Does the gameplay evolve in future title?

[meiam]

I'm maybe half way trough the game and it feel like the game should introduce some new big new gameplay concept but... no its just super simple JRPG gameplay. The quartz system is like a simpler FF7 materia, the link attack are just kinda pointless (they make a big deal of it in the story but it doesn't change how you act in combat) and magic is just regular magic. Do they introduce anything big in future title? Maybe at least let us equip two master quartz or maybe give the various quartz slot some interesting property?

[Koby]

They do introduce new mechanics in each game, but overall it doesn't drastically shift how the system works, it just adds or takes away from it in some ways. And yes, in future titles you can equip main and sub master quartz for extra benefits.

[myhr2]

The combat system improves little by little with each iteration. ToCS 2 doesn't change that much, but adds nice features that complement the system, like forbidden arts quartz. From ToCS 3 onward, there are some bigger changes, with ennemies having "break bars" to deplete in order to put them into a state where they take much more damage, it becomes more of a set-up/pay-off gameplay. And link attacks become much more relevant since they build "Battle Points" that can be spend to gain party buffs that influence the flow of battle a lot.

But in ToCS, the main drive is to create specialized builds, like Eva-tanks, Delayers, CP batteries, offensive spellcaster...

[Dragon]

Originally posted by meiam:

and magic is just regular magic. Do they introduce anything big in future title? Maybe at least let us equip two master quartz or maybe give the various quartz slot some interesting property?

The reason the magic system is terrible in the Cold Steel games, is because Cold Steel 1 is actually the 6th game in the series.

The previous 5 games have much more complex & interesting magic systems (hence you should play those ones if you want a good magic system).

But then Falcom decided greatly to dumb-down the magic system, and hence remove all of its depth & complexity, starting with Cold Steel 1.

They must have been hoping to increase sales by making the newer games more accessible to lowest common denominator players.

And the tradeoff for that is that there is nothing interesting left in the magic system for intelligent players.

For the most part, the gameplay gets worse as the series progresses (or should I say, regresses).

CS3's and CS4's "break system" (it started in CS3) is terrible, because if you play either of those games on the Nightmare difficulty (and maybe Hard too, I'm not sure though), then you actually get penalized for "breaking" the enemies, even though it's supposed to be a reward for having used successful tactics.

And there is no way to avoid breaking them, since the "break health bars" always depletes way faster than their main health bar does.

So in other words, the "break" system punishes you for playing well, under the false pretense that it exists to reward you for playing well (at least on Nightmare difficulty).

It's usually not that big a deal vs. regular enemies, but vs. bosses, it's a huge deal, and makes fighting them become colossally aggravating.

And CS3 and CS4 also removed the very good Overdrive feature from the CS2 game, which was much better than the "break" system is.

As for your statements that "the link attacks are pointless" - I disagree there. They make the gameplay more dynamic & interactive than it was in the previous 5 games before CS1 (all of which don't have link attacks).

In the previous games, you just issue commands and then wait for them to play out, during which time you can do nothing further but watch what happens passively.

But with the link attack system in the CS games, you are given more things to do, and rewarded for paying attention and being "on the ball," as the saying goes.

And also, the benefits of leveling up character links are extremely useful in some cases, like for example, when Rean steps in front of allies to block a hit from any enemy, due to having a high link bond with that ally.

[Koby]

Originally posted by Dragon:

Originally posted by meiam:

and magic is just regular magic. Do they introduce anything big in future title? Maybe at least let us equip two master quartz or maybe give the various quartz slot some interesting property?

The reason the magic system is terrible in the Cold Steel games, is because Cold Steel 1 is actually the 6th game in the series.

The previous 5 games have much more complex & interesting magic systems (hence you should play those ones if you want a good magic system).

But then Falcom decided greatly to dumb-down the magic system, and hence remove all of its depth & complexity, starting with Cold Steel 1.

They must have been hoping to increase sales by making the newer games more accessible to lowest common denominator players.

And the tradeoff for that is that there is nothing interesting left in the magic system for intelligent players.

For the most part, the gameplay gets worse as the series progresses (or should I say, regresses).

CS3's and CS4's "break system" (it started in CS3) is terrible, because if you play either of those games on the Nightmare difficulty (and maybe Hard too, I'm not sure though), then you actually get penalized for "breaking" the enemies, even though it's supposed to be a reward for having used successful tactics.

And there is no way avoid breaking them, since the break bars always depletes way faster than their main health bar.

So in other words, the "break" system punishes you for playing well, under the false pretense that it exists to reward you for playing well (at least on Nightmare difficulty).

And CS3 and CS4 also removed the very good Overdrive feature from the CS2 game, which was much better than the "break" system is.

As for your statements that "the link attacks are pointless" - I disagree there. They make the gameplay more dynamic & interactive than it was in the previous 5 games before CS1 (all of which don't have link attacks).

In the previous games, you just issue commands and wait for them to play out, during which time you can do nothing further but watch what happens passively.

But with the link attack system in the CS games, you are given more things to do, and rewarded for paying attention and being "on the ball," as the saying goes.

And also, the benefits of leveling up character links are extremely useful in some cases, like for example, when Rean steps in front of allies to block a hit from any enemy, due to having a high link bond with that ally.

More Dragon trolling. OP asks if future games have more evolved gameplay and Dragon wants to talk about Sky which is less evolved and completely irrelevant to the OPs question.

Again, we've gone over this a dozen times when it comes to the quartz setup Dragon and you're still crying foul... different does not equal worse. There is nothing "dumbed down or made worse"... In fact I'd argue the opposite, in that it's been simplied, yet refined, and made all around better. I hated the quartz setup of the Sky series.

And if OP already feels the gameplay is too simplified here... he's gonna definitely think Sky is simplified since it's just the same thing with even less mechanics and less refinement.

Also Dragon... Go play the games instead of making up BS claims about the Break system punishing players, lol. I played them on Nightmare and enjoyed the break mechanic and even geared some character setups towards maximizing break damage. Never once experienced what you claim exists... and well we all know you've never played the games by your own admission and you've never purchased the games legally. I don't understand why you, a pirate, feel the need to constantly trash these games you've admitted to not playing and spread incorrect information in an effort to make others think the games are as awful as you make them out to be.

[Dragon]

Originally posted by Koby:

More Dragon trolling.

Again, different does not equal worse.

And if OP already feels the gameplay is too simplified here... he's gonna definitely thing Sky is simplified since it's just the same thing with less mechanics.

Also Dragon... Go play the games instead of making up BS claims about the Break system punishing players, lol.

Literally nothing I said was "trolling." Please stop slandering me.

Different does not always equal worse, but it does in the particular situations which I've described, for the reasons that I explained in great detail.

And I did play the games, hence how I acquired the insight to make my previous post. Nothing I said was "BS."

And no way Sky is "simplified" compared to CS, especially not as it relates to the Orbment system. That assertion is quite ludicrous indeed, and not at all supported by reality.

[Koby]

Originally posted by Dragon:

Originally posted by Koby:

More Dragon trolling.

Again, different does not equal worse.

And if OP already feels the gameplay is too simplified here... he's gonna definitely thing Sky is simplified since it's just the same thing with less mechanics.

Also Dragon... Go play the games instead of making up BS claims about the Break system punishing players, lol.

Literally nothing I said was "trolling." Please stop slandering me.

Different does not always equal worse, but it does in the particular situations which I've described, for the reasons that I explained in great detail.

And I did play the games, hence how I acquired the insight to make my previous post. Nothing I said was "BS."

Facts aren't slandering. You continue to troll, get called out for it, and them play pretend victim.

I'll stop calling you a troll when you stop spreading your silly hatred of the series disguised as misinformation. As long as you continue to troll, people will always call you out for it.

Ah so now you're claiming to have actually played them despite claiming otherwise before when you previously admitted you in fact hadn't played CS3 and based all of your "informative posts" on things you "read from rpgfan? Can't even keep your stories straight man. smh

Originally posted by Dragon:

And no way Sky is "simplified" compared to CS, especially not as it relates to the Orbment system. That assertion is quite ludicrous indeed, and not at all supported by reality.

Please read what I said before trying to say the assertion is ludicrous... because it's clear you failed reading what I actually said.

I never said Sky's orbment system was simplified. I said Cold Steels orbment system was simplified and refined.

What I did say about Sky was the actual gameplay itself is obviously simplified in Sky by the mere fact that there is less mechanics involved as they continue to add to the battle system with newer installments into the franchise.

Hence the fact that if OP feels Cold Steels gameplay is too simple... going backwards is certainly not the answer. You lose the Link system, Break system, Overdrive system, mechas, Burst, Brave Orders, sub-MQs, etc. And before you get confused again, no the orbment system is not "gameplay". Its setup for the gameplay, which is the actual battles.

And again, past games are completely a moot point to begin with when the OP was asking about how the future games evolve. You just always feel the need to insert that Cold Steel can't be played without Sky despite this not being factually true...

[fantasticfox]

I don't know much about the gameplay mechanics in the rest of the Cold Steel series and Reverie, but I know they're switching to an Action RPG format for the upcoming Kuro no Kiseki (what will likely be called Trails of Black or something similar in the US).
But yeah, if the mechanics of Cold Steel feel too simplistic for you, you will not enjoy the mechanics of Trails in the Sky or the Crossbell arc. At least the nice thing about FC and SC is there's quartz to allow you to skip almost every encounter on the world map and you can run away 100% of the time, so you really only need to fight bosses. And if you're underleveled and die, the game makes the battle easier if you retry. :)

[Dr. Rudolf von Richten]

Originally posted by fantasticfox:

I don't know much about the gameplay mechanics in the rest of the Cold Steel series and Reverie, but I know they're switching to an Action RPG format for the upcoming Kuro no Kiseki (what will likely be called Trails of Black or something similar in the US).

They're not switching to an Action RPG format for Kuro no Kiseki. There will be an option to switch between action combat and turn-based combat.