Where Should YOU Start the Trails Series?

[@SuperDerek]

Huge thanks again to NISA for sponsoring today's video! Check out their upcoming titles using the links below: Product Page: thelegendofheroes.com/crossbell/azure/products Azure - Online Store: store.nisamerica.com/the-legend-of-heroes-trails-to-azure Reverie - Online Store: store.nisamerica.com/trails-into-reverie

[@spironan]

dont meant to call you out derek, but to those that are massively confused as to why the link to NISA stores don't sell the games, they're all Limited Editions on various consoles that are sold out and de-listed already! Check out your local retail stores for a copy and just to reiterate the next two games releasing this year are trails to azure and reverie, which derek DOES NOT recommend to start at (nor anyone with a sane mind Im sure) Trails can be confusing but please ask your questions away, I'm always keen to help out people who are interested and wants to get into the series, it's something you won't regret i promise!

[@vlonewolfv]

Started with Cold Steel and played all 4. Absolutely loved them and am currently going back to play the sky trilogy. What a freaking killer series so far.

[@BLAZER_VA]

This how you can play them in order 1. Trails in the Sky 2. Trails in the Sky SC 3. Trails in the Sky the 3rd 4. Trails from Zero 5. Trails to Azure 6. Trails of Cold Steel 7. Trails of Cold Steel II 8. Trails of Cold Steel III 9. Trails of Cold Steel IV 10. Trails into Reverie 11. Kuro no Kiseki 12. Kuro no Kiseki II - Crimson Sin

[@samis486]

You could also swap cold steel I and II with Zero and Azure since they happen at the same time basically

[@BLAZER_VA]

@@samis486 I know but It make sense you play zero and azure because Coldsteel 1 and 2 always talk about whats going on in crossbell

[@diegoplanes7183]

Thanks. 12 games tho. And I really wana play that. Ain’t got time for that. Damn.

[@fable2830]

Thank you this is literally what I wanted from this video and somehow ended up more confused than when I started watching lol

[@Llortnerof]

@@BLAZER_VA I dunno, it's mostly very vague. Meanwhile, Azure just straight-up spills the big twist at the end of CS2 and what ends up doing in 1 in one fell swoop.

[@homurizu]

I started playing the Sky Trilogy just before New Year's (so a little over 2 months ago) and I just finished 3rd not even 2 hours ago. I'm literally watching videos about 3rd after that rollercoaster of emotions I had to go through. I absolutely love how this series is thus far and the world building they do. Hearing about it from some people on Discord, I've made it a point to make sure to talk to EVERY single NPC after each story beat no matter how small. Talk to every chest a second time. And just really absorb the country of Liberl to it's full potential. It's the first time I've ever really paid that much attention to flavor text, but I loved every single second of it for all 3 games. I'd be playing Zero right now but it's 3:40AM as I'm watching/writing this so probably not until after I get some sleep. As a new fan to the series, I personally do not regret starting with Sky FC. Not only do I get to learn about the world as the developers intended (and the amazing story-telling and world-building with the NPCs is what drew me in to begin with), but I also get to experience the slow inclusion of new systems for the combat/menus without having to "downgrade" by playing in a different order Also...I will never look at the number '15' the same way ever again

[@davidcook9875]

starting with sky fc is the best choice

[@lcdsoundfan8012]

Falcom deserves our love. They understand that gameplay is king.

[@SuperDerek]

Absolutely!

[@LilT2o00]

Yup I love trails and Ys

[@countryboyred]

@@LilT2o00Tokyo Xanadu is very underrated as well

[@stevenjohnson8736]

@@SuperDerek since i haven’t play none of these trails can i play reverie without playin any other trails series or do i need to play the very first trails series

[@DiceWatari]

Thank you for keeping us console plebs in mind, Derek - we're a dying breed! Haha. Really appreciate this comprehensive breakdown, looking forward to the rest of Kiseki Month!

[@SuperDerek]

There are dozens of us! _Dozens!_ That said, the Steam Deck is suuuper tempting!

[@GrayWolf323]

@@SuperDerek I’m a console pleb, I had a gaming PC but I just found it annoying to always have to be worrying about my settings & upgrading and everything so with PS4 gen I ended up moving over to consoles fully but I got a Steam Deck last fall and I love it, there’s plug-ins that help with knowing what settings to put games on to get it to run great and I love that I can now play stuff like the Trails in the Sky trilogy and other things that aren’t available on modern platforms 😁

[@agentoosnake5490]

​@@SuperDerek I got mine a few months ago and I love it and highly recommend it. Trails and a bunch of other games play great on deck. Though if you have small hands that might be a deal breaker though I don't so I'm good.

[@feidamack2006]

I really love the realistic approach you took with this, mad respect.

[@SuperDerek]

Thanks Feida! I get it that so many people will recommend order of release, and I get why. It's the _ideal_ way from a certain perspective. But it's just not the most feasible way for a lot of regular people. Glad you enjoyed today's video! :)

[@SuiteLifeofDioBrando]

I started with CS 1, but the best starting point is probably Sky 1 on PC since it has voice acting and turbo mode.

[@drantis82]

Great recommendations! I had tried to start with Sky FC, but it wasn't until I played Cold Steel 1 that Sky's gameplay clicked for me. Glad that I went back after because it's such a great experience.

[@alyx4436]

SuperDerek is so committed to the watchability of his videos that he re-arranges his entire room and changes the direction of his quiff multiple times in a video. Kudos for that level of dedication.

[@frozenwrath1352]

My extra recomendation for those wanting to start from chronological order is that you lower the difficulty for the first 5 games, that means all the three Trails in the the Sky and Trails from Zero and trails into Azure. My reasoning for this is that even though they were all slightly updated for modern consoles and PC, the still are quite outdated RPG's, they are all about stat checks for every boss into the game, and those that are super bosses can be cheesed by dodge strats or wall spam (meaning that the metagame for thse games, in the endgame, is to always buff your party with attack cancelling buffs), otherwise you're going to have to grind and grinding in these games suffer some serious rubberbanding, where if you're 1 level above the intended level, the EXP you get drops faster than your desire for grinding. Stat bloat is something that is pretty much a staple of the Cold Steel games, but in this instance making the difficulty higher can make these games more enjoyable, because normal is quite easy. These games give you so many rewards and tools that you'll make a prefered way to deck out your party all the time and positioning your party plays a bigger role than the previous games. It won't be long into these games until you would like to pump a certain lady full of strength/Skill damage Quartz. Other than that you can pretty much start whenever you want, don't feel overwhelmed because of the sheer ammount of games that are all connected, these games might be long for current day standards but you still have YEARS to even get up to the official localizations of the current games, and even more for those that haven't even been released. You have time to catch up and fully enjoy the series even in 45ish hours per week jobs.

[@keithwaggoner2375]

i started this series at the start of the year(2023) and its amazing!! I just finished Trails from Zero and will be starting Azure soon.

[@joshuasmith3114]

I started on cold steel 1 played 1-4!!! Then played the crossbell arc and i am IN love i will buy every trails game from now on. I think trails of cold steel 1 was a perf jumping on point! I feel if id have done zero first id be less stoked on the series as a whole. No matter what all fans of rpgs NEEED to play this series! Best series hands down!

[@mohammadabuqubu7079]

Thanks for the video. I'm going with Crossbell approach as it checks most of the boxes I'm interested in.

[@renahabaq]

I just started the Trails series last year and decided to play in order. Still in Liberl, but hoping to get through a lot of it this year. The first Sky game is easy to play as it does run on any PC.

[@HybridAngelZero]

I really wanna get into the Kiseki series this year once I clear some backlog-y goodness. I decided to start with Sky FC not just because it's a great place to start lore-wise, but because the PSone-ish pre-rendered sprites on low poly backgrounds aesthetic makes me very happy.

[@SuperDerek]

Yeah man, I loved them from the start!

[@crispy_asch7110]

Kiseki Kmarch, let's go Played half of FC, lost access to my PC and watched videos on the rest of FC and SC, then played Cold steel 1 & 2.

[@xnaut2000]

Awesome video. Definitely gonna give this series a shot with the first one on my steam deck.

[@alfasilverblade]

You start by buying a bag of Trail Mix and you eat them.

[@SuperDerek]

Some people dive into the trail mix while waiting in line to pay for them. I don't condone this method, but I've seen it done before.

[@viper4011]

I played the Sky trilogy in 2021 and loved it. Waited patiently for the official release of Zero, and am very excited to play Azure in 2 weeks and then dive right into Cold Steel. I’m thinking I’ll take a break between CS2 and 3 to avoid burnout and maybe play FF16 then. I think with Reverie coming out this year, my gaming time for 2023 and a good chunk of 2024 is already fully booked 😂

[@SuperDerek]

I like to alternate my way through series to help prevent burnout. Been working really well for me ever since the Kingdom Hearts incident. >.>

[@alanwattie6093]

@@SuperDerek always a good idea to take breaks. I marathoned Cold Steel 1-3, Crossbell and Nayuta during the pandemic and did get kinda burnt out. Enjoyed Zero much more with my 2nd play through of the recent release partially due to picking up details I missed the first time but also from having a clean palate this time around.

[@Ghalion666]

Dude, tell me about it. 2023 looks like a monster year for me. I almost NEVER have a game to look forward to this far in advance (other than trails and ys games, they are the only ones I pre-order. Well I would do dark souls too but until recently I was always concerned my old pc wouldn't handle them, so yeah). But t his year I got trails, Elden ring dlc, armored core (I've been a fan of from/armored core since the first game BEFORE demon's souls, so yeah, big hype for me), age of wonders 4 (my fave tbs series), Remnant from the ashes 2 (dark souls with guns people call it), and like 3 other titles I can't recall atm. omg mercy.

[@uragayduck]

well said! i've played the whole Kiseki series chronically from Sora FC to Kuro II, and yeah to truly enjoy the series this is the recommended way to go. playing the first Kuro does fall into the whole starting into a new arc route which you mentioned with Sora, Sen, and Zero so it could be a starting place for newcomers to start in if they want.

[@Deathy2D]

I always tell friends, that don't enjoy "old graphics", to start with Cold Steel 1 and 2 and if they enojy they go back and play Sky, Crossbell and return to Cold Steel 3-4. I think it's not the best way but some a few of them liked enough and became fans of the series after that. Still, amazing video Derek and Falcom needs all the love we can give them and to bring new people to their series.

[@lupercalrising2208]

Just start with Trails In The Sky - First chapter. I'm playing it on Steam right now, a little over 20 hours in - and I'm loving it. Beautiful game.

[@juancastillo621]

Haha, liked what you did there with your edits. The mirrored view, then jump cuts back and forth was kinda trippy😁

[@Bobson_Dugnutt_Esq]

Trails content is always a good thing to find on a Friday. Or those other days.

[@javierjambay95]

This series is incredible, and the video is an excellent resource for fans looking to get into the series. More of these videos are needed to reach a wider audience. I would even go as far as to say that this saga is one of the best I've ever played in my life, and I say this as someone whose native language is not English. Greetings from Ecuador! 🇪🇨

[@blackfistxu7953]

Thanks for your reviews! I just literally discovered this series today on accident and I am about to jump in for Trails in the sky FC! I am super hyped!

[@feiwong3634]

I always recommend starting with the first Sky trilogy and then Zero, Ao and Cold Steel, basically cronologically release order.

[@quezcatol]

and I agree with that, but lets say you just own the switch as a kid today, starting with the crossbell or cold steel arc which it has on it is totally fine. I think that is the point of dereks video, dont bmiss out on the serie because you lack a certain platform or doesnt have time for 10 games in a row.

[@genefactor007]

Hey Derek! Man, I absolutely loved your closing statement. As a console player, I came into the series with Trails of Cold Steel. However in coming in so late, I had the opportunity to tackle the series in a path that, for me, was pretty cool. Additionally Trails from Zero had released during my playthrough of Cold Steel 2. So here's my path: Trails of Cold Steel 1, Trails of Cold Steel 2, and then Trails from Zero. From there I'll move on to Trials to Azure then Cold Steel 3 and 4. This was a suggestion I read about and, for me, one that was pretty cool. You get these little nuggets of info throughout Cold Steel 1 and especially CS2 regarding what's going on in Crossbell. So in hearing these things, I simply couldn't wait to play Zero and see first hand the goings on in Crossbell. Now the downside to this path is there will be names mentioned that hold a lot less weight than they would had the series been played in order. But seeing as the Sky series aren't really available for console players, that's an option many won't have. My suggestion is this, if sprite based characters and old school graphics isn't a big deal, start with Trails from Zero and simply go from there. But as Derek has mentioned, please try not to start in the middle of any arc. I recently purchased a Steam Deck and I'm currently playing Trails in the Sky. It's a lovely game and it's nice to see where it all started. Derek I do have a question, what are you thoughts on Trails in the Sky the 3rd (I think that's the title)? I read a bit on it and it seems like a dungeon crawler, not really my thing. But I also hear it foreshadows some things. Is it worth playing?

[@coilledragon279]

I'm on the last chapter of 3rd now. I personally would say that it depends on your views on the storytelling. There is no big world-shaking plot in 3rd... but it does serve as an epilogue for SC, or a farewell to the characters. It gives short looks into what has been happening with the cast of Sky since SC ended. It also goes deeper into a certain Priest's background (it's more his game than Estelle's). I think it is also shorter. I'm between 20-30 hrs, where Sky took me 60+. The gameplay does feel a bit more dungeony, but has many varied areas. You can (and should) warp around back and forth a lot, which I feel is the biggest difference between 3rd and the other games "open worlds". Hope some of that helps.

[@Llortnerof]

@@coilledragon279 I'd say it depends on what you think of Kevin as well, as it mostly deals with his personal story. Which means it also gives some insight into the Septian Church.

[@Lamasis2]

Only 6 1/2 of them in my backlog. Started in chronological order with Trails in the Sky FC after I finished the Ys games. I just hope that the series will have a satisfactory conclusion with ALL the important characters of all the arcs.

[@chickenfillets]

Answering the impossible question for us Trails fans!!!

[@KeitaroE37]

I started the series in May this year with Sky. It was my first time using my laptop for gaming, was real against doing so. I really loved those games, and currently about ten hours into Azure. Before I was into the series, I hated hearing you needed to start with Sky. It’s holds up incredibly well.

[@SuperDerek]

Yeah, I think that"you must start with X" mentally totally overlooks that most fans actually started with Cold Steel. Sure, it's ideal to start with Sky, but I wouldn't say it's the ONLY way. :)

[@Jazzadrin]

I bought Trails in the Sky FC, Cold Steel 1 and 2 a while back. I remember watching you stream Trails in the Sky FC a few times, you seemed to be loving it back then. Ultimately I started with Cold Steel 1, but I have also been recently playing Trails through Daybreak in tandem because I am ADD and also I got it as a birthday gift and after reading about it it's supposed to be a good place to come in for newcomers. Enjoying Daybreak a lot so far, and Cold Steel 1 has been a slower burn, but also pretty good so far.

[@romano-britishmedli7407]

Back when starting the Trails-series with Trails in the Sky FC 3 years ago, your review was one of the first I watched, and which I like up to this very day. It makes me happy seeing how far you (and everyone of us) have come. Love the Zelda-image in the background, lol. Also, back to the topic, uh, great video of detailing where to and not to start the Trails-series! XD

[@grahfkarate1799]

Literally has been on my bucket list for years. Just started Sky today! A couple hours in and it gives me lunar and Xenogears vibes.

[@Eagleknight815]

WOOOO!!! Happy Trails Month Indeed!! Whole hearted agreed with start somewhere! Just start. I personally started with Cold Steel 1&2 however I had NO idea of Sky and Crossbell till I started my personal research into Trails. After finishing CS2 - I went back to Sky to start that arc. That's where I will give out my own personal point.....once you start an arc - do you best to finish the arc. I kinda remember the story but I personally will try CS1&2 again once I'm there in the timeline. But enjoy everyone!! I know I enjoy this series SOOO much! Happy Trails Month Everyone and Off to Adventures!

[@Hovrawl]

Very happily surprised to have my morning coffee and see you are doing Kiseki month! It has re-invigorated my inspiration to stick with Trails in the Sky FC! Looking forward to more content over this month c:

[@user-od5th6zd2f]

You should definitely stick with Trails in the Sky FC! :)

[@Hovrawl]

@@user-od5th6zd2f I just got both the jap dub and then moved eng fan dub! I have been enjoying it so far tonight, I will stick with it and finish it c:

[@NathanJones-zb1kj]

Totally non-game related dude, but your hair looks great! Glad to see your channel continue to grow and your camera presence get better and better. Back to the games, I've loved this series for years and I can't wait to see it get even better. Thanks for bringing more people into it!

[@samuelchallis3420]

I bought a steam deck recently specifically to be able to start from the beginning. The big selling point for me is that if you love the ambition of the Xeno series you will love this! I’m early in SC right now

[@sethhale235]

Great video. I'll always tell people the best place to start is Sky and play chronologically... but if they can't do that for one reason or another, then I'll say roughly what you've said here. Just pick an arc and start if you're against starting at Sky... but probably CS1 considering the ties Zero has to Sky. I don't want people to avoid the series but It would feel weird not recommending starting at the start first. I am incredibly excited for this month, though. Keep up the good work Derek!

[@Gaming_and_God]

Great video and very helpful!

[@danieldietz9065]

My Order was wacky, Sky 1, then cold steel 1,2,3, then sky 2,3, then cold steel 4, then crossbell. I was following a bit of a 1/2 physical release order. I am still a megafan! That being said I do feel i missed out on the optimal experience. Everyone is very lucky now a days to have the option to play in an order that wasn't available to me in english when the games were coming out. I suggest people take advantage of that! you won't regret it!

[@PeteOliva]

You must be a Libra like me, because I totally vibe with your take on things. 👍🏼 If not, that's cool, still loving your approach! We need to be more welcoming gamers! Gatekeeping be gone!

[@bervirus]

Started Trails series in November 2022. Finished Trails in the Sky FC at 64 hrs, Sky SC at 75 hrs, and the 3rd at 54 hrs of gameplay... Now 25 hrs into Zero and excited for all the subsequest Trails games! (Because I know it will get better and I will get the full experience of them) Also I have to disagree about still relevant being Cold Steel pros. I think ALL of Trails games will still be relevant even years into the future if Trails series still being continued, because all of them are interconnected. Probably in the future we will talk about this classic series with our sons and grandsons.

[@Leipec-ri1om]

Just started the series a few days ago with Sky. Really enjoying so far and glad I’ll be able to play them all on my Steam Deck

[@dayru_ru]

I understand just jumping in, but there's a legitimate reason people recommend release order. There aren't just "nods" for playing in order. There are extremely emotional pay-offs that only truly are felt in order since they were set up several games so carefully beforehand. You are just robbing yourself of the best possible experience. Also, the three Sky games can be played on a potato PC and go on sale all the time for cheap, so they are arguably more accessible than the new ones. You can start with CS and CSII, but idk considering that Azure is out this month, there is no excuse to play the first five games now; which is probably one of the greatest five game runs ever...especially considering the writing starting to suffer a bit when CS started. Also, Kondo said you can start with CSIII because it was in Falcom's best interest from a business perspective. From this point of view, it makes sense. But from an artistic one, I'm sure he definitely disagrees with it.

[@KrsJin]

This is the exact video I have needed for the last two years to get me to take the jump. Thanks much!

[@SuperDerek]

That's awesome KrsJin! Enjoy! :D

[@spironan]

Yes Yes Yes! It can be an intimidating series to began and the last thing we want is to further deter you from taking that first step to try. Ultimately many fans experienced coming from not playing in release order and comes to understand the first time charm you get for doing so (thus strongly recommending everyone to do that!) Yet we all stayed throughout even though we didn't get to experience it the way the developers intended and continue to love it for what its trying to do!

[@kadomaix8698]

I started with Cold Steel 1 then played CS2 and CS3. Playing through Trails from Zero now and excited to start Trails to Azure when it releases! Then CS4 and Reverie this summer

[@cartergreen2309]

I'm thinking that's how I'll do it or finish cold steel and then go back and play crossbell. I have 2 kids so gaming time is limited but I really wanted to play the series and my original plan was just play CS and continue from there but with now almost being done with 2 I think I'll try Crossbell at some point too. I already know the stories but that never ruins a good game for me.

[@gmoney0987]

Dude, I’m surprised you didn’t say that a steam deck would be the ideal way to play most of these games. You get access to steam, all while being handheld. It’s kind of the perfect way imo. Granted, the steam deck is pretty massive, but other than that, having all of these games in one place on steam (with great cloud saves) seems like the way to go

[@Violetenist]

im not too far in the video but saying starting from somewhere is a pretty good way. i played through the games chronologically from sky and after finishing all the way to cs4 i concluded i would not have loved it as much if i didnt start from the beginning since cold steel didnt get me engaged as much as the previous games. but i also know of a acquaintance of mine who played from the cold steel games and just now playing through the old games and still loved it deeply. in the end its what you appeal to but a personal indicator of mine would be: if you like a more persona like story with similar mechanics and a more linear story and game: cs1 if you like a fair traditional rpg game with some openness with a revamped structure to traditional heros storytelling: sky fc

[@alanwattie6093]

I agree that the best answer is whatever draws you into the series. My personal opinion is Sky 1-3, Zero, CS1&2, Azure, CS3 and on. I just find the spoilers in Azure for cold steel to be bigger than vice versa, and cold steel spoilers for Azure are vague or can be avoided as a lot of the bigger ones are contained in optional content like newspapers. Again just my personal opinion to be taken with a grain of salt. The #1 priority is to bring new players to the series I can bounce ideas and theories off of.

[@DewaHuang]

I played Sky fc and sc, both on normal difficulty, i think its quite challenging on first 1-2 chapter (many easier retry battle), but after that i practically owned it Now if i want to play Zero / CS, with experience gameplay i had, which difficulty you recommend? Keep normal or try hard? (I think you cant change difficulty ingame ?) I love battle mechanics on trails series so far, but i dont want to retry many times

[@alanwattie6093]

Maybe normal for Crossbell. Up it a bit for Cold Steel as combat starts to get easier as series goes on. Lot of exploitable mechanics especially in CS 2 and 3.

[@thecognitiverambler8911]

I've played through them all. And like Derek says, really do what you think appeals to you. My order was Sky 1 - 3, Steel 1-2, Crossbell 1 - 2, Steel 3 - 4. For me, that worked. If I could have done the two Crossbell games before I did Steel 1 - 2 I would have. Do what works for you, but I think what makes this series unique and special is how big and connected all of the games are. I say that to say, that I think to get the most out of the trails experience, you're going to want the context of the old games that lay the foundation for the new ones. If you don't want huge storyrich interwoven lore, then honestly this probably isn't the series for you. It's my personal opinion, but starting with Trails in the Sky FC isn't a chore, either. In fact, it's my favorite game in the entire 9 that I've played.

[@xunter]

Dont know how i could sleept on this series. I found this after i played through Octopath Traveler 2. Now im play the first trails of sky. The prolouge was very long. But i dont have problems with slow stories. Indeed i love if the story and the characters got so much love and details.

[@1DangerMouse1]

I agree that one should ultimately start where they want to start. It's largely a subjective thing (taking the story timeline and accessibility into account). I think I'm going to start with the Trails in the Sky arc because I don't have a Playstation and I only have a Switch, Steamdeck and an okay laptop. I also want to be eased into the story rather than bombarded with tons of info from the game world. Thanks for the info!

[@AntonioCunningham]

When I first tried the current Trails series, I got about two hours in and quit because I didn't like the main character and how the story was going. However years later when I learned about Cold Steel, I was told it would spoil Trails in the sky. Since I cannot play games I've been spoiled on, I went back and played Trails in the sky. Sure I still didn't like the main character, but everything else in the game got so much better. I'm *so glad* I gave it another go. It's a reminder that you can have an amazing experience even if there are elements in a game you don't enjoy. P.S. Playing Trails of games on the Steam deck is *amazing*

[@SuperDerek]

I _need_ to get a Steam Deck some day!

[@Kryfton]

This was the best video to see. I've been wanting to get into this series and just picked up a Steam Deck. I'm wanting a good jrpg series to break it in with

[@whitebair]

I just think it like Jo Jo's parts. Does not matter where you start you will eventually play them all.

[@SuperDerek]

It's true. Almost none of the Western Trails fanbase started playing in the chronological order, because most of us didn't have the option to. Didn't stop everyone from falling in love with the series though! :)

[@marc-ap4699]

Nisa is sponsoring this video so I hope they will eventually take notes and get the rights to Sky 1,2,3,CS1,2 and port them to modern console so now fans get to play it all on one system. Great intro to the series video , I get so many people who ask me where to start and get really confused and this video clearly explain everything you need to know. For having platinum Kuro 1 and 2 I can confirm that it "can" be a starting point but... meh... you will miss out a lot , mostly for Kuro 2 IMO. You will benefit a lot more if you have some knowledge of some characters all the way back to Sky.

[@Natreg44]

Sky FC, Zero, Cold Steel and Kuro 1 are all good starting points. However, the reason people keeps saying that Sky should be the first one is not because they are purists, but because they have either go that route themselves, or followed another route and midway had the urge to go back to the first game. So, in my opinion, Sky FC should be the first one, but, if that's not a possible entry point for someone for whatever reason, any of the First chapters of each arc would be a good place to start. CS3 as an starting point... It's not the worst starting point, but I don't recommend that. It may work (and a lot of people on switch are starting here)

[@dannyg88]

I started with Trails in the Sky FC and decided to play them all in chronological order. It’s a tall task to be sure, but I’m glad I did. I just finished Trails from Zero in time for Trails to Azure release on 3/14. What an incredible journey so far and I’m barely half way through!

[@SuperDerek]

Dude keep it up! Azure is going to be so much fun! :D

[@dannyg88]

@@SuperDerek Looking forward to it!

[@BlindGardener]

I recently started trails in the sky and love it. Even speaking to every Npc only takes like 5 to 10 minutes

[@SuperDerek]

I'm very glad I started with Sky, it's so wild to see how detailed the world has become as they've kept building upon it with each new release. Can't wait to dive into Cold Steel 3 soon!

[@zevzero]

Great video. I started with Zero because of the ease of playing it on Switch. Beat it and now I’m waiting for Azure. Then going to Cold Steel which has me worried since it’s 4 games long

[@theLethalRabbit]

Another great video, well done Derek. My opinion? Playing the games in chronological order indeed seems overwhelming just for the sheer scope... but it's way more overwhelming to jump in the middle and receive tons of information that you're not familiar with, just because you haven't played the previous games. So, my advice would be to play the games in chronological order, starting from the first arc, and live the whole experience... And if you want to skip a game or two, you can always see a longplay video on KZbin...

[@Javifaa]

Late reply, but… chronological means jumping between Crossbell and the first 2 Cold Steel games. I think you meant release order.

[@theLethalRabbit]

Yes, you're right :) ​@@Javifaa

[@smgofdvld]

I decided to get a rog ally and jump into this series I hear so many wonderful things about sky so going there 😁 I have the other ones on PlayStation and switch so I got my work cut out for me .

[@AL_Talks]

I'm new but have been interested. I think I will start with the crossbell arc. Its short and if I like it then that gives me incentive to learn about the characters and go back into the older games. My next SuperDerek reccomendation is going to be Bug Fables though, I got it in October from Best Buy and its been waiting for its turn

[@Ghalion666]

I'm not a 'vitriolic' purist, as I commented in another thread that I'm ok with people starting with cold steel because some people need to start on something that's m ore modern looking. I don't agree w ith it but I get and accept it. But Zero is the one place I disagree with derek on for where to start. Nearly all of Zero's best scenes involve a certain character assuming you know her backstory well, which is truly tear-jerk material, and it will be lost without that material. Not just 1 or 2 scenes with her either, like 4 times I was bawling because of it. I just can't imagine losing out on those amazing scenes =(. You may think zero/azure is shorter than sky cuz 2 games are less than 3. But both of them are larger than FC by a good chunk, about t he same size as SC, but I find them more time consuming than sc too if you talk to all the npcs (something trails is good for), because t hey are spread out way more and take more travel time to do. Though tbh zero/azure npc chat is the worst arc IMO for this very reason and I myself had to skip doing it completely it was taking too long. Sky 3rd is shorter than sky fc too, so overall it's not really noticeably shorter IMO, and sky 3rd is actually not really part of 1 and 2. like you can play fc and sc and not even know there's a 3rd. 3rd is like an epilogue of sorts (though you should s till play it before zero if you start with sky, it adds a lot to that certain character I mentioned). Of course, playing the series at all is a plus, but Renne is one of the most popular characters in the series for a reason, and it is on sky's foundation. Pretty sure she is THE most popular character as long as you ignore protagonist bias, and biggest boobs in newest game bias =P (not even sure if that's a thing in this series but you get my point). Also, if you're worried about your pc being old. Derek actually understates how easy it is to run. I know because I just replaced my computer that literally WAS 10 years old, AND I replaced it BECAUSE its videocard died... I was able to run the game fine, on a 10 year old pc, with NO videocard, just the integrated graphics on my 10 year old cpu (i5-3570). Truly runs on the potato of potatoes.

[@Chelaxim]

8:10 Trails in the Sky trilogy and the Crossbell duology have EXTREMELY low system requirements. Remember these 5 games are running on the same engine and Sky FC is orginally a PC game from 2004 and it wasn't a system pusher 19 years ago. I have a Dell Inspiron 1750, a budget laptop from 2009 and it can run them flawless. According to steam the minimum system for the processor is a Pentium 3 550 mhz. And only needs 512 MB of RAM for the memory. My computer is so old and weak it can't even update to Windows 11 but it can still run these games at 60 frames a second.

[@SuperDerek]

Hah, I built a $100 PC that could _almost_ run it 2 years ago. But it couldn't decode the video well enough to keep up with the animated sequences! xD

[@MrGamesaregreat]

I'm personally of the opinion that you should start with the sky trilogy, but finish Cold Steel 2 before Azure due to both games making the same reveal at the end that I feel works better in Cold Steel. Whether that means you go sky > CS 1/2 > zero/azure or sky > zero > CS 1/2 > azure is up to you.

[@Inuyasha463]

I appreciate this video. I've always avoided picking up this series because it seemed like I'd need to do some research to figure out where best to start. Thanks.

[@kagekun1198]

I believe the best way is to start with the Sky arc because if you start in from any other arc, the deescalation of the game pace is really going to slow the flow you've built. Also, I say that starting from Cold Steel or Crossbell is simply placing yourself out of the loop. Would you read Harry Potter starting from Half-Blood Prince? The fact of the matter is, these games are going to appeal only to a certain type of person. The kind of person that can get lost in a world far beyond their own. The kind of mind that can immerse themselves in Hogwarts, Westeros, or Middle Earth and countless more like them. The average person simply does not possess that capacity for that sort of appreciation. (but it can be learned!) So, lamenting that you have to play 10 whole games to date is missing the point. We should be glad that Harry Potter has seven whole books. We should be happy that Lord of the Rings have three whole movies, because would you rather have three good movies or only just one? Same for the Trails games. We have 10 excellent games to play! Why wish for less?

[@maxanderson3733]

So would you say it’s best to play the games in release order?

[@xxnike0629xx]

I'm wondering if the Trails games will get a PS5 re-release. Unless I'm missing some, the games in the franchise include: * Trails in the Sky * Trails in the Sky Trails in the Sky SC Trails in the Sky the 3rd * Crossbell * Trails from Zero Trails to Azure * Trails of Cold Steel * Trails of Cold Steel Trails of Cold Steel II Trails of Cold Steel III Trails of Cold Steel IV Trails into Reverie * Kuro no Kiseki * Kuro no Kiseki Kuro no Kiseki II

[@erihitsuki]

After playing through my Persona library, I was in need of another social sim RPG, and Cold Steel was there to fill the void, never regret starting it, after playing through the Erebonia arc, I became invested in the SSS, so I am working through the Crossbell games at the moment, while playing Sky Evo on the side.

[@Seergun]

For those concerned about pc performance, remember that these games, especially Sky, are _old,_ almost 20 years. My favorite way I've seen describing your specs need are, Sky needs a potato, Cold Steel need _two_ potatoes.

[@Naryoril]

Something to add on a related note: Wherever you started, once you are about to play Cold Steel 3 and especially Cold Steel 4, if you think "i plan to play this or that previous games i missed afterwards", i'd suggest to play those other games first. Cold Steel 3 and 4 tie all the previous games together, to a point where by the end of Cold Steel 4 almost every character that was playable in one of the other games becomes playable again. Seeing all those characters you know from other games come together is an amazing feeling. If you don't plan to play the games you missed, it's fine to continue with Cold Steel 3 and 4, but you'll get more out of them the more games you have played.

[@nujanai]

Jumped into the Trails series last month and just finished Trails in the Sky FC. Aiming to complete 1-3 games a year. It's definitely going to be a journey working through the series, but so far I'm loving it.

[@SuperDerek]

Sounds like an awesome goal! That's been kinda my aim for the last couple, and it's been such a wild ride! :)

[@abdoazar8343]

Nice video man! So what kind of trails content you're gonna make? Are you gonna make a ranking of the trails games you've played? Or perhaps a character ranking? Either way really appreciate your content and really looking forward to what's coming next ;)

[@SuperDerek]

My hopes are to release two reviews, Cold Steel 1 and 2, possibly another Trails audiobook, a video talking about the Cold Steel anime, maybe unboxing the Azure Collector's Edition, possibly a giveaway, depending on how things end up going. :)

[@mochigase]

Amazing video Derek! :)

[@SuperDerek]

Thanks for watching! :D

[@InfinityZeroEX]

I jumped in at Trails of Cold Steel 1 and didn’t feel like I was missing out. I’m looking to go back and play the others to make me appreciate Trails of Cold Steel 4 more. As a note only been playing the English releases.

[@Norbiej]

Small info for those who want to play the sky triology, the voice acting files (and UI) from the ps vita version can be modded into any pc version , you can often find this info on the steam discussion forums. Highly recommended.

[@SuperDerek]

Absolutely agreed. What a solid addition to the games! :)

[@BoundaryBreak]

you really came a long way with your on camera presence Derek!

[@SuperDerek]

Thanks dude! Really appreciate that! :)

[@kevinstreetgaming]

I started with Sky and am almost done with Sky SC now. Absolutely love these games!

[@PunkThrashMetal]

As someone who started with cold steel (didnt even realize it was a whole series when i bought the game off steam) off of a gamefaqs recommendation. Cold steel 1 feels very comfortable to for me play and it really did ease me in to the series and I will be forever grateful and probably will overrate CS1 until the day I die. That being said I wish I had started with trails in the sky. I don't think that starting with CS1 was a grave error, but I do think that my enjoyment would have been just that much better had I started with sky.

[@millasgameroom]

Good guide. I started with CS1 and 2 and really enjoyed them and i'm currently working my way through the Sky trilogy via the Evolution patches (they're great). Couple of things i'll add - Kuro no Kiseki just got released on PC in Japanese with NISA as the publisher a few days ago and Falcom and D3 (the port dev) confirmed English will be added in an update eventually. That said, there's also a WIP English fan patch already out for it and Clouded Leopard's port. there's also an unofficial English patch options that exist for Japanese Switch ports of Cold Steel 1 and 2 that port XSEED's translation.

[@SuperDerek]

Pretty awesome NISA released the games in Japanese ahead of the official English update! Giving the die-hards what they want! :)

[@Robochris]

I played sky fc on pc then sc and 3rd on steam deck with voice mods. Perfect steam deck games. Have all others physically on ps4 or switch which is where I’ll continue the journey.

[@SuperDerek]

Gaben Bless the Steam Deck

[@May9Hem]

I started with Cold Steel and finished that arc, then went for Sky and am currently at the 3rd game Cold Steel appealed to me and made me like the whole franchise, Sky less so and I had to put in more effort to go through the series, so if I had started with Sky I probably wouldn’t have gone on to play the whole series So I agree, read about each arc (without spoilers) to find the vibe that interests you the most and start from there

[@acidwizard6528]

The problem with that is that Crossbell and Cold Steel contain spoilers for Sky, and Cold Steel spoils Crossbell. There's a little overlap between Azure and CS2-3, but the games are meant to be played in order of release. One of the best things about the Legend of Heroes (Trails) is the build up to big reveals. Having those dumped on you before you even play one of the series would water down the experience significantly IMO. I get that some younger gamers who grew up in the era of 3D gaming might not like Sky because it doesn't look modern, but these games aren't about their graphical presentation. It's the characters, the story, the pacing, and the gameplay that makes LoH so good. That being said, the best way to immerse yourself is from the beginning.

[@vlonewolfv]

@@acidwizard6528 I think getting hung on spoilers is exactly what this video is trying to discourage. I started with Cold Steel and am now desperate to see the relationships i loved from CS4 grow. I mean, seeing certain characters as villains in Sky while knowing they are family in CS makes me desperate to see the character development that led to that. It didn’t ruin my reaction. It heightened it.

[@charleswiltshire21]

If you dont play damn sky series, you going to regret on cold steel 3 and 4,same with zero and azure, cause main cast of cold steel 3 and 4 adds mc from this games, just sayn

[@acidwizard6528]

@@vlonewolfv That's an interesting perspective. I'm not sure I would feel that way, but it's too late for me since I already played them in order of release. There's a lot of world building and lore that has it's groundwork laid in the Sky Trilogy and appears in later games. You wouldn't know what the heck is being referenced unless you played Sky first. I don't watch a lot of TV, but it'd be like if you watched season 6, 7, 8, 9 of a show, then went back and watched 1-5. You can do it however you want to of course, but there is a way it's intended to be done.

[@vlonewolfv]

@@acidwizard6528 While I mostly agree with the season comparison, the difference is that there is a whole batch of new characters that grow within each arc. So yeah, I wanted to start with the Sky trilogy, but I am just not a PC gamer and all the other ways of doing it were just too much a pain for me to go thru. So I just decided to start with Cold Steel as most people said it’s brand new characters. And for me, once I reached Cold Steel 3 and 4, since Class 7 was still the anchor point for the story, all the returning characters didn’t feel overwhelming. And as I am currently in the second sky game, I can at least say for me, I am loving filling in the backstory. Good writing is good writing. So yeah I would have preferred to start with Sky, but at the end of the day, even starting with Cold Steel made me absolutely fall in love with this RPG series. And at the end of the day no matter how you approach this series, the goal is to get more fans into it. Mission accomplished!!!!!!! Now as I patiently await Reverie and the Calvard arc announcement. ARGH!!!!!!

[@firebreather4192]

The most important thing is to start at the beginning of an arc, true. I'd say play in release order, because there is so much crucial worldbuilding in Sky and you are missing out a lot of context and emotional impact if you start with Crossbell or Cold Steel (especially 3 and 4). CS 1 and 2 are the second best starting point I guess, because they are quite self-contained. I just think it can be quite hard from a gameplay side of view going back afterwards because the battle system has improved SO much since Sky FC. Most importantly be ready to spent a lot of time with this series. I've talked to every NPC all the time and did all sidequests with max AP, now at the end of Cold Steel IV I'm looking back at about 1,000 hours playtime. : D Anyways, looking forward to Kiseki month!

[@pite9]

This series is growing large enough that I think we need to realize that some new fans won't play all the games. For those ppl, I'd recommend prioritizing the CS games, as they're the latest and probably most relevant lore wise going forward into the Calvard arc. The Crossbell games comes 2nd. But don't ignore any of the games you skip. Try to learn about the games as much as you can, through LP's or looking up summaries. The more you learn about the world, history, characters and lore, the more you start to appreciate all the games in the series. But if you are open to playing all the games, I recommend: A. Sky1-3 CS1-2 Zero Azure CS3-4 B. CS1-2 Sky1-3 Zero Azure CS3-4 If neither answer satisfies you, play in whatever order you feel like. You will spoil more, but it's not the end of the world, and you'll get a more unique experience on the series. The issue with the chronological order is that Zero and Azure share a timeline with CS1-2, so they will both cite events in the other games. These spoilers are much more significant from Zero and Azure which is why you're better off saving them for last. In fact they'll spoil one of the main plot twists of both CS1 and 2. Yes. I'm not kidding. I don't know why they did this, but my theory is that they simply hadn't originally planned to cover the events of CS1-2 at such depth. You can also avoid most of the spoilers from CS1-2 concerning Zero and Azure, since it's mostly contained to newspaper articles. It may seem like stopping CS midway through makes little sense, but CS2 actually concludes really well. You could say that CS1-2 is one arc and CS3-4 is a follow up arc. You may get a few Sky spoilers by doing CS1-2 first, but it's nothing major, and this order creates much better momentum going forward.

[@eliasisthegreatest]

I definitely agree about Cold Steel being a good game to play after Persona. I finished p5R last year and needed something to fill that void. After the first Cold Steel game I was hooked.

[@iliakazakov5947]

By any chance, did you play Persona 4 (Golden) and Persona 3?

[@eliasisthegreatest]

@@iliakazakov5947 I just finished Persona 4 Golden and loved it. I was thinking about Persona 3 but there are those rumors of a remake coming out so I’ll probably wait for another 6 months to see if anything materializes and if not I’ll grab persona 3 on the switch.

[@OneManCast]

I started with Cold Steel 1 because of a couple of factors: A buddy of mine plays the series religiously. And I voiced in an up and coming project for an abridged series So I started with Cold Steel. I platinumed the first three Cold Steel games. I'll finish 4, then go to Zero, then Azure. Then maybe Sky if I 100% Zero and Azure before Reverie comes out.

[@fabianfischer4229]

Picked up Cold Steel on sale last week, having a total blast playing it so far on PS5, about 20 hours in. Since I don't have a PC, I can't play the Sky games. After the fist 2 Cold Steel games, I'm gonna play the Crossbell games next. After Azure, I'm gonna play CS III and IV next, and I'm gonna top it all off with Reverie.

[@jrpggamer93]

Best month ever !!! Cold steel 1 is where I started I love tocs !!!! I'm playing zero now an I'll get azure . I only played begging of 4 I'm gonna wait till I finish azUre then finish 4 and so one

[@johnpena1754]

Fell in love with The Trails Series Beat trails of cold steel 1 and 2 and stopped, to play trails to zero and azure, after i beat azure i will continue with Trails of cold steel 3 and 4

[@SuperDerek]

Sounds like taking a break for Crossbell occurred at a great time, I've heard CS3 starts to expect info on Crossbell and Sky when you get to it! :)

[@SuperSupersoda]

I hope we're going to get a short spoiler-free review of the new Azure release next Tuesday when the embargo drops? As for which order to play them in, I always tell new players that the two best entry points are Cold Steel 1 and Sky FC. I started with Sky FC myself because I don't mind the older graphics, and because I play games for the story. The single most important takeaway on which order to play them in is what SuperDerek said: the most important thing is that you play one of them, any one of them.

[@mysetlist2118]

I’d recommend on a case by case basis some people don’t have a pc or time to play I only recommend sky to people who finish crossbell saga or finish cold steel 1 and 2

[@Wabasi]

I always appreciate your positive and just general good vibes mindset on gaming. After getting into trails, I was all about it - that is until the loud corner of the community kept gatekeeping or being elitists towards others if they had a differing opinion. It turned me off from expressing my love for the series and I ended up distancing myself from Falcom communities as a whole to avoid the toxicity. I personally started with sky 1 (currently taking a break on CS4) but I agree that for any newcomers to the series - just start on whichever arc seems interesting to you because I guarantee if you see it to the credits you'll want to see the rest of the series. It's just that type of game. Great video, great vibes and looking forward to kiseki month.

[@SuperDerek]

Thanks Wasabi! If there's anything I want to do to help the RPG community, it's to try to help open more gates. :)

[@sanbiki_no_kaeru]

I absolutely support the idea that you should start playing at any entry in the series that caught your attention, as long as you have fun it's all that matters. However, depending on your starting point you should expect the corresponding attitude towards you from the other people. For example, I've seen people starting from the Crossbell arc offering the opinion that they couldn't care less about the part of the story about Renne. You can't expect it to be treated as a valid opinion by anyone, you'll just be laughed at like someone that doesn't understand what they're talking about and rightfully so. As per your example, you can't just watch the final season of an anime without watching the rest and expect your opinion to be treated seriously. As long as you're ok with that, you're good to go with any entry point.

[@canisblack]

So something I feel like should've been covered in this video is the combat/battle system and overall difficulty - especially in the early game. I bought Trails in the Sky years before SC even got a release on steam, played a small amount of it...and then walked away. The early game was actually quite difficult not just because of the challenging battle system, but also because of the scarcity of Mira to do things like buy equipment and consumables. I then picked up Trails of Cold Steel - not realizing it was part of the same series - and it had the same level of challenging gameplay but it also had a number of anti-frustration/ease of life options including the introduction of the sepith mass to allow players to improve their orbments AND their gear at the same time. It also, more critically, had more difficulty levels than Sky (including an easy mode for those who want to experience the story) and the ability to lower the difficulty if you found yourself stymied by a particularly difficult boss/encounter. The story of Sky FC is great, but if you can't actually get past the starting area to start truly experiencing it, that means nothing. Crossbell is...I'm playing it on Switch and I'm playing it on Easy/Story difficulty so it doesn't seem as bad as Sky FC, but I suspect if I'd put it on Normal difficulty it would be kicking my tail right now.

[@jean-pierrejoubert6140]

Thanks for putting this together, Derek. It’s super helpful! I tried Cold Steel a while back on PS Now and loved it, but finding the PS4 physicals for a reasonable price has been pretty tough; Finally got 1-3 (3 is being delivered early next week), and grabbed Trails from Zero for Switch. Really looking forward to diving into these!

[@SuperDerek]

Check out the PAL region releases, they're like $25 for CS1 and 2 physical brand new on PS4. That's the route I took and they work great since the PS4/PS5 are region free. :)

[@jean-pierrejoubert6140]

Thanks for the idea! Funny enough, I eneed up with a UK copy of CS2 through Amazon of all places for about $35 Canadian … gotta love PAL releases that run at “normal” speed! 😉 I also found a Mexican variant of CS3 at a smaller game store via Google. Had to look up their “ESRB” sticker ‘cuz I’d never seem one of theirs before. All the wording on the cover and inserts are English, so I’m assuming it’s got English on the disc. Should find out Monday. 😂

[@thephantomkiller8792]

whelp I tried to do my part in spreading this video around especially on the JRPG reddit but that didn't work just got down voted and people saying "this is how you should play"

[@SuperDerek]

Your efforts are appreciated! :)

[@quezcatol]

Its easy for us to recommend all, but is it realistic to assume someone in 2023 is gonna put aside 700+ hours for this serie? I would probably recommend starting with sky, and if you really feel like the graphic is too old or outdated go to cold steel otherwise ofc go crossbell arc and enjoy :) With all this said, if you wanna start with cold steel, go ahead- and dont listen to the fans, just enjoy the adventure! you can always go back "later".