Hellz Yeah, it's about time!💯I've been a Huge Falcom fan since like 2018. Started w/ Ys8. I been wanting a falcom-US/West, for a hot minute now! It's just a pipe dream tho, lol😅 But yeah, it's Time...most non-jrpg players are clueless...while many KNOW & LOVE Persona/Atlus & FF & DQ/S-E, lol. It's wild, ppl ain't Familiar w/ Trails like that at all🤦♂️I hope that changes🙏
love the fact that this fandom is so diverse when it comes to ranking the games my personal ranking is 12_Azure 11_Sky Fc 10_zero 9_Sky third 8_Kuro 2(daybreak crimson sin) 7_Cs1 6_Kuro 1(daybreak) 5_Cs3 4_Sky SC 3_Cs2 2_Hajimari(riverie) 1_Cs4(end of saga)
I love the fact that every time I see a ranking, it seems almost random. That means the quality is similar, and the games are all good. I have yet to see someone rate Sky FC before SC, or Zero before Azure, but besides that.... All seems a matter of taste
I put Sky FC over SC! SC felt like it had pacing issues and was also kind of repetitive by making you fight the same bosses over and over again. I still enjoyed it, but FC was just a more fulfilling experience for me :) (Especially with that ending!!!)
I wouldn't rate FC over SC, but I can see why someone might. FC is, for most of its runtime, refreshingly grounded, down to earth and low-stakes for a JRPG. In a genre where the stakes escalate to fighting God so often that it's become a tired cliché, FC stands out for being an almost slice of life look at two trainee RPG sidequest-completers as they grow as people, fall in love and make new friends. The stakes gradually ramp up towards the end, but right up until the very end they're still very small scale for this genre, and the _real_ stakes at the end are character-based rather than plot-based. It's unusually low-key for a game like this - it's an interesting and worthwhile vibe and atmosphere, and while I think the series attains greater highs later on, that vibe is gone. By the end of SC, the only thing keeping the story from becoming a full-blown melodrama is Estelle, who's constantly pulling the story back down to earth with her sarcasm, bluntness and lack of patience for secret plots and master plans. Later games suffer from a tragic lack of Estelle and as a result, they don't always stop the story from becoming a melodrama.
Hello, I preffer FC over SC. I really liked FC and its self-contained episodic structure which built up the world step by step, getting to know new people a new places and a big climax at the end. Like a good Pokemon gym badge quest. In SC I wasn't a fan of the first half except for ch3 (fantastic chapter). Backtracking, not very interesting plots nor developments. Also I do not like how this game and Sky the 3rd deal with party dialogue. Not required characters dialogue isn't as good since they can't affect the flow too much except for scenes made with them in mind. Also, I think ch2 was really super bland. i enjoyed Cid sude quest and NPC dialogue more than anything happening in Zeiss (in FC I loved Zeiss). When the party reaches Bose it gets good, really good, but I think I still preffer FC. Also not a fan of Weissman as a villain. After Loewe he felt like a side note. Tho, I love Zero and Azure but mostly preffer Azure. Zero-Azure-Reverie might be my fav trails games.
@@Talisguy Dunno, for me SC was the game I less liked out of the first five (being Sky 3rd is my fav Sky). I think people kinda overrate Estelle to some degree. She's amazing, but I still preffer Kevin's sense of humour and how he approaches situationes. And on also Lloyd; I love his imperishable burning heart and his analytical detective mind (everytime he decides to not speak one know he realized something crucial). Plus, Crossbell team dynamics is something I wished was as great in SC (the "make your own party made party dialogue much more meh, ngl, scenes which weren't thought for certain characters to be there were often a thing, when in FC it almost never happened). So, well, I'd say even if Estelle is good she can't make a whole game great. In FC, I'd say Estelle AND Joshua made the game given how well they complement each other. I guess his abscense made Estelle's lacking points more evident. Dunno, maybe it's just me.
I like how everyone has their own ways of viewing this series and rankings can vary pretty drastically between people. I think that its gonna be very fascinating to reminisce and look back at the entire series when its all said and done. I think then we can all get bit closer to what we truly valued out of the series, and which games met those standards the most.
I am on Chapter 1 of trails in the sky, and am thinking it’s pure fucking gold so far. So seeing it listed as the lowest spot on your list is HYPE for me, a lot to look forward to 😊
The fact that you put my favorite game of all times, Cold Steel 1, at 5th place, makes me happy. Also, I agree that the soundtrack is fantastic. Favorite video game sountack is all times. And YES!!!! LAURA BEST GIRL!
Very interesting list. I don't think I've seen anybody say CS2 is their favorite. It is very hard to rank these games as they're all great. Probably one of the most, if not the most consistently great JRPG series ever. My list would go: 1 - Azure 2 - Sky SC 3 - Sky the 3rd 4 - Zero 5- Reverie 6 - Cold Steel III 7 - Cold Steel IV 8 - Sky FC 9 - Cold Steel II 10 - Cold Steel
I am surprised to see someone with such a similar list as mine! CS2 is also my favorite (in my top five games, if not top three of all time) and my bottom three are the same. My main change is Reverie is my second favorite because I really loved C and Rean as characters
This man had this S-tier courage required to take on all the fandom naysayers and recognize Cold Steel II as the best entry of an all-games-are-great series. I salute your brave and correct never-seen opinion sir.
My personal take may be read as 'trash taste'😅lol, but...I Loved CS2 & CS4 more then their more-linear CS1 & CS3 counterparts🤷♂️that's just me(unlike like 95% it feels😅lol). Haven't played Sky 3rd, Kuro, KuroII, & Nayuta yet. I'd put like SC, Azure, CS3, CS4 & Rev as my All-Time favs thus far. Ik its biased, as I'm mostly a sucker for conclusions, CS3 being the exception😅I waited for that Cliffhanger for like 2 yrs, sht was brutal, ngl. Playing Trails as they were released was not easy, lmao. Great Vid, like seeing varying opinions💯👍🔥
for me, my favourite game is definitely azure, my second favourite is CS4. For Azure, I choose it because it's my entry arc to trails(I got in the rabbit hole of trails in 2010, when zero first came out, in pure japanese.), as for CS4, I must say people are right about how divisive this game is, I'm on the side of loving it so much, it's my second favourite trails game. especially the endings, first I cried and depressed, then I felt happiness and teared up again (but for opposite reasons). Because of the endings, I teared up again at the end of reverie.
The Sky Trilogy soundtrack will always hit hard. That rustic feel when it all began on FC with my favorite duo just starting out as bracers that turned into a dimensional mess that Kevin and the group faced on The 3rd.
Cold Steel 1 + CS 2 (except act 2) is probably my favourite story in JRPGs. I think people exagerate with the bactracking in Act 2 of CS2 but its true that if act 2 was half as long as it is, more people would think CS2 is a top tier trails game.
This is kinda similar to my list, except that I'd put Kuro/Daybreak first (it's uncontested #1 for me) and Zero higher than Azure. I haven't played Kuro 2 yet, though I hear it's a bit of a "filler" game due to Falcom's ridiculous release schedule with these games. I also liked CS2 more than a lot of people, though that's largely because its ending blew my mind at the time I played it (suddenly getting "modern graphics Crossbell + Lloyd showing up" was wild as someone playing it before CS3 came out and not having been spoiled on it, and the general hook of "Rean went on to be a miserable soldier under Osbourne" was also interesting).
extremely based list, Sky FC is honestly a masterpiece for how restrained it is. I think its so rad that Falcom just made a whole game introducing the world. if you have such good taste, then I'm excited as hell to play Daybreak honestly
I've only played up to Cold Steel 4 (I stopped after that to go back and play/replay everything, going all the way back to the original Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes game). Up to that point, I feel like every arc has only gotten better, including the second half of the Cold Steel Arc being better than the first. I have a sinking feeling that that pattern is about to change, however. I hope I'm wrong.
Bad take on Olivier and also bad take on not having to finish Sky 3rd doors but I'm always happy to watch a new Trails ranking. Just glad you can explain why you dislike what you dislike and like what you like.
my ranking to the end of cold steel arc (I haven't played Reverie yet) is: 9. Trails from Zero 8. Trails of Cold Steel 7. Trails to Azure 6. Trails of Cold Steel IV 5. Trails of Cold Steel III 4. Trails of Cold Steel II 3. Trails in the Sky FC and Third Tied for Second 1. Trails in the Sky SC Decent list but what an utterly cursed take on Sky Third. Kevin's story is probably the deepest and most genuinely compelling in the series and the way the gameplay actually helps to tell it is brilliant. Its anything but an afterthought. I think most of the minigames are fun too lol, I appreciate them putting them in.
I am not sure why, but I failed to complete the Azure story, unfortunately. I got burned out for the first time while playing the Trails series. My all-time favorite characters are Estelle and Olivier.
Estelle and Olivier are awesome. I definitely can't blame you too much for getting burnt out. The first five games are all very similar graphically and gameplay wise.
yeah i mean, Azure's final act is unbelievably long. you can call it lavish if you enjoy the game, but its really just grueling if you don't. i mean, there's essentially two final dungeons, and the second is like 10 hours long on its own. I also think the plot twist that happens after the first climax that sets up the true final dungeon is really dumb, and even if it gets explained a little better by the end, you still have to do the whole ten hour crawl with the specter of "oh god, did the writers totally shoot themselves in the foot" hanging over your head
while kuro 2 felt like more of a filler, bringing up or putting a lid on stuff back from sky era, made me like it, even though the VA i can't unhear as kiryu is a "bad guy", most of the characters were likeable for me (exception being that one guy with bombs and self stabs). also, kuro is like "yea people should die....." and take it up to 11 with actually killing people, heck, you can kill people if you make some choices, and while i understand that you never get to interact with those characters and one or 2 cannonicly never die (cause they assume you dident made a mistake in choice), i do wish you get more of it, and have it carry over to future games when importing your save, kinda like how azure had some carryover of sidequests you done in zero.
Even though I cs2 is my worse game in the series. Just seeing love for this series is great to see. Worst to Best Cs2, Cs1, Zero ,Cs3, SkySc ,Cs4 ,SkyFc, Sky3rd, Azure.
Havent played Daybreak but from best to worst with thoughts on each on why its ranked that way. I'll try to keep spoilers at a minimum. tldr 1 CS3 2 SC 3 CS2 4 Reverie 5 Sky 3rd 6 Zero 7 CS1 8 Azure 9 CS4 10 FC CS3 (introduces new class 7 all are good chars and a very daring ending that still drops my jaw. This game is not afraid of anything and I mean it. New class 7 is probably my favorite group. I just love how they bounce off each other and how they interact with Rean. Something that I like that got introduced in this game (or CS4), hidden quests are shown on the map. Lovely quality of life. Still easily missable though.) SC (Could easily be the best but the middle few chapters are such a slog and kind of gets predictable. At one point, you run all across Liberl with a handicap and boy is it boring. Aside from that, the best story and protags in all of trails hands down) CS2 (Solid themes, big stakes, very fun combat mechanics, two interesting characters appearing at the end. I think this video's ranking described it pretty well. McBurn gets introduced here too. So over the top that it just becomes fun.) Reverie (This game somehow rectifies some of CS4's flaws. Split up the huuuuge case. Closes out crossbell and cold steel arcs. Sets up next one and a lot of freedom is given to the player in the corridor. Abyss mode is bullshit and I love it. I have a lot of negative opinions of how Lloyd is handled in this game. It's a mess but as much as it sucks, the other two main characters make up for it. Lots of fun moments in this game.) Sky 3rd (Kevin is goated with a great story and power. Rias is probably the most interesting female character I've seen from this series. She is a glutton wielding a sword that can split! She is the only member of a main cast in the games that is a glutton as far as I recall and its funny! As for the game, I could rank this one up just for the music - lots of bangers. I appreciate the pacing of this game too. The doors do great world building but not required. Even if someone goes out of their way to see them all, this game takes the least amount of time to clear so definitely doesn't overstay its welcome like some of the other games do.) Zero (imo the most down to earth game on par with FC. SSS is probably my second favorite group. They are funny all throughout the game and will grow on you. The politics in this game is entertaining too. Some great characters also reappear with some great moments too) CS1 (My first trails game so it gets a bit of a bump. Rean is a good character; my favorite character of the series. As someone struggling with depression myself, it feels good to see it as a major plot point and this game kicks that off. OG C7 is the weakest cast to me though. Jusis vs Machias is damn good tension but outside of that most of the other characters get barely any attention like Elliot or Millium and when they do it's boring as all hell sadly. Not to mention, the stupid easily missable bonding events walls a lot of that attention away.) Azure (imo overrated by the fandom; zero's better imo. This game starts some... damaging trends in the series. Protag's harem gets brought up so many times it gets repetitive and annoying just like CS4. Stakes are high but ultimately lose a bit of impact when no one ever dies. Credit where it's due though: Lloyd has quite a few great moments here. This game follows up on some dark themes from earlier in series. The political tension is back but with a more external focus, which gets intriguing here. Great twists and pretty crazy revelations at the end. Watching the SSS overcoming near impossible odds is fun too. Honestly watching the SSS do anything is probably fun. Just a great cast of characters including more returning characters) CS4 (I saw someone on reddit say this game has the highest highs and the lowest lows and I can't describe this game any better. I don't mind the harem but I can agree it is all over the place in this game. What kills it for me though is the same thing I had a bitter taste for Azure. The stakes are high but again it doesn't matter when there's no consequences. Some characters return and they REALLY shouldn't. Play the game to know what I mean. Take everything I dislike about Azure and put it here in this game. It's frustrating that the final or second to last Cold Steel game has the flaws it has especially when CS3 threw such an amazing lob for it. Despite that though, some people have this game as their number 1 and I can see why. Highest highs remember? CS4 has some of the best moments in all of trails. It's so epic and enjoyable. I mean, New Class 7 shines in the first half of the game, Juna and Ash specifically. Rean is the most badass in this game; even more than CS2. More Altina is good. Some older characters return where it feels like they should and it make sense why they are there. It is fun to see how Rean and the CS cast interact. Lloyd and Rean have a conversation that's pretty moving ngl. It has a satisfying ending that I don't think I see many people complain about. There's some things you can nitpick but it definitely feels well-deserved by the very end so kudos to CS4 on that.) FC (I love this game. I really do. It had to do most of the world building and I respect that. Unfortunately I can't deny how much of a slog this becomes. a weak antagonist too. This game aged like milk. The fighting system is the worst. A lot of filler moment too that either don't make sense or make you go 'who cares?' The music though? Goated. The cast? Very memorable. This game does what it was supposed to do and I'm glad some better ways to experience this arc will be coming soon.) Despite some negatives about some of these, I want to stress none of these are bad games at all imo
I'll be real with you; I ADORE this series but Cold Steel IV's plot was so baffingly stupid that I almost quit. Too scared to kill off characters, plot convenience after plot convenience, the Rivalries are just a boring concept compared to the two Sept-Terrion plots we saw in Liberl and Crossbell, and (without spoiling anything) they absolutely dropped the ball hard with Giliath Osbourne after all the amazing villain build-up they had given him since the Sky games. HATED how that arc ended. I luckily really enjoyed Reverie.
The cold steal games are still my favorite honestly. Especially cold steal 2 ( still miffed we don’t have 1 and 2 on the switch 😈) Second fave being trails from zero and it’s sequel azure. Was ironically not a fan or the sky trilogy at all, just could never really connect with any of the characters sadly 😂 Unfortunately am not that adept with Japanese so have only played a little bit of Kuro no Kiseki. Looking forward to the western release in April a lot ❤ as it seems like a very fun experience.. not sure how I feel about the second game in the timeline after it however 🤔
Agreed, I can't see how any cs game can be seen better than the crosbell arc. Cs1 is just a highschool arc with character introductions, and cs2 is a civil war story with whatever characters. I guess if you liked the class 7 and rean then I could see you loving 2, but to me 3rd game is the best of the coldsteel saga. Meanwhile crossbell has the best set of characters with the least amount of bullshit backstories. And I agree lyoud has to grow on you to like him, just like rean, but every other character makesup for it.
Didn't play Kuro 2 but 1. Sc 2. Azure 3. Tc 4. Zero 5.Cs3 5.Reverie 6.Daybreak 7.FC 8.Cs4 9.Cs2 10.Cs1 Every single game is good but Cs1. The change of target to the series with Cs didn't do for me, glad they went back to the rails with Cs3/Reverie and then Kuro
haven't play reverie, but this is my ranking 9. CS1 8. CS3 7. sky FC 6. CS4 5. CS2 4. sky SC 3. Azure 2. sky 3rd 1. Zero there's no bad Trails game, but IMO Sky shines the best in SC and 3rd. They alse delve in deep themes like trauma, brainwashing, Child abuse and war casualty. Crossbell saga is smaller in comparison but had the best story. it also still really mature , capable of telling a completely geopolitical problem, tragedy and child experimentation by the some Cult. Cold steel is the most shonen. Rean is not bad, I like him, but he's really your shonen protag crank to eleven. too much power of friendship talk and not enough casualty for "the bigest conflict in Zemuria". The cast can feel bloated and the romance somewhat uneven. Still like it tho but I hope falcom tells more mature story again in the next entry
Do you not find Daybreak far too easy even on Nightmare? I think it's the easiest game in the entire franchise. It's a solid game, especially the first half is incredibly humorous, grim and atmospheric. The difficulty, the fact that you often can't sneak past enemies, and the worst ending so far are its main shortcomings.
Sorry bro I genuinely think Sky 3rd is the best game in the series (ignoring Kuro I have not played those yet) full ranking: Sky 3rd > Azure = SC > Reverie = Zero > CS3 > CS2 > Sky FC > CS1 > CS4 CS4 is all the way at the bottom because the writing is so bad and I think the fanservice of other characters from the rest of the series is unbearable and blinds people to truly seeing problems with the game
@@Spr1ggan87 Saying FC better is a complete lie but I can see how SC is better to people. I like 3rd because of the personal storytelling and the wrapping up of Sky character arcs. Also it has the best OST in the series and some of the coolest moments period. Obviously something like Azure has better combat but I like it the most out of all the Trails games
@@Spr1ggan87 I actually enjoyed grinding in 3rd so uh. The 3rd is really good in my opinion. I can't wait to replay it soon! :) I enjoyed the additional stories the doors told and Kevin's personal storyline too. I was genuinely confused that people told me this game was bad. SC and the 3rd are some of my favorites in the series for very different reasons.
I hope i disagree with you on Kuro/Daybreak 2 - haven't played that one yet. What i love about this series is the rankings from fans are all over the place. I've seen CS2 ranked high like here, I've seen it ranked low, even last. I've seen CS4 ranked 1 and even Sky FC ranked 1 by another channel. So it's all personal preference. My personal top 2 are Daybreak and Azure, not sure which one I'd put #1.
By the way I agree with you on the best story and best OST (insane battle themes & even something like land of the blue skies gave me something I haven't felt from an OST since Chrono Cross)
I guess I am the only one that couldn't care less fur shizuna. She only warmed up to me in the final stretch before the last dungeon. I just found her frustrating and inconsistent before that. I went with order. I didn't even get chaos high anoth to lign up with her if I wanted
I dont mind Cold Steel and really liked CS1 and CS3 but Sky 1-3, Zero and Azure are just too good. They definitely toned down a lot of the heavier subjects after Azure and Cold Steel started the whole "Turns out they aren't dead!" and "The bad guys are actually really good people!" So I got burned out by its rehashed trope game after game.
@@joeyisabsb1 so true also oroboros turned into a joke, these guys the same ones involved with child trafficking and MK ultra style torture but now it’s like hey they’re like kinda bad, but some members are good guys too! I really don’t like rean and the OG class vii are for the most part boring and forgetful, Osborne is pretty cool tho
I've so far played Crossbell, Cold Steel, Hajimari and Kuro 1, a bit of FC but too little to count. My ranking: 1. Azure 2. CS III 3. Zero 4. CS IV 5. Kuro I 6. Hajimari 7. CS II 8. CS I
If you haven't, I can recommend the difficulty mods for CS3/4. Really pushes you to find optimal strats. It was best in CS4 where these fights that were built up for 4+ games actually feel like 30 min struggles. CS2 being the best I will disagree with, my vote goes to ether Azure or Reverie (playing that on Abyss my first play-through was a blast). That being said love all of the games, EVEN if Falcom's reluctance to follow through on some character deaths resulted in some really cheesy writing.
@@nopeyepp Vanilla Nightmare is fine for CS3+4 until like halfway through, then shit gets broken way too easy IMO. I am glad they added Abyss to Reverie, while imbalanced in a couple parts, really felt like peak turn-based JRPG to me.
I didn't play sky yet or that Y-something series, only 1-4 Cold Steel, and I agree that 2-nd is the best. 1 - student life with good characters development, tho the story; progression feels boring, well, thats just life of a Student and it feels good actually; 3 - new graphic, characters and more. Epic stuff but lack content (gameplay) IMO; 4 - Has TOO MUCH content and too many characters, like damn. The ending is kinda weak and wierd to me tho. Loved playing as grandma vampire and Golden Rackshasa; 2- best at everything. Content is big enough. Mech battles I personally liked. Music is banger. Story is neat. Chase scene with Rean&Alfin was cute and epic. Having you own airship as base is awesome. As soon as I saw Altina - I wanted her playable so bad, and in the final dungeon players can get her with one item, and she was OP. Bunny outfit is peak, best character in the whole series.
huh, a CS2 enjoyer. while i personally didn't like CS2 , i do find the combat to be very expansive. but i dislike the amount of exploring and backtracking? i had to do in that game, around 3/4 or even half the game i dropped it. it felt like i was playing a Light novel of a genre that i really didnt like.
I must disagree with you on Daybreak as I find it to have one of the worst stories out of the entire Legend of Heroes franchise only to be higher than Cold Steel IV and Song of the Ocean which was a PSP game. I will be taking quite a few shots at the game. Not for the characters, but more for the implemented mechanics. I won't cover everything since that would take a very long discussion. To be honest, even Moonlight Witch and A Tear of Vermilion in my opinion were better than Daybreak and those games have aged quite a bit since the PSP days. I also thought Daybreak had the weakest soundtracks of the entire series. Even Song of the Ocean's soundtrack was better than Daybreaks. Open the Shard is by far the worst normal battle theme I've heard. Mainly because once again Koguchi tries to overdo it with his compositions. If he got rid of that annoying synthesizer in that song it would sound a lot more clean. Besides, the piano version of that song is much better and reminds me of the old battle theme from Unlimited Saga for PS2. Koguchi has a long ways to go if he wants to be as good as Unisuga and Ishibashi were. Singa has been there longer than Koguchi and he still is missing the mark at times. In all honesty, even on the higher difficulties I didn't really find the game that challenging which is a disappointment, because boss fights would usually last quite a few minutes and they were only lasting two or three minutes at most for me. I don't like the shard system and much prefer the old battle order system. I hate systems that rely on procurement and luck. I thought the sidequests consumed way too much of my time where you would have to run back and forth and usually the reward was some mediocre item I never used. I'm not a big fan of the new orbment system. Just like the older battle order system I also preferred the older orbment system of this newer one. The only thing I can say positive about it is that it expands and lets you equip more orbs. Other than that, I have nothing really positive to say about it. As for your favorite characters from that game none of them really stood out for me. Only Risette Twinnings really appealed to me, because she reminds me a lot of Sophie from Sol Trigger. As for Van, I do like him as a character, but I still think there are better male protagonists from other games and I didn't really feel like he really changed that much even at the end of the game just like Lloyd hasn't really changed. As for Shizuna I'll talk a bit about her later on and where I can draw comparisons to other characters that were before her time, but I've played too many games and there's no place for her in my favorite character list which is already dominated by Cyrille from Shining Force EXA, Mue from Spectral Souls, Tear Grants from Tales of the Abyss, Rose from The Legend of Dragoon, Cecilia Armaclite from Hexyz Force, Prier from La Pucelle Ragnarok, Milla from Tales of Xillia I and II, Velvet Crowe from Tales of Beseria, Dana from Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, CC from Super Robot Wars series, Snow from Blazing Souls: Accelate, Mir (Jacqli) from Ar Tonelico 2: Melody of Metafalica, Sialeeds from Suikoden V, Shurelia from Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia, Tyria from Ar Tonelico: Qoga. My top tier female protagonist list is too large to add some of the newer characters from more modern games than the ones I'm used to. Daybreak had things going for it and also had missed the mark in quite a few areas. The story started off fine, but just like Cold Steel IV it deviated from the actual idea and that is where it begun to lose my interest. I personally thought the story got gimmicky passed the beginning and never actually recovered as it continued to rely on gimmicks. What I mean by gimmicky is that Aaron's character is based off of Sun Ce from Three Kingdoms China. Yes, I know Heiyue are supposed to be based off of the Chinese mafia group known as TRIADs, but I would have preferred a fresh set of characters instead over ones that are well-known in that area. Judith is gimmicky, because the whole Phantom Thief mantage is seen a lot in anime and gaming both. It looks like she was based off of Ann from Persona 5. Shizuna is gimmicky for obvious Trope Hot Chicks & Katanas which is what I have Onechanbara for. I also did not like Shizuna's outfit. Much would have preferred they just keep her entire attire traditional. Those pants are anything but that and only seductresses would wear something like that which is why I can relate to a certain someone from Tenjo Tenge which I will reveal later below. It's as ugly as the one that Luke in Tale of the Abyss wears when you win at the coliseum. It's also not traditional and her clan is supposed to be based on tradition and she certainly doesn't dress like she a person who cares about tradition like Rixia Mao. Outfit aside, doesn't make me hate a character. There are some aspects of her that I find interesting and there are others that I find less interesting. Let's talk about Shizuna who I can relate to a lot of characters including Saki from Arcana Heart and Senna Kyoudou from Big Bang Beat. Especially since her sword style is a fusion between those two characters. Doesn't really surprise me considering Arcana Heart was a very popular game in Japan which had it's own arcade whereas Big Bang Beat is more or less a lesser known doujin game. Her looks remind me a bit of Chou-un Shiryuu from Ikkitousen (Battle Vixens) and Aya and Maya Natsume from Tenjo Tenge. Especially Maya minus the ability to turn into a loli which is something we only know Roselia can do. Maya would definitely wear an obscene and obscure outfit like the one Shizuna wears. What Shizuna pulls with Van is what CC did to Lelouch. CC used to get on Lelouch's nerves just like how Shizuna gets on Van's nerves. Snow also used to get on Zelos nerves who are both from Blazing Souls. It's a reoccurring theme that I'm too familiar with which is why I'm not overly impressed with Shizuna as a character. Personalities aside, as long as she is top tier in the DPS department then she'll be used. I have a history of using characters that I literally hate just, because they are good in the DPS department; however, Shizuna is not one of those characters. I think she's solid, but not overly amazing. As for Judith, reminds me of another character I know from Blazing Souls that always used to get on my nerves all the time. Now that I've given my actual views on the weakest points of the game, I'll examine some of the points about the game that I actually did like. While those points might be very few, they still stood out for me. One of the points I did like was the action battle system idea, but I thought it could have been developed better and felt too much like RWBY Grimm Eclipse's battle system. I would also prefer they let you choose what battle system you want to use and not force the other one onto you. I don't like the idea of Tale of Two Battle Systems just like I didn't like the idea of Tale of Two Endings with Cold Steel IV. I do like most of the characters from the game while I found others okay. In all honesty, Judith was the character I really liked the least out of the whole group. She's fucking hot, but she's also a whiny bitch. I did not like the way she treated Van at first either. With that aside, it was great to see Fie make a big entrance and return after Reverie which was another great thing about the game. As for the command battle system, it really hasn't changed that much since the Reverie other than the fact the Assault Gauge has been repurposed as now the S-Boost Gauge. The ATB gauge being at the top and not on the side is a minor thing, but that still does bother me. Not enough for me to make a big issue out of it, but still most games I've played have always had the gauge on the side and not at the top of the screen for good reason too. My likes were change to the battle system, Fie's reappearance, the characters aside from Judith, all of Sonoda and Jindo's tracks, the scenery, the new system backdrops, cooking is more fleshed out, can add more orbs to orbment, character designs aside from Shizuna's outfit. My Ranking goes like this of every Legend of Heroes game I've touched and yes this includes games outside the Trails series. While Daybreak is rated pretty low, the other Daybreak game managed to break my Top 5. Three of those titles on there you probably never even touched since they are PSP games. I respect everyone opinion and know that they are not going to like the same games I do. I also realize they probably might like other games that I found weren't as impressive in my eyes. My main two takeaways from Daybreak were the weak soundtrack and the convoluted and gimmicky storyline. My final rating for Trails through Daybreak is still a pretty solid score which is 7.25/10. Certainly not the worst in the series, but far from the best. At least you cannot get any worse than Song of the Ocean and Cold Steel III. The only two Legend of Heroes titles I haven't touched are the Turbo Grafix 16 two Dragonslayer titles. Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II Crimson Sin Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermilion (I hate the final boss to this game more than I do any Final Fantasy final boss including the optional boss from FFVII Ruby Weapon.) Legend of Heroes: The Moonlight Witch Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Third Chapter Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Legend of Heroes: Trails of Zero Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III Legend of Heroes: Song of the Ocean
Thanks for putting a lot of work into this writeup. I'd like to clarify that this was the first video I ever really made and Daybreak's official translation wasn't out at the time, so I apologize if my reasoning wasn't the best. You're much more well versed in the subject matter than me. I haven't played the pre trails legend of heroes yet, or seen Code Geass or most of the things you compared it to, so whether or not it was derivative; that aspect was lost on me. I can see where you're coming from though, it's not fun to see overly similar characters. I see where you're coming from on Judith, but something about her really nasty personality is pretty refreshing in the series to me. I like that she's snobby because of her role as an actress, and because of her initial negative impression of Van. I think it makes her cute moments shine more, and it makes the build up to her becoming a full fledged member of the group more satisfying. My reasons for liking Shizuna are more shallow. I just like battle hungry characters and I think the eight leaves is cool. Also white hair is cute. I also agree with you on the soundtrack. They've been going downhill since Reverie. The game is definitely a little too easy as well. I'm also glad to hear that we both hold Cold Steel 2 in high regard that was my main agenda lol.
@@nopeyepp Well, there's no need to apologize for having an opinion. I'm open to all opinions and I like to hear the other side where people might have differing views than my own. Also welcome to the community. It's always nice to see newer people populating the platform. Yeah, I'm quite a gaming guru with a lot of experience in the gaming community. My main account which is not this one has been around since 2007 so yeah I've played a lot of games. In fact, I've played quite a few that some people have probably never heard of. Damn shame you couldn't play as Renne or Rixia Mao in that game, because those two are two of my best girls. I was really bummed when Rixia Mao didn't show up in Cold Steel IV. I'm just glad I found someone who doesn't act like Trails through Daybreak is the holy cow of RPG games. Those people automatically take offense to any constructive criticism toward the game and then lash out and insult people who disagree with them that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Glad you aren't one of those type of people. One thing I never do is tell people what games are good. I let them decide that for themselves. While I do not tell them what games to play I do offer advice in games that may pique their interest. Yes, the soundtracks have been going downhill since Reverie. Both Cold Steel IV and Azure are my favorite soundtracks from the entire franchise. I'm also glad that I found someone who thought highly of Cold Steel II. I think Kanako has a better voice than Megumi who does Cold Steel III onward whereas Kanako started with Trails in the Sky SC and ended with Cold Steel II. As for why Reverie is a top my list is gameplay, soundtrack and the massive customization it had to offer as I am OCD when it comes to customization. For this reason I did not like Cold Steel III for the lack of customization it had. Cold Steel III felt like I was playing the worst Tales game in that franchise Symphonia II. I understand your like for Shizuna. That is completely understandable and I do like battle seasoned characters too which is why I like Kan-u Uchou a lot from Ikkitousen. She's one of those kind of characters that loves to fight, but so did Hakufu Sonsaku who is the main character. It's not often I compare anyone to Chou-un Shiryuu, because there's really no one that has been quite like her. I happen to see a resemblance of her in Shizuna's character design which is why I said that and it is quite a compliment to have a character be compared to probably one of the most badass female katana users in anime. Sakura from Sakura Wars and Maya from Tenjo Tenge are the other two. Personality wise, she reminds me a bit of Maya Natsume and she does look a little bit like her, but more resembles Chou-un in appearance than anything. Personality wise, Chou-un is a bit more of a kind-hearted girl whereas Shizuna is more of like the older CC who was a temptress and just took liberty at annoying the hell out of Lelouch. As for Judith, I see that though I cannot give her a pass like I did Cecilia Armaclite from Hexyz Force. Judith's character design does resemble the Judith from Tales of Vesperia a bit. Actress isn't really a valid excuse to act like a bitch in my opinion, but I do see where you're coming from. Cecilia had a reason to be snooty, because she was cooped up in a cathedral and really didn't get out much. But Judith's selfishness reminds me of why I hated Luke from Tales of the Abyss at the beginning of the game. Luke was the way he was for different reasons entirely. I'm not going to divulge too much into the details if you haven't played Tales of the Abyss. I don't want to spoil the experience for you if you plan on playing that game. I'm just going to say that I'm not a fan of whiny characters. Who knows, maybe in Kai no Kiseki I might find a way to finally tolerate her like I did Bridgette from Blazing Souls.
I think Kuro is the best not Trails, but best video game of all time. I haven't played Kuro 2, but am very hyped for it too (and for Kai especially). On the other hand, my least favorite Trails is CS2, which I consider below average and one of my most disappointing games of all time Never played Sky From least favorite to favorite: -Cold Steel 2 (5/10) -Cold Steel 1 (6.5/10) -Cold Steel 4 (7.5/10) -Zero (8/10) -Reverie (8/10) -Cold Steel 3 (8.5/10) -Azure (10/10) -Kuro (11/10) Azure and Kuro are both very excellent games, but CS
The Trails series is fire I'm glad it's getting some attention
Hellz Yeah, it's about time!💯I've been a Huge Falcom fan since like 2018. Started w/ Ys8. I been wanting a falcom-US/West, for a hot minute now! It's just a pipe dream tho, lol😅 But yeah, it's Time...most non-jrpg players are clueless...while many KNOW & LOVE Persona/Atlus & FF & DQ/S-E, lol. It's wild, ppl ain't Familiar w/ Trails like that at all🤦♂️I hope that changes🙏
Leaving a comment for the algorithm, always enjoy seeing others share their thoughts ^^
love the fact that this fandom is so diverse when it comes to ranking the games
my personal ranking is
12_Azure
11_Sky Fc
10_zero
9_Sky third
8_Kuro 2(daybreak crimson sin)
7_Cs1
6_Kuro 1(daybreak)
5_Cs3
4_Sky SC
3_Cs2
2_Hajimari(riverie)
1_Cs4(end of saga)
Phew. I thought I was the only one who regarded CS2 highly >_>
Always nice to see some trails love on TH-cam
I love the fact that every time I see a ranking, it seems almost random. That means the quality is similar, and the games are all good. I have yet to see someone rate Sky FC before SC, or Zero before Azure, but besides that.... All seems a matter of taste
I put Sky FC over SC! SC felt like it had pacing issues and was also kind of repetitive by making you fight the same bosses over and over again. I still enjoyed it, but FC was just a more fulfilling experience for me :) (Especially with that ending!!!)
I wouldn't rate FC over SC, but I can see why someone might. FC is, for most of its runtime, refreshingly grounded, down to earth and low-stakes for a JRPG.
In a genre where the stakes escalate to fighting God so often that it's become a tired cliché, FC stands out for being an almost slice of life look at two trainee RPG sidequest-completers as they grow as people, fall in love and make new friends. The stakes gradually ramp up towards the end, but right up until the very end they're still very small scale for this genre, and the _real_ stakes at the end are character-based rather than plot-based. It's unusually low-key for a game like this - it's an interesting and worthwhile vibe and atmosphere, and while I think the series attains greater highs later on, that vibe is gone. By the end of SC, the only thing keeping the story from becoming a full-blown melodrama is Estelle, who's constantly pulling the story back down to earth with her sarcasm, bluntness and lack of patience for secret plots and master plans. Later games suffer from a tragic lack of Estelle and as a result, they don't always stop the story from becoming a melodrama.
I’ve seen some ppl rank zero above azure
Hello, I preffer FC over SC. I really liked FC and its self-contained episodic structure which built up the world step by step, getting to know new people a new places and a big climax at the end. Like a good Pokemon gym badge quest. In SC I wasn't a fan of the first half except for ch3 (fantastic chapter). Backtracking, not very interesting plots nor developments. Also I do not like how this game and Sky the 3rd deal with party dialogue. Not required characters dialogue isn't as good since they can't affect the flow too much except for scenes made with them in mind. Also, I think ch2 was really super bland. i enjoyed Cid sude quest and NPC dialogue more than anything happening in Zeiss (in FC I loved Zeiss). When the party reaches Bose it gets good, really good, but I think I still preffer FC. Also not a fan of Weissman as a villain. After Loewe he felt like a side note.
Tho, I love Zero and Azure but mostly preffer Azure. Zero-Azure-Reverie might be my fav trails games.
@@Talisguy Dunno, for me SC was the game I less liked out of the first five (being Sky 3rd is my fav Sky). I think people kinda overrate Estelle to some degree. She's amazing, but I still preffer Kevin's sense of humour and how he approaches situationes. And on also Lloyd; I love his imperishable burning heart and his analytical detective mind (everytime he decides to not speak one know he realized something crucial). Plus, Crossbell team dynamics is something I wished was as great in SC (the "make your own party made party dialogue much more meh, ngl, scenes which weren't thought for certain characters to be there were often a thing, when in FC it almost never happened). So, well, I'd say even if Estelle is good she can't make a whole game great. In FC, I'd say Estelle AND Joshua made the game given how well they complement each other. I guess his abscense made Estelle's lacking points more evident. Dunno, maybe it's just me.
I like how everyone has their own ways of viewing this series and rankings can vary pretty drastically between people. I think that its gonna be very fascinating to reminisce and look back at the entire series when its all said and done. I think then we can all get bit closer to what we truly valued out of the series, and which games met those standards the most.
I am on Chapter 1 of trails in the sky, and am thinking it’s pure fucking gold so far. So seeing it listed as the lowest spot on your list is HYPE for me, a lot to look forward to 😊
The fact that you put my favorite game of all times, Cold Steel 1, at 5th place, makes me happy.
Also, I agree that the soundtrack is fantastic. Favorite video game sountack is all times.
And YES!!!! LAURA BEST GIRL!
Very interesting list. I don't think I've seen anybody say CS2 is their favorite. It is very hard to rank these games as they're all great. Probably one of the most, if not the most consistently great JRPG series ever.
My list would go:
1 - Azure
2 - Sky SC
3 - Sky the 3rd
4 - Zero
5- Reverie
6 - Cold Steel III
7 - Cold Steel IV
8 - Sky FC
9 - Cold Steel II
10 - Cold Steel
1. Azure
2. The 3rd
3. SC
4. CS3
5. Zero
6. CS2
7. Reverie
8. CS4
9. Cs1
10. FC
I am surprised to see someone with such a similar list as mine! CS2 is also my favorite (in my top five games, if not top three of all time) and my bottom three are the same. My main change is Reverie is my second favorite because I really loved C and Rean as characters
This man had this S-tier courage required to take on all the fandom naysayers and recognize Cold Steel II as the best entry of an all-games-are-great series. I salute your brave and correct never-seen opinion sir.
My personal top three are Azure, Sky SC and Kuro 1. Then probably either CS2 or Reverie.
My personal take may be read as 'trash taste'😅lol, but...I Loved CS2 & CS4 more then their more-linear CS1 & CS3 counterparts🤷♂️that's just me(unlike like 95% it feels😅lol).
Haven't played Sky 3rd, Kuro, KuroII, & Nayuta yet. I'd put like SC, Azure, CS3, CS4 & Rev as my All-Time favs thus far.
Ik its biased, as I'm mostly a sucker for conclusions, CS3 being the exception😅I waited for that Cliffhanger for like 2 yrs, sht was brutal, ngl. Playing Trails as they were released was not easy, lmao. Great Vid, like seeing varying opinions💯👍🔥
I like them all and as long as you like them... rankings dont matter.
Although the Cold Steel games will forever hold a wonderful place in my heart.
for me, my favourite game is definitely azure, my second favourite is CS4. For Azure, I choose it because it's my entry arc to trails(I got in the rabbit hole of trails in 2010, when zero first came out, in pure japanese.), as for CS4, I must say people are right about how divisive this game is, I'm on the side of loving it so much, it's my second favourite trails game. especially the endings, first I cried and depressed, then I felt happiness and teared up again (but for opposite reasons). Because of the endings, I teared up again at the end of reverie.
Azure is amazing. CS4 is great too, I agree on the ending especially
The Sky Trilogy soundtrack will always hit hard. That rustic feel when it all began on FC with my favorite duo just starting out as bracers that turned into a dimensional mess that Kevin and the group faced on The 3rd.
Cold Steel 1 + CS 2 (except act 2) is probably my favourite story in JRPGs. I think people exagerate with the bactracking in Act 2 of CS2 but its true that if act 2 was half as long as it is, more people would think CS2 is a top tier trails game.
The sheer amount of ppl who have played every trails release tells me all I need to know about the quality of the series.
my ranking is
fc > kuro > sc > azure > kuro 2 = zero > cs3 > cs4 = cs1 > 3rd > reverie = cs2
This is kinda similar to my list, except that I'd put Kuro/Daybreak first (it's uncontested #1 for me) and Zero higher than Azure. I haven't played Kuro 2 yet, though I hear it's a bit of a "filler" game due to Falcom's ridiculous release schedule with these games.
I also liked CS2 more than a lot of people, though that's largely because its ending blew my mind at the time I played it (suddenly getting "modern graphics Crossbell + Lloyd showing up" was wild as someone playing it before CS3 came out and not having been spoiled on it, and the general hook of "Rean went on to be a miserable soldier under Osbourne" was also interesting).
extremely based list, Sky FC is honestly a masterpiece for how restrained it is. I think its so rad that Falcom just made a whole game introducing the world. if you have such good taste, then I'm excited as hell to play Daybreak honestly
I've only played up to Cold Steel 4 (I stopped after that to go back and play/replay everything, going all the way back to the original Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes game). Up to that point, I feel like every arc has only gotten better, including the second half of the Cold Steel Arc being better than the first. I have a sinking feeling that that pattern is about to change, however. I hope I'm wrong.
CS3 is a crime against humanity simply for making me listen to Sword of biting Gale every 3 minutes
Bad take on Olivier and also bad take on not having to finish Sky 3rd doors but I'm always happy to watch a new Trails ranking. Just glad you can explain why you dislike what you dislike and like what you like.
FC is the peak of the series
my ranking to the end of cold steel arc (I haven't played Reverie yet) is:
9. Trails from Zero
8. Trails of Cold Steel
7. Trails to Azure
6. Trails of Cold Steel IV
5. Trails of Cold Steel III
4. Trails of Cold Steel II
3. Trails in the Sky FC and Third Tied for Second
1. Trails in the Sky SC
Decent list but what an utterly cursed take on Sky Third. Kevin's story is probably the deepest and most genuinely compelling in the series and the way the gameplay actually helps to tell it is brilliant. Its anything but an afterthought. I think most of the minigames are fun too lol, I appreciate them putting them in.
I am not sure why, but I failed to complete the Azure story, unfortunately. I got burned out for the first time while playing the Trails series. My all-time favorite characters are Estelle and Olivier.
Estelle and Olivier are awesome. I definitely can't blame you too much for getting burnt out. The first five games are all very similar graphically and gameplay wise.
yeah i mean, Azure's final act is unbelievably long. you can call it lavish if you enjoy the game, but its really just grueling if you don't. i mean, there's essentially two final dungeons, and the second is like 10 hours long on its own. I also think the plot twist that happens after the first climax that sets up the true final dungeon is really dumb, and even if it gets explained a little better by the end, you still have to do the whole ten hour crawl with the specter of "oh god, did the writers totally shoot themselves in the foot" hanging over your head
Grown up swin and nadia looks cool
theyre awesome
while kuro 2 felt like more of a filler, bringing up or putting a lid on stuff back from sky era, made me like it, even though the VA i can't unhear as kiryu is a "bad guy", most of the characters were likeable for me (exception being that one guy with bombs and self stabs).
also, kuro is like "yea people should die....." and take it up to 11 with actually killing people, heck, you can kill people if you make some choices, and while i understand that you never get to interact with those characters and one or 2 cannonicly never die (cause they assume you dident made a mistake in choice), i do wish you get more of it, and have it carry over to future games when importing your save, kinda like how azure had some carryover of sidequests you done in zero.
Great top 😊
Even though I cs2 is my worse game in the series. Just seeing love for this series is great to see.
Worst to Best
Cs2, Cs1, Zero ,Cs3, SkySc ,Cs4 ,SkyFc, Sky3rd, Azure.
Zero, Sky3rd, Cs1, SkyFC, Cs2, Cs3, Hajimari, Azure, Cs4, Sky SC, Kuro 1. Worst to Best for me. Wow I played 11 trails games.
Havent played Daybreak but from best to worst with thoughts on each on why its ranked that way. I'll try to keep spoilers at a minimum.
tldr
1 CS3
2 SC
3 CS2
4 Reverie
5 Sky 3rd
6 Zero
7 CS1
8 Azure
9 CS4
10 FC
CS3 (introduces new class 7 all are good chars and a very daring ending that still drops my jaw. This game is not afraid of anything and I mean it. New class 7 is probably my favorite group. I just love how they bounce off each other and how they interact with Rean. Something that I like that got introduced in this game (or CS4), hidden quests are shown on the map. Lovely quality of life. Still easily missable though.)
SC (Could easily be the best but the middle few chapters are such a slog and kind of gets predictable. At one point, you run all across Liberl with a handicap and boy is it boring. Aside from that, the best story and protags in all of trails hands down)
CS2 (Solid themes, big stakes, very fun combat mechanics, two interesting characters appearing at the end. I think this video's ranking described it pretty well. McBurn gets introduced here too. So over the top that it just becomes fun.)
Reverie (This game somehow rectifies some of CS4's flaws. Split up the huuuuge case. Closes out crossbell and cold steel arcs. Sets up next one and a lot of freedom is given to the player in the corridor. Abyss mode is bullshit and I love it. I have a lot of negative opinions of how Lloyd is handled in this game. It's a mess but as much as it sucks, the other two main characters make up for it. Lots of fun moments in this game.)
Sky 3rd (Kevin is goated with a great story and power. Rias is probably the most interesting female character I've seen from this series. She is a glutton wielding a sword that can split! She is the only member of a main cast in the games that is a glutton as far as I recall and its funny! As for the game, I could rank this one up just for the music - lots of bangers. I appreciate the pacing of this game too. The doors do great world building but not required. Even if someone goes out of their way to see them all, this game takes the least amount of time to clear so definitely doesn't overstay its welcome like some of the other games do.)
Zero (imo the most down to earth game on par with FC. SSS is probably my second favorite group. They are funny all throughout the game and will grow on you. The politics in this game is entertaining too. Some great characters also reappear with some great moments too)
CS1 (My first trails game so it gets a bit of a bump. Rean is a good character; my favorite character of the series. As someone struggling with depression myself, it feels good to see it as a major plot point and this game kicks that off. OG C7 is the weakest cast to me though. Jusis vs Machias is damn good tension but outside of that most of the other characters get barely any attention like Elliot or Millium and when they do it's boring as all hell sadly. Not to mention, the stupid easily missable bonding events walls a lot of that attention away.)
Azure (imo overrated by the fandom; zero's better imo. This game starts some... damaging trends in the series. Protag's harem gets brought up so many times it gets repetitive and annoying just like CS4. Stakes are high but ultimately lose a bit of impact when no one ever dies. Credit where it's due though: Lloyd has quite a few great moments here. This game follows up on some dark themes from earlier in series. The political tension is back but with a more external focus, which gets intriguing here. Great twists and pretty crazy revelations at the end. Watching the SSS overcoming near impossible odds is fun too. Honestly watching the SSS do anything is probably fun. Just a great cast of characters including more returning characters)
CS4 (I saw someone on reddit say this game has the highest highs and the lowest lows and I can't describe this game any better. I don't mind the harem but I can agree it is all over the place in this game. What kills it for me though is the same thing I had a bitter taste for Azure. The stakes are high but again it doesn't matter when there's no consequences. Some characters return and they REALLY shouldn't. Play the game to know what I mean. Take everything I dislike about Azure and put it here in this game. It's frustrating that the final or second to last Cold Steel game has the flaws it has especially when CS3 threw such an amazing lob for it. Despite that though, some people have this game as their number 1 and I can see why. Highest highs remember? CS4 has some of the best moments in all of trails. It's so epic and enjoyable. I mean, New Class 7 shines in the first half of the game, Juna and Ash specifically. Rean is the most badass in this game; even more than CS2. More Altina is good. Some older characters return where it feels like they should and it make sense why they are there. It is fun to see how Rean and the CS cast interact. Lloyd and Rean have a conversation that's pretty moving ngl. It has a satisfying ending that I don't think I see many people complain about. There's some things you can nitpick but it definitely feels well-deserved by the very end so kudos to CS4 on that.)
FC (I love this game. I really do. It had to do most of the world building and I respect that. Unfortunately I can't deny how much of a slog this becomes. a weak antagonist too. This game aged like milk. The fighting system is the worst. A lot of filler moment too that either don't make sense or make you go 'who cares?' The music though? Goated. The cast? Very memorable. This game does what it was supposed to do and I'm glad some better ways to experience this arc will be coming soon.)
Despite some negatives about some of these, I want to stress none of these are bad games at all imo
I'm about 20 hours into Sky FC and loving it so if it's your "worst" trails game then I'm anticipating big things to come 😅
Not worst, but least excellent 😎
Reverie was for me best most because music
I'll be real with you; I ADORE this series but Cold Steel IV's plot was so baffingly stupid that I almost quit. Too scared to kill off characters, plot convenience after plot convenience, the Rivalries are just a boring concept compared to the two Sept-Terrion plots we saw in Liberl and Crossbell, and (without spoiling anything) they absolutely dropped the ball hard with Giliath Osbourne after all the amazing villain build-up they had given him since the Sky games. HATED how that arc ended.
I luckily really enjoyed Reverie.
That's exactly how I felt.
The cold steal games are still my favorite honestly. Especially cold steal 2 ( still miffed we don’t have 1 and 2 on the switch 😈)
Second fave being trails from zero and it’s sequel azure. Was ironically not a fan or the sky trilogy at all, just could never really connect with any of the characters sadly 😂
Unfortunately am not that adept with Japanese so have only played a little bit of Kuro no Kiseki. Looking forward to the western release in April a lot ❤ as it seems like a very fun experience.. not sure how I feel about the second game in the timeline after it however 🤔
CS2 better than Azure? Yikes
I like it
Azure is genuinely mid. As great of a JRPG as it definitely is, its hard to overcome having a protagonist as utterly boring as Lloyd.
@demilembias2527 loyd is one of those guys that's has to grow on you. Randy's backstory was more interesting than him honestly. 😂
if not for cs1 i would have dropped trails on azure
Agreed, I can't see how any cs game can be seen better than the crosbell arc. Cs1 is just a highschool arc with character introductions, and cs2 is a civil war story with whatever characters.
I guess if you liked the class 7 and rean then I could see you loving 2, but to me 3rd game is the best of the coldsteel saga.
Meanwhile crossbell has the best set of characters with the least amount of bullshit backstories. And I agree lyoud has to grow on you to like him, just like rean, but every other character makesup for it.
Didn't play Kuro 2 but
1. Sc
2. Azure
3. Tc
4. Zero
5.Cs3
5.Reverie
6.Daybreak
7.FC
8.Cs4
9.Cs2
10.Cs1
Every single game is good but Cs1.
The change of target to the series with Cs didn't do for me, glad they went back to the rails with Cs3/Reverie and then Kuro
haven't play reverie, but this is my ranking
9. CS1
8. CS3
7. sky FC
6. CS4
5. CS2
4. sky SC
3. Azure
2. sky 3rd
1. Zero
there's no bad Trails game, but IMO Sky shines the best in SC and 3rd. They alse delve in deep themes like trauma, brainwashing, Child abuse and war casualty. Crossbell saga is smaller in comparison but had the best story. it also still really mature , capable of telling a completely geopolitical problem, tragedy and child experimentation by the some Cult. Cold steel is the most shonen. Rean is not bad, I like him, but he's really your shonen protag crank to eleven. too much power of friendship talk and not enough casualty for "the bigest conflict in Zemuria". The cast can feel bloated and the romance somewhat uneven. Still like it tho but I hope falcom tells more mature story again in the next entry
What happened to the ys ranking
it's unlisted, but you can still watch in the talking about games playlist
Why’d you delist it?
@@lbennyz5188I recorded it without a script and it dragged in a lot of places, so I want to redo it sometime
Oh nice.
@18:26 What song/band is that?
Bury the Light by Casey Edwards. From Devil May Cry 5. Thanks for watching!
interesting list. for myself, i'd go:
azure > sc > 3rd > daybreak 1 > zero > reverie > cs3 > cs4 > fc > cs2 > cs1
haven't played db2 yet; i'll wait for the durante port.
Do you not find Daybreak far too easy even on Nightmare? I think it's the easiest game in the entire franchise. It's a solid game, especially the first half is incredibly humorous, grim and atmospheric. The difficulty, the fact that you often can't sneak past enemies, and the worst ending so far are its main shortcomings.
Sorry bro I genuinely think Sky 3rd is the best game in the series (ignoring Kuro I have not played those yet)
full ranking:
Sky 3rd > Azure = SC > Reverie = Zero > CS3 > CS2 > Sky FC > CS1 > CS4
CS4 is all the way at the bottom because the writing is so bad and I think the fanservice of other characters from the rest of the series is unbearable and blinds people to truly seeing problems with the game
Third is dogshit, nobody plays Trails games to spend the entire game inside the same dungeon.
FC and SC are leagues better.
@@Spr1ggan87 Saying FC better is a complete lie but I can see how SC is better to people. I like 3rd because of the personal storytelling and the wrapping up of Sky character arcs. Also it has the best OST in the series and some of the coolest moments period. Obviously something like Azure has better combat but I like it the most out of all the Trails games
@@Zephhi FC has a world to explore and cool story, Third is a monotonous corridor sim.
@@Spr1ggan87 I actually enjoyed grinding in 3rd so uh. The 3rd is really good in my opinion. I can't wait to replay it soon! :) I enjoyed the additional stories the doors told and Kevin's personal storyline too. I was genuinely confused that people told me this game was bad. SC and the 3rd are some of my favorites in the series for very different reasons.
@@someguy3263 FC, SC, Zero, and Azure are all leagues better than Third.
I hope i disagree with you on Kuro/Daybreak 2 - haven't played that one yet. What i love about this series is the rankings from fans are all over the place. I've seen CS2 ranked high like here, I've seen it ranked low, even last. I've seen CS4 ranked 1 and even Sky FC ranked 1 by another channel. So it's all personal preference. My personal top 2 are Daybreak and Azure, not sure which one I'd put #1.
By the way I agree with you on the best story and best OST (insane battle themes & even something like land of the blue skies gave me something I haven't felt from an OST since Chrono Cross)
I guess I am the only one that couldn't care less fur shizuna. She only warmed up to me in the final stretch before the last dungeon. I just found her frustrating and inconsistent before that. I went with order. I didn't even get chaos high anoth to lign up with her if I wanted
This my ranking
Need to replay sky 3
11.sky fc
10. Kuro 2
9.zero
8. Cs1
7.sky 2
6. Cs2
5. Kuro
4. Azure
3. Cs4
2. Reverie
1. Cs3
Haven’t played reverie yet
9. CS1
8. CS4
7. CS2
6. CS3
5. ZERO
4. FC
3. 3RD
2. AZURE
1. SC
Wow cold steel sucks doesnt it lol
@@MJ-oi6ul Rean and OG class 7 are the worst
I dont mind Cold Steel and really liked CS1 and CS3 but Sky 1-3, Zero and Azure are just too good. They definitely toned down a lot of the heavier subjects after Azure and Cold Steel started the whole "Turns out they aren't dead!" and "The bad guys are actually really good people!" So I got burned out by its rehashed trope game after game.
@@joeyisabsb1 so true also oroboros turned into a joke, these guys the same ones involved with child trafficking and MK ultra style torture but now it’s like hey they’re like kinda bad, but some members are good guys too! I really don’t like rean and the OG class vii are for the most part boring and forgetful, Osborne is pretty cool tho
I've so far played Crossbell, Cold Steel, Hajimari and Kuro 1, a bit of FC but too little to count. My ranking:
1. Azure
2. CS III
3. Zero
4. CS IV
5. Kuro I
6. Hajimari
7. CS II
8. CS I
The cold steel series is the best for me followes by the crossbell arc.
Pretty popular to bash on the cold steel series but they can kiss my shiny @$$
Is your ass made of gold or something? 😂
sky 3rd
sky sc
azure
reverie
cold steel 2
sky fc
cold steel 1
zero
cold steel 3
cold steel 4
best to worse from top to bottom for my opinion guys 🎉
big agree
yeah they snapped with cs2
Ty
haha fc is my favorite and cs2 my least favorite thats kinda funny
If you haven't, I can recommend the difficulty mods for CS3/4. Really pushes you to find optimal strats. It was best in CS4 where these fights that were built up for 4+ games actually feel like 30 min struggles.
CS2 being the best I will disagree with, my vote goes to ether Azure or Reverie (playing that on Abyss my first play-through was a blast).
That being said love all of the games, EVEN if Falcom's reluctance to follow through on some character deaths resulted in some really cheesy writing.
Will try those mods, I saw them when I first played the games but decided it was better to play vanilla to have an opinion.
@@nopeyepp Vanilla Nightmare is fine for CS3+4 until like halfway through, then shit gets broken way too easy IMO. I am glad they added Abyss to Reverie, while imbalanced in a couple parts, really felt like peak turn-based JRPG to me.
I didn't play sky yet or that Y-something series, only 1-4 Cold Steel, and I agree that 2-nd is the best.
1 - student life with good characters development, tho the story; progression feels boring, well, thats just life of a Student and it feels good actually;
3 - new graphic, characters and more. Epic stuff but lack content (gameplay) IMO;
4 - Has TOO MUCH content and too many characters, like damn. The ending is kinda weak and wierd to me tho. Loved playing as grandma vampire and Golden Rackshasa;
2- best at everything. Content is big enough. Mech battles I personally liked. Music is banger. Story is neat. Chase scene with Rean&Alfin was cute and epic. Having you own airship as base is awesome. As soon as I saw Altina - I wanted her playable so bad, and in the final dungeon players can get her with one item, and she was OP. Bunny outfit is peak, best character in the whole series.
I have gedacht das kevin Waschlappen ist
huh, a CS2 enjoyer. while i personally didn't like CS2 , i do find the combat to be very expansive. but i dislike the amount of exploring and backtracking? i had to do in that game, around 3/4 or even half the game i dropped it. it felt like i was playing a Light novel of a genre that i really didnt like.
sc,azure and zero are my top 3. cs1 is last
my hero, cs1 is awful (for a trails game)
I must disagree with you on Daybreak as I find it to have one of the worst stories out of the entire Legend of Heroes franchise only to be higher than Cold Steel IV and Song of the Ocean which was a PSP game. I will be taking quite a few shots at the game. Not for the characters, but more for the implemented mechanics. I won't cover everything since that would take a very long discussion.
To be honest, even Moonlight Witch and A Tear of Vermilion in my opinion were better than Daybreak and those games have aged quite a bit since the PSP days. I also thought Daybreak had the weakest soundtracks of the entire series. Even Song of the Ocean's soundtrack was better than Daybreaks. Open the Shard is by far the worst normal battle theme I've heard. Mainly because once again Koguchi tries to overdo it with his compositions. If he got rid of that annoying synthesizer in that song it would sound a lot more clean. Besides, the piano version of that song is much better and reminds me of the old battle theme from Unlimited Saga for PS2. Koguchi has a long ways to go if he wants to be as good as Unisuga and Ishibashi were. Singa has been there longer than Koguchi and he still is missing the mark at times.
In all honesty, even on the higher difficulties I didn't really find the game that challenging which is a disappointment, because boss fights would usually last quite a few minutes and they were only lasting two or three minutes at most for me. I don't like the shard system and much prefer the old battle order system. I hate systems that rely on procurement and luck. I thought the sidequests consumed way too much of my time where you would have to run back and forth and usually the reward was some mediocre item I never used. I'm not a big fan of the new orbment system. Just like the older battle order system I also preferred the older orbment system of this newer one. The only thing I can say positive about it is that it expands and lets you equip more orbs. Other than that, I have nothing really positive to say about it.
As for your favorite characters from that game none of them really stood out for me. Only Risette Twinnings really appealed to me, because she reminds me a lot of Sophie from Sol Trigger. As for Van, I do like him as a character, but I still think there are better male protagonists from other games and I didn't really feel like he really changed that much even at the end of the game just like Lloyd hasn't really changed. As for Shizuna I'll talk a bit about her later on and where I can draw comparisons to other characters that were before her time, but I've played too many games and there's no place for her in my favorite character list which is already dominated by Cyrille from Shining Force EXA, Mue from Spectral Souls, Tear Grants from Tales of the Abyss, Rose from The Legend of Dragoon, Cecilia Armaclite from Hexyz Force, Prier from La Pucelle Ragnarok, Milla from Tales of Xillia I and II, Velvet Crowe from Tales of Beseria, Dana from Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, CC from Super Robot Wars series, Snow from Blazing Souls: Accelate, Mir (Jacqli) from Ar Tonelico 2: Melody of Metafalica, Sialeeds from Suikoden V, Shurelia from Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia, Tyria from Ar Tonelico: Qoga. My top tier female protagonist list is too large to add some of the newer characters from more modern games than the ones I'm used to.
Daybreak had things going for it and also had missed the mark in quite a few areas. The story started off fine, but just like Cold Steel IV it deviated from the actual idea and that is where it begun to lose my interest. I personally thought the story got gimmicky passed the beginning and never actually recovered as it continued to rely on gimmicks. What I mean by gimmicky is that Aaron's character is based off of Sun Ce from Three Kingdoms China. Yes, I know Heiyue are supposed to be based off of the Chinese mafia group known as TRIADs, but I would have preferred a fresh set of characters instead over ones that are well-known in that area. Judith is gimmicky, because the whole Phantom Thief mantage is seen a lot in anime and gaming both. It looks like she was based off of Ann from Persona 5. Shizuna is gimmicky for obvious Trope Hot Chicks & Katanas which is what I have Onechanbara for. I also did not like Shizuna's outfit. Much would have preferred they just keep her entire attire traditional. Those pants are anything but that and only seductresses would wear something like that which is why I can relate to a certain someone from Tenjo Tenge which I will reveal later below. It's as ugly as the one that Luke in Tale of the Abyss wears when you win at the coliseum. It's also not traditional and her clan is supposed to be based on tradition and she certainly doesn't dress like she a person who cares about tradition like Rixia Mao. Outfit aside, doesn't make me hate a character. There are some aspects of her that I find interesting and there are others that I find less interesting.
Let's talk about Shizuna who I can relate to a lot of characters including Saki from Arcana Heart and Senna Kyoudou from Big Bang Beat. Especially since her sword style is a fusion between those two characters. Doesn't really surprise me considering Arcana Heart was a very popular game in Japan which had it's own arcade whereas Big Bang Beat is more or less a lesser known doujin game. Her looks remind me a bit of Chou-un Shiryuu from Ikkitousen (Battle Vixens) and Aya and Maya Natsume from Tenjo Tenge. Especially Maya minus the ability to turn into a loli which is something we only know Roselia can do. Maya would definitely wear an obscene and obscure outfit like the one Shizuna wears.
What Shizuna pulls with Van is what CC did to Lelouch. CC used to get on Lelouch's nerves just like how Shizuna gets on Van's nerves. Snow also used to get on Zelos nerves who are both from Blazing Souls. It's a reoccurring theme that I'm too familiar with which is why I'm not overly impressed with Shizuna as a character. Personalities aside, as long as she is top tier in the DPS department then she'll be used. I have a history of using characters that I literally hate just, because they are good in the DPS department; however, Shizuna is not one of those characters. I think she's solid, but not overly amazing. As for Judith, reminds me of another character I know from Blazing Souls that always used to get on my nerves all the time.
Now that I've given my actual views on the weakest points of the game, I'll examine some of the points about the game that I actually did like. While those points might be very few, they still stood out for me. One of the points I did like was the action battle system idea, but I thought it could have been developed better and felt too much like RWBY Grimm Eclipse's battle system. I would also prefer they let you choose what battle system you want to use and not force the other one onto you. I don't like the idea of Tale of Two Battle Systems just like I didn't like the idea of Tale of Two Endings with Cold Steel IV.
I do like most of the characters from the game while I found others okay. In all honesty, Judith was the character I really liked the least out of the whole group. She's fucking hot, but she's also a whiny bitch. I did not like the way she treated Van at first either.
With that aside, it was great to see Fie make a big entrance and return after Reverie which was another great thing about the game. As for the command battle system, it really hasn't changed that much since the Reverie other than the fact the Assault Gauge has been repurposed as now the S-Boost Gauge. The ATB gauge being at the top and not on the side is a minor thing, but that still does bother me. Not enough for me to make a big issue out of it, but still most games I've played have always had the gauge on the side and not at the top of the screen for good reason too. My likes were change to the battle system, Fie's reappearance, the characters aside from Judith, all of Sonoda and Jindo's tracks, the scenery, the new system backdrops, cooking is more fleshed out, can add more orbs to orbment, character designs aside from Shizuna's outfit.
My Ranking goes like this of every Legend of Heroes game I've touched and yes this includes games outside the Trails series. While Daybreak is rated pretty low, the other Daybreak game managed to break my Top 5. Three of those titles on there you probably never even touched since they are PSP games.
I respect everyone opinion and know that they are not going to like the same games I do. I also realize they probably might like other games that I found weren't as impressive in my eyes. My main two takeaways from Daybreak were the weak soundtrack and the convoluted and gimmicky storyline.
My final rating for Trails through Daybreak is still a pretty solid score which is 7.25/10. Certainly not the worst in the series, but far from the best. At least you cannot get any worse than Song of the Ocean and Cold Steel III.
The only two Legend of Heroes titles I haven't touched are the Turbo Grafix 16 two Dragonslayer titles.
Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie
Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II Crimson Sin
Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermilion (I hate the final boss to this game more than I do any Final Fantasy final boss including the optional boss from FFVII Ruby Weapon.)
Legend of Heroes: The Moonlight Witch
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Third Chapter
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Zero
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV
Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III
Legend of Heroes: Song of the Ocean
Thanks for putting a lot of work into this writeup. I'd like to clarify that this was the first video I ever really made and Daybreak's official translation wasn't out at the time, so I apologize if my reasoning wasn't the best.
You're much more well versed in the subject matter than me. I haven't played the pre trails legend of heroes yet, or seen Code Geass or most of the things you compared it to, so whether or not it was derivative; that aspect was lost on me. I can see where you're coming from though, it's not fun to see overly similar characters.
I see where you're coming from on Judith, but something about her really nasty personality is pretty refreshing in the series to me. I like that she's snobby because of her role as an actress, and because of her initial negative impression of Van. I think it makes her cute moments shine more, and it makes the build up to her becoming a full fledged member of the group more satisfying. My reasons for liking Shizuna are more shallow. I just like battle hungry characters and I think the eight leaves is cool. Also white hair is cute.
I also agree with you on the soundtrack. They've been going downhill since Reverie. The game is definitely a little too easy as well. I'm also glad to hear that we both hold Cold Steel 2 in high regard that was my main agenda lol.
@@nopeyepp Well, there's no need to apologize for having an opinion. I'm open to all opinions and I like to hear the other side where people might have differing views than my own. Also welcome to the community. It's always nice to see newer people populating the platform.
Yeah, I'm quite a gaming guru with a lot of experience in the gaming community. My main account which is not this one has been around since 2007 so yeah I've played a lot of games. In fact, I've played quite a few that some people have probably never heard of.
Damn shame you couldn't play as Renne or Rixia Mao in that game, because those two are two of my best girls. I was really bummed when Rixia Mao didn't show up in Cold Steel IV.
I'm just glad I found someone who doesn't act like Trails through Daybreak is the holy cow of RPG games. Those people automatically take offense to any constructive criticism toward the game and then lash out and insult people who disagree with them that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Glad you aren't one of those type of people. One thing I never do is tell people what games are good. I let them decide that for themselves. While I do not tell them what games to play I do offer advice in games that may pique their interest.
Yes, the soundtracks have been going downhill since Reverie. Both Cold Steel IV and Azure are my favorite soundtracks from the entire franchise. I'm also glad that I found someone who thought highly of Cold Steel II. I think Kanako has a better voice than Megumi who does Cold Steel III onward whereas Kanako started with Trails in the Sky SC and ended with Cold Steel II.
As for why Reverie is a top my list is gameplay, soundtrack and the massive customization it had to offer as I am OCD when it comes to customization. For this reason I did not like Cold Steel III for the lack of customization it had. Cold Steel III felt like I was playing the worst Tales game in that franchise Symphonia II.
I understand your like for Shizuna. That is completely understandable and I do like battle seasoned characters too which is why I like Kan-u Uchou a lot from Ikkitousen. She's one of those kind of characters that loves to fight, but so did Hakufu Sonsaku who is the main character. It's not often I compare anyone to Chou-un Shiryuu, because there's really no one that has been quite like her. I happen to see a resemblance of her in Shizuna's character design which is why I said that and it is quite a compliment to have a character be compared to probably one of the most badass female katana users in anime. Sakura from Sakura Wars and Maya from Tenjo Tenge are the other two. Personality wise, she reminds me a bit of Maya Natsume and she does look a little bit like her, but more resembles Chou-un in appearance than anything. Personality wise, Chou-un is a bit more of a kind-hearted girl whereas Shizuna is more of like the older CC who was a temptress and just took liberty at annoying the hell out of Lelouch.
As for Judith, I see that though I cannot give her a pass like I did Cecilia Armaclite from Hexyz Force. Judith's character design does resemble the Judith from Tales of Vesperia a bit. Actress isn't really a valid excuse to act like a bitch in my opinion, but I do see where you're coming from. Cecilia had a reason to be snooty, because she was cooped up in a cathedral and really didn't get out much. But Judith's selfishness reminds me of why I hated Luke from Tales of the Abyss at the beginning of the game. Luke was the way he was for different reasons entirely. I'm not going to divulge too much into the details if you haven't played Tales of the Abyss. I don't want to spoil the experience for you if you plan on playing that game. I'm just going to say that I'm not a fan of whiny characters.
Who knows, maybe in Kai no Kiseki I might find a way to finally tolerate her like I did Bridgette from Blazing Souls.
Im surprised you put daybreak 2 that high, most ppl would find it to be one of the weakest in the series.
Cs 2 is one of the worst for me
I think Kuro is the best not Trails, but best video game of all time.
I haven't played Kuro 2, but am very hyped for it too (and for Kai especially).
On the other hand, my least favorite Trails is CS2, which I consider below average and one of my most disappointing games of all time
Never played Sky
From least favorite to favorite:
-Cold Steel 2 (5/10)
-Cold Steel 1 (6.5/10)
-Cold Steel 4 (7.5/10)
-Zero (8/10)
-Reverie (8/10)
-Cold Steel 3 (8.5/10)
-Azure (10/10)
-Kuro (11/10)
Azure and Kuro are both very excellent games, but CS
I played both Kuro games their boring as hell even on VERY easy/easy mode.
I on the other hand adored Xenogears (second favorite video game ever after Kuro no Kiseki) and disliked Trails of Cold Steel 2
I like Xenogears as well, sorry if that seemed confusing
Weird
This whole ranking is whack.
narrativly cold steel games are the low point.
What was the name of.the ninth one man
What I ranked 9th is Kuro No Kiseki 2. Also known as Trails Through Daybreak 2 when it's localized later next year