymore. I know how you felt.
I started with cold steel cause it was on sale, and then i found myself binging all available versions. How this was never on my map til recently...i have no idea. Zero and Azure cant come soon enough.
same after I finished cold steel one to three, I got sky to 3 and I played zero and azure before the gaming company took out the free downloads. I still have them lol
Cold Steel is the best starting point imo. Without it, I never would've gotten into Trails. I tried Sky at first but it didn't do it for me so I refunded it. Thank god I got CS1 on a whim. It was on sale, whereas Persona 4 (the game I was gonna buy) wasn't. So I just figured I'd give the Trails series another try with CS. I got absolutely hooked. Beat 1 and 2 in like a month. I went and bought the entire Trails catalogue on steam before I was even done with CS2. Now I've 100% First Chapter and currently playing SC. I didn't even get into JRPGs til like 3 years ago (been gaming for 20~) so I'm glad that there's an amazing series like Trails that I can binge. And even after I'm done with these, there's still the other half of upcoming games!
I first heard about these games because I saw a movie based on the first game on hulu, and I looked more into the series because I couldn't believe how expansive the universe was now its my favorite game series of all time
@@nateortega2912 same here. I stared in Cold Seel 1-3 then went back to Sky and then got the free downloads with the EVO patches before they were struck down
I’m dying over this series. I held off playing further than sky hoping there would be an official version for Crossbell. Then geo came out with a patch for zero and I thought well I just wait for Azure to make sure there is a quality version of that one. It finally came, I bought Zero off the foreign website and didn’t put the patch to it and a day or two later the official versions were announced and patches taken off line. I’m so happy for the geo team that they are officially seeing their passion project get major recognition, but man it’s been a long wait to get back into this series when I loved the sky trilogy 😂
@@FBBReppCloud yeah but didn't they take those down? I know it was on the geofront website but afaik ever since the announcement it would finally have an official release they took down their copy of the game
I'm so glad more people are discovering trails now but I do have mixed feelings of how popular it can potentially get but for JRPG fans in general it's a must play.
Years later, I'm still recovering from the ptsd I got from the last Star Door on third chapter. Third chapter is pretty underrated but it has the most mature story in all of the Trails I've played so far. I've played all games up to the early part of Cold Steel.
@@mark-gj4mb Star door 15 was simply uncalled for. Then you get some extra lore and context in the Crossbell Arc and lets just say, "Yo, these people are straight up fucked in the head."
@@Deode-d4h I'm so used to JRPG villains and themes being very vanilla and generic, so Star Door 15 and Zero were actually really interesting. It was interesting seeing a JRPG "go there" in terms of organized crime, political corruption, and of course child exploitation and human trafficking. Even the Sky and Cold Steel games never really deal with such serious themes. Plus, we got a good resolution for Renne and I think that method of storytelling with such heavy themes really drove home the impact of Zero's scene with Renne, Estelle, and Joshua
@@mark-gj4mb For all of her accomplishments as a Bracer, her personal growth, yada yada yada, the single greatest thing that Estelle has ever done and will ever do, was saving that little girl, and that was the strongest barrier that was overcome in Zero no Kiseki. Great piece of storytelling, great character development and I am still emotionally affected every time I remember "Caught you". I love Estelle.
@@coyote271280 yes, I cry at any Renne scene in the 3rd or Zero. Estelle is a great character and I think it's great seeing her when she isn't the protagonist
I’m 17 hours into trials of the sky fc, using a Jp voice mid pack helps so much. 17 hours and I JUST completed chapter 1. It’s so captivating. Love the characters.
Always good to see this series get more attention. I point anyone who asks for game recommendations to this series. It’s a classic and that Marvel analogy was a great explanation because it’s an expanded world whose storyline’s intertwine.
The best thing about the Sky trilogy is that its published in the West by XSeed who were the ones to implement the Turbo mode in the games. A shoutout to them would have been nice. They also added the extra English voice lines in CS1 and CS2. We expected NISA to follow their footsteps for CS3 and CS4 but they never bothered. Its the difference between a company that is doing it for the money and another that is doing for both the money and the community as well.
XSeed didn't add any voice acting initially though. The original PS3 and Vita releases had just as much VA as the original. I think the PS4 versions don't have additional VA either. They only added it with the PC ports.
So Trails is still largely unknown? Man that's so sad, Trails deserves so, so much more. Maybe with Trails from Zero coming to console very soon, the tides will start to turn for my beloved series.
Doubtful, I don't think Zero and Azure getting an official release will even sell all too well. The graphics will be a turn off for most that aren't into the series already. Most fans have also already played the fantranslations so at most they will toss some money to support falcom. I could see kuro getting a ton of people into the series if they release it in the next 2-3 years.
@@luminous3558 Dude, you're a bit out of touch! Zero and Azure are getting official releases! And they're working with the people who did the fan translations to get it done! The next game, Reverie, is also coming! Be hype!
@@Mychael612 Uhh yeah I said that the official release wont sell. Most of the community has already played the games so outside of giving falcom money there isnt a big reason to buy them especially at 20€+. Graphics will keep most of the "I saw the game on steam and bought it" sales down. The Geofront localizations were the hype releases, people aren't gonna get hyped to just replay the games again when it hasn't been that long. English release of Hajimari is still well over a year away. Falcom really needs to get someone to start working on worldwide releases, waiting 3 years on a game while falcom releases 3 more games in that time is just silly. We will still be waiting on PS4 games when the PS6 releases.
finished zero and azure last year and they are so , so good :) Fantastic game, fantastic series or at least those games i have played. Azure is one of my all time fav games
I love the entire series. I've played the entire Trails of the Sky, Crossbell Duology (Trails from Zero to Azure) then the entire Trails of Cold Steel from 1 to 4 all in 2020 to 2021 and I am currently waiting for Hagimari no Kiseki (Trails into reverie) and Kuro no Kiseki.
I feel like as i grow older, i get introduced to Gems like this. Always wondering where the hell i've been these past ten years LOL. So glad I started it though, waiting on Zero and Azure before I move onto Cold Steel 3. ALSO, the soundtrack is amazing in the sky series.
I love how the first game had the issue of giving you only two party members, because there aren't that many characters (who can realistically just forget their lives and follow you). Then from the 4th game they had to create mechanics to fit 6 people. Then by the 9th you can have 8 people at times, and even then you don't have even half the people available following you. They really do keep everyone feeling important
The Cold Steel games first started coming out during a period of time that was an absolute DESERT for quality Turn-Based RPGs. This series was the first to crack my "Top 10" list, in decades.
Same, I rememer back then I was so sad and disappointed by Tales of Zestiria and Final Fantasy XV. Late night, I bought on impulse the Cold Steel 1 PS3 Collector Edition. I never regretted this purchase. After Cold Steel 1&2, I played the Sky Trilogy and Zero/Azure games. :)
@@guruthosamarthruin4459 well good for you. I hadn't even heard of Falcom until Dec 2020 when I saw CS1 on Steam with it's shiny "Overwhelmingly Positive" review ratio, but maybe good for me too because that game came into my life at a much needed time last year when I was crumbling under some life pressure. Probably one of my 3 favorite games ever, to be honest. Still love it looking back despite its many flaws, and I've probably watched the game a full 5 or more times over via Twitch streams by now.
The graphical artstyle is actually both, character sprites in a 3D world. They perfected this artstyle so well that both just melts together with each other.
I REALLY need to get back into this game, I was always curious about the whole Trails Of series, but the number of games was really intimidating. So I picked up this one and just fell in love with it, the graphics and overall music remind me a lot of Ragnarok Online, so it gave me a little bit of nostalgia haha but the characters and the extent that they go to set up the whole world is really amazing. Most JRPGS start in a really mundane way, and then things just go crazy in a short time, it's sort of a trope by now. But this game really takes it's time and I just sort of appreciate the slow pace, really helps to build things up when eventually something insane happens
Glad to see more people getting into the Trails series. I recently finished all the games last year so I''m still a bit hurt. definitely my favorite video game series out there. Reverie can't come soon enough
I appreciate you for shinning light on this Gem!! No other series has done what this series has done. It baffles me how it's not more popular like FF, star ocean etc.
It's amazing...even the minor dialogue between the NPCs can tell a minor story that can be a miniature distraction to the overall game. For instance, this video showed Armand and Ellie. Throughout the first and second game, you see them occasionally. Armand approaches her in the alley, she's not exactly thrilled to be courted in an ALLEYWAY, but then they take it to the clocktower, then they start dating, they get extremely lovey dovey to the point it actually makes Estelle sick, Armand proposes in Grancel, they have a quest later in Rolent where you find a ring and then it culminates in a wedding in which another girl catches a bouquet and is probably set to marry Rinon the Shopkeeper. ( His interfering Mom drags the girl home the capital and that's another story told.)
Congrats! I first got into the franchise when I picked up the first Cold Steel game from a local library a while back. Been a fan of the franchise ever since. Just pre-ordered the English-language port of Trails from Zero last night.
Man, just started the series a couple days ago then found this channel! I'm really digging the first Sky chapter so far. Like you said I've seen a lot of people say how slow this first game is, but I just hit Chapter 2 and am enjoying it. Idk guess I'm just into the small, personal journey they are on lol. But everyone is also saying their jaws dropped at the ending of this game, so I'm really looking forward to that!
The way I usually describe the slowness of the beginnings of the Trails series is: They spend a lot of time letting you get to know the characters, including random NPCs who keep showing up with their own stories, so that when the crap finally hits the fan, it feels like it matters more.
One of my favourite game of all time, it took me 95 hours(FC+SC), I also completed Zero no kiseki and Ao no kiseki(Crossbell duology), I also played Erebonien Empire Quadriology and excited for the Republic of Calvard series
I really need to pick this back up. I’m not that far into it, but I love the unique, almost tactics-esque battle system and the characters are great. And I’m not one who usually pays that much attention to music in games, but WOW the music really grabbed me. I haven’t put a whole lot of time into it, but I was already just humming along to the town theme while I was watching your video because I freaking love that song. It’s so instantly memorable.
Always love to see Trails get a spotlight! I feel like these games have been getting a little more popular recently, but they're still criminally underrated/unknown. I've played every game in the series including the nonlocalized ones and man, what they're done with the continuity and world building is consistently mind blowing. You have to enjoy reading, but if you do, these games are incredible. I'm very glad Zero and Azure are finally coming west because Azure is one of the best JRPGs ever made imo.
One of my favorite series. i’m so glad they’re finally bringing The other three games to the west. Can’t wait to play those. it would be amazing if they could Bring the trails in the sky series to the switch it would be perfect.
oh boy, the little details of accomplishing something with the Sky arc and it gets carried on with the next game is so lovely. Welcome to game that could pass off as reading a wonderful novel. Even without turbo mode, I had fun patching up files on my PS VITA for the Evo version and allowed me to absorb more of every moment of the game.
Oh man brother, I can’t wait for you to play and review Zero and Ao. In my opinion it’s the strongest “arc” (before cold steel 3 and 4 pushing the overall narrative forward). Definitely a more mature story, awesome soundtrack, and I just love the main characters.
As someone who's finished all games including Hajimari no Kiseki and waiting on Kuro spreadsheet anyone who's watching this make sure you know this isn't really a "series" but one massive narrative that still is only 60% finished at the end of Hajimari no Kiseki Each game be it Sky FC or Cold Steel 2 should be looked at in the same way if the mass effect series had 10+ games ongoing with Sky FC being mass effect 1 and cold steel 2 being basically mass effect 7 and of course you don't start playing mass effect with 3 the same way you wouldn't start playing trails starting with cold steel 3. It's all one linear narrative and while perspectives change and the arcs focus on different things all of it is 100% linear and connected and that is the reason people love the series so much, even just playing through the sky arc isn't enough for people to realize the actual charm of the series. I'd say if you play up to Cold Steel 2 in this order then you should be able to realize why people love it so much and can feel assured you gave the series the best go even if you didn't like it [which is unlikely once you get going]. Sky FC > Sky SC > Sky the 3rd > Zero no Kiseki > Ao no Kiseki > Cold Steel 1 > Cold Steel 2 > Cold Steel 3 > Cold Steel 4 > Hajimari no Kiseki > Kuro no Kiseki [only JP, no spreadsheet yet]
This is definitely a huge game series that deserves patience to explore the extremely giantic and interconnected story among all the ten episodes -- bravo for making a review on this game and make it reach more audiences. Also a big fan of the sky series, now playing reverie. 😃
This is my favorite game of all time. And this is a fantastic review. You've highlighted my favorite parts about this game, and touched on my least favorite parts as well without giving any spoilers.
Trails in the sky is apart of a larger connected universe that pays off like the first games are Trails in the Sky FC, Trails in the Sky SC, and Trails in the Sky the 3rd. Then the next arc which is finally this year going to be in English is Trails from Zero, and Trails to Azure. After that the arc that is the most popular is Trails of Cold Steel, Trails of Cold Steel 2, Trails of Cold Steel 3, and the avengers type crossover game which has mostly ever characters from past games called Trails of Cold Steel 4, then in 2023 Trails into Reverie is being in English, which is the game that says good bye to the first half of The Trails Saga. Also Falcom has another series that is popular called Ys which is a action combat game series. Also their soundtracks are godly. To see what I mean listen to Silver Will from Trails in the Sky SC.
@@CLKiryu0331 but hey if you wanted to play it on console that's completely fine honestly, I'll just tell you two things 1 the translation is fucking amazing so if you want any reason to pull the trigger that's one and 2 you kinda spoiled yourself on most of the big twists
Just finished the Sky series so now I'm hunting for videos. You are so right about almost everything you say especially the dialogues not being wasted even though it's a lot. I'm really trying to convince my cousins to get into it but keep telling them that it takes a while and the payoff is worth it.
Woa, didn't know you were so into JRPGs... from your other channel, had guessed it was mostly Western RPGs. Good to see! JRPGs are more my style. I love the idea and what people say about the plot, but due to work schedule slow games really work for me anymore. Most people tell me it gets really good in the 2nd game, but you have to finish the first for setup. Ah well, maybe some day...
I remember suddenly discovering this game somehow in 2020 during Covid lockdown. Was such a great time playing this being in my dorm room after having lectures. Funny, how I thought was an old JRPG from the 90s.
Trails in the sky is definitely made for people who love a build up. It can be slow at times but the characters and their journey is always a awesomely beautiful and fun time.
Funny, my favorite game of all time is Xenogears. A friend was like “ dude, you need to play Legend of hero’s games then” I didn’t own a PC and never owed a Vita. The series completely passed me by. I recently bought a cheap laptop for my son. I might have to borrow it to start this franchise.
I'd completed trails of cold steel 4 coming from trails in the sky 1, not completing two and playing the entirety of the cold steel series. Watching this video gives me this burst of nostalgia as if I'm meeting old friends reminiscing the old days. I have a special place in my heart for this series.
there is a japanese voice mod for the steam version, i highly recommend to install it! i played cold steel in english due to the additional voice acting lines (compared to the japanese dub and some really amazing voice actors)...
I've been calling this series as the MCU way back in 2019 when ShadowEliteHD made his CS3 video. I'm glad more and more people are calling this as an JRPG MCU series
This had an interesting take on the Trails in the Sky in my opinion as someone who started with the Sky trilogy. I got into Trails series in 2014 when I bought the first Sky game near the end of the year. At that point I had no idea how big deal it would soon become to me. But let me go through my experience in more details, and starting with how I got into the Trails series. I liked Estelle as a character and found it worthwhile doing all kinds of fetch and boss killing quests as a bracer. It's not just "do this and get a reward" but in my head I thought "I'm actually helping these people. Someone needs to find a cat? I'll do it! There is this dangerous monster making outskirts of a town unsafe? Let me take care of it!". I just got into that mindset of going around and helping people so I'd say most of the quests never felt boring or tedious to me when I kept thinking "Would Estelle, this young bracer, really want to skip this job when she is aiming to become a better bracer than her dad? Of course not!". Judging from my Steam achivements, I'd say it took me roughly two weeks or so to finish my first playthrough. Yes, I went back to the game multiple times. Anyway, when I finished Trails in the Sky I just knew I had to play the sequel. I can't say I was completely hooked in the whole series but the very least I wanted to know what would happen next. I bought the Second Chapter in 2015, and I'd say after clearing it I was quite hooked into the series as a whole. I knew I had to play the Trails in the Sky the 3rd next which bought in 2017 on Steam on the day it was released. I knew it wouldn't feature Estelle and Joshua as the main duo but I was excited to learn more about the world, and I had heard this game was particularly good for more lore. That alone made it worth getting in my opinion. Trails of Cold Steel (bought in 2017) was an interesting experience for me because until then I had spent majority of my in-game time in Liberl Kingdom so seeing Erebonia with my own eyes for the first time, the country that the Liberl Kingdom had a war with, made me feel... uneasy? I guess it kind of felt "jumping to enemy territory" in a way. But at the same time I was excited. I was hardly able to wait and see what kind of story this game would reveal to me, and if it would open more of the bigger plot. I bought Cold Steel II the next year. At this point I was very much aware how in the Trails games any small main story progress, be it just talking to an quest NPC, triggering a seemingly minor event flag by visiting a new area (or old area at the right time) could potentially open up new missables such as side quests or other things. This is why I had tried to backtrack as much as possible, and visiting previous areas to see if there was anything new. New dialogue, new side quests, new anything. However, if there is one thing I remember from Cold Steel II it's how the game had opened up in the second half of the game so much that I seriously got tired of backtracking every previous area whenever something new happened in the main story. At some point I just gave in and took a lot more casual route and went forward without worrying too much about what I might miss (and yes, I missed a lot of things because of that). Continuing forward, I had became aware of the Crossbell games but at that point of time there was no information of them being released on Steam. I didn't really have much of a choice other than using an emulator if I wanted to experience the Crossbell, especially because, if I recall correctly, I had heard it'd would be better to play them before Cold Steel III. So that's what I did. Won't say more on that front except that they are definitely great games. No, let me take that one back. They both are amazing games. However, I'm glad that I had played Cold Steel and Cold Steel II beforehand because, in my opinion, even though both spoil each other, I think Crossbell spoils Cold Steel (& II) more than the other way around. I'm well aware that both Zero and Azure planned to release on Steam in the future. I have both wishlisted on Steam and I will definitely buy them when they release just to support the series, and I'll be glad to have a them legally. I would have wanted to buy Cold Steel III on release in 2020 but at that time my money situation wasn't great, and it's also a bit more expensive than the previous games in the series, so I just had to leave it for later as painful as it was. I was able to buy Cold Steel III and IV last year, a few months apart, but I had a very busy last year so I didn't have as much time for games as I would have wanted. I was able to start a playthrough but I still haven't finished Cold Steel III. One of my goals for this year is to finish Cold Steel III and IV. I have also wishlisted Trails into Reverie on Steam. Honestly speaking I have no idea what it will be about, and I've luckily been able to avoid spoilers regarding it, so I'm sure I'll be excited to play it. It should come out next year so that's something to look forward to. Sorry about the wall of text. Trails series is one of the few things that gets me easily excited, and I really wanted to share a little bit of my own journey through the series. Since your video only touches upon Trails in the Sky, I tried to keep this as spoiler free as I reasonably could, and ended up telling more about boring stuff, I guess. Anyway, getting into the Trails series has been one of my best things in my life, although not one of the cheapest. I'm hooked so badly that it doesn't matter how many more games they release for this series because I want to see and experience everything this series has to offer. In conclusion, I have finished 7 games in the series (Sky trilogy, Crossbell duology and two from Cold Steel), have three Sky games and four Cold Steel games in my Steam Library, and have wishlisted both Crossbell games and Trails into Reverie. I'd love to claim that I'm very knowledgable of the lore and remember every piece of lore and event in the games but considering the size of the games, and the amount of the text, I hate to admit that there's probably a lot of details I've forgot over time. Oh, before I forget, I'm quite positive the turbo feature was added to the Sky trilogy only later, and I definitely did not play the Sky trilogy with that feature in my first playthrough. I found an older Steam discussion from Aug 2017 when it was being discussed as being confirmed but did not confirm when it was added. Don't take the turbo mode for granted because it was not always part of the PC version. I honestly don't think the lack of the feature made the games worse; I honestly had a lot of fun before it was even a thing.
Man, what a great journey, loved that you felt that going into CS 1 you felt like going into enemy territory, bcs I felt the exact same thing, I was suspicious of everybody, until a certain blond guy with a penchant for singing made an appearance, then I was fully onboard with the new cast.😅
@@coyote271280 At the time when he was introduced for the first time I of course had no idea of his true identity but he truly is a peculiar character.
My favourite JRPG series. The writing and worldbuilding are top notch, I always felt deeply connected to the characters. The gameplay mechanics are great, the quartz system is a bit similar to the materia system of FF VII. The combat system reminds me of my favorite FF X system, but even better and more refined with every entry. The music is also soo good, Falcom are one of the best out there. Only the pacing can be sluggish sometimes and there is a LOT of text to read. I think that every genre fan has to check this out, Trails should be up there with the other big series.
Great video!! It's kinda unfair that such a great series is not as well known as other jrpgs that, let's face it, are waaaay less ambitious (and Trails succedes in those ambitions). Btw, I wouldn't describe Bracers as mercenaries, those would be jaegers. Bracers are an international ngo that focuses on protecting civilians. They kinda live on tips jajaja
I feel bad for people that haven’t played this game series man I started with the trails of cold steel series and now I can’t get enough i also play ys as well. Falcon is a great studio that a lot of people sleep on man I hope this video opens people eyes man. If you have not gotten these games they trails of cold steel series is on sale right now.
I know right? Falcom is amazing. I never knew they did Trails in the Sky, which I played but thought it was boring so I refunded. Then a friend of mine told me Ys 8 was apparently good so I bought that. Amazing, I got obsessed with it. So I went and bought more and more Ys games. Atm I have every titles that's on steam. Then I realised Falcom also did Trails and that they were all on sale. I got Cold Steel 1 cause I figured I'd give Trails another try. BAM, got obsessed yet again. Ys and Trails are now easily amonst my fav game series of all time. I've even tried some of their more obscure games like Xanadu Next and honestly, I got a huge Demon's Souls vibe from it (which is perfect for me)
For the complete Sky Trilogy, there actually are patches to transfer the Voice Acting from the Japanese Evo Versions to western PC versions. So if you don't dislike japanese voices (and don't forget to switch the battle sounds accordingly in settings), it's a great way to enjoy these games and their characters :)
Something I never see anyone talking about in these comments is the tiny detail that is the treasure chests. I interacted with almost every chest a second time for all the quirky dialogue across the Sky games. Was really sad when I started Cold Steel and it wasn't a thing anymore
Over the last year I've played through ALL of the Sky games and ALL of the Cold Steel games, and as a fan of JRPGs I'm ashamed I've let these slip my attention for so long. Now I'm full blown fan!
The bracers are the more moral mercs while holding a code of not-killing humans, hence the term "civil servants". The actual mercs you would associate the term are the Jaeger corps as they are usually hired to do dirty work for mira.
I see exactly what you mean. I recently got into this franchise and I just beat Trails in the Sky SC last night. So....much.....dialogue, but the payoff at the end is incredible. I remember kinda getting antsy toward the end of the first one and then the way it ends it had me rushing to start the SC. Falcom definitely got their hooks in me with this franchise.
I absolutely love trails games! Sky sc is one of my favorite game of all time. I can't wait for everbody to experince the peak fiction that is zero and azure.
Here to add my story. I first tried Trails in the Sky and I thought it was boring so I refunded it, I didn't think it was my thing. But I gave the Trails series another try when I saw CS1 on sale. Got absolutely hooked and by the time I beat the game I had already bought every other Trails on steam. Even Sky FC again. Which I've since 100% the achievements 8? and really enjoyed. It does feel like a prologue but I honestly really enjoyed it after I got into the universe thanks to CS1 and 2. Especially the ending, THAT WAS INSANE. Now I'm on Sky SC (I've beaten CS1, CS2 and FC so far) but oddly I don't really feel the urge advance. Dunno if that's good or bad. Honestly, I never thought I'd love another JRPG series as much as Final Fantasy. I'm a sucker for videogame music and FF soundtracks speak to my soul. That's reason #1 why I got into FF (and JRPGs as a whole). Nothing got me obsessed like FF games did... until I played Trails. Their soundtrack, gameplay and characters are amazing. Basically all I want in a game. Then you've huge worldbuilding (that literally feels massive because you get to see most places across the countries), quality of life features like Turbo Mode and saving anywhere, an overarching story that spans literally the entire series... So far I prefer CS to Sky because of the improved combat, slightly faster story pacing, the music is more my style (still love all Falcom OSTs) and lastly I absolutely loved the land of Erebonia BUT I still really liked Sky FC. Basically I think CS is more fun to actually sit down and play(for me, gameplay trumps story) but Sky is a really good one-and-done kinda game. After all, I already randomly beat NG+ of CS1 lol
I just started the game a few days ago and I'm in the middle of Ruan, gotta say that game is a slow burn, but so far quite interesting. I'm very intrigued in playing the rest of the games in the series.
If you liked this then another older JRPG that'll catch your fancy is Grandia for Saturn/PS1 (and also got a remaster'd release recently). Some of us like to call Trails in the Sky an honourary Grandia game because of how much it was influenced by it. The overworld setup of 2D Sprites on 3D Backgrounds, position based combat with the ability to influence turn order through specific actions (Trails' battle system is basically a turn based take of Grandia's which was considered one of the best JRPG battle systems for a long time) and character dialogue for both PC and NPCs right down to NPC dialogue being varied and changing as the plot progresses. Sky's narrative borrows more from Suikoden due to how politic focused it can get at times but the 'grand adventure' feeling you get from watching Estelle and Joshua is definitely reminiscent of Justin, Feena and Sue's journey in Grandia. This is cool as it means Trails is more or less carrying the baton passed from those two long inactive franchises while coming into it's own through its ambitious plotline.
A lot of games have a story that requires patience but not very rewarding to read, but Trails series is not one of them. I'm not a fan of old games, but after I played Sky trilogy, I came to love it more than other series of the same franchise.(well except kuro and hajimari that I didn't played yet). The overarching storyline is just so amazing in this. Even that NPC from the 2nd side quest of Sky appeared later in Cold Steel. Like the developer can still remember a mob character even after a decade.
The art style or graphic style makes me think A LOT of Golden Sun. Great JRPG on GBA. Anyway, I tried Cold Steel I during lockdown and got stuck in this world and its world building. Finished Trails In the Sky FC not long ago and got served AGAIN a massive dose of world building (I love that). I enjoy watching videos about this serie of games. Great content. Keep going buddy !
In this game, even side quests and mundane tasks are entertaining, because they come with lore, character development via dialogue, and general world building. I know several people who approached this as if it were WoW or similar - an MMO is very different from a series like this, and in this series in particular, so much of it is just fantastic. The writing is good, it's interesting and it adds to the overall experience. I just read about a guy on Steam saying his first time through, he skipped all the side quests - which is ridiculous and a tragedy in a game like this. Many people only knew MMO, and it tends to taint their opinion of games like this (until they play them, if they choose to) because of the things MMO's universally do poorly. Instead of boring quests for experience, you are doing them for CONTENT, background, dialogue / character interaction. Big difference. Very big.
You failed to mention the biggest special charm of the Trails games. How EVERY NPC has their own story going on with a new phase of dialouge that changes after almost anything happens. You don't get that playing Pokémon or Persona or most other JRPGs where the NPCs in the previous towns don't get new dialouge after the plot takes you away from them. In trails you can go find and talk to Anton nearly every month somewhere in Liberal and see his journey to find love repeatedly meet abject failure time and again until finally one month helping him is a hilarious quest. You can talk to and watch a young couple confess, date, fall further in love and get married by the end of the 2nd game. Between CS1&2 and CS3&4 you can watch two stuck up nobles get caught up in the corruption of the war because of their stupid rivalry and lose everything together. You can see Vivi outwit her sister nearly every month with pranks. Along this same charm, in Trails in the Sky and the Crossbell games EVERY CHEST had a unique snarky message in it after you've emptied it, and some have random chapters of a book spread in them.
Aw yeah a trails video in 2022 lol. I really liked it. You did say these games dont have voice acting, but I dont think this is exactly true. The game was fully voiced in japanese, and I know for at least the first game you can easily mod it into the pc release. I was also glad to see how well you conveyed falcoms style of writing, its something they do in pretty much all of their games. Another seried they do this in is the ys series, an action rpg series that has started to take influence from trails in recent games and id say has even better music than trails.
Matt: "I love Agate"
Tita: *loads grenade launcher with malicious intent*
Erika *See her sweet daughter reaction... Look at Agate with Murderous intent*
Me : ... Congrats, in one phrase, you threatened both your own life and an innocent's one...
Edit : Don't let me write in english when I jus woke up....
You mentioned that Trails doesn’t waste a single line of dialogue, and that everything the writers and developers do is extremely deliberate. That’s exactly what I’ve told friends who are interested in this series. I’ve said to multiple people that “trails is a series that demands your full attention in order to get the full experience. It’s the only game series I’ve ever played where every bit of investment on my end was reciprocated in full by the games themselves.” I’m all the way at Cold Steel IV now after playing through all the previous entries, and it still astounds me just how much effort the writers and developers put into every single line of dialogue. Trails imo has the most fleshed out and realized world and characters I have ever seen in a game.
I beat Cold Steel IV a few days ago, and it ended up being my favourite of the series. Utterly incredible both as a game on its own, but also a resolution to the 700+ hours of stories that came before it.
As an example, a character namedrops a banned book of dark magic in one line in Sky the 3rd. This same book comes back in an optional bonding event in Cold Steel 4. You'd assume the first mention was just throwaway world-building, but they REMEMBERED it.
I played nearly every game in the series including up to Kuro No Kiseki yet it doesn't even take me 500 HOURS combined to beat all those games since from SC onwards I played them on Easy mode (Very easy starting with Cold Steel 3) and beat each game easily in under 30 hours EACH.
Well, you get a book called "Kitty-Talk for Dummies" once or twice in the Sky trilogy, yet you can still use it 15+ years later to translate cat dialogues. Most other developers would have just forgotten about its existence.
Yes! It rewards you for being invested and being attention.
Welcome to the Kiseki Cult. There's no way out, all other JRPGs are forever ruined for you and lastly, you too won't be able to shut up about the games. I hope you enjoy your stay, our new brother. But on a more serious note, this is an ungforgettable journey that you'll love to bits. This series will make you laugh, cry, and feel so many other emotions and having deeply affect you.
It's just insane how the series is still continuing plot threads that started almost 20 years ago.
I'm willing to bet there's stuff that's set up in the first game that won't see its full payoff until the end of the franchise in the final arc.
Reminds me a lot of kingdom hearts in a way with its narrative
@@BobbyTheGamerOfJUSTICE comparing KH to Trails in terms of coherent story is like comparing Einstein to your local high school jock lmao
@@Trails3rdFanboy I meant as an overarching narrative with continuing plot threads. Regardless, KH is coherent lmao. You just gotta pay attention
@@BobbyTheGamerOfJUSTICE KH is the farthest thing from coherent and its only the diehard fanboys that actually say so lmao
Fully played through all the trilogy while also platinumed entire sky series, I can definitely say it's one heck of a journey from Sky -> Crossbell -> Coldsteel. You're in for a ride :)
how on earth did you get through the Sky trilogy on Nightmare?? i was getting roughed up with just normal
@@Andrew-Gomez904 There are guides online for sky in nightmare mode. Its mostly abusing arts and always being up to date with orbs and the tactics positioning is actually important.
For me to get platinum trophy I had to reso the game and go theough all the chests because I missed 2... I was probably half asleep
@@Andrew-Gomez904 isit there a new game plus mode
This is one of the most underrated series for JRPGs. I wasn't a huge fan of the direction the Cold Steel games took the story in, but I had a lot of fun exploring the world and talking to every single NPC. It's just a comfy series.
It can't possibly be underrated when it keeps on getting released on a wider amount of platforms. It's getting more love than even Zelda.
@@MrX-rk9or Zelda sells more copies with a spinoff's remaster than Trails tho
@@MrX-rk9or Its underrated cause is simply not as well known, even if it releases on multiple consoles (and not even that many anyway) it doesnt change the fact that when people think of JRPGs they think of Final Fantasy, Persona, Tales Of, Shin Megami Tensei but not Trails. And Zelda is incomparable to trails where zelda games have shaped entire generations of gamers with OoT and BotW. Trails has always been on the sidelines
@@TheHenkxz because it's never properly advertised in international markets ...
Trails games are quite popular in Japan , south korea or even in mainland China tho .
@@MrX-rk9or its underrated because only this year did I ever heard about it, imagine my surprise when I saw there's like 10 games in the series almost as much as final fantasy
I love this series. I’ve played the sky trilogy and cold steel 1 and 2. Patiently waiting for the switch port of trails from zero. This series deserves way more recognition than it gets.
The problem is when I play ff7 and ff10 I dont have to play the others. When I play dragon quest 8 and 11 I dont have to play the others. I know it's good for people who have time. I'm looking at it like I dont have time to play a dozen rpgs right now.
@@WM-mu8ep Play whichever you want and can. No rush at all
@@lolcat I know but hes making it sound like you need to play them all type of series
@@WM-mu8ep Because it does expect that you've played them all especially once you hit Cold Steel 3, it essentially will reference the previous seven games and some characters from previous games will come back.
@@WM-mu8ep well just start with first title of sub series like trails in the sky first chapter or trails of cold steel 1. if you like the world building you will play all the series eventually.
I started with Sky when I decided to jump into Trails. Didn't really love it for most of the game, thought it was alright... and then right towards the end, it all just... clicked. I realised that they had used all that time wandering around the world to really build it - and make me seriously care about Estelle and Joshua. I remember my jaw hitting the floor at that ending. That was when I realised that they always put FC on sale for a lot, but SC always gets around 10-20% off at most. They know that generally, if you beat the first game, you're gonna instantly jump into SC.
Of course I did, I IMMEDIATELY bought the sequel, and played every released game in release order. Still can't decide whether I like Sky or Crossbell more.
Thanks for the review! I hope you enjoy the series as much as I did. :)
Same here. That plot twist at the end made me decide to play the rest of the series
Thank you for giving this series the attention it deserves. Trust me when I say the Crossbell Duology is a MUST PLAY upon release as they are up there with the greatest JRPGs of all time.
I agree as someone who has played all of the trails games up to cold steel 4 I have to say the crossbell games are my favorites in the whole saga.
That's what I've heard. Very, very excited to play. Would be diving into the mods if they weren't already dropping this year.
@@retrorebound8887 I played the Geofront translations of Zero and Azure over the past year and they did an incredible job.
I demand a debate
Sky still better than crossbell :v
Close tho
@@edwin7788 no need to debate its just personal preference some folks like sky others like crossbell and others like cold steel thats the beauty of trails games even though they follow the same story all 3 are much different from eachother.
This series kind of helped me with my own trauma and recovery back when I played it. I used to suffer a lot from dissociation as a result of CPTSD, and seeing Joshua be loved and accepted made me realise I too can be a part of a team, part of a family, instead of running away and being alone.
Bro I'm glad I came across your comment. I've been recently diagnosed with CPTSD this year and everything is just been hard. So thank u for this, I'll be giving this game a try then 💓 I hope you have a good recovery journey as I will do my best to as well
Yall are gonna make me cry 😢 I hope youre both doing well.
@@808Slush This is so wholesome WTF 😭
After the events of FC, Estelle also had a small episode during the first moments of the second game. I rarely see jrpg dialogue to be so well written like this.
Renne is also a great example of this. She's come such a long way. In the Kuro games she's a main party member now, all grown up too.
"The story is about a brother and sister" Also shows a shot of said brother and sister kissing.
Might've been better to mention that the brother was adopted and that they all knew this lol
This, but it’s established in the first 5 mins
Glad to see this series get some attention. I found it in 2020 and powered through 9 of the games in the series I was that hooked.
Also gotta shout out the Vita versions of the Sky games. They are actually remasters and have JP voices acting, updated character portraits to match the later games, a text log, better graphics and they have Turbo Mode.
You do have to apply an English Patch to them but it's a much better experience than the PSP ports. Zero no Kiseki and Ao no Kiseki were remastered for Vita too but no Turbo Mode :( and only Zero has an English Patch.
i played trails in the sky 1 and 2 for the first time pretty recently and they are my favorite rpgs ever. i also played zero and loved it as well, just not quite as much as the sky games.
i played them on a psp emulator and they all have the fast forward feature on there. i'm a bit annoyed that the 3rd sky game is the only one to not have an english translation on psp, but if you had to be missing one game in the series, that would be the one, the other 4 are all more vital to the overall story.
The Trails series was the first series where I actually tried talking to every NPC that I could. The dialog is fantastic and the world building is some of the best I've ever seen. I thought I wouldn't like going around doing that, but it rewards you in the end for doing so.
Trails series will always have a part in my heart. This is the game that changed my whole view about turn-based rpg. One i absolutely loved about the series is how great the game in the world building, every npc have their own storyline. It's not like those rpg out there who treated the npc like a plain doll. the inkeeper, the stall owner, the bystander have their own narative to follow if you willing to talk to them every so often, it makes the game so lively and believable, almost feels like a real existing world if I must say.
I decided to start playing JRPGs because of your channels. Thank you so much for making these videos and all the effort you put into them. We all would be better off if everyone took reviews as serious and made them as thoughtful as you.
I loved the Sky trilogy. I'm currently on the second Crossbell game (Trails to Azure).
I even bought the Crossbell games legitimately on PC and applied the Geofront translations.
I have all 4 Cold Steel games on my shelf waiting for me to play after! :)
I think some modern gamers may struggle with these text heavy games.
If you grew up with 90's / early 2000's RPGs you should feel right at home.
My experience with the series is pretty much: on the calmer parts of quests/early game, you re just going on a calm ride getting to know these characters and world or hanging out with characters and npcs you recognize going a bit quicker with each chapter as you go along patiently while getting some lore and fun character development here and there, no need to rush just chill out and go where it's taking you.
Until you get to the chapter where the ride flips upside down, everything is burning and we re now on turbo mode as the game blasts you with stakes,lore, major character development and plot twists all at once and you get really hyped. Finally got caught up recently, was a great ride.
I love the slow-burn and world building, and the chilled out soundtrack in those earlier chapters. And then, suddenly towards the end of each game the story (and everything else) ramps up to 11 hahah. It's great fun.
I'm playing in release order and I'm on the second Crossbell game. So I still have a lot to play.
Man is like reading a Brandon Sanderson novel, 600 pages of slow paced build up, 150 of the infamous 'Sanderlanch' (Sanderson Avalanche) of plot twists, lore, character development, stakes, resolutions, pay off, etc etc etc.
And I discovered trails before reading any of Sanderson's books.
In a way, the trails series prepared me for Sanderson. His Cosmere universe is in the literary world what trails is to gaming.
Give the Mistborn trilogy a try, you wont be dissapointed, even has a good (not 'strong') female lead.
It's amazing how all the characters in trails can basically be the poster boy/girl for each anime stereotype. We got the badass oldman, the kid with dark past, loli with guns, the well mannered princess amongst other things and yet they're all so well written and loveable.
It really is stereotype done right.
Joshua best princess
It's done right because rather than just being those stereotypes they have way more layers to them then that. And they don't just devolve back to their stereotype later. They develop and they stay developed. Forever.
@@aerrae5608 I can agree with your comment up to Crosbell's end. Starting in CS, I would say the only characters that actually develop personality layers are the 2 least liked, Machias and Jusis. They are the ones that fully overcome their stereotype. Fie being a step below them but still outgrowing her initial trope, and on a side note, bcs she never outgrows her archetype, but actually develops as a person while still being a stereotype is Altina, which is a sublime example on how you can do a cookie cutter character and still develop it and make it great.
For the rest of the CS cast, to me it feels like they start as stereotypes, and as they grow (because they do, don't get me wrong), they grow only more 'set' in their stereotype, prime examples of this are the OG harem girls trio and the MC. Gaius (while being my favorite) and Elliot are like in a limbo and dear Millium is just a living trope.
New class 7 is better in all regards tbh.
@@coyote271280 Steel is the weakest in the series character wise, no surprise why trying to write so many protagonists and their interactions at once.
Hopefully Calvard keeps the main cast small.
The Trails series is like playing an anime. In every arc the first game is very slow because they actually take the time to build their world and characters. In the moment it can be frustrating slow but once that pay off hits you really start to appreciate the world building they did. I've played all the trails games available here in the states and the Sky arc and it's characters are still my favorite. When I finished Sky the Third, even knowing that some of these characters will appear in other arcs, I was so sad because the story would be moving away from them and this wonderful kingdom of Liberl that I grew to love over the 3 games. If you love and appreciate world building and character depth in your games, trust me, no one does it better than Falcom in the Trails series. They really don't get enough credit.
It felt like saying bye to your family and friends bcs you are going to work on another continent. You might still see them every now and then, but is just not the same thing anymore. I know how you felt.
I started with cold steel cause it was on sale, and then i found myself binging all available versions. How this was never on my map til recently...i have no idea. Zero and Azure cant come soon enough.
same after I finished cold steel one to three, I got sky to 3 and I played zero and azure before the gaming company took out the free downloads. I still have them lol
Cold Steel is the best starting point imo. Without it, I never would've gotten into Trails. I tried Sky at first but it didn't do it for me so I refunded it.
Thank god I got CS1 on a whim. It was on sale, whereas Persona 4 (the game I was gonna buy) wasn't. So I just figured I'd give the Trails series another try with CS. I got absolutely hooked. Beat 1 and 2 in like a month. I went and bought the entire Trails catalogue on steam before I was even done with CS2. Now I've 100% First Chapter and currently playing SC. I didn't even get into JRPGs til like 3 years ago (been gaming for 20~) so I'm glad that there's an amazing series like Trails that I can binge. And even after I'm done with these, there's still the other half of upcoming games!
I first heard about these games because I saw a movie based on the first game on hulu, and I looked more into the series because I couldn't believe how expansive the universe was now its my favorite game series of all time
@@nateortega2912 same here. I stared in Cold Seel 1-3 then went back to Sky and then got the free downloads with the EVO patches before they were struck down
Same, got the first cold steel 5 hours in i bought the other 3 and binged them
I’m dying over this series. I held off playing further than sky hoping there would be an official version for Crossbell. Then geo came out with a patch for zero and I thought well I just wait for Azure to make sure there is a quality version of that one. It finally came, I bought Zero off the foreign website and didn’t put the patch to it and a day or two later the official versions were announced and patches taken off line. I’m so happy for the geo team that they are officially seeing their passion project get major recognition, but man it’s been a long wait to get back into this series when I loved the sky trilogy 😂
The Sky trilogy are some of my favorite games! I can’t wait for us to finally be able to play the Crossbell games this year
I mean it's on PC homie
@@archafromdmc Crossbell isn't officially out yet tho? Even on PC
@@chelsearamos3617 not officially, but it is out on PC lol. In English and everything, beat those games last year
@@FBBReppCloud yeah but didn't they take those down? I know it was on the geofront website but afaik ever since the announcement it would finally have an official release they took down their copy of the game
@@chelsearamos3617 They took it down, but you can still find it. The official release is somewhere in 2022 and 2023.
Love all these games. I can’t wait for the new ones to come out.
I'm so glad more people are discovering trails now but I do have mixed feelings of how popular it can potentially get but for JRPG fans in general it's a must play.
Welcome, brother. I'm always glad to hear that another one has joined us. We're definitely not a cult.
Years later, I'm still recovering from the ptsd I got from the last Star Door on third chapter. Third chapter is pretty underrated but it has the most mature story in all of the Trails I've played so far. I've played all games up to the early part of Cold Steel.
I was so caught off guard by star door 15. Didn't they would go *there*
@@mark-gj4mb Star door 15 was simply uncalled for. Then you get some extra lore and context in the Crossbell Arc and lets just say, "Yo, these people are straight up fucked in the head."
@@Deode-d4h I'm so used to JRPG villains and themes being very vanilla and generic, so Star Door 15 and Zero were actually really interesting. It was interesting seeing a JRPG "go there" in terms of organized crime, political corruption, and of course child exploitation and human trafficking. Even the Sky and Cold Steel games never really deal with such serious themes. Plus, we got a good resolution for Renne and I think that method of storytelling with such heavy themes really drove home the impact of Zero's scene with Renne, Estelle, and Joshua
@@mark-gj4mb For all of her accomplishments as a Bracer, her personal growth, yada yada yada, the single greatest thing that Estelle has ever done and will ever do, was saving that little girl, and that was the strongest barrier that was overcome in Zero no Kiseki.
Great piece of storytelling, great character development and I am still emotionally affected every time I remember "Caught you". I love Estelle.
@@coyote271280 yes, I cry at any Renne scene in the 3rd or Zero. Estelle is a great character and I think it's great seeing her when she isn't the protagonist
I’m 17 hours into trials of the sky fc, using a Jp voice mid pack helps so much. 17 hours and I JUST completed chapter 1. It’s so captivating. Love the characters.
Always good to see this series get more attention. I point anyone who asks for game recommendations to this series. It’s a classic and that Marvel analogy was a great explanation because it’s an expanded world whose storyline’s intertwine.
The best thing about the Sky trilogy is that its published in the West by XSeed who were the ones to implement the Turbo mode in the games. A shoutout to them would have been nice. They also added the extra English voice lines in CS1 and CS2. We expected NISA to follow their footsteps for CS3 and CS4 but they never bothered. Its the difference between a company that is doing it for the money and another that is doing for both the money and the community as well.
XSeed didn't add any voice acting initially though. The original PS3 and Vita releases had just as much VA as the original. I think the PS4 versions don't have additional VA either. They only added it with the PC ports.
@@ВадимНечунаев-л2о The PS4 ports are the same as the PC ports meaning additional voice acting.
So Trails is still largely unknown?
Man that's so sad, Trails deserves so, so much more.
Maybe with Trails from Zero coming to console very soon, the tides will start to turn for my beloved series.
Doubtful, I don't think Zero and Azure getting an official release will even sell all too well.
The graphics will be a turn off for most that aren't into the series already.
Most fans have also already played the fantranslations so at most they will toss some money to support falcom.
I could see kuro getting a ton of people into the series if they release it in the next 2-3 years.
@@luminous3558 Dude, you're a bit out of touch! Zero and Azure are getting official releases! And they're working with the people who did the fan translations to get it done! The next game, Reverie, is also coming! Be hype!
@@Mychael612 Uhh yeah I said that the official release wont sell. Most of the community has already played the games so outside of giving falcom money there isnt a big reason to buy them especially at 20€+.
Graphics will keep most of the "I saw the game on steam and bought it" sales down.
The Geofront localizations were the hype releases, people aren't gonna get hyped to just replay the games again when it hasn't been that long.
English release of Hajimari is still well over a year away.
Falcom really needs to get someone to start working on worldwide releases, waiting 3 years on a game while falcom releases 3 more games in that time is just silly.
We will still be waiting on PS4 games when the PS6 releases.
finished zero and azure last year and they are so , so good :) Fantastic game, fantastic series or at least those games i have played. Azure is one of my all time fav games
@@Mychael612 comment?
We need Sky on the PS!
I played Trails in the Sky 1 and SC on my PSP; no regrets. It made me appreciate what Falcom did way back then.
I love the entire series. I've played the entire Trails of the Sky, Crossbell Duology (Trails from Zero to Azure) then the entire Trails of Cold Steel from 1 to 4 all in 2020 to 2021 and I am currently waiting for Hagimari no Kiseki (Trails into reverie) and Kuro no Kiseki.
I feel like as i grow older, i get introduced to Gems like this. Always wondering where the hell i've been these past ten years LOL. So glad I started it though, waiting on Zero and Azure before I move onto Cold Steel 3. ALSO, the soundtrack is amazing in the sky series.
I love how the first game had the issue of giving you only two party members, because there aren't that many characters (who can realistically just forget their lives and follow you).
Then from the 4th game they had to create mechanics to fit 6 people.
Then by the 9th you can have 8 people at times, and even then you don't have even half the people available following you. They really do keep everyone feeling important
1:55 Trails is essentially the MCU of JRPGs.
An apt description for sure.
The Cold Steel games first started coming out during a period of time that was an absolute DESERT for quality Turn-Based RPGs. This series was the first to crack my "Top 10" list, in decades.
Same, I rememer back then I was so sad and disappointed by Tales of Zestiria and Final Fantasy XV. Late night, I bought on impulse the Cold Steel 1 PS3 Collector Edition. I never regretted this purchase. After Cold Steel 1&2, I played the Sky Trilogy and Zero/Azure games. :)
@@Terranigma23 It was the initial Cold Steel 1 release, for me. I think it was 2014. It was rare to see a Turn-Based RPG in 3D, in those days.
@@guruthosamarthruin4459 Cold Steel released in Japan in 2013 and in the US in 2015.
@@BlueGrovyle I may have first seen trailers in 2014.
@@guruthosamarthruin4459 well good for you. I hadn't even heard of Falcom until Dec 2020 when I saw CS1 on Steam with it's shiny "Overwhelmingly Positive" review ratio, but maybe good for me too because that game came into my life at a much needed time last year when I was crumbling under some life pressure. Probably one of my 3 favorite games ever, to be honest. Still love it looking back despite its many flaws, and I've probably watched the game a full 5 or more times over via Twitch streams by now.
The graphical artstyle is actually both, character sprites in a 3D world. They perfected this artstyle so well that both just melts together with each other.
I just finished the first arc of the trails series and it's easily my favorite JRPG series already
I REALLY need to get back into this game, I was always curious about the whole Trails Of series, but the number of games was really intimidating. So I picked up this one and just fell in love with it, the graphics and overall music remind me a lot of Ragnarok Online, so it gave me a little bit of nostalgia haha but the characters and the extent that they go to set up the whole world is really amazing.
Most JRPGS start in a really mundane way, and then things just go crazy in a short time, it's sort of a trope by now. But this game really takes it's time and I just sort of appreciate the slow pace, really helps to build things up when eventually something insane happens
Glad to see more people getting into the Trails series. I recently finished all the games last year so I''m still a bit hurt. definitely my favorite video game series out there. Reverie can't come soon enough
I appreciate you for shinning light on this Gem!! No other series has done what this series has done. It baffles me how it's not more popular like FF, star ocean etc.
Man the intro music. Filled all my nostalgia. And the long ass waiting for 2nd game
It's amazing...even the minor dialogue between the NPCs can tell a minor story that can be a miniature distraction to the overall game. For instance, this video showed Armand and Ellie. Throughout the first and second game, you see them occasionally. Armand approaches her in the alley, she's not exactly thrilled to be courted in an ALLEYWAY, but then they take it to the clocktower, then they start dating, they get extremely lovey dovey to the point it actually makes Estelle sick, Armand proposes in Grancel, they have a quest later in Rolent where you find a ring and then it culminates in a wedding in which another girl catches a bouquet and is probably set to marry Rinon the Shopkeeper. ( His interfering Mom drags the girl home the capital and that's another story told.)
And dont forget about the end of this story in Crosbell, then they meet Armand father.
But i more like story of this girl that catch a bouquet.
This review really clicks with me. Hit the nail on the head. Just finished sky after playing cs1 and cs2. Safe to say this series is my life now
welcome to the fandom!
Congrats! I first got into the franchise when I picked up the first Cold Steel game from a local library a while back. Been a fan of the franchise ever since. Just pre-ordered the English-language port of Trails from Zero last night.
I'm loving this unusual spike in Trails content
Man, just started the series a couple days ago then found this channel! I'm really digging the first Sky chapter so far. Like you said I've seen a lot of people say how slow this first game is, but I just hit Chapter 2 and am enjoying it. Idk guess I'm just into the small, personal journey they are on lol.
But everyone is also saying their jaws dropped at the ending of this game, so I'm really looking forward to that!
The way I usually describe the slowness of the beginnings of the Trails series is:
They spend a lot of time letting you get to know the characters, including random NPCs who keep showing up with their own stories, so that when the crap finally hits the fan, it feels like it matters more.
One of my favourite game of all time, it took me 95 hours(FC+SC), I also completed Zero no kiseki and Ao no kiseki(Crossbell duology), I also played Erebonien Empire Quadriology and excited for the Republic of Calvard series
I really need to pick this back up. I’m not that far into it, but I love the unique, almost tactics-esque battle system and the characters are great. And I’m not one who usually pays that much attention to music in games, but WOW the music really grabbed me. I haven’t put a whole lot of time into it, but I was already just humming along to the town theme while I was watching your video because I freaking love that song. It’s so instantly memorable.
Always love to see Trails get a spotlight! I feel like these games have been getting a little more popular recently, but they're still criminally underrated/unknown. I've played every game in the series including the nonlocalized ones and man, what they're done with the continuity and world building is consistently mind blowing. You have to enjoy reading, but if you do, these games are incredible. I'm very glad Zero and Azure are finally coming west because Azure is one of the best JRPGs ever made imo.
What timing! I picked this up myself recently after hearing about it.
One of my favorite series. i’m so glad they’re finally bringing The other three games to the west. Can’t wait to play those. it would be amazing if they could Bring the trails in the sky series to the switch it would be perfect.
oh boy, the little details of accomplishing something with the Sky arc and it gets carried on with the next game is so lovely. Welcome to game that could pass off as reading a wonderful novel. Even without turbo mode, I had fun patching up files on my PS VITA for the Evo version and allowed me to absorb more of every moment of the game.
Oh man brother, I can’t wait for you to play and review Zero and Ao. In my opinion it’s the strongest “arc” (before cold steel 3 and 4 pushing the overall narrative forward). Definitely a more mature story, awesome soundtrack, and I just love the main characters.
Glad to see you talking about this franchise Matty. Keep up the good work!
As someone who's finished all games including Hajimari no Kiseki and waiting on Kuro spreadsheet anyone who's watching this make sure you know this isn't really a "series" but one massive narrative that still is only 60% finished at the end of Hajimari no Kiseki
Each game be it Sky FC or Cold Steel 2 should be looked at in the same way if the mass effect series had 10+ games ongoing with Sky FC being mass effect 1 and cold steel 2 being basically mass effect 7 and of course you don't start playing mass effect with 3 the same way you wouldn't start playing trails starting with cold steel 3.
It's all one linear narrative and while perspectives change and the arcs focus on different things all of it is 100% linear and connected and that is the reason people love the series so much, even just playing through the sky arc isn't enough for people to realize the actual charm of the series.
I'd say if you play up to Cold Steel 2 in this order then you should be able to realize why people love it so much and can feel assured you gave the series the best go even if you didn't like it [which is unlikely once you get going].
Sky FC > Sky SC > Sky the 3rd > Zero no Kiseki > Ao no Kiseki > Cold Steel 1 > Cold Steel 2 > Cold Steel 3 > Cold Steel 4 > Hajimari no Kiseki > Kuro no Kiseki [only JP, no spreadsheet yet]
This is definitely a huge game series that deserves patience to explore the extremely giantic and interconnected story among all the ten episodes -- bravo for making a review on this game and make it reach more audiences. Also a big fan of the sky series, now playing reverie. 😃
This is my favorite game of all time. And this is a fantastic review. You've highlighted my favorite parts about this game, and touched on my least favorite parts as well without giving any spoilers.
Trails in the sky is apart of a larger connected universe that pays off like the first games are Trails in the Sky FC, Trails in the Sky SC, and Trails in the Sky the 3rd. Then the next arc which is finally this year going to be in English is Trails from Zero, and Trails to Azure. After that the arc that is the most popular is Trails of Cold Steel, Trails of Cold Steel 2, Trails of Cold Steel 3, and the avengers type crossover game which has mostly ever characters from past games called Trails of Cold Steel 4, then in 2023 Trails into Reverie is being in English, which is the game that says good bye to the first half of The Trails Saga. Also Falcom has another series that is popular called Ys which is a action combat game series. Also their soundtracks are godly. To see what I mean listen to Silver Will from Trails in the Sky SC.
Dude trails from zero and azure are on english
@@archafromdmc I mean an official release not the translation on pc from geofront which I know they are also helping Nis with the official one.
@@CLKiryu0331 it's oficial tho?
@@CLKiryu0331 but hey if you wanted to play it on console that's completely fine honestly, I'll just tell you two things 1 the translation is fucking amazing so if you want any reason to pull the trigger that's one and 2 you kinda spoiled yourself on most of the big twists
It's still my favorite bit of trails so far (I'm starting cold steel 3 )
Retro, you did a great job with your analyzes about the series. I am currently researching more about it and will give it a try.
Just finished the Sky series so now I'm hunting for videos. You are so right about almost everything you say especially the dialogues not being wasted even though it's a lot.
I'm really trying to convince my cousins to get into it but keep telling them that it takes a while and the payoff is worth it.
Woa, didn't know you were so into JRPGs... from your other channel, had guessed it was mostly Western RPGs. Good to see! JRPGs are more my style. I love the idea and what people say about the plot, but due to work schedule slow games really work for me anymore. Most people tell me it gets really good in the 2nd game, but you have to finish the first for setup. Ah well, maybe some day...
MASTERPIECE OF A SERIES
First game that made me to actually read in-game manual
Bracer Notebook is your bible in this game
I remember suddenly discovering this game somehow in 2020 during Covid lockdown. Was such a great time playing this being in my dorm room after having lectures. Funny, how I thought was an old JRPG from the 90s.
REMAKE IS COMING! FUCKING A! (b ' ' )b
Trails in the sky is definitely made for people who love a build up. It can be slow at times but the characters and their journey is always a awesomely beautiful and fun time.
Funny, my favorite game of all time is Xenogears. A friend was like “ dude, you need to play Legend of hero’s games then” I didn’t own a PC and never owed a Vita. The series completely passed me by. I recently bought a cheap laptop for my son. I might have to borrow it to start this franchise.
LFG! This Series deserves WAY MORE recognition !
I'd completed trails of cold steel 4 coming from trails in the sky 1, not completing two and playing the entirety of the cold steel series. Watching this video gives me this burst of nostalgia as if I'm meeting old friends reminiscing the old days. I have a special place in my heart for this series.
The one thing about the Trails of series is that your gonna read a lot playing there games
there is a japanese voice mod for the steam version, i highly recommend to install it! i played cold steel in english due to the additional voice acting lines (compared to the japanese dub and some really amazing voice actors)...
Seeing new people catch the Trails plague is always fun.
I've been calling this series as the MCU way back in 2019 when ShadowEliteHD made his CS3 video. I'm glad more and more people are calling this as an JRPG MCU series
This had an interesting take on the Trails in the Sky in my opinion as someone who started with the Sky trilogy. I got into Trails series in 2014 when I bought the first Sky game near the end of the year. At that point I had no idea how big deal it would soon become to me.
But let me go through my experience in more details, and starting with how I got into the Trails series.
I liked Estelle as a character and found it worthwhile doing all kinds of fetch and boss killing quests as a bracer. It's not just "do this and get a reward" but in my head I thought "I'm actually helping these people. Someone needs to find a cat? I'll do it! There is this dangerous monster making outskirts of a town unsafe? Let me take care of it!". I just got into that mindset of going around and helping people so I'd say most of the quests never felt boring or tedious to me when I kept thinking "Would Estelle, this young bracer, really want to skip this job when she is aiming to become a better bracer than her dad? Of course not!". Judging from my Steam achivements, I'd say it took me roughly two weeks or so to finish my first playthrough. Yes, I went back to the game multiple times.
Anyway, when I finished Trails in the Sky I just knew I had to play the sequel. I can't say I was completely hooked in the whole series but the very least I wanted to know what would happen next. I bought the Second Chapter in 2015, and I'd say after clearing it I was quite hooked into the series as a whole. I knew I had to play the Trails in the Sky the 3rd next which bought in 2017 on Steam on the day it was released. I knew it wouldn't feature Estelle and Joshua as the main duo but I was excited to learn more about the world, and I had heard this game was particularly good for more lore. That alone made it worth getting in my opinion.
Trails of Cold Steel (bought in 2017) was an interesting experience for me because until then I had spent majority of my in-game time in Liberl Kingdom so seeing Erebonia with my own eyes for the first time, the country that the Liberl Kingdom had a war with, made me feel... uneasy? I guess it kind of felt "jumping to enemy territory" in a way. But at the same time I was excited. I was hardly able to wait and see what kind of story this game would reveal to me, and if it would open more of the bigger plot. I bought Cold Steel II the next year. At this point I was very much aware how in the Trails games any small main story progress, be it just talking to an quest NPC, triggering a seemingly minor event flag by visiting a new area (or old area at the right time) could potentially open up new missables such as side quests or other things. This is why I had tried to backtrack as much as possible, and visiting previous areas to see if there was anything new. New dialogue, new side quests, new anything. However, if there is one thing I remember from Cold Steel II it's how the game had opened up in the second half of the game so much that I seriously got tired of backtracking every previous area whenever something new happened in the main story. At some point I just gave in and took a lot more casual route and went forward without worrying too much about what I might miss (and yes, I missed a lot of things because of that).
Continuing forward, I had became aware of the Crossbell games but at that point of time there was no information of them being released on Steam. I didn't really have much of a choice other than using an emulator if I wanted to experience the Crossbell, especially because, if I recall correctly, I had heard it'd would be better to play them before Cold Steel III. So that's what I did. Won't say more on that front except that they are definitely great games. No, let me take that one back. They both are amazing games. However, I'm glad that I had played Cold Steel and Cold Steel II beforehand because, in my opinion, even though both spoil each other, I think Crossbell spoils Cold Steel (& II) more than the other way around. I'm well aware that both Zero and Azure planned to release on Steam in the future. I have both wishlisted on Steam and I will definitely buy them when they release just to support the series, and I'll be glad to have a them legally.
I would have wanted to buy Cold Steel III on release in 2020 but at that time my money situation wasn't great, and it's also a bit more expensive than the previous games in the series, so I just had to leave it for later as painful as it was. I was able to buy Cold Steel III and IV last year, a few months apart, but I had a very busy last year so I didn't have as much time for games as I would have wanted. I was able to start a playthrough but I still haven't finished Cold Steel III. One of my goals for this year is to finish Cold Steel III and IV. I have also wishlisted Trails into Reverie on Steam. Honestly speaking I have no idea what it will be about, and I've luckily been able to avoid spoilers regarding it, so I'm sure I'll be excited to play it. It should come out next year so that's something to look forward to.
Sorry about the wall of text. Trails series is one of the few things that gets me easily excited, and I really wanted to share a little bit of my own journey through the series. Since your video only touches upon Trails in the Sky, I tried to keep this as spoiler free as I reasonably could, and ended up telling more about boring stuff, I guess. Anyway, getting into the Trails series has been one of my best things in my life, although not one of the cheapest. I'm hooked so badly that it doesn't matter how many more games they release for this series because I want to see and experience everything this series has to offer.
In conclusion, I have finished 7 games in the series (Sky trilogy, Crossbell duology and two from Cold Steel), have three Sky games and four Cold Steel games in my Steam Library, and have wishlisted both Crossbell games and Trails into Reverie. I'd love to claim that I'm very knowledgable of the lore and remember every piece of lore and event in the games but considering the size of the games, and the amount of the text, I hate to admit that there's probably a lot of details I've forgot over time.
Oh, before I forget, I'm quite positive the turbo feature was added to the Sky trilogy only later, and I definitely did not play the Sky trilogy with that feature in my first playthrough. I found an older Steam discussion from Aug 2017 when it was being discussed as being confirmed but did not confirm when it was added. Don't take the turbo mode for granted because it was not always part of the PC version. I honestly don't think the lack of the feature made the games worse; I honestly had a lot of fun before it was even a thing.
Man, what a great journey, loved that you felt that going into CS 1 you felt like going into enemy territory, bcs I felt the exact same thing, I was suspicious of everybody, until a certain blond guy with a penchant for singing made an appearance, then I was fully onboard with the new cast.😅
@@coyote271280 At the time when he was introduced for the first time I of course had no idea of his true identity but he truly is a peculiar character.
My favourite JRPG series. The writing and worldbuilding are top notch, I always felt deeply connected to the characters. The gameplay mechanics are great, the quartz system is a bit similar to the materia system of FF VII. The combat system reminds me of my favorite FF X system, but even better and more refined with every entry. The music is also soo good, Falcom are one of the best out there.
Only the pacing can be sluggish sometimes and there is a LOT of text to read. I think that every genre fan has to check this out, Trails should be up there with the other big series.
Great video!! It's kinda unfair that such a great series is not as well known as other jrpgs that, let's face it, are waaaay less ambitious (and Trails succedes in those ambitions).
Btw, I wouldn't describe Bracers as mercenaries, those would be jaegers. Bracers are an international ngo that focuses on protecting civilians. They kinda live on tips jajaja
14:31 Those isometric 3D style really takes me back to Harvest Moon: Back To Nature's graphics!
I feel bad for people that haven’t played this game series man I started with the trails of cold steel series and now I can’t get enough i also play ys as well. Falcon is a great studio that a lot of people sleep on man I hope this video opens people eyes man. If you have not gotten these games they trails of cold steel series is on sale right now.
I know right? Falcom is amazing. I never knew they did Trails in the Sky, which I played but thought it was boring so I refunded. Then a friend of mine told me Ys 8 was apparently good so I bought that. Amazing, I got obsessed with it. So I went and bought more and more Ys games. Atm I have every titles that's on steam. Then I realised Falcom also did Trails and that they were all on sale. I got Cold Steel 1 cause I figured I'd give Trails another try. BAM, got obsessed yet again. Ys and Trails are now easily amonst my fav game series of all time. I've even tried some of their more obscure games like Xanadu Next and honestly, I got a huge Demon's Souls vibe from it (which is perfect for me)
@@Walamonga1313 Xanadu Next is a hidden gem for sure. Give the Zwei games a go if you haven't already too, had a lot of fun with those :)
For the complete Sky Trilogy, there actually are patches to transfer the Voice Acting from the Japanese Evo Versions to western PC versions. So if you don't dislike japanese voices (and don't forget to switch the battle sounds accordingly in settings), it's a great way to enjoy these games and their characters :)
Something I never see anyone talking about in these comments is the tiny detail that is the treasure chests. I interacted with almost every chest a second time for all the quirky dialogue across the Sky games. Was really sad when I started Cold Steel and it wasn't a thing anymore
Also things to note. Across 9 games the timeline move only about 6 years
Over the last year I've played through ALL of the Sky games and ALL of the Cold Steel games, and as a fan of JRPGs I'm ashamed I've let these slip my attention for so long. Now I'm full blown fan!
The bracers are the more moral mercs while holding a code of not-killing humans, hence the term "civil servants". The actual mercs you would associate the term are the Jaeger corps as they are usually hired to do dirty work for mira.
I see exactly what you mean. I recently got into this franchise and I just beat Trails in the Sky SC last night. So....much.....dialogue, but the payoff at the end is incredible. I remember kinda getting antsy toward the end of the first one and then the way it ends it had me rushing to start the SC. Falcom definitely got their hooks in me with this franchise.
I absolutely love trails games! Sky sc is one of my favorite game of all time. I can't wait for everbody to experince the peak fiction that is zero and azure.
SC was amazing! As of today, I'm currently on chapter 2 of Azure (Geofront translation).
Here to add my story. I first tried Trails in the Sky and I thought it was boring so I refunded it, I didn't think it was my thing. But I gave the Trails series another try when I saw CS1 on sale. Got absolutely hooked and by the time I beat the game I had already bought every other Trails on steam. Even Sky FC again. Which I've since 100% the achievements 8? and really enjoyed. It does feel like a prologue but I honestly really enjoyed it after I got into the universe thanks to CS1 and 2. Especially the ending, THAT WAS INSANE. Now I'm on Sky SC (I've beaten CS1, CS2 and FC so far) but oddly I don't really feel the urge advance. Dunno if that's good or bad.
Honestly, I never thought I'd love another JRPG series as much as Final Fantasy. I'm a sucker for videogame music and FF soundtracks speak to my soul. That's reason #1 why I got into FF (and JRPGs as a whole). Nothing got me obsessed like FF games did... until I played Trails. Their soundtrack, gameplay and characters are amazing. Basically all I want in a game. Then you've huge worldbuilding (that literally feels massive because you get to see most places across the countries), quality of life features like Turbo Mode and saving anywhere, an overarching story that spans literally the entire series...
So far I prefer CS to Sky because of the improved combat, slightly faster story pacing, the music is more my style (still love all Falcom OSTs) and lastly I absolutely loved the land of Erebonia BUT I still really liked Sky FC. Basically I think CS is more fun to actually sit down and play(for me, gameplay trumps story) but Sky is a really good one-and-done kinda game. After all, I already randomly beat NG+ of CS1 lol
I just started the game a few days ago and I'm in the middle of Ruan, gotta say that game is a slow burn, but so far quite interesting. I'm very intrigued in playing the rest of the games in the series.
Im on the 4th installment myself..enjoy throughoutly my dude
Yaaaaaas, king. Estelle is Bestelle!
YAAAAAAAAAS
If you liked this then another older JRPG that'll catch your fancy is Grandia for Saturn/PS1 (and also got a remaster'd release recently). Some of us like to call Trails in the Sky an honourary Grandia game because of how much it was influenced by it. The overworld setup of 2D Sprites on 3D Backgrounds, position based combat with the ability to influence turn order through specific actions (Trails' battle system is basically a turn based take of Grandia's which was considered one of the best JRPG battle systems for a long time) and character dialogue for both PC and NPCs right down to NPC dialogue being varied and changing as the plot progresses. Sky's narrative borrows more from Suikoden due to how politic focused it can get at times but the 'grand adventure' feeling you get from watching Estelle and Joshua is definitely reminiscent of Justin, Feena and Sue's journey in Grandia. This is cool as it means Trails is more or less carrying the baton passed from those two long inactive franchises while coming into it's own through its ambitious plotline.
A lot of games have a story that requires patience but not very rewarding to read, but Trails series is not one of them. I'm not a fan of old games, but after I played Sky trilogy, I came to love it more than other series of the same franchise.(well except kuro and hajimari that I didn't played yet).
The overarching storyline is just so amazing in this. Even that NPC from the 2nd side quest of Sky appeared later in Cold Steel. Like the developer can still remember a mob character even after a decade.
The art style or graphic style makes me think A LOT of Golden Sun. Great JRPG on GBA.
Anyway, I tried Cold Steel I during lockdown and got stuck in this world and its world building.
Finished Trails In the Sky FC not long ago and got served AGAIN a massive dose of world building (I love that).
I enjoy watching videos about this serie of games.
Great content. Keep going buddy !
I've been recommending this game to everyone, it's great. I completed Kuro recently, too.
In this game, even side quests and mundane tasks are entertaining, because they come with lore, character development via dialogue, and general world building. I know several people who approached this as if it were WoW or similar - an MMO is very different from a series like this, and in this series in particular, so much of it is just fantastic. The writing is good, it's interesting and it adds to the overall experience. I just read about a guy on Steam saying his first time through, he skipped all the side quests - which is ridiculous and a tragedy in a game like this.
Many people only knew MMO, and it tends to taint their opinion of games like this (until they play them, if they choose to) because of the things MMO's universally do poorly. Instead of boring quests for experience, you are doing them for CONTENT, background, dialogue / character interaction. Big difference. Very big.
You failed to mention the biggest special charm of the Trails games. How EVERY NPC has their own story going on with a new phase of dialouge that changes after almost anything happens.
You don't get that playing Pokémon or Persona or most other JRPGs where the NPCs in the previous towns don't get new dialouge after the plot takes you away from them.
In trails you can go find and talk to Anton nearly every month somewhere in Liberal and see his journey to find love repeatedly meet abject failure time and again until finally one month helping him is a hilarious quest. You can talk to and watch a young couple confess, date, fall further in love and get married by the end of the 2nd game. Between CS1&2 and CS3&4 you can watch two stuck up nobles get caught up in the corruption of the war because of their stupid rivalry and lose everything together. You can see Vivi outwit her sister nearly every month with pranks.
Along this same charm, in Trails in the Sky and the Crossbell games EVERY CHEST had a unique snarky message in it after you've emptied it, and some have random chapters of a book spread in them.
I'm about 3 hrs into Sky FC and I am really enjoying it. If I can stay focused, I can't wait to play all the games in the series.
Same here bud! I'm currently 20hrs into FC and just absolutely love it. I went ahead and bought some of the other ones just because haha. Cheers mate.
best jrpg series ever made.. and it's not close
Aw yeah a trails video in 2022 lol. I really liked it. You did say these games dont have voice acting, but I dont think this is exactly true. The game was fully voiced in japanese, and I know for at least the first game you can easily mod it into the pc release. I was also glad to see how well you conveyed falcoms style of writing, its something they do in pretty much all of their games. Another seried they do this in is the ys series, an action rpg series that has started to take influence from trails in recent games and id say has even better music than trails.