Wanted to really thank you for this video, as someone who just finished cs4 and couldn't talk about it with anyone this was an amazing outlet to just vibe with your thoughts. Love the energy and passion!
Just finished this game last night and just wanted to say PEAK FICTION… crazy I got into this series all because of some meme of you I saw on twitter singing this series praises “not a fan of the words: peak fiction, goat, raw, fire click off the video ” 😭😭 So I just wanted to say thank you recon. For two years This franchise is all I’ve played and it’s Genuinely a journey I’ll never forget. I Still got reverie to play and soon Kuro 1 so I got some more peak waiting for me 🙏.
I finally got around to watching this video. Dawg this game from start to finish was phenomenal. Out of this world. FRAGMENTS DAWG. OH MY GOD. When Crow and Duvalie joined the party, it was literally peak. Like who better to make Rean snap out of it, is the guy he was trying to save in Cold Steel 2. Then in chapter 2 when my boy OLIVIER SHOWS UP. DAWG I GENUINELY THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD. ESPECIALLY WITH HOW ALFIE WAS MOURNING HIM IN HER BONDING EVENTS. Actually brought a tear to my eye. Then in chapter 3 when we fight Arianrhod and after the fight we attempt to revive her. THEN RUFUS THAT SNAKE. HE COMES FROM BEHIND THEN STABS HER. I GENUINELY THOUGHT I COULD PLAY AS HER. I LOVE RUFUS BUT HE'S A SNAKE. Then eventide.... I spend 7 hours on that segment. I just loved everything about it. All the interactions and everything. There was this one part where Crow said there's no way he would be Reans student. It would be funny as hell if that happens. Aight now we gotta talk about finale... MC GOATMAN BURN, GILLIATH MY KING OSBORNE. THEY'RE FIGHTS WERE SPECTACULAR. I really do wonder what Mcburn is doing now tho. Cus he really switched up on Reans squad and calls Campanella a rat. But Osborne... when we found out he was actually a good guy and ge genuinely loved Rean, it touched my heart. Not many games touched my heart on this level. But yeah... this journey was the best journey I've ever had alongside one piece. I'm really glad my friend got me into this. I can't thank him enough. Thats my brother.
Recently finished CS4 and bro HOLY SHIT this is my favorite thing EVER. Sure there's an asspull in fragments and some padding in act 2 BUT THE HIGHS ARE SO ASTRONIMICALLY HIGH, IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER. AND THAT CONCLUSION HOLY SHIT, QUITE POSSIBLY THE GREATEST ENDING MY EYES HAVE EVER WITNESSED. From the character writing to the worldbuilding to the lore drops THIS SHIT WAS PEAK FICTION.
Was looking forward to this. Watched a bit of it now and will watch/listen to the rest tomorrow while working. In the meantime i just wanted to say that finishing this game had me tearing up because it felt like I've spent so many of hours with so many of these amazing characters and for most of them, the story was over and I won't be seeing what's going to happen to them later on with their lives.(Especially people from Liberl considering the latest trails game) At the end I was like an addicted junkie asking for more, like give me anything, even if it is too minor, Just give me 10 more kiseki games right now and i will play them one after another :)
A shame this series will probably never get the level of recognition other series like Final Fantasy has. Not that it needs to, i know. Just that I don't have any friends who play this series or want to give it a try because as they say "the graphics put me off". So, watching your Trails videos helps me a lot. Really appreciate it.
Thank you for writing this comment, I couldn't agree more. Trails is still a hidden gem that I wish I could share with everyone, but hopefully one day they will play the greatness!
Man i still remember in the prolouge when you finish the fight and that scene with claire when she opens her celphone and that message from millium pops up with foto of her rean and milium getting ice cream and shes about to break maaaan thats some painful stuff , altina was my GOAT althrough the game was just so goated and laura i still get chills when think about that last bonding event with laura where they go train and laura asks rean ''rean why do you want to die'' and rean is like shocked that he was found out because its there that you realize to what degree rean has not forgiven himself when she presses him '' I know your just trying to find where to die'' i was like laura baby you once again prove yourself the GOAT
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO You just keep delivering man and you should be really hyped for Hajimari, it's by far the best game for Rean's character. I'm sure you're gonna love it. Have you considered playing the spreadsheet? The community did an amazing job on it. (I havent finished the video yet in case you mention it)
Great video. Even as somebody who's played all the games (some several times, at this point), I can feel your passion for them seeping into me. It makes me a bit emotional, I can't deny. I don't know how far you're into Hajimari, but its definitely a really interesting game when it comes to lore and worldbuilding. Almost like a second Sky the 3rd, though Hajimari does focus a bit more on completely finishing a lot of plot points introduced in all the games of the "Western Zemuria" saga. Also: Thank you for suggesting starting at the beginning (Sky FC) if possible. I see so many people skipping out on the "intro games" (AKA Sky FC, Zero, CS1) it makes me a bit sad. I don't think some of those people realize the sheer emotional weight behind a lot of sequences of the game if you don't start from there. Out of curiosity, since it was through your other Trails video that I found your channel, so I don't know if you've answered this before. I know you've talked about how great the NPCs are, but how into it are you? I've personally done the whole "talk to every NPC" at least once and man, oh man, does it make the games even longer than they already are. Don't get me wrong, I like it and it adds a lot to the worldbuilding, but it can be a bit tiring sometimes. Also, do you read the in-game novels/newspapers? There's a lot of interesting info and worldbuilding in those. For me, even through it was gruelling at some points, CS4 is the culmination of so many things I love about Falcom's attention to detail. Seeing all the NPC's stories I've seen building and building through so many games and some of the stuff that happens to them and to Erebonia as a whole is an experience like no other. Other than Azure and maybe Sky the 3rd, I don't think any other Trails game has an atmosphere and general sense of dread and gloom as CS4 has. Yeah, man... Sometimes I have trouble explaining why I love Rean so much to other people, but you did it perfectly. I don't think I could have said it better. Rean was ever so close to breaking in every single game. In every game, they beat my poor man down further and further. Seeing him finally rise from the ashes and finally truly smile was amazing for me. If there's one thing I have to complain about Cold Steel, and by extension Crossbell, is how they did the bonding events. Now, let me get this straight, I don't dislike Bonding events in of themselves. I think they have their problems, but its no different from a lot of other optional content these games have. No, my main problem with it is that Falcom only lets us see half of them in the 1st playthrough. There's so much info in them sometimes that it hurts to see people miss them (CS4, in particular, has some really really good bonding events). Sidequests its hard to say which is better, but I would generally agree with you that Azure and CS4 are peak when it comes to sidequests. There's so much interesting things and varied types of sidequests in these games... not to mention, a couple of them have a lot of lore in them. Man... the theories about Campanella, the Grandmaster, the "Beyond" (or, in Japanese, the "Outside") and weird things like the "Happiness Stone" are so vast I could probably fill an entire other comment with all of them. The theories the community makes in-between games are so of the best parts of the community itself... Almost makes me forget how toxic the community can be sometimes (People are really zealous when it comes to the arcs they like. Probably nothing new to you, since you like One Piece so much). One thing I find weird/interesting is how the "devils" from the 3rd keep coming back when the world is in peril and how strange they are (their looks range from demonic to sometimes angelic to almost eldritch, at times). The supernatural elements in these games always feel like foreshadowing for the "endgame" of Trails. Another things I'm realizing as I type all this is that I actually love the slice of life elements in Trails. Heck, sometimes they as good as some of the more hype moments. It says a lot about Falcom that they made someone like me, who normally isn't the biggest fan of long slice of life moments, actually enjoy them. I won't spoil anything or give any clues about it, but Kondo did confirm in a recent interview (I won't post it here since it has spoilers for Hajimari) that the intros of CS1 / CS3 are important and are not just there for gameplay / prologue purposes. Make of that what you will. I'm almost surprised you didn't mention the beginning of the War itself. Considering how limited Falcom's budget is, I though it was a pretty impressive and hype scene. Alberich, despite being a parasitic little shit who destroys lives and is kinda brainwashed himself, does say a lot of interesting things when it comes to the lore of the world. Personally, I don't think Celeste is the Grandmaster or anything like that, but I do think they might be a similar type of being. I also wouldn't be surprised if parts of Phantasma are reflections of Zemuria itself, in some way. Man... There's a lot else I could say, but this comment is getting way too long. Anyways, I hope my English is understandable enough. Also, a bit of constructive advice/criticism, if you will. For series like Trails, you should try to get some general notes like you did for this one. It helps the video a lot. Of course, don't let that limit how you explain things or how passionate you are for them. That's the most important part at the end of the day. Also, I think doing some more specific videos / review on each game or somethings you find interesting would be good. Trails games have so much detail in them, even with how long these videos are, they're sometimes not enough to talk about all the things that happened in these amazing 60 - 100+ hour games. Well... continue the great work, my man. You do some really good content and your passion is second to none. Congratulations on getting into the "One Piece of Videogames". Hype for Kuro rising.
Its great to hear Someone so passionate about Trails/Kiseki, almost intoxicating. Me now I am playing through Trails into Reverie and my mind is flipping. Definitely peak JRPG and a work of art.
Valimar and the others are not dead. I believe they are in the Outside. They can't connect to each other anymore, but they still exist. Who knows, maybe in the future they'll see each other again. One of my favourite things was Olivier and Schera getting married. Being in the journey since FC almost 6 years ago, I was rooting for them, I knew there was something between them but I wasn't hoping that the game would confirm it just yet. And not only it's confirmed, but they get married and honestly I loved seeing them together, that's what I love about this series, it shows you how things change and progress. Of course my highlight of this game is Rean and Crow, it's no wonder they got number 1 and 2 spots in the character poll in Japan, and also number 1 in duo category. They're awesome. I hope they bring Hajimari as soon as they can because Hajimari was amazing too, it really feels like an epilogue to the series up to this point but also a beginning for the next chapter.
I am here now... finally after 2 years I'm caught up... though I'm pretty you've played Hajimari and Kuro by this point right? I knew you couldn't wait
Normal ending had me in tears. Fortunately there was also true ending. Thing is, both are canon. When Valimar says Rean he is proud of him and that Rean has been "his only true friend" before dissappearing from this plane ....its almost too much.
I'm about to start the Sky games myself soon. I picked Song of the Ocean from a local store for the PSP because it was cheap and got hooked. It was used but well worth the 50 pesos (about two fiddy), sadly I couldn't find Prophecy or Tear so I had to go the nakama way for those two if you know what I mean lol.
Lloyd honestly after Hajimari is gonna probably be on top of that list as well alongside Rean and Big Boss. Cause they get so much shit in Hajimari man!!!
Please dont start here. Start with cold steel 1 if you dont think you can tolerate the dated graphics of sky. CS1 is an acceptable place to start but you cannot appreciate 90% of this game if you havent played the previous games.
Wanted to really thank you for this video, as someone who just finished cs4 and couldn't talk about it with anyone this was an amazing outlet to just vibe with your thoughts. Love the energy and passion!
Just finished this game last night and just wanted to say PEAK FICTION… crazy I got into this series all because of some meme of you I saw on twitter singing this series praises “not a fan of the words: peak fiction, goat, raw, fire click off the video ” 😭😭
So I just wanted to say thank you recon. For two years This franchise is all I’ve played and it’s Genuinely a journey I’ll never forget.
I Still got reverie to play and soon Kuro 1 so I got some more peak waiting for me 🙏.
I completed Hajimari three times already and I'm already excited for the next game.
I finally got around to watching this video. Dawg this game from start to finish was phenomenal. Out of this world. FRAGMENTS DAWG. OH MY GOD. When Crow and Duvalie joined the party, it was literally peak. Like who better to make Rean snap out of it, is the guy he was trying to save in Cold Steel 2. Then in chapter 2 when my boy OLIVIER SHOWS UP. DAWG I GENUINELY THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD. ESPECIALLY WITH HOW ALFIE WAS MOURNING HIM IN HER BONDING EVENTS. Actually brought a tear to my eye. Then in chapter 3 when we fight Arianrhod and after the fight we attempt to revive her. THEN RUFUS THAT SNAKE. HE COMES FROM BEHIND THEN STABS HER. I GENUINELY THOUGHT I COULD PLAY AS HER. I LOVE RUFUS BUT HE'S A SNAKE. Then eventide.... I spend 7 hours on that segment. I just loved everything about it. All the interactions and everything. There was this one part where Crow said there's no way he would be Reans student. It would be funny as hell if that happens. Aight now we gotta talk about finale... MC GOATMAN BURN, GILLIATH MY KING OSBORNE. THEY'RE FIGHTS WERE SPECTACULAR. I really do wonder what Mcburn is doing now tho. Cus he really switched up on Reans squad and calls Campanella a rat. But Osborne... when we found out he was actually a good guy and ge genuinely loved Rean, it touched my heart. Not many games touched my heart on this level. But yeah... this journey was the best journey I've ever had alongside one piece. I'm really glad my friend got me into this. I can't thank him enough. Thats my brother.
Just finished CS4 and watched this video. Gotta say, holy shit what a journey and what a conclusion. PEAK FICTION
YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LETS GOOOOOOOOO!
bro I agree so hard on everything about Rean man, he went up HIGH with this game
Recently finished CS4 and bro HOLY SHIT this is my favorite thing EVER. Sure there's an asspull in fragments and some padding in act 2 BUT THE HIGHS ARE SO ASTRONIMICALLY HIGH, IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER. AND THAT CONCLUSION HOLY SHIT, QUITE POSSIBLY THE GREATEST ENDING MY EYES HAVE EVER WITNESSED.
From the character writing to the worldbuilding to the lore drops THIS SHIT WAS PEAK FICTION.
Was looking forward to this. Watched a bit of it now and will watch/listen to the rest tomorrow while working. In the meantime i just wanted to say that finishing this game had me tearing up because it felt like I've spent so many of hours with so many of these amazing characters and for most of them, the story was over and I won't be seeing what's going to happen to them later on with their lives.(Especially people from Liberl considering the latest trails game) At the end I was like an addicted junkie asking for more, like give me anything, even if it is too minor, Just give me 10 more kiseki games right now and i will play them one after another :)
A shame this series will probably never get the level of recognition other series like Final Fantasy has. Not that it needs to, i know. Just that I don't have any friends who play this series or want to give it a try because as they say "the graphics put me off". So, watching your Trails videos helps me a lot. Really appreciate it.
Thank you for writing this comment, I couldn't agree more. Trails is still a hidden gem that I wish I could share with everyone, but hopefully one day they will play the greatness!
Man i still remember in the prolouge when you finish the fight and that scene with claire when she opens her celphone and that message from millium pops up with foto of her rean and milium getting ice cream and shes about to break maaaan thats some painful stuff , altina was my GOAT althrough the game was just so goated and laura i still get chills when think about that last bonding event with laura where they go train and laura asks rean ''rean why do you want to die'' and rean is like shocked that he was found out because its there that you realize to what degree rean has not forgiven himself when she presses him '' I know your just trying to find where to die'' i was like laura baby you once again prove yourself the GOAT
After 3 years I finally get to see recons reaction for peak fiction and there's much more to come!
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
You just keep delivering man and you should be really hyped for Hajimari, it's by far the best game for Rean's character. I'm sure you're gonna love it. Have you considered playing the spreadsheet? The community did an amazing job on it. (I havent finished the video yet in case you mention it)
MANNNNN, that’s really exciting! I’m definitely going to be diving into Hajimari soon!
Great video.
Even as somebody who's played all the games (some several times, at this point), I can feel your passion for them seeping into me. It makes me a bit emotional, I can't deny.
I don't know how far you're into Hajimari, but its definitely a really interesting game when it comes to lore and worldbuilding. Almost like a second Sky the 3rd, though Hajimari does focus a bit more on completely finishing a lot of plot points introduced in all the games of the "Western Zemuria" saga.
Also: Thank you for suggesting starting at the beginning (Sky FC) if possible. I see so many people skipping out on the "intro games" (AKA Sky FC, Zero, CS1) it makes me a bit sad. I don't think some of those people realize the sheer emotional weight behind a lot of sequences of the game if you don't start from there.
Out of curiosity, since it was through your other Trails video that I found your channel, so I don't know if you've answered this before. I know you've talked about how great the NPCs are, but how into it are you?
I've personally done the whole "talk to every NPC" at least once and man, oh man, does it make the games even longer than they already are. Don't get me wrong, I like it and it adds a lot to the worldbuilding, but it can be a bit tiring sometimes.
Also, do you read the in-game novels/newspapers? There's a lot of interesting info and worldbuilding in those.
For me, even through it was gruelling at some points, CS4 is the culmination of so many things I love about Falcom's attention to detail. Seeing all the NPC's stories I've seen building and building through so many games and some of the stuff that happens to them and to Erebonia as a whole is an experience like no other.
Other than Azure and maybe Sky the 3rd, I don't think any other Trails game has an atmosphere and general sense of dread and gloom as CS4 has.
Yeah, man... Sometimes I have trouble explaining why I love Rean so much to other people, but you did it perfectly. I don't think I could have said it better.
Rean was ever so close to breaking in every single game. In every game, they beat my poor man down further and further. Seeing him finally rise from the ashes and finally truly smile was amazing for me.
If there's one thing I have to complain about Cold Steel, and by extension Crossbell, is how they did the bonding events.
Now, let me get this straight, I don't dislike Bonding events in of themselves. I think they have their problems, but its no different from a lot of other optional content these games have.
No, my main problem with it is that Falcom only lets us see half of them in the 1st playthrough. There's so much info in them sometimes that it hurts to see people miss them (CS4, in particular, has some really really good bonding events).
Sidequests its hard to say which is better, but I would generally agree with you that Azure and CS4 are peak when it comes to sidequests. There's so much interesting things and varied types of sidequests in these games... not to mention, a couple of them have a lot of lore in them.
Man... the theories about Campanella, the Grandmaster, the "Beyond" (or, in Japanese, the "Outside") and weird things like the "Happiness Stone" are so vast I could probably fill an entire other comment with all of them. The theories the community makes in-between games are so of the best parts of the community itself... Almost makes me forget how toxic the community can be sometimes (People are really zealous when it comes to the arcs they like. Probably nothing new to you, since you like One Piece so much).
One thing I find weird/interesting is how the "devils" from the 3rd keep coming back when the world is in peril and how strange they are (their looks range from demonic to sometimes angelic to almost eldritch, at times). The supernatural elements in these games always feel like foreshadowing for the "endgame" of Trails.
Another things I'm realizing as I type all this is that I actually love the slice of life elements in Trails. Heck, sometimes they as good as some of the more hype moments.
It says a lot about Falcom that they made someone like me, who normally isn't the biggest fan of long slice of life moments, actually enjoy them.
I won't spoil anything or give any clues about it, but Kondo did confirm in a recent interview (I won't post it here since it has spoilers for Hajimari) that the intros of CS1 / CS3 are important and are not just there for gameplay / prologue purposes. Make of that what you will.
I'm almost surprised you didn't mention the beginning of the War itself. Considering how limited Falcom's budget is, I though it was a pretty impressive and hype scene.
Alberich, despite being a parasitic little shit who destroys lives and is kinda brainwashed himself, does say a lot of interesting things when it comes to the lore of the world.
Personally, I don't think Celeste is the Grandmaster or anything like that, but I do think they might be a similar type of being. I also wouldn't be surprised if parts of Phantasma are reflections of Zemuria itself, in some way.
Man... There's a lot else I could say, but this comment is getting way too long.
Anyways, I hope my English is understandable enough.
Also, a bit of constructive advice/criticism, if you will.
For series like Trails, you should try to get some general notes like you did for this one. It helps the video a lot. Of course, don't let that limit how you explain things or how passionate you are for them. That's the most important part at the end of the day.
Also, I think doing some more specific videos / review on each game or somethings you find interesting would be good. Trails games have so much detail in them, even with how long these videos are, they're sometimes not enough to talk about all the things that happened in these amazing 60 - 100+ hour games.
Well... continue the great work, my man.
You do some really good content and your passion is second to none.
Congratulations on getting into the "One Piece of Videogames". Hype for Kuro rising.
Its great to hear Someone so passionate about Trails/Kiseki, almost intoxicating. Me now I am playing through Trails into Reverie and my mind is flipping. Definitely peak JRPG and a work of art.
Valimar and the others are not dead. I believe they are in the Outside. They can't connect to each other anymore, but they still exist. Who knows, maybe in the future they'll see each other again. One of my favourite things was Olivier and Schera getting married. Being in the journey since FC almost 6 years ago, I was rooting for them, I knew there was something between them but I wasn't hoping that the game would confirm it just yet. And not only it's confirmed, but they get married and honestly I loved seeing them together, that's what I love about this series, it shows you how things change and progress.
Of course my highlight of this game is Rean and Crow, it's no wonder they got number 1 and 2 spots in the character poll in Japan, and also number 1 in duo category. They're awesome.
I hope they bring Hajimari as soon as they can because Hajimari was amazing too, it really feels like an epilogue to the series up to this point but also a beginning for the next chapter.
I am here now... finally after 2 years I'm caught up... though I'm pretty you've played Hajimari and Kuro by this point right? I knew you couldn't wait
Normal ending had me in tears. Fortunately there was also true ending. Thing is, both are canon. When Valimar says Rean he is proud of him and that Rean has been "his only true friend" before dissappearing from this plane ....its almost too much.
WATCHING IT TOMORROW I'M GIGA HYPE LET'S GO MY KING, DROPPING A LIKE AND GOING TO SLEEP
RAGI!!!!! LETS GOOOOOOOOO!
Recon i had to swoop back in after the anime announcement, i KNOW you're as hype as I am
Most definitely! I AM SUPER HYPED FOR THE ANIME!
Haven’t played this series but wanted to show support!
Much love fam, thank you!
Will definitely be back to watch this once I finish my playthrough. Probably in a few months lol still gotta show my support tho King!
Ayyye much love fam! Thank you!
I'm about to start the Sky games myself soon. I picked Song of the Ocean from a local store for the PSP because it was cheap and got hooked. It was used but well worth the 50 pesos (about two fiddy), sadly I couldn't find Prophecy or Tear so I had to go the nakama way for those two if you know what I mean lol.
Hahaha I gotcha XD
Those are unrelated xd
Yo Reckon was rewatching this and i realised you dont have a video on reverie what gives? Btw i got into trails thanks to you.
Nvm just realised it was on another channel.
Lloyd honestly after Hajimari is gonna probably be on top of that list as well alongside Rean and Big Boss. Cause they get so much shit in Hajimari man!!!
Just finished 4! It was true peak!
YES IT'S TIME, CS4 GREATNESS
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
T H E
E N D
O F
S A G A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
G R A N D M A S T E R
After I finish the Yakuza series, this is likely going to be next on my list!
Let’s goooooo!
Please dont start here. Start with cold steel 1 if you dont think you can tolerate the dated graphics of sky. CS1 is an acceptable place to start but you cannot appreciate 90% of this game if you havent played the previous games.
Aside from the grandmaster, WHO IS BERYL??? She knows way too much
Beryl’s mind is out of this world hahaha! She truly does know too much
I LOVE REAN SCHWARZERRRRRRRRRR
REAN SCHWARZERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME
Letss goooo
you should really play Breath of Fire 3 and 4 then, you will love them games
yoooo