Trails of Cold Steel (and the Kiseki series in general)

[Briar King]

Bought 3 today. 

 

I see on PS3 there is Sky 1&2. May get in hopes all this stuff transfers over to PS5 with its BC rumors.

[Weltall]

We've gotten a few cool tidbits on the Crossbell ports and Hajimari recently. They confirmed the addition of Towa, Juna's siblings and (presumably) her mother and father, which means adding in whole new NPCs instead of just repurposing an existing one or redesigning their sprites/portraits (the same update confirmed this for the Stahlritter). There's not too many more characters they could add who aren't already there but it's nice all the same.

And for Hajimari, they revealed the second of its two story routes (the 'Hero' route focusing on Rean) with some hints for what the members of Class VII are up to and some very interesting potential developments given who's going where. And then they revealed a screenshot that's driving people nuts because of what it might mean in light of the end of CS4. The hype just grows and grows.

19 hours ago, Briar King said:

Bought 3 today. 

 

I see on PS3 there is Sky 1&2. May get in hopes all this stuff transfers over to PS5 with its BC rumors.

The PS3 versions of the Sky games are Japanese-only so unless you can read it at a fairly high level it's probably not worth it unless that's the only platform you can play it on. The PC version that XSEED localized is by far the most feature-rich of them, unless Falcom eventually does PS4 ports like they're doing right now with Crossbell.

[Ookla the Pom]

6 hours ago, Weltall said:

We've gotten a few cool tidbits on the Crossbell ports and Hajimari recently. They confirmed the addition of Towa, Juna's siblings and (presumably) her mother and father, which means adding in whole new NPCs instead of just repurposing an existing one or redesigning their sprites/portraits (the same update confirmed this for the Stahlritter). There's not too many more characters they could add who aren't already there but it's nice all the same.

And for Hajimari, they revealed the second of its two story routes (the 'Hero' route focusing on Rean) with some hints for what the members of Class VII are up to and some very interesting potential developments given who's going where. And then they revealed a screenshot that's driving people nuts because of what it might mean in light of the end of CS4. The hype just grows and grows.

Argh! I'm so impatient to know, well, everything. I actually gave up on playing Sen I for now, playing it on the pc I have is just too demanding for something that's supposed to be relaxing, I didn't even talk to NPCs like a decent Kiseki fan because I didn't want to risk a single loading screen more than necessary. I just got a small job so I'll try and get a ps4 with those versions hopefully during summer.

And I hope they localize the ps4 versions for Crossbell, it might sound silly, but even if the arc wasn't as good as it is, it would be worth a replay in my book just to see the new dialog by the added NPCs.

On 3/3/2020 at 5:24 PM, Briar King said:

Bought 3 today. 

 

I see on PS3 there is Sky 1&2. May get in hopes all this stuff transfers over to PS5 with its BC rumors.

I agree that you should probably get that for pc if you can, the game would run on a toaster so virtually anything would be fine, and they go on sale pretty often. Besides, there's some nice mods for the pc version, I think some of them kind of don't work anymore, but at least the one for the Evolution soundtrack I know still works and it's pretty awesome.

[Briar King]

Yeah I can’t read Japanese so I ll pass on Sky then. I don’t do PC. Hurts to bad imo.

Should be finishing Death Stranding later ugh today I guess since it’s in the am now or tomorrow. Will prob start 1 after unless I try to finish boring Xenoblade 2 1st.

[Zurvanight]

Please give us English ports of the Crossbell arc Falcom! Those are my favorites after Cold Steel. And Wazy Hemisphere is back for Hajimari! And Wald Wales. I also saw something about McBurn returning.

[Briar King]

When is the Crossbell thing coming to PS4?

How much would I regret it if I like CS and then have to go backwards in time which is what I’m assuming from thread.

[Weltall]

10 hours ago, Zurvanite said:

Please give us English ports of the Crossbell arc Falcom! Those are my favorites after Cold Steel. And Wazy Hemisphere is back for Hajimari! And Wald Wales. I also saw something about McBurn returning.

Truefact: Everyone is Wazysexual, even if they don't know it yet. And agreed on English localization. Kondo mentioned in an interview last year (before the ports were announced) that Falcom wanted the games available in a format that could be localized for English-speaking fans, so it's a safe bet that they either have an agreement in place already or expect to have one soon.

And yes, they've pretty much confirmed the entire main casts of Crossbell and Cold Steel by now, with hints dropped about various Sky characters and some really evil teasing about characters who might finally become playable.

Spoiler

Like Cassius

McBurn was confirmed as reappearing in one of the first rounds of screenshots, with a cryptic comment that the location he's in (which we've never seen before) is itself a spoiler that they can't tell us about. Whatever that means...

1 hour ago, Briar King said:

When is the Crossbell thing coming to PS4?

How much would I regret it if I like CS and then have to go backwards in time which is what I’m assuming from thread.

Zero Kai comes out on April 23, Ao Kai comes out May 28.

If you mean in terms of getting used to older gameplay, it shouldn't be too bad. All the fundamentals are pretty similar across the series so they're not hard to get into, and if you can make it past the slow buildup of Cold Steel 1 you'll do fine with other games which also take the slow burn approach. Probably the biggest non-cosmetic differences to get used to are the lack of counterattacks in the Sky games (they were first added in Zero no Kiseki) and the fact that pre-CS games used a different Orbment system where quartz gave you 'points' in the elements and you had to form certain combinations to unlock Arts, instead of the quartz themselves giving you specific spells. The older system is actually more flexible and better for casters (a point that gets commented on in CS2) but it takes a bit more time to get used to it.

In story terms, if you like Cold Steel there's no reason you shouldn't like the earlier games as well and for the most part you can play the earlier games and retroactively recognize the references to them made by later entries, up to the end of CS3 anyways. You've got all the same sorts of writing beats so the things you like about CS will be things you'll find in the previous entries.

Oh, since you mentioned not doing PC gaming, is that a personal preference or a hardware limitation? I ask only because the games aren't demanding at all and you can pretty much play them on any computer made in the past fifteen years that's not actively on fire. The only Falcom game that was ever really demanding in its own day was Zwei II (localized as Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection) which actually did require a good machine, but that was twelve years ago. Underrated gem, that one. Point being, if it's just a hardware thing you should be able to run the games perfectly fine.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Weltall

[Ookla the Pom]

1 hour ago, Briar King said:

When is the Crossbell thing coming to PS4?

How much would I regret it if I like CS and then have to go backwards in time which is what I’m assuming from thread.

Well, this is where it gets complicated, since CS at some point will start assuming you've already played the Crossbell arc, to the point where iirc, Cold Steel gives closure to both Erebonia and Crossbell arcs. So it comes down to if you can enjoy the story even though you've missed more than half of it (because it will assume you've already played Sky too).

If you do enjoy it regardless and want to go back (I don't really recommend doing things in that order but your situation seems to be a little complicated regarding available platfoms), the biggest changes are graphics and a few quality of life stuff, and the combat system being somewhat more complex. But the story and characters are just as good.

[Weltall]

4 minutes ago, Eluvianii said:

Well, this is where it gets complicated, since CS at some point will start assuming you've already played the Crossbell arc, to the point where iirc, Cold Steel gives closure to both Erebonia and Crossbell arcs. So it comes down to if you can enjoy the story even though you've missed more than half of it (because it will assume you've already played Sky too).

Pretty much this. You can play through CS3 without the past games and while you'll miss emotional resonances, the relevant plot points are explained well enough by characters from the previous arcs/locations that you won't be lost in terms of what's going on with the main story. CS4 is the point that really starts assuming the player has experienced all the previous entries and throws things at you that won't make sense if you haven't seen Scenes X, Y and Z from Games A, B and C. One of which just might involve Lechter by the by.

[Briar King]

Yeah I’m old. Grew up with og Nintendo so I can handle down graded graphics and what not unlike my son who is missing out and bored with PS1 games I try to show him! Ha. No I was meaning the plot/story points how jarring it might be if I did the upcoming rereleases afterwards. April isn’t far off so I think will likely just wait and start there instead of diving into CS1 today.

 

PC is a comfort thing, don’t like playing seated at either desk we have. I about killed myself for the few months I was hooked on SWTOR!

[Ookla the Pom]

4 hours ago, Briar King said:

Yeah I’m old. Grew up with og Nintendo so I can handle down graded graphics and what not unlike my son who is missing out and bored with PS1 games I try to show him! Ha. No I was meaning the plot/story points how jarring it might be if I did the upcoming rereleases afterwards. April isn’t far off so I think will likely just wait and start there instead of diving into CS1 today.

 

PC is a comfort thing, don’t like playing seated at either desk we have. I about killed myself for the few months I was hooked on SWTOR!

It does come out in April but only in Japan.

This is not only a niche series but a storming monster text-wise, so it's had a pretty rough way into the west, meaning among other things that the second arc (the Crossbell arc) never got a localization and it's still not confirmed that it will. Last I remember hearing is that the company currently localizing the games "is aware of the Crossbell problem" but nothing since then.

Considering there are three games that haven't been localized it's understandable they would have trouble aproaching the issue. Right now there are fan translations available which are pretty good but you would need, again, a pc or a psp/vita.

Actually, all of the first 5 games can be played on psp/vita so there's that.

Sorry, I know this isn't very helpful but as I said, the story of this series coming to the west is really rough (seriously, just reading the localization process for the second game is kind of depressing), and the pc is the place that got out winning.

Edited March 6, 2020 by Eluvianii

[Briar King]

Ugh my head is spinning. Now I’m worried what I bought is Japanese from all that. Could have sworn I heard them speaking English though. Will really hate to have wasted $107 on games I can’t understand a bare fraction of the language of.

[Ookla the Pom]

25 minutes ago, Briar King said:

Ugh my head is spinning. Now I’m worried what I bought is Japanese from all that. Could have sworn I heard them speaking English though. Will really hate to have wasted $107 on games I can’t understand a bare fraction of the language of.

Sorry, I probably made that sound more complicated than it is, so here's a summary. If you only bought Cold Steel, you're safe, the first three games are localized, all of them available on ps4 and pc.

Trails in the Sky is localized too, all three games, available on psp/psvita and pc.

Zero and Ao are not localized but there are fan-translations playable on psp/psvita and pc.

Basically, nearly all of them can be played in english, but as of now, only three of them on ps4.

[Weltall]

So, Geofront's translation of Zero no Kiseki just got its release date announced: This Saturday. They also made a trailer that recreates the original Japanese trailer from 2010.

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Weltall

[Ookla the Pom]

1 hour ago, Weltall said:

So, Geofront's translation of Zero no Kiseki just got its release date announced: This Saturday. They also made a trailer that recreates the original Japanese trailer from 2010.

 

For the love of Eidos, the memories, this is way more nostalgic than it should be.

I remember meeting these four and thinking "No way these guys can fill Estelle and Joshua's shoes." Of course, at the time I didn't consider that Estelle and Joshua started just like them, and that there is a reason the name "The Legend of Heroes" still fits the series. I've pretty much accepted that, however inferior a cast in this series may seem, I'll be in love with it by the end of the arc.

 

On a side note, I found an interesting glitch in my copy of FC. For some reason the minutes in the timer go up during second number 44. It's kinda fun.

[Weltall]

Whoops, time to rewrite my theory about the upcoming games then, you've clearly found the real Sept-Terrion of Time.

And yeah, each new arc I find the same thing happening. I remember how much I loved the last cast and wonder if the new one will be able to compare and by the end of their first game I wind up loving them. Though I think CS1 was the first time where I was really interested in a character even before the game was out. In that case, it was Jusis in particular and he turned out even more interesting than I was expecting from the pre-release teasers.

[Zurvanight]

First web commercial for Hajimari dropped this morning. Looks crazy awesome!

Edited March 11, 2020 by Zurvanite

[Ookla the Pom]

4 hours ago, Zurvanite said:

First web commercial for Hajimari dropped this morning. Looks crazy awesome!

Storms! The animations are so much better than CS1, they really had to learn from scratch, didn't they?

[Weltall]

There's a ton of stuff to unpack in that trailer. I think the most interesting just might be that Arios seems to be in the same 'we can't tell you about it because spoilers' location that McBurn was previously seen in. And in a nice touch, that shot that's the featured image has Lloyd calling the whole group the SSS, meaning that Juna seems to have graduated from honorary to full member while also pulling double-duty as part of Class VII.

[Zurvanight]

People in the comments on the video are saying the long white haired man is

Spoiler

Rean from a different ending but I can't find any proof of where he appears with longer hair. Anyone know what they are talking about?

 

[Weltall]

3 hours ago, Zurvanite said:

People in the comments on the video are saying the long white haired man is

  Reveal hidden contents

Rean from a different ending but I can't find any proof of where he appears with longer hair. Anyone know what they are talking about?

 

Spoilers for the ending of CS4 for anyone concerned about that.

Spoiler

We don't know what's up with the hair but the outfit that figure is wearing is identical to what Rean was wearing in CS4. The first screenshot showed the arm of the coat which is folded up to show the bandages around the arm but is clearly the same design with the zipper running back to around the elbow and the tie-down that's keeping it in place. The new shot from the teaser shows the full jacket and the boots, which are identical to what Rean wore including that second buckle. The theory is that somehow the Rean from the Normal Ending survived and is now appearing before the Rean from the True Ending. The way that he's speaking in the earlier screenshot suggests that he's no longer fully human and has (quite likely, since it was starting to happen already) merged with the Ishmelga from the Normal Ending, who Rean attempted to destroy via a self-sacrifice. The fact that Kondo has been evasive when asked about the two endings of the game and how you're forced to see both of them even if you've met the requirements to unlock the latter adds fuel to the fire since there must be some reason that Falcom wanted us to see Rean's sacrifice before seeing the end where he survives.

Given the long hair and the similarity to another character who should have been dead but showed up later (sort of) I've taken to calling this person Schwarzreaner until further notice.

 

Edited March 11, 2020 by Weltall

[Zurvanight]

2 hours ago, Weltall said:

Spoilers for the ending of CS4 for anyone concerned about that.

  Hide contents

We don't know what's up with the hair but the outfit that figure is wearing is identical to what Rean was wearing in CS4. The first screenshot showed the arm of the coat which is folded up to show the bandages around the arm but is clearly the same design with the zipper running back to around the elbow and the tie-down that's keeping it in place. The new shot from the teaser shows the full jacket and the boots, which are identical to what Rean wore including that second buckle. The theory is that somehow the Rean from the Normal Ending survived and is now appearing before the Rean from the True Ending. The way that he's speaking in the earlier screenshot suggests that he's no longer fully human and has (quite likely, since it was starting to happen already) merged with the Ishmelga from the Normal Ending, who Rean attempted to destroy via a self-sacrifice. The fact that Kondo has been evasive when asked about the two endings of the game and how you're forced to see both of them even if you've met the requirements to unlock the latter adds fuel to the fire since there must be some reason that Falcom wanted us to see Rean's sacrifice before seeing the end where he survives.

Given the long hair and the similarity to another character who should have been dead but showed up later (sort of) I've taken to calling this person Schwarzreaner until further notice.

 

Ok that explains a lot! Thanks!

Also I wonder who these two below Altina are? Because I don't recognize them: 

[Weltall]

The minigame is based on the Magical Alisa spinoff. It got started in CS2 with costumes for Alisa and Rean and became its own full-fledged spinoff (there's a light novel series published in Falcom Magazine) with cameos in Tokyo Xanadu where it's treated as an in-universe multimedia franchise. Think of it as a Magical Girl series using the Cold Steel characters. Those two are the Magical Alisa versions of Juna and Musse (known as Magical Juna and Magical Twintails respectively) who are secondary magical girls. They all got DLC costumes in CS4 and you can see their specific ones below along with Magical Darkness (Altina) and Duvalie:

The various special abilities that are in the shooting game are also based on the Magical Alisa versions of the characters. For example the trailer shows a special ability that's associated with 'Kunoichi Fie' and if you look at the cut-in, the outfit that she's wearing there is her Magical Alisa design (see it here).

Edited March 12, 2020 by Weltall

[Zurvanight]

Ohhhh ok! I didn't realize that was going to be a thing in Hajimari. Tokyo Xanadu was how I got into Trails and I definitely remember Magical Alisa and the Rean fishing minigame at the arcade. I thought that might've been Musse from her hair color but I wasnt sure because the style was so out there. 

I like how Duvalie is just in a school uniform haha.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Zurvanite

[Briar King]

Dang man I really got to get going here so I can know what y’all are even talking about lol

Xenoblade 2 has reset its hooks in me though so it ll still be awhile..