I need to get back to 3rd. I was enjoying the story but found managing so many characters a bit tedious, especially when you need to keep swapping Orbments out. Having the option to save setups would be a significant QOL improvement there.
SC being the "best" by pretty much any stretch is untenable.
It's a good sequel but a mediocre RPG.
If you don't like SC, then I really don't understand why you like any Falcom RPGs. It's like the pinnacle of their RPG design. Its only downside is that it needs another game to be fully enjoyed, but hey, that's true to a larger degree to almost any Kiseki title.
Sky SC isn't the worst game in the (non-gacha) series, because that honour goes to Tokyo Xanadu. :P
... But seriously. I've thoroughly dunked on SC in the past, and it's mostly deserved. CS2 is, imo, Sky SC done right in most respects that aren't character related (and even then it's not quite that clear cut, even if SC has the advantage). But I dunk on it because I love it anyway, warts and all. It's a great climax of the Sky trilogy? And that it manages to make a game that's twice as long as Sky FC with mostly the same assets is... technically impressive if nothing else.
That being said, 3rd's asset reuse is just better all around. Either the reused areas are just for cutscenes, or the areas are dungeon locations that have been given a coat of paint/weren't dungeon areas before. And they're nice enough to give you new areas every other chapter.
Yeah CS2 is actually a good RPG but that might be too spicy of a take
Though the homophobic shit when he first turned up at the military checkpoint was kind of a bummer, hopefully there isn't more of that.
As expected my original thoughts on 3rd changed.
I'm VERY into it now, after reading thoughts and opinions on here and elsewhere it definitely helped out. I'm now invested in the main plot a lot more and, of course, the sidestories.
Last I played I had just finished doing the split road segment in Chapter 3. Kevin's side was much easier and generous with all those weapons upgrade for the party. Ries side was mainly just accessories and a much more challenging boss fight. Then the group ended in Le Locle,at the start of Chapter 4, where I got EVEN more party members. Anelace, Olivier, Zin, Schera (sporting an awesome new look), Agate and FINALLY Estelle! Kevin had to bail us out of a potential death with his stigma so now he's out cold and Ries is the current leader. Estelle is NOT leaving my party now, ever, though this will SEVERELY limit my group setup considering I struggle deciding who the bring... (in a good way)
Speaking of struggling...I also got Richard AND Renne to join my party during Chapter 5! Did I already mention i'm struggling to pick a party? I beat the spiders boss and now chapter 6 is upon me.
Sidestories wise I did a couple more! I went through Kloe's, it was nice to see her situation when she transfered to the Jenis college. I was very surprised to see Lechter too! I remember seeing him in Cold Steel, so that's what he does nowadays...
I went through Zin's story as well. (and the coliseum minigame, at least the first set of rounds) I went through part 2 of Tita's story which involved Agate, man Erika is quite huh...the person.
And I guess Dan is super badass too! I'm surprised even the 3 goons from the Ravens had their own story where you played as them, I liked it though haha.
Anelace's story was fine as well, good to learn she's related to Yun Ka Fai, which makes me wonder if Rean doesn't reference her in Cold Steel now that i'm thinking about it...
Next I did Schera's story and man she had quite the attitude back then...once that was done holy shit that story about her and what she did to survive...to eventually get kicked down and stepped on. The artwork displayed was quite in your face and just amplified the sentiment...
I pretty much stopped after knowing the ghost identity and I look forward to see more later. Although it feel like i'm close to the end...unless somehow there's a SUPER long chapter incoming...that and there's a lot of doors I still haven't discovered and I explore everywhere.
I will readily admit that I haven't played the CS games, yet, though from what I hear from them, they suffer from quite a few issues with pacing and dungeon design as well. After all, I said it was the pinnacle of Falcom's RPG design, not somehow the best of the entire genre. So you think SC is so much worse than their later Kiseki games?
Good rebuttal, I definitely realize now that my post was completely nonsensical.
I get being enamored with a game to the point of overlooking its flaws, but calling SC the "pinnacle" of their RPG design is a bit rich when the things fundamental to good RPG design (pacing, dungeon design, gameplay) are mediocre or average at best in the game. You can't just "handwave" chapter 7 and 8 because the finale is good.
everyone is entitled to their diarrhoea-level opinions, don't worryYeah CS2 is actually a good RPG but that might be too spicy of a take
Nope but it's one of the first door I'll be checking out. When I discovered it it was already super late (or early) so huh, I had to go to bed.Well...about that… Did you finish Olivier's Star Door on the fifth plane already? Presumably not. That door and this door have a connection..
She's pretty crazy but I don't mind her, it make me laugh at times. I'll have to try out Tita more then!Depending on your tolerance for her shenanigans, she's either one of the most amusing or one of the most obnoxious characters. Remember what she looks like though. Her hair style will catch on with a certain someone later. Oh, and the reward for that door now allows Tita to freely switch between her usual rando-blasting mode and boss-murdering mode. (where she was lacking before) The only reason her last craft isn't the most broken thing in the game is because playable character number 15 was added to the roster. It's still extremely powerful and fun to use.
Yup, I picked up on that, I believe it's an exchange with Gundolf or Wong but he definitely allude to new recruits and we know who it end up being.When you played the second part of Tita's door, Agate actually referenced to the events in that door in one of his dialogues with an NPC. The various post-SC doors have just enough info in them to allow players to construct a rough timeline of them.
everyone is entitled to their diarrhoea-level opinions, don't worry
oh they're both iffy, CS2 is just worse because it doubles down on issues of SC AND it has been years since they could have been learning from SCThe only diarrhea-level opinions are the mindless group-think takes folks like to subscribe to in this thread
Like CS2 can't possibly be good (as an RPG) "because it's the bad one" vs SC which is just this immaculate, flawless Kiseki title that doesn't suffer from any design flaws despite being being a relatively old ass RPG
You've played Final Fantasy VI (III)?I'm at the point of no return in Sky the 3rd. I'm wondering, do I need to have all of my party members at a decent level or can I stick to my 4 highest leveled and prefered members.
Will there be any instances were the group splits up and take on seperate bosses? Some JRPGs tend to do that at very end.
Feel free to spoil it (with tags of course).
I'm at the point of no return in Sky the 3rd. I'm wondering, do I need to have all of my party members at a decent level or can I stick to my 4 highest leveled and prefered members.
Will there be any instances were the group splits up and take on seperate bosses? Some JRPGs tend to do that at very end.
Feel free to spoil it (with tags of course).
I'm at the point of no return in Sky the 3rd. I'm wondering, do I need to have all of my party members at a decent level or can I stick to my 4 highest leveled and prefered members.
Will there be any instances were the group splits up and take on seperate bosses? Some JRPGs tend to do that at very end.
Feel free to spoil it (with tags of course).
oh they're both iffy, CS2 is just worse because it doubles down on issues of SC AND it has been years since they could have been learning from SC
Another chapter down and my opinion of the game continues to improve.
My previous two attempts to play FC I ended up bouncing off fairly quickly due to the games pacing but now I'm actually loving the really slow pace of the game to the point where my favourite chunk of the game so far has been the academy segment of this chapter.
I think this chapter was also the first time that I really enjoyed the combat in any of these games with Kloe having a lot of really strong support artes to use and Agate being a monster the few times he was in the party, it just made for a fun mix that felt like it opened up the combat a lot more. It's kind of a shame that Agate wasn't around more for this chapter but it made sense why he wouldn't be and I appreciated that the chapter ended up being largely focused around Kloe, the stronger focus on the temporary party members really removes the sting from them only being around for a chapter.
In terms of the overall narrative, I'm really enjoying the slow reveal of how big a deal Cassius is. For a character that has only had maybe 10 minutes of screen time they've done a good job at making me care him without the need for any forced attempts to make me care. Simply having the odd comment here and there from people that shows how known and important he is while making it clear that he kept this a secret from Estelle communicates a lot about his character while saying very little.
I'm also very curious to see who the masked gang is that seems to be pulling a lot of strings at the moment. I have a guess based on the CS games, but we'll see.
I decided that I probably won't bother with completing one stage of the remaining minigames for Star Door 14, I'll most likely look it up on YT. Currently I'm just leveling up in the abyss a bit while killing every bosses in one run, I suspect something awaits me at the end.
Woowee what a wild ride it has been since I last played. Last update was when I stopped before knowing of Celeste's identity. Since then A LOT happened! In term of story, more and more happened as we heard about Kevin's past. I ended up also being joined by Richard and Renne and they're both insanely powerful so they're definitely part of my final party. It was nice fighting so many familiar faces though and man, Cassius kicked ass as you'd expect, he defeated me quite a few times. Although, I can't help but feel the game pity you if you die (even without selecting easy) he just feel less savage with his turns and attacks. Loewe was also slightly challenging, excluding the "immune to stat debuff" trope aside that I hate in JRPGs.
Holy shit though, Kevin's past about his mother and Rufina, just...woah. Once you know more how Phantasma work though the lord of phantasma twist ain't really impactful, personally, you sorta guess it. But the game definitely gets dark...and speaking of dark.. I've done every doors I came across and man...I wasn't prepared for Star Door 15, jeesus. It's easy to see why it got censored outside of PC, especially THAT artwork, you know the one...this explains so much about Renne and man she deserve so much happiness. This whole door is so fucked up, from the disorders, the "would be my pleasure" to just...well EVERYTHING. This will definitely be one I'll remember and if someday there's ever a thread about "character with tragic past" you bet your ass she'll be the first I think about.
I decided that I probably won't bother with completing one stage of the remaining minigames for Star Door 14, I'll most likely look it up on YT. Currently I'm just leveling up in the abyss a bit while killing every bosses in one run, I suspect something awaits me at the end.
There's a popular saying among Trails fans when pushing people to stick with FC to the point where they warm up to it: "Play until the play". (or rather the events the come immediately after) Good to hear you've been enjoying the pacing. You're slowly approaching the part where stuff starts coming together.
The play in FC is low key one of the best moments in the series, change my mind.
It had far too much effort put into it, it's great.
Some day I'm gonna replay FC and then YOU'LL ALL REGRET YOUR WORDS AND DEEDS
...My backlog is massive so that's a while away BUT STILL
It's a game of slow paced but thorough world building, with an emphasis on character building. I would never claim "Wait until it gets good", because imo it's good from "Why is my present a boy". It's a microcosm of the Trails experience as a whole, with a lot of political stuff happening in the background, but ultimately the focus being on the people involved.
Also the play is good because it's fun and goofy, the plot would probably be a book series in any other trails game but is instead fully animated, and it has its own cute 8 part soundtrack. AND it doubles as a character thing for the actors, instead of just being just a random story in the Trails universe. Really the only thing I'd selfishly want from it is more, but it gives so much already that I can't really complain.
If I recall correctly, you don't need to actually complete all Sun Door sections in order to access Star Door 14, you just need to complete the first stage of each door. I'm guessing the one you're dropping is the Sun Door featuring Estelle? It's generally regarded as a doozy and the reward isn't that good.
I did the first arena tier and the shooting one upon finding them. I didn't try Estelle's game enough and I haven't tried the other two...though i'm tempted to check out the quiz.You can finish the minigames in the 3rd pretty quickly. Plus I found that the Arena was actually a lot of fun, especially the final stage. I wouldn't be so quick to skip them.
I did the first arena tier and the shooting one upon finding them. I didn't try Estelle's game enough and I haven't tried the other two...though i'm tempted to check out the quiz.