Trails franchise (Trails In The Sky, Trails Of Cold Steel etc)

No sadly, there are not any alternate costumes till Cold Steel.

However in Cold Steel 2 Rean and Alisa get Joshua and Estelle’s SC outfits as DLC. [1]◊

edited 25th Sep '17 7:03:26 PM by Memers

That is just the worst.

Well the game was made back in 2004, costumes weren’t even really a thing yet really.

Tales series.

Bit more of a serious nitpick: I know the story is told from Estelle's perspective but it'd have been nice to at least get glimpses of what Joshua was up to during their time at the Royal Academy.

Only Tales, no other RP Gs in that era really.

It’s kinda messy in a sprite based game as well since every frame has to be modeled individually, Estelle even used different animations for the play with that sword. Once they jump to 3D models the costumes show up. CS 1 has 2 in game, 3-5 (depending on the character) unlockable with NG+’s Tales like grade shop and 1 DLC outfit.

You can get a lot of hints to that by talking with Hans before you leave and whenever you see him next. The convo before you leave is funny as it sounds very Hoyay even if both of of them are completely straight.

edited 25th Sep '17 8:21:54 PM by Memers

And that just continues into the end of FC and SC. Princess Joshua is the gift that keeps on giving.

I just got to the bit leaving Zeis when Olivier tries to proposition Kloe for some ahem, private concerts. Sieg, don't quit your day job.

"Oh Aidios, he's escaped his chair." Estelle's been getting a lot of great lines, though the start of chapter 2 still gets me.

"It wasn't very strong, but attention, world: please wait until I'm not on scaffolding before you shake again. Love, Estelle."

The dialogue in this game is truly amazing. That's one thing I'll 100% agree with.

"Have neither of you regard for my own wishes?"

I feel like Joshua would say something like that on his own. I'm really sad we'll never get a full English dub with JYB as Joshua because I'd love to hear him try to do a woman's voice.

Also, I'd love to see the story of the play turned into a full story or even its own video game. Just maybe without the Deus ex Machina at the end.

There's definitely points where I wish there were an English dub in the series, the play, the last twenty minutes of FC in general, the pre-FC final boss speech, and the end of the SC prologue stand out.

Even if they could, it's not like Xseed's made of Mira, dubbing the Cold Steel games (plus additional voicework) must have been a costly investment, non-union actors or not. What's more it's a really solid dub in its own right.

It's a shame the OVA took the script and hacked it to pieces, otherwise the actor choices were pretty good and they doubtless could've done some good work if there was much to work with. I still have to wonder what Falcom was thinking, it makes no sense if you've not played FC and SC, and otherwise it explains so little context to the scenes it might as well be a highlight reel, leaving neither camp happy.

One has to wonder how meaningful the ending really is considering every other ‘fictional’ work in Trails has turned out to be true.

The Sky OV As were pure fanservice as part of Falcom’s 30th anniversary. It just encompasses chapters 1-7 of SC with quite a few location changes and gives Joshua more to do.

edited 26th Sep '17 5:00:43 AM by Memers

Geez, that bad? I heard it wasn't exactly popular but I didn't think it was Berserk 2016 levels.

Well CSIII confirmed it is possible to bring people back from the dead, so maybe the play was Foreshadowing?

My favorite Estelle line is still: "He might as well wear a sign that says: 'I am sinister. Be suspicious of my evil ways!'"

edited 26th Sep '17 5:00:33 AM by HailMuffins

It wasn’t that bad, it does a decent job telling the first 2/3rds of SC, they just didn’t show anything from FC aside from a flashback to the final scene.

They never made a 3rd OAV to finish the plot which was the worst part.

So hey, the editing of the Zero no Kiseki translation patch is now 40% done: https://geofront.esterior.net/2017/09/25/trails-zero-40/ !

I might actually play that game in my lifetime, who knew !

In all seriousness, amizing work these guys are doing: from 15% to 40% in a script that large is none too shabby!

Also the Ao translation is 60% done. Not edited mind, but it'll be about the state of the Zero patch, which seems passable for those who want the job done. There's also the spread sheet which has the main scenario translated.

With the CS 2 PC port incoming within a year's time, the Third's release in May, the series is closing in on getting up to date.

Not enough thanks in the world for Xseed's hard work and the efforts of the series' very loyal fanbase.

http://gematsu.com/2017/09/legend-heroes-trails-cold-steel-iii-ending-brings-trails-series-story-60-percent-complete

8 games and we're STILL only at the halfway point.

It does beg the question: how will Falcom possibly live up to the expectation the Kiseki series has created after it is done? I honestly can't think of any other video game series as ambitious as this one.

Ultima.

Mind you, Ultima had 12 incredible games (8 mainline, 3 spinoffs and UO), sold out to EA and fell off a cliff with Pagan, but Ultima created one genre and set standards for two others that modern games are still failing to match.

And the answer is that Falcom will do something different. Ys is already testing the waters with Lacrimose of Dana, between now and when Kiseki finishes I expect they'll try a few other new things with Ys and then start a new franchise with refined elements from those.

edited 26th Sep '17 11:50:49 AM by Watashiwa

Falcom is as old as OSI was and were pioneering JRP Gs and ARP Gs at the same time Ultima was pioneering the WRPG.

The Legend Of Heroes series itself is an offshoot of 1984's Dragon Slayer. The Sky trilogy itself is Legend Of Heroes VI, Cold Steel trilogy is Legend Of Heroes VIII.

edited 26th Sep '17 11:59:26 AM by Memers

Yep! The question was specifically about Trails though, which very much has its own identity separate from Legend of Heroes. Dragon Slayer has more in common with Tower of Druaga than Trails.

EDIT: Don't get me wrong, you can see where Trails came from just by looking at Lo H, but Trails is telling a cohesive story across multiple games from multiple perspectives, which is not what the Legend of Heroes was doing until Trails supplanted it!

edited 26th Sep '17 12:13:29 PM by Watashiwa

That doesn't stop the series from making callbacks to Dragon Slayer.

Sky does bring books from Legend Of Heroes V and such too.

edited 26th Sep '17 12:15:05 PM by Memers

'course not. Where'd I say that?

(But there were Wing Commander references in Ultima.)

So the Trails series is to Legend of Heroes what the Persona series is to SMT.

Persona is akin to SMT as Legend Of Heroes is to Dragon Slayer.

Trails 6 through 8 is akin to P3, P4 and P5's continuity inside Persona only taken to eleven.

edited 26th Sep '17 12:26:57 PM by Memers

The analogy works if you account for the Megami Tensei games.

Megami Tensei—>Shin Megami Tensei—>Persona

Dragon Slayer—>Legend of Heroes—>Trails

With a small digression for the Xanadu subseries.

edited 26th Sep '17 12:30:33 PM by Watashiwa

Then you get nuttier stuff like Ys Vs Sora no Kiseki Alternative Saga, with not just Ys and Trails, but Gurumin, Zwei, Sorcerian, and tons of minor games aside making a crossover fighting game. Which just saying Falcom, Popful Mail could've gone places.

Or Tokyo Xanadu which really brings in the Persona vibes and has an au Towa in the cast.

Speaking of, I had to smile at the "Adol+Dogi reference in one of the Elmo hot springs chests.

Faxanadu would be like SMT Strange Jouney then, being mostly a Dungeon Crawler, Diablo-style.

Zwei!! would be the Raidou Kuzunoha series, being a really really weird game. (Seriously, stat enhancing food and 20's pulp fiction with demons)