Trails in the Sky SC Review! - The Game Collection!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
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Welcome back to The Game Collection! I thoroughly enjoyed my time with The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky First Chapter a few months back. Trails in the Sky SC is a direct sequel, so this review may contain very mild spoilers for First Chapter, except for one point where I’ll give you a proper warning. So be forewarned. Anyway, Trails in the Sky FC ended on quite the little cliffhanger! Naturally, it was only going to be a matter of time before I’d return to the series to pick up where the story left off. I am SuperDerek, and this is The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC!
Following the underwhelming sales figures of Trails in the Sky FC, the future of the series was hanging rather precariously in the West. Pairing that with the cliffhanger ending of First Chapter, Western fans waited with baited breath for The Second Chapter. In 2015, four whole years after the release of First Chapter, we received our follow-up on the PlayStation Portable.
Meanwhile I could barely hold off for four whole months before diving back in. To the original fans from 2011, I salute you. But was Second Chapter worth the wait? Well, if the legions of dedicated fans today are any indication: Yes. Yes it was. Very much so.
I’m about to talk briefly about the beginning of the story of Trails in the Sky SC a little bit, which ties into the end-game events of the First Chapter. This will contain spoilers for the end of Trails in the Sky First Chapter, so if you are avoiding those spoilers, skip ahead to this time stamp. I’ll wait…
#trailsintheskysc #jrpg #review
This is literally my childhood, I play this game and the FC longer and more times than any other games I won, I still play it even today, over 8 years since I've first started
This game is 1 of many reasons why Falcom Games is best dev.
Along with Ys.
They games in graphics may not be the best, but the story, character development, music and everything else is just GOD tier
They games in graphics may not be the best, but the story, character development, music and everything else is just GOD tier
@@amel_lemouri graphic design is awesome thought, Ordis is really beautiful, and yet, this could run easily on a xbox 360.
@@ct2651 i really love the character design is so pretty!
Played every english released game in the series + Crossbell arc with fan translation (very good, perfect job) , and i can clearly say this series has some of the best world building i have ever seen in entertaiment medium (played skyrim, Dragon Age , i have read toons of books but nothing compare with The Legend Of Heroes)
What platform did u play it on
@@gyanvarshnay8053 PC
Ok
Couldn’t agree more with you mate. If there is one thing i can thank lockdown for, it’s bringing this beautiful series to my attention after i went looking for games online and found the sky games. Been hooked ever since
There is a sidequest here in SC that really makes me think how awesome the world building here. It includes the mayor of a certain town and her assistant. 😀
The one with Lila's past? That was the best sidequest
I was pleasantly surprised to see Lila again in Kuro no Kiseki 2 lol
Honestly I have never thought of the Legend of Heroes series (sky and current arcs) as games, but full fledged worlds I could get lost in and live in. Can’t wait for Cold Steel 4!
The journey has only just begun. Now onto the 3rd
You got it! But I've got one game standing in my way first... >.>
7 more games to go
I just finished this trilogy. Now im just starting the trails from zero. This trails series is so awesome
I personally loved the 3rd. Made Kevin into one of my favorite characters.
Andrew Baghai I felt very mixed feelings after beating the game yesterday though it was overall positive. I just finished zero’s prologue and I’m already way more into it than 3. I think it has something to do with it being just a bunch of dungeons and without the doors, I would not have made it through the game.
Still my favorite in the whole series. Ao no Kiseki is a close second.
I think Ao runs laps around SC, honestly. And I only just played Zero and Ao for the first time a few months ago right after replaying the Sky games. Then again, I’m definitely one who thinks that the Sky games are a bit overhyped within the fan base, as great as they are. Whereas I think the Crossbell duology, if anything, is somehow underhyped despite how beloved it is. And both put Cold Steel to shame, even though I really enjoy the CS games as well and can’t wait for 4.
I'm ready for Trails Of Cold Steel 4 coming this Month 😊
If you liked Kevin's character, you will love Sky the 3rd. Also, it has the darkest scenes of the Trails Series (star door 15 isn't a fan favorite for nothing), and tie most of the loose ends of the Liberl plot. While introducing new plot elements for the next few arcs, obviously.
just finished trails the third yesterday and I DIDNT expect it to get THIS dark. The Contrast to the Cold Steel games is so huge lol. I only played CS 1 so far and plan on playing CS 2 next week, but compared to the rest of the series Cold Steel 1 was pretty mediocre. Maybe thats just me but i found the sprites to have much more expression then the stiff 3d models and the characters just didnt draw me in like in the Sky 1
@@Realag666 yeah, cold steel 1 and 2 are the series' lowpoints, mainly in the writing department, 3's a pretty good step back in the right direction though
3rd probably has the darkest shit I've ever seen in a game
@@flyebynight2146 If CS 1&2 are low points then all the other games must be masterpieces. (I really loved CS 1&2)
@@zacarybruner2600 I don't have much of a problem with most of CS1, it's mostly how Rean is such a big step down as a main character compared to the first three MC's. As well as there being too many characters in class 7, with each individually not getting enough screentime, the biggest example being Gaius, outside of the Nord Highlands trip he doesn't get any more time for characterization. As for CS2, the whole civil war was handled very poorly, and barely felt like there was a war going on at all outside of what happened with Celdic. And this is more of a personal pet peeve, but the whole "you made me use 10% of my power" shtick (especially with McBurn) was overly prevelant. As well as (especially in the final dungeon) the "stronger, more experienced character appears at the very last second to save you against an opponent you have no chance against" trope, which again, is more of a pet peeve of mine rather than anything just outright bad. And the two problems I have with ALL of the Cold Steel games, 3 and 4 included, and something that unfortunately seems like it's here to stay is the dumbing down of the quartz system, and the bonding points. In a game DRIVEN by its story and characters, a mechanic that exists solely to restrict the amount of information and characterization we get for each of the characters is completely counterintuitive.
FC + SC are basically two halves of one game...at least story-wise!
Completed Trails from Zero, waiting for the Geofont translation for Azure. I have Cold Steel 1-3 on shelf and 4 pre-ordered. No way I'm skipping any game in this series, even if I have to wait for a decent translation.
I have 600 hours on this trilogy. Writing in this series is just something that I never experienced anywhere else. Crossbell arc is better in story department and character chemistry, but Liberl arc had the best character driven story and character arcs I have ever witnessed in my life. Sky trilogy has impressed me so much that I can barely enjoy other games. Please send help.
No help needed, because that's it, it's the best saga ever. I'm currently playing some last games that I wanted to play before playing the Crossbell ark, who will be the last jrpg that I play lol
Big thanks for the spoiler-free timestamp.
*claps* well done derek! FC makes you raise an eye brow to the series, and SC makes you free fall all the way into it. We did it guys! Derek is hooked now, cant wait to hear thoughts on the other games!
Absolutely adore this series and this game in particular and I'm glad to see you loved it too
Always great to see these games getting the credit they deserve
I'm honestly currently taking a break from Trails From Azure's final few hours to watch this. What's wrong with me? It's like I'm chain-smoking Trails.
Oh, and I'm glad you made a solid minute and a half of the review into just a love letter to Olivier sort of segment. Well done.
LMAO! I was editing my review together, and threw that clip in with his entrance... and I just knew I had to give Olivier the stage at that moment. xD
The last section of Azure is epic AF. I hope you enjoy.
you playing in english? is trails of azure translation complete and okay?
@@buraddrama6899 Actually I think it is better than Zero, I had no issue with it, but english is not my native language. Zero had some pretty serious issues when I played it, but it is probably fixed now.
@@buraddrama6899 There's a fan translation that isn't the one GeoFront has been working on that is pretty good but doesn't compare to the quality of GeoFront's Zero translation and especially not to the xseed localizations.
I actually picked this up on PSP not too long after it came out. I just thought it was wild getting a PSP release two years after the PS4 was out xD
I really need to buckle down and play through these games, they look so fun
Excellent review! Thanks for the spoiler warning. I’m working my way thru FC now. Cant wait for SC. Keep up the stellar videos.
I remember you said FC reminded you of Grandia. Although I feel the same about FC, this is the game that convinced me this series is something beyond that. It's a masterpiece.
I have been suffering through SC off and on for the last year. I like the first trails game quite a bit, but SC, not so much. Going through all the same environments and all the same side missions, with the same basic hunts is not fun. Hated that I had to wait 3/4 of the way through the game to get my homie Joshua back. I did make some mistakes that have hindered my expierience. Do not play PSP/Vita version. PC looks better, can be sped up and probably can change difficulty once started. I thought I was cool at the beginning of SC and chose hard, and yes the game is tough as nails on hard. The difficulty cannot be changed once selected. I dunno. Gnna finish it, I'm in chapter 8, I'll probably end up enjoying the game but man.... It's been a slog.
one of the best jrpg series i played so far. temporarily stopped on the half way of Cold steel 1 waiting for the Geofront translation of Trails to Azure.
Love when ppl glorify Japanese voice overs when they know jack about the Japanese language/culture/nuance. Its just a trendy thing the "cool" kids do these days.
Olivier is such a character XD
This is my favorite game of all time
Awesome! I still need to play this game - I loved the first game
This is honestly my favorite rpg and probably my favorite game of all time.
An excellent review of an excellent game
Anelace...wish I could play her more.
Guess I have to wait till I reach 3rd.
I was going through the 3rd game, but had to stop half way through. Need to get back to it and finish it.
I've been agonisingly waiting for Cold Steel IV. I'm not sure if I'll wait for it's PS4 release, or wait the whole time for PC like how I played every other game in the series.
I've become too used to having the turbo button. I think I'd wait for the PC release. I'm on CSII right now and loving it.
@@boltinabottle6307 I've yet to play CS4, but CS3 on PS4 has a turbo function.
Have to say, I can barely read a book for 30 minutes, but the writing + music in the Sky games is so good for me, it makes up for that.
I finished up FC in about 90 hours a few months ago and throughly enjoyed it. It’s in my top 10 RPGs. Started up SC and am about a dozen in and now regretting not knowing about the voice patch. I feel like I missed out on so much.
Well not exactly returning to the kingdom of liberl but I’ll leave that mysterious statement up to your interpretation
This is such a great review. And I completely agree about the voices. To me, voice acting is very important in story based games. It brings the characters and the emotions to life in a huge way. I need to figure out how to get those voices into my Steam copies, and my copy of Zero.
I left the first Trails in the Sky PSP in the box for like 2 years, just never bothered. Once I finally started, holy cow. What a stupid awesome game that was. Can't wait to spin up SC!
Always enjoy seeing what games earn a new spot in the ‘Game Collection’.
Plus, the intro and outro theatrics of your review series never gets old. 😋
P.S. - Your studio decor looks great! 👌🏻
Because no one asked, here's my rankings for every Trails western release:
Trails In The Sky: 8/10
Trails In The Sky SC: 9/10
Trails In The Sky The Third: 8/10
Trails Of Cold Steel: 9/10
Trails Of Cold steel II: 9/10
Trails Of Cold Steel III: 10/10
These games just don't fail. They just don't. Hoping beyond hope we get an official Trails From Zero/To Azure PS4/5 release.
Trails In The Sky: 8/10
Trails In The Sky SC: 9/10
Trails In The Sky The Third: 7/10
Trails Of Cold Steel: 9/10
Trails Of Cold steel II: 6.5/10
Trails Of Cold Steel III: ??/10
Just finished Cold Steel 2 last week...will give it break before diving into CS3 (I'll have to wait on CS4 regardless so no rush). I'm glad to see your score of CS3 is so great because CS2 leaves me slightly concerned. It was certainly fun...the most fun game of the franchise to play through in fact...but it was also the least impactful from a story/character development standpoint and easily the one that will stick with me the least out of those I've played.
I love that I've discovered this franchise though. It makes me wonder what other hidden gem franchises I've missed on Steam. I'm typically only playing bigger name ones like Final Fantasy, Tales of _____, and Bioware RPGs. Is it finally time to deep dive into the ocean of Atelier games or something else that's lesser known like Trails? If you happen to have a recommendation I'm all ears.
@@rogerbabin8175
My rating for the Trails games(that I've played so far)
Sky FC: 9/10
Sky SC: 9.5/10
Sky 3rd:8/10
CS1: 8/10
CS2: 8.5/10
CS3: 9.5/10
I wish that Zero/Ao were officially localized as well, but I have played a bit of Geofront's fan translation for Zero and I think it's excellent.
Anyways, if you're okay with RPGs available on Playstation consoles, then I have several I can recommend:
Ys (I doubt I have to tell you about these games, but just in case... they are also made by Falcom, and you can get quite a few on Steam and the various Playstation consoles. My absolute favorite Ys game is Ys VIII, so if you haven't played it yet, I highly recommend it)
- Suikoden (You can get 1, 2, 3 and 4 digitally for the PS3 - an amazing series of RPGs that have an interconnected world like Trails does... or perhaps it's more accurate to say that Trails has an interconnected world like Suikoden, since Suikoden came first)
- Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (I've never played this version, but you can get it digitally for the PSP/Vita - The PS1 version is the one I played, and yes it's good. If you have a PS1 or PS3 and can afford a physical copy of Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, then that game is also good)
- Guided Fate Paradox (A Rogue-like RPG with an interesting premise, you can get it digitally for the PS3. Even if you have no interest in the game itself, try watching the opening. I think this is a really fun game, and it sometimes goes on sale for around $5, so you may want to keep an eye out on it)
- .hack GU: Last Recode (Available on the PS4 and PC, this is a remaster of PS2 games that were bundled into a collection. It includes 3 full games and a sort of bonus epilogue made specifically for the remaster. I think they are worth experiencing simply because of how weird the premise is)
- Star Ocean (You can get a remake of the first game, a port of the third game, and a remaster of the fourth game all digitally on the PS4. You can also get the fifth game on the PS4 as well, but I wouldn't recommend it. The others... well, I'd watch videos first, but I think the third and fourth games were fun for the most part. The remaster of the fourth Star Ocean game is also available on the PC)
- Rune Factory (Well, technically Rune Factory Tides of Destiny is the only one that is available on the Playstation platform, which you can get for the PS3. Anyways, I'd still say it is worth looking into)
Unfortunately, I rarely play games on the PC(in fact, the Sky trilogy is one of the few exceptions). So I don't really have a good grasp on RPGs that you can play on the PC. That said, I tried to include a wide variety of interesting RPGs available on the Playstation that you may not have played before. There are other people out there who will be able to recommend you PC RPGs, but this is the best I can do off the top of my head. At least some of these are available on the PC, lol.
@@drakenstoc4885 I appreciate the time. Unfortunately I do not have a good console setup so I'm limited to PC. That said I believe some of these have been ported to PC in time.
I've definitely played a couple of the very early Ys games and found them 'okay'. I enjoyed the unique but quick flow of combat and hated the dungeon design as they were overly massive and complex for my liking. I can only assume the Ys game you recommended learned a lot from Ys 1&2 and Ys Oath in Falghana.
I've seen .hack games on PC so they could be worth looking into as well. The others I'd have to look up to see if they are console exclusive or not.
@@rogerbabin8175 It's kind of hard to explain, but Ys VIII is both bigger than any Ys game that came before it, yet it is also more accommodating to the player despite that. Basically, there are some big areas/dungeons.
However, the game gives you a lot of warp points(and by "a lot" I mean a TON of them), and dungeons/areas outside of dungeons are typically linear with branching paths occasionally appearing, yet the game usually forces you to take a specific path first anyways until you can clear the other at a later time. Also, the maps are designed really well for each area, and there is even a list that tells you whether or not you're missing anything in a specific area/dungeon. So I'd say it has the right balance/mix of exploration without being overbearing. But that is just my opinion.
I recommend watching reviews/gameplay videos of it simply to see if it looks like something you would enjoy, because I really do believe it's an excellent game worth trying.
As for .hack, I don't know if there is a demo for it on the PC, but if there is then I suggest trying it first(supposedly there is a demo for it on the PS4, lol). Or, again, watch a review/some gameplay videos of it. Those games can be an acquired taste for some people, but I recommended it anyways because I still think they are interesting/fun games.
As I said before, most of the other games I listed are for consoles. I was surprised to see that Star Ocean: The Last Hope(which is the fourth Star Ocean game) is available on the PC. The Star Ocean games are closer to Tales of in terms of gameplay, which is why I recommended it to you.
It's a shame that you don't have a PS3. Suikoden is, in my opinion, one of the best JRPG series out there... so I'll be blunt by saying that you're missing out on that one(I can always hope that Konami ports them to Steam eventually, lol).
I imagine that you've already played Persona 4 Golden, but if you haven't... well, that's available on Steam too. Just throwing that out there in case you don't know about it, lol.
My ratings:
Trails in the Sky FC: 9/10
Trails of Cold Steel I: 8/10
Trails in the Sky SC: 100/10
Why did I put Cold steel I in between FC and SC? Because I finished Cold Steel I before SC
Thank you for this high quality review and the Olivier goodness!
This is one of my favourite games of all time, only the pacing can get very slow at some moments.
Come on NISA, time for Crossbell!
I played the 3rd at first, and i liked the game so much that i had to play FC, SC, 3rd (again), zero, and now i am half way through Ao. if i have to pick my favorite so far i would say SC.
The best game in entire trails series in my opinion with trails of azure just slightly behind it :)
I been playing the 1° one now Super Derek...
Great game!
That's great! I hope you're having as good a time as I did! :D
My favorite game in the series. I laughed, I got tense, I got emotional, I almost shed a tear here and there.
I could've watched a full video of that Olivier tribute
I'm playing through Hajimari no Kiseki at the moment, very fun.
This is the series that Nate keeps bugging me to play. I got FC on Steam. Maybe, just maybe, I will indulge him one day.
Or I will continue to refuse just to give Nate...THE BUSINESS
Also can't wait until life allows me the time to play the crossbell arc!
I almost fear to start this series (played TOCS1 and part of 2 only so far but want to start at the beginning). It's so big and I have so little time! And TOCS4 is behind the corner and Hajimari is awaiting too...
Know that playing Coldsteel 3 and 4 will spoil both Trails in the sky 1-3 and Zero and Azure in a major way.
Trails is truly the continuation of the great legacy of the SNES RPGS
OMG, I just finished this game and had no idea there was a voice over mod. It should've been included in the main PC port!
I played through on easy to cut my play through down time to about 52 hours. I just did last month and loved it. I play rpgs for the story and characters so I don’t mind blasting through the monotonous side of this genre.
Im sure people have mentioned it before, but Sky 3rd is a big departure from the first two games, turning into much more of a straight dungeon crawler with bursts of story within. It also sets up the entire rest of the series through a narrative device that I really don’t want to spoil. Despite the more-gameplay focused direction, though, the story that is there is absolutely fantastic, with some incredibly power (and deeply horrific) moments within. It’s a pretty divisive game in the fan base, with some declaring it one of the best while others saying it’s one of the worst. I’m more in the former camp, but you do just need to be open minded toward its different approach.
I just beat it and it took me 130 hours and I was suffering through but I beat it but not to 100% and I forgot about the mod it's definitely the longest interactive book and I loved it
Just finished Trails FC... and I'm certainly not finished with my journey! :)
I have to say, the third is very different. Any plans on reviewing Trails of Zero and Trails of Azure?
You bet!
Cant wait til you get to Sky the 3rd and the Crossbell arc!! Great review Derek :)
by the time you beat Trails in the sky TC, you will be like lvl 140 xD
This game, is easily my favorite game of all time. Kloe is best girl, Agate is best boy, and Estelle is best sun
Great review. Thanks for the spoiler warnings :)
Does anyone have a direction to point for these evo patches? I started SC today but can only find the slow mega drive collection of mods.
The song from the beginning of the video can't remember the name, but it always gives me goosebumps of omg its so good lol. Anywho a lot of people call 3rd chapter a spin off game and don't like it as much. But I think its perfect and makes playing all the more tolerable, no spoilers but its not the same type of game as FC/SC. The combat is the same but the way the game plays is completely different so I bet you could jump right into it and not feel the burn out you would think you would!
As far as favorite I would have to agree the SC is probably my favorite but trails of Azure from the Crossbell arc does just as good a job as ramping up the story. The big downfall from the Crossbell arc on is fucking bonding points, which make you miss out on key character development points if you don't play it multiple times. Whats worse is unlike Trails in the Sky the character also get less developed because of the bonding points. Like even though it makes sense "oh these characters belong together" the stupid dating sim nonsense ruins it unlike in Trails in the Sky. Its basically if in Trails of the Sky if Estelle could end up with Agate or Xin that's how much of a sin it is.
It’s The Whereabouts of Light, instrumental version
@@rollforrupees6479 Yep that's it haha, I have heard that name before many times. I am just awful with remembering anything behind the scenes of games,movies,ect.
Really agree with you about how awesome SC is, and how FC and SC are really parts 1 and 2 of the same game. Estelle is also one of my favorite characters of all time (her Nendoroid is my profile picture on Twitter and Steam), and I'm really happy that she's back in Cold Steel IV. I'm also in the camp of people who aren't too crazy about the portraits' redesign with the remakes -- I don't mind Estelle too much, but I really don't like Joshua's new eye design.
The blinking eyes bug me, personally speaking. But I'm sure I'd get over it eventually. xD
Also, regarding the music: I just love that the ENTIRE Falcom catalog is available on iTunes, not just in Japan. Doesn't matter if the game ever came out in the West or not, if there's a soundtrack, you can get it. Hence how I got both the Nayuka no Kiseki (a Japan-only PSP action game that's not actually part of the Trails series despite the Kiseki term in the title) and Cold Steel IV soundtracks. :)
Of course, Xseed has gifted us with great soundtrack CDs in the past (including the Trails in the Sky OST included with FC on PSP), but if you missed out on it, you can at least get a digital copy at a reasonable price. :) I admit that the Olivier song you played in your video is one track I may get, as the version I have is sung by a woman.
As for the Olivier version of Kohaku no Ai (aka Amber Amour on the Xseed version of the OST), it's available on iTunes as part of a 2-track mini-album titled "Falcom Character Songs Collection vol. 2: Olivier Lenheim".
I disabled the dialogue portrait part of the mod, the old portraits have way more expressions.
I won't say anything about the plot because I don't want to spoil anything, but I read it online and it is just such a more interesting/compelling game and story compared to FC. I mean I loved Trails of Cold Steel and that has sorta slow build too but there are just so many playable characters and it never felt like it dragged ever. I now await Trails of Cold Steel IV! By this point I am not going to play through this particular series, but I'm glad I tried it and at least researched later games.
I really want to play through all these games, but damn the time ya need to put into these is a bit overwhelming haha
with quarantine you literally have all the time in the world
@@dsjgfxxkhrx4050 there is also a ton of games I need to play before starting this series, plus I still work since I'm deemed essential, so its kinda hard to find time. Don't go assuming my man.
@@Renkaru weell yeah you're right I'm sorry
just don't speed through the games you'll just ruin the experiance I'm saying that so you won't go through the same mistake I did
@@dsjgfxxkhrx4050 Yeah I'm finishing up some smaller and shorter games before I delve deep into this series. I also want to play the Ys series at some point.
I 100%ed this game and I am working on the 3rd chapter
3rd chapter was strange but i had a good time with it.
Pfft to much words ha. Pillars would give it a run for its money Im sure.
This game took you 100 hours to complete? Ouch!
It seems a few people are jumping on this series. I have only experienced a bit of the first game and never finished it, so maybe I should consider jumping back in. But, 100 hours. Sheesh!
I enjoyed the musical interlude you edited in, by the way. Great job!
It depends on how thorough you want to be in the game tbh. If you play on the lower difficulties and told talk to many npcs/optional stuff, then im guessing you can finish each entry in 50-80h or even quicker. However, if you are a completionist and play on higher difficulties, then yea you'll probably be well over 100h for several of the entries.
@@Thundergodxix Yeah, I burnt myself out on the first game by trying to be pedantic and talking to the NPCs in the starting town after every event. Haha. Next time I might take a more casual approach, and just run through the game like normal.
I am thrilled that Derek is covering these games
What an incredible series
I just beat this last night. I enjoyed the first game immensely over the Summer, and jumping back in for the first half of SC was pretty fun, even despite the fact that we're running through all the same areas and fighting all the same monsters over again. I enjoyed the added chain attacks, and they improved the level progression, which I felt FC was severely lacking in. I need to be honest though, the final 25 hours disappointed the hell out of me (the parts most people are somehow praising). It dragged. I fought the same bosses over and over again, subjected to their complete nonsense time and again. I ran across the entire continent on foot trying to find shit to do in the 8th chapter, and using a guide to find the hidden events didn't make it any more interesting at all. The amount of backtracking is probably higher than any other JRPG I've ever played (run all the way back and add this member to team, go back and have them get the appropriate item, go back and get your preferred party member, now run back as you can't enter this next dungeon without this particular member). And when we finally got new areas to explore in the final chapter, we're subjected to the EXACT SAME LAYOUTS ON EVERY FLOOR of the tower, over and over again. I loved the final dungeon in FC, but the one in this game was awful. Add on top of all that how ridiculous the story gets, with character decisions that make no sense at all, and bosses with motivations that amount to pretty much nothing but "I do what I want". It is hysterical how many times the army and Estelle's dad back off and say, "saving the entire world needs to be done by a small group of kids, because we'll make too much noise and commotion". Like, come on! At least TRY to come up with something that makes sense.
I initially felt at the 50% playpoint that this was fairly on par with the first game (8/10 for me). The last couple chapters or so dropped the whole experience down to a 6 or 6.5/10. I know that when reminiscing about this game, I'm more than likely to remember how badly it dragged more than anything. A real shame. Not enough to turn me off of the series, as it sounds like the 3rd actually tries to do something different, but I'm feeling pretty frustrated at the moment and mindboggled over how SC seems to be everyone's favorite. From a game making standpoint, it appears the only real effort that was put into this entry was in adding new dialogue and a couple of cutscenes. I think my issue with most of the reviews out there is that they all say "there's not much to criticize here". I find that to be a little dishonest, considering most of the game is a rehash of the previous entry, taken with my points above. Perhaps I could have tailored my expectations a bit better if more people were willing to admit its faults, rather than all the endless amounts of praise and boasts about it being the greatest JRPG of all time? Anyways, just my two cents. My intention is not to take away from those who love this game, moreso just to warn those who have yet to jump in that they may be similarly annoyed by some of its issues.
The 3rd game is still my favorite for how well it all closes all stories and how well developed Kevin will be.
Cant watch this review,cos i'm stil playing.. i do however support you👍 best rpg channel👍😁
I get a feeling this bard is a fan fav.
Bards always steal the show, man. :)
I just finished playing this. It's exceptional in many ways, though I didn't appreciate the length-padding that seemed to be going on. There were many parts of the game towards the latter half in which you're visiting several different carbon copies of the same dungeon and doing the same thing in each one. I played it without the voice mod you mention. I usually would like that, but when you played a segment, the voice of Oliver was so different than what I had in my head (and based on the little combat ending comments) that I preferred it silent.
Fun fact: The voice actor for Olivier in these games also did the voice of Dio in JoJo. :)
@@SuperDerek By the way, I moved on to Sora Kiseki 3 and for that one I did go to the trouble of installing the Evo voice mod and I've changed my mind: it does add a lot.
I truly hope, after the surge of popularity with cold steel, falcom does a collection for current consoles. (Not a pc gamer)
Cold steel IV has me losing sleep I'm too excited
Just found a SC glitch in chapter 1 that is the equivalent of the Suikoden II Matilda glitch, maybe even bigget!!!
What is this glitch about in SC?
Love all the games that are available here in the U.S.
Easier way to get this is with a japanese game with an English patch for the vita or vita tv. No turbo though
The japenese voice makes the game much better
8:38 they're ports/ remasters. Not remakes.
I’ll have to tackle this again at some point.. I recall liking the first Sky just a tad better.. It’s been said this trilogy is possibly going to be remade.. I think that would be a great idea..
I owned the original on PSP back in 2011 and..... never played the damn thing. I tried a few times but for some reason I couldn’t get past the first 2 hours of the game. This month I decided I'd take another crack at the damn thing since the hype behind the Kiseki series has kept growing over the years. I played the patched PS Vita version with the Japanese voice acting on my hacked PS Vita. Today I beat Trails in the Sky SC and I couldn't be happier that I did. It is hands down my favorite story in all the years of playing JRPGs. Simply a masterpiece! Now I'm off to play Trails in the Sky 3rd!
That's so awesome! My review of the 3rd is actually coming out in the morning. Hope you have as much fun as I did! :D
@@SuperDerek looking forward to watching but only after I beat the 3rd just to avoid spoilers.
Coff Coff your playlist is out of order!
Great game. 100+ hours? About 45 hours in wow... Got a lot more of this epic journey to go!
olivier is the goat
You’re always helping me isolate those hidden gems. Thanks bruh.
If you have an interest in reviewing more of the Trails series, Zero no Kiseki has an awesome fan translation and the Ao no Kiseki Translation is on its way. love your reviews dude
I've already bought the game and have the patch ready to roll for when the time comes. :)
@@SuperDerek Zero is a real treat imo (and Ao is also considered one of, if not the best, by fans, so I'm definitely looking forward to you exploring the SSS ;).
Sold! About to play these :)
Have fun!!
Woo! Part 3 Let's goooo! 👍
Now if only they will bring the Crossbell games here already.
I have a question I bought trails in the sky fc for ps3 from Japan iam playing it know with a English psp walkthrough but did they make trails sc and trails the 3rd for ps3 in japan
One of the best Games i've ever played in the longest while really a masterpiece, I honestly regret playing cold steel instead of this in terms of lore but im glad I finally got around to playing them, now next top is sky 3 then eventually the crossbell games
I really liked the Sky trilogy (fortunately I stopped playing a few hours into Cold Steel, because I found out it was the 6th part of a series), but I think the Crossbell dualogy is even better. I won't spoil it, but the main protagonist is in my honest opinion miles above Cold Steel's Rean.
Oh - and be prepared for some real dark stuff in Trails in the Sky the 3th. You will get what I mean when you open Stardoor 15. I leave it at that.
My fav is cold steel arc
Ty
I’ve played “Trails in the Sky FC”, and “Trails of Cold Steel 1 & 2”, and am playing “Trails of Zero” right now. Once I finish that I plan on going back and playing “Trails in the Sky SC”. (I got it after I got the others, that’s why I had to go back to it)
I highly recommend playing SC before Zero as there are quite a few big plot threads tied up in Zero which start in SC so some of the best parts of zero may fall flat
Yeah, not playing SC is maybe a huge mistake lol
@@Jordan-bs6yf Also a huge part of the game deals with a certain character that only really gets fleshed out in sky 3rd once we learn their backstory.
Coldsteel 1 and 2 are anomalies in the series in that they can be played standalone without spoiling too much of other games, all the other ones practically require all the previous entries.
I found the game extremely boring after 2 hours, so I stopped playing. I finished FC and I think it's good though filled with pointless chit-chat. SC was just more of the exact same thing which was not acceptable apart from knowing how the story continues
Thanks for another great review.
You make me hyped up brow!!
Sc failed in sales for what reason? We're Western gamers that pissed at the cliff hanger?
The series is niche and by the time it came out in the west the visuals were quite outdated compared to what the average consumer is used to.
Sequels also tend to only attract people who played the first game especially those that are a direct continuation of the story.
Its still a great game just not something that has mainstream appeal.
@@luminous3558 yeah I'd put SC up there with persona 5 tho
To be honest, I don't know which of the three games is my favorite one: The first one, because it has the best music; the second one because it's the easiest of the three games and has the highest amount of sidequests; or the third one because it gives me more freedom to set up my party, because Tita is OP, and...
SPOILER AHEAD
... Because Renne is playable.
the ost are memorables
Hi, thanks for the great video. Do you know wether the game is available on psp or psvita. If so is it only in digital format?
Looks like they're both available on the PSN for PSP and Vita, the first is $20 and the second is $30. The PC version would be my recommendation if you have a somewhat recent computer, the games aren't very demanding. :)
@@SuperDerek thanks so much!!
@@SuperDerek unfortunately i have a mac so i cant play it on pc. and i think ill enjoy the vanilla version more
@@SuperDerek is sc available on ps3 as well
Dope staging Derek!