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

[Briar King]

As someone who is playing Cold Steel for 1st time I would very very very much recommend not starting at CS3. I can see it not technically being necessary to play 1&2 but you will be missing a hell of a lot of air fists moments that CS3 has to offer.

[urrutiap]

yeah well you know what?  Trails of Cold Steel 1 and II are hard to get and I dont have a Playstation 4 handy. I only have a Playstation 3 and dunno if Cold Steel 1 and 2 were ever released here in the U.S.

 

im going to be playing Trails of Cold Steel III anyway. Plus Cold Steel IV is just around the corner

[aneonfoxtribute]

CS1 and 2 are certainly not hard to get, and yes they were released in the US. They're on PC, PS3, Vita, and PS4. CS1 and 2 are the easiest to get in the series. 

[Briar King]

An hour later not even playing anymore and I’m still charged up on a high. That was so awesome! CS3 ch 1 stuff outside of SA/Parm

the battle of the EX camp! Just wow! Huge air fist moment having Laura, Fie and Elliot show up to save the day! Very strange timing this plays out the way it has when someone else states their intention to start on CS3 cold. It’s kinda making me sad that this epic moment will lack the punch for them cause I can in turn know what it’s like lacking the punch on a good bit of other things by going into CS1 cold from rest of games.

 

Im loving it so far.

[aneonfoxtribute]

19 minutes ago, Briar King said:

An hour later not even playing anymore and I’m still charged up on a high. That was so awesome! CS3 ch 1 stuff outside of SA/Parm

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the battle of the EX camp! Just wow! Huge air fist moment having Laura, Fie and Elliot show up to save the day! Very strange timing this plays out the way it has when someone else states their intention to start on CS3 cold. It’s kinda making me sad that this epic moment will lack the punch for them cause I can in turn know what it’s like lacking the punch on a good bit of other things by going into CS1 cold from rest of games.

 

Im loving it so far.

Alright now I can talk about that girl. 

Spoiler

That is Shirley Orlando. She is Randy's cousin and the daughter of the current leader of the Red Constellation Jaeger corps. She was actually referenced way earlier in one of Fie's bond events in the earlier games, she says she went to the Zephyr camp looking for a cat. She is also the person who killed Comrade G at the Trade Conference. She and Red Constellation were hired by Osborne to be there and to stop the terrorists who were coming, and we literally see her kill Gideon on screen.

Also, quick question, did she mention "Lady Bell"?

 

[NattyBo]

Goes without saying but having jumped into Trails 3rd on PC after a couple of ported psp on vita games, I’m almost dizzy with the frame rate and screen size haha. Kinda a nice change of pace so far in the prologue with a new main character and sidekick! The game is gorgeous in 4K, I love the art/pixel work.

[Eluvianii]

That was quick. Enjoy. The 3rd has a very different structure to the previous games, but it uses it to drop character development, some revelations, and lots of hints about the overarching plot that may or may not start to make sense over the course of the next few games. 

[Briar King]

27 minutes ago, aneonfoxtribute said:

Alright now I can talk about that girl. 

  Hide contents

That is Shirley Orlando. She is Randy's cousin and the daughter of the current leader of the Red Constellation Jaeger corps. She was actually referenced way earlier in one of Fie's bond events in the earlier games, she says she went to the Zephyr camp looking for a cat. She is also the person who killed Comrade G at the Trade Conference. She and Red Constellation were hired by Osborne to be there and to stop the terrorists who were coming, and we literally see her kill Gideon on screen.

Also, quick question, did she mention "Lady Bell"?

 

No just one or two references like “she” or “her” but I have no clue if CS3 stuff

Shirley and Duvaile were talking about The Lance Maiden or this new girl who appeared to Rean and taught him a new Brave thing. Shirley’s weapon is awesome though. Can’t wait to continue on in a bit..

[aneonfoxtribute]

Just now, Briar King said:

No just one or two references like “she” or “her” but I have no clue if CS3 stuff

  Hide contents

Shirley and Duvaile were talking about The Lance Maiden or this new girl who appeared to Rean and taught him a new Brave thing. Shirley’s weapon is awesome though. Can’t wait to continue on in a bit..

 

Spoiler

Okay. By "new girl", do you mean the small blonde girl? In any case, she's not the one I'm thinking of.

 

[Briar King]

12 minutes ago, aneonfoxtribute said:

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Okay. By "new girl", do you mean the small blonde girl? In any case, she's not the one I'm thinking of.

 

CS3 ch 1 stuff

White/blonde about Altina’s size, appeared to Rean in one of his fits where he always hears the heartbeat and grabs his chest. Time seemed to stop and none of N7 heard or saw her besides Rean. Excited to learn more of her as game unfolds.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Briar King

[aneonfoxtribute]

5 minutes ago, Briar King said:

CS3 ch 1 stuff

  Hide contents

White/blonde about Altina’s size, appeared to Rean in one of his fits where he always hears the heartbeat and grabs his chest. Time seemed to stop and none of N7 heard or saw her besides Rean. Excited to learn more of her as game unfolds.

 

Okay yeah that's who I thought you were talking about. She's a new character, not someone from a past arc

Edited March 1, 2021 by aneonfoxtribute

[NattyBo]

1 hour ago, Eluvianii said:

That was quick. Enjoy. The 3rd has a very different structure to the previous games, but it uses it to drop character development, some revelations, and lots of hints about the overarching plot that may or may not start to make sense over the course of the next few games. 

lol, I got the bug, and with the pandemic, even more time than normal on my hands to game. Bring on the quality JRPG dialogue! Loving the ride so far.

 

At some point I'll actually do a quality post rather than stream of consciousness, but glad I finally got into the series.

[Briar King]

Woot! CS3

ive got “my peeps” back! Well 3 of them anyway but 2 of them are my main battle members from 1&2 so I’m extremely happy. Unfortunately idk how long I ll have them. Odds are not long considering they are equipment lock outs. Think I ll just spend a few hrs with them before pushing on.

[Weltall]

1 hour ago, Briar King said:

No just one or two references like “she” or “her” but I have no clue if CS3 stuff

  Hide contents

Shirley and Duvaile were talking about The Lance Maiden or this new girl who appeared to Rean and taught him a new Brave thing. Shirley’s weapon is awesome though. Can’t wait to continue on in a bit..

 

Continuing the fun little factoids from prior games that relate to this character:

Spoiler

Shirley's weapon is a 'blade rifle' in the same vein as what Xeno was using in CS2, albeit his was tricked out for sniping while hers is more 'rip and tear'. Hers was first named back in Trails to Azure, with a mention that its name Testarossa comes from an Erebonian legend about 'a demon with a thousand weapons'. Falcom was foreshadowing the Vermillion Knight back before Cold Steel even started. xD Randy also has a blade rifle named Berserker but he doesn't usually carry it around. It doesn't really come up in Cold Steel but he has a thing about handling guns due to his past so he generally leaves the thing under lock and key.

Relatedly, the Lance Maiden also first got mentioned in Azure in a book about remarkable women, alongside Queen Alicia of Liberl (from the Sky games) and someone who's probably foreshadowing for the upcoming Calvard games.

And yes, that scene with the cutscene battle was rocking in general and served as a really nice indication of how much better Falcom has gotten with doing animations in the CS engine. Contrast with the Laura/Fie fight in Heimdallr in CS1 to see just how far they've come. Then there's some scenes in the next two games that are even better...

[Briar King]

I’m looking forward to the Calvard games. I hope it’s PS5 lvl worthy though I know y’all mentioned these games were always kinda a step behind in the looks department.

*not that I’ve had any luck battling the bots to actually get a rusting PS5 yet..

[Eluvianii]

Well, to be honest, the few screenshots we have of Kuro look pretty darn amazing. We still have to see it in motion but it looks to me like a current generation game graphically. 

[Briar King]

It does look good from the very tiny bit I can see on phone screen but yeah we need a moving picture to judge better.

Any word on how much longer this Hajimari will take for English? Is that a single game another entire arc? Sorry I mostly skipped y’all’s conversation back then as I didn’t want to see spoilers as I was going along.

[Eluvianii]

Well, if Nisa keeps the same pace, it should come probably by fall next year. To my understanding it's a sort of bridge between the Erebonia and the Calvard arcs. Like it ties up some loose ends and gives a glimpse of the way the story will continue from now on. 

[aneonfoxtribute]

3 minutes ago, Briar King said:

It does look good from the very tiny bit I can see on phone screen but yeah we need a moving picture to judge better.

Any word on how much longer this Hajimari will take for English? Is that a single game another entire arc? Sorry I mostly skipped y’all’s conversation back then as I didn’t want to see spoilers as I was going along.

We don't know how long it'll take, but it's not its own arc. What it is is basically an epilogue for Cold Steel and Crossbell, as well as a lead in to Calvard, while also telling its own story with C. 

[aneonfoxtribute]

1 hour ago, Briar King said:

Woot! CS3

  Reveal hidden contents

ive got “my peeps” back! Well 3 of them anyway but 2 of them are my main battle members from 1&2 so I’m extremely happy. Unfortunately idk how long I ll have them. Odds are not long considering they are equipment lock outs. Think I ll just spend a few hrs with them before pushing on.

 

 

Remind me where you are. 

Spoiler

You're going off to Hamel, right?

 

[Briar King]

1 minute ago, aneonfoxtribute said:

 

Remind me where you are. 

  Hide contents

You're going off to Hamel, right?

 

CS3 ch 1 stuff

I don’t think so. Never heard of it. I just left EX camp with Laura, Fie and E on a straight shot to SA for lengthy scene with Toval and Agate. I’m now supposed to be making my way to the Fortress that Craig commands but I haven’t set out yet and likely won’t tonight. Idk yet. I’m probably in store for a SA dialogue round before leaving.

[aneonfoxtribute]

Oh also, on a note unrelated to Trails but nevertheless relevant, I've been playing through Ys. I beat Ys 1 last week and am going through 2 now.

[Briar King]

Ok I went ahead with the dialogue round and got to free roam position before calling it a night. Had to take ambien I bit early due to migraine so it’s on when I wake up for sure!

[Val the Moofia Boss]

46 minutes ago, aneonfoxtribute said:

Oh also, on a note unrelated to Trails but nevertheless relevant, I've been playing through Ys. I beat Ys 1 last week and am going through 2 now.

The final boss of Ys 1 was unbeatable for me. Apparently his movement speed is tied to your resolution and frame rate.

[Weltall]

You did do the necessary thing to render him beatable period, right? Because there is a trick to it.

2 hours ago, Briar King said:

It does look good from the very tiny bit I can see on phone screen but yeah we need a moving picture to judge better.

Any word on how much longer this Hajimari will take for English? Is that a single game another entire arc? Sorry I mostly skipped y’all’s conversation back then as I didn’t want to see spoilers as I was going along.

Falcom actually did slip a little animation in the new engine into Hajimari, in a single short scene intended as a tease for what's coming next and while it's short it did look really good in motion. Hence we know it works on the PS4 and that (per Kondo's comments) is probably what Kuro will be developed for, with the option to run it on the PS5 coming later. Just as Falcom's graphics tend to be, like, a tertiary concern for them, they tend to not jump consoles for a year or two. My guess is that if the Calvard arc stays to two games as planned, we won't see a Trails game developed specifically for the PS5 until afterwards. We'll see though, my rule on consoles is to either wait for several must-have games or the first exclusive Falcom release. My guess is the former will happen before the latter, though in the PS3 era it actually went the other way around. xD

And yeah, these games have an average turnaround time of two years and Hajimari should be no exception since it's a big game. It's an 'in-between' title that wraps up some plot threads from Crossbell and Erebonia (especially the former), has some further plot threads trailing from the Sky games and also sets up a bunch of stuff for Calvard. Kondo has indicated that they may do additional single games between other arcs in the future.

By the same token, Kuro no Kiseki (the first Calvard game) will probably see an English release somewhere in late 2023 since it's coming out later this year. There's no particular reason to think it's going to be notably different in script size than prior games so there's no reason to assume that turnaround time will change. Obviously we'll have a better idea once it's out but two years is a safe bet.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Weltall