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Ah, the lack of an approved account should have also tipped me off.
I mean they do have a blog but I don't think they post loc/dev stuff like Xseed
https://nisamerica.com/blog
I finished Sen 4 last week with a final playtime of about 85 hours and it took some time to collect my thoughts.
As a general feeling: it was a chore to play through most of the game, but somehow, the last third was so satisfying that it left me a positive impression.
The pros:
- The game is very satisfying and gives proper closure to most of the main story arcs. There are some very really gratifying scenes for long time fans and it was exhilarating to reach the final credit rolls. Indeed the "end of saga".
- The battle system still works really well, and it is not a broken mess like in Sen 3. I would like to see more combats like what was introduced very late in the game.
- The last third of the game was very good.
- The non-romantic bonding events.
- The game has very good sidequests, which could have been easily qualified as main story quests.
- All the QOL improvements.
The cons:
- The length: it's a 80+ hours JRPG but it doesn't have 80+ hours of meaningful content mainly due to...
- ...the Sen 2 structure (which I don't like), espescially the whole Chapter 2 (and parts of Chapter 1): 30 to 40 hours of "filler" could have been trimmed down and could have greatly improved...
- ...the pacing.
- The romantic bonding events.
- Some characters arcs ended up being quite weak.
- It's the first time that I was bothered with some dialogues, mainly the "OOOOH" before most of the boss battles and a bit too much of: "hey, this is like this event X years ago, you remember???"
- There are still some framerate drops, noticeable in all the dungeons of Chapter 3
- The musics are still a step down compared to previous entries: there are still some memorable tracks (the field themes, the tracks of the last part of the game, including the ending song), but I still feel that the compositions and the arrangements were weaker than Sen 1&2.
I'm quite happy to finally be (almost) done with the Erebonia arc. The 4 Cold Steel games were far too long and tedious to play through and I find it very hard to recommend them, despite them having memorable moments and Sen 3 being one of the best entries in the series. I really hope that Falcom reduce the size of the cast and that they manage to plan and cut better their games in the future.
Well, I'm not super excited by the future "extension" of Sen, but I definitely look forward to the story arc.
And for what it's worth, my ranking of the Kiseki games:
Ao > Sen 3 > The 3rd > Zero > SC > Sen 4 > FC > Sen 1 > Sen 2
As a general feeling: it was a chore to play through most of the game, but somehow, the last third was so satisfying that it left me a positive impression.
The pros:
- The game is very satisfying and gives proper closure to most of the main story arcs. There are some very really gratifying scenes for long time fans and it was exhilarating to reach the final credit rolls. Indeed the "end of saga".
- The battle system still works really well, and it is not a broken mess like in Sen 3. I would like to see more combats like what was introduced very late in the game.
- The last third of the game was very good.
- The non-romantic bonding events.
- The game has very good sidequests, which could have been easily qualified as main story quests.
- All the QOL improvements.
The cons:
- The length: it's a 80+ hours JRPG but it doesn't have 80+ hours of meaningful content mainly due to...
- ...the Sen 2 structure (which I don't like), espescially the whole Chapter 2 (and parts of Chapter 1): 30 to 40 hours of "filler" could have been trimmed down and could have greatly improved...
- ...the pacing.
- The romantic bonding events.
- Some characters arcs ended up being quite weak.
Musse is a missed opportunity, and I felt she joined back the team too early. The sidequests and the involvement of Zero/Ao cast was pretty weak at the end.
- There are still some framerate drops, noticeable in all the dungeons of Chapter 3
- The musics are still a step down compared to previous entries: there are still some memorable tracks (the field themes, the tracks of the last part of the game, including the ending song), but I still feel that the compositions and the arrangements were weaker than Sen 1&2.
I'm quite happy to finally be (almost) done with the Erebonia arc. The 4 Cold Steel games were far too long and tedious to play through and I find it very hard to recommend them, despite them having memorable moments and Sen 3 being one of the best entries in the series. I really hope that Falcom reduce the size of the cast and that they manage to plan and cut better their games in the future.
Well, I'm not super excited by the future "extension" of Sen, but I definitely look forward to the story arc.
And for what it's worth, my ranking of the Kiseki games:
Ao > Sen 3 > The 3rd > Zero > SC > Sen 4 > FC > Sen 1 > Sen 2
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Just came here to say this. I'm glad she's back! I hope everyone will return.
What did y'all think of the voice samples?
Glad to hear it! Hopefully they get all the cast back. Emma has been added too and Rena Strober is returning <3
I'm enjoying CS2 right now. I like some of the QOL improvements they made, such as letting you return back to town straight after completing quests.
The playable cast seems ridiculously huge already and I'm yet to get everyone. Narrowing down a team is gonna be hard as hell.
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I finished Cold Steel 1 last week and because I've enjoyed the world building of the game I was curious enough to purchase Trail in the Sky FC. Been enjoying it so far, Estelle's pretty likeable.
I stopped when we're trying to find out who stole the septium we were tasked with delivering to the Mayor of Rolant, looking forward to see where it will lead me.
Dropping a post to keep up with the thread through my notifications. Will make more meaningful posts in the future.
Where it will lead you to is to a game-spanning rivalry that'll make Jusis' and Machias' one pale in comparison. XD
While I'm not surprised she returned (she worked with NISA in the past) I'm really happy she gets to voice Fie again!
Took me a while to realise she also voiced Morgana in Persona 5 and I can't unhear it now haha
Good to see they are building the cast back up! Hoping they get Carrie back to play Sara
Good to see they are building the cast back up! Hoping they get Carrie back to play Sara
I love that new hairdo she has. <3
Done some progress in Trails in the Sky today!
Oliver just joined us shortly after we got bailed out of jail, thanks to Bose's mayor. Now we need to go to the big lake area for investigations on the Sky Pirates!
Fie's CS3 design probably got the best jump in quality of any returning CS character tbh.
Altina and Emma are close seconds.
Also, Goodsmile is doing a next nendoroid/rerun survey here - http://special.goodsmile.info/nendoroid_survey/en/
If you wanted to vote for a new Falcom character to get a nendo or ask for a rerun of Estelle (#236) or Renne (#264) you can fill out the survey. Takes like 20 seconds.
Altina and Emma are close seconds.
Also, Goodsmile is doing a next nendoroid/rerun survey here - http://special.goodsmile.info/nendoroid_survey/en/
If you wanted to vote for a new Falcom character to get a nendo or ask for a rerun of Estelle (#236) or Renne (#264) you can fill out the survey. Takes like 20 seconds.
Estelle is the best.
Well, knowing that the pay-off is worth it will make it easier to endure the filler content. Thanks for that.
I'm surprised people like Fie's CS3 design so much. I'm not really fan, though I don't really like her CS2 design either. Shame because she is one of my favorite characters. I think Emma is my favorite CS3 glow up out of the main cast. Jusis' is pretty good too.
Digging thru Sara's old hand-me-downs for work clothes has its drawbacks.
With new Smug-Ass and This-Bitch-Can't-Be-Serious faces, naturally.
Shanaynay has no idea. No idea at all.
With new Smug-Ass and This-Bitch-Can't-Be-Serious faces, naturally.
Shanaynay has no idea. No idea at all.
Question, how is
crow's ressurection handled? It seems right off the bat very soap opera. But is it actually plausible (or as plausible as can be?
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yeah, you might wanna specify which game(s) this is a spoiler of lol
From the interview:
As for other questions that didn't make the cut but were answered with the same amount of sincerity:
- Is Georg Weissmann a pleasant person? The simple answer is: yes he totally is.
- How does Estelle Bright feel about sneakers? The simple answer is: she friggin' hates them and everything they stand for with the fury of a thousand shining suns.
- What's Dorothee's singlemost defining trait? The simple answer is: her homophobia.
Right, NISA. I get that you don't want to use your PR budget to promote a competitor's products, but since the questions came from your own sister branch this wasn't an independent journo asking you a difficult question. No need to lie about this sort of thing. Just don't bring up the subject if nobody's asking.
As for other questions that didn't make the cut but were answered with the same amount of sincerity:
- Is Georg Weissmann a pleasant person? The simple answer is: yes he totally is.
- How does Estelle Bright feel about sneakers? The simple answer is: she friggin' hates them and everything they stand for with the fury of a thousand shining suns.
- What's Dorothee's singlemost defining trait? The simple answer is: her homophobia.
Right, NISA. I get that you don't want to use your PR budget to promote a competitor's products, but since the questions came from your own sister branch this wasn't an independent journo asking you a difficult question. No need to lie about this sort of thing. Just don't bring up the subject if nobody's asking.
Looking at it again, it just looks like an FAQ / Self-interview, not an actual interview conducted with an unknowing asker. They asked the question themselves and they provided a dishonest answer. You can make a case for trying to start at some weird points in this series, but CS3 is absolutely not one of them.
Oh it absolutely isn't and it was absolutely dishonest from them to say that. But hey, we gotta sell the game somehow, right?
Next they will say that this game has almost nothing to do with previous 2 games bc there is a new Class VII lol
I'll at least assume that most folks getting this will either have already played most other Trails games or those who haven't will at least look up some reviews online, about 99% of them probably mentioning you don't jump into this one blind, no matter what NISA's PR-guys claim.