Oh, well, that makes sense. This is art from Sen no Kiseki 3/Cold Steel 3, so he's older now.
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I've been browsing for Akatsuki no Kiseki info and became kinda glad that the game doesn't make it to the West. I've consistently managed to avoid spending anything in every gacha game I played so far, but I feel like this game would ruin me.
Like, what the heck is this nonsense:
I want it. I want them all.
Welcome! Yea, I say the PC version of CS is by far the definitive way to play.
Like, what the heck is this nonsense:
I want it. I want them all.
Welcome! Yea, I say the PC version of CS is by far the definitive way to play.
Welcome! It always nice to see another Kiseki fan! :-) I also heartily recommend playing 3rd before CS2 hits because there's a plot thread which subtly starts in 3rd and providing much context later in CS2.
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I didn't realise this before, but the Trails of Cold Steel HD mod was updated last month, with plenty of sharper glyphs and mini-portraits and Thors Academy map upgraded to HD. When I played CS1 with the mod at its first release, it seems pretty rough since going into the camp menu resulting in major stutter. It doesn't happen after we traverse the menu at least once since the texture will be cached, but it definitely feels jarring. And this is on a somewhat decent rig (1080Ti). There's also 4K portraits mod available, which I assume will tank the performance even further, so I didn't try it. Apart from that, playing CS1 with this mod is definitely feels like the definitive edition.
This refers to a post Shouta made on gaf. Contains endgame Sen 3 spoilers
About what can Calvard put up against Soldats being extremely powerful.
The obvious answer would be if they could manage to have Ramda work on machinery.
Having tanks and air ships with complete stealth and even maybe mirage abilities would be insanely op.
The obvious answer would be if they could manage to have Ramda work on machinery.
Having tanks and air ships with complete stealth and even maybe mirage abilities would be insanely op.
Glad to be back on here sorry it took so long to post I've been playing Mario non stop since I got it mid afternoon yesterday XD
New banners have been added to the OP. If you have suggestions for substantial additions for the OP, please PM me and I'll forward them to the OT editors.
Maybe one day we'll get more unused track releases, something I asked Kondo about at AnimeExpo 2017 incidentally.
Sadly this album's the only great release of unused Kiseki music. Here's another classic which should have played between Krone Pass and Ruan:
Maybe one day we'll get more unused track releases, something I asked Kondo about at AnimeExpo 2017 incidentally.
Glad you can use this again.
Woah, didn't know this had HD texture mods available. Thanks for the links.
Had originally played it on Vita so I was already planning on replaying it on PC to experience it again without all the slowdowns.
Finishing up chapter 2 in Sen3 tonight, I think, I'm really getting into it. So much I want to talk about, already :x
I wish I could play a bit faster but I have to look up a lot of more complex kanji I haven't learned yet which is once every few lines lol. It's slow but it's actually been helping me with my actual Japanese class (a lot of vocabulary/kanji is relevant).
I wish I could play a bit faster but I have to look up a lot of more complex kanji I haven't learned yet which is once every few lines lol. It's slow but it's actually been helping me with my actual Japanese class (a lot of vocabulary/kanji is relevant).
Glad you could join us, Enforcer number... Something!
Of course you wouldn't disclose that, would you? :X
Right? It's absolutely wild to me that this isn't considered one of the big greats. Sure, the games are beloved in niche circles... But somehow they haven't managed to explode out into the 'mainstream' RPG player awareness. Heck, there are long dead series that have more mindshare than Trails does.
My number is top secret @_@
It's an injustice the series isn't as successful as we hope it to be (in the West) but I feel like its popularity is slowly climbing. We just gotta keep recommending the series. i didn't really get into Trails in the Sky many years ago because of how much of a slow burn it is. It wasn't until a few years later I gave it another shot due to the Kiseki community explaining why the games are slow like that (wordbuilding/lore, character development etc.)
I think it's mainly to do with marketing, and well the fact that casual gamers generally like modern graphics.
There's also the factor that people buy the first game but don't buy the sequel because backlog syndrome.
There's also the factor that people buy the first game but don't buy the sequel because backlog syndrome.
They're on a sale a lot more frequently than Kiseki games, too. That, coupled with the games' content, certainly helps sales.
Cold Steel did well in getting a larger audience in the games.
I hope when we shift to Calvard that there will be a new flux. The subreddit has also been growing.
It can all go to shit if sen IV fails to deliver of course, but yeah there's plently of growth.
I hope when we shift to Calvard that there will be a new flux. The subreddit has also been growing.
It can all go to shit if sen IV fails to deliver of course, but yeah there's plently of growth.
Not to mention that there are very few people actually finishing the first game, judging by the Steam cheevos, which sure doesn't help to sell the sequels.
But I still can recognise your face from this collection of insidious individuals:
I think part of reason why Trails (I'm speaking about Sky specifically) didn't immediately explode in the west is because our protagonist isn't some sort of world-saviour messiah destined to bring mankind into the enlightenment, commonly found in most RPGs out there. She's a simple bracer with a past whom still needs growing up before she can be an adult. To most people, she's less interesting than most RPG protagonist.
I also think it's because of steam and TitS being a fairly old game. For a new game Ys VIII surprised me with about a 20% completion rate. It's also at least as long as TitS FC.
It might be cool to compare the trophies with the achievements. For trails we have Cold Steel.
Estelle shines brighter and more beautifully than any boring old sun. I feel bad for anyone who rejects her light.
Favorite Estelle line:
Is that template that popular with the masses? I feel like there's quite a number of popular JRPG series without the "chosen savior" thing.
Also, who is Walter fooling with that uniform.
I'll say now that it is imperative to finish the Sky series before you play Cold Steel III. Go back and finish them up if you haven't! It may have been OK to start with CS1 and CS2 as your first games, but from here on out the real joy of the interconnected universe is apparent!
Yeah, I agree. I've definitely been seeing more mentions of it lately. I bought FC during a Steam sale on Christmas 2015, and finally ended up playing it... gosh, I think I actually played FC in August? Wow, I've been on a really long Trails kick. But yeah, part of the reason I finally ended up playing it was because I had been seeing more and more mentions of it and just couldn't stand being out of the loop any longer haha. I'm so glad I did! Keep fighting the good fight, y'all. You dragged me in with you, at least. :)
Yep, can confirm. I'd seen the other games around quite a few times since buying FC, on sale or on a huge Steam store home banner, but didn't buy them because I hadn't played FC yet.
(gosh I love that image) But uh... Is that really the case? I usually see people complaining about the "JRPG messiah" more often than praising it.
Favorite Estelle line:"It's time to take back my man with GIRL POWER!"
Yesss, that quote is the best! I lost it laughing when she said that, hahahaha.
I....don't think that's true? The big reason I think the Sky games didn't catch on is that they're honestly just not very friendly games to play. Trails is a series that just isn't paced or written like a lot of JRPGs. It doesn't have immediately obvious hooks a lot of these kinds of games do. Legacy/fidelity for FF, overwhelming style for Persona, hyper otaku focused for Neptunia. Trails just is what it is. It takes its time(sometimes to its own detriment) and you only get the full picture of why it's good after you spend a lot of time with them. The entire series requires patience few people seem to have but I'd say Sky is the most extreme example in the series. Like, FC sold extremely well on PC but I believe XSEED said at one point that the vast majority of players didn't even make it past Bose. It's just not a series for everyone and even the more streamlined/modern CS doesn't have anywhere near the level of mass appeal other giants in the genre have in the West.
That makes a lot more sense to me as to why it isn't popular than any narrative about the protagonist.
Estelle is the best,Estelle shines brighter and more beautifully than any boring old sun. I feel bad for anyone who rejects her light.
Favorite Estelle line:"It's time to take back my man with GIRL POWER!"
my default mode is to hate every 'genki' character because they annoy me so damn much.
But Estelle single handedly turned that around.
The farewell scene... wow it's amazing what falcom did with Estelle. That scene made me into waterworks T_T
Trails has gotten popular enough to have a well-known critical reputation. Many fans of the genre know what it's like by now and want to schedule the best window of time possible to get into the games on their own terms. For XSEED, this doesn't translate well to large sales at launch outside the captured fan community. They're aware, I presume, of how irregularly players learn to like or love something as straightforward and unhurried as FC, so there's also no fire-sale rush to market the games too much or punch above weight (which Falcom also realizes).
Trails is just unfriendly for newcomers. Most JRPG fans are used to jumping into a franchise from a random point but when they try to get into Trails, everyone will tell them "hey, go back to that 2005 game first". And frankly, that 2005 game is not all that engaging until the very end. My first Trails game was Zero and I went in blind. I guess that was a bless for me because if I started with FC, I'd probably drop it in favor of something more exciting. I admit I missed some connection when I played Zero first without the knowledge of Sky trilogy, but it got me hooked to the franchise, and that's the most important thing.
Fair points from you guys. I guess what I'm trying to say was personally, the first impression matters a lot when it comes to an RPG protagonist. Estelle is not what I expected when I started playing Trails, and the way the games mechanics was presented made me wonder if having a "latently powerful" character would help its popularity. Only after some time investment with the game I fell in love with it and felt that it wouldn't have worked without Estelle.
It's cuz "genki" or "tomboy" is a room where you can find her, not a cell where she's relegated to like many characters in lowbrow anime.
Yar, even in its own series, Sky is just the most laid back about its plot hook or what not. When I wrote those blurbs describing each game for the OP of this thread, I kinda struggled to make Sky's premise sounds interesting, haha.
I fell for Estelle-Joshua dynamics right away though.
I fell for Estelle-Joshua dynamics right away though.
I love that scene to bits.
Hello everyone! Finally I was able to join, I'm thrilled to be able to participate with all of KisekiERA.
I finished Trails of Cold Steel yesterday (PC) and I loved it, I seriously cannot wait for CS2.
I finished Trails of Cold Steel yesterday (PC) and I loved it, I seriously cannot wait for CS2.
This thing sucks because I keep saying "I like both" to everything. I refuse to pit my beautiful children against each other.
Were it not for Estelle, I'd have a bunch of antagonists at the top of my Sky character sort. There's some omissions and weird inclusions in the sorter for sure.
I have a question for people who played the Crossbell games. Do any characters or monsters appearing in them possess an ability to cast orbal arts without a charging time?
Kurt Nardin can drop instant Shadow Spears. Instant casting is one of the benefits of Overdrive, granted to an Awakener and secondary contractors. All Cryptids can cast high end arts without charging. I've been wondering if this is a plot point, and if there's some sort of connection between the place where Cryptids come from, the power source of the Divine Knights, and Kurt's ancestors who developed his fighting style.
I thought it was pretty good, had a suitably final dungeon feel to it. The boss was a bit cheap though, I just spammed rapid thrust and arc slash and he only got one attack in