I'm Officially Hooked - Let's Talk About It: Trails in the Sky SC (Review)

[@ausreir]

The best part of the Trail series is not the fantasy. It's the geo-politics.

[@Noumakara]

It has a dragon and magic and flying ship

[@coyote271280]

Before playing the cold steel games, I used to say it was the characters and their development, after playing CS, it is the geo-politics, even though the geo-politics have not improved from Sky and Zero/Azure. (meaning that the geo-politics stayed consistent through out the whole series, but the characters and their development took a steep nose dive in CS). Kuro is a step back from CS, in the best way posible. The main protag feels like his own person again, not a self insert for the fandom. The banter is on point, like how NPCs and characters used to make fun of Estelle and Loyd instead of praising their every action. Van Arkride even makes mistakes sometimes, what a novel concept, right? Maybe in a few more entries I will be able to say that the best part of the Trails' series are the characters and their development again.

[@chelsearamos3617]

One little neat thing I noticed while playing: when you play as Joshua while he's operating solo his name shows up as "Joshua Astray" in the menu. But after Estelle convinces him to stay his name changes to "Joshua Bright". That was seriously adorable in my opinion. (I'm also going through the Trails series quite recently; I just finished SC a few days ago but I have to wait until after finals to continue with TC lol. Can't wait to see what else is in store!! This series is just amazing)

[@weaponsci]

Oh wow, I noticed it said Astray initially too but I didn't realize it changed back to Bright. That's kinda cool.

[@KaiSaeren]

Oh nice, I didnt catch that, lovely detail.

[@hentaisenpai3534]

@@weaponsci yes, he called Cassius dad and Cassius called him son, so it was just obvious, and I dk maybe you know already but Renne is Bright too in later games 😉. Well sorry for spoiler but I was spoiled too, and I don't mind, I'm just very happy about it 😂👌

[@jesserivera2043]

Oh yeah. I also love how Kloe's name changes to Klaudia after the standoff scene between the Liberlian and Erebonian armies. Hers is more noticeable due to it coming with a costume change

[@bakuhakudraws5603]

Estelle breaking down sobbing when she speaks with Kevin on the airship was the only time since the True Pacifist ending of Undertale that a video game has ever made me cry.

[@adambebb99]

for me it was the scene in mistwald

[@caiuscaius1395]

for me it was Agate's story and the scene with Tita.

[@CC_Reads]

when theyre at the grave after the credits T.T

[@D_dompa]

@@caiuscaius1395 Agate and Tita interaction was one of the highlights!

[@tigerfestivals5137]

@@caiuscaius1395 yeah that scene really made me like Agate and Tita a lot.

[@NuageMH]

I'm surprised you didn't talk about Estelle's dream in mistwald, it was such an emotional moment for me, great video btw!

[@Ari-bb3hd]

The “I just had a bad dream and you were gone in it” line had me tearing up seriously 🥺

[@whydoistillusethissite8626]

It hits even harder in retrospect once you've seen what Renne has gone through in Sky 3rd

[@Realmidboss]

I kinda enjoyed Weissman as a villain : he's totally a piece of human garbage but he's so hammy and evil that I kinda enjoyed watching him in action. Guess I needed that one real asshole since the other villains have sort of a grey morality.

[@coyote271280]

I know what you mean, sadly, so far, he is the only villain in the series that fits that description. Things are starting to change in Kuro though.

[@for_the_lore5567]

"Take that! And this napalm!" is a line that will rattle around in the back of my brain for years.

[@yyxy8650]

In a way, it's a good thing you didn't touch too much upon Estelle and Joshua's reunion. The extreme satisfaction and emotional impact of that scene is best experienced firsthand, as it's the payoff the players get for sticking with the couple (and the game as a whole) this whole time. You'll find plenty of these events scattered throughout this wonderful series, some even set up as early as the first game.

[@Pompadourius]

It's genuinely one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in media. I probably won't be getting over it any time soon, I was in shock at how good the payoff was.

[@dirty96imp]

Agate's house is surrounded by a wall and to get to there you have to walk through... a gate.

[@weaponsci]

Trails fans: "wOrLdBuiLdiNg!"

[@NakazoraGen]

I feel like I just read a chest message. ... actually, legit, I think that was one, or something similar was used.

[@Alex-kg9nt]

I played without the voice acting, and it took until watching these videos to realize I was mispronouncing a few names. He will always be a gate to me though.

[@m.di.c.]

PaterMater is pronounced like that (I presume) because it's a mix of two Latin words for father and mother, so basically the robot is called FatherMother. Oh and Kaempfer and a lot of the other 'weird' names and words in Liberl are German. Kaempfer = Kämpfer = Fighter ^^ Loewe = Löwe = Lion Weissman = weiß + mann = Whiteman (although they might also have messed up the German weise = full of wisdom, considering how much knowledge and manipulation that guy shows) - oh, also alba = Latin for white Oh and Bleublanc = French for BlueWhite ^^ Gralsritter = German for Grailknights

[@amyjess9889]

Another cool thing about Weissman is that, in the Japanese script, the pun even extends to his nickname. His nickname 'the Faceless' is 'Hakumen' in Japanese. 'Hakumen' literally means 'white face'. He references the color white in _three_ different languages.

[@StarlightKidX]

Seeing this series that I love so much slowly more popular is bittersweet to say the least. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And hope to see more vids from you soon.

[@Talisguy]

Here's an extra sad/creepy layer to Joshua and the harmonica - playing the harmonica is one of the only interests or character attributes that has that he can be sure wasn't influenced by Weissman and Ouroboros. What else do we know he likes to do in his off hours? He likes reading, and he's suspiciously well read on things like forensic techniques, explosives, thieving - all stuff that would be useful for an assassin. It's mentioned offhand a few times in FC that he's interested in weaponry. ...That needs no explanation. He's intelligent, strategic, highly perceptive, content to let others take the lead (for all that he's the brains of the operation in FC, Estelle is usually the one driving their involvement in the story. She's clearly the party leader, despite Joshua seeming much more qualified - which makes a depressing amount of sense following the big reveal) and loyal - all traits you'd want in an assassin. And when Joshua gives the harmonica to Estelle, he's just had all his memories of Ouroboros returned to him. Even if we discount the very real possibility that Weissman intentionally "reprogrammed" Joshua, building a new personality for him with his mind control powers, a lot of his identity is informed by his past as an assassin, and Joshua frames himself as a murderous automaton, not a person, when he talks about his past. He's going through an existential crisis and the only parts of himself that he knows are "real" (that definitely aren't just there because they'd be useful interests or character traits for a sleeper agent/assassin to have) the only things that, in his mind, make him human, are his love for Estelle and his attachment to the harmonica. On one level, he's giving Estelle a parting gift by entrusting her with the most important thing he has. On another, he's symbolically abandoning his humanity. He's given up on the idea that he could ever become a real boy.

[@Random2960]

Estelle is my favorite character in any work of ficiton ever

[@coyote271280]

I agree with you, I put her up there with Harry Dresden from the Dresden Files, and that guy has 18 books against Estelle's 2 games, it took him 12 books for me to put him as a runner up next to Estelle Bright, but here we are.

[@CaioJill9803]

Just one small thing, the "EMP gospel wave thing" the Ark did, affected just Liberl not the entire Zemuria (tho caught some small towns near Ereborian side in the border so that's why they came with those tanks). And u forgot to mention that part u had to reissue a Gospel ID to pass as a Ark citizen and open the emergency subways rails and some doors (using Kloe great²³ grandmother Celeste's ID) Apart from that was a perfect video and I'm glad u really liked playing it, good luck for Star Door 15 on Trails The 3rd

[@KaiSaeren]

God damn right, I remember finishing this game and like IMMIDIATELY going to purchase the second, thank god it was out by the time I played FC because I would absolutely lose my shit if it wasnt. Also dude I cant believe you didnt mention the bait they did with Estelle and Joshua almost dying at the end! I freaking squealed when Cassius showed up with the dragon :D

[@weaponsci]

You underestimate the power of plot armor. I would've genuinely been surprised if they actually didn't survive that.

[@KaiSaeren]

@@weaponsci Yea for sure, but at the moment I was genuinely affraid they might die, didnt know trails series well back then :D

[@CC_Reads]

@@KaiSaeren trails rule number 1...the fakeout death is crucial

[@WalkerSunriseChannel]

I’m really glad others are finding the series now. I discovered the games back in 2018, and I was blown away. One thing I felt you didn’t get across is that Loewe/Leonhardt and Karin, Joshua’s sister, were in love, so to some degree Joshua and Loewe were siblings in law, or would have been. Still other than that, really good review! I hope you continue to enjoy Sky the 3rd and the Cold Steel games! I want to mention that the Crossbell games, while they haven’t been officially localized, are being picked up by fans. A team called the Geofront has already completed Trails from Zero and is getting close to completion on Azure. I’d say Cold Steel 1 & 2 are fine to play first/concurrently, but I would at minimum play Zero before Cold Steel 3. Of course, by the time you get to CS3, I’d imagine the Azure English patch will be finished, so that would be even better

[@weaponsci]

Yeah at first I wasn't too sure if Loewe and Karin were that close or just really good friends. Also I'm aware of Geofront's patch, so I actually plan to play Zero and Ao (will probably be done by the time I get to it) before Cold Steel.

[@WalkerSunriseChannel]

@@weaponsci Nice! And yeah, Ao will probably be done before long now. Though, if you were to get through Sky 3rd and Zero and it isn't, doing Cold Steel 1 wouldn't be any issue. But yeah, always nice to be able to play a series in order, especially this one

[@myhr2320]

Zero and Ao were anounced on Steam not that long ago, BUT not in english. That being said, having them on Steam means there will all but certainly be guides on how to install the Geofront fantranslation, so yeah, finally, all the Trail games available on the same platform!

[@WalkerSunriseChannel]

@@myhr2320 Oh nice! I had actually already added the Geofront patched PC version to my Steam client but hey, that’s awesome!

[@omarabdulkarim356]

Oh man, I can't wait to hear what you have to say as you get further into the series :D you're giving me so much nostalgia for my own playthroughs haha

[@kevinstreetgaming]

Weissmann is definitely a bit salty now. xD The twist with Kevin at the end was crazy. I was not expecting that. There was so much great character development playing these two games back to back. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes in 3 because I have heard that Kevin is the main protagonist of that one. And yes, Olivier is best boy, but for me Estelle is best girl. Great video man!

[@weaponsci]

I really hope they get into more Septian Church stuff in later games. But yeah sky the 3rd will give you a substantial amount of Kevin

[@FirstLast-mn4re]

I just started this series myself in February of 2020. I'm currently on Cold Steel 1 (I've played the Sky Trilogy and Zero, but am waiting on the fan translation for Ao) I've loved this series so far and can't wait to play more. Glad to see other people are discovering this series of rpgs.

[@weaponsci]

Agreed. These games are really good.

[@Ragefat]

There's a fan translation of Ao already, it may not be as polished as the job the Geofront Team did on Zero but it's there. Of course I played through it after they worked on Zero but before they announced they would also be working on Ao, at that point you may want to wait if you're patient.

[@weaponsci]

At the rate they're working they'll probably have Ao done by the time I get to Zero, so I should be good.

[@Ragefat]

@@weaponsci Probably, and since they made things easier with their installer and proper PC options you won't have to fiddle with a bunch of different patches (like the revisions to the original Ao translation and quality of life improvements such as 60 FPS and Turbo mode).

[@Brayniac]

Glad to see this video! The wait from 2011-2015 really was the worst. Hope you enjoy 3rd!

[@weaponsci]

I am. Blasting through it right now.

[@Amberle38]

Can confirm, dear god that wait was brutal!

[@marianemonticalvo8736]

while the newer games (Cold Steel) contained a rather obnoxious amounts of jrpg tropes, Cold Steel 3 really was a fucking wild ride for the older fans of the series. All the references from past games and how it all tied into the end game really gets one going.

[@coyote271280]

and the fact that the new class 7 is way better than the OG, Falcom going back to basics with the smaller cast. Heck, I would even dare to say that Juna makes for a better protag in CS 4 than the actual protagonist. I mean, OG class 7 was pretty much a collection of card board cutouts of every type of -dere trope out there, while the new one was still tropy, but nuanced and subsumed.

[@jesserivera2043]

I really love your trails videos! This is my third time watching this, and I'm surprised no one commented on the fact that Kevin could have shot Weissman before the final boss battle. I guess it wouldn't make for a great RPG fight otherwise

[@weaponsci]

If he did that: (Spoilers) No Sky the 3rd No chasing Renne to Crossbell Wazy would probably have to be the one giving us a crash course on the septian church gralsritter rankings and stigmas. Whatever else type of ripple effect it would've had on Cold Steel. Not sure since I'm not there yet.

[@hahmann]

11:10 I agree 100% with you here, too often writers overdo character development to a point where you're looking at a completely different character. Sorry but that's not how real people change over time, certain quirks and mannerism will stick with you since childhood.

[@coyote271280]

100% on the money pal! Estelle is Bestelle for a reason, even to the point that Falcom has not been able to out do themselves...yet.

[@Pompadourius]

I think something I really loved about Joshua in SC was that, despite having his edgy antihero arc, he still lets it be known to the Capua family that he appreciates their help and thanks them for troubling themselves with his personal demons. They could've easily had it be a thing where he treats them with disdain or something, but he makes it obvious that he cares about others and for good people to live their best lives, just not himself. Having that kind of nuance goes a long way towards keeping that plot feel refreshing from the typical take on it in a lot of anime and RPGs.

[@teckleedeyi]

You're a hidden gem for preaching trails

[@PsychologyOK]

Don’t know if you’ve started the Crossbell games yet, but if you like these, they will be an absolute joy for you to play.

[@weaponsci]

I keep hearing how amazing these Crossbell games are. Makes me really excited to get into them.

[@The_Viscount]

They have announced that there will be official English localizations for the Crossbell Arc. I'm pumped. Even if I do love Class VII best.

[@dragonmaster1500]

@@The_Viscount Trails From Zero is going to be coming out in English this September, I can't wait!

[@romano-britishmedli7407]

Awesome video, loved it for weeks now. This scene with Demon-Tita was awesome and hilarious! She truly is a force to be reckoned with!

[@ThenosM_]

Holy crap, I did not expect your brand of deadpan humor to smack me in the face as hard as it did. Great vid, albeit imma have to disagree about Agate not being best boi with the immense amount of development he got.

[@twooty2148]

My appreciation for this game went up dramatically after learning about the localization process

[@blackyraypatrick9041]

Finally I can say and agree with other people. Trails in the sky has for me the best story. (till now, I started with CS3 - till 50% - went back and finished CS 1 and 2) I'm really happy with cold steel and I absolutely love the fighting system, while I didnt like the fighting system of Sky 1 FC and SC that much. But the world feels so much more alive. Every NPC has to tell you a story and reacts to your story progress. The Character Relations also feel a bit more natural and less forced through the school. And it always disturbed me, that Oroboros had so much influence but you didnt really get what they were doing. Sky is a bit more straight forward about terms of Oroboros. Im playing the third right now, the Gamedesign is not really what I would like (Endless dungeon crawler) but it has so many interesting stories. The 3rd feels a bit like a game you take every free hour you got, find and open a door, maybe two and than give it a break again.

[@bw2082]

I died a little inside every time you called him A Gate.

[@ThanhTriet600]

And Loway, and wys man. At least he pronounces Olivier correctly. :) I've seen streams where people said Oliver or Oliveer

[@Alex-kg9nt]

I’ll confess, I didn’t notice the 2nd I in Olivier, and thought it was Oliver for a good while.

[@LennyCow]

These videos really helped me as I don’t think I’ll have time to run through these anytime soon but I’m playing crossbell rn and have played CS1/2. I feel like I have a better understand of ze world, thank you!

[@Yuzukiyochii]

"The man looks like an Oddish" Goddammit, I was trying not to laugh 😭

[@KaiSaeren]

And great review, Sky arc is incredible and if you are going forward in trails you are in for a treat because 3rd has some amazing moments as well. Crossbell is only a bit of a change and unlike Estelle you can finally be a cop there, but the dynamic there and the characters hold up incredibly well and Ao, just like SC is the highlight of the whole series and has incredible story and twists. Zero is still one of my favorites, it has great characters and twists, but for many people it is very slow but it essentially fullfils the same role as FC. But like others I strongly recommend you jump into Zero and Ao after Sky 3rd, before moving onto CS. That being said, temper your expectations for CS, im personally not a huge fan of the CS arc in general as it moves more into the territory of generic high school harem kind of writing but obviously the main plot, lore and world building is great, also the combat and graphics get a really solid facelift between CS II and III, but like I said, depending on your preferences it can end up a bit of a pain and Rean was a clear step down in terms of writing for me from Estelle and Kevin and even quite a bit from Lloyd. It always felt like while Sky and Crossbell were Estelle's and Lloyd's stories respectively, we experienced it through them, Rean was created so that story of CS and its game features work instead and he is an amalgamation of everything that was neccessary rather than his own person, it just never felt like the previous arcs, I almost never believed that things are happening this way because thats what Rean would do, but because its neccessary for the game. Having loved Estelle and Kevin so much and liking Lloyd a lot, this was incredibly dissapointing. And as a word of advice, enjoy the feeling of Ouroboros being intimidating and dangerous, before they become the villain of the week like team rocket later on :( Anyway, welcome to Trails, you are in for a treat from both the games and the community, its one of the series that is incredibly conductive to heated and prolonged debates :D Gonna be a part of that journey, subscribed!

[@weaponsci]

Thanks. Honestly, I've seen a lot of people criticizing Cold Steel for the overt anime tropes and harem but considering I ended up discovering this series while looking for a "pick your waifu" RPG, I think I'll be fine. I guess we'll all know once I actually get to playing them, lol.

[@KaiSaeren]

@@weaponsci I actually love those kinds of games as well, and hopefully you will not mind CS, Id love to like it better since im a huge fan of Trails but CS was just much harder to enjoy in general. It might or might not be the same for you, but considering how much you seem to enjoy well written characters I am curious how you will like it. The harem issues are the most talked about issue but its hardly the only one or the worst one, harem on its own is totally fine if done well. Im not gonna get into it more, you should go into the games with as untainted opinion as possible, so have fun :D

[@CC_Reads]

@@weaponsci cold steel is gonna blow ur mind lol it just takes a very very long time before u get there

[@countryboyred]

This is so disappointing. Really the only reason I’m playing the older games was so I could go into Cold Steel knowing what was going on.

[@KaiSaeren]

@@countryboyred Well thats up to you, but I dont understand that mindset, as if older games are automatically worse because they dont have 3d graphics or something. Sky and Crossbell are fantastic arcs and have the best games in the whole series (Tho Kuro I is also awesome) but its up to everyones personal taste, if you enjoy modern harem high school anime, or like mechs and can enjoy self insert shounen protagonists that are treated like the best thing in the world you will have a good time with CS and will probably enjoy Sky less for example. In my opinion personal taste accounts at least for like 50% of what you enjoy, while CS is in general accepted to be written worse than the previous arcs and its pacing is god awful at times, they are still great games with great overarcing story, its just not my preference. Maybe your opinion will change once you play them and instead be happy that CS got you into the older, imo better games, thats how many end up feeling and in either case, playing from the begining will improve your enjoyment of the series massively as it is an interconnected continuous story.

[@ladygabes5558]

You should have sooooooo much more subscribers!! Also, "Pater-Mater " is in Latin. It means father and mother, and it should pronounced with hard a's and t's.

[@weaponsci]

Thanks. And yeah I've caught on to the fact that many of these names certainly aren't English ones.

[@BLUEBOYLUGOS]

hey, good on the timelines. Thanks for telling us if there's spoilers. Appreciate it!

[@LizaWongFF]

Thank you for the in depth review, and love your sense of humour. Do you plan to play the Cold Steel series one day? Personally I like the the Sky series a lot more, but our best boy Olivier's story continue in the Erebonia Arc, so I feel obligated to play it. Keep up the good work!

[@ArifuretaID]

Sometime I still think Cold Steel is Olivier's side story. 😂😂

[@weaponsci]

Haha thanks! I'm playing in release order, so my plan is to do the two Crossbell games, then the four Cold Steels.

[@coyote271280]

@@ArifuretaID wait, it isn't???

[@Regorsnas]

Love this game!

[@rladudgns15]

My comment will contain spoilers: I'm surprised you kind of glossed over Renne's backstory. Well, you will find a sub story in the sequel that will let you.... explore her backstory in a way you would find.... surprising. Remember Star door 14 in the depth of hell. Also I hope you're enjoying the nice contrast of upbeat and dark aspects of trails's story. You will get a lot of them in the next game! I personally think some aspects of Erebonia arc will kind of devalue the catastrophe of Hamel. You will know what I'm talking about when you get there (CS4). I guarantee you, Liberl arc and Crossbell arc of trails series is probably the best interconnected storytelling in the market anywhere. I suggest you please play Crossbell arc first before Erebonia arc if you can. Cold Steel feels more like a huge disconnect from the previous two arcs. You will find way more cheesy and repeated lines, flat characters, character flaws not being addressed properly etc. You will really miss Estelle's sharp insults when you're playing Erebonia arc. You will find yourself thinking, "what would Estelle say in this situation?" Cold Steel is still on par with some of the best JRPG series out there, but staff changes really do some number on the storytelling side.

[@weaponsci]

Didn't read your comment since I don't want to get spoiled, but Renne was definitely my favorite out of the Enforcers introduced in this game. So I'm really excited to see what the 3rd does to expand her character.

[@rladudgns15]

@@weaponsci Thanks for taking your time reading my comment. It's minor spoiler really. Typical old fan argument; I don't like the way the series is heading. Cold Steel is rather notorious for having poor quality dialogues and flat characters compared to previous series. Most recent installment actually mediated this, but Cold Steel characters are still the least entertaining part of the series. I know a lot of the fans will disagree, but if you enjoyed characters in Liberl arc, I know you will love the Crossbell arc, and you will be moderately disappointed by Erebonia arc.

[@weaponsci]

IDK I'm pretty easily entertained, but I guess we'll see.

[@rladudgns15]

@@weaponsci I feel good when people enjoy things, you will notice some difference, but you will have to be a really picky and unnecessarily cynical person to notice a significant change. I'm one of them, so I bother people to no end about this. I think you will enjoy how connected this series is. Even if I said the story kind of gets worst, there is literally no continuity issue present in the series which is a seriously respectable achievement for a series that is interconnected to this degree. There is a documentary made about history of Falcom. If you haven't checked it out, you should see it. It's really enjoyable. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHrGk32kYresorM

[@RoanoraZoro123]

There is nothing that different between Cold Steel and Sky. Sky uses 2004 anime tropes but cold steel uses modern anime tropes. It's just a matter of preference.

[@Zephyrsw0rd]

00:35 - this was me, unfortunately, lmao.

[@SuperLlama42]

>Managable >Renne's tower fight I'm sorry, but those are two mutually exclusive concepts.

[@MisterMonsterMan]

Great look at a great series.

[@ceettopotat]

about the evo op's, it's even worse in some other op's. Azure's evo opening is the worst. spoils literally everything

[@weaponsci]

Oh damn. Thanks for the warning!

[@ceettopotat]

@@weaponsci at least the sky the3rd evo and zero no kiseki evo op's are fine.

[@ThanhTriet600]

I like the EVO version of the opening movie apart from the fact that it spoils the scene on the beach with Estelle and Joshua. I mean, it's super predictable to anyone picking up this game that they're going to get back together at some point, but most players don't want to have the specific moment spoiled in the opening movie.

[@weaponsci]

I also didn't like how it spoiled all the Enforcers.

[@benhamadouchewalid]

you should take kevin with you for the final boss no questions lol

[@weaponsci]

[Spoilers] Well either way he got to deal the killing blow, so I guess it's all good! 😅

[@krazyq00]

Playing with Kevin for the final part will have some good dialogue that gives some insight to the 3rd Ch. Also I think Weissman died the same way as his parents.

[@thegeneralmitch]

I was glad Estelle began thinking for herself and delegated the head bashing to her staff... and not the other way around. xD

[@coyote271280]

Still, most of the problems she was dealing with, no matter how you shake it, were better resolved with good ol' fashioned U L T R A V I O L E N C E!

[@thegeneralmitch]

@@coyote271280 Estelle: "all right you primitive screw heads listen up! THIS is my BONK stick..." 😂😂😂

[@coyote271280]

@@thegeneralmitch shakespearean levels of awesome writing right there!

[@coyote271280]

Is Estelle still the only protagonist in the series that has been out right asked to become an enforcer by an Anguis? I have played up to Kuro, I think she is, but there is so much that maybe I am wrong. Also, I would love for a scene in a future game where we see the Liberl gang fighting something with Silver Will playing on the background, that would be the ultimate fan service (please Kondo-san, you can do it).

[@weaponsci]

Honestly a "world tour" for a final arc where you just visit each country doesn't sound to bad. Although many, myself included, have been wondering if the finale will take place in Arteria and go all in on the septian Church and possibly aidios herself.

[@FranzBinder20]

The story summary is great!

[@justpsychitout]

Great review! I've subbed and will check your other reviews as well. I also recently discovered the trails series. Haven't played the cold steel series yet, but I do really recommend the crossbell arc. I think I like it even better then the Sky series. It's way more dense and action packed. The 3rd chapter of the trails series I do think it's a bit of a let down. It's still a good game, but more fan service and the although you get some nice backstory for some characters, the main plot is kind of meh imo.

[@weaponsci]

I'm actually playing 3rd rn and really enjoying it.

[@FirstLast-mn4re]

For me Trails in the Sky the 3rd. Is kind of boring in the beginning, but the last 3 chapters of the game are some of the best payoffs I've gotten from the series so far. As an aside I also really love what they did with the chest messages in The 3rd (Its hard to explain without outright approaching spoiler territory, but the chest messages in 3rd are definitely my favorite because of some interesting things they do with them in the game).

[@blackyraypatrick9041]

dont wonder why I am commenting so often on so different days. Im not watching the whole video, since im not done with SC, Im watching it always in terms of timing after im further progressed in the story. So right now since I'm in a boss fight with some earthquacking worms (annoying enemy) I watch the charakter video. As you said. I also tend to really hate the standard anime character grid. Its just really annoying how over the edge many of those characters are. So why do I still like, even love some of the legend of heroes characters? 1. As you said. The characters are developing a lot and leaving their standard grid and become a person with motivs you can understand 2. They are still written really really really good 3. Im exhausted of the Trend of western RPG's of not having a character at all, since they don't like to edge with some players minds. Every RPG Becoms a Themepark or a Sandbox....

[@weaponsci]

Cool. Thanks for your input. Just wanted to warn you that from Sky the 3rd onward (can't remember if i did this with SC as well) when I get into story stuff I kind of start summarizing things as if someone played the entire game. So if your following along while playing you might get spoiled on a few things.

[@blackyraypatrick9041]

@@weaponsci I already found this out, you also warn in your videos a lot, so yes im aware of it, thats why it will take me some months untill I'll be able to watch all of your videos to that topic :D

[@blackyraypatrick9041]

@@weaponsci final chapter. I never thought SC would habe more than the double size of FC.... 🤯

[@Unapologeticweeb]

The individual dialogue for each party basically just meant that i had olivier in my party from beginning to end because how can i pass on the Olivier funny moments

[@joey9273]

"Always buy the next one before you finish the one youre on so you don't have to wait" So goddang true, i bought cold steel 2 asap the moment i finished cold steel 1, and when i got Sky FC, i got Sky SC at the same time because I knew I'd wanna play the sequel ASAP (which happened lmao)

[@Horisukun]

If, by chance, you still haven't played the rest of the series, you're in for a wild ride.

[@abbyp9394]

it's not just agate zin and kevin, even WALTER is missing from the evo op because he has the misfortune of being the only male enforcer who isn't hot like lowe.

[@weaponsci]

Yeah that was weird. Walter was one of the "absent" villains I was referring to, the other being Campanella. Neither would've spoiled anything just from showing up. Yet you-know-who is shown all throughout the Evo op and that was actually supposed to be the spoilerific one. Also Walter not hot? He's pretty good looking imo. Though he definitely looks a lot less "anime" than the other Sky Enforcers, so I kinda see where you're coming from there.

[@abbyp9394]

@@weaponsci yeah less anime is definitely a better way to describe him because I can see his appeal lol

[@hylianheadache5856]

Your profile picture fits the comment perfectly

[@derby1953]

Agate: Ah-Git Schera: Share-Ah Weissman: Vice-Min Bleublanc: Blue-blon-ck PaterMater: Paw-ter Maw-ter Renne: Ren Loewe: Loo-vay Ouroboros: Or-oh-bore-us Luciola: Loo-see-olah Ragnard: Rag-nahr-d Hamel: Haw-mell

[@derby1953]

Also hearing you correct things you’ve said right or said wrong but the correction is also wrong, I love it. It shows how we all interpret the names so differently

[@weaponsci]

These Trails names are gonna be the death of me lol. But I appreciate you helping to clarify.

[@blackyraypatrick9041]

since weissman definitely has a german origin I would highly contradict to Vice-Min. its spoken "man" like the "u & n" in "fun"

[@amyjess9889]

According to the Japanese voice acting, Loewe is lay-vay. The JP script also uses an English W for Weissman despite using correct German pronunciations for everything else (including Liberl, which is li-bear'l).

[@IngridKen]

Cant wait for cold steel review

[@j0nnyism]

Isn’t Joshua more of a mixed up hero rather than anti hero? Joshua ashtray as I like to call him

[@weaponsci]

I didn't learn this until after making the video, but the official term for someone like that is deuteragonist. Second most important character in a story that often causes trouble for the protagonist. Joshua running away and worrying the rest of the characters counts as "causing trouble" imo, even if he wasn't doing that on purpose.

[@blackyraypatrick9041]

@@weaponsci lol thx for telling me. Might be the first time of hearing that word which is sad, since this should be a important word thinking of many stories with a "sidekick"

[@shalucard107]

I get scared when I hear the title of these games, the textboxes give me nightmares.

[@keroclow9059]

I ended up getting sky trilogy on PS3.... Just need to be bothered to boot it

[@Ari-bb3hd]

Mmm oreole.. sounds yummy

[@weaponsci]

Mint filling. My favorite.

[@thousandyoung]

I still prefer to use the Evolution PC Mod though.

[@benhamadouchewalid]

a like for 15:36

[@dennytan2543]

fc and sc and tc is really good, all playable character really different. cs just have too many character and overlap design.

[@FranzBinder20]

34:52 You fight them already in earlier chapters, don't you?

[@Pompadourius]

Nah. In their debut chapters, they always let adds fight for them and retreat.

[@F00Lsmack]

Picked normal on FC. Made the mistake of picking Hard on SC.. I fukin die all the goddam time lol

[@weaponsci]

I need to replay that on nightmare one day. I keep hearing about prologue Kurt.

[@blackyraypatrick9041]

welcome in the club. After playing FC on Hard and having no big problems until the final boss fight I thought hard in sc would be fine.... I really was absolutely wrong. But after having grinded a bit it gets better. The first fight in that game I still had to miss the extra BP. Was just impossible for me to win.

[@blackyraypatrick9041]

I have to say compared to FC SC is so much harder in Hard difficulty..... OMG....especially in the beginning when you have nearly 0 spells for survivability. An Enemie does 1500 dmg and my strongest heal heals 1000hp nice.... and my characters only have 3000hp....

[@weaponsci]

I really should revisit that game on nightmare difficulty. I've heard stories about prologue Kurt...

[@blackyraypatrick9041]

@@weaponsci i Really dont understand how anybody would like to fight himself through prologue kurt in nightmare mode. I also hate some situations with NPC Characters you need to defend. Did happen really often, that the enemies instantly killed the NPC with one shot, before I even was able to do my first turn....

[@NeravarSneed86]

no its an absolute fact that the evo openings and music are kind of trash. great for getting the voice files though.

[@pretzelboi64]

Whoever remixed the music sucked the soul out of them. The old instruments were chosen with purpose and that motherfucker was arrogant enough to think he knew better than the original composer.

[@blackyraypatrick9041]

definitely lowe was the hardest fight I ever had to fight in a trails game.

[@coyote271280]

for me it was Cassius Bright. Holy moses.

[@jackakimbo5718]

Me, enjoying a brightly colorful JRPG story with some wacky, over the top villains and a certain innocence to it: 😀😀😀 Me, then being told the full extent of the war crimes and unimaginable trauma in the characters' pasts: p̷̗̅l̴͉̅e̴̻̔á̶̮s̴̕ͅë̴̮́ ̶͓̃g̴̲̏o̵͎̅d̸͙͗ ̸̡̀m̵̼̀a̶̖͛k̵̹͋e̴͍̾ ̸̳̾ṭ̴̚h̶̳͒e̷̛̮ ̷̙͘p̸͚͐à̷̧ḭ̸͑n̵̖͐ ̶͓̿s̷̑ͅt̶̹̃o̶̧̓p̶̗̊

[@CC_Reads]

poor guy is gonna have to relearn how to say everyones name when he gets to cold steel 3 lolol

[@The_Viscount]

You really need to play the other games too. I cannot recommend enough. Also, anyone else feel like this series was just extrapolated from Castle in the Sky? No? Just me?

[@wishuponamonkeyspaw2458]

Fun fact: the Japanese title, _Sora no Kiseki,_ while literally translates to 'trails in the sky' also pronounces identical to 'miracle in the sky'. Add onto that how in Japanese, the space element is called _sora,_ and thus the title can be heard as 'the miracle of space,' so the Aureole is quite literally hidden in plain sight before you even boot up the game.

[@derby1953]

I say this with love but it’s kind of remarkable how you manage to say almost half of the names wrong

[@IngridKen]

You dont read the chest dialouges?! How dare you

[@willc3799]

Sometimes u just have to pay respect for that youtube avatar Until he changes it which makes this comment outdated :/

[@weaponsci]

Damn, now I feel like keeping it forever lol.

[@kekgoogle4809]

you mispronounce so many names, but good video anyways lol