Top 10 Least Favorite Moments of the Legend of Heroes: Trails/Kiseki Series
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ค. 2024
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Top 10 favorite moments video: • Top 10 Moments of the ...
TIMESTAMPS (Entries marked with (*) contain MAJOR SPOILERS)
Intro: 0:00
#10: 2:05 Trails of Zero Fun
#9: 3:52 Who needs character development when you have hot bobs
#8: 6:12 Clothing. Gone. Don't ask questions. Just do it.
#7: 8:19 Déjà vu all over again.
#6: 10:38 NOT SO FAST NOT SO FAST NOT SO FAST NOT SO FAST
#5: 16:13 When the cringe is staged.
#4: 18:14 Guess where I pulled this idea from.*
#3: 20:53 We're going to save the world... but not until tomorrow.*
#2: 23:24 A world without consequences is a world without believability.*
DhM: 26:43 Memory doors are optional, even if they don't feel like it.
#1: 29:42 The dumbest form of pandering, right in your face.
Outro: 35:02
More countdowns!: • Countdowns
Other commentary!: • Commentary/opinion
Random News of Gaming (RNG): • RNG
Smash Ultimate clips (shorts): • Smash Ultimate Shorts
Smash Ultimate supercuts: • Smash Ultimate Garbage
Twatter: / chao_nights
Discord: / discord
#Trailsinthesky #trailsofcoldsteel #trailstoazure #trailsintoreverie - เกม
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Please do not post Kuro/Daybreak spoilers in the comments from here on out. I (and possibly other people) like to go into games as blind as possible without knowing any details at all about the story, even ones you may consider insignificant. I will be removing Kuro spoiler comments from here on out as they have nothing to do with the video.
Edit: Also, I've been getting notifications for comments that TH-cam is hiding from me, even in the back end. I tend to reply to every comment, so if you don't get a response, try to reply to this one.
right. since the majority prefer to play the official localization of Kuro even if it takes too long
@@fadadfasdfd minority u mean , majority of fan of this nic series already play it , only casual and fake player wait for 4 year
@@user-cq6zg2lw7f nice gatekeeping being a fan
The lack of commitment to killing chars and the non satisfying ending for the romance sub plot are definitely my 2 biggest gripes with a series that I still enjoyed! Good video.
Yeah, the series still manages to stay interesting in spite of all these problems. Thanks for the comment 👍
i strongly agree with point 6. the "not so fast" that thign supposed to add a hype only become a meme
_"T H A T W O N ' T B E N E C E S S A R Y"_
I agree
I liked the hotsprings scene in Sky though. It at least progressed Estelles character, so I don't see how it's worse than the coldsteel ones just because their a bit more natural.
It has to do with the way they shove hot springs scenes into every game regardless of the setting. I just find it annoying, but it's not a big deal.
Never mind important characters never dying, what I find even more ridiculous is that even the most unimportanr NPCs hardly ever die except vague mentions in flashbacks. I found it very hard to take the civil war plot seriously when a village burned down and...one old man died. That's it. I was like "Oh, come on!"
Lol, yeah, it's just tiresome.
MAN, you're so based for picking Towa, though! Finally somebody gets me! They also had a moment together at the end of cold steel 2, where Rean showed her his vulnerable side after returning from war - that moment actually sold it to me. Because NOBODY from the supposed romancable characters even considered to do this. Hell yeah, brother!
I know I sound crynge, but hey.
I also think, that part of the problems of Cold Steel 1 is that it was used to test too many considerable changes to their usual formula at once, which made it both better than previous games at some things (like battle system - although it became too casual for my liking), and worse at others (like playable character development, cause there was too many of them).
Great video man)
Thank you!
You are correct, that's one of Towa's best moments, and I still regret not mentioning it in my top 10 favorite moments video. 😔
CS1 was the second game in the series I played, so I didn't really notice all the problems until I played it a second time. I did like the battle system of the whole CS series, but yeah, all the other new "features" just seemed to make the series worse.
I feel like it's the insistence on adhering to tired anime tropes, redundant gameplay loops, and safe storytelling that encompass all the grand issues with the Trails series. All of which are emphasized moreso because they're repeated in different story arcs. Hot springs, beach scenes, raging lesbians, cross-dressing the pretty boys, the deluge of waifu bait, friendship speeches, the false threat of character deaths...all made worse as the games go on until you basically become numb to it all. But you're Number One reason is mine as well. When I first played the CS games I knew it was a slim chance the good guys would suffer any perma-deaths because the waifu factor was dialed up to a hundred and fandoms would riot if say Towa died. I feel like Falcom was chasing profitable trends when it adopted the Persona social links and choose your love interest factor, but the reason it works in Persona is because it's one game and you're done which prevents larger inconsistencies since each game is a whole new cast. Plus the MCs are blank slates that you are SUPPOSED to insert yourself into. Not fleshed out characters with personalities all their own in a narrative that suggests they themselves should choose a love interest they become attracted to due to their own interests and character traits. I feel like Falcom tried to have their cake and eat it by shoveling in the dating simulator/waifu factor but still pursue an in depth hero's journey, which was handicapped because Rean now has no love interest to contribute to it in more than a superficial way. Rean is destined to canonically hook up with no one, ever. Even Ishmelga Rean would feel bad for him.
Yeah it's really annoying, and such a shame because of how much potential this series has squandered just to chase trends. Sometimes we gotta remember who their actual target audience is: younger Japanese boys, and not really people like me who've been gaming for ~30 years, even if we've been into the series for a long time. If they shifted their focus to the mindset of those who have enjoyed the series since the beginning, I think it would benefit the series more in the long-term.
@@LowestExpectations Yeah, I'm a little worried they're going to continue this habit. From what I've heard of the Kuro games they're going to implement a Mass Effect-esque morality system, which...COULD work if they're dedicating substantial amount of foresight to it, but could also be them chasing trends again to the detriment of this grand narrative they're sculpting.
@@Negajoe No comment on that 😶
I know domineering women irl who experimented as lesbians in their youth and ended up married to unmasculine men. It's not that uncommon
Spoiler:
There is one (1) Todd Howard hidden in this video.
they should do as rex in xenoblade with have nia , pyra , and blond girl , , love them all , rean + all his harems and many babies from each girl LOL for the end
please no lmao....
@@LowestExpectations they must do a photo with all girl pregnant in rean in center include juna , towa ,altina , sara , elise , alfin , and musse with a big smile , nadia and reene also and other class XI girl , linde and her sister , and loyds , randy headpating rean shoulder for his duty ,and elie unhappy by watching loyd , and a fat tio , and mireille stare randy bcuz she jealous , and agnes pregrant and elaine jealous too
true dad of tio"s babies is not mishy but rean . tio 's baby should be creating during elise and tio saving in cs4 for thank rean hahahah
good idea
I really must say thst watching this shows how different the taste of people can be. I started with Trails of cold steel and loved it to the point that cold steel 3 is my favorite. I can understand problems with some parts but it not means other likes it in one way or another.
Probably you started with it just like me.
But once I played Sky, SC became the peak for me, followed by most of Kuro no Kiseki (the very ending of it I didn't like).
So yeah. Cold Steel has way too many "I wanna Be Persona" moments.
I honestly prefer Sky fc and sc, but Cold Steel 3 has my favorite soundtrack.
Sorry for the late reply (I blame TH-cam lol), but yeah, there's a billion different takes on this series out there. CS3 is definitely my favorite of the CS series, so there is that. Thanks for the comment 👍
While i understand why people like CS3 so much, for me it was boring ass game until the last two chapters.
I much prefer first chapter of CS4, because i have time to play without Rean and watch how everyone interacts with each other without him. It was so fresh that i was so sad when it comes to actually saving the guy, because i had such a great time with the cast without him.
While I understand the point you made regarding the more "slice of life" moments of the series, I think the moments from Sky FC, such as the hot springs and Jenis festival moments, are more endearing as they function as character moments and buildup for the very end of the game where Joshua leaves, as it shows Estelle steadily beginning to see Joshua as a romantic interest as opposed to family, as well as a break from the action. The highs are only high if they have the necessary setup for a good payoff.
Fair enough, I just would rather not have to go through the same motions in the same way in every single Japanese game. It's just a personal annoyance, and not that big of a deal overall. Thanks for the comment 👍
The games are being created in a culture where there is communal bathing. The characters are teenagers, and the games are being made for teenagers who have to deal with the awkwardness of that.
I liked the written romances way more, but it's dumb to disregard slice of life content entirely when that is what anchors people to fantasy worlds
25:39 - It actually just hit me that Franz couldn't have known Millium was going to die at the end of CS3 since they'd been planning on Altina being sacrificed for the sword for practically the whole game. So why would he have an extra copy of Millium and not Altina? The only explanation is that he made a quickee clone right after Millum died, or prepared for both possibilities and made an extra copy of both sisters. Which makes a little more sense, but than it means there's an extra Altina out there somewhere >_>
That was a silly contrivance, but it still makes sense that they had backups of all the Oz units just like the random mooks you fight in the dungeon.
Who even knows at this point lol
i dont mind the way that Crow came back is CS3 because it makes sense with the other knight awakeners but what they did to the corageous crew is just BS, either have the balls or dont do anything
Yeah, they killed any sense of consequence in CS4. It was hard to take that game seriously. Thanks for the comment 👍
@@LowestExpectations even at the end of Reverie i was like, yeah they will save this guy somehow and BAM
Olivert and Victor make sense, since Olivert served as the Courageous 2's pilot and Victor was affected by the curse... but the others don't make sense, I mean - the only purpose that Toval served (Other than the salt pales) was helping Rean and the others track Argres which in turn gave them the chance to stop Ishmelga for good due to the Earthen Prison
@@fierytigergaming8112 the point is, why making us think that they all die and then nobody dies!!!, that is something that really drops the franchise down, either have the balls to kill some1 or dont attempt to
I think it says a lot that not only is Trails 3 you're favorite entry, but almost nothing in Reverie is accounted for on this list. Seems like it's the generic anime tropes and plodding gameplay/storytelling elements that really grind your gears because by the time those games take place...all the settings and characters are long since established so it's all about developing them further rather than obsess over anime tropes or waste time on countryside backtracking. And even if they are present they're all optional "Doors" that you can skip.
Reverie is a weird one. The story felt almost secondary because it's quite shorter than previous games, and I spent so much time just dicking around in the randomized dungeons with all the characters that nothing really stuck out to me. I also didn't do all of the memory segments, so maybe there is a bad one I could have included in the dishonorable mentions. I almost included the Juno Naval Fortress thing, where _literally not a single person was at the largest active military base_ when it gets destroyed, but it's just a typical eye-roll moment at that point in the series.
@@LowestExpectations I wouldn't say any memory segments are especially terrible, but over a third seemed like unnecessary padding. I didn't need to know the exact details of how Jingo got her airship, or go on a random bug hunt as Freddy. But what's actually funny about Juno getting nuked is that Marquis Ballad, Musse's pompous goof uncle introduced in CS 3, is revealed in one of the memory segments to have been put in charge of the Naval Fortress. I was laughing at the thought of this minor character suffering such a gruesome fate before Aurelia hand waves off any consequences by saying an entire fortress was emptied. Given it might have been a needlessly cruel fate for the poor guy, but I was still like "Come on, you can't even kill THAT GUY."
I didn't mind a lot of the more "mundane" character and "slice of life" moments. I really like the slower character focused moments like at the beginning of Zero where they travel to Armorica on foot or conduct the investigation in Mainz, I think they were important and necessary for introducing the player to the new cast and new country. They also make the plot feel more grounded and believable
I do feel its necessary to clarify I still hated the bonding event system and the hotspring/beach BS in Cold Steel, and that isn't what I mean when I say "slice of life" moments. Cold Steel could've used more charcter building moments in the latter half so I could actually maybe take CS 4 somewhat seriously.
Understandable, I just didn't find that interesting or compelling in Cold Steel especially. I probably wouldn't have minded if it was cut down a bit, but since they went with the whole high school theme, it was probably inevitable. Thanks for the comment 👍
Thanks for 7K views!
31:52 yeah I started with cold steel and nearly stopped playing at that moment. I also didn’t care for the dating sim angle which actually got worse when Joshua and Estelle entered the picture, I was left wondering who they were but when I looked into it(and asked the friend who told me about the series who they were), I was left asking “So why do I have to pretend I care about who this game wants to ship?! It clearly wants me to pick Alisa!” And I went for Laura because Laura and Jusis were my favourite characters(not counting general craig). One of my favourite moments in reverie was that cute moment between Estelle and Joshua with the ice cream because even though I don’t know a lot about them, they feel very genuinely close and I ended up nearly cracking a rib laughing at Estelle’s reaction to the whole situation.
If you went back and played Sky (or watched the scenes online), I think your disdain for the dating sim elements would grow even more because Estelle and Joshua's relationship is _very_ well done. It just makes me think of what could have been. Even though I don't care for Alisa, her relationship with Rean could have been another great, fleshed-out romance. Heck, I can even say the same for Lloyd and Elie. And it's looking like I might end up saying the same for Van at the end of his arc... 😮💨
On your number 1 I've been replaying the whole series before Kuro 1 and 2(partially to see if my feelings that the franchise has been gotten worse were nostalgia or not. Its not nostalgia.) you mentioned that Towa and then Laura are reans most compatible pairs and I firmly agree but Alfin is also a strong number 3 they have really earnest bonding moments and the plot actually leans into it to a noticeable degree(especially with the royal dance in CSIII), no idea how they managed to make this happen in spite of the other class VII girls especially Alisa.
It's funny you say that, because I think my #3 for Rean would have been Alfin too. Not only because of what you said, but it would have been a more interesting outcome for Rean's future storywise. Not that it matters because I doubt they will commit to anything when it comes to Rean. Oh well.
Are you going to play the current fan translations or wait for the localized release?
@@LowestExpectations I'll just play them now and then use the summer release as my NG+ point for Kuro 1 unless I end up loving the new combat and want to play it again straight after.
I'd personally say my least favorite moments would be in Cold Steel 3 and 4 due to how out of hand the harem dynamic got. Like why are the students lumped into the group of love interests? Especially given the uptick in women stepping forward about being sexually harassed and assaulted by male authority figures in Japan.
Also, basically any moment where LGBTQ+ characters are stereotyped are on my list.
I try not to draw parallels to the real world _too_ much, and just take the story as is, but yeah, I did say in #1 that "turning Trails into a harem anime is the worst thing that ever happened to it," and I stand by that.
Thanks for the comment 👍
Cold Steel III actually scaled back the harem stuff with only Alisa, Laura and Emma being treated as serious love interests in their bonding events, the Elise-Rean dynamic shifting away from the awkward pining and more onto Rean's comically overprotective big-bwother tendencies while the students and other female characters in Rean's orbit (Millium, Towa, Sara, Fie, Elise & Alfin) being treated in a more platonic manner.
Apparently this angered the Japanese fanbase, which (as mentioned) consists of a significant number of male middle and high school students, who were upset their favorite waifu wasn't being romanceable and the backlash resulted in Cold Steel IV doing a 180 and having ANYONE with ovaries having a thing for the player...er...I mean Rean. I kinda wonder how things would have gone if Falcom had been able to do paralel domestic/foreign releases and the western fanbase had been able to get their say in along with the domestic fanbase before CSIV would have been finalized.
@@ErpyAGDI I was not aware of this. Really puts into perspective all the things I complain about in this series when it's really not made for someone like me, at all.
I had the pleasure of watching your video, I got a good few chuckles, I love this series, I get the pain in the ass, stupid plots, but remember the biggest thing about games, they are all fantasy😂
Yep, as much as I rag on the plots, they are still fun to play too.
I genuinely hated playing through CS4. The moments of bad writing and general fan service cringe really soured my thoughts on CS as a whole. The ending and Reverie are what saved it.
Great video! I loved all the Trails games so far but they definitely can be criticized.
I played pom-pom party exactly once in the Crossbell arc for the "fight" against Campanella, lost several times, and Tio swooped in to save the day 😁
One of the annoying things, mainly in CS but also Sky, is just the constant fighting of the same bosses over and over. Oh we fight Campanella, Duvalie, or McBurn and "win" I guess, but then they're just "holding back their true power" or whatever and "won't hold back next time". (♥Campanella tho so more Campanella always good)
Rean's optimism was also quite annoying and unrealistic, on how "we'll get Crow back". Man, that guy was leader of a terrorist organization, lied and tried to kill you several times, but hey he gave you 50 mira once so that makes you buddies?
I kinda wish that the "bad" ending of CS4 should have been the only ending, if it was expanded and filled out with resolutions to all the ongoing threads. It would have made a lot more sense and I could've accepted that fate for all the involved characters. It would have been a great ending for Rean, similar to the ending of Tales of Berseria.
Thanks! When you spend a long time with a long story, it becomes easier and easier to notice any problems it has.
Yep, re-fighting every antagonist is an annoying series staple lol.
I remember Lloyd being more of an optimist than Rean was, but you're right, super ultra optimism gets really annoying and cringey sometimes.
I don't know if I'd like the band ending to be canon, but maybe if it was something in between the two endings; Crow still dies, Millium remains as the sword (and maybe downsizes for Jusis to use it?), but they still destroy Ishmelga with Rean surviving. I dunno, haven't put much thought into it.
I agree with fishing and I also agree with Pom Pom party. I also hate card games, but Blade and VM are alright lol
Fishing in video games is the bane of my existence lmao
Quite frankly, when it comes to your criticism about "Fragments" in Cold Steel IV - I'd have to disagree, because one could argue that it's this "Power of friendship" that serves as the pieces of his mind which are in... wait for it, "Fragments" (Although, ngl - it would've been better if they'd shown segments of past games with each character in if they were going to keep Crow and Duvalie out) The one in the FINALE, however... had no purpose whatsoever, since it was the Earthen Prison which had suppressed Ishmelga)
I mentioned this in a reply to another comment, but my main issue with that segment is _how_ everything works. It doesn't make sense, it isn't explained well enough in-game, and everything just works out conveniently for the sake of the writers getting the results they want for the next chapters.
I get that it's a part of Rean's character growth, and all that. But you have to try and fill in the plot holes yourself in order for it to make sense, like you have with your description of his mind being in "fragments".
Now that I think about it, I don't think there's ever any real tension in any anime or game series since almost nobody ever dies. Even though the trails series is super long, it's not nearly as long as the likes of dragon ball, one piece, and Naruto, yet those shows have maybe one or two important people die (except one piece since the number is up to maybe 10, but it's a smaller fraction considering the scale of it) just like the trails series.
I'm not much of an anime watcher but I think a fair amount of characters die throughout Final Fantasy as a counterexample. It really depends on the story they're trying to tell. Trails has so many _very_ serious and morbid topics in it that the lack of on-screen deaths is just really odd, and clashes with the subject matter, at least in my opinion.
Personally, as someone who played through all the games in a row chronologically recently, I have to agree with most of your points, especially the one about romance being shafted in service to a dating sim mechanic that no1 asked for nor cared about just because the Persona franchise was getting popular. I would even go so far as to say every character in cold steel has a token relationship with someone other than rean just to be slightly more relatable and virtually no relationship to anyone else from the game (jusis/machias, laura/fie). That being said, I personally like the less relevant to the plot scenes in the games that just flesh out parts of the world that the writers were curious about or felt like had something to say (agate training the 3 stooges and the lechter academy door, for example) so long as they dont overextend their welcome (which i agree both examples did to some extent) and aren't set the evening before a literal continental war is about to break out. I also appreciate the minigames for what they are: small breaks of pace to do during the 80h you will have to dedicate to the game that aren't mandatory at all for anything other than completion.
Sorry for the late reply, I have a hard time responding to comments sometimes.
It's true that a lot of relationships in Cold Steel feel like token relationships. Maybe a lot of the side fluff content would have been better spent away from the main character to flesh them out a bit more, maybe that would have helped, and maybe I would have enjoyed some of the side content more if it did this.
As for the mini games, I normally don't mind them all that much either... when they're good. A lot of them just feel half-baked, and Pom Pom Party is a straight-up rip-off of other games (Puyo Puyo).
Most of the gripes I agree with though I would like to add, gameplay for the Sky Trilogy, particularly combat wise seems jaringly slow compared to the other games. Also for the side quests there's a huge amount of backtracking even with a guide. I didn't get that as much with the other games.
I am a Turbo Mode abuser so I don't really feel that way with any of the Trails games, but that has also made many other turn based JRPGs (like Sea of Stars) feel very slow. I do agree the side quest backtracking is annoying though.
That is why I love breath of fire, no romance whatsoever
Maybe I should stop putting it off and actually give it a try haha...
Pom Pom Party slander?!
Nice vid, man. Agree with just about all of it. Nice to know I'm not the only one who's a little disinterested in where the series went
(edit: i'll be bringing up similar points in a vid soon that i wrote a month ago; so i promise i ain't copying you lmao)
Lol thanks. I look forward to watching it just to make sure all of your points are completely different than mine, otherwise I'll bust Grimwood out of prison. 😉
@@LowestExpectationsthat ain't no prison, it's a four-star hotel xD
I usually avoid video's like these on things I adore altogether but oh well...
As a trails fanboy, this video was hard to watch lol. Still watched through all of it and I can't really deny/disagree with most of the points. Those negatives are definitely there and I can understand people disliking them.
Still I don't get really get why you would play through all of it, if you dislike some much.
I appreciate that you took the time to stick through it.
There will alway be things you can point out as flaws in the media we like. I can only recommend to not be a fanboy... Fanboyism doesn't do you any favors lol.
As for me, I do like the series, and I loved the idea of having a long series of continuous stories within a single universe. I made a top 10 favorite moments video long before I made this one after all.
I do think they haven't taken advantage of this interesting universe as well as they could have and wish they took the series in a more expansive and serious direction than they did with Cold Steel. As of now, I kinda don't expect the series to end in a satisfying way but you never know.
my pick for number 6 would be basically all of kuro 2's third chapter
Oh I plan on remaking these videos once the entire series is over, and let me tell you, I will be talking about that part for sure haha...
The mini games
Haha...
Couldn't the Trails series just pull a Mass Effect of transferring your save of the romance that you went with in the previous game and have a few unique cutscenes with whoever you romance going forward, Falcom even did that with Cs4 a bit.
They could do that, but depending on how involved the other girls are in the story, they'll have to come up with unique dialogue for all of them too, and if they aren't with Rean, that leaves them all with nobody, unless they find some weird way to pair them off with other characters other than Rean depending on your choice. It'll be a mess regardless of what they do, unless they purposely leave these characters out of the story as much as they can. While on the other hand, if there weren't romance options, reintroducing these characters would be very simple. It's a problem they created for themselves, with not a lot of positives to balance it out.
I'd rather they just stick with one canon romance
I feel like the worst thing the trails series ever did was introduce the curse in the cold steel series. It makes every villainous character so fucking lame since every bad thing that has ever happened in Erebonia boils down to being caused by Ishmelga. I loved Hamel so much in the trails in the sky saga because as fucked up as it was it was realistic, shit like that happens in real life. The reveal that Lechters dad just did it because of this amorphous curse makes it so much less impactful
I agree, and I'd probably say something about the curse if I remake this list because for some reason I didn't really talk about it at all in this video lol.
But what you say is true. I talked about it in my favorite moments video, but things like Hamel, Kevin's past, the DG Cult, Star Door 15, all that stuff, as horrendous as it all is, it's also a big part of what made this universe feel so alive because you see and hear about things just like that in real life. Reducing the cause down to a curse that manipulated the minds of people to do evil things made everything feel like a cheap cartoon made by people that are painfully naïve about humanity and history.
@@LowestExpectations 100% agree man, i don't really know about the development history of the trails series but there must have been a writer change or something between the first 5 games and the cold steel games. Don't get me wrong I still like the cold steel series but sometimes comparing the erebonian games to the Crossbell and Liberl games feels like comparing an anime to its 4 kids dub
@@theku3604 I don't really look into the development side of things either, but I have heard from others that writers changing around is what's been going on, and it really shows.
isn't there a story moment in CS 2 millium scene for the endding.
You mean her bonding moment or at the end when she cries for the first time?
@@LowestExpectations her bonding event about the crying.
@@normnavx Okay yeah, I vaguely remember that, what about it?
Amazing Video bro ! Keep it up, I totally agree with all ur points but with the last one i have a different opinion i believe having dating sim elements in jrpgs is common and a fun aspect but tocs 4 overdid it they made each and every character fall for rean as tho they dont have their own lives if my memory serves right the closest we got to know characters seeing someone else beside rean is Elliot who hinted on datin someone at the boys ending of theme park but guess wat elliot is a guy who rean cant date bruhh.. Instead of making all females they shouldve just stick to the main three girls ( Alisa , Emma , Laura maybe Sara too for ppl who wants spicy things) these four options make most sense for rean becuz Emma is a witch & witches doesnt date and respect relationship like these ,Laura first love is her swordmanship , Alisa have alot of burden so she doesnt have time to meet new ppl and sara ofc is sara.it would make sense for them to date rean since hes the only valid option for them
Yeah I don't like dating sim elements. In most games where it's optional, I tend to skip over it, even in games where it's supposed to be a major part of the experience, like Rune Factory.
It's fine if you like things like that, but in Trails, it's an even bigger problem because of what I outlined. They will either have to accommodate for all of these dating options in future games where/if Rean appears, or retcon everything so that none of it mattered. This wasn't the right series for something like that.
For dead characters, slight correction (I think) Gideon dies on-screen, I think he's meant to be the 'terrorist leader' killed by the Red Constellation, right?
Yeah I forgot about that, I think that was retconned into Azure after Cold Steel came out, right? The version I played didn't have it iirc
If I started at sky I would never have played the next two series
Why's that?
@@LowestExpectations the difference in the qol I started with cold steel then played zero and went. Through now I'm on sky 1
otto is not die is in trails of reverie in crossbell at the star of game near esteelle ice cream place
Nice vid. I agree with most of the points you brought up. Special shoutout to PomPom Party being my personal least-favourite minigame ever, especially at the higher difficulties (which Trails kinda forces you to do anyway if you want those sweet sweet powerful items).
I swear it is not my imagination but the opponent somehow moves at 2x or even 3x speed, leaving you with barely any chance to counter. I may have lost some hairs just from this minigame alone 🥲
Yeah the last few are pretty tough. I used to play games like Pom Pom Party a lot in the past (Tetris, Panel de Pon, etc.) so I don't think I struggled with it as much as others, but it's still just a ripoff of Puyo Puyo, which is just lame lol.
Great video. I personally did not like the direction this series took after Cold Steel 3. After having spoiled Cold Steel 4 for myself, I decided to look at what happens in the games after… And yeah, I don’t think I’ll be playing any Trails games post-CS3 until Falcom learns how to write a compelling, coherent narrative with complex, interesting characters. I might give Kuro 3 a chance; I’ll walk into it spoiler-free if I do so-yet I don’t even know if I want to. I love the Trails series from FC to CS3. But post-CS3, I don’t even know what this series is supposed to be anymore.
Hopefully Falcom can get back on track someday.
Interesting. I've been seeing a lot of people say Kuro 1 is one of the best games in the series, but I've yet to play it (no spoil pls). I agree that post-CS3 took a massive nosedive (mainly just CS4 imo, Reverie tried to pick up the scraps but was too inept), but I think you can trace the series' current problems all the way back to Trails from Zero. Azure and CS3 just happened to be good in spite of those issues, but hey, we'll see what happens in the future.
And your Kevin avatar is a good choice, just sayin' 😉Thanks for the comment!
@@LowestExpectations Of course! Yeah, I think we can both agree that Kevin is an awesome character.
I see what you mean about Zero. However, I feel like Zero had a lot of excellent moments and a phenomenal story overall. The emotional and frankly awesome experience that was fighting the final boss in Zero (I’m omitting the name of the final boss in case someone who doesn’t know sees this comment) is probably one of my favorite moments in any game ever.
With that said, Zero certainly has its problems (like every game), yet in spite of them, the game was still a 9.5/10 for me.
To address the last thing you said: Yeah, all we can do is wait and see what happens in the future with this series…
Kuro needs to be played.
@@vittoriopugliese3352 Soon™
@@LowestExpectations Hi, today is my first time watching one of your videos, great job! Liked it a lot.
On the Kuro hype, the game is good, and seems like a return to form. Everything is a bit more mature if only bcs the MC is older than what even Estelle would be at septian year 1208.
There are still "bonding" events, but they absolutely have nothing to do with said MC's dating life, they have actual gameplay reasons to be there as they provide permanent buffs now.
My one complaint is that the cast is overly large again. Even when all of the characters work, and are actually quite good, they could have waited to make some of them permanent party characters for kuro 2 and 3, while keeping some as recurring cast.
Also they kinda fumbled the ending, is hit or miss. To me it was a combination of a hit and a miss, so like a partial hit?
They still made me really want to play Kuro 2 immediately, so I am right now with a chtgpt translation. T_T it's pain, but I simply cannot wait until 2030 to play it.
I agree with all of them except 1... I actually like pom party...
I might have liked it more if I hadn't played other games that are exactly the same as it beforehand (Puyo Puyo, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, etc.).
Number 6 is my number 2 personally. Hate that trope in trails especially in cold steel. Gotte disagree with your number 5 tho. Estelle and Joshua wanted to do the play for the orphanage kids after there home burned down. Also didn't Jill elude to what happen in Hamel.Seeing Loewe face in the end and saying they almost got the story right and confirming that Loewe was the one who save the kids from the orphanage, which is also a call back from the Hamel incident he can't let this happen again.
That's fair. I don't remember all the details about the school segment because it was so long ago, I just remember hating having to do it when there was a more interesting plot point we could have been exploring instead.
I...actually love all of these points and are high/very enjoyable moments for me that never took away from the game I'm playing. Well, I guess I just love anime stuff in my games. Also, I never get why people call the bonding events in CS harem cause if that was the case all of that lovey-dovey stuff would take place in the main story, not optional fun little bonding events...that are just there for fun, not to be taken so seriously. Obviously Alisa is Rean's main love interest and everything else is just fun what-ifs. Well, that's just how I see it. Angelica is so funny and a blast every time I see her on screen. In CS3 on the ship during intermission and some victory battle qoutes have me die laughing thanks to her antics though I love pervy/flirty characters like her so obviously she'll be a fav. of mine.
Aside from the 3rd having some things I don't like, namely being in a dungeon the whole time, some doors being annoying/too long/too short, and Kevin and Ries being kinda...meh to me(mostly due to not being a usual Trails game with traveling throughout the region/country and interacting with NPC's), it's why it's at the bottom of my list and I don't think that's ever gonna change. Now Zero Azure are just above it but them being so low is the lack of an English Dub at all, not even in battles, and me being a huge English Dub fan it really sucked. Oh well, maybe in the future with a remake of them(and the Sky games) I'll get that full English Dub experience like I did with the Cold Steel games and that'll heighten(except maybe 3rd cause that'll most likely still have the disappointing parts for me in a remake lol). The Cold Steel still stands as my favorite in the series with a lot of my favorite moments in it and I don't see that changing soon.
I don't have a bad moment in the series. It's all I've asked for in my games, except for the oddity that is Sky 3rd and looks like Daybreak is still going with the norm which I'm glad about it. Also, since Reverie has so many Crossbell cast with an English it feels like THE Crossbell game for me and made me really like the characters and setting more than the main games did lol
Personally I hope Falcom keeps all of my favorite things I love about the series...that a lot of people seem to hate in Daybreak and onward, like hotsprings, fanservice moments(cool and sexy), flirty/pervy characters, cool/badass entrances/saves, romances among characters that FALCOM wants to create even if it makes people "uncomfy" or "cringe", and giving characters 2nd chances even if it means they didn't really die cause I love that shit lol(among many other things I love that many hate lol)
U trollin right?
@@tman4241 What? No. What made you think that?
@@Saru245 Nevermind you do you then
It's all good man, we all like different things. I for one wish the series would focus more on worldbuilding, lore and history of Zemuria to make the overarching story more interesting. I'm admittedly not much of an anime fan so a lot of these tropes are a major turn-off for me. Still appreciate the time you took to check out my content and write such a long comment! 👍
I also made a favorite moments video if you're interested.
@@LowestExpectations Oh, you're not a big anime fan but still love this series? That surprises me but also makes me happy that this series still managed to hook you. Regardless of anything I'm always happy to see others try out this series and get hooked like I did.
Oh I did and a lot of those is some of my favorite moments too lol
It's kind of interesting that you brought up the various pairings that came out of the Sky cast as superior to Cold Steel's ambigious-by-necessity harem pairings, while one of the former pairings (you know the one) is arguably one of the biggest sources of western Trails cringe nowaydays.
Tita's puppy crush on Agate was brought up as early as SC, especially if you pick Schera as your bracer partner, which means that during the Zeiss chapter, it's Agate and Anelace you run into during your quest activities and afterwards, Tita anxiously wonders if Anelace and Agate are an item and acts relieved when Estelle loudly LOL-nopes the idea.The Bose Chapter with Agate and Tita then proceeds to be one of the Trails series most emotional and heartwarming sections and deserves nothing but praise.
Then 3rd comes along and when Agate rejoins the team, Olivier makes a comment to him about Tita's (quoted literally) "juvenile scent". Instead of dragging Oli-boy over to the Hermit Garden's restoration pool and dunking his head in while counting to 30 very, veeery slowly, the rest of the party instead decides to play along and start teasing Agate. (Tita's thirteen years old during that game)
Then Cold Steel III and IV come along, which basically have everyone in Erebonia treating Agate and Tita as an established couple before Falcom stops pretending altogether and makes a comment directly to the player (through one of Reverie's mini-games) stating that relationships with a 12-year age gap are not uncommon in real life. (yes they are, Falc...uh... Beryl. Maybe not later in life, but if one partner is 28 and the other is 16, they abso-friggin-lutely are)
What do you mean by western Trails cringe, is there something different in the translation we got or does it have something to do with the western fandom?
Looks like there's a lot I forgot about Tita and Agate's relationship though. I picked Agate over Schera last time I played SC, and in Reverie, I don't think I watched every side story thing. It's also not super significant to the overall story so I didn't place much importance on their interactions.
But the whole age gap thing is besides the point I was trying to make. If you put the _weirdness_ aside, Tita and Agate's relationship is still better than anything Rean gets story-wise. And Lloyd too I guess. That's just the unfortunate thing about all this.
Thanks for the comment 👍
@@LowestExpectations I'm not really sure how the domestic fanbase sees it, but I imagine that if the Japanese fanbase was uncomfy about the way Falcom handled the ship, the latter would have made an attempt to course-correct in the next game instead of doubling down on it. (kinda like how they "course-corrected" with the Rean harem in CSIV after CSIII kept his bonding interactions with all but three of his female companions platonic)
And by the way, Agate's and Tita's interactions themselves are largely fine. A young teenager developing a schoolgirl crush on an older guy who literally took a bullet for her isn't that weird. Agate softening up to a girl who in some ways reminds him of his late sister and him finding a surrogate family in 75% of the Russell household is also fine. Heck, the way they interact with each other is fine.
It's the rest of Zemuria openly encouraging Tita to pursue a relationship is what's cringe, especially since they have to know that if Agate reciprocated, he'd be tossed out of the Bracer Guild at least and probably thrown in the slammer by the very colleagues who were shipping him before. It's kind of a contrast with that time in Sky FC when Estelle pointed out that a girl of her age (Klaudia) being married off to an adult member of another royal family was gross and the others present agreed with her.
@@ErpyAGDI Okay, I see what you mean by that. I never really put much thought into it. I was probably like "haha... they're just teasing them and it's funny lul" and moved on.
@@LowestExpectations Part of it IS probably teasing, but in CS4 there's an optional scene where Rean (who unlike Fie, Musse and Renne, does NOT have a trollish personality), during a hotspring soak with Agate, pretty much asks him to his face if he's interested in Tita. So it definitely feels like Falcom is heading in that direction.
Reverie not getting a single moment is reflective of how godlike the game is, ayyyyyyyyyy
I wouldn't go that far lol
6:46 I’m not disagreeing….fanservice generally annoys me(I don’t mind it if it’s in a series that is clearly made to be fanservice the show, you get what you signed up) but games, anime and books where they’re asking you to take them seriously then bust out the fanservice gets my goat(I don’t make exceptions, western entertainment also gets on my nerves when they do it(especially if like in the lot2 they try to pretend they’re doing it for a good reason….lies and damned Lies) and pointing it out doesn’t make it any less annoying). The bathing scenes are just stupid in my book, I don’t mind if they imply they’re bathing but we don’t need to see it(though strangely I can think of an anime that used a bathing scene for a good reason. Digimon 01 did it and while bathing is weird there I can see why the scene was included, it was to give the kids a very sense of normality and comfort as they could before hitting the audience with the kids crying about homesickness and devimon’s attack but maybe I’m looking too much into it).
I guess we're pretty much in the same boat then. I am no prude, and I will play straight up porn games if I think they're worth playing, but like you said, and like I said in the outro, I start to get annoyed when an overused, copypaste fan service segment pops up in a story that appeals to me for other reasons, as if they think they can't hold our attention if they don't include things like that every now and then. It's insulting and annoying.
I don't know what "lot2" is, but the thing you describe in Digimon doesn't even sound like a fan service moment at all, at least the way you describe it. If the goal was to portray a normal life, then having a bath is certainly part of that, and can definitely portay a feeling of "safety", so it would be a fantastic contrast to something bad that happens later.
@@LowestExpectations lot2 was just me saying the last of us part 2(I saw that nudity scene in that game and instantly got annoyed. While fanservice is annoying I at least know Japanese game developers aren’t doing it for a higher purpose, they’re just doing it out of fanservice needs but to pretend your fanservice(and to play by different rules from your competitors on the whole nudity thing) isn’t fanservice and is being done for a higher purpose to me is annoying(I often say anime doesn’t get away with things that for example family guy gets away with regularly).
I don’t think you’re a prude for wanting fanservice not to be included in places where it shouldn’t be. Going to another Japanese game, Valkyria Chronicles, had a moment where I nearly threw my controller at the tv, in the 4th game there was an extra scene and one of the characters who kept banging on about her respectability and who the game wanted you to take seriously called Minerva….was shown wearing a bikini in a fanservice moment. It actually got my goat because i think it came up not long after her entire squad was killed(though set before) and I thought “are you kidding me?!” Because it was bad when they did it to the other character but Minerva?! Seriously?! I watch anime and video games with lots of fanservice in them and it is simply put annoying(I don’t think I’m a prude either).
Yeah something I left out of the Digimon comment was Digimon also falls guilty of fanservice later but this was episode 8 and really early on in the show’s run. I remember as a kid how scary I found the show and to see the kids chilling and just having a brief few moments of joy only to have Joe bring the mood down and then for it to transpire to be a trap by devimon was all the more gut wrenching(as a kid I thought one of the kids may end up dying….i wasn’t a smart kid to think Digimon would dare kill off a child character(though in my defence around the same time power rangers lost galaxy was airing and it killed off a kid character on screen so Maybe my guard was up).
@@andrewobrien8325 Okay yeah, I haven't played The Last of Us 2, but I've seen that scene in so many memes and stuff since it got leaked before launch, and man... It's just perfectly symbolic of how far Playstation has fallen since 2018 or so.
That Valkyria Chronicles 4 scene you're describing does sound annoying. I remember hearing a lot of negative things said about VC4. I've only played about half of VC1, so I don't know what the rest of the series is like.
@@LowestExpectations I don’t have any other negative things to say about Vc4 but that’s because I’m a muppet who’s easy to please(except with food) but yeah I can see a few small issues. I didn’t play the last of us 2 either but like you, I couldn’t escape the memes and the commentary on it but my rules are simple if the Japanese games and media gets criticism from America and Britain(and anyone else who it applies to in the west) and isn’t squeaky clean I’m going to call them idiots but as I said I don’t complain often(unless it’s about Scottish football, small joke).
Oh please don't remind me of that one scene in Persona 5 Strikers...
Haha...
EVERY TIME I AM CALLING VALIMAR IN CS I GET INTERRUPTED!its so irritating😢
Haha...
hoo boy that's just... something else
CS4's Fragments chapter is my favorite chapter in the series, and I've been playing these game since 2015.
I realize that Deus Ex Machina is EVERYWHERE in CS4, however this one I actually can agree with. While "power of friendship" is a whole meme. Here it kinda makes sense and let me explain how and why. Rean for all 3 prior games has: 0 confidence, thinks himself trash and doesn't believe he can be loved, this is the reason why he gets devoured by his ogre power when what happens at the end of the Gral happens. Rean's an emotional wreck of a person for the entire time he's on screen pretty much.
However Fragments showcases that he isn't alone anymore, as he thought himself to be. Yeah it may be cheesy, but this isn't the situation where that's a bad thing. The overall hype you see throughout the chapter leads you to a great payoff that leads 1 to feel satisfied. Rean was always aware of those who helped him while in the demon form throughout that chapter, he saves Celine from the bot at the start, he notices some significance in the coin tossed to Rean by Crow, he understands what the gang are saying to him and at the end he awakens from this wreck of a mental state he was in because he hears his partner Valimar and Millium's voices. Rean blames himself for what happens to everyone that's blatantly obvious, but here he starts to forgive himself and starts a journey of him being a good character.
Yep, that's what to expect with a video like this😉
Believe it or not, I actually agree with most of what you're saying. I kind of like Rean as a character, and his development and growth is very compelling to me for various reasons. I don't really have any issues with the character aspect of that part. My problem has more to do with the logistics of everything that happens in that subchapter. More of the "how" rather than the "why", if that makes sense. For a series that has been _mostly_ consistent with how things work in the universe throughout (debatable, probably), there's a lot in CS4 that is seemingly unexplainable, like that little friendship crystal thing Rean has inside of him, or whatever that's supposed to be. I guess you could just hand-wave it as "it's just magic bro" but Trails is generally more interesting than that, and I just found it really disappointing.
Thanks for the comment 👍
Gotta say, I pretty much completely agree with the majority of your takes and felt embarrassed to play Cold Steel IV to the point where I rushed the last half of the game as I just wanted to be free from it. I made the mistake of playing it infront of my ex and she looked at me like a weirdo for the rest of the day. Also the lack of death in Trails really hinders its GOAT status and makes it feel more like a child's toybox than a gritty war story.
That said, my number 1 least favorite moment in Trails is actually the music in CS 3, 4, and Reverie. It's not bad, it's just mid. And considering how many songs from the first half of the series are on my Spotify playlist it just hurts that most of Singa's tracks sound like a chunk of scrap metal put through a blender and then thrown off a mountain.
Bahaha, yeah, even playing CS4 alone is embarrassing at certain parts. Thing is, it didn't need to be a gritty war story at all, it just needed to be able to be taken seriously, even if just at certain key parts, and it failed at that.
The music throughout all of Cold Steel is pretty weak imo, at least by comparison to others in the series. Most of it just sounds like anime cheese to me, but there are some good tracks here and there. I thought Kuro was a step up because it fits the theme of that game so well, but they will never top Sky the 3rd's music. Ryo Takeshita's tracks were just pure magic, just sayin'
Thanks for the comment again 👍
@@LowestExpectations Of-course, I'm always happy to engage over Trails content and am tempted to put my own opinions out there one day.
Yeah, I had Overdosing Heavenly Bliss blasting on repeat for months, same with Get Over the Barrier and Don't be Defeated by a Friend. It's actually nice to speak to someone who values Sky the 3rd as much as me as it's always been in my top 3
@@Synthpopper Yeah Sky the 3rd is actually my #1 in the series still. That game continues to age like a fine wine with all of the interesting lore presented to us via the memory doors and other parts slowly being realized and revisited with each game that comes out. The story was very emotionally gripping and written so well, and the music carries each scene even further to the point I always strongly recommend people _not_ to mod in the JP voice acting, and just let the music express everything better than the VAs can.
I agree with a lot of things on this list. Especially the stupid Cs4 ending. The normal ending would have been better where it not for the fact that it ruins Reans character development! I also think that the herun bulshut really started in cs3 and got worse in Cs4. In coldsteel 1 you can just dance with anyone including the boys and it was a very sweet friendship moment. In cs2 you can romance all girls but they only confess to you in after you make your romance choice. So it never becomes a herun. In cs3 and 4 though you get the persona 3 vanilla problem where completing all of a character social events makes them confes to you. I hate it. Cs4 is my least favorit trails game I played.
But there is atleast on couple that emerged from Cold Steel: Millium and Jusis.
True, though it's not portrayed as a serious relationship and came off as more of a close big bro/ lil sis friendship to me. I could be wrong though.
Thanks for the comment 👍
I thought so to but in Reverie in an dialogue with Tita and Nahida Millium makes it clear that she is serious about it.
@@charaxas452 Is that an optional dialogue scene? Maybe I missed it (or forgot).
@@LowestExpectations It's one of the optional dialogue in the Reverie Corridor. I am not sure if they stood at the bottom area or on the upper area on the left side.
@@charaxas452 Ah okay. I must have missed it. I played the game back in January-ish using an English patch before the localization came out, and some of the side dialogue was still untranslated, so I may not have seen it at all.
Seeing the second least favorite moments and thinking:
Fuck.
I have no way to say it'll get better.
I don't think it will xD
Oh and I actually agree that the state of the localization of NIS is a bit... weird right now. Joke or not, it's true that some sentences are written in a very bad way and that the fan patches are way more finished than NIS localization itself. We still have typos and bad descriptions for items AND abilities in the game, and I don't think they will fix those too soon. Even if they do, Nis has a history of fixing bad text on console but not PC. (Cold Steel III still have some 1.0 script there never fixed).
I don't want to say anything spoilery, but if you're all caught up with the series, play Kuro.
But yeah, NISA localizations have been bad since the company's inception. At least CS3 and CS4 were decent-ish, but their sloppiness in Reverie was just inexcusable.
Also, I got a notification for another comment of yours on this video, but I can't see it because TH-cam is hiding it (or did you delete it?)
Anyway, thanks for the comment 👍
My disappointment with the Trails series is when they introduce manned giant robots in CS. Japan will somewhat put them in every story, given enough time and plot extensions.
Reminds me of when Marvel sold the rights of Spiderman to a japanese adaptation, it even looked well done until suddenly some giant monster appeared and, well, giant robot.
Yeah their obsession with giant mechs really shows in a lot of games. I remember being kinda disappointed with that towards the end of CS1 as well.
Very interesting list. Most things I can definitly live with, given my investment in the world. Some I would disagree... well, preferences.
Personally I like the "slow-burn" stuff (and even the slice-of-life distractions, even they definitly _can_ distract from a sense of urgency).
I am quite opposed to the total-global-utter-anihilation-of-the-world-that-needs-to-be-prevented content.
There a nice little scene from one of the earlied Pratchett Discworld novels, where Rincewind the Wizzard is told "You must save the world!"... and he respond with something like "What? Again?"
It just gets increasingly difficult to build up a compelling adventure, when you already beat the gods trying to destroy the universe three games earlier.
This would tie perfectly into the "lack of commitment" issue: the overarching narrative of everything. The heroes have thwarted the "bad guys" (Ouroboros) schemes over and over again... and still we get constantly told "Yep, that was totally according to plan. We meant to do that!"
Perhaps this is meant to build an "aura of mystery"... what the heck DO they even mean to do?... but together with all the "I meant to lose this fight. I just held back this time... but next time... I will also hold back... because reasons!" fights... it's a heavy burden on the suspence of disbelief.
The heavy use of anime tropes has been featured... but in this regard, there is something that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere, and that keeps bothering me: the Cold Steel Highschool setting. _Class VII doesn't make any sense_.
The other groups we were playing as had a justification for their existence. Bracers are a genius idea for an RPG... they are basically a professional Adventurer's Guild. They are established, they have a job, they have a reason... they are the perfect setting for protagonists of a game to work for.
The SSS is similar. Part of an established group, and there are valid reasons for some "unconventional individuals" to play at being policeman versions of bracers.
Class VII is extremely lacking in that regard. They are students playing at being bracers... without any reason for them to do so. There is no plan or structure to use "Class VII" (as an organization, not as a "group around Rean Schwarzer") to replace bracers in Erebonia, either as a training program or as an actual group. There is no reason to use them as test subjects for "combat links" or "Arcus units"... there would be groups better suited to that task.
The only reason for "Class VII" to exist is to use anime tropes that the creators thought would appeal to the intended audience to get the protagonists together.
And then, finally, the prime objective, err, objection... the "romance" system. I couldn't have said it better than the video did. It is jarring. It is breaking the narrative.
It is useless, because there mustn't be any relevance for the story. It's shallow, because it doesn't allow for any deep story to evolve. It is unjust to the non-"main"-character individuals.
Again, it only exists because the creators considered it an appealing feature, without considering the consequences. Ogling some boobies on the beach? That's harmless! But this pseudo-romance nonsense is fanserice that harms the story and the worldbuilding.
Yep, a lot of this is just down to preferences at the end of the day, like my getting triggered whenever there's a hot springs in a JP game lol.
The slow burn stuff definitely has its place, but there are times in this series (like #5 and #3 in my video) where there is a super serious important thing going on and your main cast is just dicking around for the sake of it. That said, it's funny you mention not being a fan of the global annihilation plot points, as the biggest global annihilation moment is in one of the worst games in the whole series (CS4). At least in my opinion.
As for the Ouroboros thing, it is kind of bizarre how it's progressing for sure, but I guess the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens after 10 more games lmao.
I think the way they justified Class VII existing is that Olivert's travels around the world compelled him to create something similar to the bracers from other lands, as well as a bit of the SSS (both being diverse groups of heroes, in his eyes?) while the bracer guild in Erebonia floundered and was shut down by the imperial government. His way of bringing a diverse group of potential heroes together was to assign them in Class VII, so that their bonds could create something special or something like that, or in his words "the power of love". It's still ridiculous. And like you said, just meant to shove anime tropes into the story, as they could have made them any other type of group other than high schoolers, but that was the popular thing at the time I guess.
And yeah, the whole harem/dating sim aspect was extremely short-sighted. I can't wait for them to reintroduce those characters into the story later down the line to see what they decide is canon or retcon or whatever. It's going to be very strange.
Thanks for the long comment. I appreciate the thought you put into this, and it's always interesting hearing what people have to say about the series 👍
God, this video is so relatable. And kinda entertaining too.
I fully agree with Zero first chapters being unjustified boring. While it's understandable that Falcom wanted player and SSS to get familiar with Crossbell, it probably could have been done better.
Trails SC chapters before Tea party are also not entertaining in a bit. Because of that, I didn't find it as awesome as many people on community do. When I remember SC, I immediately think of this part of the game.
And the thickness of plot armor in the games is also kinda of a big issue, thought I don't thinks that Cold Steel games are that bad. I also don't enjoy every bit of cringy anime fanservice that Falcom tries to shove into your mouth, but I'm not hating them. For me they are ok, as the filler or as break before player will face major events.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it 😆
I hope it didn't come across like I didn't like the Cold Steel series or that I think they're bad, because I still enjoyed my time with all of them despite their glaring issues.
It looks like your comment got cut off at the end somehow?
@@LowestExpectationskinda 😅. Wanted to add more, but I think my comment is already long enough)
By the way, why the hell did Victor and Toval have to be still alive in CS4 if they served no purpose ever since the series started and shouldn't even have existed in the first place? What is the point of Toval and Victor at all, and why can't Falcom kill them off?
By the way, half of the cast in the CS series could have been cut and nothing would have changed. Let's see: Toval, Victor, Alfin, Angelica, Elise, Thomas (could have been merged with Gaius), Neithardt, Scarlet, Duke Albarea, all of the teachers in CS1, heck, you could cut half of Old Class VII (Laura, Machias, Elliot, Gaius, Millium).
Not to mention all the things CS could have done and didn't: CS could have been a violent arc where you control an anti-hero rising to help Osborne conquer the world and Lloyd's sworn enemy, just why didn't it happen?
Were it for me, I'd have the new and old class VII be one single class VII made of Crow, Emma, George, Jusis, Juna, Altina, Kurt, Ash, with Rean already starting off as history teacher (cause as a student in CS1 and 2 he completely lacks a character arc), and Millium as Cayenne's servant rather than Osborne's one in order to fully commit to the concept of Altina as opposite to Millium.
Were it for me, I'd actually have Class VII be divided for the civil war, some students fighting for the nobles and some others for the empire ( I'd make the civil war about not the corruption of the nobles but rather about Osborne wanting to invade Crossbell and Calvard and the nobles refusing to accept it, I'd make Rean aware of being Osborne's son from the get-go and an active supporter of the Crossbell annexation, while Crow, Jusis, Juna and Sara (a fellow teacher) become Rean's enemies (Crow is C, Jusis is a noble, Juna is crossbellan, Sara is a bracer, so it'd make sense for them to turn into Rean's enemies). The rivalry in the Infernal Castle could have actually worked and had Rean absorb Crow. The Gral of Erebos could have replaced the Reverie Corridor as the extra dungeon of CS2 and Millium dies permanently there. And then they could have had a CS3 where Rean is evil (not berserk. Evil. As in having fully committed to being an Ironblood) and you would control the Royalist students Jusis and Juna, along with Sara and the heroes of the Crossbell games, to fight the Rivalries and have a climactic battle between Lloyd and Rean.
Toval first appeared in the Trails from Zero prequel manga. I haven't read it so I don't know what the significance is there, but he's been around for quite a while, and I wouldn't say he serves no purpose. He's a bracer after all, but I guess he does have a kind of cog-in-the-machine kind of role.
Victor is still a mentor figure to quite a few of the younger cast, so he's not irrelevant either. I expected him to actually die at some point because he's an older male character, and older male characters in JRPGs always die, but... Well, Falcom seems to be afraid of letting non-antagonist characters die. Oh well. Thanks for the comment 👍
@@LowestExpectations But for instance, why did they need two Dominions (three if counting Barkhorn) and Thomas never do anything as a Dominion until CS3? Couldn't Gaius have been a Dominion right from the get-go?
@@vittoriopugliese3352 To have as many plot hole covers as possible in case Falcom writes themselves into a corner again I guess 😂
@@LowestExpectations On the other hand, the two Dominions in Kuro are very well-handled
@@vittoriopugliese3352 I didn't even know there were two dominions in Kuro. 🤫
Damn, you really hate slice of life, huh? 😂
There's a time and place for slice of life and the Trails series just ain't it lmao
@@LowestExpectations Honestly, I'd say that's a pretty strange thing to say, because Trails is like half slice of life. All 3 arcs. They start you out living the mundane life, and use it well for world building (and as a solid contrast for you to really feel the difference later on when shit hits the fan).
@@jmporkbob That's all well and good, but like I said in #3, the games kept being a slice of life in spite of all the serious things going down, so it's hard to take the games seriously when they're trying to be serious. At least in the Sky trilogy, they kept it to a minimum, and only did it in places that never felt out of place (except that school segment aslkdjghaklshdgfaklsghjkls)
@@LowestExpectations Out of all the countless times that Trails goes slice of life, I feel like there is only one time it is as you describe? Even then, out of all the complaints I have against CS4, that barely even registers on the scale tbh lol.
@@jmporkbob I mean, that was pretty much the whole of Cold Steel 2. There's a civil war going on, but in between each chapter, you gotta pretend that's not happening and waste time going on dates and doing other random things.
In the Crossbell games, it's a bit more fitting at least, since you gotta patrol the city when things are quiet, but I thought going around town and just talking to people/doing menial tasks was boring. I know a lot of other people like it, so at the end of the day, it's mostly down to preference I guess.
About Kuro 1, all I am going to say, is: --spoiler warning--
They changed the Harem for a triangle, a weird triangle in which a young high school girl has feelings for an older mid twenties guy that has a troubled past relationship with another woman that still loves him but is tsundere. WEIRD!!!!!
To add to it, said woman expresses her feelings as soon as in one of the 3 text stories at the end of reverie, the last door you get in post game, yes. I would have preferred for Falcom to just make a story of how they get back together or something. That makes for better writing. So I guess, harem and hot springs are still present in Kuro.
It's not a triangle, it's Agnes thinking of Van, but Van only has eyes for Elaine (and is staying single intentionally because he worries about her and doesn't want to hurt her). Van does NOT requite Agnes' feelings at all, his dialogue with her is strictly nonromantic. Plus, maybe Agnes' words could be seen as more of seeing him like an older brother or older friend, rather than romantic. Would be a triangle if either Van was undecided between Elaine and Agnes, or if Agnes was interested in both Van and Elaine.
Maybe Kuro 3 will explore Van getting back together with Elaine, who knows? Or maybe Van is either aromantic or a complete romance-disliker who has no interest in dating anyone
Younger people like older people all the time and "young" she is 16
@@alumlovescake yes, that's young, 16 isn't old at all, at 16 you still don't know what the heck you're doing
Add relying on Valimar for literally every situation that Rean isn't bailed out by some deus ex machina. Literally every chapter in Cold Steel 2 ends with "HeEd mY CaLl vAliMaR" and I fucking hated it every time. I've never been a big gundam guy, so maybe thats part of my problem, but it was so damn predictable. The Divine Knight Battles were consistently some of my least favorite parts of CS 2, 3 and 4. even when they tried to make them slightly more interesting in 3 and 4 by adding a second giant robot, It just boils down to a game of rock paper sciscors over and over again.
Lol, it was pretty silly the way it was portrayed too. He calls Valimar and everyone just stands still until he flies across the state to the battle. Like I mention in #6, their approach to action scenes was just total incompetence. As for the battles, I thought they were just okay, but definitely weren't deep enough to have them appear for more than a handful of boss fights, so at least they didn't overstay their welcome.
You could also consider Valimar, and maybe the other divine knights, as characters that didn't survive. Possibly Pater-Mater too.
As a real trails fan your opinion is invalid. Delete the video or you will be talking to my lawyer and the police and the FBI and-
have a good day :}
Lol.
You're not a real fan unless you hate the series. I don't make the rules officer!
I felt so validated watching this because I'm the only one in my friends circle who has massive problems with this series despite liking it overall. There are a few other huge problems I have that weren't mentioned here like:
1) Zero's bad structure: Everything from the prologue to Chapter 3 builds up naturally with you investigating the problems in Crossbell's underground, and it feels like the game is leading to a climax where you fight the Mafia and change Crossbell for the better... except no, suddenly there is this Cult that has had zero presence in the story up to that point, taking over as the main antagonists with no build up and is dealt with in the same chapter so there isn't even any impact there, and to make matters worse, they recycle the same twist from FC with Joachim who was just a much worse version of Weissman.
2) Azure's garbage twists: As if that last twist in Zero wasn't bad enough, Azure not only doubles down but triples down on it with the overdone "I was the REAL bad bad guy all along haha" that is less shocking and more annoying at that point, not to mention how bad Ian was as an antagonist, he didn't even do anything the whole game only to show up at the end, be revealed to have killed Guy, then Lloyd gives him a talk-no-jutsu and he is like "damn I never thought of it that way, understood have a good day" like ??? That has got to be the most unserious storytelling I have ever seen in any piece of media, then of course he gets "killed" by Mariabell who is also an extremely boring and cheap antagonist, but not really because he is saved at the end. If they kept it to Arios and Dieter being the main antagonists that would have actually been okay because they both had build up as characters and their motivations were much more compelling, they brought more to the table in terms of challenging the protagonists. Also, the attack on Crossbell has basically zero lasting consequences after like the first couple hours of playing, no one is killed not even the NPCs (which is such a wasted opportunity considering one of the best things about Trails is how well developed they are and how you grow attached to them especially in Zero-Azure because you talk to the same people all game long, it would have been so effective to kill many of them off and make you feel lonely and depressed). I never understood how people view this game as a masterpiece of storytelling and hold it above other games in the series when it only relies on cheap shock factor and ruins the entire saga. Crossbell was so obviously a rushed project because they didn't plan it out originally (they wanted to do Sky FC & SC and then immediately jump to Cold Steel which would have also been 2 games) and I'm convinced that they wrote the script on the last week because there is no way someone actually thought this was good enough to release, it should have been 3 games as well (1st game focusing on the Mafia, 2nd game on the Cult and 3rd on the conspiracy).
3) Cold Steel 3's tediousness: This is a problem with all the Cold Steel games, but CS3 was the biggest offender to me by far because you could really tell they were stretching it out as hard as they could, the first 3 chapters basically did the same thing over and over, just with different characters each time, they kept building "suspense" over what Ouroboros was planning but without giving us any interesting pieces to fill out the puzzle, instead it was just "Ouroboros is doing something sus" each time, it didn't help that the game has the same structure as CS1 where every chapter is repetitively doing the same thing in a different location, but it's much longer than CS1 and since it's the 3rd game, it's much worse. Seriously everyone praises this game for being such good payoff to your investment in the series but it really doesn't do anything until the very end with a cliffhanger that ultimately meant nothing. This is the opposite problem of Crossbell where CS3 and CS4 should have been a single game (same with CS1 and CS2 tbh).
4) The dialogue: This is a problem with the series as a whole, but it gets SIGNIFICANTLY worse in Cold Steel, the characters are constantly repeating the same generic lines over and over and over again, there isn't really a naturally flowing dialogue based on the characters' unique personalities because every character tends to say the same thing in reaction to the same stuff. There is also the whole "every character needs to sneak in a line" before any major confrontation which just makes it feel extremely forced and they usually don't add anything of value. The character bonding events add to this problem because a lot of the dialogue there has no bearing on the main story, so you will often find the same sentiments and lines being said by characters in the main story even though as someone who has played through everything it's like "You've already gone over this, say something else". It makes it really difficult to take anything seriously when the dialogue takes you out 99% of the time.
I don't know if I can comment on your #1 and #2, as Zero and Azure are the only games I've only played once, and I can't remember a lot of the early to mid-game plot points, other than I agree on Mariabell being lame, and Ian being the killer was kind of a letdown. It's also funny you mention that nobody died during the attack on Crossbell, as I had that as one of my top 10 favorite moments, but I think if I remade that video, I don't know if it would even make the list.
3. In hindight, yeah, the game was pretty tedious, but I remember not minding at the time, especially for chapter 1. Being able to visit Hamel ourselves was a big moment. Wasn't handled that well, but I still really loved it. I also played CS3 before Zero/Azure so going to Crossbell in chapter 2 was actually new to me.
4. This one I 100% agree with, and like you said, it's been a problem since the beginning, but Cold Steel really ramped up the cringe. Whenever someone mentions a problem the entire series has, I try to think, "which game did it the least?" and I'm always drawn back to Sky the 3rd. I think in this regard, because that game's main story is more focused, so there's less room for silly cliche dialogue sequences to ruin important events. Kuro 1 as well, but I won't get into that here.
Thanks for the long comment, I always like hearing what people say about this series. 👍
I disagree with everything, trails is the best jrpg saga ever, and trails from zero to azure and cold steel 3-4 are masterpieces.
If you say so lol
@@LowestExpectations im gonna spoil you kuro no kiseki 2
@@bokeronenjoyer What do you mean? I've played it already