i like this one
This is one of my favorite games ever! It really feel like it builds off the first game extremely well while still changing up the formula enough to make it feel fresh 11/10 experience
This was the game that sent me on a 6-month binge on the series, nothing's really been better than it in the series since.
Oh my god....i get it.
This ending chapter and all of like 6 onwards is WOW
This ending chapter and all of like 6 onwards is WOW
Falcom was able to build peak in cave! With a box of scraps!
After the first game I was impressed, but now I am hooked and I am eating. It's incredible how thought-out and thorough the work that's gone into this is. I tried at several points to trick the game into giving me a single line of generic dialogue from ANY town NPC and they just kept beating my ass with more world-building. They would not let me stop reading. There's no wonder this took longer to translate than the dead sea scrolls
The combat is better but it's still the weakest part. There's a lot more to building a party than the previous entry but it still feels like it needs a bit of tightening.
Anyway, looking forward to spending another 500 hours catching up to this until the games suddenly get bad or whatever
After the first game I was impressed, but now I am hooked and I am eating. It's incredible how thought-out and thorough the work that's gone into this is. I tried at several points to trick the game into giving me a single line of generic dialogue from ANY town NPC and they just kept beating my ass with more world-building. They would not let me stop reading. There's no wonder this took longer to translate than the dead sea scrolls
The combat is better but it's still the weakest part. There's a lot more to building a party than the previous entry but it still feels like it needs a bit of tightening.
Anyway, looking forward to spending another 500 hours catching up to this until the games suddenly get bad or whatever
Kevin.
Ahhh what a gem. Quite a few frustrating combat quirks that are just what this series is, but overall a fantastic story and a lovely open ended conclusion to Estelle and Joshua's story.
Not as good as the first one in my opinion thanks to weird pacing but it's still absolutely right next to it. I have an embarrassing review of the first one i cba to do this one in detail. Check out my list for more in detail thoughts.
WE LOVE TRAILS IN THE SKY SC!!!! SC takes the amazing set up provided by FC and knocks it out of the park, the middle of the game is just a bit tedius given that it is technically the same plot 2-3 times with slight variations but we all love it despite this fact.
Sky SC has to be one of the few games I cried as the ending credits rolled not because the ending was sad but because I couldn't believe it was over.
There's a lot of flaws to Sky SC. Namely how formulaic the story was, the amount of backtracking near the end, and how stereotypically anime the Ouroboros Enforcers were.
However the storytelling and characters more than carried the entire game on its back. FC was essentially a 60 hour introduction to the Liberl arc and SC is where everything pays off. And the payoff is so, so worth it.
Estelle Bright is one of my favourite protagonists. She's incredibly well-written and her character development across both games, from a type naive airhead to a maturing young woman, sure of her path and the people she wants to walk beside, is incredible and completely believable.
All the characters in the game are so well written. It was never a drag to read through all the dialogue in the game because I love all these characters so much. Do yourself a favor and install the EVO voice mods. I can't imagine playing the game unvoiced. From Agate to Oliver to Kloe and Loewe, watching their struggles to find their own path was no less a delight than watching the magnetic relationship between Estelle and Joshua. And Estelle and Joshua's relationship is peak.
FC was a good JRPG. SC is something else entirely. I'm struggling to put it in words but something about how comfy the game was despite the raised stakes, the well written characters and their relationships with each other, the incredible writing, story and world building makes this something really special.
Congrats Falcom. I'm hooked. I'm playing the next 11(?) games in the series.
There's a lot of flaws to Sky SC. Namely how formulaic the story was, the amount of backtracking near the end, and how stereotypically anime the Ouroboros Enforcers were.
However the storytelling and characters more than carried the entire game on its back. FC was essentially a 60 hour introduction to the Liberl arc and SC is where everything pays off. And the payoff is so, so worth it.
Estelle Bright is one of my favourite protagonists. She's incredibly well-written and her character development across both games, from a type naive airhead to a maturing young woman, sure of her path and the people she wants to walk beside, is incredible and completely believable.
All the characters in the game are so well written. It was never a drag to read through all the dialogue in the game because I love all these characters so much. Do yourself a favor and install the EVO voice mods. I can't imagine playing the game unvoiced. From Agate to Oliver to Kloe and Loewe, watching their struggles to find their own path was no less a delight than watching the magnetic relationship between Estelle and Joshua. And Estelle and Joshua's relationship is peak.
FC was a good JRPG. SC is something else entirely. I'm struggling to put it in words but something about how comfy the game was despite the raised stakes, the well written characters and their relationships with each other, the incredible writing, story and world building makes this something really special.
Congrats Falcom. I'm hooked. I'm playing the next 11(?) games in the series.
This game isn't just tied for my favorite Trails game but also one of my favorite JRPGs ever. I love how this game handles Ouroboros (something I can not say about later games) they're these psychotic wild cards that you know nothing about and can cause global havoc in an instant and make a great first impression for the series wide antagonist with Renne, Loewe, and Weissman being the stand outs.
Estelle is really forced to come into her own here without Cassius and Joshua holding her hands, and it does a great job and developing her and making her feel truly independent. The "filler" of this game I think is really well utilized to develop the rest of the cast outside the main duo Tita, Agate, Kloe, everyone gets time to shine in this game, it's surprising that a game with such a large cast has no one get left out or feel underwhelming. This being save Kevin but due to context of Third him being underdeveloped was very much an intentional choice.
I adore this game's final act, how everything culminates and explodes into a amazing finale. The battle, the music, the character arcs, the pay offs. Trails becomes much wider in scope in it's stories after the Liberl arc but I think it's those personal stakes that makes this particular arc so special and a great opener to the series as a whole to not overwhelm new players. The ending of Estelle and Joshua's story is such an amazingly well done experience and I'm glad Falcom split it into two games so we could have everything.
(just please for the love of god don't play hard/nightmare please actually have fun PLAYING the game)
Gameplay wise there isn't much to note, combo crafts are pretty nuts with the right set ups but it doesn't break the game or anything as we'll see with later mechanics.
Estelle is really forced to come into her own here without Cassius and Joshua holding her hands, and it does a great job and developing her and making her feel truly independent. The "filler" of this game I think is really well utilized to develop the rest of the cast outside the main duo Tita, Agate, Kloe, everyone gets time to shine in this game, it's surprising that a game with such a large cast has no one get left out or feel underwhelming. This being save Kevin but due to context of Third him being underdeveloped was very much an intentional choice.
I adore this game's final act, how everything culminates and explodes into a amazing finale. The battle, the music, the character arcs, the pay offs. Trails becomes much wider in scope in it's stories after the Liberl arc but I think it's those personal stakes that makes this particular arc so special and a great opener to the series as a whole to not overwhelm new players. The ending of Estelle and Joshua's story is such an amazingly well done experience and I'm glad Falcom split it into two games so we could have everything.
(just please for the love of god don't play hard/nightmare please actually have fun PLAYING the game)
Gameplay wise there isn't much to note, combo crafts are pretty nuts with the right set ups but it doesn't break the game or anything as we'll see with later mechanics.
While the second game, which describes the aftermath of the events in the first game, was going to be a perfect game in the true sense of the word, it turned away at the last moment. Still, it's a good enough game to rank first on the list of the best games ever. The second game, which has taken some of the missing parts of the first game and improved. He further developed the mechanics that were not good enough. It is an undeniable fact that it is one of the best JRPGs ever, with its story and enriched gameplay experience.
The Story: As I mentioned at the beginning, it is about the events that took place in the first game, but after the prologue part of the game, there is a time jump and our characters show certain changes in this process. This time jump isn't long, by the way. We unravel the mystery of Weissman's Gospel plan, one of the Ouroboros members we learned in the first game. We learn the dark side of aureole. We witness the tragic past of the Astray family and many other characters. At the end of the play, even in the scientific sociology classes in today's world that revolve between both Estelle and Weissman, we see a topic that is important enough to be discussed in real life, causing serious discussions among the professors. Most importantly, we meet the character of Kevin Graham, who will be the main character in the third game. Enemy characters, some of whom you will hate and some of whom you will adopt like a real-life comrade, also overcome the game in a completely different dimension. Even some side characters that were seen as unnecessary in the previous game are handled and included in more detail in this game. An incredible story awaits you.
Gameplay: We tour all the Liberian cities and towers in the previous game, but this time our starting point is Ruan, not Rolent. One of my favorite features is that the items in the previous game are always stronger than the previous one, which does not repeat often in this game. In the previous game, we used to dress our characters with high-status items. Items can have different advantages in this game. That's why we can sometimes keep that item for that advantage. This is a positive development for the game. They developed the skills that we used under the name of "Arts" in the previous game. They connected the story of the game to the previous game and fed it very well. In other words, as in other rpg type games, it is not passed on as a new skill for you. They even tell us how we got it. We now have 7 orb slots instead of 6. These orb slots can also be upgraded three times in total. Each of our upgrades increases our character stats according to the color part of the orb tree. Yes, now our characters' stats do not rise equally, but also in different ways. This makes the different areas that our characters are prone to more prominent. No two characters are alike and they have a more unique gameplay than the previous game. A lot of new orbs are being added to the game, and there are a lot of special new orbs among them. Of course, new orbs mean getting new 'Arts' abilities. A much larger "Arts" combination tree awaits you. One of my favorite features is that they have also improved the "Craft" tree. In particular, the characters have new unique abilities of their own, as well as the S-craft system, which we called the strongest ability of the characters, which only serves to inflict more damage in the first game, has also left its place to more creative new character abilities in this game. Some S-crafts now have different uses and special bonuses. I wanted to add additional. Each character combo mechanic has been added to the "Craft" tree. Combos evolve as the characters get stronger. This is another useful mechanic.
Music: From the improved versions of the first game's soundtrack, there are many more new tracks available in the game. All of them contribute a lot to the presentation of the game. Of course, it's a good thing that old and favorite pieces are still in the game.
Audio: The game has a slightly more advanced sound system, but it is still a minus for this game, as in the Evo version, that the dialogues still do not have sound. In many scenes, I said it would be nice if there was a voice over there. If these characters had dialogue voiceovers, the game would have been rated 10/10.
Art and Universe Design: They raised the bar on the first game. It's really perfect. Writing is much more advanced. Details such as fishing and gambling have been added to the game. It contributes to the atmosphere. Side quests now host more different dialogs and players can win many unexpected rewards. This pushes you to do side quests even more. Art design, on the other hand, is already playing the peaks. Especially in the last episodes, it is necessary to congratulate the producers. The food system has become more diverse and has a much more important place in the game. Now, the variety of new auxiliary materials has increased and its importance is felt much more.
Chapter Design: Again, it belongs to very nice and logical chapter designs. However, the no grid situation in the first game is not so valid in this game. The game asks you to make the grid, although not much. I recommend doing it especially before fighting bosses.
The Story – 10/10
Gameplay – 9.5/10
Music – 10/10
Audio – 6/10
Art and Universe Design: 10/10
Chapter Design: 10/10
Total: 10/10
The Story: As I mentioned at the beginning, it is about the events that took place in the first game, but after the prologue part of the game, there is a time jump and our characters show certain changes in this process. This time jump isn't long, by the way. We unravel the mystery of Weissman's Gospel plan, one of the Ouroboros members we learned in the first game. We learn the dark side of aureole. We witness the tragic past of the Astray family and many other characters. At the end of the play, even in the scientific sociology classes in today's world that revolve between both Estelle and Weissman, we see a topic that is important enough to be discussed in real life, causing serious discussions among the professors. Most importantly, we meet the character of Kevin Graham, who will be the main character in the third game. Enemy characters, some of whom you will hate and some of whom you will adopt like a real-life comrade, also overcome the game in a completely different dimension. Even some side characters that were seen as unnecessary in the previous game are handled and included in more detail in this game. An incredible story awaits you.
Gameplay: We tour all the Liberian cities and towers in the previous game, but this time our starting point is Ruan, not Rolent. One of my favorite features is that the items in the previous game are always stronger than the previous one, which does not repeat often in this game. In the previous game, we used to dress our characters with high-status items. Items can have different advantages in this game. That's why we can sometimes keep that item for that advantage. This is a positive development for the game. They developed the skills that we used under the name of "Arts" in the previous game. They connected the story of the game to the previous game and fed it very well. In other words, as in other rpg type games, it is not passed on as a new skill for you. They even tell us how we got it. We now have 7 orb slots instead of 6. These orb slots can also be upgraded three times in total. Each of our upgrades increases our character stats according to the color part of the orb tree. Yes, now our characters' stats do not rise equally, but also in different ways. This makes the different areas that our characters are prone to more prominent. No two characters are alike and they have a more unique gameplay than the previous game. A lot of new orbs are being added to the game, and there are a lot of special new orbs among them. Of course, new orbs mean getting new 'Arts' abilities. A much larger "Arts" combination tree awaits you. One of my favorite features is that they have also improved the "Craft" tree. In particular, the characters have new unique abilities of their own, as well as the S-craft system, which we called the strongest ability of the characters, which only serves to inflict more damage in the first game, has also left its place to more creative new character abilities in this game. Some S-crafts now have different uses and special bonuses. I wanted to add additional. Each character combo mechanic has been added to the "Craft" tree. Combos evolve as the characters get stronger. This is another useful mechanic.
Music: From the improved versions of the first game's soundtrack, there are many more new tracks available in the game. All of them contribute a lot to the presentation of the game. Of course, it's a good thing that old and favorite pieces are still in the game.
Audio: The game has a slightly more advanced sound system, but it is still a minus for this game, as in the Evo version, that the dialogues still do not have sound. In many scenes, I said it would be nice if there was a voice over there. If these characters had dialogue voiceovers, the game would have been rated 10/10.
Art and Universe Design: They raised the bar on the first game. It's really perfect. Writing is much more advanced. Details such as fishing and gambling have been added to the game. It contributes to the atmosphere. Side quests now host more different dialogs and players can win many unexpected rewards. This pushes you to do side quests even more. Art design, on the other hand, is already playing the peaks. Especially in the last episodes, it is necessary to congratulate the producers. The food system has become more diverse and has a much more important place in the game. Now, the variety of new auxiliary materials has increased and its importance is felt much more.
Chapter Design: Again, it belongs to very nice and logical chapter designs. However, the no grid situation in the first game is not so valid in this game. The game asks you to make the grid, although not much. I recommend doing it especially before fighting bosses.
The Story – 10/10
Gameplay – 9.5/10
Music – 10/10
Audio – 6/10
Art and Universe Design: 10/10
Chapter Design: 10/10
Total: 10/10
Trails in the Sky Second Chapter is, in one word, awesome. In many, it's a really interesting game in a lot of ways. This game completely builds on the previous Trails in the Sky game, and still feels like it's building up to whatever's coming next in the Trails series. The characters are the heart of these games, for me at least. From Estelle, to Agate, to Loewe, to Joshua, I love practically every character this game presents me. Whether it's their larger than life personalities or the more down to earth aspects to their writing. Though these games feature true walls of dialogue, I never really got bored of these characters interacting with the world or each other, and as the set pieces became bigger and bigger towards the game's end, I was completely enraptured by the world in front of me.
The gameplay here is fair. A little better and more fun than its predecessor, but not earth shattering. Combat is pretty fun, but exploration doesn't really feel that exciting especially considering there's been little to no changes to Liberl between the previous game and this one. Menuing feels a bit clunkier than it could, but I didn't really play this for the gameplay so much as the story. I know Trails is meant to be a grand tale, but if it gets this good in the second entry, I wonder how far up it can go.
The gameplay here is fair. A little better and more fun than its predecessor, but not earth shattering. Combat is pretty fun, but exploration doesn't really feel that exciting especially considering there's been little to no changes to Liberl between the previous game and this one. Menuing feels a bit clunkier than it could, but I didn't really play this for the gameplay so much as the story. I know Trails is meant to be a grand tale, but if it gets this good in the second entry, I wonder how far up it can go.
8,5/10
Aoi toki egaku kiseki tadori
kotae sagasu, onaji sora miagenagara
Mune ni himeta omoi afuredashi
sora o kakete gin'iro no ya ni kawaru
Motomeau kokoro ga tagau itami wa
shinjitsu no michi kasumaseru keredo
Kousa suru gin no ya, mitsumeau hitomi ni
onaji yume tashika ni utsushita
Tatoe tsumazuite mo, tatoe kizu tsuite mo
tobitatou, kaze tsubasa ni shite
Koe mo todokanai tooi basho de.
GOAT.
Aoi toki egaku kiseki tadori
kotae sagasu, onaji sora miagenagara
Mune ni himeta omoi afuredashi
sora o kakete gin'iro no ya ni kawaru
Motomeau kokoro ga tagau itami wa
shinjitsu no michi kasumaseru keredo
Kousa suru gin no ya, mitsumeau hitomi ni
onaji yume tashika ni utsushita
Tatoe tsumazuite mo, tatoe kizu tsuite mo
tobitatou, kaze tsubasa ni shite
Koe mo todokanai tooi basho de.
GOAT.
Early game pacing is really bad but the ending is fire
Juegazo que, al igual que Golden Sun, va en conjunto con su primera parte. Mi comienzo en la saga Trails ha sido muy satisfactorio y estoy fascinado con todos sus personajes. Ganas de continuar con los Trails y descubrir más ^^
This review contains spoilers
THEY GET TOGETHER
A high point for the series. Estelle is one of the best JRPG protagonists I've ever experienced, and is surrounded by an excellent supporting cast. Non-stop action with a plot that over-delivers and creates an amazingly interesting world that I can't wait to explore in future Trails games.
This is hands down one of my favorite JRPGs ever and holds up incredibly well - especially if you use the evo voice mod.
This is hands down one of my favorite JRPGs ever and holds up incredibly well - especially if you use the evo voice mod.
This was such a wild ride, with a really touching story.
It's peak...
A amazing conclusion to the character arcs of FC and an amazing improvement gameplay wise this game is only brought down for some frustrating design decisions like the first disc feeling a little bit like filler due to not much happening and some very frustrating segments (chapter 8 being one of the worst sections of any jrpg ever as well as some annoying boss fights) but when this game shines it really does as well as setting more plot lines for the future of the series
This review contains spoilers
Such a peak game!
Great character developments for all the characters and the ending is already so perfect.
I cried a lot when I was playing this game. Especially when I was seeing Loewe died in the ending and Joshua cried because of that.
I love Estelle and Joshua's love story and their life journey so much!!
Great character developments for all the characters and the ending is already so perfect.
I cried a lot when I was playing this game. Especially when I was seeing Loewe died in the ending and Joshua cried because of that.
I love Estelle and Joshua's love story and their life journey so much!!
O Trails In the Sky é um dos melhores RPG que já vi, se você jogou o First Chapter é quase obrigação jogar o Second, pois essa é a melhor parte do arco de Liberl. Vai valer e muito o seu tempo no final
I think for most people this second entry is considered a vast improvement over the first game and for the most part I would agree. The basic gameplay has been improved allowing for more customization and strategies and the story does a wonderful job of paying off every major story beat set up in the first game. In all regards it is a superior game but I still think I find myself enjoying the first entry a tad bit more.
The major reason for this is the retreading of all the same locations in the first game. One of my favorite parts of an RPG is exploring new locations and making my way to new towns. The retreading of this familiar locations, while it makes complete sense in the story, lessened my enjoyment of spending time in these locations and interacting with one of the games strongest quirks that being the unique dialogue for every single NPC in the game. I praised the first game for how interconnected the whole world felt in it and this game improves that writing even more I just did not engage with this aspect nearly as much. The sheer length of the game and the retreading of familiar ground eventually lead to me burnt out more than once.
Despite my complaints the story is still great and has more cemented the fact that I am a fan of this series.
The major reason for this is the retreading of all the same locations in the first game. One of my favorite parts of an RPG is exploring new locations and making my way to new towns. The retreading of this familiar locations, while it makes complete sense in the story, lessened my enjoyment of spending time in these locations and interacting with one of the games strongest quirks that being the unique dialogue for every single NPC in the game. I praised the first game for how interconnected the whole world felt in it and this game improves that writing even more I just did not engage with this aspect nearly as much. The sheer length of the game and the retreading of familiar ground eventually lead to me burnt out more than once.
Despite my complaints the story is still great and has more cemented the fact that I am a fan of this series.
estelle bright my beloved, this game moved me
Better than the first chapter, in large part because the kinds of quartz and accessories you have access to don't reset to zero here and instead keep expanding. Also Kevin's part at the end kicks ass
Incredible, the peak of the sky trilogy
El mejor kiseki de los antiguos, el mejor café para los mejores cafeteros
The Trails in the Sky games occupy a similar spot in my mind with the Persona 2 games. They're very dated and lower budget RPGs with some good stories and characters, but gameplay that is far from being great. However, while I have played other Persona games before playing Persona 2, I have no prior attachment to Trails so I'm less enthusiastic about putting up with the archaic mechanics here. If Trails in the Sky is really supposed to be the best starting point for the franchise... it needs to get a better one.
But let's focus in on this particular entry: Trails in the Sky SC.
I was excited upon starting Trails in the Sky SC because it seemed as though it was going to be very different from the previous game, but it ended up repeating a ton of content. The locations, music, battle system, party members... But not only that, Trails in the Sky SC also repeats a lot of content even within the scope of this singular game. There is a team of villains in this game who you have to battle three times per member of the group. This just added to the feeling of the game being formulaic. Trails in the Sky first chapter is definitely not a perfect game, but what I can say is that it felt fresh throughout. Trails in the Sky SC might be a better game but I definitely can't say that it felt fresh.
The battle system definitely has a unique hook, but by the end of Trails in the Sky SC it had started to wear out its welcome. By that point I had the thought that I'd be having more fun just playing a different game that didn't repeat so much content from the previous game. And I still have to play the third game in its entirety, so this is not a great sign. I am really hoping that the combat gets better in future Trails games because otherwise it's going to be rough.
I quite enjoyed the story and characters in Trails of the Sky SC. It's a continuation of the first game's story but now contains the high stakes that the first game was sorely missing. Party members are now permanent, which is great because their individual stories are allowed to get fleshed out. They contrast with the villains quite well and it allows for the sort of character drama that this franchise seems to do well with. All things considered, it is a pretty standard type of plot to defeat the team of villains, but I appreciated the higher stakes and character development.
By now I understand at least somewhat why people like this series, but I don't agree with this particular entry being as highly rated as it is on this website. It was an improvement from the first game, but a downgrade in originality. The combat system has overstayed its welcome and doesn't really differentiate itself from the system in the first game. And while I enjoyed the story, it's a little more standard than the high praise would make it out to be.
A fine game, for sure, I'm just hoping for my own sake that this isn't the peak of the series. I'm putting a lot of investment into this franchise because people say it's good, but if the fans are exaggerating the quality of the rest of the series like they are with the quality of this game then it's going to be a big letdown.
But let's focus in on this particular entry: Trails in the Sky SC.
I was excited upon starting Trails in the Sky SC because it seemed as though it was going to be very different from the previous game, but it ended up repeating a ton of content. The locations, music, battle system, party members... But not only that, Trails in the Sky SC also repeats a lot of content even within the scope of this singular game. There is a team of villains in this game who you have to battle three times per member of the group. This just added to the feeling of the game being formulaic. Trails in the Sky first chapter is definitely not a perfect game, but what I can say is that it felt fresh throughout. Trails in the Sky SC might be a better game but I definitely can't say that it felt fresh.
The battle system definitely has a unique hook, but by the end of Trails in the Sky SC it had started to wear out its welcome. By that point I had the thought that I'd be having more fun just playing a different game that didn't repeat so much content from the previous game. And I still have to play the third game in its entirety, so this is not a great sign. I am really hoping that the combat gets better in future Trails games because otherwise it's going to be rough.
I quite enjoyed the story and characters in Trails of the Sky SC. It's a continuation of the first game's story but now contains the high stakes that the first game was sorely missing. Party members are now permanent, which is great because their individual stories are allowed to get fleshed out. They contrast with the villains quite well and it allows for the sort of character drama that this franchise seems to do well with. All things considered, it is a pretty standard type of plot to defeat the team of villains, but I appreciated the higher stakes and character development.
By now I understand at least somewhat why people like this series, but I don't agree with this particular entry being as highly rated as it is on this website. It was an improvement from the first game, but a downgrade in originality. The combat system has overstayed its welcome and doesn't really differentiate itself from the system in the first game. And while I enjoyed the story, it's a little more standard than the high praise would make it out to be.
A fine game, for sure, I'm just hoping for my own sake that this isn't the peak of the series. I'm putting a lot of investment into this franchise because people say it's good, but if the fans are exaggerating the quality of the rest of the series like they are with the quality of this game then it's going to be a big letdown.
Xenoblade 2 ripped off this game (they are both peak)