Finished my very first video essay!!! I hope this gets more people to try this series out!!! I tried to make it as spoiler free as possible, but I'll make proper retrospectives/reviews of the games at some point in the future.
The fun thing with the title Trails in the Sky is that in Japanese, it can also be heard as 'Miracle in the Sky', and further, the word for the space element is _sora_ (=sky), hence 'Miracle of Space'. Three guesses which element's Sept-Terrion the arc features.
I think no other company would be this mad to have such a gigantic story connected like that, with each game being big enough to be a standalone title. And I'm glad Falcom was the one mad enough to pull it off.
I recently finished Reverie and played the Remake of FF7 Crisis Core right after that. 15 years ago i thought Crisis Core is a great game when i played the Original on PSP. But the Trails Series destroyed this game for me 🤣 Every NPC felt super generic and empty! My god cant wait for Kuro getting translated 😉
Your tweets and nutshell videos were what actually got me to check out the series, and I fell in love with the games for the same reasons you listed out here. Amazing video here, dude. You really have a knack for video essays, I'd love to see more of these from you. Also thank you for remembering Kevin, because Falcom sure doesn't lol
I like that you give the accurate history of Falcom leading into the Trails series. I see a lot of other videos say sky is first the legend of heroes game. If you're looking for a series that scratches the same kind of itch that trails does I recommend the Utawarerumono VNs.
Funny because I’m playing Trails Through Daybreak on PS4 and Utawarerumono on VITA. Currently finishing the first chapter of Daybreak, and about 10 hours into Mask of Deception. I finished Prelude To The Fallen a few weeks ago and throughly enjoyed it.
The reason why the sky trilogy and cs 1-2 is not on the switch is because xseed still have the localization rights to them outside of japan. Nis took over the trails and ys series from cs3 onward.
Excellent video! I'm currently playing through Trails of Cold Steel IV after getting into the series with Sky FC last year and it is without a doubt the best series I have ever played. I can't believe it took me this long to finally get into it, but I'm glad I did. Your example about Bond is so true. I can't believe how many little details like that you can pick up on if you go out of your way to talk to every npc and complete every sidequest. I really enjoyed your music segment as well. Something Precious is one of my favorite songs in the entire series. Also, Skies of a Strange Land just made me think back to how far Class VII has come throughout the Cold Steel arc. Thanks again for putting this video together and sharing your love for the series. You did a really good job!
I actually don't mind that the fanbase is small. It means we don't get some of the perks of bigger fan bases (like faster localization and games on all modern platforms) but it also means we don't have a lot of normies. Normies always ruin everything; games with large exposure have to cater to a wide audience and will always lose the identity that made them great in the first place. I do agree with you about the name thing, though. Just as a fun exercise, here's my names for the four Cold Steel games: The Legend of Heroes: The search for Valimar The Legend of Heroes: Civil War The Legend of Heroes: The curse of the Great One The Legend of Heroes: The blood and iron Chancellor and the Lionheart Emperor
Nice overview. More people should play Trails, that's for sure. The series as a whole, has incredible worldbuilding and characters. However, the main issue with this series, and why it's so difficult to recommend, is the slow pacing, the insane quantity of text in them, and the so many games it has. About the video, I do have a few things to say: For one, Legend of Heroes wasn't really the 3 big franchise for Falcom. At that time, the only franchises were Dragon Slayer and Ys, and Legend of Heroes was just Dragon Slayer VI. Xanadu, which was Dragon Slayer II, only had a sequel/expansion called Scenario 2: Resurrection of the Dragon. However, both games are coundted as Dragon Slayer II. Same goes for the first 2 Legend of Heroes, both are counted as Dragon Slayer VI. Also, Legend of Heroes III to V have actually a lot in common with Trails. They do have a lot of interesting NPCs that change dialogues constantly, and they have a shared world with characters interconnected to the main plot in all 3 entries. Legend of Heroes I & II are also set in the same world and II is a direct sequel to I. I also, don't agree with Cold Steel 1 being a good entry point. I'll never understand why this is constantly said when this game ends in a cliffhanger, spoils almost everything from Zero/Azure, and even the sequel is a direct continuation at a certain point of the previous games. On the other hand, Zero/Azure only has the folllow up of an important event from Sky, but otherwise they are not that connected. The conclusion is that you can start on any Arc, as long as you understand it spoils a lot of things from previous ones, and that Sky is certainly the best place to begin this journey. Also, if you haven't I really recommend Nayuta and Tokyo Xanadu. Not connected directly, but they have some references to Trails that are nice to know.
Now all we need is for people to listen to all these videos that say something along the lines of "I tried Trails and it's awesome and you should try it too"
I love how Falcom announced Kai No Kiseki (basically Daybreak/Kuro 3) the day after I uploaded this video 🤣🤣🤣x.com/hansuke21/status/1735525636163215570?s=46&t=w604pxBZWeQw8WqcjR37Eg
I have a friend who plays like so many RPGs and they told me theres this game called Grandia also has a sequel but it was extremely good RPG combat and he said its better than Trails combat and thought that I should play it too if I like Trails gameplay.
Cold Steel 1 and 2 are on Nintendo Switch, but only in Japan. There is still some bad blood between Nisa, Falcom and XSeed which prevents sorting out the rights issue
FYI you can start with Daybreak 1 its a mostly self contained story like cold steel 1 but like with cold steel one you have to go back only after daybreak 1 daybreak 2 stats the main plot again
One thing about calvard the love cars and trucks one scene is the party getting stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the interstate funny to think this is happening in the same continent as the sky games
It comes of as a weird ripoff of Zelda because the name is a direct translation of the japanese name. The Legend of Zelda: in Japan is Zelda no Densetsu. The Legend of Heroes: in Japan is Eiyuu Densetsu. Squares Mana series: in Japan is Seiken Densetsu (this is a weird one because Seiken Densetsu tamslates to The Legend of Sacred Sword. The Mana name is probably due to square USA realizing the japanese translation makes little sense, or doesnt have enough pizazz to sell.) Edit: same with Kiseki. Just means Trail, path, etc.
Yeah, these games are so great. I started playing them in second best order roughly two and a half years ago and have finished CS4 just a week ago. Taking a break right now, to play something different. I decided on the first of the Atelier Ryza games and man does the world of this game feel lifeless when you're coming from Trails. Wandering NPCs pass through the player like ghosts, most of the standing NPCs you can't interact with and the 3 out of ten you can talk to always say the same thing no matter where the story's at like it's a SNES game from 95!
YESSS! Our minds think alike! Legend Of Heroes is the most generic sounding thing ever! And this video is a Godsend to show people who wanna get into the series.
the greatest jrpg series ever made... you're damn right Mr. Bobby Fulbright 😎 Edit: Wow, I can't believe I've finally met someone who prefers Joshua over Estelle! That's awesome. I like Joshua but I very much am 110% in Camp Bestelle. Favorite female protag. Although the Athena comparison is actually a pretty good one, I never thought of that before. Cool beans. I love Kevin to bits, and I actually think he's tied with Van for third place on my protag totem pole. Lloyd is second. Barrier Boi let's go!! I do wish Kevin and Ries come back soon. Arteria will be a major focus one of these days so they have to at least show up then right Falcom? ...right? D: Zero and Azure are top tier ost's easily. I also adore Sky 3rd a whole heckin' lot. There isn't a single games ost I dislike. They're all good-amazing. The Evo versions have also been surprising me recently too. I just listened to Peace Bestowed by Twilight the other day and let me tell ya... Jindo took Ishibashi's original track and elevated it to god tier imo. Simply beautiful, not even Bleublanc would dare attempt to steal such a work of art, lol. Man the worldbuilding and npc's... don't have anything else to add other than yes, they are some of my favorite parts of this series and it always baffles me when I see people skip interacting with them. The npc's in these games have more personality and development than entire other games main cast combined. It's insane and the attention to detail always blows my mind. It's part of what makes this series tower over other jrpgs. Heck when I played through FF12 for the first time the npc's were so generic and lifeless that it killed a lot of my interest in even playing the game at first. There just isn't anything else out there like Trails and if you're a jrpg fan you have no excuse not to give this series a chance. Listen to this man denizens of the net! GO PLAY THEM RIGHT NOW!!! xD Thank you so much Bobby for making this video, splendid editing work. I love seeing other Trails related TH-camrs talk about this series and exhibit such passion. It makes me feel a little less alone in the world, lol. I hope Nico eventually gives this series a chance, maybe after he finishes Yakuza... Haha... WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PLAY "Something Precious" FROM SKY THE 3RD! Now I'm crying xD Oh yeah and Nayuta might possibly be connected to the main series. I won't go into details as you've yet to play Daybreak yourself, but Falcom just announced Kuro 3 (Kai no Kiseki) and some of those screenshots... are very sus. Good thing Nayuta can be played at any point really, and it's a fun little game that's worth the 20-25 hour investment imo. Also has a bangin' ost. Takeshita, Osaki, Momiyama, Sonoda, Unisuga... holy moly.
I think the series biggest problem and why it isn't getting enough attention, because of some of the convoluted storytelling. Yeah, compared to Ys this game doesn't do well on the Japanese market. I love this series, but even a fan like me have problems in the game's constant problem with continuity. Ever since Cold Steel IV, elements of the series have made very little sense. One of them being: what was the purpose of the two endings in Cold Steel IV? It basically became the Tale of Two Endings. They also don't actually explain the purpose of the two endings. Other than that and a few other things Cold Steel IV was a great game. What they do right is a lot of the characters have a role to fill in the story whether it be major or minor characters. Not too many games I see try to name as many characters as possible and try to slot them into the actual story. Where it is missing its mark with me is connecting the dots. I like to look at a character and try to find somewhere they could be related to in previous volumes. That is one of the major takeaways keeping it from becoming a great game. Yes, some of those other games have horrible character development, generic plot and characters, but since they bridge the gaps better that is why they are where they are now.
Cold steel and Class 7 is def the biggest L in the saga. Cold steel should have been 2 games with a smaller cast and remove all the fluff. U wouldnt loose anything significant
Nah hard disagree. 4 games was necessary and I can’t imagine class 7 without everyone in the group. But I’ll leave my full thoughts on the cold steel games in my future videos.
@@BobbyTheGamerOfJUSTICE u can def cut the class 7 cast in half and the story would still work. It def has pacing issues and could benefit greatly of cutting the fat
@@dante19890 You could cut a few like Elliot or Kurt, but you would be losing a lot on what makes the story special. Besides, they are all interesting characters in their own right. And the pacing is fine
@BobbyTheSimpofJUSTICE no the pacing is not fine ! It's the cold steel sagas biggest issue. Just cuz u are a fan of a series u must still exercise some critical thinking skills of what it does poorly.
@@dante19890 If we’re talking about pacing, Sky the third is easily the worst. And I don’t think any of the Cold Steel games are nearly as bad. CS2 has its pacing issues sure, but only really in the Act 2 section of the game
Finished my very first video essay!!! I hope this gets more people to try this series out!!! I tried to make it as spoiler free as possible, but I'll make proper retrospectives/reviews of the games at some point in the future.
The fun thing with the title Trails in the Sky is that in Japanese, it can also be heard as 'Miracle in the Sky', and further, the word for the space element is _sora_ (=sky), hence 'Miracle of Space'. Three guesses which element's Sept-Terrion the arc features.
I think no other company would be this mad to have such a gigantic story connected like that, with each game being big enough to be a standalone title.
And I'm glad Falcom was the one mad enough to pull it off.
I recently finished Reverie and played the Remake of FF7 Crisis Core right after that. 15 years ago i thought Crisis Core is a great game when i played the Original on PSP. But the Trails Series destroyed this game for me 🤣 Every NPC felt super generic and empty! My god cant wait for Kuro getting translated 😉
Your tweets and nutshell videos were what actually got me to check out the series, and I fell in love with the games for the same reasons you listed out here. Amazing video here, dude. You really have a knack for video essays, I'd love to see more of these from you. Also thank you for remembering Kevin, because Falcom sure doesn't lol
Just finished watching your nutshell videos earlier today. Can't wait to watch this!
Thank you so much!
It's a great series! My most intense reaction ever to a game happened at the end of CS 3. I literally cried uncontrollably.
Me when I'm supposed to defeat Sigmund Orlando in 5 mins
I like that you give the accurate history of Falcom leading into the Trails series. I see a lot of other videos say sky is first the legend of heroes game. If you're looking for a series that scratches the same kind of itch that trails does I recommend the Utawarerumono VNs.
Funny because I’m playing Trails Through Daybreak on PS4 and Utawarerumono on VITA. Currently finishing the first chapter of Daybreak, and about 10 hours into Mask of Deception. I finished Prelude To The Fallen a few weeks ago and throughly enjoyed it.
The reason why the sky trilogy and cs 1-2 is not on the switch is because xseed still have the localization rights to them outside of japan. Nis took over the trails and ys series from cs3 onward.
Excellent video! I'm currently playing through Trails of Cold Steel IV after getting into the series with Sky FC last year and it is without a doubt the best series I have ever played. I can't believe it took me this long to finally get into it, but I'm glad I did. Your example about Bond is so true. I can't believe how many little details like that you can pick up on if you go out of your way to talk to every npc and complete every sidequest. I really enjoyed your music segment as well. Something Precious is one of my favorite songs in the entire series. Also, Skies of a Strange Land just made me think back to how far Class VII has come throughout the Cold Steel arc. Thanks again for putting this video together and sharing your love for the series. You did a really good job!
I actually don't mind that the fanbase is small. It means we don't get some of the perks of bigger fan bases (like faster localization and games on all modern platforms) but it also means we don't have a lot of normies. Normies always ruin everything; games with large exposure have to cater to a wide audience and will always lose the identity that made them great in the first place.
I do agree with you about the name thing, though. Just as a fun exercise, here's my names for the four Cold Steel games:
The Legend of Heroes: The search for Valimar
The Legend of Heroes: Civil War
The Legend of Heroes: The curse of the Great One
The Legend of Heroes: The blood and iron Chancellor and the Lionheart Emperor
Nice overview. More people should play Trails, that's for sure.
The series as a whole, has incredible worldbuilding and characters.
However, the main issue with this series, and why it's so difficult to recommend, is the slow pacing, the insane quantity of text in them, and the so many games it has.
About the video, I do have a few things to say:
For one, Legend of Heroes wasn't really the 3 big franchise for Falcom. At that time, the only franchises were Dragon Slayer and Ys, and Legend of Heroes was just Dragon Slayer VI.
Xanadu, which was Dragon Slayer II, only had a sequel/expansion called Scenario 2: Resurrection of the Dragon. However, both games are coundted as Dragon Slayer II.
Same goes for the first 2 Legend of Heroes, both are counted as Dragon Slayer VI.
Also, Legend of Heroes III to V have actually a lot in common with Trails. They do have a lot of interesting NPCs that change dialogues constantly, and they have a shared world with characters interconnected to the main plot in all 3 entries.
Legend of Heroes I & II are also set in the same world and II is a direct sequel to I.
I also, don't agree with Cold Steel 1 being a good entry point. I'll never understand why this is constantly said when this game ends in a cliffhanger, spoils almost everything from Zero/Azure, and even the sequel is a direct continuation at a certain point of the previous games.
On the other hand, Zero/Azure only has the folllow up of an important event from Sky, but otherwise they are not that connected.
The conclusion is that you can start on any Arc, as long as you understand it spoils a lot of things from previous ones, and that Sky is certainly the best place to begin this journey.
Also, if you haven't I really recommend Nayuta and Tokyo Xanadu. Not connected directly, but they have some references to Trails that are nice to know.
Now all we need is for people to listen to all these videos that say something along the lines of "I tried Trails and it's awesome and you should try it too"
I love how Falcom announced Kai No Kiseki (basically Daybreak/Kuro 3) the day after I uploaded this video 🤣🤣🤣x.com/hansuke21/status/1735525636163215570?s=46&t=w604pxBZWeQw8WqcjR37Eg
I have a friend who plays like so many RPGs and they told me theres this game called Grandia also has a sequel but it was extremely good RPG combat and he said its better than Trails combat and thought that I should play it too if I like Trails gameplay.
Cold Steel 1 and 2 are on Nintendo Switch, but only in Japan.
There is still some bad blood between Nisa, Falcom and XSeed which prevents sorting out the rights issue
FYI you can start with Daybreak 1 its a mostly self contained story like cold steel 1 but like with cold steel one you have to go back only after daybreak 1 daybreak 2 stats the main plot again
One thing about calvard the love cars and trucks one scene is the party getting stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the interstate funny to think this is happening in the same continent as the sky games
I agree good series. Interesting story and a great cast of characters.
It comes of as a weird ripoff of Zelda because the name is a direct translation of the japanese name.
The Legend of Zelda: in Japan is Zelda no Densetsu.
The Legend of Heroes: in Japan is Eiyuu Densetsu.
Squares Mana series: in Japan is Seiken Densetsu (this is a weird one because Seiken Densetsu tamslates to The Legend of Sacred Sword. The Mana name is probably due to square USA realizing the japanese translation makes little sense, or doesnt have enough pizazz to sell.)
Edit: same with Kiseki. Just means Trail, path, etc.
My favourite gaming franchise period, currently waiting for Kai no Kiseki to drop.
Yeah, these games are so great. I started playing them in second best order roughly two and a half years ago and have finished CS4 just a week ago. Taking a break right now, to play something different.
I decided on the first of the Atelier Ryza games and man does the world of this game feel lifeless when you're coming from Trails. Wandering NPCs pass through the player like ghosts, most of the standing NPCs you can't interact with and the 3 out of ten you can talk to always say the same thing no matter where the story's at like it's a SNES game from 95!
love trails already done daybreak 1 through fan patch
Good video. I binged Cold steel 1 - Daybreak 2 with fan translation. Im going to be playing kai no Kiseki with ai translations.
I will always watch another video about the kiseki/trails series I think I have a problem help
8:08-8:10 I belive the names are pronounced "Ree-shee-ah" and "Tsao," jst wanted to point that out.
YESSS! Our minds think alike! Legend Of Heroes is the most generic sounding thing ever! And this video is a Godsend to show people who wanna get into the series.
Sadly me Trails of cold steel did not gel well so im really behind to catch up.
Trails is like one piece it never ends there's way too many games and I think that's the reason why its so niche.
That’s probably a factor yeah 😭
8:12 you might have figured it out by now but Cao is pronounced like Tsow. Rhymes with cow.
the greatest jrpg series ever made... you're damn right Mr. Bobby Fulbright 😎
Edit: Wow, I can't believe I've finally met someone who prefers Joshua over Estelle! That's awesome. I like Joshua but I very much am 110% in Camp Bestelle. Favorite female protag. Although the Athena comparison is actually a pretty good one, I never thought of that before. Cool beans. I love Kevin to bits, and I actually think he's tied with Van for third place on my protag totem pole. Lloyd is second. Barrier Boi let's go!! I do wish Kevin and Ries come back soon. Arteria will be a major focus one of these days so they have to at least show up then right Falcom? ...right? D:
Zero and Azure are top tier ost's easily. I also adore Sky 3rd a whole heckin' lot. There isn't a single games ost I dislike. They're all good-amazing. The Evo versions have also been surprising me recently too. I just listened to Peace Bestowed by Twilight the other day and let me tell ya... Jindo took Ishibashi's original track and elevated it to god tier imo. Simply beautiful, not even Bleublanc would dare attempt to steal such a work of art, lol.
Man the worldbuilding and npc's... don't have anything else to add other than yes, they are some of my favorite parts of this series and it always baffles me when I see people skip interacting with them. The npc's in these games have more personality and development than entire other games main cast combined. It's insane and the attention to detail always blows my mind. It's part of what makes this series tower over other jrpgs. Heck when I played through FF12 for the first time the npc's were so generic and lifeless that it killed a lot of my interest in even playing the game at first. There just isn't anything else out there like Trails and if you're a jrpg fan you have no excuse not to give this series a chance. Listen to this man denizens of the net! GO PLAY THEM RIGHT NOW!!! xD
Thank you so much Bobby for making this video, splendid editing work. I love seeing other Trails related TH-camrs talk about this series and exhibit such passion. It makes me feel a little less alone in the world, lol. I hope Nico eventually gives this series a chance, maybe after he finishes Yakuza... Haha...
WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PLAY "Something Precious" FROM SKY THE 3RD! Now I'm crying xD
Oh yeah and Nayuta might possibly be connected to the main series. I won't go into details as you've yet to play Daybreak yourself, but Falcom just announced Kuro 3 (Kai no Kiseki) and some of those screenshots... are very sus. Good thing Nayuta can be played at any point really, and it's a fun little game that's worth the 20-25 hour investment imo. Also has a bangin' ost. Takeshita, Osaki, Momiyama, Sonoda, Unisuga... holy moly.
Yeah NicoB seriously needs to let’s play these games 😭
I too think Rean is the best protagonist.
Bro hearing true bonds again gave me ptsd
It’s so good 😭
I think the series biggest problem and why it isn't getting enough attention, because of some of the convoluted storytelling.
Yeah, compared to Ys this game doesn't do well on the Japanese market. I love this series, but even a fan like me have problems in the game's constant problem with continuity. Ever since Cold Steel IV, elements of the series have made very little sense. One of them being: what was the purpose of the two endings in Cold Steel IV? It basically became the Tale of Two Endings. They also don't actually explain the purpose of the two endings. Other than that and a few other things Cold Steel IV was a great game.
What they do right is a lot of the characters have a role to fill in the story whether it be major or minor characters. Not too many games I see try to name as many characters as possible and try to slot them into the actual story.
Where it is missing its mark with me is connecting the dots. I like to look at a character and try to find somewhere they could be related to in previous volumes. That is one of the major takeaways keeping it from becoming a great game. Yes, some of those other games have horrible character development, generic plot and characters, but since they bridge the gaps better that is why they are where they are now.
What's with your pronunciation lol
Cold steel and Class 7 is def the biggest L in the saga. Cold steel should have been 2 games with a smaller cast and remove all the fluff. U wouldnt loose anything significant
Nah hard disagree. 4 games was necessary and I can’t imagine class 7 without everyone in the group.
But I’ll leave my full thoughts on the cold steel games in my future videos.
@@BobbyTheGamerOfJUSTICE u can def cut the class 7 cast in half and the story would still work. It def has pacing issues and could benefit greatly of cutting the fat
@@dante19890 You could cut a few like Elliot or Kurt, but you would be losing a lot on what makes the story special. Besides, they are all interesting characters in their own right.
And the pacing is fine
@BobbyTheSimpofJUSTICE no the pacing is not fine ! It's the cold steel sagas biggest issue. Just cuz u are a fan of a series u must still exercise some critical thinking skills of what it does poorly.
@@dante19890 If we’re talking about pacing, Sky the third is easily the worst. And I don’t think any of the Cold Steel games are nearly as bad. CS2 has its pacing issues sure, but only really in the Act 2 section of the game