Lets fail run

[Gambio]

Hello There

In Celebration(?) of the recently announced Cold Steel III, i decided to do a Challenge Run of FC

The Rules

Nightmare
New Game
No retry offset(duh)
I have to fail at all Sidequests, if failure is not possible i have to let them expire or not take them at all. When it comes to mandatory stuff i have to make sure to get the lowest amount of Points possible
Grinding is allowed, however i can't aquire Money that way (can't sell Sepith or any Item that drops from random battles)


Aside from the Challenge, this also serves as Dialog hunting, i do intend to take this File in SC afterwards, but i'm not doing an obsessive Talk to everyone kind of Style type of thing this time around. So if you have any interesting NPCS in mind that may have some special Dialog in SC for not doing a Quest or failing free to share them here, i will report my findings back.

I'm going to document my progress here somewhat regularly, so feel free to join in.

Edit: Oh yeah, i won't go out of my way to spoil things, but if something comes up i talk about it, so this Thread may or may not contain Spoilers for FC,SC 3rd, CSI and CSII

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/961983070224854706/E22340EC86722CF46B78743F5A49D1DEEA2F6525/

[Gambio]

Chapter Four begins with some of the worst animated Rain i ever witnessed. It still looks like Kloe gets shot by a Laser everytime

First appearance(on screen) of Mueller

Mueller Vander is a cool Guy, in fact he is much cooler here then he is in Cold Steel. Of course he is the type of Guy that only works in tandem with Olivier.

Oh yeah, and silly Falcom that is not how German Works.



Day 155 comes and with it our next advancement! Rank 6, Baby!

This time we are going to leave via Airship but first we have to take care of a few things


Our Stregas Guy gives us finally a different Reaction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOSvAEN93i0&feature=youtu.be

He takes the whole "sold their highly advanced test Product on the Market" veeery casually



Well, thats it, nothing else to do but to lea...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIi8LJR24uE


Joshuaaaaaaa!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuoRiU56Yt4


We can finish this Sidequest, but interestingly enough Constance doesn't give us the next one. For the reccord, while we can't go the Tratt Road right now, we can after the Scene at the Airport, so technically this Quest would still be solvable

Plotwise of course it makes sense that we don't spend our Time searching for Books at this Point. But hey, a burning Orphanage didn't stop us from pursuing Sidequests either

For the reccord, i still have yet to report any of those Three Quests(and a ton of Monster Extermination Quests) so we're still good!


Airships may be slower then our Airliners, but their Customer Service is waaaay better. You can cancel a Ticket free of Charge? Insane!


And so we leave Zeiss for good, over at Sanktheim Gate, Estelle got a bit moody, which resulted in Troubles with the Guards, luckily the Good Professor is there to bail us out.

That wasn't really needed tough, i mean those Soldiers would have just phoned the Zeiss Guild and we could have been on our way 5 Minutes later, If anything, Alba created more trouble by giving us chances to slip up.

But i guess we have to be thankful and so we take the Prof to Grancel.

This is the first time you learn the Alba is from North Ambria, something that won't matter for a long time and most Players easily forget.

[[Z.E.] Gri-49]

Originally posted by Gambio:

This is the first time you learn the Alba is from North Ambria, something that won't matter for a long time and most Players easily forget.

Well, you got me there. I really forgot that part. Kinda fitting that he get killed by the Salt Pale.

[󠀡󠀡󠀡⁧⁧the.jester]

I've not played Sky 3rd Chapter yet, I'm assuming this is something that covered within that game?

[[Z.E.] Gri-49]

Originally posted by the.jester:

I've not played Sky 3rd Chapter yet, I'm assuming this is something that covered within that game?

Well, there's a Star Door (small optinal cutscene) about the Salt Pale incident. What I mention is one of the last scene in SC.

[Gambio]

Originally posted by Z.E. Gri-49:

Originally posted by Gambio:

This is the first time you learn the Alba is from North Ambria, something that won't matter for a long time and most Players easily forget.

Well, you got me there. I really forgot that part. Kinda fitting that he get killed by the Salt Pale.

Yep, the Septian Church apparently really likes their ironic executions

Originally posted by the.jester:

I've not played Sky 3rd Chapter yet, I'm assuming this is something that covered within that game?

Just as a reminder: I might spoil stuff in this Thread from the Sky Trilogy and Cold Steel I and II

[󠀡󠀡󠀡⁧⁧the.jester]

Thanks for that, although I have completed Sky FC, SC, CSI and CSII so far. It's just sky 3rd which I haven't yet played as from reading about it, it seemed to be much more of a dungeon crawler. I guess I'll have to work my way to it at some point.

[Gambio]

Originally posted by the.jester:

Thanks for that, although I have completed Sky FC, SC, CSI and CSII so far. It's just sky 3rd which I haven't yet played as from reading about it, it seemed to be much more of a dungeon crawler. I guess I'll have to work my way to it at some point.

Yeah, The 3rd is most certainly the outlier in the Trails Series. People either call it the greatest game of the Series or they absolutely hate it, Its a matter of taste

What it does provide is a wealth of Worldbuilding plus Foreshadowing for the later Games. Playing it after Cold Steel is quite enjoyable in that sense.

[[Z.E.] Gri-49]

Originally posted by the.jester:

Thanks for that, although I have completed Sky FC, SC, CSI and CSII so far. It's just sky 3rd which I haven't yet played as from reading about it, it seemed to be much more of a dungeon crawler. I guess I'll have to work my way to it at some point.

I don't want to post too many posts on this tread, but let me give you some warning about 3rd:

As I said, they are some optional door that shows you some cutscene. Some of them are cool, some of them are VERY important, some of them are very boring.

They're are 3 type:
Moon: Long cutscene (15m-40m). The first one doesn't allow you to save, force you to enter it,
last 40m and for me it was one of the most borring ones.
Star: Short cutscene (5m-10m). Some are very important.
Sun: Mini-games. Those are usually fun.

Altough they are optional, they give reward that might help you on higher difficulty.

The dungeon are fine (nothing groundbreaking for the Trails series). But be sure to switch you're party often. Some of the bigger dungeon are divided into smaller section, use this moment to switch party. You'll be very sorry if you keep the same party all the time.

[Gambio]

Alba tried his best to get us into Trouble, but i did a sweep of Erbe Scenic Route. I probably could do the Treasure Chests now, but given that Alba dies in one Hit, it would just be a matter of Going for a 200 CP Black Fang


The Scenic Route would probably be a very nice place to take walks if it weren't for the Bloodthirsty Monsters all around.

I be honest, i kinda wish they weren't around. Grancel is a fully enclosed high security Area and there are Benches and Monuments everywhere clearly indicating that this is a place for recreation, so how come those Monsters are here?

Sure, of course you have to suspend your sense of disbelief when it comes to such things in Videogames, its just that Trails usually does a fantastic Job of keeping them to a Minimum, so stuff like this sticks out

Grancel is of course a huge sprawling City, if you want to do the whole "talk to everyone" thing this is the Final Boss. I could spend pages upon pages detailing the interesting NPC's here but i'm going to focus on the overall atmosphere.

During our Stay in Grancel we see how things progressivly get Worse. For now the Arseille has been grounded and People working in the Grancel Government where told to stay at home.

Of course the Royal Guards turned Terrorist is on everyones Mind, but the Martial Arts Competition and the Birthday Celebration still hold more sway. Overall the Atmosphere is pretty festive

Over at the Guild we meet Elnan and the Bracer Gang

Kurt is the only one from them we didn't meet and screw Kurt. He is awful! And in case you were getting tired about me talking about Dorothy all the time, fear not, from now i will also obsess about how much of a screw up Kurt is.


We head over to Grancel Castle and the two Front Guards are just precious. One would think you want the Soldiers guarding the Front Entrance of your Castle, to be extremly competent and professional, but they just happily talk about probably highly confidental stuff.



The Bracer Couple is Level 24

[Gambio]

Time for some Arena Matches

We do get some Gameplay Reasons for the Monsters outside Grancel. We need to pay 1000 Mira for the Tickets, so with no Method to gaining Money this could technically softlock the Player

I actually forgot about this, but thankfully Money isn't quite an Issue for me anymore.

We have the Bracer Gang beat up some Military Chumps and win effortlessly. Kurt doesn't do anything except Spell Buff and then gets the glory of finishing off the final opponent. Kuuuuuuurt!

Zin fights the Ravens and that Damage is Cute, He took about ten times as much back at the Limestone Cave. Proof that Penguins>Ravens

I really like those Matches. Tournament Arcs in Video Games are always fun and this one is no Exception.

But of course watching is less fun then participating and thanks to the Duke we now have a perfect opportunity to win us a Ticket in the Castle. (I can only imagine what a Headache Dunan must be for Richard. )

But for that we must first find Zin. He likes to drink so lets check the Bars

We don't find Zin in the Bar but Olivier, it didn't end well.


https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/972119697193961233/BEE6640AE531A90C8201BA55213A7FFDC2F13908/

In case you didn't notice, Olivier likes to quote song lyrics in his Dialog

I'm not sure if this is the reference to it, but its totally something Olivier would perform:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWqJTKdznaM


This Scene is actually not optional You can go to the Embassy before the Bar, but if you try to leave Grancel Joshua prevents you

We actually run into some more Time Shenanigans here. According to the Manager over at the Hotel we can't check in because it isn't 3 P.M yet.


Considering that we took the Treck from Zeiss to Grancel(which takes an Hour by Airship) had Coffee with Alba, investigated the Castle, watched the Arena Matches, searched for Zin and had Coffee with Olivier, thats extremly unlikely.

I would love to say inbetween all these Events a Day passed, but plotwise that would make no sense at all. So Shenanigans i say!

Anyway, we search for Zin and find a Nun.

Julia is really committed to her Role, which is probably a good thing, given how close the ID is.

The Fight here is actually slightly troublesome. First, there are two Fights so you can't just Black Fang your Way trough it.

Nun-Julia goes down with two Hits, and your Bracers not much more.

I got trough it on my first try(White Gehenna fills up the CP Bar tremendously with that much Enemies) but i can see how you could spend quite a bit of time here, if the RNG isn't in your Favor.


Regardless, we found Zin. He appears to be quite smitten with the Nun.

I said it already, and i say it again. Zin is quite well rounded in FC. He likes to Drink and he likes Women. He isn't just a straight laced Martial Artist as SC portrays him.

After that the Game pretty much railroads us into the Hotel and we turn in for the Night.

I spend quite a lot of time, talking to the NPCs and man, despite having talked to them all already, there is just so much stuff going on. Those NPC's aren't just staying at one Place, they love to Travel and i just noticed for the first time that the Inkeeper from Manoria is here with her Daughter. Of course there are plenty of other reoccuring NPC's which i have no Clue from where they actually are. Like we have two Women in the Hotel talking about one of them broke up with her Boyfriend because he was kind of a Jerk, i'm sure that Plotline was somewhere in the Game, but i have no idea where. Of course i could just wiki it, but where is the fun in that?


Estelle is level 24
Joshua is Level 25
Olivier is Level 30
Zin is Level 33

[Gambio]

Its a brand new Tomorrow. Day 156 opens with Zin and Olivier joining back up with Estelle and Joshua in the Hotel Lobby

I really like the chemistry these four Characters have going on. I mean the same can be said for most Party Compositions, but the whole Tournament Arc as a nice Vacation feeling to it.

But before we can hit up the Arena its time to take care of a couple of Chests

Kurt lounges around very conspicuously at Grancels Entrance. He tells us he is hard at Work for the Guild but i bet he just stands around like the lazy Bum he is.

I like to use this Opportunity to talk about a rather underutilised Strategy of Trails: Taunting

Now most People ignore this and for good Cause. In lower difficulty settings its just not needed and on Hard or Nightmare Taunting can get you killed very fast. Its at best an extremly situational Move

However, at this Point in the game, thanks to Zins Level its extremly potent.


I illustrate it with a Chest Battle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5M4dwt-4mM


After we took care of the Monsters at Erbe Scenic Route its finally time to hit the Arena. We have four exciting Matches lined up for Today!

The Bracer Gang vs some Army Chumps!
The Capua Familiy vs some Army Chumps!
The Intelligence Division vs some Army Chumps!

Impossible to guess who is going to win each Bout!


While i would have wished for a bit more variety, this makes perfect sense Plotwise. With the sudden Change from 1 to 4 Player matches, most Participants had to withdraw. The Army of course has the ressources to quickly arrange multiple times, so its no wonder they are so frequent in the Lists.

But lets focus on our Match shall we?

The rematch against the Raven is somewhat infamous. They aren't strong, just extremly annoying, they can revive their Members up to full Health and have a Deathblow Move they use when on low Health. To make matters worse, they have a huge HP Pools and are Tanks. All of those Problems are of course multiplied on Nightmare.

You can go for Chaos Brand but since you have to juggle three Enemies, this is somewhat tough. Mess up and you might have one of the Goons just heal a downed Member to full.

Taunt comes for the Rescue! Taunt holds up for a long time, it also ensures the Ravens are all crowded together, making it easy to apply Damage, Just make sure your S-Crafts are ready so you can finish them off at the same time.

If you want to see an extremly drawn out and boring Match by all means be my Guest. It did get somewhat messy towards the End.


Part I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMtRI25xokM
Part II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWAFhHoJ49I

So far i have yet to upgrade my Equipment. I try to withold it as long as i can, just as a precaution. From the remaining two Arena Matches i only expect the one against the Bracer Gang to give me any Trouble but we shall see.

Estelle is Level 25
Joshua is Level 26

[Gambio]

Before we turn in for the Night we have a nice Dinner with Nial, apparently the ID has now begun censoring the LIberl News. At least its not as absurd as the blatant Propaganda in the Imperial Chronicles

I was wondering tough, was that phrasing here intentional?

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/1009274669536569890/7CBDC093D17351C4BC713E980B6105F52CB4B1E6/


And thus starts Day 157,the Semi Finals, but before that lets delve into everyones favorite Dungen; The Grancel Sewers

Nobody likes Sewer Dungeons in RPG's and this one is no exception.

Still, as long as you remain calm and pay attention to your surroundings it not that bad. Atleast for now, It is admittedly very easy to get lost, as it has happen to me as well on earlier playtroughs

The enemies are rather simple. Just smack the Talismans on your Team and enjoy the Carnage. Great XP as well. I could have grinded a bit, but ultimately just ended up getting one Level for Estelle and Joshua

Ready(?) for our Fight we head over to the Arena

Quick shot out to Godfrey, who can always be found standing in front of the Arena and keep guessing the wrong time to win. Lets hope he didn't bet anything.

In the Arena we meet Dorothy again, she welcomes us with yet another strange line

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1668984323

Don't get me wrong. It does make sense in Context, since she witnessed us infiltrating Leiston Fortress, but the phrasing yet again has religious Undertones


We meet the Capuas again in the Locker Room. Duke Dunan in best Gladiator fashion decided to have some Fun with his Prisoners. If they fight well their sentence will be Lighter. Wonderful Justice System he has going on there.

I also love how Olivier and Zin are constantly kept out of the Loop on what was really going on I mean i understand Olivier but they probably could have shared their Story with Zin, him beeing a fellow Bracer and all.


But our Turn comes first, we face off against the Bracer Gang


Part I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e64khHC1zE
Part II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR8SJrUk4OQ


I was expecting this Fight to give me a bit of Trouble and boy was i wrong. I almost feel bad for using Taunt and Chaos Brand. But then again, i was up against Kurt and that Bastard deserves no Mercy whatsoever

Back in the Locker Room Joshua encourages Josette and opens a whole Can of Worms. Good Going Buddy

Fun (obvious) Fact:Estelle is the only Person in this Locker Room thats actually from Liberl


The Capuas get of course slaughtered, but i really like how these Fights are used to teach the Player what to prepare for. Don gets fainted, so better prepare accordingly

The Capuas also have the misfortune of beeing escorted by the most dickish Soldiers in the Liberlian Army.

40.000 Mira more in the Bank. Still yet to upgrade anyones Equipment.


Estelle is Level 27
Joshua is Level 28

[[Z.E.] Gri-49]

Geez, why the sudden hate for Kurt? Has he done something to deserve this?

Edit:

Be calm as ocean wave

[EdgarAllenSwole]

I assume that's the Second Chapter PTSD talking.

[Gambio]

Originally posted by Z.E. Gri-49:

Geez, why the sudden hate for Kurt? Has he done something to deserve this?

Edit:

Be calm as ocean wave

Ocean Waves are some of the most Stormy Waves out there. They are the opposite of Calm. And don't get me started on "Become Hard as Steel"

Even Kurts Analogies Suck!

Originally posted by EdgarAllenSwole:

I assume that's the Second Chapter PTSD talking.

I-its not like i had to redo the entire Prologue of SC once, because i couldn't beat a certain Boss. Don't misunderstand!



The Match may be over, but we have a lot of Stuff left to do today


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1669738872

I just had to screenshot that Line. There was no reason for the Game to include Estelle stumbling over her Spelling like this. Its not a common thing, its not part of her Character so to speak, and it most certainly doesn't add anything to the Plot. Its just there because, hey this is an optional Scene, so might as well flesh it out a bit.

I feel like its things ike these that really elevates Sky's Writing.


Over at the Liberl News Nial gives us the Scoop on our Enemies. I don't have too much to say here, except that Kanone means Cannon in German.

Oh yeah and i did google "Belgar" it apears that is a common fantasy name that appeared in numerous works, but i didn't find any Origins,so it looks like its just Generic enough that Writers who have to come up tons of Names like to use it (as an amateur writer myself i can relate)

If someone has any idea why Loewe choose that Alias feel free to clue me in.

We get escorted back to the Hotel, and let me disgress a little

I always found it slightly odd, that Hotels in Trails had plenty of rooms and yet there are barely ever any People in it. It took me way too long to realise that there aren't any People in there, beause Guests obviously don't stay in their Hotel Room during the Day. In the Evening they are almost always filled up.


Our Room however appears to have been tempered with and so we decide to go the Cathedral

Patrols have increased a great Deal since this Afternoon and its time for some Stealth Action. Of course i let myself getting caught multiple Times.

Make sure to do a sidetrip to the Airport to grab the second to last Volume of Carnelia.(Seriously Game that one is just Evil)

After finally reaching the Cathedral we got welcomed by none other then Julia, and Julia without her Hat just looks wrong. She goes from quite good looking to "that weird Aunt"

The next scene is rather important.

This is the first time we actually see Joshua laughing. He also promises Estelle to tell her everything once all of this is over and unlike every other fictional Character ever actually makes Good on that Promise. Of course the location here is choosen completly intentional. Joshua goes trough a lot of Emotion in that small Rest Area

He also drops this little Line:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1669755170


This pretty much denies Dorothys entire Existence.