Playing all the Trails games.

[CriticalGaming]

I have settled on what my new project for this year is going to be, a playthrough of the Trails games. Which is NOT the TALES games another set of JRPG's with far more entries to play through.

From what I've seen the first three games in the Trails in the Sky games are a complete trilogy not unlike what the FF7 Remake is doing except not remaking nothing. Then there are four or so addition games that feature a new cast within the same world and new adventure. The games are positional turn based RPGs in which you're characters have limited ranges around the battle field during combat, if you can't reach the enemy in a turn all you can do is reposition to hit them next time. It looks fairly basic and standard JRPG combat, but like most Jrpg series with longevity to them, there will undoubtedly be more complexity to the system once I really get my hands on it.

Currently I'm 4 hours into the first game in the series and it reminded me pretty quickly of Xenogears in both good and bad ways. The 3d pixel art style felt nostalgic from Xenogears, though higher res so it's much smoother and less jarring to look around, and the music has that beginning JRPG tone of everything is happy and alright with the world before some eventual disaster blows it all to shit.

However it's also long-winded as fuck. Conversations drag way longer than they need to and it makes getting to gameplay a fucking slog. Here's an example.

"Okay dad I'm off to take my test."
"Alright sweetie remember not to slam the door on your way out."
"I don't slam the door."
"......"
"I dont ALWAYS slam the door"
"of course not"
"Grr...anyways bye" *slams door*
"That girl is going to be the death of my door someday. I hope she'll learn to calm down before she gets into real trouble."


It feels like every dialog is filled with padded conversation extensions like this that just simply don't need to be there and don't really do anything to flush out character development outside of directly explaining a character's personality to you. I hope once the game begins properly, this will go away, or at very least go away in future titles, because it's quite annoying now.

 

[Chimpzy]

Ok sure. But aren't there like a dozen of these, each 100+ hours long? And that's not counting the spinoffs.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Ok sure. But aren't there like a dozen of these, each 100+ hours long? And that's not counting the spinoffs.

The last two don't count so there are 13, and howlongtobeat.com says they're only about 30-50 hours a piece depending on side content.

 

[Gordon_4]

I tried one of these, Legend of Heroes it was. Gameplay is solid enough but Jesus H. Christ the grinding. And also the - as you mentioned - overdrawn conversations.

 

[meiam]

It looks fairly basic and standard JRPG combat, but like most Jrpg series with longevity to them, there will undoubtedly be more complexity to the system once I really get my hands on it.

Sadly thats not the case, the first one is actually one of the more complex one, the cold steel sub franchise is a traditional turn based JRPG with almost nothing to make it distinctive from a generic JRPG.

Also long winded conversation are here to stay, in a lot of way they're not something you're supposed to endure to get to the good part, they are what's supposed to be the good part.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Sadly thats not the case, the first one is actually one of the more complex one, the cold steel sub franchise is a traditional turn based JRPG with almost nothing to make it distinctive from a generic JRPG.

Also long winded conversation are here to stay, in a lot of way they're not something you're supposed to endure to get to the good part, they are what's supposed to be the good part.

Oh dear, this might be quite the project then.

 

[Dreiko]

You have made the right choice. I welcome you into the best Jrpg franchise! XD


The first game is the slowest but it does the heavy lifting of worldbuilding the things that literally all the rest of them draw upon, it's like digging the foundation for a big house. Also you are in luck because these games do massive cliffhangers between parts of the same arc and back in they day it took em like 5 years to translate Sky second chapter so we had to sit with blue balls waiting on it...and it somehow was actually worth the wait!


I advise you to try to do all the sidequests, and talk to all the NPCs in every town every time you clear a main mission. They will always have something new to say. Trails NPCs are uniquely the best in that, they make the world feel lived-in. Also some sidequests are secret and only trigger if you talk to the right npc at the right time or if you enter a part of the game at the right time, so the way I think of it is like making my rounds through every single area every single time I clear a story event or every single time I notice an NPC had something new to say to not miss anything. You could also use a max BP spoiler free guide too, cause some BP is decided by combat performance, but you don't really need to. Also sidequestlines sometimes carry on from one game to the next, and only if you did the sidequest in the first game do you proc the next part of it in the sequel, and a lot of NPCs you help will have new things to say based on your help, so you kinda see the fruits of your labor for many games to come if you do all the sidequests.


Also check every treasure chest twice. And speed is OP, prioritize it and you will have a good time.

Ok sure. But aren't there like a dozen of these, each 100+ hours long? And that's not counting the spinoffs.

Some of the earlier ones are 50-80 hours long, and the later ones in cold steel and daybreak are 120-150 hours long if you do completionist runs. They kinda build up and the final games are like Avengers basically, they bring everyone together and you got some 50~ character parties by the end of it all, it's nuts.

There's no spinoffs, they're all basically sequels in the same continuity and you have new "main party" people with each named entry but also a ton of grown up returning chars too. The only actual trails spinoff is the anime that takes place between cold steel 2-3.

Sadly thats not the case, the first one is actually one of the more complex one, the cold steel sub franchise is a traditional turn based JRPG with almost nothing to make it distinctive from a generic JRPG.

Also long winded conversation are here to stay, in a lot of way they're not something you're supposed to endure to get to the good part, they are what's supposed to be the good part.

Cold Steel adds a lot more things like the brave orders and the Valimar fights as well as emphasizing crafts more. If I had to say it's different in one way, it's less placing dependent than the sky and azure games, it's less about moving in and out of the range of effects cause you get so many full screen or near full screen effects.


But yeah you're 1000% right on the second point. This game is all about characterization and interactions. The gameplay is really fun too but you play trails to care about the story and chars and to enjoy their interactions first and foremost.

 

[CriticalGaming]

You have made the right choice. I welcome you into the best Jrpg franchise! XD


The first game is the slowest but it does the heavy lifting of worldbuilding the things that literally all the rest of them draw upon, it's like digging the foundation for a big house. Also you are in luck because these games do massive cliffhangers between parts of the same arc and back in they day it took em like 5 years to translate Sky second chapter so we had to sit with blue balls waiting on it...and it somehow was actually worth the wait!


I advise you to try to do all the sidequests, and talk to all the NPCs in every town every time you clear a main mission. They will always have something new to say. Trails NPCs are uniquely the best in that, they make the world feel lived-in. Also some sidequests are secret and only trigger if you talk to the right npc at the right time or if you enter a part of the game at the right time, so the way I think of it is like making my rounds through every single area every single time I clear a story event or every single time I notice an NPC had something new to say to not miss anything. You could also use a max BP spoiler free guide too, cause some BP is decided by combat performance, but you don't really need to. Also sidequestlines sometimes carry on from one game to the next, and only if you did the sidequest in the first game do you proc the next part of it in the sequel, and a lot of NPCs you help will have new things to say based on your help, so you kinda see the fruits of your labor for many games to come if you do all the sidequests.


Also check every treasure chest twice. And speed is OP, prioritize it and you will have a good time.




Some of the earlier ones are 50-80 hours long, and the later ones in cold steel and daybreak are 120-150 hours long if you do completionist runs. They kinda build up and the final games are like Avengers basically, they bring everyone together and you got some 50~ character parties by the end of it all, it's nuts.

There's no spinoffs, they're all basically sequels in the same continuity and you have new "main party" people with each named entry but also a ton of grown up returning chars too. The only actual trails spinoff is the anime that takes place between cold steel 2-3.



Cold Steel adds a lot more things like the brave orders and the Valimar fights as well as emphasizing crafts more. If I had to say it's different in one way, it's less placing dependent than the sky and azure games, it's less about moving in and out of the range of effects cause you get so many full screen or near full screen effects.


But yeah you're 1000% right on the second point. This game is all about characterization and interactions. The gameplay is really fun too but you play trails to care about the story and chars and to enjoy their interactions first and foremost.

Im only playing the games in that wiki list i posted at the start of the thread. So hopefully that'll provide the full experience.

I am also following a non spoiler guide I found which tells me when and where to do every quest and find every chest, but says nothing else.

 

[Dreiko]

Im only playing the games in that wiki list i posted at the start of the thread. So hopefully that'll provide the full experience.

I am also following a non spoiler guide I found which tells me when and where to do every quest and find every chest, but says nothing else.

Yeah those are the games you wanna play, you got the right order and everything. Also Kai is not out in the west yet but that is basically Daybreak 3 so do play that too when it comes out sometime next year.


And yeah those guides are great, otherwise these games become dual playthrough games where you get everything on NG+ cause a lot of these quests are very obtuse to trigger. They were designed that way to fill in time with multiple replays while you waited for the sequel, but nowadays we don't have to wait years between sequels so might as well see everything on a single playthrough.


Also, something I did which no guide mentions, in the cold steel games you get these intermission times where you spend time with party members, kinda like Slinks from persona, but you get limited time so you can't interact with everyone in a single intermission. So what I did was basically save scum, I would first play the events of every char who I didn't wanna max out the relationship, then reload and play through the ones I liked the most. That way you get everyone's backstory, and you can only really romance the girls anyways so it's fine if you don't max out all the guys bonds.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

and you can only really romance the girls anyways so it's fine if you don't max out all the guys bonds.

Yeah but what if the player has a keen interest in guy + guy fanfiction options ;3 Gotta be informed!

 

[Dreiko]

Yeah but what if the player has a keen interest in guy + guy fanfiction options ;3 Gotta be informed!

The way the bonds work is that during each intermission there is a specific event you can play through, it's not like persona where bond has levels and if you get to level 4 you always see the same story unfolding whether you do it asap or near the end of the game. So basically you don't lose anything if you reload and skip the guy's events cause the next intermission will have the next part of their story even if your current playthrough doesn't have you experiencing the first part cause you reloaded, it won't be the same event that was at the first intermission.

The girls who are romanceable just have an extra max bond love ending type event that is unlocked if you interact with them enough near the end of each game and some other minor things like being options to be picked for dance partner and stuff like that, but the guys don't have such events so you don't miss out on anything for not maxing them out.

 

[CriticalGaming]

 

[Dreiko]

Trails video - *5 hours long*

Checks out.


And yes, we all love Estelle. She's been one of the best female gaming protagonists nobody knows about. And if you say otherwise, she will smack you with her stick.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Trails video - *5 hours long*

Checks out.


And yes, we all love Estelle. She's been one of the best female gaming protagonists nobody knows about. And if you say otherwise, she will smack you with her stick.

I'm about 50% through the game according to the guide and I think picking this series might have been a mistake. Because the story spends so much time spinning it's wheels and the combat is weak. It's really a struggle to motivate myself to push through it. I'm really waiting for the story to do...i dunno something.

 

[meiam]

I'm about 50% through the game according to the guide and I think picking this series might have been a mistake. Because the story spends so much time spinning it's wheels and the combat is weak. It's really a struggle to motivate myself to push through it. I'm really waiting for the story to do...i dunno something.

Yeah that's been my experience with all 3 trail game I played. Thinking there must be something big right around the corner and waiting for it and... nothing, it would just be mostly the same, and realizing that the ''getting good part'' was already there. They`re not bad game imo, but everything is just way too stretch out (especially the writing). As a kid/teenager, I freaking loved JRPG and played trough tons of them, but I think it was mostly because I could get one new game every seasons, so I hated getting a new game and finishing it in 5-10 hours. The JRPG would give me a lot of playtime for bucks. But now that I have a backlog longer than the rest of my life, its really hard to justify 60 hours on something that just doesn't really evolve over that play time.

Some age really well, with interesting mechanic (think FF5 job system) or story that constantly reinvent itself (xenogears). But a lot of them just don't do anything to stand out. Even recent one seems to have just refused to evolve, I just started eiyuden chronicle and it feel like by hour 2 I've already seen everything the game will throw at me mechanically/gameplay wise and I don't know if I'll be able to justify another 40 (80?) hours of this, especially since its mechanically simpler than suikoden3+. I can get by because I just watch something else on my second monitor while going trough repetitive dungeon/battle that require 0 thought, but that can only take you so far.

 

[Dreiko]

I'm about 50% through the game according to the guide and I think picking this series might have been a mistake. Because the story spends so much time spinning it's wheels and the combat is weak. It's really a struggle to motivate myself to push through it. I'm really waiting for the story to do...i dunno something.

It builds up, basically this game is the introduction to the world and the remaining 10 games work off of what it builds, and near the end of this one you will see the fruits of your labor come together too. The third acts are always kinda insane and so are the twists. Once something starts happening it all does at once.


The combat is kinda simple but it gets more interesting the more crafts and arts you get too. And the more chars you add to your party, they all kinda do their own thing.

 

[meiam]

About an hour in the video and, is it this guy first RPG or something? He keep presenting mundane things like ''NPC have dialogue that do world building'' and ''magic can be used for more than just doing damage'' as some sort of big innovations. He spends 20 minutes explaining the combat/character building system as if it was really complex, when really, its pretty simple and just require a lot of looking up spell table to get the like 5 spell worth getting.

He also keeps touching on, imo, the biggest weakness of the franchise, how everything has wayyyyyyyy too much text and you could cut out most of it and be just fine, but presenting it like its something amazing. Early on he talk about how story should ''show don't tell'', and then say telling is inevitable so its okay if the game does it. But then immediately present an example when the game tell you something before just showing it, and then hammer it on a few more time with telling again (character constantly describing Estelle basic characterization). And, he present all that like its something good and makes the game special, when really, its just poor writing and padding for the sake of padding.

Its a well researched and edited video, but if you played RPG before, most of this is unremarkable, and if you haven't, staring with trail is probably not a good idea.

 

[Dreiko]

About an hour in the video and, is it this guy first RPG or something? He keep presenting mundane things like ''NPC have dialogue that do world building'' and ''magic can be used for more than just doing damage'' as some sort of big innovations. He spends 20 minutes explaining the combat/character building system as if it was really complex, when really, its pretty simple and just require a lot of looking up spell table to get the like 5 spell worth getting.

He also keeps touching on, imo, the biggest weakness of the franchise, how everything has wayyyyyyyy too much text and you could cut out most of it and be just fine, but presenting it like its something amazing. Early on he talk about how story should ''show don't tell'', and then say telling is inevitable so its okay if the game does it. But then immediately present an example when the game tell you something before just showing it, and then hammer it on a few more time with telling again (character constantly describing Estelle basic characterization). And, he present all that like its something good and makes the game special, when really, its just poor writing and padding for the sake of padding.

Its a well researched and edited video, but if you played RPG before, most of this is unremarkable, and if you haven't, staring with trail is probably not a good idea.

The NPCs in trails are special though, they have way more backstory and development than those of most rpgs, they have lives going on in the background that if you follow closely help make the world way more lived in than those of an average rpg.

And the writing is just fun, this game is the sort of one where the characters make it good rather than the plot, so the more char interactions the more fun. Like basically you're seeking that out when you play it, not just the same old standard Jrpg plot.

 

[ExtraWildGames]

I tried one of these, Legend of Heroes it was. Gameplay is solid enough but Jesus H. Christ the grinding. And also the - as you mentioned - overdrawn conversations.

BURAKU MONDEI x 10.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Alright I give up, I tap out, I'm out.

I'm sorry these games could be the second coming of JRPGesus and I still wont care. Combat is sooooo boring, but not nearly as boring as the characters and the story.

The last three sit down sessions with this game have been me begging the characters to shut the fuck up and they just keep talking and I can't standing it. They talk and talk and somehow manage to not say anything.

So I'm out. I'm not suffering through this when there is no payoff later because according to videos I've watching the dialog stays mostly the same and the combat doesn't really change that much. So nope....forget it. Fuck these games.