Thanks for the information :)
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I'm using PSP emulator.
Is it fine if I just skip this game and went straight for Cold Steel?
I'm not sure about the PC version that person is playing, but that might be part of the fanmade Evo voice patch or something.
You can play Cold Steel 1 and 2 without Sky (although they're still better if you have), but you should definitely play all of Sky before Cold Steel 3 at least. Personally, I like Sky more than Cold Steel overall anyway.
It sounds like you only just started and you already want to give up - honestly, the PC version's turbo mode fixes any possible issue of "sluggishness" you could ever have, and it also has an improved localization. The PSP version has some errors and inconsistencies with later games.
Not if you want my approval. I would give Sky FC a bit more time, it has a very slow start. At least I'd wait until you visited like the third town.
As for the plot, as far as I understand the latter Cold Steel games (3, and 4 in particular) reference a lot of things that happen in the Sky and Crossbell arc, to the point where you probably won't know who someone is or why something is important.
Got like three or four hours into Cold Steel and decided to drop it. It doesn't feel very replayable at all and I remember almost everything about the story, so I just Youtubed some stuff I had forgotten and moved on to Cold Steel 2.
The art in these games is hilarious at times. Huge tits everywhere.
Some of y'all are so dramatic lol
But yeah, CS1 and 2 are fine standalone, but that's about it. Everything else from there on is seemingly going to require quite a bit of Sky (and Crossbell) knowledge.
By the way, Yunsar, if you're using PPSSPP, you can bind custom fast forward toggles, speed increase/decrease etc. to keyboard or controller buttons. I had 2x and 4x speeds bound to L2 and R2 respectively (hold, not toggle) when I played the Crossbell games.
But if possible, definitely switch to the PC version of Sky. Much better.
The art in these games is hilarious at times. Huge tits everywhere.
Some of y'all are so dramatic lol
But yeah, CS1 and 2 are fine standalone, but that's about it. Everything else from there on is seemingly going to require quite a bit of Sky (and Crossbell) knowledge.
By the way, Yunsar, if you're using PPSSPP, you can bind custom fast forward toggles, speed increase/decrease etc. to keyboard or controller buttons. I had 2x and 4x speeds bound to L2 and R2 respectively (hold, not toggle) when I played the Crossbell games.
But if possible, definitely switch to the PC version of Sky. Much better.
Thanks for the tips everyone, I do have a couple more questions though:
What is BP used for? Are you required to obtain every single point in order to unlock some kind of optional contents or secret endings? I don't mind spoilers so feel free to just straight up tell me everything that I need to know.
What is BP used for? Are you required to obtain every single point in order to unlock some kind of optional contents or secret endings? I don't mind spoilers so feel free to just straight up tell me everything that I need to know.
Nothing like that. You just gain items when you reach certain BP thresholds (detailed in the bracer's notebook manual thing) and the higher your BP score, the better bonuses you get at the start of SC if you import your clear save from FC. Even with max BP, the bonuses are quite minor, though.
e: oh and thanks for the earlier replies, Open Wound and The n00b Avenger
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Sky FC is the only game in the series (afaik?) where BP truly matters in a real way, and even then it's nothing to worry about. There's a fight in the end game that you skip if you've just completely sucked up to that point. And by "sucked" I mean being within 16 points of the absolute minimum you could possibly have by the end of the game.
If you did somehow do that, you've missed nothing truly important (the ending plays out as normal otherwise), but really you'd have to be skipping almost every sidequest in the game to have a chance at all. Which uh, is arguably the bigger problem here. But yeah don't sweat it.
If you did somehow do that, you've missed nothing truly important (the ending plays out as normal otherwise), but really you'd have to be skipping almost every sidequest in the game to have a chance at all. Which uh, is arguably the bigger problem here. But yeah don't sweat it.
That change to the ending arguably makes it better than the normal ending lol.
First time I'm seeing this, lol.
Just shows how how ludicrously, insanely OP Cassius is. If the dude picked up his sword again, he could probably keep up with all the mech action in Cold Steel without breaking a sweat.
It's largely about experimentation, but to give a few quick pointers:
Orbments in general are divided into lines. As a general rule of thumb, long lines are good for two reasons: characters with long lines get more EP, and due to how unlocking arts are calculated, longer lines allow you to get more powerful arts more easily/at all.
Let's say a character has two lines, and you want to get an art which requires two greens and two reds (not quartz, but the values associated with them). If you put two greens in line one, and two reds in line two, this wouldn't work. You want all the values for an art in the same line, which is why long lines are so good.
There's a page in the Bracer handbook that contains the requirements to have every art in the game. If in doubt, look at that.
As for Estelle and Joshua specifically, Estelle is very much a blank slate all rounder. You can do what you want with her for the most part, although she'll never truly excel in anything. For early game, focusing on healing spells isn't a terrible idea, since aside from her and Joshua your party isn't super consistent in terms of who's in it.
Joshua has time quartz restrictions for some slots, and is less art versatile than Estelle. Good news though, time quartz is very good, because having more turns is never not useful. So don't be afraid to focus on that sort of thing.
Like Lozange mentioned, the way you get arts is by opening the Bracer Notebook, looking up the requirements for certain arts and putting in quartz accordingly. For example, the AOE wind spell Aerial requires 4 wind points. In the prologue, you can get an Evade1 quartz that gives 1 wind point and an Impede2 quartz that gives 3 wind points. If both are put inside the same orbment, you get access to the Aerial art, but ONLY if both pieces of quartz are part of the same line. (the center slot in an orbment is part of all lines, so it's good to put the piece of quartz with the highest elemental values in there so all lines can make use of its points)
That's why an orbment with a single line is good (all elemental points are thrown onto the same heap, which gets you access to a lot of arts) and an orbment with lots of shorter lines is bad for spellcasting.
Since you cannot install multiple copies of the same quartz into an orbment, or even multiple levels of the same quartz type (such as Attack1, Attack2 etc), the amount of arts you can initially get is limited since the lowest tier quartz only gives you about 1 elemental point per piece. You won't be getting many advanced arts until you get access to higher level quartz in Chapter 2. Until then, you can get Aerial by putting Impede2 and Evade1/Shield1 quartz on one line or Hell Gate by using the Blind quartz with Action and Ep Cut quartz.
Estelle's orbment is element-neutral, but her lines are shorter than Joshua's. Of the two, Joshua has higher magic attack stats than Estelle, so if it's just the two of them, I usually give Josh access to offensive spells and Estelle access to healing arts, which ignore the ats-stat and heal for a set amount of damage.
That's why an orbment with a single line is good (all elemental points are thrown onto the same heap, which gets you access to a lot of arts) and an orbment with lots of shorter lines is bad for spellcasting.
Since you cannot install multiple copies of the same quartz into an orbment, or even multiple levels of the same quartz type (such as Attack1, Attack2 etc), the amount of arts you can initially get is limited since the lowest tier quartz only gives you about 1 elemental point per piece. You won't be getting many advanced arts until you get access to higher level quartz in Chapter 2. Until then, you can get Aerial by putting Impede2 and Evade1/Shield1 quartz on one line or Hell Gate by using the Blind quartz with Action and Ep Cut quartz.
Estelle's orbment is element-neutral, but her lines are shorter than Joshua's. Of the two, Joshua has higher magic attack stats than Estelle, so if it's just the two of them, I usually give Josh access to offensive spells and Estelle access to healing arts, which ignore the ats-stat and heal for a set amount of damage.
If you're early in Sky 1, focus on boosting speed (with Action and Cast quartz; the latter is essential if you use a lot of Arts), and then on boosting the stats you use to attack (with Attack and Mind quartz). Generally, the characters' base stats should indicate whether you should prioritize on physical or magical damage; Estelle is very well-rounded, so you can do whatever you want with her, but you should try to push her into a specific build. If you're farther into Sky 1, you should still focus on the stats I mentioned, but you may also want to make sure two or so characters can cast Earth Wall, a spell that nullifies damage and is useful mainly against the final boss (the other bosses are typically so easy that using Earth Wall is pointless).
Largely, most of the first two paragraphs are a good thing, showing how the dissapointment and manipulation tango hits regular folks and heros alike.
Now, how effectively they did that, and how long it took to do that well, that I feel is up for debate.
Now, how effectively they did that, and how long it took to do that well, that I feel is up for debate.
I am an emotional wreck right now. Seeing Renne's genuine concern for her little brother and her conflicting emotions when protecting him, seeing the circumstances of how she was lost, seeing her react to the truth, and seeing Estelle and Joshua react to the entire thing...it's just too much. Just thinking about how her parents would feel if they knew what happened to Renne...I broke down. I haven't felt like this since the beginning of Trails SC, going to work tomorrow thinking about this and not being able to continue is going to be absolute torture.
I was shocked at myself for tearing up when going through that sub-plot.
Ya, that was pretty good indeed.
I really didn't like Renne's character in the Sky games so I can't say I was anywhere near emotional, but she was certainly much better in the Crossbell games, and that sub-plot was probably a big reason for that. I thought it would've been better without Joshua and Estelle, though.
Cold Steel 1and 2 are very solid entry points to the series, that I think are better games than the Sky series as good as all the games are. I know people personally who bounced off of Sky, went into Cold Steel and finally found what makes the series "tick" for them to then go back and enjoy Sky a lot more. I'd say stick with FC if you can though because that does game ramp up into some incredible moments and playing in release order is obviously the best order to tackle the series in.
I don't like Renne myself, actually. I think she's a real tropey character. However, being that she's a child and the writing being pretty strong, it hits when the reveal comes. I also think having prior context from one of the Star Doors (you know the one) in the 3rd, definitely added/setup for an emotional impact.
Thanks, did not want to hit the casino at all, but looks like I'll need to.
Fuck it, as soon as I finish Banner Saga 2 I'm playing Zero with whatever fucking translation is available.
Luckily one perfect game of poker is enough to buy the rod, so it doesn't take too long.
I'm playing zero pc, and the english translation is a little rough at times, and stilted at others, but it works pretty well. It's better for the main plots than it is for conversations with townsfolk, and the subplots, but I feel like I'm understanding what's going on.
OK, thanks. I just keep seeing people praising the hell out of the Crossbell games (not to mention the spoiler minefield places like twitter have become) and I love the Sky trilogy so much, I just want more of that you know? There's no way the geofront translation is out before CS3, it's a shame to play this game with a subpar translation but what can you do at this point?
Can anyone point me to the most recent version of the existing translation? I bought the game from that chinese site and want to patch it.
It's not perfect, but I don't think the translation is as bad as people say. The one for the pc version (which I recommend, since you can get zero legitimately) has been cleaned up a little, and you can patch the voices in, which I recommend, cause it makes reading the text a LOT easier, even if you can't understand japanese(which I can't) I totally get wanting to play more Kiseki. And filling up the time before CS3 releases with the crossbell arc, and trails in the sky is a way to scratch that itch. I think people waiting for the polished geofront translation are doing themselves a disservice, since it seems to have stalled, and the beta is perfectly serviceable.
Could you please link me to it? (edited my post too late lol)
I'm not sure I'm allowed to, but I did find this post earlier in this thread:
I think "a little rough at times, and stilted at others" is underselling the current translation of Zero quite a bit. It's rough and stilted all the time. It feels like a machine translation a lot of the time. But you will understand the story, characters, character motivations and so on, so it's a valid way to go through the game before CS3 comes out.
The current Ao translation is thankfully a huge improvement. It's still wonky and not nearly up to modern standards, but it feels like more of an actual translation, maybe something from the very early PS1 era.
That said, Zero and Ao are in my opinion by far the best games in the series even with the current translations, so unless your first time has to be as good as possible, they're absolutely worth playing right now. Just.. Keep your expectations in check wrt the translation work.
The current Ao translation is thankfully a huge improvement. It's still wonky and not nearly up to modern standards, but it feels like more of an actual translation, maybe something from the very early PS1 era.
That said, Zero and Ao are in my opinion by far the best games in the series even with the current translations, so unless your first time has to be as good as possible, they're absolutely worth playing right now. Just.. Keep your expectations in check wrt the translation work.
My expectations are low, I've heard a lot about the quality but it's the only option. It's good to know that Ao's is better though.
I feel you, but I think I'll try to hold out a bit longer. If I cave, it will be on playing the first two Cold Steel games first.
I can't get the game to boot.
At first I was missing the d3dx9_42.dll file so I fixed that.
Then I installed Local emu which I was missing.
Now the screen goes black as if the game is going to boot but then it crashes right away. I tried the game when I bought it and it was working.
At first I was missing the d3dx9_42.dll file so I fixed that.
Then I installed Local emu which I was missing.
Now the screen goes black as if the game is going to boot but then it crashes right away. I tried the game when I bought it and it was working.
I guess CS III being PS4-only for the time being made it easier for PC-owning folks like me to simply hold out for a better translation for a while longer since I generally try to talk to every NPC at every point and the way many of the townfolk talk in the leaked patch would mean the experience would be several selges from "servicable". You're only doing yourself a disservice by holding off on the patch if you generally play Trails games by sticking to the beaten path. Trying to follow the NPC plotlines with the fan-patch is just frustrating.
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Reinstalling the game isn't fixing it, gonna redownload it. This is turning out to be quite an ordeal.
The worst kiseki on portable?
Falcom Is doing a nonsense atlus move indeed.
Do not see big problems running on switch for Akatsuki since other prettier games run on switch..
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Downloading the game again didn't help either, it was working on this PC when I bought it, I'm stumped.
At least the Vita version of Akatsuki runs terribly because the game is streamed to your device. Apart from the IP address restriction it was very evident it was not meant to be played outside Japan. I never bothered to check out the PS4 version.
As long as they don't stream, Akatsuki on Switch should be fine. It's built on the Unity engine, which runs excellent on Switch from my experience.
As long as they don't stream, Akatsuki on Switch should be fine. It's built on the Unity engine, which runs excellent on Switch from my experience.
That's fair. I'm not waiting, so i'm going to power through. I don't talk to the NPCs because a: i find it boring, and b: pointless. I know some people love falcom npc dialog, but I'm playing for the story, not to spend time talking to every. single. npc. every time something happens. But if you enjoy that, that's cool. And I can understand why you'd want to wait in that case.
Yeah the NPC dialogue praise in general was never a big deal to me. Never saw the point besides world building, but to me this series does word building very very well outside of NPC dialogue that changes every major scene.
Okay, and? Never impressed me.