trails is my favorite series of all time and I do tierlists of like what my favorite game in the series is and why and shit, and I always put 3rd and azure in the highest one and then sit there going where do I put SC. Ive seen so many opinions and takes on this game and its writing and gameplay and pacing and characters and yada yada and thought about this game so much man. I just want to say yes of course certain character and there backstories weve seen before, joshua bright isnt the first to have this character arc, estelle bright isnt the first to have a stubborn happy go lucky character have to mature and grow up to the task at hand type character arc, but god damn man does this game do it so fucking well. its soundtrack its art its world its characters and just how fucking falcom does not care that this is an rpg they do not care they are going to make you run around the entire country again in chapter 8, because thats what they want estelle and them to do it just has so much fucking guts and confidence and its doing a story we more or less have seen aspects of somewhere or another but I will prolly never play anything ever again that made me feel like this. When I am making my little trails/falcom game tierlist SC always makes me stop and go I cant rank this I cant compare this. Im not saying others cant but god what cast what a soundtrack what a fucking game dude. I wont give it 5 stars idk why maybe cause i dont wanna fill up my 5 star ratings or whatever but this shit MEANS sumn to me man. Cold steel 4 killed all my goodwill the series had built up in me and it destroyed in future interest in the series, but thinking about SC again makes me wanna give reverie and kuro a shot. I love this game so much I could also write about how its orbment system feels really good and how its just another thing that helps immerse you into liberl and zemuria and shit but you know different people play things for different things.
This review contains spoilers
A substantial improvement over FC but still can't help over how disappointing it was in so many areas.
The Plot is not very well-paced. The first half of the game is filled with repetition and backtracking and is often predictable just like the first game. Even when it does pick up it's not all that impressive, as most of the moments don't leave a huge impact on me. But there are some big highlights, Leowe attacking Weissman and breaking that barrier, and Kevin killing Weissman in cold blood were some of them.
Most of the Characters this time have their full-fledged arcs, while most of them stood between either meh or okay.
Agate's arc was very well done and gives justice to his character, and Leowe playing an important role in it makes it even more interesting. But I think it'd been better without Tita being in it.
Zin and Scherazard's arcs were fine. It's how most JRPG arcs go. Kloe and Olivier's arcs were more like shoehorned in the plot and didn't really matter honestly as the whole political tension. Tita is just there and no one cares about her and they did not even bother to give her her own arc.
Leowe was by far the most interesting character and I was hooked to the screen whenever he made his appearance, he was well-written and executed really well as an antagonist compared to Weissman who was one of the most JRPG of all-time final bosses. Leowe's dynamic with each character was very interesting to see as well, especially with Estelle, Joshua, Renne, and Agate.
Speaking of Joshua, he is the most disappointing character in the whole game, while having a rich backstory and strong impressions by the end of FC, his role was little to none in the first half, and by the time he comes back into the party, he's back to being how he was before leaving. Even his return feels rushed and more to the point where writers just talk no jutsud him back in the party. His struggles were very little addressed in the beach scene and Estelle just tells him and he agrees.
All there's left is Estelle, well she was the main character so she must be the most well-written one right? WRONG. While I do not have a problem with Positive characters, they lose their charm real quick if there's nothing interesting about them. Estelle falls into that category, there were moments where it showed a potential development for her, but they all went to shambles by the end as all she ended up being was the "sun that guides everyone". receiving no development, and her motivations hardly getting questioned.
Also, I hate whenever a character starts talking about Cassius, he's the Ultimate Plot Convenience this game pulls, and has all the godly feats possible that even the legendary Dragon knows him. He is only available when the plot demands it, the rest of the time he is unavailable. Honestly, it would have been better to have killed him in the plot if they weren't going to properly utilize the trope.
Other than this I am also not a fan of how this game handles romance, or more like relationships in general. Estelle and Joshua started out as siblings but throughout the FC everyone around them shipped them and Estelle developed feelings for Joshua over that. This feels so wrong because their relationship actually felt sibling-like and they just changed it halfway through the game. I find it hard to understand how people call their romance well-written after this.
Agate and Tita have a similar case, Tita was supposed to be a Mischa-like presence in his life, and the way other party members ship them in Chapter 6 felt really uncomfortable considering Tita is a Minor and Agate is 24 years old.
I am not going to talk about the gameplay, the music, or the worldbuilding as they are just better than what was already good in the first game (And I am not in much of a mood to praise this game).
Trails in the Sky SC turned out to be a really disappointing experience as the prologue was very promising. Hopefully the last game in the Liberl Arc will redeem itself.
The Plot is not very well-paced. The first half of the game is filled with repetition and backtracking and is often predictable just like the first game. Even when it does pick up it's not all that impressive, as most of the moments don't leave a huge impact on me. But there are some big highlights, Leowe attacking Weissman and breaking that barrier, and Kevin killing Weissman in cold blood were some of them.
Most of the Characters this time have their full-fledged arcs, while most of them stood between either meh or okay.
Agate's arc was very well done and gives justice to his character, and Leowe playing an important role in it makes it even more interesting. But I think it'd been better without Tita being in it.
Zin and Scherazard's arcs were fine. It's how most JRPG arcs go. Kloe and Olivier's arcs were more like shoehorned in the plot and didn't really matter honestly as the whole political tension. Tita is just there and no one cares about her and they did not even bother to give her her own arc.
Leowe was by far the most interesting character and I was hooked to the screen whenever he made his appearance, he was well-written and executed really well as an antagonist compared to Weissman who was one of the most JRPG of all-time final bosses. Leowe's dynamic with each character was very interesting to see as well, especially with Estelle, Joshua, Renne, and Agate.
Speaking of Joshua, he is the most disappointing character in the whole game, while having a rich backstory and strong impressions by the end of FC, his role was little to none in the first half, and by the time he comes back into the party, he's back to being how he was before leaving. Even his return feels rushed and more to the point where writers just talk no jutsud him back in the party. His struggles were very little addressed in the beach scene and Estelle just tells him and he agrees.
All there's left is Estelle, well she was the main character so she must be the most well-written one right? WRONG. While I do not have a problem with Positive characters, they lose their charm real quick if there's nothing interesting about them. Estelle falls into that category, there were moments where it showed a potential development for her, but they all went to shambles by the end as all she ended up being was the "sun that guides everyone". receiving no development, and her motivations hardly getting questioned.
Also, I hate whenever a character starts talking about Cassius, he's the Ultimate Plot Convenience this game pulls, and has all the godly feats possible that even the legendary Dragon knows him. He is only available when the plot demands it, the rest of the time he is unavailable. Honestly, it would have been better to have killed him in the plot if they weren't going to properly utilize the trope.
Other than this I am also not a fan of how this game handles romance, or more like relationships in general. Estelle and Joshua started out as siblings but throughout the FC everyone around them shipped them and Estelle developed feelings for Joshua over that. This feels so wrong because their relationship actually felt sibling-like and they just changed it halfway through the game. I find it hard to understand how people call their romance well-written after this.
Agate and Tita have a similar case, Tita was supposed to be a Mischa-like presence in his life, and the way other party members ship them in Chapter 6 felt really uncomfortable considering Tita is a Minor and Agate is 24 years old.
I am not going to talk about the gameplay, the music, or the worldbuilding as they are just better than what was already good in the first game (And I am not in much of a mood to praise this game).
Trails in the Sky SC turned out to be a really disappointing experience as the prologue was very promising. Hopefully the last game in the Liberl Arc will redeem itself.
What a fuckin game.
Trails in the Sky SC is an improvement from FC. Gameplay was much less restrictive and you had a full party of interchangeable characters that can help play and fulfill roles with the right quartz setups. Liberl was still fun to explore the second time and doing the sidequest were still mostly fun as ever. The game has excellent character moments in all the chapters and all the main party members all get their moments to shine. For the story, it was still mostly well - done though the great character moments, though I felt the stakes were barely higher than FC and it only got really interesting until the second half. Pacing was also weird as while I felt it was fine in revisiting all the cities, it felt disjointed once you begin Chapter 6. It begins fine enough through Ch. 6 and 7, though slowdowns unnecessarily in Ch. 8. The momentum that was set up messed the momentum for the final chapter in which I personally wanted the journey to end. Another thing to note, even though I still enjoyed doing the sidequests, I felt they were the weakest in the series (no thanks to the unneeded amount of Blueblanc quests). Despite my problems with the pacing in the second half and the sidequests, Sky SC is still a solid game that succeeded all of FC's setups and ran a good marathon full of great character - moments. 4/5.
How do I even explain how much does this story relate to recent events of my life?
Took what we already saw in FC and cranked it up to eleven. Yes it does have a repetitive formula but I did not care at all. Each chapter was packed full of so many good character moments and set ups for one of the greatest finale's I've ever played.
The finale had me crying in so many different ways and just made it clear that this would be my favorite series ever.
The finale had me crying in so many different ways and just made it clear that this would be my favorite series ever.
Hm, while I think this game kept my interest a lot more than it did for 1, I didn't particularly find it much better or good. Definitely feel there was a more engaging story here, just didn't connect with it, it didn't feel anything new to me and I guess was a bit predictable at times. I hate Joshua's character and background, was completely generic to me, wasn't a big fan of him prior to this game anyways. Thought Estelle's and Joshua's romance wasn't needed and forced while I much had rather preferred they kept their previous relationship and grew on that more than something shallow here for the sake of it. None of the plot beats really piqued my interest or got me feeling a certain emotion. I feel I have a lot more to say on the narrative and characters of the story but don't know where to start.
The gameplay itself, wasn't a huge fan of it before, but in particular this game, the bosses absolutely BLEW. The Loewe fight having a continue glitch was so jarring, the final boss having unnecessary stages with vats of HP that really did nothing to the narrative has me questioning the point. Multiple bosses throughout the game put you at unreasonably unfair advantages to the point there's nothing you can do before you get one shot by some super move at the start, and I was definitely not under leveled.
The pacing was better but at times it definitely was padding out certain events and making the experience longer
The gameplay itself, wasn't a huge fan of it before, but in particular this game, the bosses absolutely BLEW. The Loewe fight having a continue glitch was so jarring, the final boss having unnecessary stages with vats of HP that really did nothing to the narrative has me questioning the point. Multiple bosses throughout the game put you at unreasonably unfair advantages to the point there's nothing you can do before you get one shot by some super move at the start, and I was definitely not under leveled.
The pacing was better but at times it definitely was padding out certain events and making the experience longer
This review contains spoilers
Me sleeping peacefully knowing that four-eyed bastard can now be put on my McDonalds French Fries
Peak falcomiction
Peak falcomiction
A Truly Amazing Game!
The game's prologue was a great immediate continuation of the finale of fc and served as a nice break from everything we saw from trails thus far in terms of the mountain area and it's structure.
The first half is admittedly pretty slow but it has enough switch-ups in it's episodic returns and investigations of each region (especially 3 & 5), for me to keep interested. A latter chapter also has some element of repetitiveness and it's something that I do wish could have been injected with more variety but the boss fights are fun and it serves it's purpose.
The character work is still incredible and potentially even much better, FC's planted seeds begin sprouting and some characters growth or just in general presence is great.
The story was irresistible especially near the end and the way it tugs on your heartstrings was special.
Multi-tiered orbal slots are cool and so are multi-party member s crafts.
Excited for the rest of this series.
The game's prologue was a great immediate continuation of the finale of fc and served as a nice break from everything we saw from trails thus far in terms of the mountain area and it's structure.
The first half is admittedly pretty slow but it has enough switch-ups in it's episodic returns and investigations of each region (especially 3 & 5), for me to keep interested. A latter chapter also has some element of repetitiveness and it's something that I do wish could have been injected with more variety but the boss fights are fun and it serves it's purpose.
The character work is still incredible and potentially even much better, FC's planted seeds begin sprouting and some characters growth or just in general presence is great.
The story was irresistible especially near the end and the way it tugs on your heartstrings was special.
Multi-tiered orbal slots are cool and so are multi-party member s crafts.
Excited for the rest of this series.
formulaic, but competently! last area was a blast. lovable characters and good music. got riled up every time blueblanc showed up.
Like Sky 1.
This is overrated to me.
And its nowhere near a masterpiece like others say it is, and the more I think about it, the worse it gets.
But fuck, it still has some incredible moments, SPECIALLY with Agate on CH5, and the antagonists rocked for the most part.
Its a large improvement on Sky 1, and I'm glad I played it.
This is overrated to me.
And its nowhere near a masterpiece like others say it is, and the more I think about it, the worse it gets.
But fuck, it still has some incredible moments, SPECIALLY with Agate on CH5, and the antagonists rocked for the most part.
Its a large improvement on Sky 1, and I'm glad I played it.
It has its ups but devolves almost completely into dumb anime bs. Good if you're into it
This review contains spoilers
Yes, I finished this game happy and content. Something I could not about the first game (not because of the gameplay but because it left on such a debbie downer)
It kinda continues some of the episodic feeling of fc but some of said episodes are worse like, the hologram projector episode in ch1 (ooh a picture how scary) ch2’s earthquakes and so on and it can at times feel like it has aimless / boring shit and the heroes can sometimes be written to either let villains escape or be overredeeming to them, as well as there being backtracking in the final chapter as well as story cutscenes exclusive to having certain people in the party involving even more backtracking. But that is most of my gripes with it, as the rest of what transpires is great and further realizes its characters like Agate, Joshua, and I think Weissmann is one of my favorite villains in this genre. Very fun turn based combat, Ishibashi’s work here is great, and the gameplay is better than in fc where dungeons and items aren’t as good and the economy is more stingy. Might overall like this more than fc.
The second game of this series has more action than the first one who introduced the country's problems. Estelle is such a gem of a character that you can't not feel for her. Ouroboros organization is explained here which helps a lot in the comprehension of the following titles.
No change in the gameplay but the number of characters help in managing the difficulty a bit higher this time.
No change in the gameplay but the number of characters help in managing the difficulty a bit higher this time.
This review contains spoilers
They are lying to you, this game is not peak, but it is good. I do admire how ambitious this, and FC are, you can tell they tried to make a great game here with a minuscule budget. How they tried to stretch this budget out though made it worse. Trails SC suffers from some of the worst pacing I may have ever seen in a video game story. Chapter 8 has all this crazy shit happen and then they make you do a round trip around the city's you've been too. It's some of the most boring nothing content. In this game there's about 30-35% of a great game, and the rest of it is horrible. So much could've been cut out. I also dislike the character arcs for Agate and the rest of the side characters. The whole point of the first game was to make us invested in these characters, it should've been done in the first, not here. It really sucks too, because the first game was relatively down to earth, the stakes weren't too high, and a lot of it was spent establishing the world. SC devolves into THE most predictable and awful anime drivel, but it does retain its strong character writing. The villains suck ass and do the Vegeta thing that happens all the time in anime where they end up being good at the end. The first time Estelle meets Weissman on the ship, he is quite literally playing a giant organ. Like, it is straight up comical at times. The game also does not handle heavy topics well. The explanation of what happened to Joshua as a kid is not adequate enough to make me feel anything or really understand the repercussions this had. I think Estelles development to being more mature is cool, but when the game starts saying she's like the sun and she bring everyone together, it feels like it minimalizes her development. The start of SC is spent with Estelle learning to be strong on her own, and then the game just forgets that part and just says she is bright like the sun. It also infuriates me how the main cast formulaic the game is. Like 5 of the chapters is doing boring shit to meet an ouroboros member, who then kicks your ass then leaves. It never occurs to the main party that they need to get stronger to beat them and then they somehow do at the end??? It's more of an issue too, because the game has this thing where how strong you are in game is roughly how strong that character is in the story. For example, when Zane joins the party. he is obviously higher level than everyone else, because Zane would beat the dogshit out of Estelle or Schera. But Schera is also higher level than Estelle but not more than Zane. When Joshua joins, he is the highest level so far because he used to be part of ouroboros. When the bandit girl joins your party, she is lower level and doesn't even have a s-craft. I could keep going on to prove this point. There's no in-story explanation of how they got stronger, it's through gameplay, but it's confusing story wise because a lot of players won't even notice this fact.
Gameplay wise, it is identical EXCEPT for the new addition of chains. Chains are fucking terrible, and I have no clue why you would ever use these dog shit moves. It ruins your turn order, barely does more damage than if everyone involved just attacked normally, and costs craft points from everyone. They are awful and the only new addition sucks ass. Combat is mostly fine though. The boss fights are fun with a few exceptions, and the random encounters are ass. It takes too long for fights to finish for it to be structured like a SRPG. Luckily, you don't really need to grind. I do wish it did the FF13 and made every party members level the same. The late game boss fights are fucking awful though. The 2nd Renne fight, she hit her super immediately and crit and insta killed my whole party before I could even realize what happened. Loewe's fight is ass, and luckily you can just skip it for some reason??? A lot of the late game fights just have you spamming earth wall and aoe magic attacks. Also, Estelle is like the shittiest character. Her stats are fucking awful, and I could never make here as good as any other party member.
Overall, though, it is just the first game, but the story is worst. The game could not meet up to expectations and its writing is better when it isn't trying to make some secret organization kingdom hearts storyline. Its wasted so much of its time on backtracking and character arcs that should've happened in the first. The payoff is not worth 100 hours of gameplay. To put it in perspective, I have almost the same time in these two games as Persona 5. I am going to play the future entries though and I hope they improve on the formula established here.
Gameplay wise, it is identical EXCEPT for the new addition of chains. Chains are fucking terrible, and I have no clue why you would ever use these dog shit moves. It ruins your turn order, barely does more damage than if everyone involved just attacked normally, and costs craft points from everyone. They are awful and the only new addition sucks ass. Combat is mostly fine though. The boss fights are fun with a few exceptions, and the random encounters are ass. It takes too long for fights to finish for it to be structured like a SRPG. Luckily, you don't really need to grind. I do wish it did the FF13 and made every party members level the same. The late game boss fights are fucking awful though. The 2nd Renne fight, she hit her super immediately and crit and insta killed my whole party before I could even realize what happened. Loewe's fight is ass, and luckily you can just skip it for some reason??? A lot of the late game fights just have you spamming earth wall and aoe magic attacks. Also, Estelle is like the shittiest character. Her stats are fucking awful, and I could never make here as good as any other party member.
Overall, though, it is just the first game, but the story is worst. The game could not meet up to expectations and its writing is better when it isn't trying to make some secret organization kingdom hearts storyline. Its wasted so much of its time on backtracking and character arcs that should've happened in the first. The payoff is not worth 100 hours of gameplay. To put it in perspective, I have almost the same time in these two games as Persona 5. I am going to play the future entries though and I hope they improve on the formula established here.
So much better than the first and helped me fall in love with the series
This review contains spoilers
(So I forgot to make a "review" for this game, so I'm making this like during the time I'm playing Trails in the Sky the 3rd)
It took a while for me to become interested again after what happened at the ending of FC, and ik people have already mentioned how slow the beginning is (and they're right), but that's like the end of my complaints. I really like the rest of the game, and Estelle and Joshua has become one of my favorite relationships in gaming.
It took a while for me to become interested again after what happened at the ending of FC, and ik people have already mentioned how slow the beginning is (and they're right), but that's like the end of my complaints. I really like the rest of the game, and Estelle and Joshua has become one of my favorite relationships in gaming.
P E A K
This review contains spoilers
after playing fc, which I enjoyed a lot, I had high hopes for sc and this game really met these expectations
the start of this game was pretty slow tbh and things were gettin repetitive for the first 3 chaps, icl it wasn't a big problem for me and it shows by how long it took me to finish this game, I was locked in throughout the whole game, the party selection, combat, side quests and the main parts are all super fun in sc as well as fc, there's not much to complain about but a few pacing issues which I didn't really mind, for the trails games that i've played (only two lmao) you can tell things aren't meant to get good straight away and its more of a slow burn typa game
however, after chapter 5, things started to change and improve in quality drastically, things got really serious and i could not get off the game, literally this game got me sleeping for 3 hours max for the past week because so much stuff was happening and I was just locked in, there's so many moments in this game that you can choose from and are actually great, the end of chapter 6 and the final were def my fav parts in the game.
one of my favourite parts of the game is how each character gets their individual moments and amazing dynamics, trails is pretty cast heavy so there's a lot of characters to go over. Agate and Tita were probably my fav dynamic out of the side characters, they were so good in chapter 5. I don't think I really dislike anyone in the main cast they're all great and this is one of my favourite parts of the game.
a character that blew my mind apart from Estelle and Joshua is def Leowe, I could've spoken about many other characters like Schera or Oliver but Leowe is def a personal favourite, learning about his past and his own morals and ideologies really made me intrigued about his character and his conclusion was great, my goat fs. Also the main antagonist group, Ouroboros having direct and individual dynamics to the main cast was really cool, we see this especially in the axel tower where we have to defeat each of the members as a player, seeing how certain characters react/sympathise as well as understanding one and other was coolio. overall this game was amazing and I cant wait for the future trails installements, it would be hard to top this, can't wait for the 3rd, will start soon, very soon
also why are the monsters in this game so ugly bruh, I was looking up close to some of them and they're so ugly man
"I have no idea where this path will lead us... but I'm sure something awaits us at the end"
the start of this game was pretty slow tbh and things were gettin repetitive for the first 3 chaps, icl it wasn't a big problem for me and it shows by how long it took me to finish this game, I was locked in throughout the whole game, the party selection, combat, side quests and the main parts are all super fun in sc as well as fc, there's not much to complain about but a few pacing issues which I didn't really mind, for the trails games that i've played (only two lmao) you can tell things aren't meant to get good straight away and its more of a slow burn typa game
however, after chapter 5, things started to change and improve in quality drastically, things got really serious and i could not get off the game, literally this game got me sleeping for 3 hours max for the past week because so much stuff was happening and I was just locked in, there's so many moments in this game that you can choose from and are actually great, the end of chapter 6 and the final were def my fav parts in the game.
one of my favourite parts of the game is how each character gets their individual moments and amazing dynamics, trails is pretty cast heavy so there's a lot of characters to go over. Agate and Tita were probably my fav dynamic out of the side characters, they were so good in chapter 5. I don't think I really dislike anyone in the main cast they're all great and this is one of my favourite parts of the game.
a character that blew my mind apart from Estelle and Joshua is def Leowe, I could've spoken about many other characters like Schera or Oliver but Leowe is def a personal favourite, learning about his past and his own morals and ideologies really made me intrigued about his character and his conclusion was great, my goat fs. Also the main antagonist group, Ouroboros having direct and individual dynamics to the main cast was really cool, we see this especially in the axel tower where we have to defeat each of the members as a player, seeing how certain characters react/sympathise as well as understanding one and other was coolio. overall this game was amazing and I cant wait for the future trails installements, it would be hard to top this, can't wait for the 3rd, will start soon, very soon
also why are the monsters in this game so ugly bruh, I was looking up close to some of them and they're so ugly man
"I have no idea where this path will lead us... but I'm sure something awaits us at the end"
This review contains spoilers
This game is an improvement from FC for sure but it's still very flawed for me.
For one thing, the pacing in the game is very bad. Every chapter until chapter 6 has the same repetitive structure of going to a country, an ouroboros member is causing problems, beat them, rinse and repeat. It's tedious. The game often doesn't even try to make these chapters feel distinct apart from chapters 3 and 5. The game is also filled with a ridiculous amount of backtracking which makes the tedium even worse.
Another thing is I did not personally vibe with Estelle and Joshua's dynamic very much. It had potential, but I didn't enjoy their personalities too much.
Estelle is a decent protagonist who's main characteristic is that she's optimistic no matter the situation she's placed in, and will also be a beacon of hope to everyone around her. That's a trope I'm typically fine with but Estelle doesn't do it in an interesting way imo. She lacks any flaws that would make her feel more grounded for me. By the end she didn't impress me much. Her dynamic with Renne was pretty good though and has a lot of potential moving forward in the series.
Joshua is a different beast entirely. He was incredibly disappointing especially with the amount of potential he had. He barely accomplished anything when he was separated from Estelle, and spends most of the entire game sitting on his airship instead. The game decided not to give more introspection for his character during his time alone which is a puzzling decision. Instead he either does very inconsequential things or just sits on his ass. Estelle reunites with Joshua again in chapter 6, and in that same chapter she convinces him to join her again, which I felt is very rushed as she essentially just talk no jutsus his lifelong trauma away. It overly simplifies what could have been an interesting exploration on his lack of self worth, and martyr complex. Joshua's dynamic with Loewe I liked quite a bit though.
Speaking of Loewe, he's by and large the best character of the game for me. Very enigmatic with a lot of presence, a cool design, and just being plain badass. His role in the story was very strong too as it greatly emphasizes the game's core message of forming connections with others and how doing that can enable people to walk towards a brighter future, free from tragedy. Loewe is the antithesis of that merely believing in "testing humanity's worth" by a trial with fire through conflict essentially. His clash of ideals with Joshua is one of the main highlights of the game despite it's very short runtime. Loewe's conclusion while rushed, is one of the few payoffs that worked for me. All in all a very good character.
This segues into another problem I have with this game where it spreads itself too thin by spending time on things that don't matter much while integral elements such as Joshua/Loewe dynamic and Weissman's motivations get barely any screentime to make them more impactful. Though for the former it still worked for the most part.
The other characters are somewhat improved in SC partly due to how some of the antagonists serve as foils to them which helps their characters get explored more. Though the execution of this I'm very iffy on. Scherazard and Zin's struggles are not handled well for me as it directly ties into their foils' storylines, which are barely present in the game to begin with. So it's hard for me to care about them. Agate gets a cool arc in chapter 5 and is an example of a well handled arc in this game. Olivier is fairly interesting though his story was backloaded at the very end, and didn't even show up for very much. Kloe didn't do anything particularly standout in this game which is disappointing as I decently enjoyed her character in FC and believed she had potential. Tita isn't all that great but she did her job servicing Agate's arc. Kevin is a standout character who is not only incredibly entertaining, but interesting as well. His scene where he kills Weissman really makes me excited for his character in 3rd.
The antagonists themselves were okay with the highlights being Loewe and Renne. Weissman was an underwhelming main villain for me. He barely had any screentime, and didn't do much with the screentime that he has. His motivations of basically wanting humanity to become ubermensches to stop all conflict was fascinating but it literally comes in the last hour of the game, and it more so feels like an excuse he's using to cause more suffering to people as he enjoys it.
All in all the story was fairly disappointing for me despite the huge potential it had.
The ost was fairly decent throughout with a few notable standouts like Silver Will which is often noted as being Loewe's theme.
As for the gameplay, it's very good. It is basically a mix of tactical RPG combat and traditional turned based JRPG combat, and it's great. You have to react to enemy arts as you can cancel them out which is cool. The gameplay is made easier with arts such as earth wall, which is borderline necessary for some fights. The enemies though are incredibly annoying with how they consistently spam status effects, and almost always operate as a group which makes it difficult sometimes to react to them. They also often pullout very cheap moves that can just one shot you without warning (looking at you Weissman). Hopefully the later games make the enemies less annoying. Really interested to see how the gameplay evolves from here.
Overall, I really wanted to like this game more especially given its near universal praise, but sadly it just has too many glaring issues for me to ignore. I am still very excited to experience 3rd and the later games as they looked very appealing to me.
For one thing, the pacing in the game is very bad. Every chapter until chapter 6 has the same repetitive structure of going to a country, an ouroboros member is causing problems, beat them, rinse and repeat. It's tedious. The game often doesn't even try to make these chapters feel distinct apart from chapters 3 and 5. The game is also filled with a ridiculous amount of backtracking which makes the tedium even worse.
Another thing is I did not personally vibe with Estelle and Joshua's dynamic very much. It had potential, but I didn't enjoy their personalities too much.
Estelle is a decent protagonist who's main characteristic is that she's optimistic no matter the situation she's placed in, and will also be a beacon of hope to everyone around her. That's a trope I'm typically fine with but Estelle doesn't do it in an interesting way imo. She lacks any flaws that would make her feel more grounded for me. By the end she didn't impress me much. Her dynamic with Renne was pretty good though and has a lot of potential moving forward in the series.
Joshua is a different beast entirely. He was incredibly disappointing especially with the amount of potential he had. He barely accomplished anything when he was separated from Estelle, and spends most of the entire game sitting on his airship instead. The game decided not to give more introspection for his character during his time alone which is a puzzling decision. Instead he either does very inconsequential things or just sits on his ass. Estelle reunites with Joshua again in chapter 6, and in that same chapter she convinces him to join her again, which I felt is very rushed as she essentially just talk no jutsus his lifelong trauma away. It overly simplifies what could have been an interesting exploration on his lack of self worth, and martyr complex. Joshua's dynamic with Loewe I liked quite a bit though.
Speaking of Loewe, he's by and large the best character of the game for me. Very enigmatic with a lot of presence, a cool design, and just being plain badass. His role in the story was very strong too as it greatly emphasizes the game's core message of forming connections with others and how doing that can enable people to walk towards a brighter future, free from tragedy. Loewe is the antithesis of that merely believing in "testing humanity's worth" by a trial with fire through conflict essentially. His clash of ideals with Joshua is one of the main highlights of the game despite it's very short runtime. Loewe's conclusion while rushed, is one of the few payoffs that worked for me. All in all a very good character.
This segues into another problem I have with this game where it spreads itself too thin by spending time on things that don't matter much while integral elements such as Joshua/Loewe dynamic and Weissman's motivations get barely any screentime to make them more impactful. Though for the former it still worked for the most part.
The other characters are somewhat improved in SC partly due to how some of the antagonists serve as foils to them which helps their characters get explored more. Though the execution of this I'm very iffy on. Scherazard and Zin's struggles are not handled well for me as it directly ties into their foils' storylines, which are barely present in the game to begin with. So it's hard for me to care about them. Agate gets a cool arc in chapter 5 and is an example of a well handled arc in this game. Olivier is fairly interesting though his story was backloaded at the very end, and didn't even show up for very much. Kloe didn't do anything particularly standout in this game which is disappointing as I decently enjoyed her character in FC and believed she had potential. Tita isn't all that great but she did her job servicing Agate's arc. Kevin is a standout character who is not only incredibly entertaining, but interesting as well. His scene where he kills Weissman really makes me excited for his character in 3rd.
The antagonists themselves were okay with the highlights being Loewe and Renne. Weissman was an underwhelming main villain for me. He barely had any screentime, and didn't do much with the screentime that he has. His motivations of basically wanting humanity to become ubermensches to stop all conflict was fascinating but it literally comes in the last hour of the game, and it more so feels like an excuse he's using to cause more suffering to people as he enjoys it.
All in all the story was fairly disappointing for me despite the huge potential it had.
The ost was fairly decent throughout with a few notable standouts like Silver Will which is often noted as being Loewe's theme.
As for the gameplay, it's very good. It is basically a mix of tactical RPG combat and traditional turned based JRPG combat, and it's great. You have to react to enemy arts as you can cancel them out which is cool. The gameplay is made easier with arts such as earth wall, which is borderline necessary for some fights. The enemies though are incredibly annoying with how they consistently spam status effects, and almost always operate as a group which makes it difficult sometimes to react to them. They also often pullout very cheap moves that can just one shot you without warning (looking at you Weissman). Hopefully the later games make the enemies less annoying. Really interested to see how the gameplay evolves from here.
Overall, I really wanted to like this game more especially given its near universal praise, but sadly it just has too many glaring issues for me to ignore. I am still very excited to experience 3rd and the later games as they looked very appealing to me.
I finally jumped back into Trails in the Sky after beating the first game in late 2019 or early 2020. I have to say that I'm glad I did. The writing is just as good as the first game, with the story building off of the first game's cliffhanger. Estelle's quest to find Joshua has to take a backseat to helping the different regions of Liberl, but it's always there at least. And it's great to revisit all the regions and locales as well as all the characters we met there.
A big change for me this time was that I ignored the people who say you need to read every NPC dialogue after every plot point or else you're missing the game. I engaged when I wanted to and didn't when I wanted to just plow through with the story and that helped me avoid burnout and love every chapter of this game. The way the story comes to a head is worth all the hours I put into both games.
The battle system is exactly the same as the first game, but it's cool that it starts you all at level 40. It's a serviceable system, with the orbments tuning (like materia) being a fun way to customize the party. Thank god for the devs putting in the turbo option though, which makes the entire game a breeze to walk through instead of a slog of slow battle animations.
A super fun JRPG that is totally worth the time investment. I loved it in spite of some of its anime tropes.
A big change for me this time was that I ignored the people who say you need to read every NPC dialogue after every plot point or else you're missing the game. I engaged when I wanted to and didn't when I wanted to just plow through with the story and that helped me avoid burnout and love every chapter of this game. The way the story comes to a head is worth all the hours I put into both games.
The battle system is exactly the same as the first game, but it's cool that it starts you all at level 40. It's a serviceable system, with the orbments tuning (like materia) being a fun way to customize the party. Thank god for the devs putting in the turbo option though, which makes the entire game a breeze to walk through instead of a slog of slow battle animations.
A super fun JRPG that is totally worth the time investment. I loved it in spite of some of its anime tropes.
everyone told me it gets really bad after this part and while I believe them I have to keep following where this gang goes. trails in the sky fc was nicely paced and the perfect idea of what a first chapter should be to me, and sc closes their story perfectly if you ignore all the cliffhangers and sequels. joshua and estelle are young and silly and trying too hard to do too much but theres no way they could ever do any less and thats why we love them.
While this took me a while to beat, it does everything it can to improve and continue well off of the first chapter ESPECIALLY in the character department. I really enjoyed the progression and dynamic between Joshua and Estelle in this game and I think it is done really well and realistically in a way that really hits for a lot of people. As usual, Trails never misses with presentation, music etc etc and the combat is even more fun than before. Remember, there is one truth: Love is Eternal!
A very mixed experience, with lots of highs and lows.
What I particularly liked: Estelle as a character is really convincing in this game and has undergone a tangible development compared to the first game. She seems much more mature and thoughtful, but has retained her lively nature. In general, you get the feeling that she still has a cheerful disposition, but that there is a shadow over everything, which is due to her history with Joshua.
Apart from Estelle, I thought the other characters were also very strong, each old and new character is given depth, a backstory and relevance to the main story. The dialog between certain characters is also very well done and brings you closer to the feelings and thoughts of the characters.
What I found really cool was how dynamically the game reacts to the current party composition. Depending on who is in the current party, you get completely different, VOICED! conversations. It must have been an incredible amount of work to write the right dialog and record the voice lines for each group constellation.
The combat system and music are once again very well-made, little has changed in that regard compared to the first game.
What I didn't like so much: The "enforcers", the antagonists in this game, are truly some of the worst written, most embarrassing, over-the-top anime villains I've had to endure in a long time. Every dialog with these eccentric clowns was pure agony. Unfortunately, you have to fight these nimrods multiple times as they quite typically "take flight" after every fight. In general, this Ourobouros organization was a complete joke. What I liked so much in the previous game, namely the down-to-earth story, unfortunately degenerates into an absolute anime cliché here.
The game also feels extremely stretched out, the first 5 chapters could be discarded without losing anything really relevant in terms of story. Chapter 8 in particular is really overstretched, you run across the entire world again and solve small, meaningless tasks, which I found somewhat unnecessary.
Story-wise, I also found it extremely frustrating that you spend almost the entire game running after the bad guys without really doing anything to thwart their plans. They happily carry out their experiments and put their plans into practice, while you watch and don't actually do anything. Only towards the end do you actually become active.
The fact that you still don't have a map in dungeons, and can't reveal one while exploring, leads to confusion or rather getting lost in the often complicated dungeon design.
Overall, I did like the game. Especially the characters, worldbuilding and dialog carry the overall experience. It's a shame that they drifted into this cliché direction plot-wise, but overall I had fun. SIEG EX MACHINA!!! :D
What I particularly liked: Estelle as a character is really convincing in this game and has undergone a tangible development compared to the first game. She seems much more mature and thoughtful, but has retained her lively nature. In general, you get the feeling that she still has a cheerful disposition, but that there is a shadow over everything, which is due to her history with Joshua.
Apart from Estelle, I thought the other characters were also very strong, each old and new character is given depth, a backstory and relevance to the main story. The dialog between certain characters is also very well done and brings you closer to the feelings and thoughts of the characters.
What I found really cool was how dynamically the game reacts to the current party composition. Depending on who is in the current party, you get completely different, VOICED! conversations. It must have been an incredible amount of work to write the right dialog and record the voice lines for each group constellation.
The combat system and music are once again very well-made, little has changed in that regard compared to the first game.
What I didn't like so much: The "enforcers", the antagonists in this game, are truly some of the worst written, most embarrassing, over-the-top anime villains I've had to endure in a long time. Every dialog with these eccentric clowns was pure agony. Unfortunately, you have to fight these nimrods multiple times as they quite typically "take flight" after every fight. In general, this Ourobouros organization was a complete joke. What I liked so much in the previous game, namely the down-to-earth story, unfortunately degenerates into an absolute anime cliché here.
The game also feels extremely stretched out, the first 5 chapters could be discarded without losing anything really relevant in terms of story. Chapter 8 in particular is really overstretched, you run across the entire world again and solve small, meaningless tasks, which I found somewhat unnecessary.
Story-wise, I also found it extremely frustrating that you spend almost the entire game running after the bad guys without really doing anything to thwart their plans. They happily carry out their experiments and put their plans into practice, while you watch and don't actually do anything. Only towards the end do you actually become active.
The fact that you still don't have a map in dungeons, and can't reveal one while exploring, leads to confusion or rather getting lost in the often complicated dungeon design.
Overall, I did like the game. Especially the characters, worldbuilding and dialog carry the overall experience. It's a shame that they drifted into this cliché direction plot-wise, but overall I had fun. SIEG EX MACHINA!!! :D
An absolutely great follow-up to the first game. The stakes are higher, the emotional connections are formed, and the drive to see this story through is set.
The magic system is a huge improvement. Instead of unlocking slots one by one, you already have them all unlocked by default, and you can upgrade them to use more powerful quartz. You also get much more powerful ones which allow you to play around even more with the possibilities.
The story feels a bit formulaic, but it's still fun, because firstly, it's not all about the main story, but the many side contents you can find all around. And secondly, despite the predictability of many plot points, the execution is well-made enough to still leave you satisfied. (I cried to a scene at the end even though I knew very well what would happen!)
The villains can feel very cartoon-ish, but they still have unique personalities and designs, and connections to the main cast that saves them from being too cardboardy. Overall, much of the writing feels very tropey, yet they managed to make it good to the point it doesn't bother too much.
The music is peak. What the fuck I love leitmotifs now. It's even better than the first game!! "Feeling Danger Nearby" is supposedly a danger/pinch track, but it's so groovy it feels like you don't care about the fact your party is dying. "Visions" is just beautiful, a sublime and soothing atmospheric dungeon track. And "Looking Up at the Sky" is such a nice upbeat field track that will instantly put you in the mood to explore Liberl all over again.
Overall, it was a lot of fun to see this story unfold, and it's amazing how Falcom was able to reuse so much from the first game in a way that feels fresh enough and justified. I won't lie that I would like even more new things, specially considering the length of the game, but all things considered, I think this game is a very worthwhile experience, and I'm definitely sold by now on this world. Yep, I already started the next game as soon as I finished this!
The magic system is a huge improvement. Instead of unlocking slots one by one, you already have them all unlocked by default, and you can upgrade them to use more powerful quartz. You also get much more powerful ones which allow you to play around even more with the possibilities.
The story feels a bit formulaic, but it's still fun, because firstly, it's not all about the main story, but the many side contents you can find all around. And secondly, despite the predictability of many plot points, the execution is well-made enough to still leave you satisfied. (I cried to a scene at the end even though I knew very well what would happen!)
The villains can feel very cartoon-ish, but they still have unique personalities and designs, and connections to the main cast that saves them from being too cardboardy. Overall, much of the writing feels very tropey, yet they managed to make it good to the point it doesn't bother too much.
The music is peak. What the fuck I love leitmotifs now. It's even better than the first game!! "Feeling Danger Nearby" is supposedly a danger/pinch track, but it's so groovy it feels like you don't care about the fact your party is dying. "Visions" is just beautiful, a sublime and soothing atmospheric dungeon track. And "Looking Up at the Sky" is such a nice upbeat field track that will instantly put you in the mood to explore Liberl all over again.
Overall, it was a lot of fun to see this story unfold, and it's amazing how Falcom was able to reuse so much from the first game in a way that feels fresh enough and justified. I won't lie that I would like even more new things, specially considering the length of the game, but all things considered, I think this game is a very worthwhile experience, and I'm definitely sold by now on this world. Yep, I already started the next game as soon as I finished this!
I don't know how to start this. But I will say this took WAY longer than I expected it would take me.
After finishing FC I pretty much just kept on going at the pace I was at since I got to chapter 3 or so. SC prologue really tugs the heartstrings after the ending of FC and you just NEED answers man. Then after that the game really gets... repetitive.
The time period from when I completed the first half versus literally the rest of the game is INSANE. Took me about 2 months for the first half and the second half took me a business week. I don't mind the first half as I do think there were great moments interspersed. But god that was mind-numbing. Repeating the same sequences for a good portion of the game was a turn off. But don't let this fool you. The moment you get on The Glorious EVERYTHING changes.
The story picks up tremendously and it just builds and builds until the finale.
This is when I started to realize "yea this may be one of the greatest video games ever made."
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC is the definition of a sequel in every sense of the word. Every facet gets improved. And the stakes are higher than the last. This was essentially a 70 hour long JRPG finale. And I love it for everything it stands for.
This may sound conflicting as you have two opposing opinions for each half but let me assure you that the highest of highs overshadows the lowest of lows.
Trails in the Sky SC is truly one of the best JRPG games there is and even with its flawed and monotonous first half, on the other hand you have one of the most legendary second halves to a video game. In the end I will cherish it all the same.
Oh and this soundtrack is cool.
After finishing FC I pretty much just kept on going at the pace I was at since I got to chapter 3 or so. SC prologue really tugs the heartstrings after the ending of FC and you just NEED answers man. Then after that the game really gets... repetitive.
The time period from when I completed the first half versus literally the rest of the game is INSANE. Took me about 2 months for the first half and the second half took me a business week. I don't mind the first half as I do think there were great moments interspersed. But god that was mind-numbing. Repeating the same sequences for a good portion of the game was a turn off. But don't let this fool you. The moment you get on The Glorious EVERYTHING changes.
The story picks up tremendously and it just builds and builds until the finale.
This is when I started to realize "yea this may be one of the greatest video games ever made."
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC is the definition of a sequel in every sense of the word. Every facet gets improved. And the stakes are higher than the last. This was essentially a 70 hour long JRPG finale. And I love it for everything it stands for.
This may sound conflicting as you have two opposing opinions for each half but let me assure you that the highest of highs overshadows the lowest of lows.
Trails in the Sky SC is truly one of the best JRPG games there is and even with its flawed and monotonous first half, on the other hand you have one of the most legendary second halves to a video game. In the end I will cherish it all the same.
Oh and this soundtrack is cool.
Despite being a hell of a lot longer than the first chapter (at least in my playthrough) SC felt like it really stuck the landing. Eschews some of the cozy vibes of FC in favor of really pushing the narrative along. Still one of the best casts of characters I've seen in an RPG. In this house we support Olivier Lenheim (even though he's maybe sort of a creep). Estelle Bright is an all-timer protagonist.
ass
a step up from the first