Chapter 1 Choice: Is there a Canon Choice?

[Sargon Aelther]

Hi there,

There are many threads asking whether to choose Agate or Schera. I don;t think I've seen anyone ask if there's a canon choice though. So... is there a canon choice? Do future games, like Cold Steel 4 or Reverie ever mention this?

Thanks

[Dr. Rudolf von Richten]

No, there isn't, and it's never mentioned in subsequent games.

That said, I'd argue there are multiple reasons for taking Agate over Schera, from both story and gameplay points of view.

Story:
1): The places you visit, NPC's you meet and characters who join you have more connections to Agate than to Schera. Also, Agate's dialogue with them is more entertaining and interesting.
2): Agate's story arc works better if he's with you in the early parts, while for Schera it doesn't matter.
3): For Estelle, asking Schera to come along is the safe and comfortable choice, while Agate represents the daring and adventurous option. And Estelle's the kind of girl who'd choose daring and adventurous over safe and comfortable any time. :-)

Gameplay:
1): Agate's a fighter, Schera's a caster. you'll get multiple caster to join you early on, so having a fighter as well makes for a more balanced party (and Crafts are better in this game than in FC, at least for the early part of the game).
2): Agate's not just a fighter, he's the best fighter you got (until much later), while Schera is only a decent caster and there will be better ones in your team soon.

Note 1: I could elaborate on all of these points, but I'd be spoiling things too much, so I'd rather not do that.

Note 2: After a couple of chapters, the one you didn't team up with will join anyway, so it's not as if you're locked out of them forever.

Whatever you do, have fun! SC is an amazing game. :-)

[Sargon Aelther]

Originally posted by Dr. Rudolf von Richten:

No, there isn't, and it's never mentioned in subsequent games.

Well you see, someone said that Schera is confirmed canon in a subsequent game, but they refuse to elaborate which one.
[Edit 01] I nagged them into spitting out the name of the game. They said it's Reverie.

Separately, I found one Reddit post that said that Schera is confirmed canon in Reverie... but they did not elaborate and I cannot find any details... Hence my question, hoping someone will either elaborate or debunk it.

Originally posted by Dr. Rudolf von Richten:

Gameplay:
1): Agate's a fighter, Schera's a caster. you'll get multiple caster to join you early on, so having a fighter as well makes for a more balanced party (and Crafts are better in this game than in FC, at least for the early part of the game).
2): Agate's not just a fighter, he's the best fighter you got (until much later), while Schera is only a decent caster and there will be better ones in your team soon.

I've read that there's also a #2.
3) Gendered gear. Having 2 guys and 2 girls means less gear goes to waste. This was certainly true for the end of FC too.

[Dr. Rudolf von Richten]

Originally posted by Sargon Aelther:

Originally posted by Dr. Rudolf von Richten:

No, there isn't, and it's never mentioned in subsequent games.

Well you see, someone said that Schera is confirmed canon in a subsequent game, but they refuse to elaborate which one.
[Edit 01] I nagged them into spitting out the name of the game. They said it's Reverie.

Separately, I found one Reddit post that said that Schera is confirmed canon in Reverie... but they did not elaborate and I cannot find any details... Hence my question, hoping someone will either elaborate or debunk it.

This is nonsense. In Reverie, Schera's presence is related to things that happened in Sky, but not particularly to things that would happen if you bring her along in the first part of Sky SC. Events in FC and the 3rd are the essential preconditions for leading to the Reverie events.

Originally posted by Sargon Aelther:

3) Gendered gear. Having 2 guys and 2 girls means less gear goes to waste. This was certainly true for the end of FC too.

This is true, and bringing Agate makes your party more balanced in this regard as well (though the truly powerful gendered gear comes later in the game, when 'Agate or Schera' is no longer an issue).

[Sargon Aelther]

Originally posted by Dr. Rudolf von Richten:

Originally posted by Sargon Aelther:

Well you see, someone said that Schera is confirmed canon in a subsequent game, but they refuse to elaborate which one.
[Edit 01] I nagged them into spitting out the name of the game. They said it's Reverie.

Separately, I found one Reddit post that said that Schera is confirmed canon in Reverie... but they did not elaborate and I cannot find any details... Hence my question, hoping someone will either elaborate or debunk it.

This is nonsense. In Reverie, Schera's presence is related to things that happened in Sky, but not particularly to things that would happen if you bring her along in the first part of Sky SC. Events in FC and the 3rd are the essential preconditions for leading to the Reverie events.

[Massive Spoiler for future games up to Reverie, proceed at your own risk, whoever is lurking here]

So I did some more digging and it turns out to be true. It's mentioned in casual blink-and-you-miss-it gossip line here: https://youtu.be/DZX3TbMoZLA?t=264
"Though you first met them back when Olivier, Schera, and the others were with you, too, right?"

You know what pissess me off? That line is not even an entirely correct LOL.
1) You meet Cochrane and Crainagh in Grancel when buying tickets with Schera/Agate and neither Olivier nor anyone else is there.

2) If you wanna argue that it's not a proper meeting, then when you do properly meet them, Schera/Agate are STILL not there (Not in the embassies LOL)... Though I guess they mean generally in Grancel and not somewhere else with Anelace.

3) They could have literally replaced Schera with Zin:
"Though you first met them back when Olivier, Zin, and the others were with you, too, right?"
And it would have been both more correct and unspecific to not canonise the choice.
And yes, there is a major spoiler in the very next line. LOL.

[Dr. Rudolf von Richten]

Originally posted by Sargon Aelther:

So I did some more digging and it turns out to be true. It's mentioned in casual blink-and-you-miss-it gossip line here: https://youtu.be/DZX3TbMoZLA?t=264
"Though you first met them back when Olivier, Schera, and the others were with you, too, right?"

You know what pissess me off? That line is not even an entirely correct LOL.
1) You meet Cochrane and Crainagh in Grancel when buying tickets with Schera/Agate and neither Olivier nor anyone else is there.

2) If you wanna argue that it's not a proper meeting, then when you do properly meet them, Schera/Agate are STILL not there (Not in the embassies LOL)... Though I guess they mean generally in Grancel and not somewhere else with Anelace.

3) They could have literally replaced Schera with Zin:
"Though you first met them back when Olivier, Zin, and the others were with you, too, right?"
And it would have been both more correct and unspecific to not canonise the choice.
And yes, there is a major spoiler in the very next line. LOL.

I saw your thread on r/Falcom, so I knew this was coming! ;-)

Since it's such a trowaway line 8 games (and about 14 years) later and actually signifies nothing, I would still advise you to ignore it and go with Agate, for all the reasons I mentioned earlier. :-)

[kundzios]

Agreed, I went with Agate because, to me, it symbolized Estelle's growth as a bracer - what better way of proving yourself is there than working with the guy who was initially super-hostile towards you instead of an honorary big sister?

Not to mention that, if you truly wanted to have a "canon" playthrough, you'd have to ignore a few side quests since at the beginning of CS4 it's mentioned that both Estelle and Joshua are in line for a promotion to A-rank.

[Hat8]

If you play them in order this only comes up like 600 hours from now. You will probably not remember.