Trails In the Sky the 3rd - Review - Tarks Gauntlet

Trails in the Sky the 3rd is the 3rd and final entry in this JRPG masterpiece of a series. However it is also a black sheep in terms of its design, and this may lead to some pretty divisive responses to this game.
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[@Thuxo]

That mature door you mentioned contains one of the best scenes I've ever experienced in any medium. Simply spectacular. Good review.

[@thelazywanderer_jt]

15. Right?

[@brucelivingston2220]

Which one? Was it Kevin's origin story (the darker side of it)? I assume that is what he was referring to, but not certain.

[@vnvTomchan]

Renne's door 15 obviously.

[@treezen522]

Star door 15. Renee's past. That's the best scenes ever in this game

[@NTLuck]

I only have one thing to say. Star Door 15 with Stairway to Gehenna playing in the background

[@TarksGauntlet]

I really didn't mean to take 3 months off from this series after playing SC, so I might be a little late, but there was no way I wasn't going to be finishing the series up!

[@Thuxo]

Lol I'm happy you tried those optional doors. :p Honestly, I'd say that 60-70% of what makes this game amazing is in there, lol.

[@Zebuza]

Tark you having started with cs, would you also advise to start with tits in hindsight, or is it fine to play cs1 and 2 first? thanks

[@TheCompletionist]

The first trails in the sky in my eyes has been one of the most refreshing and endearing jrpg's that I've played in a long time but I haven't had the ability to play the other entries in the series due to my work situation. A lot of people have really dismissed this title just because of how different it is from the first two chapters of trails in the sky, but I have enough respect for you and your insight into the world of jrpg's that I take your shining recommendation of this game with the utmost sincerity and regardless of what people say I feel pretty confident that I'll enjoy this final entry in the trails in the sky trilogy just as much as I did when i played the first game and when I get around to playing the second entry in the series.

[@Gomezli16]

It’s like an old snes rpg but with better writing.

[@Thuxo]

I actually think Tarks's review is pretty perfect. He said everything you can say as long as you're avoiding spoilers. I like third more than SC, but I appreciate both experiences for what they are. Third has the best story content in the sky trilogy that's for sure.

[@FirstLast-mn4re]

I just finished Sky The Third today, and while I think both FC and SC are better, I thoroughly enjoyed TC. It does take a bit before it starts getting good.

[@ogroto]

Great, thank you for this review, just finished SC on PC and it easily became my top jrpg of all time. Thanks to you Tark and other channels here i did not miss this series. Regards from Argentina.

[@TarksGauntlet]

Glad you liked it!

[@luminous3558]

Personally I view Sky the 3rd as the highest point of the sky trilogy. FC and SC have some massive issues in terms of pacing and gameplay that can really get in the way of the stories natural flow. FC hardly gives you anything too interesting for a majority of the game and relies on Estelle and Joshua to carry you through, which also needs you to already like both of them from the get go. Then it finally unpacks the good stuff 20mins before the credits roll and you are hooked on the series, good job if you got to this point. SC has probably the worst and most intrusive sidequests which massively ruin the pacing. You could argue that skipping some of them doesn't hurt but thats not how kiseki is built up, any sidequest could turn out to have a major character turn up or just be a very enjoyable experience on its own. But SC barrages you with them, many of which are placed at points in the story that delay progression to the maximum. Some will only become available at the end of a chapter and then take 30mins to complete when you were so looking forward to getting to the new area already, once you get to the area its more sidequests followed by a short event that then opens up more sidequest til finally you get to do the interesting stuff. All the sidequest also need to be done immediately or they will time out. 3rd brings with itself a story that is connected to Sky but also entirely new. Kevin played a small but important role in SC but he was far from the focus. Joshua and Estelle are amazing as supporting characters because they just have so much development behind them. The story might not be as expansive as the first 2 games but it never had to be, its just 1 game that stands on its own. On the game side of things we have probably the best way to handle side content. You can skip all of it and finish it during the final chapter but can also return to it at any time you feel like taking a break. We might lose out on all the random NPCs standing around in the world and having their own lives but instead we get major stories as sidecontent that either provide backstory or pave the way for future games. Warping with the cube is also very convenient, something that is further expanded on by the future games having their own takes on fast travel. God bless the Car.

[@Mattonores]

Wow, your words explained exactly how I am feeling while playing through SC fourth chapter right now

[@Swansen03]

Couldn't deal with second chapter.. I was literally skipping through dialogue just to get to something that mattered.. I gave up half way through.. to go back to the second half of the crossbell arc

[@MattRandomnumber]

I recently replayed the Sky series before finally jumping into the Geofront Zero now that Azure is on the horizon and I remember watching this video right after finishing SC and I remember your mention of the "mature door" and my constant lookout for it as I played thru this game. I didn't know where, when, or what I was looking for, and I remember thinking Moon Door 2 with young Schera might have been it. At the time it seemed like rather mature content for the series, seeing the things that a young girl with no family did to survive on the streets of a big city, but I had no idea how dark it was going to get in Star Door 15. For those that have yet to or are currently playing this game, just wait; be patient. You will see it, and it cannot be unseen, though you might want to as it will rock you to your core. Those of us that have just have to live with it, and deal with that fact day by day. As a result, however, and this seems to be *far* more common than I initially expected, the character involved in that door is now my favorite character in the franchise, even above Bestelle and Fie.

[@megamike15]

or as i like to call it: persona 3 the answer but good.

[@Chairman_Miao]

Bingo

[@magistered]

To those curious few, the mature/dark scenario Tarks spoke of is none other than "Star Door #15". There are 2 scenarios ,The current one and the hidden one which you could access by looking at the game's files.

[@d343-y]

How do you access the hidden one? You mean renne's backstory right? I already got to renne's actual backstory explained in zero no kiseki (crossbell arc)

[@boss.mimoto6570]

@@d343-y If it's Star Door #15, it's at the bottom of The Abyss. It's worse though, because you get to see Renne's time in "heaven" IN 1ST PERSON VIEW

[@d343-y]

@@boss.mimoto6570 uh...i already finished 3rd and got all the doors. I'm talking about renne's backstory being explained in zero no kiseki

[@Thuxo]

@@d343-y Actually, in the Japanese re-releases they censored star door 15. Xseed gave us the original version which is awesome. That's probably what they're talking about.

[@d343-y]

@@Thuxo yeah but how do u find the secret one?

[@okaii7397]

happy to see that you have not give up on the kiseki series i'm waiting to see what you will think of Zero and Ao no kiseki i think you don't fully realise it now how important the 3rd is in term of lore for the future of the series (and i think you will love it a lot more in 2-3 games ) btw english transtation of Zero and Ao on PC version exist

[@TarksGauntlet]

If possible I need you to edit this comment and remove those links- Otherwise I did address in the video that trails 3rd is more important to the games that came after it than the ones that came before it. I will be playing the crossbell arc eventually, just not sure how soon. Will at least be before CS3 comes out.

[@TarksGauntlet]

;) Thanks dude! (I have those links saved for later now anyway haha)

[@okaii7397]

@@TarksGauntlet no problemo ^^

[@d343-y]

@@TarksGauntlet It's on nicoblog (pc) and cdromance (psp)

[@ZanesZygot]

Me watching this series of reviews without playing any of Trails, but it indeed made me more interest in try them. Would be nice to see your review Ys.

[@RikusonOne]

Lmao "Developed by GAWD"

[@TarksGauntlet]

Not to be confused with shadowelite, the other "JRPG Gawd" lol.

[@andrewxyz24]

Really odd I was just playing through this and saw your review. I think it’s a breath of fresh air from the bracer formula in FC and SC. Anyone who complains it’s not important to the future games I would probably write them off because not only is the story good (and a nice changeup) id say the 3rd sheds a lot of light on some backstory for characters as well as providing some cute and relaxing anecdotes (e.g. The Happiness Stone side story). Definitely worth picking up during this current Autumn steam sale.

[@Thuxo]

I think this game is essential for connecting sky to the other arcs. But it does a lot more than that too, lol.

[@CaptainAmerica2k7]

There is a game crashing glitch at least for me when i was playing. One of the enemies can assume Agate. One of his crafts Dragon Edge has a chance to crash the game to desktop. The work around? Don't give him the chance. Concentrate everything you have on that doppelganger and usually you are fine.

[@rex9912]

Oh man I know exactly the star door you're talking about at 5:47, that was pretty heavy but fleshed out a character really well. Kudos to Falcom for their top tier writing

[@seyahtan24]

I started the series with cold steel 1 to 3. Then I finished Sky FC and SC. Excited for the 3rd. It's next on my list. 😍

[@KarlWinterling]

IIRC, the early Legend of Heroes games (in addition to Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest) were heavily influenced by the Wizardry games for Apple II, which are mainly dungeon crawls without a big focus on story and characters. The Cold Steel games seem to revel a bit in how occasionally you're just doing random dungeon crawls and boss fights for fun. The latest games (Cold Steel II onward) make it seem like the creators are into the Marvel Avengers movies and Super Smash Bros.

[@MassayukiSama]

I like how straight forward this game was it helps to not feel burned after the first 2 games, and also how the story gets more mature and personal, despite that I love Estelle and Joshua, I think Kevin's literal inner demons made me enjoy this more and it was the perfect goodbye to Liberl.

[@salmark9080]

I just hope the game doesn't take place in the same freaking region the whole freaking game again. made SC a 7.8/10 for me personally

[@TarksGauntlet]

Well... About that..... It kind of maybe takes place in 1 dungeon. It's just really massive.

[@EnforcerNr.XBleublanc]

Nice Review without Spoilers - Like it

[@FeralKobold]

whoo another review for this series! Also just popping in as I'm finishing up packing because I'm about to drive to the airport to fly to Georgia to visit my mom for Thanksgiving and wanted to say happy Thanksgiving Tarks! I hope you have a great time and eat yourself into a food coma :D

[@TarksGauntlet]

I'm Canadian so we do thanksgiving here in mid-October but I appreciate the sentiment. Enjoy the holiday dude! Food, family and a weeks worth of left overs if your lucky haha.

[@dangerousshoes]

I'm upset. I just started this game about a month or so, and I played it nonstop until my computer died on me in The Abyss, just minutes after the Shining Pom fight. That was 3 weeks ago, I'm in withdrawal, my man. I've gone to lengths of importing 3rd Evo just to play it again, lmao.

[@TarksGauntlet]

Shit. You were basically at the end. At least on a second run through you can skip all the doors and handle the game in about 25-30 hours.

[@dangerousshoes]

Sure am hoping so. Especially since I won't be able to read anything once I play through this. Need every last tidbit before I start going into Zero.

[@TarksGauntlet]

@@dangerousshoes If you didn't do door 15 before fighting the pom I highly recommend watching it on youtube. After that there was 1 door (I think it was door 13) that you needed to do all other doors before opening, I'd check that one too. Otherwise you're in the home stretch. You'll be able to piece most of the rest together just by watching for the emotions, but whatever you miss, there's always youtube to save the day.

[@dangerousshoes]

@@TarksGauntlet Door 15. Star Door 15? I don't remember numbers. Where's that one at again? I might have done it, but my memory is kinda garbage.

[@TarksGauntlet]

Star Door 15 was right in front of the Shiny at the bottom of the abyss. Its a door for Renee, but I won't say any more than that about it lol.

[@TheKensei777]

"Don't be the me that I almost beed" haha

[@MBV97]

Just finished today and enjoyed it. Sure the story may not be the greatest but has some good character development (mainly one character but pretty good). I give it between an 8 to 8.5. Not sure if I could go higher mainly because of the final boss appearance

[@dynamiczero]

This game looks weird as fuck, but seeing different moments of characters' backstories seems like a really good reason to play it

[@MentalOutlvl6]

Fun fact i bought trails of cold steel 2 didnt know i had it played it loved it played the game several times

[@jacobfletcher6657]

Are the three games for pc and are they in English

[@TarksGauntlet]

All three are on PC and in english.

[@jacobfletcher6657]

Ok I’ve been to find them

[@jacobfletcher6657]

I’ve played trails of cold steal 1 and 2

[@Gomezli16]

You have a kind face. Please don’t murder me.

[@ninjakittie24]

Where can I get a detailed summary of this game?

[@buttertoast1146]

You play it

[@jrpgaddict7726]

Ty

[@blackdragoncyrus]

Meanwhile, I'm going through Cold Steel 4 for the third time. o.o I may have a problem.

[@TarksGauntlet]

Meanwhile I grow increasingly jealous of you lol.

[@Thuxo]

@@TarksGauntlet lol same, the non-voiced Japanese parts are too hard to handle...

[@leonard9624]

Was this released in vita?

[@BeefBosssu]

No

[@rpgthruglass1914]

New camera!?

[@TarksGauntlet]

Just dialed in differently. I can never get it somewhere that I'm happy with.

[@Haarwyvern]

My favorite from trails trilogy

[@oreox1000]

A man of culture. 👌

[@CENITamv]

Played 4 hours and i really cant get into it. Like with the previous games im terribly lost when the difficulty ramps up with the bosses. The alternate reality is terrible to look at and just makes me aggressive. It has nothing from the comfyness of the previous 2 games. I don‘t dislike Kevin but i don’t care for him either. And omg the pacing is soo off with random flashbacks taking over an hour. It’s just a mess. I want to like it but ist just feels like a giant waste of time playing it.

[@explosivebest3703]

I just finished the first game, and about to do the second, but this game puts me off.

[@explosivebest3703]

Story is what pulls me in and that's what keeps my attention.

[@TarksGauntlet]

Even though the format is different there's parts, that if you like the characters from the first 2 enough, you'll definitely want to play this to see. Some of the most memorable moments in the entire saga are in this game.

[@DaTruth683]

i skipped 3rd and went to zero. the premise wasnt for me

[@blahtoblahtoto6441]

waa...

[@awesomieRee123]

What platforms can I play this on?

[@MarxasThomas]

Yo bro

[@Solipsismreal]

7/10 game

[@capcom23]

Tried to like this game because I thought it looked like YS 4/5 and 6, but combat is different and it felt long battles and a bit too repetitive. Guess this game even with the cute graphics doesn't work for me. Such a pitty. Well each his own

[@TarksGauntlet]

Same team that made the Ys series, but very different games. Did you play Trails in the Sky 1 and 2 before trying 3? If not, the story would be a big let down in 3 as well. Wouldn't make any sense without the other 2.

[@megamike15]

trails and ys are very different series. i tend to prefer the trails game to ys even tho i do enjoy ys for the most part.

[@dynastystar5515]

womp womp, no more "soom (tm)" jokes on the 3rd.