Don't Skip - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

[@fenrir3097]

Joshua best girl.

[@tuantrananh4015]

this is late but the original idea is joshua is girl and estelle is a boy but they think the other way better i think they right because estelle is my favorite female protagonist ever

[@bestwind4618]

@@tuantrananh4015 ooooor, it's just a meme

[@electricant55]

@@bestwind4618 fuck off

[@thalos730]

Estelle best boy.

[@hentaisenpai3534]

Estelle, Kloe, Josette, Shera, Anelace: YES! 💖💖💖💖💖 Olivier: oh yes, I can sink in those amber eyes 🤤 Joshua: 😑

[@Theaggyyu]

I just finished the entire trilogy after your recommendation, and I can't thank you enough. What a beautiful, magical journey I've been on

[@araragisenpai4088]

I know I'm late, but I'm so happy to see people give this a chance and enjoying it, you've just made my day!

[@Gerhalt2010]

Also late, but I hope you didnt stop after finishing Trails in the Sky. Trails of Cold Steel is also wonderful.

[@d3ly746]

@Tráng Đinh Công damn straight. Download crossbell arc eng patched (100% translated, no bugs, near perfect translation)on nicoblog if you want to play on pc Download on cdromance if you want to play on psp emulator

[@d3ly746]

@Tráng Đinh Công I'm still at the middle of zero, however, due to accidental readings on wiki, i know most of the spoilers ;-; please don''t reply with a spoiler Maybelle is anguis ;-;

[@JordiumZ]

Came here from things shulk wouldn't say

[@superlosia1234]

The definition of a slow burner. The more you play, the more invested you get. The last 10 hours are among the best gaming experinces i've ever had!

[@d3ly746]

Liber ;)

[@evewhoo]

Agreed. Minus the last 10 hours because I'm not there yet.

[@apukami3643]

Cant be more of a slow burner when its on the 2nd game were it gets good.

[@Sorestlor]

50 hours of chilling in the FC, then realizing how many games there are left and that the point of no return is long behind me...

[@LiEnby]

@@d3ly746 Ark

[@reddaxe445]

Favorite thing about this series is that 7 games in so far the worldbuilding has paid off big time. Everything feels connected, events in one game affect the other and the political tensions between the factions carry on and continue to play their role as the games progress.

[@evewhoo]

Seriously. I wish we could get a game in Calvard but I don't think we will since I believe they're ending it at Cold Steel. That's what I heard. We have Liberl, Erebonia, and Crossbell. Calvard would be interesting. I think it would be at least.

[@FiniteMiner]

@@evewhoo They aren't ending it at cold steel according to falcoms president the trails series is only about 60% complete by the end of Cold Steel IV so I'm sure we'll get an arc set in Calvard :)

[@reee2326]

@@FiniteMiner And probably even more, There are still other places in Zemuria region to explore.

[@kaikiriya2761]

@@FiniteMiner ive heard that there might be a chance that a game set with the MC as part of the ouroboros but dunno i've just read it somewhere

[@potatoesblink3299]

@@evewhoo u got ur wish bro

[@caar6611]

Wow, I just literally finished this game 100% haha. This is probably my favorite JRPG of all time. There is so much world building and everything in his series is connected, which is why Zemuria is such a believable world that sucked me in completely. It is a slow burn, but the pay off is enourmous. Thank you for putting it in the spotlight!

[@OmegaMetroid93]

Absolutely one of the best JRPG franchises right now. Indeed, do NOT skip out on this. It also isn't just a contained experience. Every single one of these games are connected on a deep level, and they only get better the more you play. The way each game helps build one world is nothing short of masterful. Never seen the likes of it in any other RPG.

[@aretlev]

Is it essential to play this game first before playing the ones that came after it in the series?

[@kacamatapanda777]

definitely yes... trail in the sky FC is the best starting point... since most of its characters will have the major role on the rest of the sucessor series...

[@jasondp3546]

This on ps4

[@TheShayaChannel]

Amen to that.

[@richybucks703]

Yes I know, this is kind of epic this game should be legend

[@TheDragonpaul22]

don't sleep on this series guys! Seriously if anyone has a backlog of games move this up higher because I swear this is one of the few series not only do you get invested from the world but also the fantastic written characters! As someone who binged all the games so far throughout this year I can't tell how much I fell in love with this series! (I'm honestly itching to replay them because they are that good!)

[@jackjohnson8305]

I just started it now! looked like a good time to jump into the series with most games being localized in the west except for Azure which will be out next year, by the time im done with the first 4 games however im sure azure will be right around the corner for me to play and then its onto cold steel 1-4!

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Also, if it looks like "cliche anime" on surface, then believe me.... It's the best anime you'll ever play.

[@sheriffaboubakar9720]

Hemang Chauhan it's cliche as fuck

[@PepeOPT1]

@@sheriffaboubakar9720 It's amazing tho

[@kaikiriya2761]

@@sheriffaboubakar9720 uhh atleast they feel like a living breathing human being that develops over the course of 9 games with great world building and an interesting take on how war affects people

[@EX7Sonic]

It's so cliche, they somehow managed to include an episode about a school festival even when the main characters aren't in school. (I still love the game and series though)

[@sushantsardeshpande]

So true! A thought Suikoden 2, 5 and FF 6 did a great job in terms of story telling but this just seemed better. While the main plot may not be as grandiose the character building is just Great.

[@AKABoondock19]

The Legend of Heroes series is the only RPG series to bring back those feels I got from RPGs in the snes/psx era. THANK YOU FALCOM AND XSEED

[@timidalchemist8475]

Boondock i can't wait for sen no kiseki 3 aka cold steel 3.

[@TheShayaChannel]

@@timidalchemist8475 Same here, man! If you haven't seen this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmfZp5RvgL6Fd8U I've seen it so many times now--I'm exploding from hype!

[@vDorgengoa]

And now NISA

[@prudentComments]

It's a great trilogy with stellar characters and world building and an awesome soundtrack BUT let me warn you that the game starts rather slow and really takes its time to introduce you and Joshua and Estelle to the world. It's a slow burn, but the games are better because all the characters, their relationships, motivations and the world feel fleshed out and believable.

[@FlagshipFighter]

Thanks for letting me know, I tried playing this on PSP and then on Steam but I always stopped shortly after the intro. I need to persist with it.

[@Erpy80]

Yes, you do. The pacing starts out slow, but hooboy does it pay off in the end.

[@dra6o0n]

The first game is slow and doesn't introduce any big plot changes until mid to late game where it's revealed. You play from Lv1 to Lv50 roughly. The second game your characters are now full fledged bracers, so you now have a big goal in mind, hence more dramatic gameplay. The game starts off at Lv45+ and expands on the items, gears, and skills and equipment. The third game doesn't continue Joshua and Estelle's story, instead is a sequel side story, that does allow you to recruit Joshua and Estelle into your party as side characters. In Zero no Kiseki and Ao no Kiseki, Joshua and Estelle shows up in Crossbell as Bracers and side characters as well, so in a sense, later games in the series can have a TON of cameo, like even in the latest one Trails of Cold Steel 3, where characters from the 2nd 'part' of the kiseki series, the Crossbell series, shows up, because it has to make sense regionally on a world map.

[@DevilHunter1994]

Yeah the thing with the pacing is that it's the biggest hurdle to get over, but once you do and the story really gets going, you realize these games would actually be weaker experiences overall if the story didn't take its time to develop the way it does. I don't think I've ever cared so much about a group of game characters and the slow build up with carefully planned and almost perfectly executed character development is a large part of the reason why.

[@DevilHunter1994]

Dirk Diggler I disagree completely. Slow paced does not mean bad.

[@doccon8]

Trails rocketed to my second favorite JRPG series after Persona in the past two years. It's fantastic, thanks for the love

[@McCaroni_Sup]

Persona and SMT used to be my favorite but the kiseki dethroned it by a MILE! I love both soundtracks equally though

[@brandonvu5429]

@@McCaroni_Sup Different strokes. I think Persona's scheduling system is unique and well done enough to prefer it even over the plot and world building of Trails for some people. SMT destroys Trails In The Sky in terms of gameplay.

[@DoctorSoup]

Thanks for always brining attention to this series, Ben! This is a perfect game for Don't Skip, since it's not very widely known. I didn't even discover it until I heard about it from a friend, and now I can't get enough! Truly one of the best games I've ever played.

[@miguelgonzalez6495]

Thanks for making such an awesome video over my favorite series. I've never been so emotionally invested in a video game before. Trails series hit me in the feels so many times-that to me proves it has such incredible storytelling. Estelle and Joshua are my favorite video game characters. I dare people that have played these games show me better characters than them. They are so well-developed throughout the 1st and 2nd game. I hope they come back in future series after cold steel 3. Imagine a heroes game where you have Estelle, LLoyd and Rean in a party? Hell yeah!!!

[@CBZero]

Trails in the Sky Second Chapter was one of the best all-time jrpgs I've ever played.

[@arkadiuszjandylewski152]

Bunch of bullshit. This game is bad and extremely overrated!

[@idunnodo1142]

@@arkadiuszjandylewski152 Thank you for your input to this discussion

[@holyknightsammy4969]

@@arkadiuszjandylewski152 Thanks for your opinion. Nobody really cares about it since lots of people enjoy the game.

[@Azure9577]

@@arkadiuszjandylewski152 it's underrated

[@treebush]

should have talk about how all the npc pretty much have their own story arc and their own daily routines that happens over the game

[@zhontigue]

Wow.. just finished this game today, i really, really enjoyed it. the writing is top notch and the combat is fun and not too repetitive with the added features

[@s4ad0wpi]

Aw man! A top-level review group is showing of the Trails of Heroes series? Yes! As good as the series is, I've NEVER seen anyone talk about it, except for the EXTREMELY niche audience it has. I've never seen gaming sites like IGN cover the series, and even last month's Game Informer didn't have it anywhere NEAR its "Top 100 RPGs" list (Even though it definitely deserves to be there) Maybe this will get more people to start this lesser known RPG, annd explore the wonders of its world!

[@evewhoo]

I know! I realize that it's very anime, and not everyone likes that, but there's a lot of people who can get into an anime styled rpg. People who like the Tales games, for example. Even I went in not really expecting much from the series. I just wanted something to cure my boredom. Oho did I cure my boredom all right. This series completely caught me off guard by how detailed it is. I started with Cold Steel, which I think was absolutely necessary for me to get into the series, even though it isn't the first installment. Now, after playing CS I and II, I'm playing Sky, and it's fantastic. I had a slow start since I'm playing on hard, but it's got real good once I started playing more. I'm hoping that the recent things like CS getting a PS4 release, and CS3 getting an English release help the series, plus all these people posting reviews and blind Let's plays of Sky and Cold Steel.

[@ricesnot]

Getting massive Grandia vibes off of this, been looking for an JRPG to scratch that itch for a very long time. Thanks Ben!!

[@EnniusXII]

Ohh Grandia :')

[@GerM_tbo]

Then you just made a MAJOR discovery. He already sayd it but the characters and the kingdom itself are so amazingly well made. You'll genuinly care for the characters and you'll learn the map and love it's scenarios just cause of how they look, the music, or because you remember something that happened there (altought the first game doesn't let you wonder around, the second game will let you see what I'm talking about, as you'll not mind returning to places you've already been to, in fact, you'll talk to everyone just to see their reaction after not seeing Estelle in so long). And seriously, one of the best set of characters EVER. The story's also pretty great and ther's a lot of immersion, but characters and Liberl (the kingdom) are it's major highlights. And I still have the 3rd game to play!! I'll be devastated once I'm done with it jajaja

[@phoenix7240]

even better is that while this game is the first of a trilogy. there is another trilogy that takes place 2 years after this set ends and is the story of the erobonian empire and features a handful of characters (some of which build even further on the character arcs they go through in trails in the sky) that series goes by trails of cold steel.

[@knilght5349]

There is the Crossbell Arc between Trails in the Sky and Trails of Cold Steel, but it has not been officially translated yet.. But some of Trails in the Sky's characters return and it introduces some characters that reappear in Cold Steel. And well, it's pretty darn good.

[@seniorderpface]

Whats amazing about this game is that npc dialogue change as you progress the story quests and its usually not about your accomplishments but their own personal life story and first game has unique dialogue for each chest when you interact with one you already opened always cracks me up

[@skullknight_5682]

i got into this series when trails of cold steel came out. since then its become one of my favorites. really happy to see it getting some love

[@olegtz]

This is like reading a book, watching an anime and playing a game all combined into one! Amazing! I'm so glad I stumbled unto this one all thanks to cold steel :)

[@golfer435]

Incredible series. Bought FC on a whim and fell in love. 5 years later and I am 100+ hours into Trails of Cold Steel 3 and pumped for Cold Steel 4. 7+ games in and I have not grown tired at all.

[@gdoubleu8045]

Just starting Trails for the first time in 2020! Before I even finished the first game I knew this series was for me. So went and bought SC and 3rd on Steam...and Physical PS4 special editions of CS 1+2 imported from US, and finally bought 3 as well. Just started SC today :) Fingers crossed for remastered Crossbell getting the translation treatment, but if not I'll wait out for the fan translations to be complete.

[@pokeboi5438]

I hope you enjoy it man, one epic story that only keeps getting bigger and better! ^_^

[@Mandrake42]

On of my faves. Just a great series that needs more recognition.

[@easyduster]

This is my favorite jrpg and game world of all time. Even after being such a persona nut for the longest haha

[@IceBlueLugia]

I’m a pretty big persona nerd, am interested in trying this out

[@XforumsurferX]

Been playing videogames since forever, and while I place plenty of games above the individual games in this series, I must say I think the Trails series as a whole is my favorite series in videogame history. Lovable characters, rich worldbuilding, and a plot that can grip you in a moment's notice. You won't notice it, but the games are taking you for a ride from Chapter 1, and good god when the rollercoaster finally reaches the top and that downward dive begins, you better hold onto your ass.

[@timidalchemist8475]

Cottonmouth SteelViper it's probably the only jrpg (with suikoden as well),that has actual good writing,probably because both writers understand how to develop a world and a large cast little by little.

[@arkadiuszjandylewski152]

This game does not even come near Persona 4 Golden.

[@arkadiuszjandylewski152]

The game has it charm, for sure I played the first chapter and second, but I just do not want to play third chapter. It will just be a torture. I want to start out with the plot. It is pretty much certain that the target audience for this game are children from 8-12 years old. After the first hour of gameplay, it is really easy to predict how the relationship with Estelle and Joshua will eventually end. Sudden dissappearing of a strong character (Cassius) in order to put Estelle and Joshua in the spotlight was also very predictable and lazy plot device. When finally Joshua and Estelle are alone new characters appear from chapter to chapter. Most of the first chapter was an introduction phase for all the characters. Combat was okay but it eventually became pretty boring, and I just wanted to skip it in order to make the progress for the story. - Pace of the plot is not very well balanced. It goes very slowly, verly slowly, slowly, to extremely fast. This is because as I pointed out earlier FC is an introduction phase. The dialogs are long but for the most part they do not really expand the game world or characters, for the most part they are not necessary. In addition I do not feel that the story in this game fits the GAME experience, this story should be told in anime or manga instead of a game. Not all plots works in games! I played Legend of heroes not because I like it but because I wanted to finish it. I will never play Legend of Heroes ever again because it has no replability value. - Some of the characters were too stereotypical, beside Jousha and Estelle at least for me. - What I missed in this game is the ability to scroll text back, because it is too easy to make a mistake by pressing some buttons, without reading the entire dialog box. - I am also concerned about the quality of the translations. There were some words, I could not find in the English dictionary and even if they were, they did not fit into the context. Beside that some sentences (40%) were seriously written in a strange way. I could really feel that the translator really struggled. - Sometimes the event programming is too frustrating. The game does not allow you to move freely, especially when you want to make some side quests. - The game does not give you a map of the dungeons and in result you can get lost. That is sometimes frustrating; thankfully it happens only occasionally, because dungeons are usually not that big.

[@kickerbs]

@@arkadiuszjandylewski152 who hurt you as a kid to fuck your mind up so much

[@fonfabre29]

i was introduced into this series back in january, and thought that i'd give it a try, and personally i was lazy to do it (because of the graphic, honest). and here i am now from that january, invested my time digging in this series, playing it from Trails in the sky FC, SC, TC, and forced myself to play JP version of Trails of Zero, Azure using fan translation (i am really thankful to those ppl), and now playing the next in line which is Trails of Cold Steel on Steam. i didn't and probably won't regret investing time in trails, it's that good, especially in both story & character development, and BIG plus to it's soundtrack(s). TRY IT, GIVE IT A TIME.

[@vexnexus9530]

Thanks for doing a spotlight on this game! This series is just incredible and I hope more people play it. I hope the 4th and 5th games end up getting translated for steam too.

[@OwGash]

Yep, trails is amazing

[@TotemoGaijin]

Bless you, Ben Moore!

[@Starkride48]

I just finished this game last week, it's hands-down one of the best three RPGs I've ever played. Every JRPG fan needs to play this. And it's just the first of three chapters, Lord of the Rings style! When do you ever see that in video games? Thank you Ben so much for recommending this game.

[@dark-lord-]

This game is the best and everyone should play it. Trust me, this game is beyond awesome in a whole new level.

[@arkadiuszjandylewski152]

No it is NOT! The game has it charm, for sure I played the first chapter and second, but I just do not want to play third chapter. It will just be a torture. I want to start out with the plot. It is pretty much certain that the target audience for this game are children from 8-12 years old. After the first hour of gameplay, it is really easy to predict how the relationship with Estelle and Joshua will eventually end. Sudden dissappearing of a strong character (Cassius) in order to put Estelle and Joshua in the spotlight was also very predictable and lazy plot device. When finally Joshua and Estelle are alone new characters appear from chapter to chapter. Most of the first chapter was an introduction phase for all the characters. Combat was okay but it eventually became pretty boring, and I just wanted to skip it in order to make the progress for the story. - Pace of the plot is not very well balanced. It goes very slowly, verly slowly, slowly, to extremely fast. This is because as I pointed out earlier FC is an introduction phase. The dialogs are long but for the most part they do not really expand the game world or characters, for the most part they are not necessary. In addition I do not feel that the story in this game fits the GAME experience, this story should be told in anime or manga instead of a game. Not all plots works in games! I played Legend of heroes not because I like it but because I wanted to finish it. I will never play Legend of Heroes ever again because it has no replability value. - Some of the characters were too stereotypical, beside Jousha and Estelle at least for me. - What I missed in this game is the ability to scroll text back, because it is too easy to make a mistake by pressing some buttons, without reading the entire dialog box. - I am also concerned about the quality of the translations. There were some words, I could not find in the English dictionary and even if they were, they did not fit into the context. Beside that some sentences (40%) were seriously written in a strange way. I could really feel that the translator really struggled. - Sometimes the event programming is too frustrating. The game does not allow you to move freely, especially when you want to make some side quests. - The game does not give you a map of the dungeons and in result you can get lost. That is sometimes frustrating; thankfully it happens only occasionally, because dungeons are usually not that big.

[@aichisendou6375]

@@arkadiuszjandylewski152 First of all, no children nowadays has patience to play JRPG. 13 is the minimum. 2nd, Sky TC is not the part of main plot, rather than a background check to the Sky characters. 3rd, Sky Arc does not meant to be played separately from Crossbell and Erebonian Arc. It is HUGELY important to play all arcs to make the best use of world building that Sky gives. Hence the reason why the game is pretty slow at the start. This pacing is also relevant for the next point. 4th, in what way the dialogs are useless? Bcs in Trails series character and world building is what's important. Idk what makes you think these are useless when they are, direct or indirect, giving more character building and shows what Estelle lacks of. 5th, played the psp version and the pc version, all Sky Arcs, as well as Sen games that gets localized by XSeed, there's nothing that makes ANY people that understands English confused. They're all pretty much in the context, UNLESS you skipped the story. That's one whole different problem. 6th, side quests are on a time limiter, but they won't lock you out from the short time limiter on purpose, unless you, intentionally or not, moved on to the next plot without checking the time limit. That's entirely your fault. 7th, guide, guide, guide. Guide and walkthrough exist. Ever since the early time of JRPG, guides always exist to guide you. If you refuse to use one, that's fine. However, if you refuse to use guide and also refuse to check out everything, you cannot complain about "getting lost" and such

[@aichisendou6375]

@@arkadiuszjandylewski152 Also I want to point out this one in separate reply. How to make the main chars, Estelle and Joshua, shines bright if not using Cassius disappearance? Furthermore Cassius disappearance also is what sets the gear for coup, sets the Ouroboros plan movement, basically sets the setting of the Arc itself. Even his re-entry to the army at Sky SC. Idk if you realized that Falcom does everything with a base meaning and a deep meaning into every events

[@nutsberkintime]

My personal favorite JRPG series of all time.

[@3211-m9q]

bad taste

[@axel88er19]

One of the best RPG series ever! So much charm...

[@PatraicRoyce]

How Ironic I just came to know this series as I browse on google of what RPG should I play. I literally hesitated to play Trails in the Sky and started off with the Crossbell duology without knowing that IT WAS ACTUALLY THE SEQUEL OF THE SKY SERIES Upon seeing Estelle n Joshua in Zero no Kiseki and SHOW-OFF their first cool s-craft combination, It flares me up to play the Sky series, though I finished the Crossbell duology first though, there's quite alot of puzzle that I've missed for sure, but happily it made me wonder "What actually happened in it's prequel? such as "Why Estelle & Joshua chasin Renne, and the eerie feeling I get when they get to talk about of "Paradise" with Joachim, as well as Olivier n Kloe having to get into an adventure with Joshua n Estelle (LIBERL GANG FTW) and many more! I just finished Trails trillogy yesterday and i'm totally satisfied with the time I invested playing it having to connect the puzzle on what happened, I'M ITCHIN TO PLAY TRAILS OF COLD STEEL 1-4 SOON, HOWEVER i'll break my streak for now as they haven't localized the END OF SAGA YET, AND the localization of 3rd is yet to come. Trails easily listed as my top 1 RPG of all time, kinda like one piece in terms of story building. it's story and characters is vast that you never know what "CAN" possibly happen PS: sorry for that long experience sharing and insight (as long as Trails stories? :P) LET'S HOPE FOR CALVARD/ARTERIA ARC IN ADVANCE!! CHEERS EVERYONE

[@PsychoPenguin1919]

Started Trails of Cold Steel recently because of Ben's recommendation, which is an off-shoot of sorts in the series. I'm absolutely loving it so far, so I'm really curious to check out Trails in the Sky. Definitely on my list.

[@ludens1526]

PsychoPenguin Trails is the best in the series in my opinion.

[@DarthAsthmaClips]

Cold Steel is not a spin off. It's the 3rd arc of very much the same story started in sky.

[@TotemoGaijin]

Sky 1-3, then Zero and Cold Steel, then Ao and Cold Steel 2, then Cold Steel 3. Zero and Ao happen in Crossbell and I believe happen simultaneously to the events in Cold Steel 1 and 2.

[@Serbagz]

does cold steel 2 and 3 spoil zero?

[@mostlyharmless5645]

zero and CS 1-2 happen concurrently, so one spoils the other no matter what.

[@dannysimion]

I'm currently playing the legend of heroes: trails of cold steel series and I am positive trails in the sky offers just a rewarding storyline and character development satisfaction as well. I wanna play this when Im done with trails of cold steel. Excellent video review!

[@arkadiuszjandylewski152]

Bunch of bullshit. This game is bad and extremely overrated!

[@BlackyRay_Patrick]

@@arkadiuszjandylewski152 wow great Argumentation....

[@davidvg9434]

best jrpg's trails in the sky; and trails of cold steel. can't wait for trails of cold steel 3.

[@LiEnby]

that smug feeling when u activate your S-Crafts right when the enemy's next turn has a critical bonus xD

[@ronaldreis8242]

Thanks for the analysis! This video was a good addition to the manual in PDF of the ghostlight site.

[@SizzlingOne]

And we haven't even started going into Second Chapter and the surprises therein, with regard to story beats hitting some absurd highs, gameplay bonuses introducing some real shockers during combat... Loved this review. Will use it as a way of convincing more friends to get into this series with immediate effect. Please keep the flame alive as this series needs even more exposure, and the more exposure it gets, the more potential for international releases of its connecting brethren arises on more gaming platforms.

[@Some_Random_Guy]

I have mixed feeling about the inclusion of scenes from the Trails in the Sky OVA in the video. since none of that animation is actually in the game it could be seen as misrepresenting the game

[@ludens1526]

SomeRandomGuy yeah I thought I missed some cutscenes.

[@DjokovicIsOurLordAndSaviour]

SomeRandomGuy I assumed they were part of the game too. That's a shame that they aren't.

[@prudentComments]

it's not ideal, but it doesn't make the game any less great

[@dannybski9620]

so how does the ova fit in? :)

[@Some_Random_Guy]

The OVA basically covers the first 2/3 of the second game. don't recommend watching unless you've beaten at least the first 2 games in the Sky trilogy if you want to avoid major spoilers

[@alternativefacts3050]

Falcom has done a great job releasing their games on Steam. I know they've started, but it's time to start putting more if not everything on the PS4. I've ran into too many fans of JRPG's that in 2018 have no idea what Falcom is, or Y's, and that's still crazy.

[@weeaboofish174]

The first part of my favorite game series of all time. Godbless you falcom.

[@ledah013]

Thank you so much for recommending the game.

[@Serbagz]

Remember ppl its a slower game then average...the pay off is real though! love all the kiseki games.

[@joeyisabsb1]

Angel thanks for the heads up, I'm only an hour in and it's not terrible but not the greatest. I'll stick with it.

[@d3ly746]

@@joeyisabsb1 how did it go

[@joeyisabsb1]

Kikai Shinobu it was good, not as amazing as a lot of people make it out to be. Maybe it was just overhyped for me but its definitely a good game and the story did move a lot faster near the end. This game has so much dialogue it's almost a visual novel, which isnt a bad thing because I love story in games but i definitely spent more time reading than playing.

[@d3ly746]

@@joeyisabsb1 Did you play all the games? or only fc?

[@joeyisabsb1]

Only fc, I plan on playing sc at some point since I did like fc enough to want to continue. I'm also going to get the trails of cold steel series as well.

[@ChristianSchneiderItsjustme]

Best... story... eva...

[@gkettering]

Well done Ben. Trails in the Sky FC is a great game as you detailed in this first take. Can't wait too jump into the second chapter soon

[@JournalDrums]

The video that started it all for me

[@willassAUS]

I really love this game and its sequels with all my heart!

[@dannybski9620]

thanks ben for doing this. I've really been wanting to dive into this series, it's just an issue of time. But, seeing such positive reviews like this definitely helps :)

[@Slayernecros]

Started it recently,haven't gone past the prologue but enjoying it so far.

[@Roboterpunk]

I picked this game up a long time ago on GOG but never really played it. Now I'm changing that.

[@ManuelRodriguez-bv2yh]

Thank you for The Legend of Heroes love! Hyped for SNKIII this September!

[@alfaucko]

Absolutely one of my favorite jrpg franchises(Cold Steel arc included)and that's playing this as an adult, while having played all the big name jrpgs young. That's special!

[@arkadiuszjandylewski152]

The game has it charm, for sure I played the first chapter and second, but I just do not want to play third chapter. It will just be a torture. I want to start out with the plot. It is pretty much certain that the target audience for this game are children from 8-12 years old. After the first hour of gameplay, it is really easy to predict how the relationship with Estelle and Joshua will eventually end. Sudden dissappearing of a strong character (Cassius) in order to put Estelle and Joshua in the spotlight was also very predictable and lazy plot device. When finally Joshua and Estelle are alone new characters appear from chapter to chapter. Most of the first chapter was an introduction phase for all the characters. Combat was okay but it eventually became pretty boring, and I just wanted to skip it in order to make the progress for the story. - Pace of the plot is not very well balanced. It goes very slowly, verly slowly, slowly, to extremely fast. This is because as I pointed out earlier FC is an introduction phase. The dialogs are long but for the most part they do not really expand the game world or characters, for the most part they are not necessary. In addition I do not feel that the story in this game fits the GAME experience, this story should be told in anime or manga instead of a game. Not all plots works in games! I played Legend of heroes not because I like it but because I wanted to finish it. I will never play Legend of Heroes ever again because it has no replability value. - Some of the characters were too stereotypical, beside Jousha and Estelle at least for me. - What I missed in this game is the ability to scroll text back, because it is too easy to make a mistake by pressing some buttons, without reading the entire dialog box. - I am also concerned about the quality of the translations. There were some words, I could not find in the English dictionary and even if they were, they did not fit into the context. Beside that some sentences (40%) were seriously written in a strange way. I could really feel that the translator really struggled. - Sometimes the event programming is too frustrating. The game does not allow you to move freely, especially when you want to make some side quests. - The game does not give you a map of the dungeons and in result you can get lost. That is sometimes frustrating; thankfully it happens only occasionally, because dungeons are usually not that big.

[@timidalchemist8475]

Arkadiusz Jan Dylewski that's the thing,sky fc and sc were meant to be typical cause majority of the story focused on estelle and joshua's relationship,sky 3rd focuses on the side characters and geopolitical world-building aspect. Also it's rarely a kids game since it devles into the psychological aspect with characters like renne backstory on how she copes in a setting like paradise with defense mechanism (it's a common use of hiding depression and such) while other's hide their problems without heavily weighing on their companions support or having suicidal thoughts. Trail's has a common use of literature narrative cause that's what i feel makes a good writer in that it takes tropes and subverting/playing them straight with the tropes because the writers at falcom understand very well on writing character's even if the story is predictable at times (i disagree since the ending plot twist was well handled in sky fc). By the way the dialogue are important cause it foreshadows event and use them really effectively remember olivier's dream in sky sc? Yeah that's actually foreshadowing of an event in trails of cold steel 3.

[@MegaSantaclaude]

Playing through the first Trails of cold steel atm, and despite me not being a big fan of jrpgs I absolutely love the game, and will definately spend time with the remaining 3 games in the series. I would like to play Sky as well, but I guess I need to find it first.

[@shineinouzen7412]

It’s on steam

[@rnjndesc4887]

one of the best games ive ever played hands down..greatstory and that ending wow!!

[@RiotforPeacePlz]

I can't stand the story. I just keeps having you fight the same bad guys over and over it makes it look dumb. Oh they escaped with smoke grenades 90000 times what's the damn point of even fighting them the game never has you accomplishing anything.

[@NeoNinjaX87]

This dudes voice makes for the best game review narration. I thought for sure he was gone once GameTrailers was shutdown... I'm glad he's still around!!

[@curtiskay-lassels1633]

as someone who played 3/4 cold steel games first, i gotta say it adds a unique flavor to these games. even though it's not canon order, i'ts fun knowing a few secrets before Joshua figures them out.

[@SleuthCriminalGaming]

Also a fantastic Game is Legends of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel. Especially the PC and Playstation 4 Version with its speed up System.

[@Heffalord]

These games are fantastic!

[@TomNook4200]

The beginning of the best jrpg series imo

[@dt7353]

This video gives me Jeanne d'Arc vibes. Spent a lot of time grinding that game on my psp whenever I traveled.

[@Princessk8]

Jeanne d'Arc is more of a pure SRPG compared to Trails in the Sky, which is more like a regular turn-based JRPG with some SRPG elements like grid-based combat.

[@Tryforlive.]

this whole series is so good I powered through every Sky game and the two translated Cold Steel games just waiting on 3.

[@AlexanderArts]

Direct X 9 and Turbo was really a big improvement to the game, I just finished it, and it was awesome!

[@Bynoe]

Oh Ben, I thought the point of Don't Skips is that they're meant to be short and easy to digest/produce, yet this don't skip is as long as a lot of EZA reviews... not that I'm complaining; I love your care and attention to detail.

[@ericgg]

Bynoe they have shorter production time not because of video length but because they don't need to necessarily beat the game to do a don't skip.

[@Norutama97]

Thank you for this Ben

[@joeyisabsb1]

I just started this on the PSP!

[@BeowulfCav]

FINE BEN I'LL PLAY IT ALREADY. Been sitting in my Steam Library for a while, I love Ys games and support anything Falcom if I can.

[@legendofkailia5596]

I really really wish I had the time for this

[@thesvc2006]

i bought this in a steam sale and have yet to play it. i think imma queue it up!

[@Astray93]

Great video overall. You presented what makes the game great and that's what I want to see.

[@rafaelmateo5229]

My nostalgic level is over 9000 right now.

[@pseudokingsRLW]

All of the Trails games are brilliant, but I'd recommend the Trails Of Cold Steel games 1st for people new to LOH and/or Falcom games. 1: PS3 instead of Vita and PC. 2: More modern look (even if still quite dated), is more likely to feel familiar to those who aren't as old-school as I am. 3: Might appeal to all the "Johnny-come-lately" Persona fans. 4: Trails of Cold Steel 3 is coming to PS4 this year in JP (presumably next year in the west) and has some solid improvements to the visuals in tow. Better to hook them on the still current series. Still nice to see the series as a whole recognized though, even if the comments section has a lot of no-nothing hate on this vid.

[@Erpy80]

Even with Cold Steel, the PC now has the vastly superior version. XSeed's port was done so well, I'd have sincere trouble going back to the low-fps experience that was the console version, with less voices, longer loading times and no turbo-mode.

[@pseudokingsRLW]

Stijn van Empel forgot the PC version was out. Even more reason to recommend the Cold Steel games first.

[@DevilHunter1994]

Honestly I'd recommend starting with Sky only so people can see the story from its intended starting point. I actually started with Cold Steel and loved it to pieces, but after playing Sky FC and SC....Goddamn I wish I had played Sky first.

[@Loxly-ti4sq]

i'd say the best experience you can get is to play the games orderly. so many references or cameos to the previous games that won't give you chill unless you finished its predecessors. not to mention, seeing old character like major mueller vander and prince olivert was so uplifting for those who played the previous games. it's just nowadays peep are too spoiled with a good graphic games that seeing old jrpg will turn them off. thank god i started the game with trails trilogy, and seeing cameos and references in zero and ao no kiseki as well as cold steel 1 and 2 was such a blissful experience.

[@stonalisa3729]

I just started this game since I got it for $10 on steam and man am I invested! The beginning is slow but the characters have so much life you don’t see in most games anymore. I wanted to start with Cold Steel but this one works fine

[@alexmorpheus6762]

I just started Trails series with this game. Enjoying the prologue for 3 hours straight 😂

[@Walamonga1313]

I played it and it didn't hook me. Then I came back when I bought Cold Steel on a whim during a sale. 6 hours in I bought the sequel, because I was absolutely loving it. Now I'm playing CS2 and loving it even more, and not just that, I'm actually really interested in playing the other games now. So I bought the entire Sky trilogy (as well as CS 3 and 4). And looking forward to Trails from Zero. Now I'm actually excited to jump back to Sky, being actually invested in the world and lore

[@DXcellence718Returns]

Currently playing the game(at chapter 1) and loving it. Adding the evo japanese voice mod really enriches the experience so that its not just walls of text at least. I started off with cold steel 1 some years ago and while its not bad for a starting point the game is extremely SLOW and i stopped early on. Im Glad to be doing the proper start with the sky series, then ill hit crossbell and then find the strength to just restart cold steel 1 again cause at this point i already forgotten the early plots(i didnt even make it that far)

[@dustanglx50]

Falcom really know how to develop o world

[@Terramagu]

When's Zero/Azure XSEED. Whose office do I need to show up to with a briefcase full of money for this to happen god dammit.

[@d3ly746]

Nicoblog. They'll probably not release official zero and ao no kiseki eng translation because complete fan translations are already out there

[@Ragefat]

You guys get all the likes I can give for helping bringing more attention to the "Trails" series. Thanks. =)

[@ThePerro]

Don't worry I didn't skip it, it's in my Steam library, but I've only played about 10 hours of it

[@Wulfren]

Love the game series. Trails is an amazing part of the Legend of Heroes!

[@IngridKen]

Easily my favorite series

[@ludens1526]

I was just playing the second chapter. And Trails of zero leaked English patch still waiting for Trails A.O

[@pieownisback]

I'd wait a bit more on the zero patch, the one currently out has not been edited sufficiently. However the official fan translation is about 25% of the way done, whilst A.O is at 50%.

[@weeaboofish174]

also you might want to play trails of cold steel first since zero and ao spoil basically every major event in cold steel. Also the cold steel games have complete phenomenal translations. Also you have to play trails in the sky the 3rd first. It's important.

[@karimm.elsayad9539]

It's the other way around, Cold Steel spoils Zero and Ao, an old game can't spoil a newer game because that was the intended narrative.

[@aichisendou6375]

@@karimm.elsayad9539 no it's Zero/Ao that spills out major plots for Sen. Why? Bcs Sen actually developed first rather than Zero/Ao. Then Falcom is like "Welp we can't make this jump, we have to make the bridge between these 2 arcs". THEN, Crossbell is made as 2nd Arc, but with Sen already developing, it is decided that Ao will answer Zero as well as Sen 1 and half of 2. Ofc, all spoilers are basic idea of what's happening in Sen. Major, yeah, but not something you should worry about, bcs Trails games is not something that you can grasp its major points by seeing from 3rd person perspective

[@luminous3558]

@@aichisendou6375 Yes but you are supposed to know the things that Azure tells you when going into Coldsteel. Playing Zero>Coldsteel1> Azure is pretty weird because CS1 is almost its own game with how little it connects to previous plots while Zero and Azure properly feel like game 4 and 5 of the series. Not to mention CS1 cliffhangers you hard into playing CS2 afterwards. Sen spoils Azure but you probably can't remember it all by the time you get to azure if you take a decently long break as its mostly name drops of characters who you havent seen before. But going from Sen to Azure in quick succession would be very weird. Azure's spoilers for CS2 are also less severe than the other way around because the Crossbell arc focuses on mystery and great plans behind the scenes while Coldsteel 1 and 2 have more basic stories.

[@boricns]

crazy i bought this game like in one of those steam sales years ago and havent even installed it

[@Giru]

Good job Ben! Thanks for this

[@saldanamoreno]

Man I have so many games but this made me think that this game should go to the top of the pile

[@AvengerWolf]

Thanks, Ben.

[@cloudsymph]

Reminds me, I need to finish the first chapter. Been sitting on the last dungeon for a year now.

[@Magikknight76]

This game looks so awesome!!! I really wish it was on console just because I dont game on PC.

[@zero_chevalier]

About to finish Cold Steel 2. Looks like I'll be diving in the Sky Trilogy before heading to Cold Steel 3.

[@ZXDeathHazardDX]

Don't forget a lot of hard work and love went into getting the game translated for the West.For example theres that image of the Trails in the Sky series books of just the main story text that always brought up whenever people asked about the 2nd Chapter release ( imgur.com/TIqUNcJ )

[@cpar3184]

i've been looking for a game similar to popolocrois. I think i finally found one 🙌

[@dmtgallardo]

Beautifully written, B E N.

[@Dirtylithiume]

This game is amazing. I've played it on the Vita and playing it on PC. Would love a Switch version though.

[@arkane5260]

Its extremely text heavy but adding the full official Japanese voice acting makes it much better. You can then add a huge amount of English voice acting. Both mods just need to be extracted to the game folder to work. The English voice overs are fan made by pretty good voice actors.

[@LowTier4Life]

I bought this game for my Psp recently at an anime convention since I've always heard great things about it and I've been wanting to revisit classics I missed on my older consoles (heck even picked up Darkwatch for my ps2 the other day). that being said... GOOD LORD THIS GAME IS HARD. still love it but god I seem to die at every other battle.

[@Princessk8]

Make sure you're utilizing your orbments properly. The game can be unnecessarily difficult if you're not doing that very well. You can make a big difference in the arts you have available to use just by moving quartz around to different orbment slots and such. Also, Area of Effect arts are very important in this game.

[@atomicbrain9401]

I'm reading the video title, description, and watching the beginning/ending of the video. Where does it say what platform this game is released on?

[@ImperiumFist]

atomicbrain9401 it's available on psp, psvita n PC (as PC being a remastered on visual and boost mode)

[@Some_Random_Guy]

4:50 that's the only mention of a platform I can find in the video

[@Erpy80]

It has a PSP version, but you really, really want to pick up the PC version. (which is available on Steam, Gog and Humble Store) The PC version has widescreen support, sharper visuals, hi-def portraits and the aforementioned Turbo mode only exists on PC. Also, the third game of the "trilogy" is only on PC and there's some limited carry-over between games.

[@rochellepaws]

An incredible game with a huge emphasis on immersion within the world which I feel is something greatly lacking in video games as a whole these days.

[@belowaveragejoe3]

This video changed my video gaming life