How is the game?

[Blazinfire]

Hey guys, hows it goin? People have been recommending this game to me. I know nothing about it.

Can someone give me details about it? Whats it about? is it good? Whats the connection to chapter 2? I'm a fan of most RPGS, JRPGS. Is it similar to Grandia 2 combat? Is the story worth playing through? I'd rather have a good story than gameplay TBH.

[DDR]

The story is acclaimed. Hell, the entire Trails series is pretty famous for its story and narratives. It's a story RPG with a turn-based combat system, and people are not joking when they say it has a ton of dialogue.

The game focuses on world building and it is generally agreed that it has an extremely slow start that turns some people off. But if you enjoy experiencing a long, organic storyline that takes place in an incredibly well crafted world and don't mind spending time to take it all in, I would recommend this game.

Note that this game is the first chapter of Trails in the Sky. If you like the game, you need to finish the second chapter (SC) as well because the story is directly linked. SC literally starts a few hours after the events of this one. It's one long storyline, split into two because they were too long. (You might already know about this one; I just don't want another person complaining that the story feels incomplete when they haven't actually finished it.)

Not to say that gameplay sucks. Unless you're allergic to turn-based combat and doing a fair bit of walking, it should at the very least be interesting.

Finally: the music. Falcom's music team is absolutely on fire (since the 80s in fact!). If you decide to play through the game, the soundtrack will stay with you for a good while.

All the best!

[myhr2]

The sequel, Trails in the Sky Second Chapter, is my favorite J-RPG ever, and this game, Trails in the Sky First Chapter, is basically the first half of a very big game that consists of FC and SC.

What I appreciate the most in a J-RPG is a good story and good characters (to give you a short list of my favorite J-RPGs, in no particular order : FF6, FF7, Chrono Trigger, Grandia 1 and 2, Suikoden 1, 2 and 5, Breath of Fire 4, Golden Sun 1 and 2, Radiant Historia...)

For me, Trails really shines for its world-building and for its characters. Its main protagonist, Estelle, in particular, is somewhat an unusual sight, a strong-but-not-OP teen female, but really all the characters are likable.

If you like a good story, and specifically a good fantasy book, this game is very very good. Some will say that it sometimes goes overboard with the dialogues and the amount of text you have to read...But I like a good book, so it didn't bother me in the slightest.

The gameplay part is also good, while mostly servicable. It has a bit of a tactical edge, and, while I think about it, has quite a few similarities with Grandia 2 : position matters, and you have to mess a little with the turn order. I'd say Grandia's gameplay is a little deeper, but I spent quite a while figuring how I'd equip my party in Trails, and even more so in SC, where things are more balanced and more challenging.

Also, one thing to note is that the rythm is slow, especially in the beginning, but it's the game taking its time to install an atmosphere, and it's really worth it, imo.

So yeah, for me, it was an instant classic in my J-RPG list.

[Blazinfire]

Wow, Thanks for the detailed responses.

I normally would complain about reading lots and lots of dialog, as I'm not much for reading. But I am in the mood for an epic journey of sorts. This was recommended by quite a few people so I wanted to check it out.

I don't have a background with playing games like suikoden, breath of fire, golden sun. But I have played other games like Grandia 2, obviously all of the FF games.

I might check this out :) Also for the second chapter is it better? If this turns out to be great, should I expect more or the same from the second chapter?

[Berahlen]

The long cutscenes are a turnoff for a lot of people, but they're done very, VERY well. This is probably the most elaborate worldbuilding and well-developed characters I've ever seen in a game, and the translation was stellar.

[Blazinfire]

Originally posted by Waypoint:

The long cutscenes are a turnoff for a lot of people, but they're done very, VERY well. This is probably the most elaborate worldbuilding and well-developed characters I've ever seen in a game, and the translation was stellar.

Where does the Cold Steel games come in? Same world, totally different stories? Is Chapter 1 and 2 of trails in the sky a complete story?

[Berahlen]

Trails in the Sky FC and SC are one continuous story -- as was said, they were a single game that had to be broken up due to size. Trails in the Sky the 3rd is being localized right now, and it's a nonessential post-story that deals with the aftermath.

Cold Steel is a separate story afterward in a neighboring country. There's nonessential overlap.

[Arsene Lupin]

Personally I think Trails in the Sky has a lot of problems. It's a great game, owing mostly to having some really solid writing and great characters... but the actual plotting leaves a lot to be desired. There's very little "meat" to the story, as it's almost 100% build-up and foreshadowing for SC.

I consider SC to be the quintessential JRPG masterpiece, and I consider the cast of characters to be among the most interesting, compelling and amusing out there... but you need to realize that FC is really only the prologue to a fantastic game, and not necessarily a fantastic game in and of itself.

That said, if you go into it realizing that it's mostly a light-hearted, character-focused romp you'll be able to appreciate more than if you go into it expecting astonishingly epic JRPG perfection.... FC is almost entirely build-up, which allows SC to be almost entirely pay-off, but the drawback is that FC doesn't quite stand so tall by itself.

If you like RPGs at all, Trails in the Sky and SC fall into the "Absolutely Must Play" tier, alongside Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy IX, Suikoden II, Suikoden V, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, etc.

[Blazinfire]

@Arsene I'm at least hoping the build up is good enough to be interested in starting the Second Chapter. I'm gonna find out :) L

[Berahlen]

Yeah the main thing to remember is that you're not going to walk into some epic story of crystals, and apocalypse, and an empire of darkness or whatever. FC is very up close and personal -- which actually made it better for me because it just felt so much more honest and less pretentious.

[xshinkirox]

yea, i think the game does a great job as a JRPG. if you are used to that kind of game you know that cutscenes are long.. the game is pretty straight foward.. a linear story with a lot of side quests to do. the achievements on this one are pretty hard to do really without a guide. so , the 100% completition might take a while. Is not as skilldemanding as other JRPG i know... that means you probably wont need to stay at a certain location leveling up or anything. You need to know you play it for the story , i am still playing the 1st game but is a good JRPG... if you are into that kind of game , give it a try... Also, it has 8.. but is not a turn down, as the story progresses is easy to rotate them and each char has is unique charm ..

[Blazinfire]

I'm at the very beginning doing the first quest doing my first dungeon. Didn't get a lot of play time in this evening, but I'll have plenty of time through out the weekend to play. Its already starting decent for me, so If the game has a very slow start, I'm excited to see it towards the end already :) Thanks for all the replies!

[animaniac]

I really, really wanted to like it, and I mostly did: the characters are great but the game is very linear, the story is decent but not that deep... but I gave up at the last boss. Not that it's too hard, it's just that the combat system allows for a battle to last for hours. I literally ran out of items at the third round (yes, three rounds of bosses!) and decided I had something better to do for the next two hours.

[Arsene Lupin]

,,,You need to finish the game. Desperately. Use the save editor and give yourself extra items if you need to. The game is brilliantly written, but you can't really understand that utnil you finish the epilogue. There's a big revelation that adds a ton of significance to a lot of stuff you probably dismissed as irrelevant.

Because the story is far from decent, and has much more depth than any other JRPG I can think of--and I've played more than most.

You're really doing yourself an enormous disservice by not finishing. I mean, yeah, the people who give up earlier are arguably missing out on more... but at this point you are less than an hour away from learning what kind of games the Kiseki series *really* are. It'd be a shame never to find out.

[animaniac]

I actually did this 20 minutes ago with cheatengine. Seriously, I wish devs would stop doing these multi-stage (FOUR stages!) difficulty spikes. I would have needed hours of farming and backtracking to beat it the proper way. Else, I would have watched it (begrudgingly) on youtube.

[Berahlen]

Okay, I can see Reverie taking 20 minutes on Nightmare (he is an HP sponge and you can't just spam attack and heals), but that sounds excessive for Normal. You have multiple pieces of gladiator gear and a permanent party member who can regularly hit the whole screen with an armor-penetrating super attack while wearing it, an optional one who can heal + revive the whole party at a moment's notice, and can come into that fight with a party where literally everyone in it can cast White Gehenna and Clock Up EX. I mean he surprised me and strung out my first try with that AOE impede too, but you can react to it by just spreading out.

Action and Cast quartz on everyone, which has been a very good idea throughout the entire game. Spread everyone out to reduce the AOE impede, put up speed buffs, then move together. Keep up Clock Up EX and Morale on everyone, spam Earth Wall for defense (blocks the impede as well as the nastier stuff he uses later), and White Gehenna or Blue Impact for offense depending on whether you can catch multiple targets or not. Focus mainly on the boss and use Black Fang to clear out adds -- only attack them directly if you can hit the boss at the same time, or you slept through the entire last chapter and forgot to put Gladiator on Joshua. Frontload damage and S-crafts because the impedes stop after you take out its first arm. Also remember you can feed people CP food like jellybeans to keep healthy and finish topping off an S-break. Earth Wall does such an amazing job of defense that your healer will be on offense for most of the fight.

Like, this sounds complicated, but it's mostly just putting together bits of strategies you've had an entire game to develop.