Question about Rank

[Chester]

For anyone who has completed the game already (for Vita and PS I guess) how important is Rank compared to, say, the Sky games? In Sky you had to get literally every possible point to get the highest rank, though most of them were pretty intuitive. Is it the same in Cold Steel? Does getting the highest rank matter very much? Would be possible to realistically get without following a guide?

[HeroDjinn]

well rank can get you some neat stuff, and highest rank gives you an achievement, thats about it

and yes its possible to get the max rank without a guide. just talk to everyone before heading intot the schoolhouse and afterwards, and while away talk to everyone there, cause there are people who have hidden quests that you can miss

[Efesell]

You can miss up to 10 points without missing max rank, so it would be possible but very dicey to get it without some help.

There's a lot of things in this game that you'll just miss without a guide though. This series remains somewhat rotten about incredibly tight window event flags.

[Gianni Tsunami]

You can miss a few points and still get max but i don't remember the exact number of points you can miss. It's not a lot.

And yes it's possible to get without a guide. If you explore each area and talk to all NPCs you will find the hidden quests also make sure you do side quests and complete the objective in practical exams.

If i remember correctly max AP is most important for getting an item in the second game if you transfer your save from this one over. The item is nice at the start but far from mandatory.

[Erpy]

Cold Steel at least is nice enough to give you an AP (the Cold Steel variety of BP) tally at the end of each chapter to see if you missed anything or not. Missed rare books can be bought at the pawn shop in your "home town" at times. So it's similar to Trails in the Sky, but a little bit more forgiving at the same time.